Proposed MLB Schedule Changes

Posted on November 25, 2015 by DonH

In a recent post (Exactly who are the DHs in the AL?) coolhandbane suggested an article on shortening the MLB schedule. And Laura Peebles mentioned double-headers and problems that MLB has in scheduling make-up games for rain-outs given that many teams don’t have common off-days. Continue reading →

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Projecting the starting rotation for the 2016 Washington Nationals

Posted on November 24, 2015 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

At the GM Meetings in Boca Raton, Mike Rizzo was asked about the starting rotation for the 2016 season and said, “I’m happy sliding Tanner and Joe in the rotation. With that said, you can never have enough good starting pitching.”  That’s as much as you can get Mike Rizzo to commit to at this time, and Dusty Baker will pencil in his mind his rotation with the full knowledge that things can change and often do.

If we take Rizzo’s suggestion on sliding Tanner Roark and Joe Ross into the rotation, this is what the starters and reserves will look like:

Starters 2016

 

Continue reading →

Posted in Analysis, Bullpen, CoachingStaff, Gio, Giolito, Ramos, Roark, Roster, Scherzer, Starters, Strasburg | Leave a comment

The Closer. Not all relievers are created equally. Mike Maddux must mentor and teach.

Posted on November 23, 2015 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

As Nats fans, the postseason heartache is all too painful with wins turned into losses from BS (Blown Saves) from the Closer spot. Mike Rizzo has tried and tried to upgrade the closer spot and this off-season will prove to be a “wait and see” as to who the presumptive 2016 closer is.  Rumors say it could be Aroldis Chapman or it could be Papelbon.

As we did our Bud Black interviews in October, and  listened to the Luke Gregerson tape we had, it became clearer that Closers aren’t a finished product until well into their career. Gregerson talked about early failures and learning from it. He talked about evolving and that relievers “must have short memories” as he talked about failures. Besides Eric Gagné who holds the record for consecutive saves, try to find a closer with 25 straight saves without a BS, and there aren’t many.

Can Mike Maddux be the mentor that Storen, Martin,  Treinen, Barrett, Grace and Rivero need to reach their full potential as well as youngsters like Koda Glover who looks good in the system. One of the positives if Bud Black took the Manager’s job was his handling of relievers, and Bud had Trevor Hoffman for his last year as a Padre and saw one of the best ever save 42.  Then Black transformed Heath Bell into a full-time closer as he became one of the best in baseball and his 3 All-Star seasons were all while Black was his Manager. Then Bud got Huston Street as his closer for 2 1/2 seasons. Now the job of mentor and leader will be with Mike Maddux who Mike Rizzo made the highest paid pitching coach in the Majors.

Continue reading →

Posted in BudBlack, Bullpen, CoachingStaff, Dusty, Papelbon, Storen | Leave a comment

Pre-Black Friday shopping list for Mike Rizzo #Nats

Posted on November 22, 2015 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Mike Rizzo has to buy some gifts for his new manager Dusty Baker, and we aren’t talking about a shirt and tie combination.  Rizzo has only given Dusty some housewarming gifts in Mike Maddux, Chris Speier, Davey Lopes, Jacque Jones, and Rick Schu for his coaching staff, and Chris Heisey was a player from Dusty’s past who was signed to a Minor League deal.

Big gifts to fill these holes:

  • Bullpen
  • Left-handed bat
  • Lead-off hitter

Mike Rizzo also wants to re-gift to some fellow GMs:

  • Jonathan Papelbon
  • Drew Storen

Continue reading →

Posted in Analysis, Bullpen, CoachingStaff, Dusty, FreeAgents, Harper, Jayson, MedicalStaff, Papelbon, Roster, Storen | Leave a comment

Exactly who are the DHs in the AL?

Posted on November 21, 2015 by DonH

In the Time for MLB to get rid of the DH article, there were a few interesting questions by our readers. For example:

  • Who are the DHs
  • How many teams have a dedicated DH vs. using it to rest position players.

