Comments on: Furcal Returns

By: Ken Houghton

Ken Houghton — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 01:11:54 +0000

And the Dodgers TURN IT UP TO 11, and are done.

By: Ron E.

Ron E. — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 12:39:41 +0000

If they trade Escobar and get back an ace starting pitcher or powerful left fielder, then I’m fine with it. I would have preferred to fill those needs in free agency and kept a young, cheap very good short stop instead of signing an older, expensive shortstop coming off major back surgery, but I guess I am not as easily offended by Escobar’s bat tossing as Bobby and Frank.

By: LaMarcus Anderson

LaMarcus Anderson — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 11:01:17 +0000

Perhaps you’re right, leviinalaska, but I still don’t understand why. I’m assuming Escobar has no off-the-field issues, and we’ve all seen his on-the-field antics to judge for ourselves.

Is his youthful overexuberance really so intolerable that we need to trade him?

The bat-flipping habit is something he does every at-bat, whether he homers or pops out. A few plunkings from offended pitchers should cure him of that habit. The temper tantrums he throws at umpires are not cool, but they’re hardly unusual in baseball these days. Escobar’s never pulled anything close to a Delmon Young before.

And the whistling on the field? Who cares, so long as he continues to put up amazing RF numbers at short that rival Furcal’s?

It’s not as if Bobby Cox has always had zero tolerance for on-the-field tantrums. Remember when Terry Pendleton once walked off his position at 3rd during the middle of an inning because Marvin Freeman refused to plunk an opposing batter? Remember the countless tantrums that David Justice threw in front of umpires?

By: leviinalaska

leviinalaska — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 03:52:43 +0000

Sorry I didn’t add this into my above comment, but now that we have Furcal, how about:

1. Escobar at SS
2. Furcal at 2nd
3. Trade Frenchy’s sorry behind to the Royals for Greinke (Dayton Moore has allegedly expressed an interest in JF)
4. Let KJ play RF.

By: leviinalaska

leviinalaska — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 03:43:12 +0000

“Anyone know why the Braves wouldn’t mind trading him?”

JC obviously isn’t inclined to forgive Furcal’s off the field behavior, but I think the Braves have a history of willingness to work with people who make off the field mistakes. (Look at Chipper or Andruw for examples)

However, the Braves do NOT have a history of tolerating on the field misbehavior. For better or worse, the Atlanta Braves play baseball on a level that is more professional than most other clubs. Bobby Cox runs the tightest clubhouse in MLB, players don’t wear earrings on the field…even the notoriously malcontent Gary Sheffield always called him Mr. Cox and took his earrings out and never caused a problem while a Brave.

The facts are the Yunel Escobar does whistle on the field, has shown a temper with umpires, and does flip his bat disrespectfully at times. The house that Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz, Chipper, and Bobby built doesn’t seem to have much room for that sort of behavior.

[in his best Dennis Miller voice] of course, that’s just my opinion, I could be wrong.

By: Rick

Rick — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:37:42 +0000

Hey Conner. We were talking OPS+ here, not straight OPS. He has been above LA less than half of his career. I didn’t include 2008 because he was out for about 3/4 of the year injured. Using last year would be like using the stats from the Arizona Fall League to judge how good a player will be. He is also on the downside of 30. It’s time to start getting worse instead of getting better.

By: LaMarcus Anderson

LaMarcus Anderson — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 23:06:04 +0000

What are the negative feelings being “leaked” to the press about Escobar? They’re always based on anonymous sources supposedly from within the Braves. What’s going on?

On paper, Escobar appears to be extremely valuable. His Range Factor makes him one of the best defensive shortstops in the league (just slightly below Furcal). Offensively, he’s already slightly better than Furcal.

I understand there’s the temper/antics/whistling on the field, but that’s pretty mild. Certainly nothing like the issues that got Lofton / Bob Wickman pushed out the door.

Anyone know why the Braves wouldn’t mind trading him?

By: ChuckO

ChuckO — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 21:44:46 +0000

What about right field? Don’t we have that guy from the marketing department playing out there?

By: JC

JC — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 21:40:40 +0000

Given the negative things that have “leaked” to the press about Escobar, I’d say there is a good chance that he will be traded before the season starts. The move-KJ-to-left is a convenient PR stand to take while working on a trade. It helps explain away having three starters for two positions. Wren has stated that he already has some deals in place, and he and Cox have been denying the KJ-to-left rumors.

By: Connor

Connor — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 21:34:55 +0000

Here is the league average production from the SS position in 2008 from Baseball Prospectus:

NL: .276/.334/.404
AL: .266/.319/.375

That’s an OPS of .738 in the NL or .694 in the AL. I know Furcal wasn’t going to keep this up all year, but his OPS last year was 1.102. In ’05 and ’06 was .777 and .814 respectively.

Three out of the last four years he has put up an OPS much better than league average at his position. Clearly at the minimum he is slightly above average offensive SS, and at best he is much better than that.