Let's Go Tribe: FanPosts

First 40: Looking Back and Ahead

2013-05-19T02:48:46Z

Kip, after his walk off 3-run blast on Friday night, is demonstrating what we are all feeling.

Before I begin, let me preface this by saying that this is my first FanPost. I'm still getting a little used to how to edit everything so bear with me if it doesn't look as pretty as it should.

The Tribe, as everyone knows, has really taken off this year. The hitting has been stellar, the bullpen has been rock solid, and the rotation, which had the huge question mark as we began in April, has proven to be dominant at best and serviceable at worst. But how does the Tribe this year stack up against the Tribe in previous years? Someone mentioned that we had hit the "40 poll" in the game thread today, and it got me thinking: why not analyze the Tribe's first 40 games in a few key seasons? For this particular analysis, I have chosen four years. They are:

1997: World Series run

2007: ALCS run

2012: Previous Year

2013: Current Year

Courtesy of baseballmusings.com, here are some offensive stats to get us going. Keep in mind that all of these stats, unless otherwise noted, are dealing only with the first 40 games of each season (the data wasn't updated for today's game):

	AB	Hits	RBI	BB	K	BA	OBP	Slug%
1997	1399	397	222	192	232	0.284	0.372	0.497
2007	1392	374	215	168	311	0.269	0.353	0.424
2012	1369	337	168	181	258	0.246	0.339	0.384
2013	1372	361	190	137	325	0.263	0.333	0.457

I think it's safe to say that no one expects to hit the numbers that the '97 Tribe put up. It's also safe to say that everyone is hoping that we can stay away from the 2012 version of the Indians. But the interesting part is the comparison to 2007. The 2007 Tribe wasn't the golden standard that we saw in '97 (hell, I didn't even see that golden standard. I was 4 at the time), but they were a damn good team. Cleveland 2013 is also a damn good team. Expanding the stats of both 2007 and 2013, here are the results:

	AB	Hits	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SF	BB	IBB	HBP	K	BA	OBP	Slug%
2007	1392	374	67	7	45	215	12	168	16	21	311	0.269	0.353	0.424
2013	1372	361	83	9	55	190	14	137	5	14	325	0.263	0.333	0.457

There are a lot of comparable things about the 2007 Tribe and the 2013 Tribe. But the key things are the differences. Today's Tribe is playing the game a lot differently: mainly, they are a much more powerful team than in 2007. 16 more doubles, 9 more triples, and 10 extra home runs are helping bring the overall slugging up by over 30 points. Runs are being generated by hitting the ball and hitting it hard. It seems elementary, but it could turn out to be the key to making this team a serious contender. Looking back to 2007, here are the full season offensive stats.

	AB	Hits	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SF	BB	IBB	HBP	K	BA	OBP	Slug%
2007	5604	1504	305	27	178	784	59	590	56	80	1202	0.268	0.343	0.428

After 40 games, the 2007 Tribe's stats accounted for:

24.8% of total At-Bats

24.9% of total Hits

22.0% of total doubles

25.9% of total triples

25.3% of total home runs

27.4% of total RBIs

20.3% of total Sac Flies

28.5% of total BBs

28.6% of total IBB

26.3% of total HBP

25.9% of total Ks

So what happens if the 2013 Tribe has the exact same ratio of offensive statistics as the 2007 Tribe? We get this:

	AB	Hits	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SF	BB	IBB	HBP	K	BA	OBP	Slug%
2013	5532	1450	377	35	217	693	69	481	17	53	1255	0.262	0.325	0.461

Side by side, here are the two tables:

	AB	Hits	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SF	BB	IBB	HBP	K	BA	OBP	Slug%
2007	5604	1504	305	27	178	784	59	590	56	80	1202	0.268	0.343	0.428
2013	5532	1450	377	35	217	693	69	481	17	53	1255	0.262	0.325	0.461

What do we take from this? Well, since it's all speculation and extrapolation, potentially nothing. But the main point is this: the Indians, compared to 2007, will most likely have less hits than the 2007 incarnation. But that doesn't mean too much when you look at the overall averages (only a 6 point difference). The OBP is a little lower than we would all like it to be, but I think that was to be expected; with guys like Stubbs and Reynolds, it makes a lot of sense that we will have more strikeouts.

However, I think all of that is insignificant in the long run because of the improved slugging this season. They may get less hits, but the hits they DO get are going to be much harder hit balls than in 2007. At both the 40 game mark (which we have solid numbers for) AND the extrapolated stats for the end of the season, this year's version of the Tribe is slugging a whole 33 points higher than in 2007. At the 40 game mark, we have 28 more XBH than in 2007. Continue that trend over the full season, we end with a whopping 119 more XBH than in 2007. This could be huge in the long run, considering the speed on our team. Runners on first can potentially score 119 more times, pending we have one of our many speedsters on the base paths.

I'm not sure exactly what all of these statistics will end up correlating to in the end. But if the first 40 games of 2013 are any indication, we are in for a solid ride.

Kip, after his walk off 3-run blast on Friday night, is demonstrating what we are all feeling.

via www.morningjournal.com

Before I begin, let me preface this by saying that this is my first FanPost. I'm still getting a little used to how to edit everything so bear with me if it doesn't look as pretty as it should.

1997: World Series run

2007: ALCS run

2012: Previous Year

2013: Current Year

	AB	Hits	RBI	BB	K	BA	OBP	Slug%
1997	1399	397	222	192	232	0.284	0.372	0.497
2007	1392	374	215	168	311	0.269	0.353	0.424
2012	1369	337	168	181	258	0.246	0.339	0.384
2013	1372	361	190	137	325	0.263	0.333	0.457

	AB	Hits	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SF	BB	IBB	HBP	K	BA	OBP	Slug%
2007	1392	374	67	7	45	215	12	168	16	21	311	0.269	0.353	0.424
2013	1372	361	83	9	55	190	14	137	5	14	325	0.263	0.333	0.457

	AB	Hits	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SF	BB	IBB	HBP	K	BA	OBP	Slug%
2007	5604	1504	305	27	178	784	59	590	56	80	1202	0.268	0.343	0.428

After 40 games, the 2007 Tribe's stats accounted for:

24.8% of total At-Bats

24.9% of total Hits

22.0% of total doubles

25.9% of total triples

25.3% of total home runs

27.4% of total RBIs

20.3% of total Sac Flies

28.5% of total BBs

28.6% of total IBB

26.3% of total HBP

25.9% of total Ks

So what happens if the 2013 Tribe has the exact same ratio of offensive statistics as the 2007 Tribe? We get this:

	AB	Hits	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SF	BB	IBB	HBP	K	BA	OBP	Slug%
2013	5532	1450	377	35	217	693	69	481	17	53	1255	0.262	0.325	0.461

Side by side, here are the two tables:

	AB	Hits	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SF	BB	IBB	HBP	K	BA	OBP	Slug%
2007	5604	1504	305	27	178	784	59	590	56	80	1202	0.268	0.343	0.428
2013	5532	1450	377	35	217	693	69	481	17	53	1255	0.262	0.325	0.461

I'm not sure exactly what all of these statistics will end up correlating to in the end. But if the first 40 games of 2013 are any indication, we are in for a solid ride.

Community Mock Draft - Cleveland Indians Picks

2013-05-11T17:50:44Z

For those who are unaware, the baseball prospect and draft site of SB Nation, Minorleagueball.com hosts a community mock draft every year with members taking over the roll of each teams Scouting Director. For the third year I will be doing my impression of Brad Grant and making the picks in rounds 1-4 for the Indians. I welcome any thoughts, feedback, and suggestions during the process leading up to the June 1 mock draft. Please use the link to the Mock Organization Diary below if you wish to contribute. Thanks.

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2013/5/11/4321788/cleveland-indians-mod-1

A Brief History of Upheld Protests

2013-05-09T14:53:11Z

After the Indians won the game last night with a little help from their guardian Angel, someone on my Twitter commented that if the A's protested they thought the league would have to uphold the protest. Wait, I thought. There have been so many terrible calls over the years that haven't been overturned, surely they won't overturn this one? And apparently the A's couldn't protest anyway in this instance because the call was already reviewed on Instant Replay. Still, I wondered, what does it take for them to actually uphold a protest? Thus I went down the rabbit hole.

According to Retrosheet, there have been 14 Major League games that have had to be resumed over the years because a protest was upheld. Many of them are for reasons related to umpire handling of rain delays, somewhat surprisingly, though there are some more bizarre stories in there, too.

St. Louis at Pittsburgh, 16 June 1986 (resumed 18 June)

The game was called due to rain in the 6th with the Pirates ahead after only a 22 minute rain delay. The Cardinals argued that the umpires had to wait 30 minutes, and the head of the NL agreed and ordered the game resumed. The Cardinals eventually won 4-2.

Kansas City at New York Yankees, 24 July 1983 (resumed 18 August)

The infamous "Pine Tar Incident". George Brett hit an apparent 2-run homer with 2 outs in the Top of the 9th to put the Royals up 5-4. However, after the Yankees objected that Brett had pine tar too far up his bat, the umpires inspected the bat and ruled that it was violation of a very obscure rule. They called Brett out, giving the game to the Yankees. Brett went spectacularly ballistic. The AL President later upheld the Royals protest despite the umpires technically being correct, saying they weren't "within the spirit of the rule." When the game resumed a few months later, the Yankees attempted to appeal that Brett hadn't touched first or second, but the umpire produced a signed affidavit that Brett had touched all the bases. Dan Quisenberry closed out the Yankees to preserve the Royals win.

