Stats

My writing has recently been somewhat derogatory toward the Nationals pitching staff.

The Nationals acquired Sean Burnett from the Pittsburgh Pirates during midseason 2009 and were rewarded with a 3.20 ERA down the stretch. Burnett also posted a 3.06 ERA with Pittsburgh prior to the trade, so his ERA for the year was 3.12.

Given those numbers, it would seem that the former top prospect has settled in nicely as a middle reliever, but upon closer inspection, that's not the case.

We all know what Dan Uggla can bring to the table—a lead pipe for a bat and a lead glove to match it.  With the rumors swirling of a possible trade that would land the All-Star second baseman in Atlanta, many concerns have arose, mainly about his defense, or lack thereof.

Is Uggla's defense as bad as it is perceived to be?  The simple answer is no. 

Although he has never been or will never be a Gold Glove caliber defender, he is far from having the "lead" glove eluded to earlier.  The fans misconception of Uggla started back in 2008. 

You've probably never heard of Matt Daley, unless you're a fan of an NL West team.

Heck, I'd never heard of him until the Rockies called the right-handed relief pitcher up early last season. Given that I know about 2000 active players, Daley's failure to merit a blip on my radar reflected his anonymity. He didn't get a big league look until he was nearly 27.

Say what you want about San Francisco GM Brian Sabean (I'm personally not a fan), but the man can build a defense.

The Giants were the fourth-best defensive team of 2009 according to UZR, behind the Mariners and Rays (by quite a bit), and just falling behind the Reds.

In particular, San Francisco's fielders showed incredible range, saving about 60 runs with range alone, according to the team's UZR breakdown. They were actually below-average at the other three components (arm, double plays, and errors), but only slightly, so the defense saved about 51 runs overall.

Yesterday, I took a look at the pitcher with the highest True ERA/ERA differential in the majors: Reds closer Francisco Cordero, whose 2.16 ERA was 2.70 runs lower than his 4.86 True ERA.

If you'd like to take a look at the reasons for this discrepancy, you can check the article out here.

It's been noted in traditional media sources, online, blogs, and reader comments on this and other sites that if Matt Holliday is not signed by the St. Louis Cardinals, they will move to their best Plan B: re-signing Mark DeRosa. 

DeRosa is a name that has been bandied around quite a bit in connection with several teams. I have to admit I'm a little stunned by just how interested teams are reported to be in him and at the amount they've been potentially interested in spending on a player who has been mostly a non-impact one for most of his career.

When Francisco Cordero left the Brewers after the 2007, he was an elite reliever no matter where you looked in his stats.

His 44 saves, 2.98 ERA, 2.24 FIP, 2.82 xFIP, 2.12 tRA, and 2.70 True ERA all confirmed that Cordero was excellent in 2007.

These same stats all pointed to a 2008 downturn for Cordero. Some (34 saves; 3.33 ERA) didn't indicate the precipitous decline of others (3.77 FIP; 3.98 xFIP; 4.35 tRA; 4.56 True ERA), however. Whatever the case, Cordero seemed to be in decline.

We've already covered Brandon League, and I've tried to soothe Seattle's uncertain ego by establishing his rising value.

But what about this other guy, Johermyn Chavez?

Chavez is a 6' 3", slugging outfielder whose 220-pound frame will turn 21 on Jan. 26, 2010.

Kid can't even buy a drink yet.

An undrafted righty, Chavez was signed into the Toronto organization in 2005.  In four years in the Blue Jays' farm system, the young Venezuelan has demonstrated developing power.

In 2009, Chavez batted .283 with 21 homers and 89 runs batted in for Class A Lansing.

It is getting close to that time of year again. Time to roll out Bert Blyleven, blow the dust off Andre Dawson and look at the cast of newcomers to the National Baseball Hall of Fame ballot.

The first year nominees are Roberto Alomar , Kevin Appier, Andy Ashby, Dave Burba, Ellis Burks, Andres Galarraga, Pat Hentgen, Mike Jackson, Eric Karros, Ray Lankford, Barry Larkin, Edgar Martinez, Fred McGriff, Mark McLemore, Shane Reynolds, David Segui, Robin Ventura, Fernando Vina, and Todd Zeile.