News this time of year often centers around guys who are in the best shape of their careers, or guys who gained too much weight in the offseason. With that in mind, I give you...

Pablo Sandoval:


And Yasiel Puig:


I'll let you decide which one is which.

Other stuff I've seen...

D-Backs Josh Collmenter is teaching physics to his teammates.

Another Dodger note that may bode well for starting pitching: Alex Wood was pitching with a bruised foot the entire time he was with the Dodgers last season.

(Swoosh, please forgive me, and feel free to merge this elsewhere if this is an unwelcome new thread. Just didn't feel right putting this in the Hot Stove thread.)

You're a good guy (for a Dodgers fan) so I'll let it slide. And you know how I live a good 'Panda is super fat' post. When April rolls around I'll just start a 2016 MLB season thread and posts like this could go in there.

Anyway, I'm still amazed at A) the Sox for thinking this wouldn't be a bad deal B) the Giants for offering $95 million and C) Giants fans who desperately wanted him back and had no problem with giving him $95-100 million. It was so obvious that he wasn't gonna be worth what he got paid. I mean, it just seemed like a concrete fact rather than one man's opinion. And then they went and started the season with Casey McGehee at 3B rather than Duffy, when it was obvious that the latter was going to be at least a solid player. I predicted something like 2.5 WAR for Duffy, which he exceeded and which was far greater than the Panda and McGehee combined and for far less money. There are times when you don't want to put all your eggs in the basket of a rookie. This was not one of those times

Frenchy back with the Braves. Don't know whether to laugh or cry!

Braves sign Francoeur to minor-league deal
9:57 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016 | Filed in: Braves
By: David O'Brien, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Frenchy is coming home.

The Braves signed right fielder Jeff Francoeur to a minor league contract that includes an invitation to spring training, where the former Sports Illustrated cover boy and ballyhooed member of the 2005 “Baby Braves” rookie class will try to make the team he last played for in 2009.

Francoeur, 32, a former two-sport star at Parkview High and Clemson football recruit, played nearly five seasons with the Braves, including consecutive 100-RBI seasons, before being traded to the Mets in 2009.


Jeff Francoeur, here seen in a Feb. 18, 2008 photo signing autographs at Champions Ballpark at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex Monday, is returning to the Braves organization.

He’s a .261 career hitter with 153 homee runs and a .722 OPS in 11 seasons, and had a solid season in a part-time role with the Phillies in 2015, batting .258 with 13 homers and 45 RBIs in 343 at-bats. Many in the Phillies organization wanted to re-sign him, but ultimately no offer was made.

“We are excited to bring Frenchy back home and he will have a tremendous opportunity here,” Braves general manager John Coppolella said. “He brings leadership, experience, makeup, and most importantly, talent.”

Francoeur was expected to arrive in the Orlando area on Tuesday night and report to camp on Wednesday, the official reporting date for Braves pitchers and catchers. The first full-squad workout is Thursday.

He hit .367 (11-for-30) as a pinch-hitter last season, and his 11 pinch-hit RBIs were one shy of the majors lead. Though he’s a right-handed hitter, Francoeur hit .264 with 10 homers and a .477 slugging percentage in 202 plate appearances vs. right-handed pitchers in 2015, compared to .248 with three homers and .368 slugging in 141 PAs versus lefties.

Never one to draw a walk, Francoeur had only 13 walks with a .286 on-base percentage in 2015, and has a .304 career OBP. But he can provide power off the bench and has long been known as a tremendous clubhouse presence and great teammate.

The Braves already had a bit of a logjam of veteran outfielders, with Nick Markakis entrenched in right field, and Michael Bourn and Nick Swisher having no obvious place to get at-bats behind newcomer Ender Inciarte and Hector Olivera, who are penciled in for center field and left field, respectively. The Braves could trade Bourn and/or Swisher if they can find a team to take even a portion of their large salaries; both are in the final year of contracts.

Francoeur, a former Gold Glove Award winner (2007), has played almost exclusively in right field throughout his career, but does have 38 games (24 starts) in left field including 20 games (10 starts) last season for Philadelphia. He also made a two-inning relief appearances as a pitcher for the Phillies after pitching a few times in the minor leagues.

A Braves first-round draft pick in 2002 out of Parkview, Francoeur reached the majors in July 2005 in a Braves rookie class that also included Brian McCann and Kelly Johnson, who is back for his third stint with the Braves this season.

