Fielding percentages

Ok. First off I just did a quick analysis comparing our top 5 SS's in chances with the ML 2006 leaders in chances. I still can't figure out how to post the spreadsheet, so if you want it, let me know and I can send it to you.

On average the top 5 SS's in Morgan world had 22% more chances than their Major League counterparts (887 to 728). Their average range factor was 5.87 versus the Major League average of 4.75. The average fielding percentage in Morgan was .960 whereas the average fielding percentage in MLB was .972. This difference (I feel) can be attributed to the fact that Zach Kirby (MEM) had a .939 fielding percentage which significantly hurt the overall average.

HBD
Orlando Flores (WAS) - 1,375.1INN, 938TC, 5.90RF, .961FLDG, 37E, 89RA, 88GL, 92AS, 84AA - MLB PROJ E: 28
Zach Kirby (MEM) - 1,336.1INN, 929TC, 5.87RF, .939FLDG, 57E, 72RA, 76GL, 79AS, 69AA - MLB PROJ E: 44
Darrel Perez (SCO) - 1,283.2INN, 865TC, 5.88RF, .969FLDG, 27E, 80RA, 90GL, 93AS, 82AA - MLB PROJ E: 23
Victor Williams (CIN) - 1,266.0INN, 874TC, 6.04RF, .973FLDG, 24E, 91RA, 84GL, 94AS, 91AA - MLB PROJ E: 20
Goeff Leonard (NY1) - 1,258.0INN, 829TC, 5.68RF, .958FLDG, 35E, 78RA, 84GL, 84AS, 82AA - MLB PROJ E: 31

MLB
R Furcal - 1,371.0INN, 788TC, 5.00RF, .966FLDG, 27E/HBD E: 30
M Young - 1,356.1INN, 747TC, 4.86RF, .981FLDG, 14E/HBD E: 17
J Peralta - 1,275.1INN, 710TC, 4.90RF, .977FLDG, 16E/HBD E: 20
Y Betancourt - 1,374.1INN, 701TC, 4.46RF, .971FLDG, 20E/HBD E: 26
H Ramirez - 1,323.1INN, 695TC, 4.55RF, .963FLDG, 26E/HBD E 33

Take away from this what you will, but my conclusion is that the rate that our SS's are reaching balls seems to be too high in comparison to the best that the MLB can offer. Reaching more balls will lead to more errors as will playing someone who is not a SS at SS (Kirby and Leonard IMO). I'm thinking it's more of a matter of there being a lack of adequate players for SS as well as an inordinate number of chances for the SS position.

DL Trips

First...a disclaimer. I realize that everybody handles injuries differently. This is merely meant as a comparative tool based on days on various DLs. It encompasses the entire organization (RL to ML). Also, since DL trips are based only on the 7-day, 15-day, and 60-day trips and does not actually list out the days a player is injured, that is how I calculated the total days lost. Enjoy.

Average days lost per team - 171
Average Training per team - 12
Average Medical per team - 12
Total days lost - 5,461
2 Teams had a total of 360 DL days. These teams spent 12/12 & 10/10 (T/M). Memphis & Salt Lake City, respectively.
2 Teams had a total of 0 DL days. These teams 16/13 & 14/14. Boston & St. Louis respectively.
Cincinnati spent the most (18/18) and had 104 DL days.
Sacramento spent the least (8/8) and had 155 DL days.

I don't know how to post an excel spreadsheet, so feel free to contact me, hurricane384, for the raw data.

First look at Season 6 FA list

This is a quick list I ran though. It does not take into account any options that teams or players hold for next season that could dramatically change this list.

Position Players

Mark Ross NY In his prime, has a .310 lifetime and got his 5th consecutive 100RBI season. The most well rounded player on the list. He's got power, and great OBP, defense and speed. He can play any position outside of SS/C and really could be a team's emergency SS. He won't ever be MVP of the league, but he will help any team and really has no weakness.

Rich Forbes SCO Starting to show his age but he can still hit and get on base. His L/R splits are among the highest for any 3B in the league.

Heath DeRosa HAR Still young and he has solid ratings across the board, good splits, BE and decent Def.

