=== Trevor Cahill ===

There ain't a lot of lousy pitchers who go 18-8, 2.97.  But as Opening Day enemies go, the M's could do a lot worse than Cahill.  Verlander-Sabathia this ain't.

We Shandlerians look at Cahill's performance, on a skills basis:

• 43 BPV (50 being acceptable)
• 4.5 - 5.4 strikeouts the range, 2009-2010
• 2.9 - 3.6 walks
• Control ratio a rather queasy 1.7
• Very mediocre fastball -- thrown almost 70% of the time

... and we see somebody who is a lot more similar to Doug Fister, than he is to Tim Hudson or Dave Stewart.  In fact, Fister's component skills are considerably better than Cahill's.  For example, he's got as many K's, with about half the walks.

We're not saying that Fister is Cahill.  More like Cahill is Fister.

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Remember:  W/L and ERA ain't what you go by.  You don't ignore them -- every piece of information is, um, informative -- but you don't let them fool you, either.  Cahill's 18-8, 2.97 line is a swaying golden pendulum that will hypnotize many fantasy owners into treating him as a TOR.

Cahill's component skills are those of a #4 starter.  He's a righty with a mediocre fastball, going against a lineup stacked with patient left hand hitters.

..........

Win's in the bag?  No.  I like the matchup.  That's all.

What's he done in the past against Seattle?  What difference does it make?  Did those lineups have six lefty hitters?

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=== I Got One Thing Ta Say ===

When you are trying to psych up for The Big Game?

When you're going, "boy, if Figgins is out of his sulk, remember that before 2010 he was one of the 20 best players in the AL?  Remember Figgins going how he and Ichiro were going to be the best 1-2 in major league history?"  And we'd settle for one of the top ten 1-2 in 2011 history...

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When you're going, "slap me silly, after Kotchman and the 40-year-olds and allthat stuff, it's nice to have three MOTO's who are LH, who BB, and who have some power..."

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Who was it around the blog-o-sphere who pointed out that Miguel Olivo has like the #6 WAR over the 2009-10 seasons.  Even if he's only average to below average, he is replacing this from 2010:

• PA - 599 teamwide at C
• AVG - .201
• OBP - .263 (!)
• SLG - .303
• OPS+ - 62

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When you're trying to go, "Brendan Ryan hit .292 as a 27-year-old in 2009, and his BABIP of .250 kept him down last year" ...

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When you're trying to think, "only six weeks till Dustin Ackley, if they can establish a presence in the first 1/4 of the year..."

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When you're trying not to be made fools of on Opening Night, it is sweet as Brian Wilson's beard* that Felix Hernandez guarantees that tonight is not Fool's Night.

There's nothing like a Hall of Fame starting pitcher.  

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Be Afraid,

Dr D