ESPN.com - COMMUNITY - Put up or sit down


		Sign-in/Home Chat Message boards Arcade Games Fantasy Insider

Thursday, June 8
Put up or sit down

It is that time of year in baseball where managers have said enough is enough with slumping starters, says ESPN.com's baseball columnist Rob Neyer.

After giving players two full months to get their bats going, managers have stopped using the phrase "slow start" and are not afraid to say "slump" says Neyer. He also talked about the greatest left handers of all time, why Sammy Sosa won't be wearing pinstripes anytime soon and why it's too early to put much weight on early All-Star ballots.

If you missed Neyer's June 7 chat, an edited transcript follows:


	Red Sox manager Jimy Williams is one manager benching slumping hitters.

Schmidt's mustache: What do you make of the fact that "small-market" Jason Giambi is the leading AL vote-getter at first base, and that "small market" Jermaine Dye is second in the AL in the outfield? Don't tell me the fans are getting smarter?!
Rob Neyer: It's funny, I just saw another question asking me how voters could be so stupid to have Tino Martinez No. 2, and Craig Biggio No. 1 ahead of Edgardo Alfonzo. There's just no pleasing people, I guess ... Seriously, I'm happy to see Giambi and Dye doing well. Are the fans smarter this year? That's hard to believe. It's too early to take the voting real seriously, but I can't help but wonder if some of the more blatant stumping -- in Cleveland, for example -- hasn't been curtailed a bit.

Dr. Bob: Edgar Martinez isn't on the All-Star ballot because there's no DH in the game this year, but he's having such a phenomenal year. Should we write him in somewhere? Maybe at 2B (since nobody else is deserving of that spot)?
Rob Neyer: OK, last All-Star question (probably) ... I wouldn't waste my time. He has no chance of being elected as a write-in candidate, but you know that Joe Torre will take Edgar as a backup.

JToad: Now that, according to Peter Gammons, OPS is what everyone is using to judge hitters, it's a good time to ask whether "OPS Against" would be a superior measure of a pitcher's effectiveness? What are your thoughts?
Rob Neyer: OPS Against is a fine metric, but if you're interested in what a pitcher has done, then I'm still quite happy with ERA. For example, some pitchers will, over the course of seasons, give up a lot of solo home runs, but get stingier with runners on base. No, I'm not arguing for "clutch pitching," per se, but rather something we might call "situational pitching."

Lou: Todd Jones got another save last night. Has there ever been a league leader in saves on one of the worst teams before? Also, is there any explanation, other than luck, that the Tigers have performed so well in close (1 or 2 run) games?
Rob Neyer: I'm not sure about league leaders, but when bad or mediocre teams do win games, they tend to be close games -- which means a fair number of save chances. As for the Tigers' performance in close games this year, you have to give Jones some of the credit, he's having a great year.

Mikey: Great column, Rob. Can you please tell me what is going on with the relationship with Larry Dierker and the Astros players? I have heard that there is friction and players are unhappy with him.
Rob Neyer: I haven't heard anything about this, but it wouldn't surprise me. Story as old as the wind ... teams that win have good chemistry, teams that lose have bad chemistry. And the Astros are losing. A lot.

Soren Johnson: Why have you been harping about the abuse of Rick Ankiel all season while ignoring the abuse of Gil Meche?
Rob Neyer: The Ankiel/La Russa story just sort of took on a life of its own, but you're certainly right about Meche. And now Lou Piniella sounds shocked to discover that Meche has a "tired arm" or whatever they're calling it.

John in Tampa: You say the Cubs should trade Sammy Sosa. I don't like it, but I'll humor you. What do you think they could get for him from a team, like the Yankees who are rumored to be interested? Would they offer a package including Alfonso Soriano, Ramiro Mendoza and others?

NEYER'S FILE

ESPN.com's Rob Neyer writes a daily baseball column from March through October. His book "Baseball Dynasties," co-authored with Eddie Epstein, has just been published, and can be ordered from Amazon.com.

Rob Neyer: It's hard for me to envision Sosa wearing the pinstripes, he just isn't their type of player. Yes, I know that Strawberry wasn't exactly great with the fundamentals, either, but Straw was around to play a limited role: left-handed bat. Any team that gets Sosa will have him in right field, every day, and I doubt if Big George wants to watch that.

BriGuy: Enjoyed your book. In it, you made a case for Lefty Grove as the greatest left-handed starter of all time, comparing his dominant years to Sandy Koufax's. Where do Steve Carlton and Randy Johnson stack up, in your view?
Rob Neyer: Johnson's right up there with Koufax, in fact their careers have some striking similarities. I would rate Carlton ahead of both Johnson and Koufax, based on his longevity. Career-wise, then, I rate them:

1. Grove
2. Carlton
3. Spahn
4. Ford
5. Johnson
6. Koufax

Carl: Love your column, Rob. Has Jimy Williams given up on Troy O'Leary? He's been on the bench three straight games now after a season-long slump. Can we expect to see the Duke bring in some help in the form of a right-handed power-hitting outfielder in the weeks to come?
Rob Neyer: Jimy doesn't talk much, but I don't think O'Leary's out of a job yet, if only because the Sox don't have a great alternative. However, now that we're in June, you're seeing some managers give up, at least temporarily, on guys who aren't producing at all. And the Red Sox need a lot of help in the lineup.

