7/1/08

And Anderson is a "great pitching coach"...

A good pitching coach can do the following things:

  • help his pitchers be healthy
    (Neshek, Liriano, Crain, Balfour, Perkins, Reyes all had major injuries)

  • work with pitchers who are having problems to turn their staff around
    (Bonser, Ponson, Lohse, Romero, Rincon, Silva, Mays, Fultz all failures vs only 2
    successes: Reyes and Hawkins)


I think that the data shows that "Andy" is producing far less than his reputation...

Do you see a patern?

A list of the hitting coaches in the Twins' organization along with their major league stats as players:

DSL Twins: Claudio Almonte no MLB experience .284/.345/.391 9 HR in low minors
GCL Twins: Milt Cuyler .237/.305/.326/ 10 HR
Elizabethton Twins: Jeff Reed .250/.334/.361 61 HR (17 years ML career)
Beloit Snappers: Rudy Hernandez no pro ball experience
Fort Myers Miracle: Jim Dwyer .260/.353/.398 77 HR (17 years ML career)
New Britain Rock Cats: Floyd Rayford .244/.283/.397 38 HR
Rochester Red Wings: Riccardo Ingram .194/.257/.194 0 HR
Minnesota Twins: Joe Vavra no MLB experience .288/.351/.347 3 HR in the minors

All star game selections

There is a lot of talk every year about who are the most worthy selections and whether the fan vote is biased and whether the manager picks are biased and who else should have been there etc.

Here is a list of the 3 best hitters per position along with the 10 best starters and 10 best relievers ranked by VORP:

C

Mauer 24.3
Navarro 11.5
Pierzunski 11.4

1B

Youkilis 27.6
Giambi 25.8
Morneau 23.3


2B

Kinsler 39.5
Roberts 27.2
Perdoia 20.4

3B
Rodriguez 34.8
Lowell 19.7
Longoria 18.5

SS
Young 18.1
Peralta 14.6
Jeter 14.2

CF
Hamilton 33.9
Sizemore 33.7
Upton 23

LF
Quentin 28.4
Ramirez 24.9
Damon 24.1

RF

Drew 29.3
Dye 24.8
Markakis 21.4


DH

Bradney 37.2
Matsui 23.2
Huff 21.2

SP
Lee 32.7
Halladay 30.3
Danks 28.8
Marcum 28.4
Lackey 27.9
Duchscherer 27.6
F. Hernandez 24.5
Harden 24
Saunders 22.6
Santana 22.6



RP

James Johnson 20.9
Rivera 18.1
Downs 17
Soria 15.9
Chamberlain 15.6
Nathan 14.6
Wheeler 14.3
Linebrink 13.2
Mahay 12.7
F Rodriguez 12.4


Usually the roster consists from 12-14 pitchers and about 20 position players. Using a 32 man roster and 12 pitchers (like AL did yesterday), breaking down the position players to 2-3 catchers, 8-10 infielders and 8-10 OF the most deserving players would be:

C
Mauer 24.3 MIN
Navarro 11.5 TBR

IF

Kinsler 39.5 TEX
Rodriguez 34.8 NYY
Youkilis 27.6 BOS
Roberts 27.2 BAL
Giambi 25.8 NYY
Morneau 23.3 MIN
Perdoia 20.4 BOS
Young 18.1 TEX

OF
Hamilton 33.9 TEX
Sizemore 33.7 CLE
Upton 23 TBR
Bradney 37.2 TEX
Drew 29.3 BOS
Dye 24.8 CHW
Markakis 21.4 BAL
Quentin 28.4 CHW
Ramirez 24.9 BOS
Damon 24.1 NYY

P (7 starters 5 relivers)
Lee 32.7 CLE
Halladay 30.3 TOR
Danks 28.8 CHW
Marcum 28.4 TOR
Lackey 27.9 LAA
Duchscherer 27.6 OAK
F. Hernandez 24.5 SEA
James Johnson 20.9 BAL
Rivera 18.1 NYY
Downs 17 TOR
Soria 15.9 KCR
Chamberlain 15.6 NYY

The only team not represented is DET. The highest ranked Detroit players are Ordonez OF 21.3 and Polanco 18.3. The fairest would be to select Ordonez over Markakis, however Polanco over Pedroia might be an interesting selection also...

Here you have my version :)