Houston at New York Mets, 21 August 1979 (resumed 22 August)

With the Mets up 5-0, Jeffrey Leonard flew out to LF to apparently end the game. However, the Mets SS had apparently asked for time before the pitch and the 3B ump granted it, so the umpires said the pitch didn't count and had to call the Mets back to the field. Leonard then singled. However, the Mets manager pointed out that their first baseman Ed Kranepool was still not on the field and they should have been allowed to have the full compliment of players. The umpires once again ruled the pitch did not count and brought Leonard back to hit again and he flew out again. The NL President was at the game and ruled that the single should have been allowed. The game was resumed the next day and the next batter immediately grounded out.

Atlanta at Montreal, 15 May 1975 (resumed 20 July)

Umpires called the game due to rain in the 4th, cancelling out a 4-1 Braves lead. Even after a 1 hr delay the league upheld the Braves' protest that the umpires didn't wait long enough and didn't test the field. The Braves hung on two months later for a 5-4 win.

Cincinnati at Milwaukee Braves, 22 September 1954 (resumed 24 September)

The Braves led 3-1 with one out and runners at 1st and 2nd in the top of the ninth with somebody named Borkowski hitting for Cincinnati. Borkowski struck out on a wild pitch. The catcher got the ball and threw to 3rd to try to get the advancing runner, but he was safe. Borkowski took off for first, apparently not realizing that because there was a guy already on first he couldn't try to run on a wild pitch. The 3B did not realize this either and threw to first to try to get Borkowski, but it was a terrible throw and both the runners on base ended up scoring on the throwing error, tying the game. The umpires ruled that by running to first even though he was already out Borkowski had "illegally drawn the throw" and called the runner out at third. The league upheld the Reds protest, but when the game was resumed two days later the Braves scored on a walk-off single in the Bottom of the 9th and still won.

Brooklyn at Pittsburgh, 25 August 1948 (resumed 21 September)

The Dodgers led 11-9, but the Pirates had already scored two in the bottom of the 9th and had the bases loaded. The Dodgers brought in a relief pitcher but the Pirates countered with a pinch hitter. The Dodgers, in an apparent example of early La Russa Syndrome, pulled the reliever for another one and the umpires let them despite the rule book saying pitchers have to pitch to at least one full batter barring injury. The league later upheld the Pirates' protest and ordered the game resumed from that point with the same pitcher still going. The result was a bases-clearing double and an immediate Pirates walk-off 12-11 victory.

Brooklyn at Philadelphia, 17 August 1947 (resumed 25 September)

Apparently in Pennsylvania at that time there was a law that games couldn't go later than 6:59pm on a Sunday. In the second game of a double header, the game approached this time limit around the seventh. The Dodgers scored to take the lead in the top of the inning, so the Phillies started stalling so that the game would have to be reset to the previous inning and hence a tie. This included gratuitous pitching changes and intentional walks. When the Dodgers finally managed to get out on purpose, the first Phillies batter for the Bottom of the 7th "couldn't find his bat." Before he was done batting it was 6:59 and the umpires called the game a tie. The Dodgers' protest was upheld and Brooklyn ended up hanging on for a 7-5 win.

Philadelphia at New York Giants, 13 June 1943 (resumed 6 August)

In the Top of the 9th with the game tied and the bases loaded, Babe Dahlgren of the Phillies deliberately stepped into a pitch. The umpires allowed the HBP and the Phillies took the lead and eventually won. The Giants' protest was upheld and ended up winning several months later in the 10th.

Philadelphia at St. Louis, 5 June 1943 (resumed 29 July)

Game was called due to rain with St. Louis up 1-0 in the 7th. The Phillies claimed that the Cardinals hadn't properly covered the field in order to force the game to be called, and the league upheld their protest. The Phillies eventually won 2-1.

St. Louis at Chicago Cubs, 2 July 1934 (resumed 31 July)

With the Cubs already up 4-1 with the based loaded with Cubs in the Bottom of the 7th, the St. Louis catcher let a pop fly fall in front of him and then threw to 2nd to try to start a double play. The umpire failed to call Infield Fly and when the throw sailed into the outfield the Cubs scored two more runs. The protest was upheld, but the Cubs still won the resumed game 7-1.

Cincinnati at Pittsburgh, 28 May 1921 (resumed 30 June)

The Reds catcher made a tag at home plate in the Bottom of the 8th but the umpire still called the runner safe. The catcher went so crazy about the call that he threw the ball into the Reds dugout... and the Reds dugout threw the ball back on the field and another Pirates runner ended up caught in a rundown. The league ruled that once the ball went into the dugout it should have been dead and ordered the game replayed from that point.

Philadelphia at New York Giants, 5 July 1920 (resumed 4 September)

The lack of Infield Fly Rule call resulted in the Giants getting a double play in the 7th. Despite having been down 8-0 at the time, the Phillies protested and it was upheld. The Giants eventually won 12-0.

New York Giants at Philadelphia, 30 August 1913 (resumed 2 October in New York)

Philadelphia led 8-6 with one out in the top of the 9th. However, Giants manager John McGraw complained that fans in CF were waving their straw hats and reflecting sunlight into the eyes of the batters. The umpire asked the Phillies to move the fans, but the fans refused to move. The umpire then declared that the Phillies forfeited the game and called the game for the Giants. The league later overturned this, and the Phillies got the last two outs quickly on the last day of the year in New York.

Hope you guys found this as interesting as I did! Thanks again to Retrosheet!

St. Louis at Pittsburgh, 16 June 1986 (resumed 18 June)

Kansas City at New York Yankees, 24 July 1983 (resumed 18 August)

Houston at New York Mets, 21 August 1979 (resumed 22 August)

Atlanta at Montreal, 15 May 1975 (resumed 20 July)

Cincinnati at Milwaukee Braves, 22 September 1954 (resumed 24 September)

Brooklyn at Pittsburgh, 25 August 1948 (resumed 21 September)

Brooklyn at Philadelphia, 17 August 1947 (resumed 25 September)

Philadelphia at New York Giants, 13 June 1943 (resumed 6 August)

Philadelphia at St. Louis, 5 June 1943 (resumed 29 July)

St. Louis at Chicago Cubs, 2 July 1934 (resumed 31 July)

Cincinnati at Pittsburgh, 28 May 1921 (resumed 30 June)

Philadelphia at New York Giants, 5 July 1920 (resumed 4 September)

New York Giants at Philadelphia, 30 August 1913 (resumed 2 October in New York)

Hope you guys found this as interesting as I did! Thanks again to Retrosheet!

Three Positives to take from Twins 4, Indians 2

2013-05-06T15:59:17Z

Well, the Tribe's six game winning streak had to come to an end sometime, and there definitely positives to take from the loss that finally did it.

1) Corey Kluber has put together multiple decent starts in a row now and increasingly looks like a viable member of the rotation, which is not something I was expecting at the start of the year. Three earned on five hits in 5 2/3 isn't spectacular, but it is keeping your team in the game.

2) The offense may not have gotten the big hit yesterday, but Carlos Santana and Ryan Raburn don't look like they're cooling off any time soon. They came up with two hits apiece (including a Santana homer in the 9th) to keep both of their batting averages above .365.

3) Who knows what's going on with Vinnie Pestano, but at least his temporary replacement in the 'pen, Scott Barnes, looked good for two innings yesterday. It's a very strange feeling to trust the middle relief to keep us in a game.

Now for four games against the A's, who are a very good team but I get the feeling are beateable all the same. Especially for these guys!

Well, the Tribe's six game winning streak had to come to an end sometime, and there definitely positives to take from the loss that finally did it.

Now for four games against the A's, who are a very good team but I get the feeling are beateable all the same. Especially for these guys!

Three Positives to take from Royals 3, Indians 2

2013-04-28T14:24:00Z

This was a very weird game for me. For much of the game, I felt like the Indians did not deserve to play in the same league with the Royals. However, I also felt by the end of the night that the Indians deserved the win the game based on how the two teams played. I am very tired of other teams lucking into pitching, and I'm very tired of watching the Indians ground into double plays while the other team fouls off ten pitches and refuses to let the at bat end. None of this is related. But at least by the end of that schizophrenic game I didn't feel despair that this was my team.

1) Scott Kazmir looked a little shaky early but settled down. He threw a lot of pitches because apparently every Royal foul off infinity pitches whenever he wants, and left early, but even the one homer he gave up felt more like a fluke than a mistake. If we could get another pitcher in here who isn't an automatic loss that would be nice.

2) A double, a triple, and two RBIs for Michael Brantley! That's enough to earn him a spot on the Ferocious Walruses fantasy team with the doubleheader today.

3) Jason Kipnis apparently learned a lesson and personally apologized to me on Twitter last night. He's such a nice boy. If only he figured out he's supposed to run there before reaching the Majors.

Let's Play Two!

2) A double, a triple, and two RBIs for Michael Brantley! That's enough to earn him a spot on the Ferocious Walruses fantasy team with the doubleheader today.

3) Jason Kipnis apparently learned a lesson and personally apologized to me on Twitter last night. He's such a nice boy. If only he figured out he's supposed to run there before reaching the Majors.

Let's Play Two!

Interested in writing about Ohio State?

2013-04-25T16:39:59Z

I'm guessing there's some Buckeyes fans on here, so I think it's appropriate to pass this on...

The SBN Ohio State blog, Land-Grant Holy Land is looking for contributors and/or editors.

If you're interested, drop me a line, and I'll forward your name on.

I'm guessing there's some Buckeyes fans on here, so I think it's appropriate to pass this on...

The SBN Ohio State blog, Land-Grant Holy Land is looking for contributors and/or editors.

If you're interested, drop me a line, and I'll forward your name on.

From a Cardinal Fan: What Would You Want for Francisco Lindor?

