Rumors: Yankees Met with Joel Pineiros Agent

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Interview with Jin Wong, Director of Baseball
Administration for the Royals (Part 1)

I would like to start out by thanking the Jin Wong and the Royals media relation staff, Mike Swanson and David Holtzman in particular, for giving me the opportunity for the interview. The interview was conducted on 11/17/11 and here is the first half of the interview.

How does a Group Sales Manager for a AAA team become a Director of Baseball Administration for a major league team?

I went to a small school in Virginia, played baseball there and didn't know what I wanted to do. One of my advisers, that had a lot of influence on where I am today, Larry Pinwell, found an internship with the Atlanta Braves and few other jobs. I only applied for just one baseball internship. I did eventually get a call back from the Atlanta Braves.

The internship was started by Hank Aaron, so my first job interview for a full or part time job was with Hank Aaron in Atlanta. They offered me the baseball internship. Dayton Moore was my immediate supervisor at the time. He was the assistant to player development and scouting director. Derick Ladnier was the Farm Director. Dean Taylor was the assistant GM and John Schuerholz was the GM. Paul Snyder was the scouting director.

I did the internship for the summer. It was a lot of grunt work. I must have made a good impression on one or more of those guys. At the end of the internship, there was no full time position open with the Atlanta Braves front office. They presented me with the opportunity to go to their AAA farm club in Richmond. They had quite a bit of say on what could and could not happen at Richmond since they owned the club.  They created a position for me there to apply my business degree and stay connected to the game.

During my second season there, Dayton was in town seeing the club and said Kansas City has a job open for a scouting coordinator. I was interested and Dayton made a couple of calls. He [Dayton Moore] recommended me. Derrick Ladnier recommended me. Dean Taylor recommended me. That is how it worked out.

I got an entry level position as a scouting coordinator helping with the amateur side of things. I worked my way into getting more exposure to the major league side; getting more responsibilities.

Your personal profile on the Royals website makes it seem like you have many different jobs and titles. What exactly do you do for the Royals?

A lot of things. My job biography is pretty accurate. There are many things that I juggle. For example, we just went through budget season. A lot of my time and effort was spent preparing the entire budget for the baseball operations department with some of the other department heads. Also, I keep Dayton and Dean in the loop where we are with payroll ... in terms of current major league payroll, projections for the next 5 to six years. Rules and regulations. Roster moves. Trades. I manage our stats department which I am sure everyone wants to know about. I am a sounding board for Dayton whenever we are looking at a potential deal. Dayton will go to a lot of people to get their opinions.

I work very closely with our scouting coordinator in identifying players from other organizations that we would have interest in. I do a lot with depth charts. Organizational summaries. I can give Dayton a sheet that gives an organization in a nutshell. What does their payroll at the major league level look like? What does their prospects at the major league level look like? What does their depth chart at the major league level look like. What are they paying each player? Who is out of options? Who is a potential free agent? Who is a potential arb[itration] eligible? A lot of that information needs to come from different sources and I figured out a way put in a format that is easily legible and understandable.

Another thing , I do a lot of work with our major league coaches on the advance scouting information.  [I] sort of coordinate that and see that the major league coaches have what they need. A little bit of everything, but it always keeps me on my toes. It is always interesting.

How does your job change depending on the time of year? For example, when do you begin preparing for arbitration cases?

It is very cyclical, for example this time of year we have 7 arbitration eligible guys off the top my head. There is not much going on right now until you tend to those guy's contracts. Then you start negoatiating contracts in earnest. The thing that takes most of my time is speaking to agents on their clients, whether it is major or minor league [clients]. Making sure Dayton is in the loop about what it would require for a certain player to sign and come to Kansas City. After that, making the final decision based on his input on what we are going to do with those players. During the winter, that takes up most of my time. I am on the phone a lot. It is my busiest time of the year.

Heading to Spring Training, we need to get the coaching staff up to speed on who we have coming in. We make sure we have the players we want heading into Spring Training. During Spring Training, I make sure I know what is going on with the team on a day to day basis. Who is playing well. Who is not playing well. What can we do with these players during certain time frames? Are they hurt? What are the financial ramications of a keeping certain players on?

