As of November 1st, you may find our past writers...
Jon Shepherd - Taking a long walk.
Matt Kremnitzer - Matt left the Depot this past year to join the Athletic - Baltimore. His writing at his personal site impressed me and I got him to agree to come on about five or six years ago. He was a great addition and was the leader of the site for a year as a took a break and joined Baseball Prospectus for a failed attempt at creating a data based model for prospects that merged qualitative and quantitative metrics. Matt can write about anything and make it interesting, which is probably why you should subscribe to the Athletic.
Nate Delong - I found Nate over at Orioles Proving Ground. He became quite important in carrying on the torch of our podcast, the Camden Highball (which was a drink we created that mixes Orange Crush with what wound up to be your choice of whiskey (the Buck), vodka (the Pearce), or gin (the Jones)). I believe he left the game.
Patrick Holden - Patrick was more or less the brother at arms with Nate. They both onboarded at the same time and I somehow lodged into my brain they were the same people. Patrick moved on to a hockey focus and for a few years I kept sending him updates because I could not get my brain to work.
Nick Faleris - I met Nick over at the old Baltimore Sun message board. I grew tired with the transient nature of comments on a message board, so I created the Depot. Nick's scouting perspective was a solid addition to the site and he became an equal for several years. Moving on from the Depot, he has had many hats. He did some associate scout work for a MLB team, created his own scouting consultation group, led Baseball Prospectus' scouting department for a bit after current Diamondbacks Assistant GM Jason Parks left, and then helped create the new venture 2080 Baseball.
Stuart Wallace - Stuart was brought on from his personal site to the Depot. He had a great eye for detail and communicated it well for our baseball science push. We had him for a year or two before he graduated to the Pirates and then promoted as he transitioned to the Reds.
Matt Perez - Matt was a writer's writer. His posts were heavy and some patience was needed, but he churned out solid work. He addressed the overwrought concept of There Is No Such Thing As A Pitching Prospect, identifying how scouting and development improvements have progressively made it easier to project pitchers in comparison to projecting hitters. He also broke up the 40-60-80 arbitration idea. He was also the best source of MASN dispute news on the internets.
Patrick Doughterty - Patrick is a great data visualist. His main claim to fame here was helping me implement out batting order optimization program that took a look at sequencing. Existing optimizers merely looked at each player in the lineup in a vacuum while we decided to see how the players in front of each batter impacted their own ability to drive in runs. It was one of the last articles that spawned conversations with front office executives. That used to be a common thing when we started, but the talent in the field has grown astronomically. It really has been an amazing twelve years of baseball.
Joe Reisel - Joe was our Norfolk connection for many years. He worked for John Dewan's BIS, logging games with data that helped determine fielding ability and other descriptors of play.
Avi Miller - Avi is a veteran of the golden age of Baltimore baseball blogging and pulled in a short tenure with us before departing for good. We will always remember him for accidentally purchasing an entire section of tickets off of StubHub.
Elie Waitzer - Waitzer was a solid writer with a good eye for visuals. He wrote for us for a short bit before dedicating himself back to school and working on a law degree. Glad my recommendation helped or maybe glad it didn't hurt too much. His twitter is now defunct.
Jeff Long - Jeff consults for a professional team now. After he did some platform broadening with us, he went on to Baseball Prospectus where he made quite an impact. If you do not know his name, then you have not been paying attention. Funny, his capstone work on tunneling actually echoes something I wrote about years ago that he never read. His work came in at a different angle and never exactly reflected my abstract hypotheses, but seeing it come to fruition through another path was truly a joy to see. What he and his co-authors did was well beyond what I imagined. Now, get on those visual aspects!
Chris Lindsay - Lindsay loved peppering his conversations with obscure European conflicts, which was something only I enjoyed. He wrote several things for us about the World Baseball Classic. Last I heard, he was out scouting in the hinterlands.
Daniel Moroz - Moroz read our site, got inspired and delivered Frost King Baseball and then Camden Crazies, which rode the baseball blog boom to stardom. Moroz was behind the first wave of smart and witty t-shirts, which was overwhelmed by far less witty and more easily accessible t-shirts. Before he burned out in the 2012 craziness, he wrote for us for a bit. Every year or two, I asked if he was going to get back into the game. Always hoping.
Ryan Romano - Ryan popped up on our radar as an incredibly frustrating and overly confidant teenager that peppered our site with criticisms, many valid but all fairly obnoxious. He grew up and is moving into actual journalism. He is finishing up at UMD as the editor of their paper, but has done rotations for the Roanoke Times and the Tampa Bay Times (which is where for Sun writer Eddie Encina is now covering the Bucs, I am sure Ryan put a good word in).
Ryan Pollack - The second Ryan came to us from Camden Chat to write in a different format with a different tone as he was crossing platforms. He has been an active member in the central Texas SABR chapter. He currently applies his wares at The Hardball Times and Beyond the Box Score. I think he has a podcast, too. Or he did.
Andrew Gibson - He never wrote for us, but he contributed on our original podcast format. After a few years at BIS, he was snapped up from the Pirates and progressed through their system.
