Transaction Oracle: 2012 ZiPS Projections - New York Yankees

And heeeeeeeere come the pretzels!

Just a reminder, that I’m going in reverse from last year.  Starting next year, I’m going to randomly draw for order.

ZiPS is rather grumpy again about the Yankee starting pitching.  Banuelos and Betances still have a lot of upside, but ZiPS is suspicious about them immediately making an impact in the rotation, given that they both walked way too many batters in AA.  The good news for Yankees fans, of course, is that the team has an open wallet and is likely ...

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Transaction Oracle: 2011 ZiPS Minor League Translations 0.9

Archive with files .xlsx and .csv can be found here. I'm calling this 0.9 for now as there are usually some errors to massage out, sometimes big ones I overlooked.

As a reminder, these are translations, not projections and subject to the same pitfalls as any seasonal line is.

Any errors, omissions, or other questions, feel free to ask.

For those that don't remember, I have two flavors, one with no $H regression and one with mild $H regression. I post the latter one as people have found it ...

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Transaction Oracle: 2011 Minor League Park Multipliers

As usual, the raw data for these would be a complete pain to accumulate without the scripting wizardry of Jeff Sackmann. Jeff runs College Splits, GMAT Hacks and has a weekly column on college baseball on ESPN Insider during the season. Jeff also has a tennis sabermetrics blog, Heavy Topspin. So make sure to support Jeff, or else I'll have to put the information together myseful, resulting in a gigantic headache and me retaliating on the community with random beatings and pessimistic ...Read More...

Sox Therapy: Red Sox Fans Need to Take a Deeeeeeeep Breath

One phenomena which is quite interesting to me is how most of the analysts calling for Theo's head, and talking about what a flawed team the Red Sox are, are the same people who were talking about how great this team was in the spring and July. People (and by people I include the Red Sox ownership) need to relax and stay the course with this front office. There are decisions in life, unfortunately, where you do everything right in preparation and consideration, but the outcome disappoints. ...Read More...

SABR - BBTF Chapter: Save the Date: 2012 SABR Convention in Minneapolis

Our next national convention will be held June 27-July 1, 2012, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Twins are scheduled to play host to the Kansas City Royals in a weekend series at Target Field, which opened in 2010. In addition, a trip is tentatively planned to see a St. Paul Saints minor league game.

It wasn't the weekend that I would have preferred (too close to Paula's birthday) but we'll make it work.

Transaction Oracle: Saying Goodbye to Flanny

I never got to meet Mike Flanagan. I have no stories about Flanagan, no interesting anecdotes about him, just the lingering emotional attachment that comes with rooting for a sports team when you're a little kid. I was born in 1978, so I was too young to remember Mike Flanagan at his best as a pitcher. But he was a part of the first sports team I was old enough to follow over the course of an entire season, the 1983 Orioles. It was a pretty good year to become a fan, this being the last ...Read More...

Notes in a Minor Key: Draft signings

Today's the last day that 2011 draft picks can be signed. I would expect a rash of announcements as we get close to the midnight deadline. Post 'em here.

Notes in a Minor Key: ATTN NC TRIANGLE PRIMATES!

You definitely want to see this if you can:

Tampa Bay Rays' left-hander Matthew Moore, the top pitching prospect in all of Minor League Baseball according to Baseball America and ESPN, is expected to join the Bulls on Friday and start that evening for Durham against the Toledo Mud Hens at 7:05 PM at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. The 22-year old has spent the entire season at Double-A Montgomery, where he was 8-3 with a 2.20 ERA and a league-leading 131 strikeouts in 102.1 innings pitched. ...Read More...

Mike Emeigh Posted: July 22, 2011 at 03:39 PM | 5 comment(s)
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Hall of Merit: 2011 Results: First-Time Candidates Bagwell, Walker and Brown Are Now in the Hall of Merit!

Slugging Astros first baseman Jeff Bagwell was considered the best of the Class of 2011 according to the electorate by securing 97% of all possible points in the latest Hall of Merit election.

Standout hitter/outfielder Larry Walker was next in line with 73.3%, while fiery pitcher Kevin Brown fell in right behind Walker with an almost identical 73.2%. 

Rounding out the top-ten were: Rafael Palmeiro (strong first showing despite some protest non-votes), David Cone, Rick Reuschel, Phil ...

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Hall of Merit: 2011 Hall of Merit Ballot

Sorry guys, I started a new job this week, and I thought this had been posted, my apologies for the late start.

OK, it’s time to start the voting. There is no rush . . . please read through the discussion thread to work through the candidates.

The election closes November 29 December 6 at 8 p.m. EST. We welcome newcomers, but require that you are willing to consider players from all eras. Voters also must comment on each player they vote for, a simple list is not sufficient. If you ...

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