This first chart shows for each AL team how the DH role is distributed. About half of the AL teams have a single DH who accounts for most of the games. There are a few where it seems to be spread around a bit more. The chart below shows the pattern of DH usage for each AL team. Continue reading →

Posted in Sabermetrics | Leave a comment

Trade Winds Are Blowing Towards Nashville #Nats #Rizzo

Posted on November 20, 2015 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

On December 7th, the Winter Meetings will begin, and you have to wonder with all the early trade action with Kimbrel and Andrelton Simmons if more big trades will happen before Nashville.  Can the GMs hold off another 17 days to get to Nashville and the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center to do some more blockbuster trades?

So far, Nationals GM Mike Rizzo has been quiet on major moves as so far.  On Rizzo’s ledger is signing Sean Burnett and Reed Johnson to MiLB deals with Spring Training invites and adding Kieboom, Lee and Bostick to the Nats 40 man roster as a protection from the Rule 5 Draft. Continue reading →

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Bryce Harper: “If they’re not laughing at your dreams, you’re not dreaming big enough.”

Posted on November 20, 2015 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Bryce Harper last night was officially named the NL MVP in a unanimous vote from all 30 of the voting baseball writers of the BBWAA who were tasked with choosing the NL MVP.

Bryce had dreams, like all of us do, and the most important one Bryce had didn’t come true, and that was the ‘ring’ that he joked about at Spring Training after Scherzer was signed where he said, “Where’s my ring” in an interview on February 25, 2015.

Bryce’s pre-season interview went viral, and he was widely criticized by those who tried to make that quote more than what it was.

“I mean, that’s unbelievable,” Harper said. “So to be able to have a guy like Scherzer come in, I just started laughing. I was like: ‘Where’s my ring?’ Cause it’s just stupid.”

This is why so many Nats fans love Bryce Harper because he said what his fans were thinking.  The Nats didn’t necessarily need to get Max Scherzer to win the World Series; however, getting Max Scherzer seemed to solidify a strength for the Nats in their starting rotation.  Of course reality plays out, and the Nationals did not even make the playoffs in 2015, and that’s why they play the games.

Personally, Bryce had a historically great 2015 season, and did get some nice hardware in the form of the NL MVP which is the 1st in Washington Nationals history.

nl-mvp-trophy

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Posted in Awards, Harper | Leave a comment

Updated: The MVP Award will be announced tonight! Bryce Harper ‘should’ win unanimously.

Posted on November 19, 2015 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Bryce Harper will win the NL MVP tonight in a landslide if not unanimously and prove to the world how ‘legit’ he is.  Bryce will also be the first player ever to go from MLB’s most overrated to win the MVP in the same season.  In fact Bryce Harper got 41% of the vote to be named most overrated in the 2015 off-season which was tops in the baseball vote from his fellow players and that is even worse than 2014 when Bryce led the overrated list with 24% of the vote and that is a 71% increase, year over year.  Prediction—Bryce won’t be on the overrated list in 2016.

https://twitter.com/nats_fanly/status/664288196058968065

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1st sign of Spring has Sprung: #Nats announce Spring Training Schedule

Posted on November 19, 2015 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Today is a big day in Nats history as Bryce Harper will win the team’s 1st NL MVP award when it’s officially announced tonight.  The Nats also officially announced their Grapefruit League Spring Training Schedule which marks the last year in Viera Florida.

Continue reading →

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Time for MLB to get rid of the DH

Posted on November 18, 2015 by DonH

One of the recurring topics that the talking heads like to talk about during the Hot Stove season is why the NL needs to get with the times and adopt the Designated Hitter. And with the recent announcement of David Ortiz’s retirement, I am sure that it will come up again. Well, let me say that his impending retirement is exactly why the time is now right to get rid of the DH.

There are two arguments for why the NL needs to adopt the DH that drive me crazy. Continue reading →

Posted in Sabermetrics | Leave a comment