It was Francoeur who got the most attention among those rookies in 2005, when he had a remarkable start to his career that landed him on the cover of Sports Illustrated, where he was dubbed “The Natural.” He hit .300 with 14 homers and finished third in the National League Rookie of the Year balloting despite playing just 70 games that year.

Francoeur hit .260 with 29 homers and 103 RBIs in 2006 in his first full season in the majors, then hit .290 with 19 homers and 105 RBIs in 2007. But after totaling 48 homers and 208 RBIs in a two-season span he slipped to a .239 average with 11 homers and 71 RBIs in 2008, his last full season with the Braves.

His best season after leaving the Braves came with the Royals in 2011, when Francoeur hit .285 with 20 homers, 87 RBIs and a career-high 22 stolen bases — the only time he stole as many as nine bases in a season.

Francoeur played for four major league teams — Royals, Giants, Padres, Phillies — in the past three seasons, and had just 10 games and 28 plate appearances in the majors with San Diego in 2014 before his 2015 resurgence with the Phillies.

(02-23-2016 03:33 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  You're a good guy (for a Dodgers fan) so I'll let it slide. And you know how I live a good 'Panda is super fat' post. When April rolls around I'll just start a 2016 MLB season thread and posts like this could go in there.

Anyway, I'm still amazed at A) the Sox for thinking this wouldn't be a bad deal B) the Giants for offering $95 million and C) Giants fans who desperately wanted him back and had no problem with giving him $95-100 million. It was so obvious that he wasn't gonna be worth what he got paid. I mean, it just seemed like a concrete fact rather than one man's opinion. And then they went and started the season with Casey McGehee at 3B rather than Duffy, when it was obvious that the latter was going to be at least a solid player. I predicted something like 2.5 WAR for Duffy, which he exceeded and which was far greater than the Panda and McGehee combined and for far less money. There are times when you don't want to put all your eggs in the basket of a rookie. This was not one of those times

The whole Sandoval thing is pretty hilarious (granted - maybe not for a Giants fan still sweating that they almost blew $100MM on the guy). I'm not really a Red Sox fan but Brock Holt is a Rice alum and, as their super-utility guy, probably gets more chances to play if the Panda is on the roster at that weight.

(02-23-2016 06:38 PM)Brookes Owl Wrote:  

(02-23-2016 03:33 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  You're a good guy (for a Dodgers fan) so I'll let it slide. And you know how I live a good 'Panda is super fat' post. When April rolls around I'll just start a 2016 MLB season thread and posts like this could go in there.

Anyway, I'm still amazed at A) the Sox for thinking this wouldn't be a bad deal B) the Giants for offering $95 million and C) Giants fans who desperately wanted him back and had no problem with giving him $95-100 million. It was so obvious that he wasn't gonna be worth what he got paid. I mean, it just seemed like a concrete fact rather than one man's opinion. And then they went and started the season with Casey McGehee at 3B rather than Duffy, when it was obvious that the latter was going to be at least a solid player. I predicted something like 2.5 WAR for Duffy, which he exceeded and which was far greater than the Panda and McGehee combined and for far less money. There are times when you don't want to put all your eggs in the basket of a rookie. This was not one of those times

The whole Sandoval thing is pretty hilarious (granted - maybe not for a Giants fan still sweating that they almost blew $100MM on the guy). I'm not really a Red Sox fan but Brock Holt is a Rice alum and, as their super-utility guy, probably gets more chances to play if the Panda is on the roster at that weight.

I don't think I've ever seen Holt play, but based on his stats I have zero doubt he's a better option than the Panda. His combined 4.7 WAR in the last 2 seasons, over 235 games, is no worse than the current ceiling for the Panda, and at this point probably better. Holt is far from a great hitter, but he posted a .349 OBP with excellent base running numbers and solid defensive stats in the infield

(02-23-2016 10:38 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  I don't think I've ever seen Holt play, but based on his stats I have zero doubt he's a better option than the Panda. His combined 4.7 WAR in the last 2 seasons, over 235 games, is no worse than the current ceiling for the Panda, and at this point probably better. Holt is far from a great hitter, but he posted a .349 OBP with excellent base running numbers and solid defensive stats in the infield

It's a great story - the guy has become sort of a poor man's Ben Zobrist. He played all positions except pitcher and catcher in 2015, with decent to good results. He was an All Star, for crying out loud. That may say more about how bad the Sox than how good Brock was but it's still remarkable that a utility guy was good enough to be the MVP of the first half of their season.

