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Adrian Gonzalez Rumors - II
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JMC's picture
Submitted by JMC on

I always forget get how great Williams was.  He's a step above Pujols in the batters box.  Williams' career OPS+ according to B-R is 191.  Pujols hasn't had one year with an OPS+ of 191.

MtGrizzly's picture
Submitted by MtGrizzly on

By all accounts, Ted Williams just had freakish hand eye coordination. That's what allowed him to go back and forth from MLB star to ace pilot. I mean, he flew planes with propellers in WWII, played baseball for eight years, was recalled for duty in Korea, took an eight week refresher course and was flying a jet in combat.

Fun fact - Williams is also in the sport fishing hall of fame. His fly casting is said to have been something to behold.

To be among the very best at three distinctly different careers - baseball, Marine pilot and sport fishing? It's just not normal.

JMC's picture
Submitted by JMC on

He just had amazing natural talent.

 

His relationship with Boston always fascinated me as well.  I lived there for about 8 years near the end of his life.  There was this love/reverance of how great a player he was.  The city even named the tunnel to the airport after him.  However, they did a terrible job constructing the tunnel, so there always were repairs being made.  That may be how they do public construction in Massachusetts - never do the job right so there always is a job to be done.

 

At the same time, whenever there was an article about him in the Globe or Herald, the journalists couldn't help but mention how much Williams didn't get along with the media.  It didn't matter if the story was about his declining health or reminiscing about how fantastic a baseball player he was.  I also never heard any locals say anything bad about Williams - it was always positive and the journalists were (insert long streams of inappropriate language).

jemanji's picture
Submitted by jemanji on

That Teddy Ballgame was in the fishing HOF.

Odd that he and Bobby Knight, who are so similar in personalities and talent, should both be such obsessive fisherman.  I wonder why.

Fett42's picture
Submitted by Fett42 on

I have met Bobby Knight and I can't imagine anyone having a personality similar to him... except perhaps Patton.

Arne's picture
Submitted by Arne on

I imagine they share (shared) an obsessiveness with high performance, and fishing was a way to do that as "recreation," away from the media, away from the fans and everyone but a few trusted friends. They could do it with the same seriousness and compulsion to excel, just without having to answer the questions afterward. On the water, they only had to answer to themselves. They could let down their guard fishing while still pursuing that ideal of perfection.

jemanji's picture
Submitted by jemanji on

Teddy said that he loved the anticipation of each cast being the one that got a hit, as well as the challenge of making the perfect cast... loved the feel of the fly rod etc...

Had to be a great way to decompress without the scrutiny, as you note...

jemanji's picture
Submitted by jemanji on

In our lifetimes, to get a visceral feel for what Ruth and Teddy were like.

After Bonds bulked up, the pitchers were literally the underdogs in each AB, routinely walking him rather than throwing him a pitch to hit.

It wasn't legitimate, but it did show us what Ted Williams would have looked like in the 1940's and 1950's.

...............

And, quite a tribute to Joe Mauer, that his AVG/OBP/Power would not have looked out of place on Teddy's baseball card.

..............

JMC, if you have any more Boston flavor text :- ) I'd love to hear it, man.

Spectator's picture

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/marinersblog/2010344131_jose_lopez_appears_to_be_on_hi.html

A lot to chew on there.  Such as:

"The M's front office knows that RBI are almost entirely the product of luck and opportunity, not any serious skill. . . .  As smart as most GM types are (smarter than many of you think) they can still be blinded by the big power numbers. They make any incoming player an easy sell to the fanbase. They also get GMs drooling about a player's potential."

I assume he's getting this from somewhere.  Ms are down on Lopez and think other teams will value him higher than they do.

"I read an item over the weekend that listed the Mariners as one of three suitors for Adrian Gonzalez of the Padres should that team trade him."

Bats left; slugs .500; young.  Russ Branyan is a nice person, I'm sure, but that dream season he just had would have been Gonzalez' worst full season.  Now on this one, Baker admits he's just picking it up off the net.

And maybe most interesting of all:

"And please, let's not get into penny pinching and money talk. Yeah, some of the guys I've mentioned cost a whole lot more than Lopez. But the Mariners have money. Most of baseball is raking in a ton of revenue from media deals (traditional and new media) and that will more than offset any downturn in attendance. The Mariners have $50 million or so in contract payouts coming off the books with the free agencies of Adrian Beltre, Erik Bedard, Miguel Batista, Jarrod Washburn and Kenji Johjima. They have money to use on upgrading the offense (and the defense, in the case of second base)."

In the past the beat writers have passed along the front-office "poverty" line.  Interesting.

jemanji's picture
Submitted by jemanji on

... your last line.  That "expectations management" is suddenly 100% a thing of the past.  How awesome is that.

Zduriencik is not so insecure that he has to maneuver to justify a disappointing outcome before he's even begun the struggle.

The biggest names are the ones connected to the M's and Zduriencik doesn't care whether the fans are "let down" (sic) by failure to hit the targets or not.  Because if John Lackey doesn't want to come to Seattle, Zduriencik won't feel one whit defensive about his own role in that outcome.

Spectator's picture

I know it's the thinnest of rumors, and pie-in-the-sky at that, but what would be a fair package for Adrian Gonzalez with two years to free agency?  I'm thinking bigger than the Bedard deal?   He's 27 and healthy and hitters are less risky.

Taking into account that his career .281/.362/.506 was mostly accomplished in what some would call a "less-than-completely major" league (notice my political skills in not offending Matt or Sandy here), he is coming off a year with 40 dingers and 119 walks (.277/.407/.551; 166 OPS+).  That'll play in any league.

Mind wandering here, but AG and Felix on long-term deals . . . 

Would the timing be right if the Pods do put him on the market?  Would it make sense to give up the farm for him? I would ask if Z would take the heat after the Bedard fallout, but I'm thinking that's a moot point (yes, he would, if he thought it was the right deal).

 

SABR Matt's picture

He'll cost us several elite prospects and current major leaguers, to be sure.  But we have more than several elite prospects.

I would start any package with Morrow, Triunfel and Carp.  You can work your add-ons in aroud that trio.  And none of those guys are can't-miss prospects...but all of them have huge ceilings.  The Mariners can probably afford to lose that group plus a couple fo riskier guys.

Spectator's picture

If the Pods make AGonzalez available, would it make sense to make a "Bedard-type move"  (that is, probably three or more of Morrow, Lopez, Triunfel, Saunders, Lowe, Carp, etc.) to get him?

SABR Matt's picture

Hitters are more bankable...especially high OBP sluggers.  The reason Bedard backfried was that Bedard himself couldn't stay on the field.  The same will probably not be true of Gonzo.

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