Taveras and his lousy contract

by cesarhernandez on Feb 19, 2009 9:49 PM EST

From Christina Kahrl at Baseball Prospectus....the Reds win a dubious award!

Worst Two-Year Contract: Willy Taveras, Reds $6.25 million

The problem with signing Willy Taveras has little to do with the total expense; it's not zero dollars down, but in baseball terms it's not really all that expensive. It has even less to do with the things that he does do well, like run and steal bases (generating a NL-best 11.9 Equivalent Baserunning Runs, covering the gaps, throwing pretty effectively for a center fielder). The problem is what Taveras is being employed to do—lead off—and the chance that he can deliver on it with even a modicum of effectiveness. His park-neutral PECOTA rojection for 2009 is for a .319 OBP, which doesn't sound too good for a team that got a .326 OBP from its weak crew of leadoff options last year. The real pity is that the Reds could have instead run with a platoon that puts sophomore Chris Dickerson in center and leading off—Dickerson's projected to a park-neutral .331 OBP which he'd surpass if his minor league splits held in the majors and he was limited to starting versus righties. And no, employing Dickerson wouldn't cost "only" $6.25 million the next two years—money that might have instead been spent on getting a left fielder who might actually help the Reds score some runs.

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no woman never brought me no pheasant

There's action across the street. It's Snowman! Take him!

by Man Mountain on Feb 20, 2009 12:04 AM EST reply actions 1 recs

Yeah, ummmm.......

About that whole “woman” thing…….

Well, you better just google it.

"Karma - there it was. The meaning of life, straight from Carson Daly's lips to my morphine-laced ears." -Earl Hickey

by BLee2525 on Feb 21, 2009 12:08 AM EST up reply actions

I'm pretty sure he knows

I thought it was some sort of reference to Shakespeare’s A Winter’s Tale (“I have no pheasant, cock nor hen…” I was going to rec it and explain exactly why to piss him off.

by Red Menace on Feb 21, 2009 1:08 AM EST up reply actions

(Exit, Red Menace, pursued by bear)

There's action across the street. It's Snowman! Take him!

by Man Mountain on Feb 22, 2009 3:02 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs

I was pretty sure it was a Dustyism

I miss the old days of the internet when men were men, hot girls were middle aged men, and hot uderage girls were FBI agents.....

by jch24 on Feb 24, 2009 10:00 AM EST up reply actions

There’s wikipedia.

by ol Pete on Feb 21, 2009 10:17 AM EST up reply actions

I dislike the 2nd year

because it was unnecessary. He’d still get arbitration next year even if he wasn’t under a contract. Somehow I doubt he makes much more than $4M in arbitration next season.

"How big IS your magic wand?"

by Slyde on Feb 20, 2009 7:46 AM EST reply actions

agreed

I mean if Corey Patterson can’t even get a two year deal who does the Virus think he is.

90 wins in 09!!

by Caleb on Feb 20, 2009 8:36 AM EST up reply actions

what if it was a one year deal?

that would frustrate me more. then he would just be blocking dickerson and stubbs on a team that is going to lose probably. maybe in 2010 he can have a role to play in a hopefully more successful team. its not a huge amount of money. if the reds win 90 games in 2010 tvirus could be the pinch-runner extraordinaire

by saboscork on Feb 20, 2009 10:33 PM EST up reply actions

I feel like this was another 'meant for Dusty' signing

and another one that will fail miserably

Soy el niño destructor. I eat kids for breakfast. Roar. - Juan Francisco 'spoken with an Italian accent'

by jacob brumfield on Feb 20, 2009 8:32 AM EST reply actions

Willy T. isn’t being employed to play CF and run the bases? Kahrl’s genius suggested trading 3 prospects including Escobar and Jeffries for Peavy’s not cheap contract. Sounds like a Cubs fan.

by ol Pete on Feb 20, 2009 2:17 PM EST reply actions

I'd still make that trade. Peavy is golden

by timb116 on Feb 26, 2009 9:41 AM EST up reply actions

Could Chris's uncle Eric come to camp

and break Dusty’s ankles? Could he at least let EdE borrow his signature rec-specs?