That said, he's in a weird spot. His WAR (and potential WAR) may be better than Panda's, but Panda makes $17MM (Holt makes $500K). They're not benching Sandoval. But they might give him regular rest days, especially if his production is off. Same goes for Hanley Ramirez at 1st. Holt is more of a line drive contact hitter - he's not going to produce like a corner infielder so he'll never be a permanent, or even semi-permanent solution there. The good news is that the Red Sox value him and he's always the first guy they call when pretty much anyone needs to sit.

(02-24-2016 12:15 AM)Brookes Owl Wrote:  

(02-23-2016 10:38 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  I don't think I've ever seen Holt play, but based on his stats I have zero doubt he's a better option than the Panda. His combined 4.7 WAR in the last 2 seasons, over 235 games, is no worse than the current ceiling for the Panda, and at this point probably better. Holt is far from a great hitter, but he posted a .349 OBP with excellent base running numbers and solid defensive stats in the infield

It's a great story - the guy has become sort of a poor man's Ben Zobrist. He played all positions except pitcher and catcher in 2015, with decent to good results. He was an All Star, for crying out loud. That may say more about how bad the Sox than how good Brock was but it's still remarkable that a utility guy was good enough to be the MVP of the first half of their season.

That said, he's in a weird spot. His WAR (and potential WAR) may be better than Panda's, but Panda makes $17MM (Holt makes $500K). They're not benching Sandoval. But they might give him regular rest days, especially if his production is off. Same goes for Hanley Ramirez at 1st. Holt is more of a line drive contact hitter - he's not going to produce like a corner infielder so he'll never be a permanent, or even semi-permanent solution there. The good news is that the Red Sox value him and he's always the first guy they call when pretty much anyone needs to sit.

I saw Farrell say he's going to get 300 PA. Although with a roster that includes Panda, Hanley and an injury prone Pedroia, I have to think he's gonna get more than 300.

Was looking at Pedroia's career and I thought of an interesting comparison with another second baseman.
Pedroia:
Rookie year (23 years old): 139 games, 581 PA, 112 OPS+, 3.7 WAR
Second year (24): 157 games, 726 PA, 123 OPS+, 5.5 WAR

Player X:
Rookie year (23 years old): 73 games, 287 PA, 104 OPS+, 1.1 WAR
Second year (24): 100 games, 432 PA, 131 OPS+, 3.3 WAR


Player X is Joe Panik. Obviously this isn't a perfect comparison as Panik played far fewer games, but both are players who kind of surprised people and went on to have really good first 2 seasons. Pedroia won the ROY and then MVP in his 2nd year, so he obviously got a lot more press. But Panik has done a really good job so far and it just seems like people totally take him for granted. He was the best 2B in baseball when he got hurt, which BTW turned out to be a fractured vertebrae, most likely resulting from a hard slide against him.

(02-24-2016 12:58 AM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  

(02-24-2016 12:15 AM)Brookes Owl Wrote:  

(02-23-2016 10:38 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  I don't think I've ever seen Holt play, but based on his stats I have zero doubt he's a better option than the Panda. His combined 4.7 WAR in the last 2 seasons, over 235 games, is no worse than the current ceiling for the Panda, and at this point probably better. Holt is far from a great hitter, but he posted a .349 OBP with excellent base running numbers and solid defensive stats in the infield

It's a great story - the guy has become sort of a poor man's Ben Zobrist. He played all positions except pitcher and catcher in 2015, with decent to good results. He was an All Star, for crying out loud. That may say more about how bad the Sox than how good Brock was but it's still remarkable that a utility guy was good enough to be the MVP of the first half of their season.

That said, he's in a weird spot. His WAR (and potential WAR) may be better than Panda's, but Panda makes $17MM (Holt makes $500K). They're not benching Sandoval. But they might give him regular rest days, especially if his production is off. Same goes for Hanley Ramirez at 1st. Holt is more of a line drive contact hitter - he's not going to produce like a corner infielder so he'll never be a permanent, or even semi-permanent solution there. The good news is that the Red Sox value him and he's always the first guy they call when pretty much anyone needs to sit.

I saw Farrell say he's going to get 300 PA. Although with a roster that includes Panda, Hanley and an injury prone Pedroia, I have to think he's gonna get more than 300.

