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Thread: Tampa Bay may have sports writers worse than Cincinnati

  1. #1
    Sprinkles are for winners dougdirt's Avatar
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    Tampa Bay may have sports writers worse than Cincinnati

    Jason Bartlett was voted the Tampa Bay Rays Most Valuable Player by the Tampa Bay BBWAA.

    I will leave it up to Joe Posnanski to explain
    Jason Bartlett has an 83 OPS+.

    Jason Bartlett has a .328 on-base percentage and has struck out three times more than he has walked.

    Jason Bartlett has a .358 slugging percentage and has hit 1.00 home runs this season.

    Jason Bartlett has missed 32 baseball games, which accounts for his relatively unimpressive total of 43 runs scored and 34 runs batted in.

    Jason Bartlett ranks 11th among “everyday shortstops” with an .825 zone rating.

    Jason Bartlett ranks 12th among “everyday shortstops“ with 4.22 range factor.

    Jason Bartlett ranks 17th among ”everyday shortstops“ with a .969 fielding percentage.

    Jason Bartlett scores a minus-1 on the Dewan Plus/Minus fielding system, meaning he has made one fewer play than the average shortstop in baseball this year.

    The Tampa Bay Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America voted Jason Bartlett the Tampa Bay Rays most valuable player in this magical season of 2008.

    Your honor. The defense rests.


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  3. #2
    Sprinkles are for winners dougdirt's Avatar
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    Re: Tampa Bay may have sports writers worse than Cincinnati

    FireJoeMorgan.com had this as well

    I know, I know, he's supposed to be a very good defender. But let me say some things about Jason Bartlett: He's missed like 30 games this year; he's hit three fewer home runs this year than Carlos Zambrano; he's 8th on his own team in VORP; and he plays on the same team as Carlos Pena, Evan Longoria, and B.J. Upton.

  4. #3
    Big Red Machine RedsBaron's Avatar
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    Re: Tampa Bay may have sports writers worse than Cincinnati

    Is there any truth to the rumor that representatives of the Cincinnati Enquirer and WLW have flown to Tampa on a recruiting mission?
    "Hey...Dad. Wanna Have A Catch?" Kevin Costner in "Field Of Dreams."

  5. #4
    Back from my hiatus Mario-Rijo's Avatar
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    Re: Tampa Bay may have sports writers worse than Cincinnati

    I think they gave it to him due to him being able to improve not only their SS defense but how he helped improve their overall team defense. I am not suggesting I agree with them, but it's something that I believe I had heard earlier in the season. He brought an abysmal defense up to above average, whilst only playing mediocre defense himself.

    The only way I can really rationalize it is if they feel he was the key guy that helped improve their staff era from 14th in the AL in '07 (5.53) to 2nd in the AL in '08 (3.76). Their staff sans Kazmir is heavily defense dependent w/ only Kazmir striking out 1 or more per IP, no one else was close. The pitching was the key to their 60 game turnaround from 30 games under to 30 games over (roughly speaking). Last year they had 2 starters including Kazmir go over 180 innings, this year 4 starters (Garza had 179.7) and the one that didn't was Kazmir (due to injury). But the real difference was in the pen, how much of that had to do with starters going long into games most of the time, as opposed to many new faces in the pen?

    Myself I would have voted for the GM, he did a heck of a job in the offseason.
    "You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one."

    --Woody Hayes

  6. #5
    2009: Fail Ltlabner's Avatar
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    Re: Tampa Bay may have sports writers worse than Cincinnati

    I hear he "respects the game" and really "plays the game the right way". It doesn't hurt that he "really battles between the lines" and "gives you a professional at bat".

  7. #6
    Five Tool Fool jojo's Avatar
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    Re: Tampa Bay may have sports writers worse than Cincinnati

    You're forgetting a key metric which determines worth....QORP (quotes over replacement player).

    In other words, how much easier does a player make my job as a beat writer? It directly determines both a player's credibility and enhances his value on the field.
    "This isn’t stats vs scouts - this is stats and scouts working together, building an organization that blends the best of both worlds. This is the blueprint for how a baseball organization should be run. And, whether the baseball men of the 20th century like it or not, this is where baseball is going."---Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner

  8. #7
    Member hebroncougar's Avatar
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    Re: Tampa Bay may have sports writers worse than Cincinnati

    At least the Tampa writers seem to be aware that their offense isn't what won them games. IMO, their MVP is their entire starting pitching staff, esp. when you consider the offenses they face in the AL East.

  9. #8
    Five Tool Fool jojo's Avatar
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    Re: Tampa Bay may have sports writers worse than Cincinnati

    Quote Originally Posted by hebroncougar View Post
    At least the Tampa writers seem to be aware that their offense isn't what won them games. IMO, their MVP is their entire starting pitching staff, esp. when you consider the offenses they face in the AL East.
    Really truth be told it was the trade that made Barrett a Ray that greatly helped put them over the top.

    Garza was an important part, obviously. But acquiring Barrett allowed the Rays to completely realign their infield which dramatically impacted their defense.
    "This isn’t stats vs scouts - this is stats and scouts working together, building an organization that blends the best of both worlds. This is the blueprint for how a baseball organization should be run. And, whether the baseball men of the 20th century like it or not, this is where baseball is going."---Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner

  10. #9
    Be the ball Roy Tucker's Avatar
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    Re: Tampa Bay may have sports writers worse than Cincinnati

    Doesn't Marc Lancaster, one-time Cincinnati Post BB writer, write for the Tampa Tribune now?
    She used to wake me up with coffee ever morning

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    Re: Tampa Bay may have sports writers worse than Cincinnati

    You know a lot of us harp on the fact our infield defense is suspect....mainly at SS....and while he certainly does not deserve MVP...he should be given a lot of credit for what he does and not be dismissed beacuse he falls into the category of scrappy. Rays pitching is a lot better to begin with but throw in his defense and they look like the Eastern version of the Angels.

    The FJM site made me laugh so hard ...i could barely go to sleep last night.

  12. #11
    Five Tool Fool jojo's Avatar
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    Re: Tampa Bay may have sports writers worse than Cincinnati

    The biggest problem with defense (and trying to value it) is that talking about the impact of defense takes the focus off of truly important things like chemistry and leadership.
    "This isn’t stats vs scouts - this is stats and scouts working together, building an organization that blends the best of both worlds. This is the blueprint for how a baseball organization should be run. And, whether the baseball men of the 20th century like it or not, this is where baseball is going."---Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner

  13. #12
    RZ Chamber of Commerce Unassisted's Avatar
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    Re: Tampa Bay may have sports writers worse than Cincinnati

    Quote Originally Posted by Roy Tucker View Post
    Doesn't Marc Lancaster, one-time Cincinnati Post BB writer, write for the Tampa Tribune now?
    Yep... and that was also my first thought when I read this thread title.

    Marc mingled with us common folk as a member here when he was at the Post and was probably more beloved than C. Trent among RedsZoners.
    /r/reds


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