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THT Links: News

by Matthew Carruth
March 19, 2007

I don't have much in the way of a title or an introduction because it is exam day for me here in (once again) freezing Philadelphia. With visions of contract curves, possibility frontiers and social welfare functions going loop-d-loop in my brain here are the links from the weekend.

Meche Runs Out of Steam - Gil Meche had three good innings and then completely fell apart in the fourth, allowing all six hitters that he faced to reach base. I put this in for the benefit of Mariner fans who don't have much else to cheer about.

//Shakes Head - Either sportswriting is very hard to do, or the majority of them suck at their job because there's just no excuse for pieces like the one referenced here and Jeff Sullivan points out why. For other examples see: every post at Fire Joe Morgan.

Pick the Best Catcher - Would you rather have Joe Mauer or Brain McCann?

The Reds Closer (For Now) - Mark this one down on your fantasy depth charts, Dustin Hermanson appears to be the Reds closer to begin the season. I wouldn't put a lot of stock in that holding up.

Evaluating Trades - Derek Zumsteg breaks down the two main camps of how laypersons evaluate trades. The infuriating point is that we all have to admit that we know far less than we think we know and rational evalution from outside the organization is very hard to do.

Santana's Future - Johan Santana wants to get better. He's also going to get paid, or at least be offered somewhere around ten times his weight in gold after 2008.

Manny a Microcosm - Dan Rosenheck has a look into what Manny Ramirez's full value might be to the Red Sox after you factor in his mediocre defense. Although I'm not as down on Manny as Dan is, it is an important point. Far too often, the general public just sees the hitting line and draws its conclusions from there. If we ever get to the point of doing a good job at quantifying defense than we'll be really onto something, but until then, Derek Jeter and Michael Young fans just realize that your heroes suck in the field and that matters.

Rollins and First Pitches - A good look into how Jimmy Rollins performs when swinging at the first pitch and, more importantly, finding a baseline to compare that against.

Would This Fly in the NFL? - C.J. Wilson is one of the rare breed of baseball players, more an intellectual than a jock. Although rare, it is not exceedingly so to find players like this in the MLB. My question is, are there any in the NFL? I don't tend to read human interest stories about football so I might have just missed them all, but my impression is that there really aren't, or people don't want to know if a linebacker on their favorite team like to read Proust in his spare time.

Is Prior Done? - It's probably too early to call it, but it sure looks like Mark Prior has a lot of work to do.

Strike Eleventy Four - Nice try Petey. Pete Rose amended his statement on betting for the umpteenth time, saying that he bet on his team every Reds game, thereby making it all ok. If you squint really hard, it almost looks reasonable, until you find out that no, in fact, he's lying again.

Angel the Angel of Darkness - Royals Review has a look at Angel Berroa in an attempt to answer the age old question: Berroa, terrible shortstop or terriblest shortstop?

Today at THT

Five Questions: Toronto Blue Jays - Oh Canada! Or uh-oh Canada? THT's token Canuck looks at the Blue Jays' chances of competing with the Maple Leafs for face time in October.

Moving Beyond ERA+ - ERA+ is great tool, but it may not telling us the full story when it comes to league and park adjustments.

2007 Projected Division Standings - John dusts down the THT crystal ball and predicts the 2007 division winners.

Five Questions: Boston Red Sox - Will Boston's offseason spending spree translate into a playoff spot in 2007?

Updated weekdays at noonish, ET.

Matthew Carruth is an editor for The Hardball Times. He welcomes any and all sorts of communication at his email.

Do you have a general question or comment for one of THT's writers? Send it in to our weekly mailbag We also welcome unsolicited op-ed pieces of approximately 500 words for consideration. We reserve the right to edit for length, clarity and consistency of style. Please include your whole name and location to be considered. If you have a comment about this specific article, please email the writer.

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