Indians sign Mark Grudzielanek to a minor league deal
I like the move. Gives us out backup middle infielder (though he hasn't played alot of shortstop). Still a good defender at 2nd base.
about 2 years ago
JP_Frost
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I’m guessing they want Donald to get consistent play in AAA then? Because I don’t really see any other reason to keep a 40 year old guy on a rebuilding team.
In all fairness, Grudzielanek is not a bad player. His defense at 2nd is good and he generally hits for a high average, so he’s not a bad guy to have on the bench untill Donald is ready.
by JP_Frost on Jan 12, 2010 12:22 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
not saying he is. i like the signing just fine. though, if he’s meant to compliment valbuena aganst LHP, who plays SS when asdrubal needs a day? jhonny? or, no, i guess you just give asdrubal his days against righties and have valbuena play SS.
i didn’t even realize this:
he hasn’t played in the bigs since 2008, and he only appeared in 11 games in the Minors last year.
Yeah he was injured in August of 08 and hasn’t played in the majors since. Doesn’t really concern me though, because even if he doesn’t make the team you could always go with Romero as the backup infielder. It’s just a placeholder for Donald.
When Asdrubal needs a day off, I think you could definately play either Jhonny or Valbuena at short, and have Marte play 3rd if Jhonny moves over.
yes. I have always been a big fan of grudzielanek. not an amazing player but always been a solid starter. He can be a great presence and really mentor our guys especially our 2 young middle infielders…for a minor league deal, he is worth it just as a mentor.
i was not aware that mark grudzielanek speaks spanish
by silverbackAXP on Jan 12, 2010 2:52 PM EST up reply actions
Rec for an appropriate use of batting average, i.e., to discuss the relative merits of a depth middle infielder.
Not trying to be difficult, but if batting average is not very useful in other situations, what makes it appropriate here?
Ugh. THat guy’s average musta been like .033 with a OPS of .044 and an OPS+ of 1.
"I'm a baseball lifer. It's what I do." —Manny Acta
Cleveland Indians with an OPS+ of 1: Ever Magallanes, Billy Moran, Bob Hale, Charlie Brewster, Red Steiner, Frank McCrea, Roxy Walters.
Mike Rouse’s OPS+ was -10.
by FredOx on Jan 13, 2010 9:58 AM EST up reply actions 2 recs
Yeah. OPS+ is actually OBP+ plus SLG+, minus 100. So the distance from average=100 is a little exaggerated for effect for almost all hitters, and if you’re bad enough, you can end up with a negative number.
An OPS+ of 1 means that the sum of your OBP+ and SLG+ was 101, like 48 and 53.
I did not know that. Why don’t they just normalize OPS separately?
by Logodaedalus on Jan 13, 2010 10:52 PM EST up reply actions
In part because (with respect to run producing correlation) OPS over-emphasizes slugging at the expense of OBP, and doing OPS+ this way basically eliminates that problem. Of course, doing OPS+ as an average of OBP+ and SLG+ would also have that effect.
I assume whoever came up with it just preferred the additional granularity this provides, and hardly anybody ever gets over 200, there’s no real harm. If they did it the more expected way, then hardly anybody would ever get over 150.
Thus the lowest possible OPS+ is -100. There have been 82 non-Indians pitchers to achieve the feat (most recent: Juan Gonzalez, Ryan Garko, Brandon Phillips and Sandy Martinez). Obviously, most of the time, these are going to be guys that are hitless in a handful of plate appearances. There have been five with an OPS+ of -100 and at least 10 PA: Tom Magrann, Lou Camilli, Paul Dicken, Oscar Grimes and Jack Slattery.
The most pitiful seasons I found: in 1915, Skeeter Shelton (NYY) posted a -71 OPS+ in 43 PA (.025/.071/.025). In 1976, Matt Alexander (OAK) managed a -80 OPS+ (.033/.033/.033) in 30 PA, although he did steal 20 bases.
Not just hitless, on-base-less!
The most you can accomplish while still maintaining your -100 is a sac-fly or a fielder’s choice.
Yes but Roxy Walters was also a stripper.
by hans on Jan 14, 2010 10:08 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Just the mention of his name made me chuckle on the inside.
by Gradyforpresident on Jan 12, 2010 6:05 PM EST up reply actions
Well, you always have to be wary of sample size issues, that much is true.
But, as emil implies, you’re never going to get a backup who’s a complete hitter, and middle infielders in particular are quite unlikely to have power. So what you look for ultimately is either a guy with unusually high OBP tendencies (Carroll) or a guy who combines speed with adequate contact hitting skills.
He can then go straight in to the role recently vacated by Belcher of Senior ex-player who talks to Shapiro about ex-player stuff
I need a new avatar...