Was looking at Pedroia's career and I thought of an interesting comparison with another second baseman.
Pedroia:
Rookie year (23 years old): 139 games, 581 PA, 112 OPS+, 3.7 WAR
Second year (24): 157 games, 726 PA, 123 OPS+, 5.5 WAR

Player X:
Rookie year (23 years old): 73 games, 287 PA, 104 OPS+, 1.1 WAR
Second year (24): 100 games, 432 PA, 131 OPS+, 3.3 WAR


Player X is Joe Panik. Obviously this isn't a perfect comparison as Panik played far fewer games, but both are players who kind of surprised people and went on to have really good first 2 seasons. Pedroia won the ROY and then MVP in his 2nd year, so he obviously got a lot more press. But Panik has done a really good job so far and it just seems like people totally take him for granted. He was the best 2B in baseball when he got hurt, which BTW turned out to be a fractured vertebrae, most likely resulting from a hard slide against him.

Re Holt, he's averaged 500 PAs the last two seasons, more by far than the team planned for him. I think you're right about this year. With the way that team is structured I expect Brock to get at least 400.

Re 2b, the guy who is killing me right now is Dee Gordon. That SOB was an average player AT BEST for all but about 3 great months of his time with the Dodgers. He looked primed for regression and I kept waiting for it all season with the Marlins. The trade, in retrospect, still looks like the right move at the time (and still has the potential to be decent for LA), but man, watching Gordon's stats last year was tough.

Brett Anderson set to have tests on his back and Ryu was rested after feeling some discomfort in his surgically repaired shoulder. Dodgers definitely playing with fire having so many injury risks in the rotation. They have excellent depth at that spot and more than likely it will be tested

And news just came down the pike: Anderson out 3 to 5 months with back surgery. Dodgers management put together a whole rotation of injury risks and it's only started to bite them. Now let's see what happens with Ryu and Maeda. And now I'm reading that Ryu will begin the season on the DL. Injury risks are such for a reason. I'd be foolish to think a guy like Span is going to make it through the season without getting hurt, yet so many Dodgers fans seemed to wave away the high possibility of injury to those pitchers

(02-23-2016 02:40 PM)Brookes Owl Wrote:  Pablo Sandoval:

Looks like he ate one too many flautas and bean & cheese burritos during the offseason and not enough refried beans.

Interesting about the Nats Wilson Ramos:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/nati...ion-issue/

will be interesting to see if this helps Ramos out some. Hope so.

(03-03-2016 12:09 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  And news just came down the pike: Anderson out 3 to 5 months with back surgery. Dodgers management put together a whole rotation of injury risks and it's only started to bite them. Now let's see what happens with Ryu and Maeda. And now I'm reading that Ryu will begin the season on the DL. Injury risks are such for a reason. I'd be foolish to think a guy like Span is going to make it through the season without getting hurt, yet so many Dodgers fans seemed to wave away the high possibility of injury to those pitchers

I'm gonna have to ask for a source on that bolded part! Cuz there are no informed Dodgers fans I know that haven't been worried about injury. You made the point earlier about depth - there is a really good reason the Dodgers have been working on it, in particular for pitching. Several guys are older and/or have an injury history. Including Anderson.

The Ryu thing isn't a surprise - they've been talking about it for a while. If he starts in May that's fine. (Big "if", I know.) Guys like Wood are going to get good long looks this spring and I feel pretty good about that.

Ironically about Anderson, there was a great story on him just a couple of days ago talking about how he had a bad back injury a few years ago and had to completely change his workouts to focus on core strength - and how much that helped his pitching. *sigh* If we're gonna lose a pitcher this early, at least it's a #4/#5 guy.

(03-03-2016 02:03 PM)stever20 Wrote:  Interesting about the Nats Wilson Ramos:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/nati...ion-issue/

will be interesting to see if this helps Ramos out some. Hope so.

Geez, he can't wear glasses for a season and then decide what to do? I know lasik is pretty routine now but this close to season start? Rattles the nerves a little.

