AGRI Biz

JC over at Sabernomics hits us with the Hitter and Pitcher projections from The Bill James Handbook 2010. I've always thought that the Bill James projections were wildly optimistic, but they're still interesting to look at. I wanted to see what this system has to say about the players on the Yankees who haven't quite established their talent level yet. Let's start with a topic I've drilled home too many times, the ...

Throughout the playoffs, Joe Girardi has turned to Joba Chamberlain in high-leverage situations. My question is, why? I haven't seen Chamberlain do anything to warrant trusting him in a big spot. Chamberlain has been inconsistent all season and there is no doubt that David Robertson is a better option out of the bullpen at this point. Now, I'm not trying to knock Joba; I am actually not as down on his ...

I'm not going to recap tonight's game, I am just going to rant about the decisions Girardi made. Pettitte pitched pretty well, going 6.1 innings and allowing only three earned runs and threw 95 pitches before he was removed. This was when I started to question Girardi's bullpen management. In a tie game, Girardi chose to go with Joba Chamberlain in relief of Pettitte in the seventh inning. I immediately questioned ...

Larry LaRue from The News Tribune is reporting that Kenji Johjima has opted out of the final two years of his contract with the Mariners: "After lots of very deep thought and deliberation, I have decided to return home to resume my career in Japan," Johjima. "I have had a wonderful experience competing at the Major League level. The last four years have been extraordinary, with great teammates and great coaches. This ...

Alex Rodriguez has become the new Yankee October hero this postseason with unbelievably timed hits and home runs. In Game Two of the ALCS versus the Angels, A-Rod did it again. Leading off the inning against Angels closer Brian Fuentes, who saved 48 games this season*, the Yanks' chances didn't look so hot. *You may hear announcers say that Fuentes was great this year, and that's why he was an all-star, ...

I don't know what to do right now, as we still have two more days until Yankee baseball.á This should help you kill some time (it certainly helped me). I'm a big Ian Kennedy fan. He absolutely tore up the minor leagues in his first full professional season, something that very few pitchers do. No, Kennedy doesn't have the front-line potential that Hughes and Joba have, but he still is a valuable ...

The Arizona Fall League began today, with the first pitch at 12:35 in a matchup between the Surprise Rafters and Peoria Javelinas. The Yankees have seven players on the Rafters, most of whom are worth keeping an eye on. Here's a very quick rundown on which Yankee prospects to watch for in the AzFL:Ian Kennedy, RHP: Kennedy recovered quickly from an aneurysm in his arm and made it back to ...

Win Probability Graph from FanGraphs Wow, that was a crazy one. The ups and downs in this game were exhausting, but it was all worth it in the end. That graph pretty much mirrors my emotions during the game. AJ Burnett had a pretty weak outing masked by giving up only one run, but he allowed three hits, walked five, hit two, and managed to strike out six. I think Burnett could manage ...

It doesn't seem like the Yankees care about anything other than winning at this point. Since clinching home field advantage for the entire postseason, they haven't lost a game and continue to look great. However, things aren't set in stone in the American League Central. The Tigers hold a two game lead over the Twins, but the two teams face off tonight and tomorrow. According to Baseball Prospectus, Minnesota still has ...

Recently, Mike Axisa over at River Avenue Blues took a look at all of the minor league pitchers through the lens of a statistic called Dominance Factor. Brett Sullivan developed this statistic over at Project Prospect. The formula is (K%+.72*GB%-BB%)+(Age Level Standard-Actual Age)*7. Since the statistic is relatively simple, Sean P., who I write with over at Pending Pinstripes, came up with the idea to modify this into a hitting statistic.After ...