When you get into season, for me it is a little more maintenance. There is a lot of things that come up. Fires I have to put out .. in terms of players, staff. I do have to travel with the team quite a bit; making sure Dayton knows what is going on with the team from my perspective.

As you get into the spring, you have the amateur draft. I help with the draft even though I am removed from that now. There are other people in our department that help with that.

Then as you get into the fall, you keep your eye towards who is going to be a free agent, the trade deadline, who's available and aquistion costs. The whole year I am constantly on the internet reading rumors, reading news that potentially affect our team, other teams in the division, with the new CBA and how it relates to the market place with players. What salaries are being tossed around? Who is signing for what and how it would affect a player on our club, a free agent or another player on another club we would have interest in acquiring. That is pretty much my cylical year.

Two aspects of your job description I would like to go into more detail. What exactly do you have to do for: major league rules interpretation and compliance?

It is 'what can you do with a player'. When can you send him down? When can you bring him back? What are the procedures for dealing a player? Whether it is a 60, 15, 7 day concussion DL. Paternity leave. Family emergency rules. What has to be done with waivers? Basically knowing what is in the CBA and the major league rules handbook.

What entails being the video coordinator for the players?

I over see that department. We have a gentleman by the name of Mark Topping in charge. It basically runs itself. When I came here '99, we were still using VHS to video tape players and show them their at bats. As you can imagine, it was very time intensive. Just a pain to be quite honest. We implemented a digital system which everyone has now. I just over see that department, making sure the video is getting to our players and staff as needed. It just runs itself. Mark is good at what he does and is on top of things.

Speaking of looking at video, a fellow writer, Connor Moylan, and I examined why some mainstream defensive stats show that Eric Hosmer was not a good defensive 1B. We looked a little further and found that he might be playing too close to 1B compared to other 1B. Did you the see the work and what is the Royals stance on the study?

I did, but I didn't read the entire post. It certainly makes us think a bit. Our defensive positioning is handled by Eddie Rodriguez. He is the infield coach on our major league staff. He gets detailed spray chart on each hitter versus right handers and left handers prior to each game. He places those guys defensively according to his charts and what he has seen. It is something we will probably have to ask Eddie about in terms of specifics. We did see it and made us think a little bit.

Are there any good publicly available defensive metrics? How does it compare to the Royals in house data?

Defensive metrics is the holy grail of statistics right now. We don't put a lot of emphasis in the defensive metrics. We are aware of them. We tale them into consideration when talking about players. We will definitely lean more to the subjective when talking about defense, but know there will be a lot of ground made up with the Field FX system. Once we get and understand the data; create our own metrics, then we will be a lot closer to quantifying defense.

Do the Royals do much analysis when the eye test and the stats don't match up? If so, do you have an example from the past?

Sure and a good example for a long time was Alex Gordon. He had the tools to succeed. He wasn't having the results that everyone would have liked. Everyone from a scouting perspective was very optimistic that it would eventually come ... the results would be there and it would happen. It took a lot of time and effort from Alex and Kevin Seitzer.

Well, that is it for today.  The second half of the interview will be available Monday.

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New York Yankees Hot Stove: Why Not Ryan Madson

In case you missed reading the NY Post earlier this week, ex-Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon inked a 4-year, $50 million dollar deal with the Philadelphia Phillies. Papelbon didn?t waste any time getting the heck out of Beantown, but who can[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ladylovespinstripes/~3/V-1djMRQFU8/

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Every Now and Again I Get It Right

Read The Full Article:
http://www.ladodgertalk.com/2011/11/every-now-and-again-i-get-it-right/

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Nationals promote Knorr to bench coach (AP)

Former major league catcher Randy Knorr is being promoted from minor league manager to major league bench coach by the Washington Nationals. Knorr replaces Pat Corrales, who became Washington’s bench coach when Davey Johnson took over as manager after Jim Riggleman abruptly resigned during last season.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.mlbnewsblog.com/2011/11/18/nationals-promote-knorr-to-bench-coach-ap/

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Thanks to Francoeur's Blessing, We Can Now
Appreciate the Cabrera-Sanchez Trade

Sure, you could read what the manager of the front office or the pitching coach had to say about new Royal Jonathan Sanchez. You could read analysis from around the web. You could read what the newspaper guys back in San Francisco had to say. You could listen to the local sports talkers on the radio. You could even hear from Sanchez himself. But ultimately, none of that matters. What does a journeyman outfielder with crazy eyes think?