(03-03-2016 02:12 PM)Brookes Owl Wrote:  

(03-03-2016 12:09 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  And news just came down the pike: Anderson out 3 to 5 months with back surgery. Dodgers management put together a whole rotation of injury risks and it's only started to bite them. Now let's see what happens with Ryu and Maeda. And now I'm reading that Ryu will begin the season on the DL. Injury risks are such for a reason. I'd be foolish to think a guy like Span is going to make it through the season without getting hurt, yet so many Dodgers fans seemed to wave away the high possibility of injury to those pitchers

I'm gonna have to ask for a source on that bolded part! Cuz there are no informed Dodgers fans I know that haven't been worried about injury. You made the point earlier about depth - there is a really good reason the Dodgers have been working on it, in particular for pitching. Several guys are older and/or have an injury history. Including Anderson.

The Ryu thing isn't a surprise - they've been talking about it for a while. If he starts in May that's fine. (Big "if", I know.) Guys like Wood are going to get good long looks this spring and I feel pretty good about that.

Ironically about Anderson, there was a great story on him just a couple of days ago talking about how he had a bad back injury a few years ago and had to completely change his workouts to focus on core strength - and how much that helped his pitching. *sigh* If we're gonna lose a pitcher this early, at least it's a #4/#5 guy.

got it from twitter where Dodgers fans made it sound like they weren't the least bit worried about Ryu's shoulder

(03-03-2016 12:47 PM)_C2_ Wrote:  

(02-23-2016 02:40 PM)Brookes Owl Wrote:  Pablo Sandoval:

Looks like he ate one too many flautas and bean & cheese burritos during the offseason and not enough refried beans.

Giants announcer Mike Krukow claims he has an eating disorder. That's a pretty tough thing to say without any proof, but the evidence certainly makes it seem plausible

(03-03-2016 03:15 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  

(03-03-2016 02:12 PM)Brookes Owl Wrote:  

(03-03-2016 12:09 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  And news just came down the pike: Anderson out 3 to 5 months with back surgery. Dodgers management put together a whole rotation of injury risks and it's only started to bite them. Now let's see what happens with Ryu and Maeda. And now I'm reading that Ryu will begin the season on the DL. Injury risks are such for a reason. I'd be foolish to think a guy like Span is going to make it through the season without getting hurt, yet so many Dodgers fans seemed to wave away the high possibility of injury to those pitchers

I'm gonna have to ask for a source on that bolded part! Cuz there are no informed Dodgers fans I know that haven't been worried about injury. You made the point earlier about depth - there is a really good reason the Dodgers have been working on it, in particular for pitching. Several guys are older and/or have an injury history. Including Anderson.

The Ryu thing isn't a surprise - they've been talking about it for a while. If he starts in May that's fine. (Big "if", I know.) Guys like Wood are going to get good long looks this spring and I feel pretty good about that.

Ironically about Anderson, there was a great story on him just a couple of days ago talking about how he had a bad back injury a few years ago and had to completely change his workouts to focus on core strength - and how much that helped his pitching. *sigh* If we're gonna lose a pitcher this early, at least it's a #4/#5 guy.

got it from twitter where Dodgers fans made it sound like they weren't the least bit worried about Ryu's shoulder

Random morons who aren't paying attention. I'm pretty comfortable saying people with that opinion represent a tiny fraction of Dodgers fans and/or are whistling past the graveyard.

Another Owl I'm feeling good about: Tyler Duffey. Fangraphs has a great post about him today...

Quote:There’s a really neat thing about the curveball. How many times have I talked about my pitch-comp formula? Using PITCHf/x information, I can calculate similar individual pitches by looking at the average velocities, horizontal movements, and vertical movements. I decided to run pitch comps for curveballs thrown by starting pitchers in 2015. The curveball most similar to Duffey’s, on average: none other than Felix Hernandez‘s curveball.

Now, the author goes on to point out that Hernandez has a broader repertoire of pitches, but this is still very high praise. He finished last year so well that Molitor has essentially penciled in Duffey as the #4 or #5 this year. I'm looking forward to see what Duffey can do to follow last season's debut. They were close last year - maybe with a full (successful) season, he can help push the Twins into the playoffs.

Fangraphs breaking down video Lucas Giolito's curveball: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/instagrap...curveball/

(03-03-2016 02:14 PM)Brookes Owl Wrote:  

(03-03-2016 02:03 PM)stever20 Wrote:  Interesting about the Nats Wilson Ramos:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/nati...ion-issue/

will be interesting to see if this helps Ramos out some. Hope so.

Geez, he can't wear glasses for a season and then decide what to do? I know lasik is pretty routine now but this close to season start? Rattles the nerves a little.

saw today that he's saying he can really see the difference already.