The Red Report: Willy Taveras
by BK on Mar 12, 2009 9:14 AM EDT
in Red Reports
32 comments
Fast Facts:
- Willy Taveras was born in Tenares in the Dominican Republic on Christmas Day, 1981. In 1999 he was signed by the Cleveland Indians as an undrafted free agent, at age 17. He played in the Dominican Summer League that year.
- He spent 4 years in the Indians system, posting pretty mediocre numbers in each one. In 2001, he was rated the Indians #4 prospect by Baseball America. By 2003, he worked his way up to A+ ball, and showed some promise as a leadoff hitter, posting OBP figures in the .380s.
- He was selected by the Astros in the 2004 Rule V draft, but a roster spot wasn't available right away. The Astros purchased his contract, along with Some Dude's, in exchange for Jeriome Robertson, and assigned him to AA Round Rock.
- As soon as he got traded, he started hitting the cover off the ball. In his only season at AA, he posted a .335/.402/.386 in 409 ABs, with 55 SBs.
- He got the honor of representing the World team in the 2004 Futures Game during all-star weekend.
- That was enough to earn him a callup to the big league squad in September, bypassing AAA. He barely played, but was established as a pretty big deal in Houston, with his 230 career minor league steals to that point.
- Going into the 2005 season, he was named the Astros' #3 prospect by Baseball America. He earned the leadoff spot in center field out of spring training that year. In his rookie season, he had 592 ABs, putting up a line of .291/.325/.341. Not great for a leadoff hitter, but the 3 HRs he had that year are still a career high.
- His 34 SBs that year were good for 4th in the NL, and led all rookies.
- In 2006, his production stayed pretty much the same. He represented the Dominican Republic in the first World Baseball Classic that year.
- After that season, he was traded from the Astros to the Rockies, along with Taylor Buchholz and Jason Hirsh, for Jason Jennings and Miguel Asencio.
- The 2007 season saw Willy catch the injury bug a little bit, but he put up halfway decent numbers. He batted .320/.367/.382 out of the leadoff spot in the lineup, and his .749 OPS is the best he's put up in MLB.
- In 2008, he signed a 1-year deal with the Rockies. He batted .251/.308/.296, but he stole 68 bases, making Dusty fall in love.
- After the season, he was non-tendered by the Rockies.
- As soon as this happened, commenters on this website knew what was going to happen. chesirecat was first, and Scrabbles stated he would "lose it big time" if Taveras was our starting CF in 2009. bengalred, Brendanukkah, beasleymachine, Pops, BK, Turtle, and Man Mountain all predicted the signing before it happened.
- In the offseason, Taveras claimed that he was going to steal 100 bases in 2009. Color me skeptical. But, in honor of this magnificent acheivement, Red Reporter is going to honor this feat by tacking batting gloves to the sidebar, earning him the nickname Willy Mays Taveras. Of course, this nickname was already coined by Slyde all the way back in 2006.
Contract Status:
MLB service time (As of Opening Day 2009): 4.028
Signed by scout: Winston Llenas
GM when acquired by Reds: Walt Jocketty
Current contract status: 2 year, $6.25M deal (2009-2010), makes $2.25M this season
Career Stats:
Scouting Report:
(via the Baseball Cube)
Power: 8
Speed: 98
Contact: 56
Patience: 29
2009 Projections:
RR Projected Wins Above Replacement: 0.7
Graphs
Click any link below to view the graph above
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Comments
Somehow I doubt
that T-Bag’s power numbers merit an 8. What does a brother have to do to merit a 10? Be Norris Hopper?
Wear something sexy to my funeral.
by Pops Daniels on Mar 12, 2009 9:41 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
It should also be noted that back during Festivus
BK coined the tag: please walt don’t sign willy taveras
Also, if you’ll notice, we’ve added a bunt spray chart for Willy. It’s missing a few of the bunt hits (according to FanGraphs which says he had 24, the graph only has 21 hits), but according to retrosheet, he had 21 hits on 59 in play bunts. So, even though he’s good at it, he’s not so good that it’s worth it, right?
"How big IS your magic wand?"
by Slyde on Mar 12, 2009 9:49 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
i dont know
that’s a .360 AVG, isnt it?
My millions are unconventional!
by Charlie Scrabbles on Mar 12, 2009 9:58 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
it's also a .360 slugging pct.
I suppose if he was doing it 90% of the time at that rate, then it would seem more worth while. It’s a nice supplementary skill, but it seems like the only thing he brings to the plate is his bunting skill, so I would have hoped it was better than that.
Then again, I’m not doing anything to separate out his 15 sac hits, which would make him 21 for 44 on bunt attempts. So, I guess that’s fine. i just don’t like willy taveras. that’s all.
"How big IS your magic wand?"
by Slyde on Mar 12, 2009 11:11 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Attack the idea, not the person
I miss the old days of the internet when men were men, hot girls were middle aged men, and hot underage girls were FBI agents.....
by jch24 on Mar 12, 2009 11:31 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
that's the stupidest thing ive ever read
"Hey! Look at the kid in the sombrero!"
by obc2 on Mar 12, 2009 11:41 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Shut up, stupidhead!