Royals.com is here to answer this ultimate question:

Francoeur happy to have Sanchez aboard

For me, Francoeur's word is even more important as we approach the holidays. We need his light in the darkness.

 

"I like it," Francoeur said. "I didn't want Melky to go, obviously, but at the same time you know where we struggled some last year, and if you get a guy like Sanchez and he can cut his walks just a little bit, and the way he attacks with his slider and throwing 95 (mph), he can do some good things."

Totally reasonable analysis. Also, if I was a foot taller and 200% more athletic and a decade younger, I could probably walk on to the KU basketball team.

Francoeur gives us insight into his own version of the Ankiel problem, as formulated by Matt Klassen ("Could Rick Ankiel the pitcher throw a pitch so wild that Rick Ankiel the hitter wouldn't swing?")  With Sanchez and Frenchy, it's a similar quandry: could the Sanchize walk him?

Francoeur, in his National League days, couldn't hit Sanchez if he swung a 2-by-4 or even a 2-by-8.

"I did not do very well, I think I was 2-for-18 off him," Francoeur said.

I'd very much like to see someone swing a 2-by-4 or especially a 2-by-8 as a bat. I think it would be extremely difficult to do. I also imagine it would be amazingly painful if you actually made contact.

Perhaps the painful memory caused him to exaggerate a bit. It was just 2-for-16 (.125), with six strikeouts and not a single walk from the often off-target left-hander. And Frenchy is a right-handed hitter who usually feasts on lefties (.299 in his career). Of course, he faced Sanchez in his wild-swinging days before he took the pledge last year.

Such a weird, insidery reference at the end of the paragraph. Granted, we all know what this Pledge might be, because there's a pointless Jeff Francoeur story written every week. Also, Francouer drew unintentional walks in 5.2% of his plate appearances last year, a comparable total to what he posted in 2007, 2008, 2010. New man. He swung at 54.3% of pitches seen, which is pretty much identical to what he's done his entire career. But, that Pledge. That Pledge was taken with a hand on the Bible!

"That shows you -- I hit left-handers good, and to see that, I'm glad that he's on our team," Francoeur said. "Now the only thing is I'll probably have to face him in Spring Training in a couple of intrasquad games. I'll probably just go up there and keep my bat on my shoulder."

I'd say the odds of this happening are actually pretty low. Like, I dunno, just a wild guess, but like ohh... I dunno... 5% likely. Also, you hit left-handers well, Jeff. Then again, this is gritty, realistic, YOU ARE THERE reporting. Royals verite  Nobody's going to clean up these quotes for the faint of heart.

"He had a great year, a great teammate. You don't come up with 201 hits real easy," Francoeur said. "But, for us, I think we realized we needed that pitching more than we needed that offense. Melky understood. He had a great year and he's going to go out to San Fran and do good for them. I thought it was a good trade, because they need offense and we need pitching and we each had a guy that we could do that with."

Yes, this story is still going. And another good/well from Frenchy. Oh, and haha 201 hits. Mission Accomplished Yost.

Cabrera's spot in center has been ceded to Lorenzo Cain, up from Triple-A Omaha.

"I'm looking forward to seeing him out there. Hopefully, he's working his butt off and realizes that now he's got an opportunity and can make the most of it and run with it," Francoeur said.

I'm telling Jarrod Dyson what you said, Jeff. I'm telling him and I'm telling everyone. Are you saying he's lazy? Are you really implying that he's lazy?

As the season wound down for the Royals this year, the turnstile counts at Kauffman Stadium clicked up. Normally, with a team near the bottom of the standings and school in session, crowds drop. But the Royals' home attendance in September averaged 26,532 a game, compared to the overall average of 21,289. The September gate was up 39 percent over 2010 and 57 percent over 2009.

