by Stan4Nats
by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears
by Andrew Lang
by Stan4Nats
Introducing a new series of articles on Talknats: If I am Mike Rizzo for a day. This is actually the second article in this series.
If I am Mike Rizzo for a day, I am spending that day going hard after my #1 FA target this year: Ben Zobrist (sorry to steal your thunder Ghost).
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Rawlings announced the Gold Glove finalists today and Wilson Ramos and Bryce Harper were both finalists, and the winners will be announced on November 4th.
For a complete list of 2015 #Rawlings #GoldGlove Finalists, check here: https://t.co/2nereMglPm pic.twitter.com/Qk7dv0uAvO
— Rawlings Baseball (@RawlingsSports) October 29, 2015
Don’t think for a minute that things are quiet in Nats Park. Rizzo as we previously reported has his man-ager, and he’s sitting on the “official” announcement until probably the conclusion of the World Series. Jim Bowden got everyone’s hopes up that we could know on Monday, and that did not happen. While we are very confident that it’s Bud Black, we also wouldn’t say 100% sure and bet your life on it until it’s official. The waiting game will go on and the Nats news will be a little lighter. There will still be news though, and the big news of the last 24 hours was the great Game #1 of the World Series. Other news as we reported was the scandalous claims by Lenny Dykstra on blackmailing umpires which you can read here .
Other Nats news was that Jordan Zimmermann joined Twitter, sort of, with a lame non-descript Tweeter https://twitter.com/JordanZ04290768 and then yesterday got one with a picture and a quick “Verified Account” https://twitter.com/JZimmermann27 and the obligatory 1st tweet: “Never thought I would say this but I finally made it on Twitter!”
Never thought I would say this but I finally made it on Twitter!
— Jordan Zimmermann (@JZimmermann27) October 27, 2015
Former Major League baseball player Lenny Dykstra is handcuffed at his arraignment in Los Angeles on June 6, 2011. (POOL / REUTERS)
Cheating in baseball is nothing new and guarantee you it happens in every game and you probably haven’t thought of framing pitches as cheating, but think about it, taking a ball you know is out of the zone and jerk it back to deceive the umpire is cheating. Cheating in baseball can be illegal like taking unprescribed performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) or sleazy like stealing signs or using an unfair advantage like a corked bat or other equipment that goes against MLB rules. Someone once coined the adage “if you ain’t cheating you ain’t trying”. Saying you were hit on the hand when it hit the bat knob or missed you altogether was performed well by Hollywood standards by Derek Jeter once to be given first base on a gifted hit-by-pitch. Pitchers put pine tar on baseballs and some will wipe some extra slop on a baseball for different movement, and the irony is that most cheating in baseball doesn’t raise an eyebrow with even the most honest people. Continue reading
Our source has told us that Mike Rizzo has made his decision on who will be the 6th full-time manager for the Washington Nationals and that person is __________________; however, the official announcement won’t happen today and might not happen tomorrow as the World Series starts on Tuesday which would mean this official announcement could take until after the World Series ends.
Our source has said repeatedly it’s Bud Black and just waiting for the contract to be negotiated and signed. The buzz last night was that today would be the day that Bud Black would be named as was strongly hinted by this Tweet:
Bud Black is lead candidate to replace Matt Williams and could be offered deal as early as tomorrow. Dusty Baker only other candidate left.
— Jim Bowden⚾️ (@JimBowdenGM) October 26, 2015
There is no secret formula to finding a winning manager. Even 3-time Giants World Series champion manager Bruce Bochy was considered a poor manager in his 1st managerial stint during his 12 year history with the San Diego Padres although Bochy had one very successful year managing a Padres team of Tony Gwynn and Kevin Brown. When the Padres and Bochy parted ways in 2006 after a combined career .494 winning percentage, Bochy was replaced by World Series champ pitching coach Bud Black.
The clutch closer again makes the difference in the playoffs. Whether it was Luke Gregerson for Houston or Kenley Jansen for the Dodgers or Wade Davis for the Royals or Jeurys Familia for the Mets these closers made every save and not just 9th inning saves but also taking on some situations before the 9th inning. Not every closer throws 97 smoke, but none of these closers showed any signs of folding. Each one of these closers were also called on in the 8th inning to put out a smoldering flame. You saw it last night with Wade Davis after Ryan Madson blew a 2 run lead in the 8th that Ned Yost inserted his closer with 2 out and a man on 1st. In the 9th inning after a lengthy rain delay, Davis emerged to save the 9th and wasn’t overly sharp and really had to save himself in a 1 run game and did. That’s how a closer does it sometimes living on the edge of disaster to get your heart thumping and they seem to pull it out when the odds are short. Davis had men on 2nd and 3rd and no out and got out of his own jam.
#Royals manager Ned Yost says Wade Davis "could be available for six outs tonight." Davis hasn't pitched in 5 days pic.twitter.com/HjatAbjgUX
— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) October 23, 2015
On the same day that Matt Williams and staff was released, we are being told that the members of the training staff like John Philbin who was not under contract for 2016 was also sent away with no answer on his future along with head trainer Lee Kuntz who had been with the Nats since 2007 and Steve Gober the assistant trainer who has been with the organization since the start and actually came from the Expos. We are being told they will all not be back with the team. There is still no resolution with contracted team doctors like Wiemi Douoguih who is an Orthopaedic Surgeon and appears he will be replaced for next season with a new medical team.
As we look around it might only be Mike “Wally” Wallace who runs the clubhouse and his likeable clubhouse assistants who might be returning with the players.
Our source said that the WaPo article that came out last weekend about the training staff only tells part of the story, and a major issue goes back to last year with Jayson Werth’s shoulder that was bothering him near the end of the 2014 season and through the playoffs when Jayson only went 1-17 while playing with the hurt shoulder. Jayson worked on rehabbing the shoulder after the playoffs and when that didn’t work he opted for the surgery which did not happen until January 2015 and our sources tell us his discontent for the training staff started there on his rehab and “rushing” him back too soon from the surgery. Whether you can tie the training staff not returning to Jayson’s rehab could just be a coincidence as this training staff has been criticized before for misdiagnosis and too many core muscle injuries and the preventative types of injuries to hamstring pulls. Our source tells us to expect a new training staff and a new medical group with much input from Jayson Werth.
From the weekend: Nats dismiss athletic training staff http://t.co/Y0MSvZjNod
— James Wagner (@ByJamesWagner) October 19, 2015
Discuss if he should be considered for the Nats job here. Please continue to comment on Sabremetrics – Are We Focused on the Wrong Kinds of Metrics. End of post.
I like analytics. I’ve made my living as what is now-a-days called a data scientist. But it bothers me when lots of folks quote all these different stats and metrics without really understanding how they are calculated, what they mean and what their limitations here.
In a recent post, 222 questioned why I did not like means (I am paraphrasing 222’s here, so my apologies to 222 if this is a bit off) when I gave ERA and WHIP as two metrics that are means that I did not think were particular good in evaluating relievers. Continue reading