2013-04-23T21:40:14Z

I'm a Cardinal fan who has fun thinking about his team's future. It's well publicized that the Cardinals are or will eventually be looking for a long term solution at shortstop. Most talk revolves around trading Oscar Taveras for Jurickson Profar, which just isn't going to happen. To me, Francisco Lindor and the Indians seems like an interesting alternative possibility, by virtue of your need for pitching at both the major and minor league levels, and your depth at SS - 3 of your top 5 prospects are shortstops! But it's easy to concoct seemingly "fair" or "beneficial" deals from one side.

Here's what I'm interested in: hearing from Indians fans what they would be willing to consider, or what they would think is a fair deal, for the Cardinals to propose to aquire Lindor as our future shortstop.

I get that he's your number one prospect. If you think he should be totally off limits, I understand, I probably would too if I were an Indians fan. That's the way I feel about Oscar Taveras. I am asking a speculative question here, not saying this is likely or should happen. So if you think I'm crazy, feel free to ignore me. I don't think its likely anyway.

For those of you who would even remotely consider it, my question is: what would you want? Would you be looking for major league pitching that could help now? Are there holes in the field, improvements at certain positions, or bench depth that you would want tacked on too? Or would you want more future material, pitching prospects etc. My gut says both, or all.

Some groundrules:

1) Oscar Taveras and Shelby Miller are off limits. I understand you may think Lindor is worth one of them. I'm not arguing that maybe he's not (I don't think Profar is though, to betray my personal opinion), what I am saying is I don't think there is any realistic possibility the Cardinals would do that deal.

2) Keep in mind we could trade for Profar. So any package from the Cardinals that could arguably also be worth Profar is probably a bit to much to ask for Lindor. Not by much. But still. If they could get Profar for the package you suggest...they'd get Profar (hence rule number 1).

I've broken into categories the names that I forsee (from my perspective) being options as pieces on the Cardinals' side:

The Veterans: One but not both of: David Freese or Matt Carpenter. Jon Jay.

The almost-off-limits prospects: Wacha or Martinez (one not both). Matt Adams.

The most likely centerpieces: Joe Kelly, Trevor Rosenthal

The lower level pitching prospects: Tyrell Jenkins, Seth Maness, Seth Blair, Jordan Swagerty

I think those are the possible options on the board. I see Kelly and Rosenthal as good pieces for you because both profile as number 2-4 starters and both have the flexibility and experience to help in the bullpen. Rosenthal has higher ceiling as either a starter or closer. Kelly is a 3 or 4 or long reliever...but I think he is a very viable 3 or 4.

I will give you two packages just to show you kind of what I think:

Cleveland trades Lindor to Cardinals for Kelly, Rosenthal, and one from the lower level pitching prospects.

Cleveland trades Chris Perez (we need bullpen help if you haven't heard) and Lindor for David Freese, Kelly, Rosenthal, and Tyrell Jenkins.

Here's a link where you can look at all the Cardinals' prospects: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/prospects/watch/y2013/

Ok, I'm really interested in what all of you think. If I'm just totally, crazy, that's fine, I just want to know.

Some groundrules:

I've broken into categories the names that I forsee (from my perspective) being options as pieces on the Cardinals' side:

The Veterans: One but not both of: David Freese or Matt Carpenter. Jon Jay.

The almost-off-limits prospects: Wacha or Martinez (one not both). Matt Adams.

The most likely centerpieces: Joe Kelly, Trevor Rosenthal

The lower level pitching prospects: Tyrell Jenkins, Seth Maness, Seth Blair, Jordan Swagerty

I will give you two packages just to show you kind of what I think:

Cleveland trades Lindor to Cardinals for Kelly, Rosenthal, and one from the lower level pitching prospects.

Cleveland trades Chris Perez (we need bullpen help if you haven't heard) and Lindor for David Freese, Kelly, Rosenthal, and Tyrell Jenkins.

Here's a link where you can look at all the Cardinals' prospects: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/prospects/watch/y2013/

Ok, I'm really interested in what all of you think. If I'm just totally, crazy, that's fine, I just want to know.

Poll

Trading Francisco Lindor is

The living worst kind of crazy idea ever

11 votes

A remote option if it could land a big enough return

22 votes

33 votes | Poll has closed

Mark Shapiro's Drafts: An "Objective" Analysis

2013-04-19T04:00:14Z

via si0.twimg.com

"If we try to play like the Yankees in here, we will lose to the Yankees out there."

-Moneyball

Greed is Good: Most everyone who follows baseball is aware of the divergent strategies of the "big-market" teams and the "small-market teams." Those teams with a seemingly endless influx of cash have little trouble filling not only a competent lineup every year, but a competitive one. They are usually willing to go the extra dollar or year of the contract to lock in the hottest Free Agent. Their 25-man active roster is often crowded so they can deal prospects with barely a second thought. Or maybe God's a Yankee fan. It's often said the Almighty hates Cleveland. Like it or not, Cleveland has been relegated to the role of "small-market" club under the reign of Shaprio, ten plagues not withstanding.

The Color of Money: How do small-market teams compete with the teams with Monopoly Money? One of the prevailing theories among fans is that these teams have to be better at drafting than not only the big boys but other small-market teams. As such, I set out to take an objective look at whether Mark Shapiro's tenure as GM of the Tribe was a success or not, in terms of his drafts. If his drafts were successful, perhaps the reasons for the Indians woes would be found elsewhere (injuries to long-term contracts comes to mind). If it was not a success, just how badly did he do compared to other small market clubs?

Good Will Hunting: For this study, I looked at each draft for the following teams during Shapiro's position as GM (2001-2010): Reds, Royals. Marlins, Brewers, Twins, Athletics, Pirates, Padres, Mariners, Rays. I couldn't find reliable data on what constitutes "small market," so I amended a ranking I found on the Internet (because it's always right). I ranked each team in four categories: % of players drafted who see the bigs, WAR, Service Time, and Awards. For service time, I counted only those players who made a worthwhile contribution to a major league club. For position players, it was 100 games; for starting pitchers, it was 24 starts; and for relievers, it was 55 appearances. For Awards, I tallied the draftees' Gold Glove seasons, All-Star Appearances, Cy Youngs, MVPS, and ROYs. I then ranked each team in these four categories, roto style. There was some cross over due to players not signing and being redrafted by either the same team or a different team. The only player who really carried any weight in this was Andre Ethier (due to his double digit WAR and All-Star appearances). Just trust me that by the time you see who the winner is, it won't matter.

	Maj %	WAR	ST	Awards
CIN	8.33%	112.9	27	8
CLE	8.79%	93.4	23	6
KC	7.34%	89.4	19	5
MIA	10.47%	59.5	26	4
MIL	10.32%	166.0	26	13
MIN	9.77%	133.2	27	9
OAK	14.13%	182.1	35	19
PIT	9.74%	118.4	24	4
SD	12.16%	92.3	27	3
SEA	9.58%	68.2	23	7
TB	11.53%	158.5	40	15

	Maj %	WAR	ST	Awards	Total
CIN	2.0	6.0	8.0	7.0	23
CLE	3.0	5.0	2.5	5.0	15.5
KC	1.0	3.0	1.0	4.0	9
MIA	8.0	1.0	5.5	2.5	17
MIL	7.0	10.0	5.5	9.0	31.5
MIN	6.0	8.0	8.0	8.0	30
OAK	11.0	11.0	10.0	11.0	43
PIT	5.0	7.0	4.0	2.5	18.5
SD	10.0	4.0	8.0	1.0	23
SEA	4.0	2.0	2.5	6.0	14.5
TB	9.0	9.0	11.0	10.0	39

		Final Rankings
1	OAK	43
2	TB	39
3	MIL	31.5
4	MIN	30
5	CIN	23
5	SD	23
7	PIT	18.5
8	MIA	17
9	CLE	15.5
10	SEA	14.5
11	KC	9

I Don't Know What I Expected: Out of these eleven teams, four emerged as clear winners. Unsurprisingly, Oakland and Tampa Bay were first and second, respectively. Oakland, in fact, ranked highest in every category except Service Time, where it came in second. It lead all teams with 14.23% of drafted players seeing the bigs, 182.1 WAR drafted, and 19 award seasons (by far the most All-Stars with 14 and Rookie of the Years with 3). Tampa Bay was second in Awards with 15 seasons, first in Service time with 40 players meeting the arbitrary criteria, and third in Major percentage (11.53%) and WAR (158.5). Milwaukee and Minnesota were third and fourth. Milwaukee got big boosts from Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder, but since 2005, they have had abysmal drafts. The Twins owe a lot to Joe Mauer, as he has garnered all their award seasons. Finally, it was an interesting to note that Tampa Bay has drafted twenty players who have made at least 24 starts in the Majors, twice that of the next highest team (Cleveland).

Not So Hot In Cleveland: So where did Cleveland end up in this ranking? 9th of 11th. Slightly behind the Marlins and barely ahead of Seattle (KC was last). Shaprio's drafts produced only 8.79% of players to make The Show, had a respectable WAR drafted of 93.4, but only 23 players with meaningful service time. Finally, Cleveland drafted six award worthy seasons. On average, 10.2% percent of players drafted played in a major league game, and of the 500 players typically drafted, 27 would give you a good run of games played in.

Tim Lincecum and the Flaw in the Method: However, there is a statistical outlier that needs to be addressed. Included in Cleveland's draft is Tim Lincecum, who accounts for all the award seasons and a good chunk of WAR. As he didn't sign and re-entered the next year, if you disregard his contribution, Cleveland's slightly bad drafts become a whole lot worse. They would be the only team with exactly zero Awards seasons drafted. Not one All-Star, no Gold Gloves. Nada. Zero. Zip. Their WAR would drop by 23.9 putting them at 69.9 (in front of only Seattle at 68.2 and Miami at 59.5). As a result, their final standing would put them in dead last.

