Seattle Sports Insider

Chemistry 101 - the Branyan Kapler Durham Counsell Maneuver

Posted by

1/29/09

Q. Put me in the camp with Sandy about being ambivalent about the trade. Don’t like losing Heilman but like having pressure on the middle infielders to perform, which Z has explicitly stated was his intent. Also a move to make the pitching more left-handed.

A. Is everybody clear on the point that Jack Zduriencik and Don Wakamatsu are making the trades with chemistry as a dominant concern?

Both men believe that a ballplayer could have an UP year or a DOWN year based on ---- > the psychological environment around him. That's what we're talking about when we're talking about "chemistry."

Capt Jack and Waka-San both acknowledge the reality that if you instill some fear-of-failure into Yuniesky Betancourt, you give yourself a better chance to get an UP year out of him.

The Oakland A's have done this year after year: nobody's entitled; nobody's privileged; nobody's guaranteed their position. Even if you're the one guy who plays well, like Nick Swisher, you might find yourself in center field or long relief :- ) if that's what is best for the club.

The ballplayers hate this, but it also forces them to bear down. If Zduriencik and Wakamatsu create an environment in which players genuinely fear for their jobs, then great. Maybe you'll see some UP years out of some guys.

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

Look, everybody scoffs at "chemistry" when a 58-year-old manager uses it to justify playing his petted favorites. That kind of "chemistry", used to justify the addition of a Trusted Vet who can't play any more, is poison.

But we're talking about the Oakland A's kind of chemistry: a set of expectations and contingencies that cajole UP seasons out of players.

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

As sabermetricians, we study everything except this question: "What causes a player to have an UP or DOWN season?" We study how the batted balls would have gone, if given a normal Pascalian cascade-fall. We study what would have happened, if he'd hit those balls in a neutral park. We study what the batted balls would have produced, if they'd hit an average amount of gloves.

What we don't study, and maybe can't study, is why a ballplayer brings focus one year, and then doesn't the next year.

=== Eyes On Your Own Paper, Dept. ===

Now, no peeking ahead, you lurkers, :- ) and then claiming that, oh yeah, the below is why you actually liked this influx of Cedenos, F-Guts, Sheltons and their ilk. LOL.

There is one level on which I could get interested in players like Ronny Cedeno and F-Gut: and that is the scenario in which the M's honestly rotate 9 players through 5 spots all season long, like the A's sometimes do. Give Cedeno a real good share of the 2b, 3b and SS time and you might just see UP years from Frenchy, Beltre and Tejada Jr.

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

Did the 2008 Brewers actually use this strategy? It looks like they did: they had respected ML veterans like Russell Branyan, Ray Durham, Gabe Kapler, and Craig Counsell pushing the starters.

Branyan - 121 OPS+

Durham - 138

Kapler - 117

And in front of those bench veterans, a lot of the Brewers' starters had good seasons in front of them!

After years of the Hargrove bench use, and the Entitled chemistry it breeded, I'll thoroughly enjoy an Impact Bench.

Comments

Yes...I like the competitive

Yes...I like the competitive mode that Zduriencik is trying to infuse into the org.
And it's not just the MLB bench (Shelton or Sweeney, Chavez, Cedeno, Clement or Johjima)
The depth he's added at first base throughout the org...the fact that he's bogarding his catchers, his drive to acquire both lefty and righty pitchers who are high-minors ready, and all the cherry picking he's done in the trash bin looking for extra outfidelders...he's making the whole system deeper...none of the talents are awe-inspiring...but that also means everyone has to be afraid of losing their job.

Yeah, and isn't the contrast

Yeah, and isn't the contrast something Matty?
Always loved a great bench. But after Hargrove, it's giving me vertigo.

I can appreciate Cedeno in

I can appreciate Cedeno in that context (to motivate Betancourt to become a better defender). Course it didn't have to be Cedeno in particular.
It suprises me that you rate Gut and Cedeno in similar context... Gut's glove is much better and hes also a better hitter.
How do you rate Olsen (the prize of this deal)?

Great essay, Doc. My

Great essay, Doc.
My (largely intuitive) read on Z thus far is that his "primary" goal is to begin building a foundation CONDUCIVE to winning. The tricky part here is that building a foundation is not the same as building a house.
I think what has annoyed me a bit about some of the blog-o-spher impatience with the Ms not "going for it" THIS season, (snagging the BIG bat), is that it seems to have a similar rhetoric-vs-reality problem of attempting to implement "cross-training" in the workplace.
When TALKING about what would be good for the organization, everyone agrees -- we must do away with veteran entitlement -- we must eradicate the culture of losing -- we must create an environment where EVERYONE is working their hardest to achieve success. But, if the response is: "We will do all this -- it will take some time to undo the previous damage -- AND it will require that we NOT bring in more entitled veterans", too many seem to want to dismiss the concept that things like TIME and EFFORT might be needed to actually repair the previous damage.
In the workplace, I've seen a half dozen "calls" for cross-training. In each and every case, there was a very brief effort put forth to actually take time away from direct production to spend with this. But, the instant actual deadline pressures arose -- or the schedule began to slip -- it was inevitably the first thing to go. In the workplace, you CANNOT get the benefits of cross-training, (greater understanding of areas outside of your primary focus -- ready-to-act backups for unexpected absenses, etc.), WITHOUT taking time away from production to accomplish it.
My own view is that it is IMPOSSIBLE to do away with the culture of veteran entitlement if you are going to go out and bring in entitled veterans. They are 100% incompatible. Moreoever, I think you're likely going to completely undermine your own credibility if you SAY you're doing away with Veteran Entitlement, and then go out and pay a proven producer $10 million to come in and be handed his position.
In the current state of politics, I've read tomes of analyses and suggestions about how the Republican "message" was wrong or how the "message" needed to be changed. IMO, all of these arguments completely missed the point. The problem wasn't the "message". The problem was delivering a "message" of fiscal responsibility AND personal responsibility -- and then massively increasing spending and blaming the other party for every problem. The message, be it political, job-related, or baseball-related *MUST* be backed up by actions. If the message is "X" and you do nothing - the perception changes to one of incompetence. If the message is "X" and you do exactly the opposite of "X", then the perception is you are a liar and incompetent.

Interesting thesis. If I were

Interesting thesis. If I were to give my general impression of Melvin in reference to your post, it would be that he is willing to give a guy an opportunity when they have potential even if their recent performance wasn't good. He was supposed to have always liked Kapler as a player so he got in invite to ST. Branyan couldn't get an invite anywhere and Melvin let him play on the Sounds because they were in Nashville where he makes his permanent home.
Since you have crossed the heretical rubicon by suggesting that chemistry is relevant and a goal, let me suggest another. Russell made some changes in his batting mechanics and he attributes his improvement in part to that. If he gets regular at bats and if he stays healthy, I'll bet he has an outstanding year.

Great post Hal. :- ) :daps: