Getting back online after a week hiatus, so we won’t be doing any heavy lifting today. Instead, I’ll be posting a few Giants-related links. Let’s check them out. ~ The Giants avoided arbitration with LHP Jack Taschner with a 1-year deal worth $835K. Here’s something you might not know, Taschner will be 31-years-old next season. He made his debut in… Read more →
A quick post this morning on the defense from 2002-2008. Thanks to FanGraphs for making bUZR publicly available. I’ve really had a lot of fun looking through the data. I decided to use bUZR from the years 2002-2008 to find the best and worst defender on each Giants team in each year. My criteria was fielders who played at least… Read more →
Exciting news this weekend, FanGraphs is now providing UZR data — Ultimate Zone Rating — on it’s website. UZR for those who don’t know, is one of the more heralded defensive systems out there. Consider UZR another handy tool to stick in your tool belt when it comes to player analysis. UZR splits the field into “zones” — hence the… Read more →
Click to enlarge For a more detailed post on WAR, check out Tom Tango’s excellent blog here. He runs through the idea of Wins Above Replacement and lays out some of the math behind the concept. Big thanks to Colin Wyers for his WAR spreadsheet, making this whole process much, much easier. Things to Remember: ~ Defense is in runs… Read more →
You know what I’m talkin’ about. (10 points to whomever gets the movie reference) After writing a little yesterday on Fred Lewis and his patient approach at the dish, BCB commenter Delorean reminded me of the great plate discipline data you can pull from FanGraphs. I’ve briefly touched on these stats here at BCB but nothing serious. Today, we’ll examine… Read more →
Q: Did we just witness the ultimate GAMER game last night? A: I think we did. We all knew that the Giants GAMER campaign was silly. No matter how hard you try or how idealistic it might seem in an American Dream-type sense, you can’t substitute hard work for talent. But, maybe in one night, maybe just for one time,… Read more →
The latest news out of Spring Training is that Omar Vizquel will miss 4-6 weeks with a knee injury. The official word is that it’s a ‘torn medial meniscus’ in his left knee. Vizquel has had knee problems a couple of times in his 19-season career, the most recent was two surgeries that he had on his right knee in… Read more →
A lot has been made out of the Giants’ defense in the coming years as a key component to their success. It’s a good idea in theory, as the offense looks to be bad for the ’08 season and maybe beyond. Any positives gained on the defensive front will be critical to the team. As of now, the Giants’ bats… Read more →
Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports has announced that the Giants and Omar Vizquel are close to signing a 1 year $5.5M dollar deal. Under the rumored new deal, Omar would earn about $1.5M more from his 2007 salary after posting the worst OPS in the National League in ’07 (when sorting by 450 plate appearances, Omar and Marcus Giles are… Read more →