Already been posted.

Loss of Dick Beckett > Loss of Howie Ken DrICK

Nothing will ever surpass Dick Pole.

Dick Trickle and Rusty Kuntz beg to differ.

Johnny Dickshot, Lance Dickson, Dick Drago, Dickie Flowers, Dick Hunt.

Ahhh. Rusty Kuntz. I remember how Ned Martin, the Red Sox play by play guy would take an inordinately long time to very slowly and precisely pronounce his name. "On deck for the Tigers, Rusty . . . Kooooooooooooooooontz."

Johnny Dickshot

that's Ugly Dickshot, sir

Ahh, Howie, another of those guys folks seem much higher on than I am. He's still relying on incredible (read "likely unsustainable") BABIP numbers -- if memory serves substantially higher than guys like Gwynn, Boggs and roughly the same as Carew. Obviously since they did it, it's possible he'll do it too, but they all K'd much less frequently than he does (not that he's particularly bad or anything) so he won't match their BAs. Given his low walks and modest power (125 ISO), even if he does maintain that, he won't be better than his 100 OPS+ self to date. In the likely scenario that's not his true-talent BABIP, he needs to add walks and/or power.

Of course he's still just 24 (and hits a good number of doubles) so there's time and even if he is a true 100 OPS+ player, that's fine in a 2B (assuming average or better defense ... and folks here give his defense good reviews), so he's far from a bum.

But I wouldn't really have hesitated trading him for Cabrera. (Note, there were a lot of reasons not to trade for Cabrera.)

Ron Tugnutt?

Dick Trickle

The pride of Wisconsin Rapids!

C'mon, the guy would have a cigarette during races. The fact he had ashtrays and lighters in a race car is hilarious. Very Northern Wisconsin.

Johnny Dickshot, Lance Dickson, Dick Drago, Dickie Flowers, Dick Hunt.

Harry Scrotum

Dick Pound (IOC)

Pete Peters (NHL goalie)

Randy Johnson

Nobody ever seems to remember the great Dick Cox.

Or the legendary Hyman Testicleface.

Ahh, Howie, another of those guys folks seem much higher on than I am. He's still relying on incredible (read "likely unsustainable") BABIP numbers -- if memory serves substantially higher than guys like Gwynn, Boggs and roughly the same as Carew. Obviously since they did it, it's possible he'll do it too, but they all K'd much less frequently than he does (not that he's particularly bad or anything) so he won't match their BAs. Given his low walks and modest power (125 ISO), even if he does maintain that, he won't be better than his 100 OPS+ self to date. In the likely scenario that's not his true-talent BABIP, he needs to add walks and/or power.


Do you have this on a macro?

I am glad to see to that you've acknowledged other players have maintained these "unsustainable" (and irrelevant) BABIP numbers. Next time, maybe you can acknowledge that Kendrick's average while not striking out in the majors appears to be roughly in line with what we would expect from his minor league performance (or, at least, provide an alternative translation of his minor league numbers that might shine light on the issue).

With how Wood has been playing in AAA lately, it could be possible that he plays shortstop through the playoffs for this team, even with Aybar healthy.

I really like Kendrick as a player. I do think he's one of those hitters who can sustain high BABIP numbers. His bat speed and coverage is pretty spectacular, and he has just a great swing. Of course, the big issue for him seems to be his durability. He's been having leg issues all year. Worrisome. He already seems like an old man.

Thanks Waterloo. There seems to be a BBTF rule that someone must always pretend that Kendrick is just about to stop doing what he's been doing throughout his professional career. I'd be willing to bet on virtually every occasion its someone who hasn't watched the guy play. Yes, he still struggles on breaking pitches off the plate (thus the K numbers) and a failure to improve in that area will keep his career numbers about where they are now. However, when a pitch is over the plate, sometimes it looks like the guy is swinging a tennis racket. He is a special, special talent. I look forward to seeing what he does over the next ten years, hamstrings be damned.

With how Wood has been playing in AAA lately, it could be possible that he plays shortstop through the playoffs for this team, even with Aybar healthy.

Isn't it more likely that Wood plays third with Figgins at second and Aybar remaining at SS? I've not heard a thing about Wood's recent defensive reputation.

Seems like Wood keeps getting buried, no matter how well he hits at AAA. He's always been a monster at pretty much every level of the minors but every time the LAAoA get a chance to send him down, they do.

Wood has not earned the right to stay in the majors, he's been overmatched and pretty much hit like a pitcher. His MLE's have shown him as a .200-.225 hitter with 20 homer power, not quite good enough to convince one that he belongs in the majors. That is, until this season, specifically the second half. He's hit 296/375/595, almost a 100 point improvement on last year's slugging.

Since the allstar break he's hit 361/448/755. I think this time he finally hits big league pitching a bit.

Thanks Waterloo. There seems to be a BBTF rule that someone must always pretend that Kendrick is just about to stop doing what he's been doing throughout his professional career.

I think you guys were a little too sensitive to what Walt wrote myself. Isn't he basically saying that Kendrick will have to either be one of those 1-2 guys per decade who can maintain that level of BABIP, and that if he doesn't, he won't hit for the same crazy averages that Wade Boggs, Tony Gwynn, and Rod Carew did (three of the best all time hitters for average, and deserving HoFers all). And, that if his power doesn't kick up, and it turns out he isnt one of those guys (and Walt does concede that he *may* be, even if he doesn't think Kendrick is, which is purely a matter oif his opinion anyway), then he's only a pretty good player instead of a great one. Is that really so far off base?

As for BABIP translating from the minors - I haven't really studied this, but it seems like, anecdotally anyway, that the BABIP ceiling in the minors is generally higher than that in the majors. Does anyone know if that's true? It seems intuitive that it might be.

This is not to say that Kendrick might not hit for super high averages and more power down the line, and win a few batting titles or even have an MVP type season here or there. None of that would surprise me one bit; his minor league numbers are exceptional (as you pointed out). However, guys who can hit for average (and on BIP) like Boggs et al are so very rare that the burden of proof is really on Kendrick to show he can do it at the highest level before we ascribe that talent to him.