Brian Maeda LOU - Starting to get a little long in the tooth. While his power and RBI numbers have dropped he is still a has kept up his .308 career average and .390 career OBP.

Norman Freeman HAR - Another player that has lost his power numbers from early in his career, but still can get on base, has an amazing .440 career OBP and had a .457 this season. He obviously played in one of the best hitters park but you can’t ignore those numbers.

Greg Brinkley NY – A speedy 3b/OF that can get on base. He probably won’t be a 30/30 player that he was in season two, but can his speed and power make him a threat.

Bailey Crawford/Bob Widger/Manny Hernandez/Chris Sinclair – A similar group of adequate hitting great fielding players that are great to have. Could start for many teams, or at least be that utility player who gets 300+ ABs because he won’t lose a game for in the field.

Relief Pitchers

Daniel Malone CSP- Showing his age. After his fireman of the year award in season 1 he was merely average, but came back to life in season 5 and still has great ratings.

Joey Diaz CHI Has good ratings, but his stamina probably puts him in the bullpen next season. He could serve as a nice LRA for a number of team looking for bullpen help.

Andre Starr - no longer a closer, but his fourth season of a sub 4.00 ERA is worth a being some team setup man.

Marc Wayne - A journeyman RP that will find a spot in a contenders bullpen.

Ramiro Suarez SCO - Another older pitcher, but he appeared in 79 games and had a 1.24 WHIP and 4.24 ERA. He has the kind of rubber arm that every team needs.

Steve Childers STL – Very similar setup guy to Suarez except he’s much younger, and his L/R splits are not good as Suarez.

Mendy Aoki – After a stellar career as a SP he was moved to the bullpen because of stamina issues. This was his worst season yet, after never having an ERA above 3.76 he had a 6.00 this season. His ratings are still good and I don’t expect another season like that, but his STA/DUR numbers kind of put him in no mans land for a role.

Starting Pitching

Robin Sullivan LOU – Will be 33 years old and is a solid middle of the rotation SP. He’s pitched 210+ innings every season and has a career 70-53 1.38 WHIP 4.43 ERA. Not a very sexy FA pickup, but if it keeps you from throwing a awful pitcher on the mound every 5th day he is worth the money. Health could be an issue for the owner that wants to do a long term deal.

William Woo Ari – Nothing spectacular about this guy, but he’ll keep you in the game and won’t give up many HRs. Just don’t look for him to be the Ace of your staff.

Kevin Franklin ATL – Might be able to help a team hold down the fort until good minor leaguers are ready, but its starting too look like his incredible season 3 was a fluke.

Rodrigo Johnson RIC – Ratings wise this guy looks like a AAA guy at best, but for some reason he performs adequately. Of all the FA SPs available he might have the best OAV, ERA, and WHIP totals of anyone.

Clay Reese – Might have the best chance of catching lighting of any of the group of SPs on the FA market. Season 4 he was on pace to win the Cy Young Award until an injury sidelined him. He seems like he has usually under performed his ratings though.

Dustin Sutton SLC - Sutton had a tough season 5, it could be the signal the end is close for him but he has had a solid career and one or two more decent seasons would not be out of the question. In seasons 2-4 he won 51 games and he still has good L/R splits and control ratings. Has been a career leader in shutouts and complete games.

BEST INTERNATIONAL SIGNINGS – NL WEST – SEASON ONE

Here’s the last of the Season One series. Will I tackle Season Two? Who knows…

1) Best Value

Tony James currently sits on the Arizona AA roster. He’s a solid .300+ hitter that lacks a regular position. He seems to make too many errors to be a regular CF or 2B and may find a home in RF. Signing for $875K, James could peak on the major league roster as a great pinch hitter with his strong rating against lefties.

2) Lowest Production Per Dollar

The Las Vegas Gamblers signed nine International free agents for a total of $4.29 million.

One of the players (P Placido Domingo) was traded to Scottsdale’s High A team. Three players retired, three were released, and one was waived (P Vasco Lee, who was claimed by Cincinnati and pitches for their High A team).

Only ONE player is still the property of Las Vegas. Shortstop Junior Wang currently sits on the Vegas AA roster, but his spot on the bench appears tenuous after about 100 at-bats this season with a .243 between High A and AA.