Episode 7: A New New Hope: Consequently, it would appear that yes, Shapiro's draft have been a failure. That he has managed to execute a large number of trades to produce a team one win away from a World Series berth, as well as one dropped fly ball from the playoffs speaks to his overall acumen, but we wanted to evaluate drafts, not trades or overall strategy. But look not on these drafts, ye mighty, and despair! For hope remains. Along with the other arbitrary parameters mentioned, the last one in Pandora's Box of wasting time on a Thursday is the length of time it takes to evaluate a draft. It takes between 5-7 years to properly gauge how successful or disastrous a draft was. That means, that the final verdict on Shaprio will be stayed until 2017. The Players drafted from 2007 to 2010 still have time to make a significant impact and make those drafts a success. Who are some of those players (A full list of players who got a cup of coffee is below)? T.J. McFarland (on the Orioles 25 man and looks promising), Lonnie Chisenhall, Cord Phelps, Jason Kipnis, Drew Pomeranz, Cody Allen, Trey Haley, Tim Fedroff, Matt Langwell, Carlos Moncrief, T.J. House, Preston Guilmet, LeVon Washington, and Tyler Holt. If one of these players turns into the next Grienke, Cleveland's draft success will rank in the top half of the teams surveyed. If Kipnis and Chisenhall become the All-Star infield players they are projected to be, Shaprio's drafts will have been slightly better than average. If Chris Archer (traded for Mark DeRosa) becomes the next great Tampa Bay pitcher, well, I think I might throw up. For now, it's correct to say Shapiro's drafts were poor. In three years, we might be eating our words.

Edit: Inexcusable spelling, grammar errors.

GM: Mark Shapiro (2001-2009)
Year	Rd (Pick)	Player	Position	WAR	Awards/Notes
2001	1s(35)	J.D. Martin	RHP	0.7	Currently with the Rays
	9(277)	Luke Scott	OF	11.9	Currently with the Rays
	44(1320)	Garrett Mock	RHP	-0.6	Currently with the D'Backs
2002	1(22)	Jeremy Guthrie	RHP	18.1	Played 3 seasons with Indians
	2(63)	Brian Slocum	RHP	-0.2	OOB
	5(154)	Ben Francisco	OF	2.5	Currently with the Yankees
	33(994)	Jensen Lewis	RHP	-	Didn't sign, redrafted by Indians in 2005
2003	1(11)	Michael Aubrey	1B	0.2	OOB
	1(18)	Brad Snyder	OF	-0.1	Currently with D'Backs
	3(78)	Ryan Garko	C	3.7	OOB - played in 408 games for Indians
	6(168)	Kevin Kouzmanoff	3B	6.8	OOB
	16(468)	Aaron Laffey	LHP	2.8	Currently with Mets 9 4 seaons with Indians
	32(948)	Steven Jackson	RHP	-0.1	OOB
2004	1(6)	Jeremy Sowers	LHP	1.6	OOB Played in 72 games for Indians
	3(77)	Scott Lewis	LHP	0.6	OOB Played in 5 games for Indians
	19(557)	Chris Gimenez	OF	0.1	Currently with the Rays
	24(707)	Wyatt Toregas	C	-0.4	currently with Pirates, played 19 G for Indians
	45(1333)	Tony Sipp	LHP	2.5	Currently with D'backs, played 255 G for Indians
2005	1(14)	Trevor Crowe	OF	0.3	Currently with Astros, played 205 G for Indians
	3(102)	Jensen Lewis	RHP	2.3	Currently with Cubs, played 161 G for Indians
	49124)	Jordan Brown	1B	0.0	Currently with Marlins, played 26 G for Indians
	18(544)	Desmond Jennings	OF	6.3	Currently with Rays
	21(634)	Neil Wagner	RHP	-0.3	Currently with Blue Jays
	27(814)	Brandon Laird	1B	0.1	Currently with Astros
	42(1261)	Tim Lincecum	RHP	23.3	Currently with Giants, 2x Cy Young, 4x All-Star
	46(1377)	Blake Davis	2B	0.1	Currently with Brewers
2006	1s(39)	David Huff	LHP	-1.4	Started 52 games for the Indians
	2(57)	Josh Rodriguez	2B	-0.1	Currently with Mets
	2s(75)	Matt McBride	C	-1.1	Currently with Rockies (part of Ubaldo trade)
	5(161)	Chris Archer	RHP	-0.1	Currently with Rays
	19(581)	Josh Tomlin	RHP	1.5	Started 54 G for Indians
	20(611)	Vinnie Pestano	RHP	4.6	146 G for Indians, WBC
	21(641)	John Gaub	LHP	-0.1	Currently with Cardinals
2007	4(137)	T.J. McFarland	LHP	0.3	Currently with Orioles
	11(347)	Matt Hague	OF	-0.3	Currently with Pirates
	34(1034)	Josh Judy	RHP	-0.2	Currently with Reds
2008	1(29)	Lonnie Chisenhall	3B	1.0	Starting 3B for 2013 Indians
	3(107)	Cord Phelps	2B	-0.9	Currently Bench player for Indians 25 man
	5(171)	Zach Putnam	RHP	0.0	Currently with Rockies, played 8 G for Indians
	36(1101)	Adam Warren	RHP	-0.1	Currently with Yankees
2009	1(15)	Alex White	RHP	-0.4	Currently with Rockies, (part of Ubaldo trade)
	2(63)	Jason Kipnis	CF	4.8	Stating 2B for 2013 Indians
	8(245)	Cory Burns	RHP	-0.2	Currently with Padres
2010	1(5)	Drew Pomeranz	LHP	1.6	Currently with Rockies, (part of Ubaldo trade)
	16(480)	Cody Allen	RHP	0.3	Didn't sign, reselected in 2011, in 2013 bullpen

Raw data dump:

Here is the aggregate data for each team, I included any specific players above 6.5 WAR (because that number sounds good to me).

CIN:

GM: Jim Bowden (1992 - 2003); Dan O'Brien (2003-2006); Wayne Krivsky (2006-2008); Walt Jockety (2008-present)
Year	Players	Majors	WAR	>100g	>24 GS P	>55 G RP	GG	AS	CY	MVP	ROY
2001	50	2	25.4	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
2002	51	2	36.0	2	0	0	1	3	0	1	0
2003	50	6	1.7	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
2004	50	5	4.6	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
2005	50	8	19.2	2	1	4	0	2	0	0	0
2006	50	7	10.8	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
2007	53	5	7.5	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
2008	49	4	0.2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2009	51	2	4.8	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
2010	50	1	2.7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	504	42	112.9	14	5	8	2	5	0	1	0
Notable Players (> 6.5 WAR)
Year	Rd	Player	Notes
2001	35(1056)	Nick Markakis	HS, reentered after college
2002	2(44)	Joey Votto	28.3 WAR, 1 GG, 3 AS, 1 MVP
2002	19(555)	Chris Denorfia	who?
2005	1(12)	Jay Bruce

CLE:

GM: Mark Shapiro (2001-2010)
Year	Players	Majors	WAR	>100g	>24 GS P	>55 G RP	GG	AS	CY	MVP	ROY
2001	53	3	12.0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
2002	54	4	22.8	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
2003	52	6	13.3	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
2004	50	5	4.4	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
2005	52	8	32.0	2	2	0	0	4	2	0	0
2006	53	7	3.4	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
2007	48	3	-0.3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2008	50	4	-0.2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2009	50	3	4.1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
2010	50	2	1.9	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	512	45	93.4	9	10	4	0	4	2	0	0
Notable Players (>6.5 WAR)
Year	Rd	Player	Notes
2001	9(277)	Luke Scott	Really, 11.9 WAR for Luke Scott?
2002	1(22)	Jeremy Guthrie	sigh
2003	6(168)	Kevin Kouzmanoff	No way Kouzmanoff beats this threshold!

KC:

GM: Allard Baird (2000-2006); Dayton Moore (2006-present)
Year	Players	Majors	WAR	>100g	>24 GS P	>55 G RP	GG	AS	CY	MVP	ROY
2001	50	4	-0.6	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
2002	50	7	28.6	2	0	1	0	1	1	0	0
2003	51	5	8.8	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
2004	53	4	14.5	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	0
2005	50	2	18.9	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
2006	50	6	5.3	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
2007	50	5	7.9	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
2008	51	2	1.3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2009	49	2	4.7	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
2010	50	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	504	37	89.4	11	2	6	2	2	1	0	0
Notable Players (>6.5 WAR)
Year	Rd	Player	Notes
2002	1(6)	Zack Grienke	32.3 WAR (1/3 of their total!)
2003	7(192)	Mike Aviles	Drafted after Ryan Braun. Not that one.
2004	1(14)	Billy Butler
2005	1(2)	Alex Gordon	06, '07, and '08 1st rders still play for KC

MIA:

GM: Dave Drombowski (2001); Larry Beinfest (2002-2007); Michael Hill (2007-present)
Year	Players	Majors	WAR	>100g	>24 GS P	>55 G RP	GG	AS	CY	MVP	ROY
2001	49	4	2.6	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0
2002	50	9	34.2	3	2	1	0	2	0	0	0
2003	50	4	-0.3	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0
2004	50	6	8.5	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
2005	55	9	3.1	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
2006	52	9	-1.6	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
2007	50	5	13.0	2	0	1	0	1	0	0	0
2008	50	6	-0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2009	50	1	0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2010	50	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	506	53	59.5	11	4	11	0	3	0	0	1
Notable Players (>6.5 WAR)
Year	Rd	Player	Notes
2002	4(113)	Josh Johnson	LGT Hermida #1 pick this year
2007	1(76)	Giancarlo Stanton	Mat Dominguez taken 12th overall by MIA

MIL:

GM: Dean Taylor (1999-2002); Doug Melvin (2002-present)
Year	Players	Majors	WAR	>100g	>24 GS P	>55 G RP	GG	AS	CY	MVP	ROY
2001	50	7	16.9	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
2002	42	7	49.0	2	1	2	0	4	0	0	0
2003	50	6	20.6	2	0	1	0	1	0	0	0
2004	50	6	21.4	1	1	1	0	1	0	0	0
2005	49	9	46.0	4	1	2	0	5	0	1	1
2006	50	3	-0.8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2007	46	4	4.3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2008	54	5	7.4	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
2009	53	3	1.0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
2010	50	1	0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	494	51	166.0	13	5	8	0	11	0	1	1
Notable Players (>6.5 WAR)
Year	Rd	Notable (>6.5 WAR)	Notes
2001	2(56)	J.J. Hardy
2002	1(7)	Prince Fielder
2002	40(1189)	Hunter Pence	redrafted second round of '04 by Astros
2003	1(2)	Rickie Weeks
2003	2(39)	Tony Gwynn, Jr.
2004	2(46)	Yovani Gallardo	DUI Mike is available
2005	1(5)	Ryan Braun	Brantley in the 7th
2005	16(475)	Andrew Bailey	I'm looking this up as he is pitching
2008	1(16)	Brett Lawrie	I get him, Brett Wallace, and Jed Lowrie confused

MIN:

GM: Terry Ryan (1997-2007); Bill Smith (2007-2011)
Year	Players	Majors	WAR	>100g	>24 GS P	>55 G RP	GG	AS	CY	MVP	ROY
2001	50	6	51.1	1	2	1	3	5	0	1	0
2002	50	9	37.2	4	0	4	0	0	0	0	0
2003	50	6	14.6	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
2004	54	7	5.9	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
2005	54	8	23.8	1	3	2	0	0	0	0	0
2006	51	9	-2.4	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2007	50	2	3.2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2008	52	1	-0.6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2009	51	2	0.4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2010	50	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	512	50	133.2	12	8	7	3	5	0	1	0
Notable Players (> 6.5 WAR)
Year	Rd	Player	Notes
2001	1(1)	Joe Mauer	First #1 Overall I've seen
2001	43(1273)	Jason Vargas	redrafted by MIA 2d rd '04
2002	1(20)	Denard Span
2002	2(61)	Jesse Crain
2003	2(58)	Scott Baker
2005	1(25)	Matt Garza	Traded with Eduardo Morlan and Jason
			Bartlett for Brendan Harris, Jason Pridie
			and Delmon Young. /point. /laugh

OAK:

GM: Billy Beane (1997-present)
Year	Players	Majors	WAR	>100g	>24 GS P	>55 G RP	GG	AS	CY	MVP	ROY
2001	41	9	32.3	3	2	1	1	2	0	0	1
2002	51	14	68.0	4	1	3	0	6	0	0	0
2003	42	6	17.0	3	0	0	1	2	0	0	0
2004	44	11	27.1	3	1	3	0	1	0	0	1
2005	40	8	10.7	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
2006	40	3	22.0	0	2	1	0	3	0	0	1
2007	53	6	1.4	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
2008	50	5	0.4	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
2009	49	2	0.4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2010	50	1	2.8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	460	65	182.1	17	8	10	2	14	0	0	3
Notable Players (>6.5 WAR)
Year	Rd	Player	Notes
2001	37(1121)	Andre Ethier	redrafted in 2d rd '03 by A's
2002	1(16)	Nick Swisher	A very bro draft
2002	1(24)	Joe Blanton
2002	31(938)	Brad Ziegler	8.3?
2002	40(1208)	Jonathan Papelbon	redrafted 4th rd '03 (BOS). Barf. Puke. Whatever.
2004	1s(40)	Huston Street
2004	2(67)	Kurt Suzuki	You have to be effin kidding me
2005	1(21)	Cliff Pennington
2006	2(66)	Trevor Cahill

PIT:

GM: Dave Littlefield (2001-2007); Brian Graham (2007); Neal Huntington (2007-present)
Year	Players	Majors	WAR	>100g	>24 GS P	>55 G RP	GG	AS	CY	MVP	ROY
2001	49	10	52.4	4	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
2002	43	6	11.6	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	0
2003	50	8	21.7	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
2004	50	5	8.6	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
2005	50	3	18.5	3	0	0	1	2	0	0	0
2006	50	5	2.9	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
2007	50	3	1.6	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
2008	50	6	1.3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2009	51	2	-0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2010	50	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	493	48	118.4	13	5	6	1	3	0	0	0
Notable Players (>6.5 WAR)
Year	Rd	Notable (>6.5 WAR)	Notes
2001	3(84)	Jeremy Guthrie	sigh
2001	11(234)	Stephen Drew
2001	20(594)	Zach Duke	Rajai Davis this year too
2002	7(193)	Matt Capps
2002	33(973)	Nyjer Morgan
2003	1(8)	Paul Maholm	Tom Gorzelanny @ 6.4
2004	1(11)	Neil Walker
2005	1(11)	Andrew McCutcheon

SD:

GM: Kevin Towers (1995-2009); Jed Hoyer (2009-2011)
Year	Players	Majors	WAR	>100g	>24 GS P	>55 G RP	GG	AS	CY	MVP	ROY
2001	41	6	22.4	2	0	1	0	1	0	0	0
2002	50	7	9.6	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2003	50	6	3.8	0	1	3	0	0	0	0	0
2004	49	4	2.4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2005	52	9	27.8	4	1	1	1	0	0	0	0
2006	47	6	17.3	1	2	0	0	1	0	0	0
2007	42	9	2.5	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
2008	46	7	6.4	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
2009	50	2	-0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2010	50	2	0.3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	477	58	92.3	14	5	8	1	2	0	0	0
Notable Players (>6.5 WAR)
Year	Rd	Players	Notes
2001	13(390)	Jason Bartlett
2002	1(13)	Khalil Greene	If Kipnis doesn't beat this guy in WAR…
2005	2(66)	Chase Headley
2005	7(218)	Will Venable	Josh Tomlin this year
2006	11(333)	Mat Latos	David Freese this year

SEA:

GM: Pat Gillick (2000-2003); Bill Bavasi (2003-2008); Lee Pelekoudas (2009); Jack Zduriencik (2009-present)
Year	Players	Majors	WAR	>100g	>24 GS P	>55 G RP	GG	AS	CY	MVP	ROY
2001	52	7	2.3	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
2002	50	6	8.7	3	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
2003	50	5	20.2	1	0	3	2	2	0	0	0
2004	48	7	4.8	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
2005	48	5	1.5	1	1	1	0	1	0	0	0
2006	50	7	21.4	0	3	1	0	0	0	0	0
2007	51	4	0.6	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
2008	50	3	-0.7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2009	52	3	9.0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2010	50	1	0.4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	501	48	68.2	9	4	10	2	5	0	0	0
Notable Players
Year	Rd	Player	Notes
2003	1s(37)	Adam Jones
2006	1(5)	Brandon Morrow	Good thing the M's didn't ….. Strike out.
2006	7(201)	Doug Fister
2009	1(2)	Dustin Ackley	Latest pick to make this list so far

TB:

GM: Chuck LaMar (1995-2005); Andrew Friedman (2005-present)
Year	Players	Majors	WAR	>100g	>24 GS P	>55 G RP	GG	AS	CY	MVP	ROY
2001	50	12	12.6	2	4	1	0	0	0	0	0
2002	50	9	44.3	4	2	1	1	1	0	0	0
2003	50	12	13.4	2	3	3	0	0	0	0	0
2004	50	9	11.0	1	3	2	0	0	0	0	0
2005	50	7	19.8	1	4	1	1	1	0	0	1
2006	50	5	39.8	2	2	0	2	3	0	0	1
2007	50	4	17.6	0	2	0	0	3	1	0	0
2008	50	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2009	50	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2010	53	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	503	58	158.5	12	20	8	4	8	1	0	2
Notable Players (>6.5 WAR)
Year	Rd	Player	Notes
2002	1(2)	B.J. Upton
2002	23(674)	Jacoby Ellsbury	redrafted 1st rd '05
2003	12(338)	John Jaso
2003	37(1088)	Kris Medlen	Drafted as a SS
2005	4(118)	Jeremy Hellickson
2006	1(3)	Evan Longoria	31.0 WAR
2007	1(1)	David Price

via si0.twimg.com

"If we try to play like the Yankees in here, we will lose to the Yankees out there."

-Moneyball

	Maj %	WAR	ST	Awards
CIN	8.33%	112.9	27	8
CLE	8.79%	93.4	23	6
KC	7.34%	89.4	19	5
MIA	10.47%	59.5	26	4
MIL	10.32%	166.0	26	13
MIN	9.77%	133.2	27	9
OAK	14.13%	182.1	35	19
PIT	9.74%	118.4	24	4
SD	12.16%	92.3	27	3
SEA	9.58%	68.2	23	7
TB	11.53%	158.5	40	15

	Maj %	WAR	ST	Awards	Total
CIN	2.0	6.0	8.0	7.0	23
CLE	3.0	5.0	2.5	5.0	15.5
KC	1.0	3.0	1.0	4.0	9
MIA	8.0	1.0	5.5	2.5	17
MIL	7.0	10.0	5.5	9.0	31.5
MIN	6.0	8.0	8.0	8.0	30
OAK	11.0	11.0	10.0	11.0	43
PIT	5.0	7.0	4.0	2.5	18.5
SD	10.0	4.0	8.0	1.0	23
SEA	4.0	2.0	2.5	6.0	14.5
TB	9.0	9.0	11.0	10.0	39

		Final Rankings
1	OAK	43
2	TB	39
3	MIL	31.5
4	MIN	30
5	CIN	23
5	SD	23
7	PIT	18.5
8	MIA	17
9	CLE	15.5
10	SEA	14.5
11	KC	9

Edit: Inexcusable spelling, grammar errors.

