The Zo Zone

For what it is worth my brother is a Tigers fan and he is not a fan of that trade right now. He has no faith in Willis pitching any better in the American League and he sees Mo Vaughn all over Cabrera.

He was also hoping that Inge would get traded to Phillies because he loves Inge and wouldn’t mind seeing him play more. Oh well….

Oh boy, I really want Inge. Who wouldn't want a man with an identical OPS to our combined third basemen last year at 6 times the cost?

The saying is that pitching and defense wins championships but the Red Sox were at -14. Of the playoff teams, only the Diamondbacks and the Cubs ranked higher than the Phillies. Defense in baseball is so difficult (and confusing) to assign numbers to and judge. I think I heard somewhere before that using this formula Chase Utley was the highest ranking defensive 2b but I could be wrong.

Fielding is tough to quantify, agreed. For that reason I am still interested in keeping Rowand for $$$, using his offense as a fill-in for our weak 3B offense. People like Rowand, Victorino, and especially the now-gone Bourne make up in tough catches and 'saved' hits/runs that their performance or underperformance at the plate is more than forgivable. "Bloop" singles don't happen when an outfield has speed like Michael Bourne or Victorino. Free agent A. Nunez is also valuable for that reason. Howard obviously makes up for the occasional passed ball with big offensive numbers. Anyway, slow week in MLB and Phillies news. Sorry that Wolf went to SD.

The new stat (Sabermetric stuff) are old stat. Boston and other sabermetric team use this kind of analysis to discover the real value of a player.
You can't estimate defence without rzr and ooz or other similar sabermetric stat.
E is a stupid stat useless. For example David A Wright is not so good in his zone but his range is so huge that allows him to be one of the best 3B in NL.
There are many other stat that common people doesn't use like LD% GB% FB% for hitting and pitching this kind of stat allow to understand the difference between a slump and misfortune.
The hard ball time is a good site to start a sabermetric analysis.

The Tigers could afford to empty the farm system to get Cabrera and Willis because they can restock their system with premium talent quickly. This is because they consistently go over MLB's slotting recommendations to sign the best amateurs in the draft. Unlike the Phillies.

anyone in the market for a mcmansion once inhabited by the phils centerfielder? here's the listing...

http://homes.longandfoster.com/Real-Estate/PropertyDetails.aspx?MlsCompanyID=16&MlsNumber=5208679&Add=1165-Hedgerow-Dr,Garnet-Valley,PA-19061

I'm a big believer in Zone Rating, etc. in addition to fielding percentage. None of these stats provide a complete picture, but you must take them all together in order to really understand what is going on in the field.

I would say the Phils placement on this list is about right. SS and RF was the only two positions that had great range. CF and 2B was average to above average. The rest 1B, 3B, LF was bad to poor for the everyday players.

I think the Phils 'pitching' looked much better when Bourn was in the outfield (ie the outfield was stealing some hits from the other team). Hopefully Chris Roberson (or someone similar) can fill that roll next year.

Disclaimer: I just want Roberson's legs, not his bat.

PS Yes, Rowand snagged a gold glove, but these awards have more to do with batting then with fielding as strange as that might seem. I think Rowand fielded better in 2k6 than in 2k7...

I echo Paul W on Zone Rating, plus fielding percentage. I like to add Range Factor to the equation as well since it gives an idea about how many plays a fielder makes during a game. I think it helps add context to the other numbers.

I actually have no problem with Rowand winning a Gold Glove this year. While he might have had better seasons, but I think Beltran is the only center fielder in the NL that was clearly better and he missed a chunk of time.

Rollins’ Gold Glove this year probably should have gone to Troy Tulowitzki, since he lead NL short stops in Fielding % Range Factor, and was second in Zone Rating.
Still, Rollins should have won a few Gold Gloves in past seasons so I guess everything is relative.

Todd: What about the Dewan ratings by player for the Phils? Do you have access to the info?

There is NO WAY a players defense can be measured. NONE. Take all the stats you want, and it still doesn't work. Bill James has Jimmy Rollins ranked as the 8th best shortstop in the NL. See what I mean?

so where exactly is rowand going to end up? the teams shopping for a right handed CF is drying up. in fact the teams looking for a CF period seem to to be drying up. with bradley going to TX and if Fukewhatever goes to SD then who is left. The Cubs only want a left handed outfielder and the white sox don't want to pay rowand. sounds like he may have to come back on his demands (for years). Once that happens I wonder if the Phils would still be interested (according to ESPN they have been trying to get soemone to split time in right with Werth).

Bill: Your proof that James is wrong is what? Have you seen all of the shortstops in the NL enough to measure their defensive ability?

While I grant that defensive metrics are not as advanced as the offensive metrics they still hold weight. When the same players show up at the top of all of the different metrics over and over again I think it becomes tough to deny that they are onto something.

Now I’m not sure what list your are referring too, but of everyday shortstops I’d say in 2007 Rollins was at best 4th best defensive shortstop behind Troy Tulowitzki, Omar Vizquel, and Khalil Greene.

You could make an argument that in 2007 Jose Reyes, Rafael Furcal, Adam Everett, Jack Wilson and maybe even David Eckstein were on par or better then Rollins defensively. That doesn’t mean Rollins is a bad defender, it just means there are a lot of really good defensive shortstops.

On Utley, yes, the numbers do say Utley is the best defensive everyday 2nd baseman in the NL. I agree with them. Utley has improved a ton in that area of his game.

david wright should have never won a gold glove this year! he is good, but was out of the top 5 in fielding, and had alot of errors!

Whats going on up there in these posts ? Algebra ,Geometry,Trig.,Science ? Yogi Bera, would have fun with this stuff. x+y^_3% . Did he catch the ball ? I didn't think so..

Yes, but would you take David Wright as a Phillies third baseman? :-)

we dont need wright, we got helms!!! besides, the mets need at least on white guy out there, otherwise they would have to change the team name to dominican republic!

I was born and raised a baseball guy but all this stuff means nothing if the team I live and die with won't do what it takes to improve. And don't give me the Lowell junk because they should have been in it with him from the beginning not trying to jump in at the end. I know exactly how he felt. I worked at a job for 13 yrs. and gave the company 3 months notice i was leaving to buy my own business and the week before I left they offered me a large raise. Where was the offer in the beginning? There are things they can do to get better and they won't because they are pretty much guaranteed to have 3.1 mil thru the turnstiles next year, too. We're loyal to a fault. But they could own the city if they made some moves especially now with the Eagles situation. They even have a part owner that wants to get more involved and they won't let him..Someday, before I croak, I would like to see one of these two teams do what it takes to win. I know the Flyers try hard and the Sixers, well..they are the Sixers ...but if one of the big 2 would step up it would be really nice for the fans..But history shows thaat they won't.. But I'll keep watching because that's what we do. Kosball

In Baseball America's top 10 Phillies' prospects, they didn't list Jason Jaramillo.
Hasn't it been the Phillies' plan to have Ruiz hold down the spot till JJ is ready?

Rowand to the Giants!!! What a fool! The Giants are old and they suck! He will regret signing there, and they might just regret signing him for 5 years!! Good luck Rowand....oh and you will get booed when you come back to philly lol