You have stupid ideas!
And stuff!
It's all fun and games until someone gets herpes. - Fox 4 News
by PeteyHendrix on Mar 13, 2009 6:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
imagine the stress that kind of HAVOC puts on the defense!
just knowing they might have to field a bunt – what pressure!
"To me, boxing is like a ballet, except there's no music, no choreography, and the dancers hit each other." - Jack Handey
by JJ on Mar 12, 2009 12:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
the willie mays taveras game thread
stunning…..slyde, ash, sukr and caleb left their fingerprints all over that thread.
tHan and I were noticeably absent. seeing as how it was a day game and a workday, i presume, the worker bees had their noses to the grindstone!
"Hey! Look at the kid in the sombrero!"
by obc2 on Mar 12, 2009 9:59 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
It's an attempt to highlight clusters where the hitter has some power
honestly, I was surprised to see any yellow on Taveras’s graph.
"How big IS your magic wand?"
by Slyde on Mar 12, 2009 12:19 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
So what you are saying is that
T-Virus is NoHo on HGH
Perhaps a a flatbed truck loaded with cadavers will explode in front of a Star Trek convention. One can only dream and hope.
by Madville on Mar 12, 2009 3:40 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I’m a big fan of your graphs. Maybe its my own neurological shortcomings but I wonder if the balls were replaced with squares, it would make it easier to draw information from it.
by ol Pete on Mar 12, 2009 5:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
hmmm
I’ve never considered that. Let me mock something up and see what y’all think.
"How big IS your magic wand?"
by Slyde on Mar 12, 2009 9:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
is this better or worse?
"How big IS your magic wand?"
by Slyde on Mar 12, 2009 9:12 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
and one with a little more color variety on it
"How big IS your magic wand?"
by Slyde on Mar 12, 2009 9:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I like those better
Not so much noise from the white background and more of a visual continuum in areas.
by ol Pete on Mar 12, 2009 10:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
thanks, I'm considering reworking them
for now, they’ll stay with the circles, but I’m trying out a few ideas.
I appreciate any feedback that I get. I want these to be informative, but I also want them to be useful.
"How big IS your magic wand?"
by Slyde on Mar 12, 2009 11:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
wow, that last sentence is dumb
what I mean is, I want them to be comprehensive, but hopefully not overwhelming. I’m trying to get closer to that.
"How big IS your magic wand?"
by Slyde on Mar 12, 2009 11:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I definitely prefer the squares...
much less cluttered. Also you might want to rework the color scheme a bit to make it a little clearer. If I were making a map with this sort of data, I would use one of the divergent color schemes from colorbrewer.
We want to build long period of time. I didn’t come here for the shot run.
by Gray on Mar 13, 2009 4:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
thanks man
That looks like a cool tool. I will update the colors. I kinda just came up with them by trial and error. Apparently, I’m still in the error stage.
I may have a post up next week re-examining these graphs with some different examples to see what people like the best. I have to get my taxes done first.
"How big IS your magic wand?"
by Slyde on Mar 13, 2009 5:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Believe me...
I have seen much worse color choices on maps made by geographers who should have known better. That site is really handy, though.
We want to build long period of time. I didn’t come here for the shot run.
by Gray on Mar 13, 2009 5:44 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I much prefer that the squares version with...
a little more color variety on it
I found it far more accessible to viewers, and convey the info much better. I think the difference is pretty big, too.
My 2 cents. Thanks for opening up for input.
It's all fun and games until someone gets herpes. - Fox 4 News
by PeteyHendrix on Mar 13, 2009 6:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
It sure would b e easier to hit a square than a round
Why is obc so mean to me when I offer an introduction to a beautiful 25 year old Red's Cheerleader.
by Madville on Mar 12, 2009 7:22 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
or a reply
apparently. :P
"How big IS your magic wand?"
by Slyde on Mar 12, 2009 9:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I replied before you inserted all the sabremetrical charts withg circles and arrows and shit.
You magically bumped me down to the bottom of the post.
You are a Warlock.
Why is obc so mean to me when I offer an introduction to a beautiful 25 year old Red's Cheerleader.
by Madville on Mar 13, 2009 2:14 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
muwahahaha
"How big IS your magic wand?"
by Slyde on Mar 13, 2009 8:41 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Slyde puts on his robe and wizard hat......
I miss the old days of the internet when men were men, hot girls were middle aged men, and hot underage girls were FBI agents.....
by jch24 on Mar 13, 2009 9:23 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Impressive special effect, that.
We want to build long period of time. I didn’t come here for the shot run.
by Gray on Mar 13, 2009 4:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
not a special effect
it was easy to get head from him
Made from 100% recycled awesome,
by chandrathan on Mar 13, 2009 5:07 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Don't flatter yourself with presumption.
Rec’d.
It's all fun and games until someone gets herpes. - Fox 4 News
by PeteyHendrix on Mar 13, 2009 6:32 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
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