Not that CDick will be great, he’ll probably flop. But I’m not sure I dig the “lets hope one of the Dickerson/Hairston/Nix/Taveras doesn’t shit the bed” theory.

...because there's already someone posing as Jacob Brumfield

by Cy Schourek on Feb 20, 2009 2:34 PM EST reply actions

Here's the best Reds outfield

LF: Platoon Gomes and Jones
CF: Platoon Dickerson and Hairston
RF: Jay Bruce

Taveras is late-inning defensive replacement for Hairston and pinch-runner.

You went full retard. No one ever comes back from that. - Sgt. Osiris

by cesarhernandez on Feb 20, 2009 4:27 PM EST reply actions

Willy is a better hitter and defender than Jones.

I laid my bed and I'm going to have to sit on it. - A-Roid the Liar

by PeteyHendrix on Feb 20, 2009 5:39 PM EST up reply actions

I dunno about that

Jones evidently had the magic Lasik surgery this offseason, so that may help his hitting. Of course Taveras is a better defender than Jones, but we only need Jones for LF. The late-inning shift against lefties could be Taveras in CF and Hairston in LF.

You went full retard. No one ever comes back from that. - Sgt. Osiris

by cesarhernandez on Feb 20, 2009 6:05 PM EST up reply actions

if lasik is anything like the Hairston rib removal,

we should be in business.

...because there's already someone posing as Jacob Brumfield

by Cy Schourek on Feb 20, 2009 7:01 PM EST up reply actions

We hear this kind of thng a lot in spring...

“He suddenly learned the strike zone” being a recent one with Jerry Hairston, Jr. The jury is still out on that one, but how often does a rapid improvement REALLY happen? I can’t think of any decent examples.

Without knowing anything specific, it’s hard not to notice that Jones’ rapid decline occurred around the same time that many PED-using folks stopped using, leading to rapid declines.

I laid my bed and I'm going to have to sit on it. - A-Roid the Liar

by PeteyHendrix on Feb 20, 2009 7:55 PM EST up reply actions

rapid improvement

Part of the problem is that it’s hard to differentiate between rapid improvement and freak season. It’ll be interesting to see which bucket Cherry puts himself in this season.

"How big IS your magic wand?"

by Slyde on Feb 20, 2009 8:54 PM EST up reply actions

Agreed.

You have to be successful for more than just one season after your “improvement.”

With that in mind…I still can’t think of a single example of any player who wasn’t in their first three years in MLB who suddenly FOUND something that helped them dramatically from then on, as we read so often in spring puff pieces.

I’d love to be proven wrong by Cherry Hudson Junior with a Baseball Bat, or by any example that anyone can come up with from any team that meets these specifications.

I laid my bed and I'm going to have to sit on it. - A-Roid the Liar

by PeteyHendrix on Feb 21, 2009 3:12 AM EST up reply actions

Here's a tasty link to spring training BS stories like this

from Rotoauthority.com, here’s this year’s cliche list
and here’s last year’s list.

Does anyone see anything that might viably hold up as a decent improvement over more than one fluke year?

Here are some of my faves from last spring:

Todd Coffey – lost 25 lbs.
Ramon Hernandez – lost 10 lbs.
Nick Masset – lost 25 lbs.
Javy Lopez – “best shape of his life”
Brandon Phillips – “worked out harder”
Jason Kendall – Laser eye surgery, feels like he’s 18 again
Rocco Baldelli – Finally healthy, Or so he says
Prince Fielder – Became a vegetarian

Some young pitchers added pitches, like Lincecum added a slider, but I consider that development, not “sudden improvement” due to some usual puff piece BS like Lasik, new stance, better physical shape, different plate approach, etc.

Am I missing anything, or does this all look like a bunch of beat writer BS that we fall for every spring?

I laid my bed and I'm going to have to sit on it. - A-Roid the Liar

by PeteyHendrix on Feb 21, 2009 3:39 AM EST up reply actions