Goals are best reached when broken down into specific steps, so the best follow-up question for Dyson is "Do you plan to attempt to steal 80 times or 60 times, to reach 50 stolen bases?" I suspect he could steal 50 bases if he wanted to; the question is what he gives up, in outs, to do so.

Dyson's goal may be 50 steals, but in order to reach it he's going to have to outhit Lorenzo Cain, probably by a pretty substantial amount, otherwise he's going to be a 4th/5th OF. The only reason he played as much as he did a year ago was due to Cain's injury.

-- MWE

This seems a more reasonable goal than constructing a sphere around the sun.

He's a better choice for right field than Francoeur. Granted, that says more about Francoeur than Dyson, but, still!

He had a 6:1 SB/CS ratio last year while stealing 30 bases, and was 11:1 the year before. The bigger issue is playing time.

In 146 career games, he has stolen 50 bases against only 7 CS. And he doesn't necessarily need to be starting to rack up the steals-- in 2011, he appeared in 26 games and managed to steal 11 bases. Remember Otis Nixon? He stole 46 in 90 games one year, and 26 in 84 games at 40 years old.

Any good studies on how NL lineup constructions could and should differ from their AL counterparts, specifically to speed? If I'm an NL team, I'm going out of my way to find a 4th outfielder who specializes in defense and baserunning. Seems like they'd have a ton of more value in the NL considering the double switch is also used more.

This seems a more reasonable goal than constructing a sphere around the sun.

Whenever I see the name, I think of Picard saying, "Mr. Worf...could this be a Dyson Sphere?"

The scary thing about this goal is that the first step is likely "Get optioned to AAA."

Dyson's goals are in the best shape of his life.

I suggest buying 100 pairs of batting gloves just in case.

in the NL considering the double switch is also used more.

But it almost never should be. The double switch only helps if you're planning on using the reliever you're bringing in for the next inning (or 2 innings). These days, that's almost never the case.

Granted, if you are going to make a defensive switch anyway then you might as well double-switch.

In support of #6, Dyson's 50 career steals are in just 450 career PA and 106 career starts.

But if I was being a jerk (moi?), my follow-up question would have been whether he has set a goal of, say, a 340 OBP.

my follow-up question would have been whether he has set a goal of, say, a 340 OBP.

And as a Royal, he would probably ask you what "OBP" was.

And as a Royal, he would probably ask you what "OBP" was.

Ever notice how often Frenchy makes an out.

Yeah, I guess.

Well, the opposite of that.

Why would I want to be the opposite of Frenchy?

50 steals baby!

And as a Royal, he would probably ask you what "OBP" was.

If on-base percentage is so important, then why don't they put it up on the scoreboard?