=== M's Sign Rich Poythress ===

As served up at the Bakery.

Poythress reminds me of Frank Thomas, not that I think he's that caliber of prospect naturally, but in several other things:

• Short to the ball
• Long, flowing, level followthru, top hand off, like Hurt
• Chest you could throw a high school dance on
• Thick waist and caboose
  
• Dunn-like projectable power
• Right-handed (?!) TTO player
• Scouts tended to underline Frank's negatives, too
  

It sounds like Poythress held out until they threw in the AA assignment.  In any case, he is champing at the bit to start as high as possible.  That is guts, baby, coming out of college and demanding the high minors right off.

.

=== Critical Thinking 101 ===

Right now we are talking about the upgrade that Jack Wilson gives us over Ronny Cedeno's horrific 2009.

Had Bill Bavasi made this trade, the point of reference would have been Jack Wilson vs an RLP , or, vs. a quality club-controls player ...

or, worst of all, the point of reference would have been the biggest overlooked bargain who had been recently looking for a job.    "Why'd we get Raul?  The Rangers just signed David Dellucci for $750,000!   He'll give them $7M worth of performance!  Why can't Bavasi do that like good GM's do?!"

Personally, I think that the CURRENT INTERNAL OPTIONS reference is -- more frequently -- the appropriate one.  But we never did that for Bill.   For Bill, his acquisitions were measured against IDEAL EXTERNAL OPTIONS, current and past.  Just saying.

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

Carl Sagan was accused (by Isaac Asimov, for example) of being the smartest person on the planet.  When Sagan taught Critical Thinking at Cornell, hundreds of students would interview for 20 spots.

Then Sagan would spend most of the class preaching about self-awareness -- of identifying our agendas and biases, and purging them from our thinking.  To Sagan, a cool-headed lack of preference was the key to analyzing another person's work intelligently.

Sagan did not believe that training in logic, or rhetorical technique, were the keys to Critical Thinking.  He thought that attitude was the key.

We all want Capt Jack to succeed, and we're all frustrated with Bavasi, but our analysis would be better if it were less preferential.

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

Wilson looks great compared to Ronny Cedeno's 170/218/297, but then so does Willie Bloomquist.  And every starting SS in baseball.   ...Willie is earning 4.6 runs per 27 outs.  Cedeno is at 1.6.   If we'd traded for Willie, would we all be sitting here carefully counting up the runs gained, and rejoicing in the brilliance?

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

Compared to a Bavasian RLP point-of-reference, Wilson is a useful, expensive short-term regular who harmonizes nicely with the club's chemistry.

I'd rather have had Scutaro or Brignac -- by a long ways.  But I'm excited about how FAST Zduriecik is restoring this 1952 Chevy.  

He is moving at breakneck speed.   In one trade, he has acquired TWO MORE regulars who might (feasibly) be part of his next pennantwinner.

.

=== Robert Manuel ===

Capt Jack got back something interesting for Wlad, which is unusual when you're talking about a young player who has been DFA'ed.   It is testimony to (a) the great job that Jack is doing, plus (b) a lot of interest in Wlad Balentien.   Baseball knows, as well as you do, that Wlad has a good shot to become Jose Guillen.

Robert Manuel doesn't have great stuff, but he has BOTH (a) a miniscule, 1+ BB rate, and (b) a miniscule, 0.5 homer rate.  (So he's not getting a 1+ BB rate by just giving in on 2-0.)

This makes him a Bob Tewksbury of the minor leagues.

Plenty of minors pitchers run a 1+ BB and an 0.5 homer rate -- check John Halama's 1997 and 1998, for example.

Still, the BB/HR accomplishments make Robert Manuel interesting -- it implies a possible AAAA-hopping weapon of "plus-plus command." 

This is pretty much the first move I'd call a hardcore-sabermetric move.

Two thumbs up,

Dr D