Anyone want to argue that? Anyone?
"Fun" fact : The guy with the second most walks on the Nats is Danny Espinosa. He's tied for 41st in the NL. The guy with the third most walks on the Nats is Wilson Ramos. He's tied for 81st.
I don't mind Rizzo's infatuation with the strikeout. A lot of people will tell you that strikeouts aren't even that bad. It's the same as any other out if there are two outs in an inning, and a good part of the "not moving anyone over, not forcing the other team to make a play" is muted by the fact you rarely get two outs on a strikeout.
Here's the thing though. You find guys that are good at hitting for power and good at getting on base and hope they don't strike out too much. You do NOT get guys that strike out too much and hope they are good at hitting for power and good at getting on base.
Just saying.
Yeah. He's, he's pretty bad. You know who is is bad? Jonny Gomes. And you know who has no business in RF? Laynce Nix.
ReplyDeleteWorst defensive outfield in baseball was put on display last night. That should never happen. I would rather see Bixler and Cora out there. Hell, I'd rather see me and my dog out there, he never bobbles it once the ball is in his teeth.
HES HORRIBLE...ive been saying that for months. I was just hoping his 2 week hot streak he went on after the DL helped him get traded. It didnt but rather bumped Barnadina. Please bring back Bernadina. Hes a better fielder and at least can hit a groundball to move runners. Ankiel thinks he can hit a 500 ft HR every AAB. The guy is horrible.
ReplyDeleteCan I argue that stinks is too mild a term?
ReplyDeleteStinks at hitting... he can throw the hell out of a baseball, though.
ReplyDeleteHe did have a sweet swinging bunt this week, though.
hahaha...that swinging bunt was HAMMERED.
ReplyDeleteAlso, think of this...hes hitting in front of Zimmerman, arguably the hottest hitter the 2nd half of baseball and he still sucks.
He was only signed for 1 yr right?
Might as well let Harper come up and play. He cant possibly do worse
Natty raises a good point. How you can hit .192 in front of Zim and Morse? That's just impressive anyway you slice it.
ReplyDeleteAlso, why is he (and Gomes and Nix) playing instead of Bernandina? Bernie may not be great, but he's still young and might actually improve if you just let him play.
ReplyDeleteKyle - it was pretty brutal. Still it's more the combo than the parts. Ankiel isn't terrible. Nix should be better (gotta think the injury is affecting him). Gomes...well yeah he's the worst.
ReplyDeleteDCN - but that's why he's playing - for that 500ft blast every other week. Waiting for his homer is kind of like watching to see if Teddy wins. And yes one year.
Hoo - yes you can.
DD - the magic that man has with a bat. Wait until his bunt homer.
DCN / Hoo - the idea is that guys don't want to walk players infront of good hitters so they give them pitches to hit hence they get better. Ankiel counterpoints with what if that batter doesn't mind swinging at pitches out of the strike zone and can't hit the ones in it.
bdrube - Gomes and Nix are presumably playing to get to / maintain Type B status and to "show off" so they could possibly sign elsewhere and give the Nats a draft pick next year.
Bernie isn't that young and isn't likely to get it at this point. He's also not much better a fielder, maybe worse actually. Still, what's the harm in giving the Nats fans what they want. Especially with Shark Night coming out soon.
OK, I'll argue. How about this - Rick Ankiel doesn't stink this year given what he is being paid? 1 WAR in 300 ABs. I was against the signing, still didn't think it made sense, but thought it was ok if he never gets 150 ABs. He is on pace for over 400, but he'll earn his $1m salary.
ReplyDeleteYou know who really stinks in 2011? Johnny Damon, Alphonso Soriano, Ryan Ludwick, Carl Crawford, Adam Lind, James Loney, - all with less WAR in more ABs at much higher dollars.
How'd I do?
You did bad Wally. Stop with this sabremetric nonsense.
ReplyDeleteIs AlFonso Soriano overpaid? Yes. Is he 10x the hitter any Nats outfielder has been this season? Yes.
Just the easiest example to prove how stupid you are.
Wally - salary conditional non-stinkage? Sorry I don't buy it. I'd say all those guys stink the same (this season). Appreciate the effort though.
ReplyDeleteKyle - 10x better? Not this year. You're #1 goal as a hitter is "don't get out" and Soriano gets out more than anyone. And name-calling? Let's stick to calling each others ideas stupid and questioning the purity of our female relatives.
? Soriano at this stage: .244/22/61
ReplyDeleteThe Nats would kill to have an OF that could hit like that. Maybe you didn't look at his numbers before you made that comment, so I'll let it go.
Current Nats OF: Rick Ankiel, who can only hit RHP, and not even well. Laynce Nix, who can only hit RHP, and not well. Jayson Werth, who probably couldn't hit AAA pitching. Gomes, who can only hit LHP, and only sometimes. And Bixler, who is on the team to pinch run.
