Mueller, Bellhorn and the Greek God of Walks

[tbach24]

Youklis (http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/7049), Mueller (http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/5587), Bellhorn (http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/5831)

For those of you who haven't read Moneyball, Youklis was dubbed the Greek God of Walks because of his proficiency in walking. IIRC, in 2001 he had the highest OBP in major league baseball, other than Bonds.

Now why isn't this guy in the game? I remember reading about how Theo used every inch of his pull to keep Youklis away from the A's, but now as GM won't have Terry start him everyday? Bellhorn is hitting like crap, and Mueller has played 2B before (and a little this season) so why can't we have Youklis and Mueller play 3b and 2b, respectively. And if it's because of Bellhorn's excellent defense, why not sit Mueller?

I want Youk in the game!!!

[Vince Young]

Well, he made his MLB debut in 2004, so I find that hard to believe.

Edit - and he wasn't in the top 10 in OBP either.

[tbach24]

[ QUOTE ]
Well, he made his MLB debut in 2004, so I find that hard to believe.

Edit - and he wasn't in the top 10 in OBP either.

[/ QUOTE ]

Professional baseball includes all minor leagues...I'm going to go find it in the book now.

[contentless]

Youk has played some 2B too, so what's your point?

[tbach24]

[ QUOTE ]
Youk has played some 2B too, so what's your point?

[/ QUOTE ]

That I want to see Youk as an everyday player...I think I made that obvious in my OP.

[Jack of Arcades]

Because Bellhorn is actually around an average defender (a shock! Most people don't consider Three True Outcome guys like Bellhorn on Kingman good defenders, which is why Rob Deer gets blasted so much... Mike Cameron gets to escape this because he makes flashy plays). Mueller can't really handle anything other than third, and just because he's hit like crap lately barely changes his overall projection (IE, what you should expect him to hit going forward).

[ThaSaltCracka]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Well, he made his MLB debut in 2004, so I find that hard to believe.

Edit - and he wasn't in the top 10 in OBP either.

[/ QUOTE ]

Professional baseball includes all minor leagues...I'm going to go find it in the book now.

[/ QUOTE ]Minor league stats mean notion in relation to MLB stats, do you see why?

[Jack of Arcades]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Well, he made his MLB debut in 2004, so I find that hard to believe.

Edit - and he wasn't in the top 10 in OBP either.

[/ QUOTE ]

Professional baseball includes all minor leagues...I'm going to go find it in the book now.

[/ QUOTE ]Minor league stats mean notion in relation to MLB stats, do you see why?

[/ QUOTE ]

Minor league stats with the proper adjustments for park are a pretty good indicator of future major league performance.

[ThaSaltCracka]

sooo... AA ball stats can somehow be altered in a way to reflect how a player will do in MLB? I am sorry if I am skeptical, because even if you adjust for park factors, the players are simply much better, especially the pitching.

[Jack of Arcades]

[ QUOTE ]
sooo... AA ball stats can somehow be altered in a way to reflect how a player will do in MLB? I am sorry if I am skeptical, because even if you adjust for park factors, the players are simply much better, especially the pitching.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not saying that a player that bats .300 in AA will immediately jump to the majors and bat .300. I am saying that a player that bats .300 in AA has a good chance to develop into a .280-300 hitter in the majors.

Youks had a .445 OBP in the minors; in just around 300 PA he has a .375 OBP and climbing. He has lost a bit of his walks, but I see no reason not to expect something like .280/.390/.430 from him going forward, which would put him somewhere in the top 10 of 3Bs.

[sublime]

Because Bellhorn is actually around an average defender (

Bellhorn is very good at turning DP's. Very. I'm not sure of his other values as a fielder other than what i see, which is of course deceiving.

Mueller can't really handle anything other than third,

Plus he doesn't want to play there, and has publicly stated so. also, from what i understand, playing 2B would put a lot more stress on his fragile knees (more pivoting etc? he doesn't spin like jeter does)

[sublime]

I want Youk in the game!!!

patience my son. he will probably your starting 3B next year.

[sublime]

tbach-

schilling (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2091051)

just a little good news. all i want is curt at 90-95% come august and all we be gooooot.

[tbach24]

[ QUOTE ]
tbach-

schilling (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2091051)

just a little good news. all i want is curt at 90-95% come august and all we be gooooot.

[/ QUOTE ]

Awesome, just in time for the postseason push!

[pryor15]

[ QUOTE ]
Because Bellhorn is actually around an average defender (

Bellhorn is very good at turning DP's. Very. I'm not sure of his other values as a fielder other than what i see, which is of course deceiving.

[/ QUOTE ]

from the SOSH webpage: "In addition to turning the DP obscenely well, [Bellhorn] has a 5.02 Range Factor thus far this season, compared to a league average (last year) of 4.35. He's also 4 Fielding Runs Above Average thus far, so his defense isn't close to suspect - in fact, it's considerably good."

link (http://p086.ezboard.com/fsonsofsamhornbostonredsox.showMessage?topicID=153 97.topic)
it's about half-way down

[2planka]

Gammons (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/gammons/story?id=2089236) has been chirping for the past week and a half that Mueller's name has come up in trade discussions. I'm luke-warm on Gammons, but the guy is supposedly paid to know such things.

Plus, trading Mueller to a NL contender as a half-season rental in return for some bullpen help makes perfect sense from the Red Sox perspective.

edit: Mueller can't and won't play 4 every day. He can cover the posish in a pinch, but his knees and his unwillingness to play there preclude him as a real solution.

Bellhorn is what he is. He's an average defender with occassional pop who whiffs a lot and walks a lot. He's also relatively cheap.

[sublime]

nice work pryor /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[pryor15]

i've got about 30 baseball sites bookmarked. about time one of them came in handy.