The Kielty-Kotsay-Karros Syndrome
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Moe pointed out that Guillermo Heredia is mashing lefties and Ben Gamel is crushing righties. Maybe over the next two-three years they will perform even better if spotted for 400 AB's per season each. Of course you have Dyson and Haniger along with very possibly Boog Powell and of course Tyler O'Neill next year. Nelson Cruz and Danny Valencia are also corner players competing for time.
Don't forget that Boog Powell was running an OBP of .441 this year at Tacoma and has a career OBP of .391 in the minors. Pretty sure Beane would find a way to get him 200 AB's a year.
It reminded us of when Billy Beane used to do this with such amazing success. For example 2004, Beane's corner players included:
- Scott Hatteberg 106 OPS+
- Eric Byrnes 111
- Mark Kotsay
- Jermaine Dye (their Boomstick)
- Eurebiel Durazo
- Bobby Kielty 278 AB's
- Eric Karros and Nick Swisher for parts of the year (!)
Or in 2005 they had all that minus Durazo and Dye, but plus Dan Johnson 113 OPS+ at first for 434 AB's and Jay Payton 97 OPS+ for 291 AB's. Beane wasn't afraid to ask corner players to share time, that's for sure.
In 2006 they had:
- Dan Johnson 1B
- Nick Swisher LF with a 125 OPS+
- Kotsay CF
- Milton Bradley RF, with a 114 OPS+ for 405 AB's
- Frank Thomas DH
- Jay Payton OF
- Bobby Kielty with 297 PA's
Or in 2007 it was even more extreme, with 11 "name" players rotating through and that just in the corners:
- Dan Johnson
- Shannon Stewart OF
- Nick Swisher CF (!)
- Travis Buck 129 OPS+ for 334 PA's
- Mike Piazza (!) age 38 for 329 PA's
- Jack Cust 146 OPS+
- Mark Kotsay for 227 PA's
- Daric Barton breaking in
- Todd Walker for a little bit, Bobby Kielty, Milton Bradley
Last year, 2016, it wasn't quite as successful with their 93 OPS+. But they still list Danny Valencia and Coco Crisp as subs (!) behind Josh Reddick, Billy Butler, Yonder Alonso, Khris Davis and co.
Maybe M's fans need to start thinking in the same terms. At the OF spots, 1B, and DH. Would it be so bad to allocate 400 AB's to Gamel and Heredia and Dyson and other players of their ilk? They're exciting players as starters; they could be sensational as major role players. Turned out the Royals knew what they were doing on Jarrod Dyson's playing time, huh.
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HWMNBN vs Adelberto Mejia
Here's the preview. Regarding Skip's comment that Gallardo seems to always run into "one bad inning" per game ... doesn't it strike you that you could offer that in defense of most 5.00, 6.00 ERA starters? In any case, Dr. D is still soliciting opinions as to whether the M's will cave in on their marriage to Gallardo's big salary.
BABVA,
Dr D