Daily Archives: November 1, 2007
Rudy Jaramillo has agreed to a two-year contract extension as hitting coach with the Rangers.
…who is this guy and what does he have to do with a-rod…
Tagged Rudy Jaramillo |
In an article for The Hardball Times, John Walsh uses pitch-f/x data to break down Pedro Martinez‘s performance in 2007, and to analyze the pitches that he used.
Walsh reveals that Pedro used six different pitches; a fastball, sinking fastball, cut fastball, slider, change-up, and curveball.
Walsh writes:
“The average speed of his fastest pitch is actually a shade below 87 mph…he used his fastball about half the time, threw the cutter, slider and change-up around 15% of the time each, and mixed in a curveball only rarely.”
“When facing righties, Pedro throws predominantly fastballs, with few curveballs and even fewer change-ups. When lefty swingers are at the plate, though, Pedro relies heavily on the change-up.”
Among other things, Walsh also analyzed Pedro’s location. Points of interest are that he kept his change-up down and away to lefties, and his fastball stayed on the outside part of the plate to righties.
…despite only getting to the seventh inning once in five starts, Pedro was very effective after coming back from surgery, and i think much of that was lost in the mix due to what happened at the end of the season…i would be more than happy to get similar production from Pedro in 2008…
Tagged Pedro Martinez, Regis Courtemanche, Stats |
The Dodgers have announced that Joe Torre has signed a deal to be their manager for the next three seasons, while Don Mattingly and Larry Bowa will join his staff.
According to Peter Abraham, earlier this week at his blog for the Journal News, Torre is ‘likely’ to bring 
…as i wrote last week, basically, the Dodgers will become Yankees West, because i can’t help but figure one of ‘their guys,’ like Mariano Rivera, Roger Clemens or Andy Pettitte will follow, among others possibly, maybe Bernie Williams, maybe even Alex Rodriguez…
…and so, from a national league perspective, i don’t like this…the Dodgers have a nice young team, and will now mix in the experienced leadership of torre, mattingly and who knows who else from new york…they were 82–80 last season, couple that to new management, the maturity of their young players and an acquisition or two and they’re in a nice position…
…in case you missed it, from earlier today…
…it’s been a few days, with lots of lots of rumor and suggestion floating around the radio dial, internets and tv, with conference calls, interviews, debate and opinion, and so i’d like to ask this question again to see if the mood has changed at all…
[poll=10]
Last night, on The MetsBlog Podcast, writers from MetsBlog.com discussed whether or not the Mets should peruse Rodriguez.
To listen to this 15–minute discussion, click here, or use the audio player in this site’s left-hand column.
This morning on ESPN Radio’s Mike and Mike, 
ESPN.com’s Tim Kurkjian had the following to say about the future of Alex Rodriguez…
“I believe Brian Cashman…Rodriguez has played his last game with the Yankees and I believe he’s going some place else…It’s way to early in the process, but I’m gonna guess the Dodgers, because I think the Cubs have already spent way too much money. I don’t think the Red Sox have any real interest. I think the Mets situation is tricky, with Wright and Reyes and I don’t know why you give some one $30 million when you already have the left-side of the infield covered. A guy with the Angels told me late in the season that there is no way they’re going to have enough money to sign A-Rod to what he wants. So, that’s four teams to me you could make a case that aren’t going to be in this…I believe Joe Torre is going to the Dodgers, they really need a power hitter and they really need a third baseman.”
Kurkjian still believes there is a 50–50 chance that Curt Schilling ends up pitching for the Red Sox again next season.
He also believes that Torii Hunter has played his final game for the Twins.
Regarding Twins LHP Johan Santana, Kurkjian says there will be a lot of internal talk about trading him. “I asked a GM recently about this and he said you have to trade him, and you have to trade him now,” Kurkjian said, adding that if the Twins can get three young players for Santana they have to do it.
Kurkjian is a baseball columnist for ESPN.com, and author of Is this a Great Game or What? My 25 Years in Baseball, which you can learn about by clicking here.
The Orioles have declined the option for RHP Kris 
Benson, thus making him a free agent.
Benson spent the entire 2007 season on the disabled list after suffering a torn right labrum before spring training.
In 30 starts for the Orioles in 2006, he was 11-12 with a 4.82 ERA.
The Orioles acquired Benson from the Mets after the 2005 season in exchange for RHP John Maine and RHP Jorge Julio, who the Mets eventually traded to the D’Backs for Orlando Hernandez.
Yesterday, Mets GM Omar Minaya told reporters that he is in the process of talking with free-agent 2B Luis Castillo about returning to the Mets.
Earlier this off-season, Castillo underwent knee surgery, which is expected to have him 100 percent by spring training.
…as i have said before, he’s a perfect solution for second base, in that he plays great defense, he works well with Jose Reyes and he can bat second…i just worry about those knees, which hopefully this surgery has taken care of…
At his blog for the Journal News, John Delcos writes…
“There must be close to a hundred registered blogs and websites pertaining to the Mets, and (mine) is ranked fourth in readership behind Mets.com, Wikipedia and MetsBlog.com.
“Thank you for your support and I’ll do my best to live up to that and keep improving the site.”
…nice…i don’t know from where john gets his information, but i’m thrilled to read this…that being said, john’s blog is great…i am happy for him, because he has made a serious effort to understand what it means to write a blog and how to make it work and be successful…also, john’s colleague, Peter Abraham, who writes a fantastic blog about the Yankees for their newspaper, the Journal News, is equally impressive…in fact, pete just had to upgrade to a dedicated server, because his site has grown so much in popularity…great job, guys…
The Tigers have announced that RHP Joel Zumaya underwent shoulder surgery yesterday, which will keep him off a mound for the next four months.
According to a team release, the Tigers are hopeful Zumaya will return to pitching during the middle of next season.
For more, check out Joe Hamrahi’s Baseball Digest Daily.
Mets 3B David Wright will be a guest tonight on CNBC’s Big Idea with Donny Deutsch, which airs at 10 pm EDT.
According to CNBC.com, Wright will talk about being a team leader at such a young age, and more.
…thanks to Hot Foot for the tip…
The David Wright Foundation is hosting their Third Annual Do the Wright Thing Gala on November 15 in New York City.
For more information or to purchase tickets, go here.
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