I’m sure Vegas wishes they could redo this bunch of signings.

3) Best Overall

Arizona signed pitcher Erubiel Castillo for $2.4 million based on his projections as a strong short reliever. Castillo was put to the test immediately after his signing, struggling in about 10 Rookie innings before pitching 80 solid innings in Low/High A with a WHIP just above 1.35. Castillo followed with two solid years in High A (38-48 in save opportunities) before dominating AA ball in Season 4 (2.06 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, .188 batting average allowed, 33-36 in save opportunities).

Erubiel struggled in AAA this season (5.77 ERA, 1.55 WHIP), but did convert 25 of 31 save opportunities. It appears Erubiel will need one more season in AAA before getting his promotion to the bigs.

Budgeting for the playoffs

As we near the end of this season and begin to prepare for the next, I thought it might be nice to take a quick look at budgeting. The following is the average spending of playoff teams from each season, including this season's division leaders. (I think you have to click on it to make it readable). The most obvious, and probably predictable, trend has been the that towards spending less on player payroll, and more on prospects.

It should also be noted that in instances of budget transfers, I used the new amounts, so for seasons 3, 4, and 5 the total spending isn't quite $185.

NL Playoff Picture

The last two World Series representatives have proved their success was no fluke as they battle for the being the #1 seed in the NL. Atlanta this season doesn't have a dominating rotation, but they are all solid. They also boast the best rated bullpen in the league. Their offense is the most well rounded in the league, they rank among the top teams in HRs, OBP, and SB. You can't focus on keeping the ball in the park or keeping their speedsters from stealing to beat them. If they have a weakness it is that they don't have that one batter or one pitcher that strikes fear in the other team.

Hartford is polar opposite to Atlanta, they don't steal and just pummel teams with their lineup. It really revolves around three imposing hitters that can hit any pitcher. Even though they play in one of the best hitter parks, they have two pitchers vying for a Cy Young award. A weakness has to be their closer, he's 0-12 and has only converted 70% of his saves. And how can Carlos Johnson only be 24 years old?

Apologies to Richmond, but Houston is about the only team that is in striking distance of getting one of the coveted top two seeds. They have the best .OPS in the NL, and if season ended today they would have 5 silver sluggers. They sure don't seem to be regretting making the trade for Tim Smith this year, he's having another all-star season and can single handedly win games. He's not a one man show though; they have 6 guys that will get 100+ RBI this season.

Richmond has quietly been one of the most consistent teams in the league. For the fourth time in five seasons they will get 90+ wins. Pitching is what separates this team from the pack along with being one of the best defensive rated teams, but don't ignore their offense. Its really a three man show with this lineup, but they each bring something different. Al Pena is one of the best all round players in the game, Enrique Ruiz is starting to live up to his potential, and Jim Stewart is raw power.

Barring something spectacular Austin is probably the only team that has an outside chance of catching the current Wild card leaders. Their pitching outside of Ralph Taylor needs to step it up a notch and finding a consistent run producer to go with Gus Andrews would help. Speaking of Andrews he must be the most unheralded superstar in the league. Take his four best seasons and he's averaged 60Hrs and 155 RBIs, and his only award in his career.

Colorado Springs is trying to break the stranglehold Arizona has had on the NL West every season. They play with a solid lineup from top to bottom, but no all-stars. Brent Oswalt has to win the award for playing out of his mind, a borderline ML talent with 2 season of +7 ERA this year in 26 starts he has a 3.67 ERA.

Arizona like always is going to pin its hopes on Doug Connelly and Dick Yeats, an impressive 1-2 punch but they might be starting to show their age. Their pitchers are statistically an average group, and in another HBD relief pitcher oddity their closer has a 6.00 ERA, yet has converted 93% of his save opportunities.

NL North - Due to some recent long losing streaks Toronto and Cincinnati have really just about fallen out of the race. Cleveland has some very good RPs and a couple of nice sluggers that hit behind perennial all-star CF Goya. St. Louis might only have one above average offensive player on their team, they don't really have power or speed, but that is still an impressive trio of SPs followed by a just as impressive group of RPs. For all the ridicule this division has taken for its winner potentially having a losing record it would be unwise for a team that meets either of these teams in the playoffs to take them lightly.