You can make numbers say anything. What matters to me is how those attendees felt and how they did the little things.

 

That's seen as a sign that Kansas City is getting revved up by an aggressive young team and is looking forward to 2012.

Jeff Francoeur is 27.

"I think a lot of people are really excited about next year, and that's a good thing," Francoeur said. "I think our bullpen is really going to be stout, and now getting Sanchez, and we'll see what happens with Bruce (Chen), we've got a chance to have a pretty decent rotation -- it should be good."

Chen, the club's top winner last year, is on the free-agent market, but the Royals are interested.

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Yankees 2011 Season in Review: Brett Gardner

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Marlins Offseason Success Plan: Cespedes or
Sizemore

Earlier in my presentation for the Fish Stripes Plan for Offseason Success, I mentioned the Marlins signing Grady Sizemore as a player they could use in either center field or one of the corner outfield spots that might be opened up via trade. Sizemore is getting decent attention in the free agent market (H/T MLB Daily Dish), and he seems to be willing to move to a corner outfield position if his new team requests. The Marlins have a definite need in center field and could gamble on a Sizemore revival by offering a one-year deal on the cheap.

But since I initially proposed this idea, there is a new name that has surfaced that may be more attractive for the Marlins. Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes might take two months to reach free agency (H/T MLB Trade Rumors), but that did not stopped the Marlins from sending a caravan of team officials last week to examine him in a private workout. While Sizemore represents risk and reward if the club is willing to gamble, Cespedes represents potential for greatness versus various unknown qualities to start. Given the idea that Cespedes may require at least $30 million over six years as Aroldis Chapman did a few seasons ago, the Marlins would investing in the future in his case.

All of that builds up to this question: with so many unknowns for both players, who should the Marlins acquire?

Grady Sizemore

From 2005 to 2008, Sizemore was easily the best center fielder in baseball. He hit .281/.372/.496, was good to great in the field, and accumulated 27 FanGraphs Wins Above Replacement (fWAR) and 24 Baseball-Reference Wins Above Replacement (rWAR). Since then, he has been injured and awful, batting a paltry .234/.314/.413 and accumulating around two WAR in both systems. On defense, fans have noticed a decline in Sizemore's play; while in 2009 and 2010 he still rated as a 62 defender on a 0 to 100 scale, his rating dropped to 55 this season.

All of the above information just confirms what most fans know: going after Sizemore in 2012 brings about significant risk. The benefits, of course, would be that any deal for Sizemore would be cheap and short, as he is looking to rebuild value in 2012 (H/T MLB Trade Rumors). The Marlins approached a similar situation prior to 2011 in the case of Javier Vazquez, who appeared all but broken with the New York Yankees following a stellar season with the Atlanta Braves. When the move was initially made, I approved of the logic behind it; the Marlins were a team on the fringes of competition, and any risk with the potential for good returns at low cost would benefit the Marlins more than the potential loss on a one-year contract would hurt the team. Though the Marlins turned out to be way out of contention, the Vazquez signing turned into a success, as he was "fixed" by pitching coach Randy St. Claire and turned in a solid 2.5- to 3.0-WAR season.

The logic behind a Sizemore deal would have to be similar; the Marlins would have to be around a .500 team on the outskirts of competition and Sizemore would have to be interested in only a short-term deal for $6 or 7 million. The Marlins have other offseason priorities, and the team has little money to spend on a player with no guarantee to perform. However, Sizemore likely is not asking for much and, if the Marlins do make the moves they have been rumored to make, they would be close to being competitive assuming some regression by Hanley Ramirez and the return of a healthy Josh Johnson. So the situation would be a perfect fit for a risky, cheap signing that could turn out to provide surplus value or be a lost cause. However, signing Sizemore is pretty dependent on the team signing at least one other major free agent that will infuse some wins into an otherwise mediocre team. If the Marlins cannot acquire a Jose Reyes, C.J. Wilson, or other major free agent, adding Sizemore would just add a few more wins to a non-playoff team.