GM: Mark Shapiro (2001-2009)
Year	Rd (Pick)	Player	Position	WAR	Awards/Notes
2001	1s(35)	J.D. Martin	RHP	0.7	Currently with the Rays
	9(277)	Luke Scott	OF	11.9	Currently with the Rays
	44(1320)	Garrett Mock	RHP	-0.6	Currently with the D'Backs
2002	1(22)	Jeremy Guthrie	RHP	18.1	Played 3 seasons with Indians
	2(63)	Brian Slocum	RHP	-0.2	OOB
	5(154)	Ben Francisco	OF	2.5	Currently with the Yankees
	33(994)	Jensen Lewis	RHP	-	Didn't sign, redrafted by Indians in 2005
2003	1(11)	Michael Aubrey	1B	0.2	OOB
	1(18)	Brad Snyder	OF	-0.1	Currently with D'Backs
	3(78)	Ryan Garko	C	3.7	OOB - played in 408 games for Indians
	6(168)	Kevin Kouzmanoff	3B	6.8	OOB
	16(468)	Aaron Laffey	LHP	2.8	Currently with Mets 9 4 seaons with Indians
	32(948)	Steven Jackson	RHP	-0.1	OOB
2004	1(6)	Jeremy Sowers	LHP	1.6	OOB Played in 72 games for Indians
	3(77)	Scott Lewis	LHP	0.6	OOB Played in 5 games for Indians
	19(557)	Chris Gimenez	OF	0.1	Currently with the Rays
	24(707)	Wyatt Toregas	C	-0.4	currently with Pirates, played 19 G for Indians
	45(1333)	Tony Sipp	LHP	2.5	Currently with D'backs, played 255 G for Indians
2005	1(14)	Trevor Crowe	OF	0.3	Currently with Astros, played 205 G for Indians
	3(102)	Jensen Lewis	RHP	2.3	Currently with Cubs, played 161 G for Indians
	49124)	Jordan Brown	1B	0.0	Currently with Marlins, played 26 G for Indians
	18(544)	Desmond Jennings	OF	6.3	Currently with Rays
	21(634)	Neil Wagner	RHP	-0.3	Currently with Blue Jays
	27(814)	Brandon Laird	1B	0.1	Currently with Astros
	42(1261)	Tim Lincecum	RHP	23.3	Currently with Giants, 2x Cy Young, 4x All-Star
	46(1377)	Blake Davis	2B	0.1	Currently with Brewers
2006	1s(39)	David Huff	LHP	-1.4	Started 52 games for the Indians
	2(57)	Josh Rodriguez	2B	-0.1	Currently with Mets
	2s(75)	Matt McBride	C	-1.1	Currently with Rockies (part of Ubaldo trade)
	5(161)	Chris Archer	RHP	-0.1	Currently with Rays
	19(581)	Josh Tomlin	RHP	1.5	Started 54 G for Indians
	20(611)	Vinnie Pestano	RHP	4.6	146 G for Indians, WBC
	21(641)	John Gaub	LHP	-0.1	Currently with Cardinals
2007	4(137)	T.J. McFarland	LHP	0.3	Currently with Orioles
	11(347)	Matt Hague	OF	-0.3	Currently with Pirates
	34(1034)	Josh Judy	RHP	-0.2	Currently with Reds
2008	1(29)	Lonnie Chisenhall	3B	1.0	Starting 3B for 2013 Indians
	3(107)	Cord Phelps	2B	-0.9	Currently Bench player for Indians 25 man
	5(171)	Zach Putnam	RHP	0.0	Currently with Rockies, played 8 G for Indians
	36(1101)	Adam Warren	RHP	-0.1	Currently with Yankees
2009	1(15)	Alex White	RHP	-0.4	Currently with Rockies, (part of Ubaldo trade)
	2(63)	Jason Kipnis	CF	4.8	Stating 2B for 2013 Indians
	8(245)	Cory Burns	RHP	-0.2	Currently with Padres
2010	1(5)	Drew Pomeranz	LHP	1.6	Currently with Rockies, (part of Ubaldo trade)
	16(480)	Cody Allen	RHP	0.3	Didn't sign, reselected in 2011, in 2013 bullpen

Raw data dump:

Here is the aggregate data for each team, I included any specific players above 6.5 WAR (because that number sounds good to me).

CIN:

GM: Jim Bowden (1992 - 2003); Dan O'Brien (2003-2006); Wayne Krivsky (2006-2008); Walt Jockety (2008-present)
Year	Players	Majors	WAR	>100g	>24 GS P	>55 G RP	GG	AS	CY	MVP	ROY
2001	50	2	25.4	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
2002	51	2	36.0	2	0	0	1	3	0	1	0
2003	50	6	1.7	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
2004	50	5	4.6	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
2005	50	8	19.2	2	1	4	0	2	0	0	0
2006	50	7	10.8	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
2007	53	5	7.5	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
2008	49	4	0.2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2009	51	2	4.8	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
2010	50	1	2.7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	504	42	112.9	14	5	8	2	5	0	1	0
Notable Players (> 6.5 WAR)
Year	Rd	Player	Notes
2001	35(1056)	Nick Markakis	HS, reentered after college
2002	2(44)	Joey Votto	28.3 WAR, 1 GG, 3 AS, 1 MVP
2002	19(555)	Chris Denorfia	who?
2005	1(12)	Jay Bruce

CLE:

GM: Mark Shapiro (2001-2010)
Year	Players	Majors	WAR	>100g	>24 GS P	>55 G RP	GG	AS	CY	MVP	ROY
2001	53	3	12.0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
2002	54	4	22.8	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
2003	52	6	13.3	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
2004	50	5	4.4	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
2005	52	8	32.0	2	2	0	0	4	2	0	0
2006	53	7	3.4	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
2007	48	3	-0.3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2008	50	4	-0.2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2009	50	3	4.1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
2010	50	2	1.9	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	512	45	93.4	9	10	4	0	4	2	0	0
Notable Players (>6.5 WAR)
Year	Rd	Player	Notes
2001	9(277)	Luke Scott	Really, 11.9 WAR for Luke Scott?
2002	1(22)	Jeremy Guthrie	sigh
2003	6(168)	Kevin Kouzmanoff	No way Kouzmanoff beats this threshold!

KC:

GM: Allard Baird (2000-2006); Dayton Moore (2006-present)
Year	Players	Majors	WAR	>100g	>24 GS P	>55 G RP	GG	AS	CY	MVP	ROY
2001	50	4	-0.6	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
2002	50	7	28.6	2	0	1	0	1	1	0	0
2003	51	5	8.8	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
2004	53	4	14.5	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	0
2005	50	2	18.9	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
2006	50	6	5.3	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
2007	50	5	7.9	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
2008	51	2	1.3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2009	49	2	4.7	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
2010	50	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	504	37	89.4	11	2	6	2	2	1	0	0
Notable Players (>6.5 WAR)
Year	Rd	Player	Notes
2002	1(6)	Zack Grienke	32.3 WAR (1/3 of their total!)
2003	7(192)	Mike Aviles	Drafted after Ryan Braun. Not that one.
2004	1(14)	Billy Butler
2005	1(2)	Alex Gordon	06, '07, and '08 1st rders still play for KC

MIA:

GM: Dave Drombowski (2001); Larry Beinfest (2002-2007); Michael Hill (2007-present)
Year	Players	Majors	WAR	>100g	>24 GS P	>55 G RP	GG	AS	CY	MVP	ROY
2001	49	4	2.6	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0
2002	50	9	34.2	3	2	1	0	2	0	0	0
2003	50	4	-0.3	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0
2004	50	6	8.5	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
2005	55	9	3.1	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
2006	52	9	-1.6	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
2007	50	5	13.0	2	0	1	0	1	0	0	0
2008	50	6	-0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2009	50	1	0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2010	50	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	506	53	59.5	11	4	11	0	3	0	0	1
Notable Players (>6.5 WAR)
Year	Rd	Player	Notes
2002	4(113)	Josh Johnson	LGT Hermida #1 pick this year
2007	1(76)	Giancarlo Stanton	Mat Dominguez taken 12th overall by MIA

MIL:

GM: Dean Taylor (1999-2002); Doug Melvin (2002-present)
Year	Players	Majors	WAR	>100g	>24 GS P	>55 G RP	GG	AS	CY	MVP	ROY
2001	50	7	16.9	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
2002	42	7	49.0	2	1	2	0	4	0	0	0
2003	50	6	20.6	2	0	1	0	1	0	0	0
2004	50	6	21.4	1	1	1	0	1	0	0	0
2005	49	9	46.0	4	1	2	0	5	0	1	1
2006	50	3	-0.8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2007	46	4	4.3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2008	54	5	7.4	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
2009	53	3	1.0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
2010	50	1	0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	494	51	166.0	13	5	8	0	11	0	1	1
Notable Players (>6.5 WAR)
Year	Rd	Notable (>6.5 WAR)	Notes
2001	2(56)	J.J. Hardy
2002	1(7)	Prince Fielder
2002	40(1189)	Hunter Pence	redrafted second round of '04 by Astros
2003	1(2)	Rickie Weeks
2003	2(39)	Tony Gwynn, Jr.
2004	2(46)	Yovani Gallardo	DUI Mike is available
2005	1(5)	Ryan Braun	Brantley in the 7th
2005	16(475)	Andrew Bailey	I'm looking this up as he is pitching
2008	1(16)	Brett Lawrie	I get him, Brett Wallace, and Jed Lowrie confused

MIN:

