Baseball

Up until this point, we at Baseball Professor have done a lot of talking about BABIP and its value in determining whether or not a player should maintain a certain level of performance. This is great when analyzing batters, but it's only part of the picture when looking at pitchers.

Today, we’ll examine xFIP.

How about we talk about a team that rarely gets some love on The Ghost of Moonlight Graham: the San Diego Padres. I am going to take it a step further. I am gonna talk about the Padres and not even mention Adrian Gonzalez or any trade talk surrounding him.

Here are some of the things going on at Padres’ camp this spring.

Jon Garland has a “cranky” shoulder

Photo: Joe Mauer and I at the 2008 All-Star Game party in New York.

I think it is safe to say that every fan of the Minnesota Twins is now breathing a little easier.

The Twins officially signed catcher Joe Mauer to an eight-year, $184 million contract. The deal, which begins in 2011, will earn Mauer an average of $23 million a season.

Well, I think this is not only great news for the Twins, but great news for baseball as well.

Seattle Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said this weekend that he will likely have new acquisition Chone Figgins play second base, and move incumbent second baseman Jose Lopez to Figgins' primary spot over the past three seasons, third base. 

Figgins will bat second behind Ichiro in the Seattle order, while Lopez will bat fifth and sixth with about equal frequency. None of that changes with the position flip-flop, and so obviously, the fantasy impact of the switch from a strict production perspective is minimal.

Here are some outfielders who could struggle to match their 2009 production.

In this article, like the Top 10 Pitchers article is a project given to me by Bleacherreport.com, I guarantee will forget some major personalities since I've been alive for roughly 1/4 of the franchise's history. I'm going to take a crack at it anyway. If I see I've forgotten significant enough people I WILL revise. That's half the fun in this assignment is that I get to learn about the history of the A's.

With Daisuke Matsuzaka’s late start and Clay Buchholz’ fine spring performances, the 2010 Red Sox’ starting rotation is achieving some predictability: Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, John Lackey, Clay Buchholz, and Tim Wakefield.

That’s five.

Although not as finalized, a bullpen is forming that centers around Daniel Bard, Manny Delcarmen, Hideki Okajima, Ramon Ramirez, and Jonathan Papelbon.

Let me be the first to say congratulations to the Minnesota Twins for locking up Joe Mauer for the next eight years. His monstrous $184 million deal is good for their fans, good for the city, and good for baseball in general.

It’s too bad it's going to be bad for the Twins in the long run.

2009 was a remarkable year for the most elite pitchers in baseball, as four hurlers posted a sub-2.50 ERA. While this fact is incredible enough, so too is the reality that exactly zero pitchers accomplished this feat in the three years previous to ‘09.

From 2000 to 2005, there were 11 instances of a pitcher posting an ERA under 2.50 with a minimum of 150 innings. This irregularity, when compared to the three-year drought from 2006 to 2008, is somewhat puzzling, though essentially meaningless to fantasy owners.

Baseball’s Opening Day is just days away, and what better way to get fired up for the regular season but to partake in a fantasy baseball league?

Speaking of fantasy leagues, here are the top reasons that you should not just join a league, but why you should be involved with a fantasy baseball league with CBS Fantasy Baseball Commissioner.

10. You don’t have to spend $184 million to secure Joe Mauer.

9. Ron Washington won’t be managing your team.