Yoenis Cespedes

Cespedes would also be looking at a similar deal to that of Sizemore in terms of annual value, but any contract he signs would be a long-term deal. The comparison to Chapman's six-year, $30 million signing in 2010 is notable in that it fits right into the Marlins' price range. Given the hype surrounding his play, it is almost certain that he has the raw skills to compete in the majors. Given the Marlins' lack of long-term options in center field and the Cuban connection with south Florida, their interest seems elementary.

But before any deal is made, there needs to be proper evaluation of the risks involved. Like Chapman proved this past season, Cespedes is no guarantee to walk into the majors as a success despite his tools. Like any draft pick or foreign amateur signing, there is inherent risk in bringing in a guy who has yet to play in the big leagues and giving him a major league contract. Chapman and the Cincinnati Reds have some leeway due to his age, as he is turns 24 in 2012. Cespedes, on the other hand, will be 26 years old in 2012 and needs to be ready for the majors almost immediately in order for the Marlins to get the most bang for their $30 million bucks.

Having said that, the reviews on his skills, minus the idea that he may have to move to one of the corner spots one day, is almost impeccable, and his agent believes that he will be ready to play in the majors almost immediately. Though the Marlins have no medium-term options in center field (top prospect Christian Yelich remains an option four or so years down the line), the team has enough short-term plugs in Emilio Bonifacio, Bryan Petersen, and Scott Cousins that they can fill in while Cespedes tunes up in the minors in 2012. The team will want him ready by mid-2012, and it sounds like this idea is not far-fetched.

The Offer

The Marlins have the same amount of money ready for two different types of players. One represents an approach looking to capitalize on 2012 with a high risk/reward player. The other is looking to build into the long-term with a player that will hopefully be in the team's future for years to come, but a player who is nonetheless unproven in major league play and would require a significant future investment. Which side should the Marlins turn to?

With the uncertainty of the team's current 2012 situation, my gut leans towards the signing of Cespedes as being more favorable. Yes, we have no idea how good he will be, and it is quite a risk to sign a guy even as toolsy as him to a lucrative six-year deal, but I trust the Marlins organization has the scouts capable of determining how this player's future will go. There are a lot of questions yet to be answered about the team's 2012 situation, and while I would imagine they would return to at least being a .500 ballclub with a couple of moves and normal regression to the mean, I am not currently ready to say that this team is close enough to contention that a Sizemore stab should be considered over an interesting long-term option like Cespedes. Add on the Cuban factor and how interesting that would be for the south Florida fanbase (remember the love that Livan Hernandez got in his early Marlins career?) and it seems like Cespedes would be a significantly better fit.

What is the deal for Cespedes? The Chapman-like six-year offer may be a good endpoint or just the beginning of negotiations, but the Marlins would be wise to keep their bid around that number. Again, a six-year major league commitment to a prospect eliminates any team control the club would have and replaces it with the major league deal, so the Marlins would be at the mercy of the contract if Cespedes succeeds or fails. The deal seems fair for an unknown with a lot of talent, but the Marlins will have competition from a variety of heavy spenders, including the Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, and New York Yankees. By the time he becomes a free agent, however, the team should have an idea of where they stand financially and talent-wise and should be able to determine where their offer range will be.

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4 wild cards, realignment ahead for MLB (AP)

Baseball will be making major changes in the next two years — adding two teams to the playoffs, moving the Houston Astros to the American League and extending interleague play to September. The expanded playoffs could come as early as next year. That will put 10 teams in the postseason, requiring a new wild-card playoff [...]

Read The Full Article:
http://www.mlbnewsblog.com/2011/11/17/4-wild-cards-realignment-ahead-for-mlb-ap/

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My First Johnny Bench Game-Used Jersey Card Is A
Beauty!!!

My First Johnny Bench Game-Used Jersey Card Is A Beauty!!! Simply put, I have wanted one of these for a very long time, and now I finally own one. And that is all I have to say – Time to … Continue reading →

Read The Full Article:
http://bapple2286.wordpress.com/2011/11/17/my-first-johnny-bench-game-used-jersey
-card-is-a-beauty/

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