BrianC: Do you think Lou will be offered a new contract with the M's after this season? Or is the M's brass smart enough to realize he just isn't that good? And who out there is available and worthy of the position?
Rob Neyer: It's a simple equation. If Piniella doesn't win this year, he won't be back. If he does, he will be.

Peter DeMarco: Name the player you would build your franchise around?
Rob Neyer: Sorry, I'd like to answer this question but you'll have to wait for tomorrow's column, at which point I'll explore this subject in depth. I'll give you a hint, though: it's not Jose Guillen.

Jeff: Arizona is again surprising with their offense. I thought they were lucky last year and that this year they would come down to earth. Steve Finley has other plans, obviously, and they have upgraded at short and right field. What are your thoughts on the D-Backs and the division?
Rob Neyer: I'm fairly shocked, but the Diamondbacks are clearly the team to beat. I figured that the lineup was going to suddenly show its age, and that just hasn't happened, Finley being only the best example.

Comic Book Guy: Do you watch Baseball Tonight or talk to those guys at all? If so, do you mind informing them that Pokey Reese is actually one of the worst offensive 2B in the league? There are only four (out of 15) second basemen with lower OPS' than him right now.
Rob Neyer: I do watch Baseball Tonight, but I'm afraid I'm not on a first-name basis, or any basis, with the guys you see on TV. As for Reese, I hadn't even noticed that he's been struggling. It's funny, though, in April I was regularly receiving e-mail from Reds fans who wanted to tell me how wrong I was about Pokey. Haven't seen many of those messages lately, though.

Mime C. Pokerape: What do you think the likelihood of Jason Tyner helping out the Mets this season is?
Rob Neyer: Tyner runs and gets on base, but has absolutely zero power, and I'm not sure if a left fielder with a 700 OPS is somebody that'll help you much these days.

David in Jackson: The Astros have two great hitting prospects in former first basemen Lance Berkman and Daryle Ward. Do you think they should re-sign Jeff Bagwell?
Rob Neyer: It's an interesting question, it really is. Bagwell's a future Hall of Famer, the others probably are not. But they are both excellent hitters, so the question is, how many millions of dollars should you pay for a relatively small difference in performance? If it was my team, I'd trade Bagwell for top prospects and give the job to Ward.

Kathryn: I'm not trying to be a smarty pants or anything and I know it is only three innings of work so far, but Don Wengert has not looked too shabby! Should Leo Mazzone make plans for Cooperstown?!
Rob Neyer: Gee, it's nice to know that somebody remembers the old chats! As for Don and Leo, let's give the former a couple more weeks to show his true colors. If, on June 21, Wengert still has an ERA lower than Rich Garces' weight, we'll talk again about Mazzone and Cooperstown.

Cris: Has there been any substantive change in how umpires are calling games now that they've had time to get into it a while? Early results showed little difference, but a third of the way in, is anything starting to appear?
Rob Neyer: The strike zone is still messed up, but that's supposedly going to be addressed once there's a new labor agreement. The only real change I've noticed is a heck of a lot more hustle, guys running into the outfield to observe catches, stuff like that. I think this is simply a function of having a lot of young, hungry umpires who haven't yet learned how to be lazy coasters.

Get 'em out: Why is MLB so dead set against teams moving? The Expos are a terrific team but watching them play home games depresses the heck out of me.
Rob Neyer: I don't think I know. But do you want to hear the conspiracy theory?

Some people think that MLB likes to leave cities like Washington, D.C. and Charlotte twisting in the wind, because it gives the existing clubs more leverage when they try to extort money from their cities.

Jason Langley: Well, no one else has asked, so; What do the Braves do now that John Rocker has proven the few people who stood by him wrong? Improvise like in years past or go get a proven stopper?
Rob Neyer: I think they'll improvise, just as they've always done. Bobby Cox has done many things well over the years, and one of them is cobbling together effective bullpens when everyone said it couldn't be done. I guarantee you, the Braves will win 100-plus games this year, yet various members of the media will cite the bullpen as a weakness.

Jimy W.: Even though the Red Sox pitching, besides Pedro Martinez, was bashed before the season, they have been great so far, led by Jeff Fassero. What do you think the reason for Fassero's off year last year was? Do you think he'll keep it up this year or is his early-season success just a fluke?
Rob Neyer: Here in Boston, Fassero's resurgence is tied to a couple of factors. One, he's healthy. And two, he's made a fairly slight mechanical adjustment that has resulted in greater vertical movement on his pitches. And pitching Joe Kerrigan continues to build an impressive resume.

Jon: What is the deal with the Montreal Expos, they have almost the same talent as last year?
Rob Neyer: Yes, but it's also older talent, and sometimes a year can work wonders. For example, Carl Pavano and Javier Vazquez always had the arms, but the performance wasn't quite there. This year, they're both pitching wonderfully. And of course, Vlad Guerrero is better with another season under his belt.

Thanks for all the questions, for the second week straight we (you) set a record. I'll be back next week, probably Thursday afternoon rather than Wednesday (I'll be at Yankee Stadium this time next week).

ALSO SEE
Rob Neyer chat archive