Greetings, readers.
It’s been a while, hasn’t it? How have you spent your February?
Me? Pulled off a move (still in New York City, just a different place), griping about NBC’s Olympics coverage and making plans to go to my first (!) Spring Training game next weekend–alas, it’s not the Yankees, who are too far from my lodgings, but it’s the Cardinals and the Marlins, and how often does a Yankee fan get to see Pujols up close and personal?
So.
A few thoughts as Spring Training has begun to unfold.
1): I’m sure by now you’ve heard about the monster mash from teh Jesús.
I’ve waxed poetic about Montero before; as I told one of my drinks companions last night, there are very few baseball players I go ga-ga over; Mariano is one, Pujols is another, and Montero is easily the third.
Baseball Prospectus 2010 brings up an interesting point in their capsule review of Montero: sometimes, every once in a while, we’re gifted with a player whose, in their words, G-d given position is DH. As much as Montero’s value would increase as a catcher, he might very well debut as a DH–and if BP’s comparing him to Edgar Martinez and Frank Thomas, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
As it is, at some point, Nick Johnson will probably get hurt, because that’s what Nick Johnson does when he’s not busy owning our notion of .OBP, and he’ll need a replacement at DH. While DH’ing Posada and catching Cervelli for a couple games isn’t the worst thing in the entire world, by the middle of August we could very well be at a point where the Yankees would get the greatest benefit — roster hoop-jumping aside– from DH’ing Montero, and keeping Posada’s bat in the lineup at catcher.
We are, of course, a long way from that–Montero’s not yet played a game above AA. Then again, the guys who mashed similarly at AA at a young age–guys like Miguel Cabrera and Andruw Jones–didn’t spend much time at AAA, either.
The point here is that we’re probably looking at the best bat the Yankees have had in their system in a very, very long time–in terms of pure power, probably the best bat in my lifetime. Montero is employed by a team that plays in a league with a DH. If the need arises, and Montero performs in AAA as many of us expect, the Yankees should not hold him back.
Imagine if Edgar Martinez had been unleashed upon the Major Leagues before he turned 27….
2) Today was Picture Day. This year’s crop is much better than last year’s (and are viewable on Getty Images), but there isn’t any that rivals the pure shock value of Brian Bruney’s 2008 shot–where he was almost unrecognizable compared to his appearance in 2007. You wouldn’t think it possible to change your appearance that much in just a few months, but apparently it is.
3) I’m about to start reading Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract. I know, I know, it’s a book I should have read ages ago, before The Numbers Game or Baseball Between the Numbers, but for various reasons, I hadn’t purchased a copy till now.
I enjoy understanding what stats are supposed to tell you, but I’m not too good at calculating them. Thus, Baseball Between the Numbers is a favorite, but I haven’t been able to get through The Book–no fault of the author’s, the math just goes over my head.
Still, if anyone’s living proof that you don’t have to like math to appreciate sabermetrics, I’m probably it.
4) I’m not sure it snowed this much in any of my four years at Syracuse. Seriously.