Jose
Pagan (b. 1935) was a shortstop-third baseman for the Giants and
Pirates. In the decisive Game #7 of the 1971 World Series, his eighth
inning double knocked in Willie Stargell for the game-winning/series-winning
run. fairandunbalancedblog
Let’s start by looking at what went wrong for Burnett this
past season. A.J. Burnett’s ERA was
just awful for a fantasy starter. His FIP and xFIP, however, indicates that he
could be in for some improvement. His 4.77 FIP isn’t great, of course, but his
3.86 xFIP offers hope for some type of rebound. The reason for the large gap
between Burnett’s ERA and xFIP likely is a result of Burnett’s horrible 17.0%
home run rate. That home run rate was the worst among all qualified starters
this past season, even worse than Bronson Arroyo, who gave up 46 home runs. The
silver lining is that with a home run rate that high, things are likely to
regress towards the mean this upcoming season. This also isn’t the first time
Burnett has experienced a huge spike in home runs. In 2007, Burnett’s home run
rate jumped to 17.7%. The next season, it dropped to 9.6% — slightly below his
career average. http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/index.php/should-you-draft-a-j-burnett/
Hal Trosky,
Jr.
grew up with a great model to emulate while dreaming of becoming a big league
player. His father, Hal Trosky, Sr. was a major league star, who, if not for
World War II may have made a very strong case for enshrinement in the Baseball
Hall of Fame. As it was, Senior had a star career that ended after the 1946
season when Junior was 10 years old. By that time the younger Trosky had seen
enough to know what he wanted to do with his life- play baseball. By the time
he was in high school, Trosky, Jr. had become a talented player and was drawing
a lot of interest from professional teams. As a senior in Cedar Rapids, Iowa he
hit .667 and had scouts from nearly half the major league teams in attendance
at his games. The connections his father had made during his time in the game
helped guide the young man’s decision making, and in 1954 he settled on signing
with the Chicago White Sox after making a good connection with team owner
Charlie Comiskey, Jr., who shared the commonality of being baseball progeny. http://seamheads.com/2012/02/12/hal-trosky-jr-a-stubborn-baseball-player/
Jeremy Guthrie may be
going mile-high, but Coors Field isn't quite the terror it was in the 1990s.
Homers are likely to be a problem, given Guthrie's 41% career flyball rate, but
Camden Yards wasn't a great place for him either, and the difference may not be
that drastic. Though he'll be going to the world's most feared hitter's park
(and owner of second place on ESPN's park factor list) he'll be staying away
from Boston, Toronto, and New York (the third, fourth, and sixth-most hitter
friendly parks in baseball) on the road, replacing them with trips to San
Franciso, San Diego, and Los Angeles, so the park change isn't as bad as it
sounds. Of course, that isn't counting the hitters themselves. Pitching for
Baltimore is more than pitching for a bad team, it's facing four of baseball's
toughest offenses night after night. The general quality difference between the
AL and the NL should help, too. Overall, the change in environment should be a
wash at the worst for Guthrie's rate stats and strikouts, and could well give
them a boost. http://www.rotoauthority.com/
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