GM: Terry Ryan (1997-2007); Bill Smith (2007-2011)
Year	Players	Majors	WAR	>100g	>24 GS P	>55 G RP	GG	AS	CY	MVP	ROY
2001	50	6	51.1	1	2	1	3	5	0	1	0
2002	50	9	37.2	4	0	4	0	0	0	0	0
2003	50	6	14.6	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
2004	54	7	5.9	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
2005	54	8	23.8	1	3	2	0	0	0	0	0
2006	51	9	-2.4	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2007	50	2	3.2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2008	52	1	-0.6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2009	51	2	0.4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2010	50	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	512	50	133.2	12	8	7	3	5	0	1	0
Notable Players (> 6.5 WAR)
Year	Rd	Player	Notes
2001	1(1)	Joe Mauer	First #1 Overall I've seen
2001	43(1273)	Jason Vargas	redrafted by MIA 2d rd '04
2002	1(20)	Denard Span
2002	2(61)	Jesse Crain
2003	2(58)	Scott Baker
2005	1(25)	Matt Garza	Traded with Eduardo Morlan and Jason
			Bartlett for Brendan Harris, Jason Pridie
			and Delmon Young. /point. /laugh

OAK:

GM: Billy Beane (1997-present)
Year	Players	Majors	WAR	>100g	>24 GS P	>55 G RP	GG	AS	CY	MVP	ROY
2001	41	9	32.3	3	2	1	1	2	0	0	1
2002	51	14	68.0	4	1	3	0	6	0	0	0
2003	42	6	17.0	3	0	0	1	2	0	0	0
2004	44	11	27.1	3	1	3	0	1	0	0	1
2005	40	8	10.7	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
2006	40	3	22.0	0	2	1	0	3	0	0	1
2007	53	6	1.4	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
2008	50	5	0.4	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
2009	49	2	0.4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2010	50	1	2.8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	460	65	182.1	17	8	10	2	14	0	0	3
Notable Players (>6.5 WAR)
Year	Rd	Player	Notes
2001	37(1121)	Andre Ethier	redrafted in 2d rd '03 by A's
2002	1(16)	Nick Swisher	A very bro draft
2002	1(24)	Joe Blanton
2002	31(938)	Brad Ziegler	8.3?
2002	40(1208)	Jonathan Papelbon	redrafted 4th rd '03 (BOS). Barf. Puke. Whatever.
2004	1s(40)	Huston Street
2004	2(67)	Kurt Suzuki	You have to be effin kidding me
2005	1(21)	Cliff Pennington
2006	2(66)	Trevor Cahill

PIT:

GM: Dave Littlefield (2001-2007); Brian Graham (2007); Neal Huntington (2007-present)
Year	Players	Majors	WAR	>100g	>24 GS P	>55 G RP	GG	AS	CY	MVP	ROY
2001	49	10	52.4	4	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
2002	43	6	11.6	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	0
2003	50	8	21.7	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
2004	50	5	8.6	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
2005	50	3	18.5	3	0	0	1	2	0	0	0
2006	50	5	2.9	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
2007	50	3	1.6	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
2008	50	6	1.3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2009	51	2	-0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2010	50	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	493	48	118.4	13	5	6	1	3	0	0	0
Notable Players (>6.5 WAR)
Year	Rd	Notable (>6.5 WAR)	Notes
2001	3(84)	Jeremy Guthrie	sigh
2001	11(234)	Stephen Drew
2001	20(594)	Zach Duke	Rajai Davis this year too
2002	7(193)	Matt Capps
2002	33(973)	Nyjer Morgan
2003	1(8)	Paul Maholm	Tom Gorzelanny @ 6.4
2004	1(11)	Neil Walker
2005	1(11)	Andrew McCutcheon

SD:

GM: Kevin Towers (1995-2009); Jed Hoyer (2009-2011)
Year	Players	Majors	WAR	>100g	>24 GS P	>55 G RP	GG	AS	CY	MVP	ROY
2001	41	6	22.4	2	0	1	0	1	0	0	0
2002	50	7	9.6	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2003	50	6	3.8	0	1	3	0	0	0	0	0
2004	49	4	2.4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2005	52	9	27.8	4	1	1	1	0	0	0	0
2006	47	6	17.3	1	2	0	0	1	0	0	0
2007	42	9	2.5	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
2008	46	7	6.4	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
2009	50	2	-0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2010	50	2	0.3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	477	58	92.3	14	5	8	1	2	0	0	0
Notable Players (>6.5 WAR)
Year	Rd	Players	Notes
2001	13(390)	Jason Bartlett
2002	1(13)	Khalil Greene	If Kipnis doesn't beat this guy in WAR…
2005	2(66)	Chase Headley
2005	7(218)	Will Venable	Josh Tomlin this year
2006	11(333)	Mat Latos	David Freese this year

SEA:

GM: Pat Gillick (2000-2003); Bill Bavasi (2003-2008); Lee Pelekoudas (2009); Jack Zduriencik (2009-present)
Year	Players	Majors	WAR	>100g	>24 GS P	>55 G RP	GG	AS	CY	MVP	ROY
2001	52	7	2.3	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
2002	50	6	8.7	3	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
2003	50	5	20.2	1	0	3	2	2	0	0	0
2004	48	7	4.8	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
2005	48	5	1.5	1	1	1	0	1	0	0	0
2006	50	7	21.4	0	3	1	0	0	0	0	0
2007	51	4	0.6	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
2008	50	3	-0.7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2009	52	3	9.0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2010	50	1	0.4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	501	48	68.2	9	4	10	2	5	0	0	0
Notable Players
Year	Rd	Player	Notes
2003	1s(37)	Adam Jones
2006	1(5)	Brandon Morrow	Good thing the M's didn't ….. Strike out.
2006	7(201)	Doug Fister
2009	1(2)	Dustin Ackley	Latest pick to make this list so far

TB:

GM: Chuck LaMar (1995-2005); Andrew Friedman (2005-present)
Year	Players	Majors	WAR	>100g	>24 GS P	>55 G RP	GG	AS	CY	MVP	ROY
2001	50	12	12.6	2	4	1	0	0	0	0	0
2002	50	9	44.3	4	2	1	1	1	0	0	0
2003	50	12	13.4	2	3	3	0	0	0	0	0
2004	50	9	11.0	1	3	2	0	0	0	0	0
2005	50	7	19.8	1	4	1	1	1	0	0	1
2006	50	5	39.8	2	2	0	2	3	0	0	1
2007	50	4	17.6	0	2	0	0	3	1	0	0
2008	50	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2009	50	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2010	53	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	503	58	158.5	12	20	8	4	8	1	0	2
Notable Players (>6.5 WAR)
Year	Rd	Player	Notes
2002	1(2)	B.J. Upton
2002	23(674)	Jacoby Ellsbury	redrafted 1st rd '05
2003	12(338)	John Jaso
2003	37(1088)	Kris Medlen	Drafted as a SS
2005	4(118)	Jeremy Hellickson
2006	1(3)	Evan Longoria	31.0 WAR
2007	1(1)	David Price

How do you solve a problem like Ubaldo?

2013-04-17T19:14:04Z

He climbs the mound to a groaning sound, his jersey's wrinkles abound
He walks the dog-gone bases full and lets them score four more
And underneath his ballcap he has a big empty gourd
I've even seen him yearning for the bullpen

He's always the losing pitcher but his filthy stuff is real
He's forgotten all he ever knew, including how to deal
I hate to have to say it but I very firmly feel
Ubaldo's not an asset to the Tribesmen
There's naught to say on his behalf, be still
Mister Uh-Oh Ubaldo Jimenez makes me ill

How do you solve a problem like Ubaldo?
How do you restore his long-lost renown?
How do you find the word that means Ubaldo?
A flibbertigibbet, a will o' the wisp, a clown

Many a thing you know you'd like to tell him
Many a thing he ought to understand
But how do you make him play and listen to all you say
How do you give a headcase good command?
Oh, how do you solve a problem like Ubaldo?
How do you make him do what you planned?

When I watch him I'm confused, disconcerted and abused
And I never know if he'll pitch worth a damn
Unpredictable as April, he's like your head full of Nyquil
A hitter's darling, then a lion, mostly a lamb

He'll wear out any catcher, drive a pitching coach from his job
Cy Young thrower's schtick is growing old with sighs
He is mental, he is wild, he's an enigma, he's reviled
He's a headache, he's an airbrain, he's unwise

How do you solve a problem like Ubaldo?
How do you find his talent and pin it down?
How do you find the word that means Ubaldo?
A flibbertigibbet, a will o' the wisp, a clown

Many a thing you know you'd like to tell him
Many a thing she ought to understand
But how do you make him play and listen to all you say
How do you give a headcase good command?
Oh, how do you solve a problem like Ubaldo?
How do you make him do what you planned?

Editor's Note: For those who don't know, these lyrics go to the song "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?" from the musical/film The Sound of Music. Here's the original:

Three Positives to take from Red Sox 7, Indians 2

2013-04-17T13:41:31Z

Look, I can't explain much of what goes on with this team, or what's going on in the stands (Under 10,000 last night... serious question from someone who now lives elsewhere, is there now something else to do at night in Cleveland other than go to Tribe games? Because for my entire childhood there definitely was not), but what I can tell you is that last night may not have been nearly as depressing as you think it was. Let's take a look.

1) The Red Sox did not win last night because of their toughness in the face of adversity, they won because Ubaldo Jimenez imploded. But I have a feeling that if there's one game this year I can find an emotional silver lining in an Indians loss, it's this one. When when I was a little kid and my team lost, my mother would tell me that "some other little boy will be happy tonight." Hopefully that's the case after this game. It may sound cheesy and/or dumb, but it's what I've got.