ReplyDeleteSoriano hits for power, he's a great addition to the clubhouse, he's a team leader, he still draws fans. If the Nats could get him for half of what he's making, I guarantee you they would. Saying that he is in the same league as Ankiel, who can't even play a full MLB season is STUPID.
Uh, Kyle, you might want to consider this:
ReplyDelete.235/7/27 for Ankiel, which is you scale up to account for Soriano having roughly one and a third times the ABs (381 vs 293) comes out to about .235/9/36. I agree Soriano is a much better player, but not THAT much better. I'm tempted to heap additional derision on your choice of stats/character/mother's preferred choice of activities because you were jerk to Wally, but somehow I think Harper would get mad at me.
Soriano is HORRIBLE. Kyle you just lost all credibility to argue the Nats would be much better with him. Considering he doesnt know how to catch a fly ball. Your excited over a .244 average? Come on...the Nats have enough guys who swing for the fences. The need more guys who hit for avg. Look at the Phillies. Ever wonder why they are so good...its cuase they have maybe one guy in the lineup hitting under .230. The nats have 6.
ReplyDeleteHmmm. I agree with half of what you say. I think the Nats would want Soriano (at a cheaper price of course) because he provides a consistent power source that the team lacks. He's also was a fan favorite and probably would be again. And as you say - it's not like he'd be taking the spot from someone much better.
ReplyDeleteOn the whether he's had a better year than Ankiel... we are getting into minutae to show it. Ankiel fields a bit better at a harder position, has less expected of him at the plate as a CF than Soriano as a LF, has shown some value on the basepaths, and most importantly Soriano gets a ton of outs. It's this whole combination that makes it the way it is.
But that's more just a fluke. Soriano was clearly better last year. (Not as much better as he should be based on salary but you aren't arguing that.) If we were to bet on next year I'd bet Soriano being clearly better again.
Really what we have here is a pefect storm of everything that makes up baseball coming together so that Rick Ankiel's 2011 is as valuable as Alfonso Soriano's. It's saying nothing about the players themselves. Like I said - it's more a fluke (and a fact that Soriano is a good deal older) than anything else.
Sure Ankiel is not hitting well and shouldn't be in 2-hole. But I'll certainly back Wally to say that Ankiel is doing OK considering what he's paid ($1.5mil), ESPECIALLY compared to Soriano ($18mil!). They can't all be Zim and Morse...
ReplyDeleteAnkiel and Soriano strike out about the same terrible rate, but Rick actually gets on base (creates fewer outs) at a better clip.
Ankiel is a better baserunner (10-3 SB-CS) than Soriano (1-1) at this stage.
Ankiel plays a more premium defensive position (CF not LF) and does it better. He has 1 error (Soriano 7!), 6 assists (6), and better range relative to league.
Soriano only has an edge in HR and RBI, but these can be explained somewhat by Wrigley's status as more of a hitters' park, the fact that Soriano bats in better lineup position for RBIs, and has men on to drive in more.
Of these guys, I'd find it easier to take the $1.5mil player than the guy making 12 times that, even if I were to accept Kyle's very scientific claim of Soriano being 10 times better, since 12 times salary > 10 times ability.
[I pick on Kyle because he's the one who suggested Soriano and so ridiculously dismissed sabermetric "nonsense". I assume he's the guy still wearing #12 to Nats games. I think the non-SABR stats still point to Ankiel being better value, but for what it's worth, B-R and Fangraphs have Ankiel at 1-1.5 WAR, and Soriano at 0.5-1 WAR.]
Disregarding funds (which is how players should be compared when discussing SKILL), you guys would rather have and OF of what, Gomes/Nix, Ankiel, Werth?
ReplyDeleteI'll take Soriano, Bernadina, Werth. We'll see which OF puts up better numbers.
DCNatty, silencio. Cory: Yes, Ankiel is a better fielder. Better baserunner? Fonzi doesn't get many chances to run in CHI, so I won't give in there. Soriano is a much, much better hitter.
And sabermetrics are not how you measure a player's talent. WATCH THE GAME. Baseball isn't won with computers and calculators.
touche!!!! Does seem like we want guys who strike out alot. Didn't Rizzo come over from Arizona? What has been Arizona's achilles heel? Hmmmmm
ReplyDeleteAs for Ankiel, he is bad! I miss Morgan (do not miss tony plush though)! but Ankiel is actually better than I thought when we got him. He is a decent CF defensively, and has a plus arm. I only expected the arm. My view on him is that he makes a solid 4th or 5th OF. He is not a starter though.
As for comments SORIANO sucks just about as bad as Ankiel. Anyone who favors Soriano is not thinking clearly. Soriano is a park that strongly favors home runs and Ankiel is in park that hurts homeruns, so their power is similar given the same park.