Hey man, Ellis Burks got 2 Hall of Fame votes. That’s a hallowed position.
Though I look right at home, I still feel like an exile
by Manhattan Tribe Fan on Jan 12, 2010 10:18 PM EST up reply actions
I went to high school with his daughters, but never got to meet the man himself.
I hate the steelers the way a mother loves a child.
by notthatnoise on Jan 16, 2010 2:16 AM EST up reply actions
Brick’s original comment seemed to be directed at Chuck – or at least that is how I read into it. Nothing more/nothing less.
"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge..." C. Darwin
by Spidey on Jan 13, 2010 9:48 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
The new Tony Graffinino. yawn.
Wait …
Mark’s interests also include the MTV television show “The Real World”, where he is an avid fan of CJ.
I hate this signing now.
The new Tony Graffinino
My thought exactly. Except we can’t call this guy Little Giraffe. Actually, maybe we should.
"I'm a baseball lifer. It's what I do." —Manny Acta
Real World cast members can have fans? That show went downhill by the time they hit Vegas anyway.
Also! Looking forward to getting a new avatar?
Steel Nick
Real World is still on? Seriously? I thought the 90s were over.
"Nobody ever thinks, 'Hey, maybe I’m actually an idiot.'" - Jay
by woodsmeister on Jan 13, 2010 8:05 AM EST up reply actions
Nah while Real World still is on from time to time, most of the above hooligans Graff follows show up in some sort of Survivor type game called the Duel/Ruins etc.
they still make new episodes (surprisingly)…
they also have RW/Road Rules (RW/RR)
ANd the duel/Ruins/Gauntlet is a separate show similar to RR where they compete in a survivor thing…yeah u r right…
It is SOOO dumb and is the reason why i don’t listen to bill simmons’ podcast anymore.
One time when I was working my job at the local golf course, I saw these two kids whispering and looking over at me then whispering some more. I wasn’t an incredibly goofy looking 17 year old, so I thought nothing of it. About a minute later, one of the chaps works up his courage to come over and ask, “Hey, hey are you that guy from the Real World?”
Now, if I had watched the show I might have been able to guess which person they thought I was. But I didn’t, so I couldn’t, and I told them that I wasn’t. This really didn’t discourage them, because then they just thought I was lying about it.
Welcome back, Sandy! ATALECG...
I get a kick out of AC, in this case his reference to a “big-name” signing.
C-H-A-M-P-I-O-N-S-H-I-P
by ken from alexandria on Jan 12, 2010 3:28 PM EST reply actions
I told you Belliard would never again play for Acta. Hoynes, right again.
First Polish player (conspicuously Polish, that is) since Jerry Dybzinski?
I’m not really sure that the non-signing of Belliard points to that. I think it points to the fact that Shapiro feels we already have enough 4th outfielders on the 40-man.
Welcome back, Sandy! ATALECG...
by USSChoo on Jan 13, 2010 2:38 AM EST up reply actions 4 recs
It’s no risk and he’s been steady the last decade, so why not?
But I hope the Indians are still looking for guys who have legit upside to grow into something useful for more than a year, somebody squeezed out of the picture in their organization. Somebody like Kevin Frandsen. Honestly, what’s Mitch Talbot or Jeremy Sowers worth at the end of spring training?
Well, I’m talking middle infielders since the Indians aren’t going to go with Donald off the bat. But I don’t think I’ve ever advocated or thought of scenario in which Andy Marte is not the backup 3B/1B to start 2010. I said it multiple times last year: he’s exactly the type of player the Indians would be looking to acquire.
I’m hoping for a bench of Crowe/Kearns, Marte, Toregas, and TBD middle infielder.
I’m hoping for a bench of any single person with a pulse other than Trevor Crowe, Kearns, Marte, Toregas, and TBD middle infielder.
“Garko in the Outfield!” is my personal meme for the Wedge era.
by mcrose on Jan 14, 2010 1:50 AM EST up reply actions 3 recs
The Indians were 27th out of 30 teams in defensive efficiency last year. They have a pitching staff full of hurlers who don’t strike out batters. Give me as many guys with good gloves as possible — Crowe, Kearns, Marte, Toregas, and Grudz fit the bill.
I’m not sure I want any of them to come to the plate, but that’s another story…
This is actually a really bad plan. If your focus is to stop opponent’s scoring at the expense of offensive output, your best result is a nil-draw.
Everybody should get ice cream every day.
I was talking about is that I was glad we got some good defensive players. that is all. Yes, a good hitter adds more than a good fielder. if it seemed like I was implying defense at the expense of offense, the maybe I worded it badly. all of the guys though that are good defensive players talked about, are good at getting on base. that is one of their better skills.
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