2) With the exception of that no good, very bad 2nd Inning, the Indians actually won this game 2-0. Really I think you can make the argument that the entire difference in the game came when that ball ticked off Asdrubal Cabrera's glove and trickled into center field. So much closer than the game ended up feeling.

3) The bullpen was great and held a decent, motivated Red Sox lineup scoreless over the final 2/3 of this game without using any of the three top guys. Yes, it may suffer from the overuse, but if there was one game we could afford this it was this one. The 'pen was under-used coming in, and there are off-days both before and after this three-game set.

So take 'em or leave 'em, those are my positives. Tonight's Aceves/Masterson match-up looks, much, much better.

Analyzing Mark Reynolds' Plate Discipline

2013-04-15T18:03:02Z

It is always interesting to hear what players think they are doing or not doing that leads to success or failure, and then measure that up against what the data says. Mark Reynolds opened that door of opportunity after Saturday’s win against the White Sox, in which he hit a grand slam and an RBI single to lead the Indians to a win.

Reynolds has five home runs on the season after going homerless over his first 20 games a season ago. So, what has been the key to his success so far? One explanation is that he is no longer blind.

If you didn't click that last link, you should. Funny stuff. Anyway, since that was more for humor than the truth we are seeking, let’s hear it from the man himself. According to Reynolds:

"I'm swinging at a lot more strikes," said Reynolds in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "I'm not chasing a bunch, but I'm sure that will come. Right now I'm going to enjoy it while I'm able to square some balls up."

Is he right? Is Mark Reynolds "not chasing a bunch"? According to the data, Reynolds is wrong:

While it is still early in the season, Reynolds is chasing 28.1 percent of pitches outside of the strike zone according to Pitch F/X, higher than his career average of 26 percent. Last year, he only chased 24 percent of the time, and he hasn’t swung at pitches out of the zone at a rate of higher than 25.1 percent since 2009. When Reynolds chases, he is making contact at a rate of 47.8 percent, which is higher than his career average of 45.6 percent.

Of course, swinging at balls isn't always a bad thing:

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2013_04_03_clemlb_tormlb_1&mode=video&content_id=25983501&tcid=vpp_copy_25983501

What about the part about "swinging at a lot more strikes"? Well, he might have something there: Reynolds is swinging at 68.7 percent of pitches in the zone, above his career rate of 66.9 percent. Reynolds is especially right when you compare this season to his 2012 campaign, when he swung at a career-low 62.8 percent of strikes. However, his contact rate when swinging at strikes is 68.4 percent, which would be the lowest of his career if it holds up. Reynolds’ career average for contact on strikes is 71.6 percent and last season he connected on career-best 76.8 percent of swings on pitches in the zone.

Let's take a look at the pitches that Reynolds has been swinging at, compared to this time last season. As you can see, it looks like most of his chases have been on low pitches:

via pitchfx.texasleaguers.com

The second graph is his chart from his first 10 games in 2012. Looks pretty similar, no? So far he has avoided chasing outside pitches this season.

The overall contact rate on swings for Reynolds is 62.5 percent, slightly below his career average of 64 percent, while his swing rate at all pitches is 48.5 percent, above his career average of about 46 percent. The swinging strike percentage for Reynolds would be a career high; it is currently 18.3 percent, compared to a career average of 16.6 percent. In 2012 that number was a career-low 13.5 percent.

The disclaimer, as always, is sample size. However, I wanted to test Mark Reynolds' words at this point in the season, and I got the answers that I was looking for.

It doesn’t matter that Reynolds was wrong about what kind of pitches he is swinging at. What matters is that five of his 10 hits have left the yard. There will no doubt be slumps and a lot of strikeouts. But Tribe fans will take the good with the bad for a hitter who has already hit two decisive home runs in the team’s five victories.

All data is from Fangraphs and Texas Leaguers

Reynolds has five home runs on the season after going homerless over his first 20 games a season ago. So, what has been the key to his success so far? One explanation is that he is no longer blind.

If you didn't click that last link, you should. Funny stuff. Anyway, since that was more for humor than the truth we are seeking, let’s hear it from the man himself. According to Reynolds:

Is he right? Is Mark Reynolds "not chasing a bunch"? According to the data, Reynolds is wrong:

Of course, swinging at balls isn't always a bad thing:

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2013_04_03_clemlb_tormlb_1&mode=video&content_id=25983501&tcid=vpp_copy_25983501

Let's take a look at the pitches that Reynolds has been swinging at, compared to this time last season. As you can see, it looks like most of his chases have been on low pitches:

via pitchfx.texasleaguers.com

The second graph is his chart from his first 10 games in 2012. Looks pretty similar, no? So far he has avoided chasing outside pitches this season.

The disclaimer, as always, is sample size. However, I wanted to test Mark Reynolds' words at this point in the season, and I got the answers that I was looking for.

All data is from Fangraphs and Texas Leaguers

Three Positives to take from White Sox 3, Indians 1

2013-04-15T13:06:34Z

Whether the Tribe lost or won on Sunday, this weekend was already a huge improvement over the two debacles against the Yankees. The rains came and washed the streets of Cleveland clean of that nonsense. And though the Indians DID lose on Sunday, there were plenty of good things to talk about afterwards:

1) Brett Myers finally put together a decent outing, it didn't feel like just a fluke. He got his stuff down and had far better location than in his previous outings. Myers scattered six hits over six innings and only gave up two runs on a homer by Paul Konerko right before he was pulled. If Justin Masterson is great, Zach McAllister is pretty good, and Myers (or anyone else) can give the team a chance to win sometimes this team may be able to string together a rotation after all.

2) Michael Bourn may have gotten stepped on at First, but the injury wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it might be at first. I have a feeling Bourn'll be back any day, and in the meantime he went 3-for-4, taking the first pitch of the game over the wall for the Tribe's only run.

3) Carlos Santana pinch hit in the ninth and hit a ball a mile but just foul down the right field line. He then worked a walk to give the Tribe some life in the 9th... he looks ready to go when the Red Sox roll in to town.

Today is the first actual scheduled off-day of the year for the Indians. Enjoy it while ye may.

Will Justin Masterson Continue His Strong Start?

2013-04-10T03:51:50Z

After watching the Indians--most notably their starting pitchers--flounder against the Yankees the last two days, I wanted to look into something a little more positive. By "positive" I mean the first two outings from Justin Masterson, including the seven shutout innings on Sunday at Tropicana Field.

In becoming the first pitcher ever to defeat the reigning Cy Young winners in his first two starts of the year, Masterson continued a trend during his four years as a Tribe starter: he is dominant in his first two starts of the season.

2013: 2-0, 0.69 ERA, 13 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 7 BB, 13 K, 0 HR

2012: 0-1, 2.77 ERA, 13 IP, 10 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 12 K, 1 HR

2011: 2-0, 1.35 ERA, 13.1 IP, 11 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 9 K, 0 HR

2010: 1-1, 2.45 ERA, 11 IP, 13 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 14 K, 1 HR

TOTAL: 5-2, 1.79 ERA, 50.1 IP, 39 H, 14 R, 10 ER, 14 BB, 48 K, 2 HR

That is pretty good stuff from The Big Masty in his first two starts of each season, even in his down year in 2012.

The scary part that will hopefully be avoided, especially with the struggles from the rest of the rotation, is that in two of the last three years, things turned ugly in his next two starts

2012: 0-1, 12.46 ERA, 8.2 IP, 13 H, 12 R, 12 ER, 10 BB, 3 K, 2 HR

2011: 2-0, 2.08 ERA, 13 IP, 10 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 6 BB, 6 K, 0 HR

2010: 0-1, 10.13 ERA, 8 IP, 13 H, 12 R, 9 ER, 9 BB, 10 K, 1 HR

TOTAL: 2-2, 7.28 ERA, 29.2 IP, 36 H, 27 R, 24 ER, 25 BB, 19 K, 3 HR

Now clearly, I am cherry-picking numbers, but this is interesting to keep in mind because in 2011, he kept up his strong start going, winning his first five starts on his way to the best season of his career. Meanwhile, in 2010 and 2012, his performance fell off during his third and fourth starts and beyond.

What has been the key for Masterson so far? Well, holding opponents to a .179 BABIP doesn't hurt. You might remember that in his first start of the season, he struggled through the first three frames, throwing 70 pitches. Masterson was helped out by plays like this:

Asdrubal Turns Two

In that example, a hard-hit ball goes right at Asdrubal, who saves at least one run and the potential for more. There were several other hard hit balls where there was some luck involved for Masterson in that first start until he settled down.

So far, Masterson's best weapon has been his slider. He is throwing it more--26 percent of the time this season compared to 20 percent throughout his career according to Pitch F/X. He is throwing it when ahead of hitters about 40 percent of the time compared to 32 percent for his career. Masterson is also getting 44 percent whiffs per swing on the slider, above his career average of 37 percent. He also has been using the slider more the later in the game it gets:

via www.brooksbaseball.net

These numbers very well may regress as he is only two starts into the season, but they are interesting to look at nonetheless.

In case you were wondering (I was), the slider rates and whiff rates are actually a lot closer to Masterson's percentages in 2012 (his bad season) than 2011 (his very good season). In 2011 he threw the slider 14 percent of the time compared to 19.5 percent last year. The whiff/swing on sliders was 32 percent in 2011 and 40 percent last season.

One area Masterson will need to improve if he wants to keep pitching well is his 14% walk rate, which is well above his career average of 9%. Those walks will catch up with him eventually. His strikeout rate of 26.5% is also soaring above his career average of 18%, so expect that to fall as well.

While there are question marks throughout the rotation, let's hope that Masterson can hold up as the ace and have a year that looks more like 2011 than 2012. The Tribe will be counting on it for any chance at contending in 2013.

Data from Fangraphs and Brooks Baseball were used for this post