Steph Diorio - Steph was our resident cartoonist for a few years. She is still creating.
Jonathan Bernhardt - Jonathan wrote for us for a very short bit before editors at large realized too his talent. He moved on to many entities during the sports media online boom and now writes for the Athletic Baltimore site as well as a couple other locales.
Zach Mariner - While in college Zach wrote a few items for us and then graduated on to ESPN where he is now a senior researcher.
Joe Wantz - A solid contributor over the past year.
31 October 2018
30 October 2018
BORAS Blowout 2018/19: Pitcher-palooza
As noted before, the BORAS model does not look at relievers, so starting pitching is the final post of the BORAS model blowout this offseason. Other positions we have covered are:
Catcher | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | LF | CF | RF | DH | SP
As a reminder, the BORAS model looks at contracts signed from 2013/14-2017/18 in relationship to performance and biological metrics. Basically, how good were they in the years leading up to the contract, what type of player is he, and how old is he. Over the years, the model in whole has finished as the most accurate or second most accurate every single year for players who signed multi-year deals above 8 MM per year. Below those markets and the certainty in the projections decreases significantly.
Below are included several player who have player or team options. Chris Sale will not be let out of his contract, so there goes a big name. The same with Carrasco. David Price will not see in the market what his current contract hands him, so he will stay. An intriguing name below is Clayton Kershaw. He has two years and 65 MM left to him on his current deal, but can opt out. BORAS comes up with his market value as 4/88, which sounds like maybe he should not opt out. BORAS worries about the missed time Kershaw has experienced over the past few years and his age.
Catcher | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | LF | CF | RF | DH | SP
As a reminder, the BORAS model looks at contracts signed from 2013/14-2017/18 in relationship to performance and biological metrics. Basically, how good were they in the years leading up to the contract, what type of player is he, and how old is he. Over the years, the model in whole has finished as the most accurate or second most accurate every single year for players who signed multi-year deals above 8 MM per year. Below those markets and the certainty in the projections decreases significantly.
Below are included several player who have player or team options. Chris Sale will not be let out of his contract, so there goes a big name. The same with Carrasco. David Price will not see in the market what his current contract hands him, so he will stay. An intriguing name below is Clayton Kershaw. He has two years and 65 MM left to him on his current deal, but can opt out. BORAS comes up with his market value as 4/88, which sounds like maybe he should not opt out. BORAS worries about the missed time Kershaw has experienced over the past few years and his age.
It appears that the 2018/19 off season will be like the 2016/17 offseason where no truly front end talent is available.
Year Total Madison Bumgarner 2 24.6 Clay Buchholz 2 17.2 Trevor Cahill 2 19.4 Carlos Carrasco 6 160 Bartolo Colon Invite Patrick Corbin 7 182 Marco Estrada 1 8.7 Nathan Eovaldi 2 21.4 Doug Fister 1 4.9 Jaime Garcia 1 5.8 Gio Gonzalez 3 43.8 Miguel Gonzalez Invite Cole Hamels 2 27 Jason Hammel 1 6.3 JA Happ 3 51.6 Matt Harvey 2 12.1 Jeremy Hellickson 1 8.6 Derek Holland 2 15.4 Clayton kershaw 4 88 Dallas Keuchel 5 84 Francisco Liriano 1 3.8 Jordan Lyles 2 9.8 Lance Lynn 3 37.5 Wade Miley 2 17 Matt Moore 1 4.6 Charlie Morton 3 46.2 Martin Perez 1 6.7 Drew Pomeranz 1 8.1 David Price 3 46.5 Garrett Richards 2 14.4 Tyson Ross 2 10.2 Hyun-Jin Ryu 3 29.7 CC Sabathia 2 25.2 Chris Sale 8 286 Anibal Sanchez 2 18.6 Ervin Santana Invite Hector Santiago 1 2.6 James Shields Invite Chris Tillman Invite Josh Tomlin Invite Adam Wainwright Invite
29 October 2018
26 October 2018
BORAS Blowout 2018/19: Right Field
Catcher | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | LF | CF | RF | DH | SP
Just chopping some wood, clearing out the BORAS modeling projections. Here is right field:
A second interesting note is that BORAS thinks Adam Jones is more valuable than Nick Markakis. I think a lot of folks will disagree with that. I ran an unscientific twitter poll a while back and four to one think Markakis will see a better pay day.
My last thought is on Yasmany Tomas, who will not opt out of his deal. That said, 4/46.4 would not be happening for him.
Just chopping some wood, clearing out the BORAS modeling projections. Here is right field:
BORAS model really thinks Bryce Harper will get a fairly underwhelming deal in comparison to the murmurings of a 400 MM contract for the past few years. Some thought the 10/250 Manny projection felt light and, well, a Harper deal of seven years just shy of a 20 MM annual value will result in some tsk-tsking. Regardless, while he has shown glimmers of brilliance, he also seems to have some shortcomings that undermine that value.
Years Total (MM) Jose Bautista Invite Melky Cabrera 1 7.7 Lonnie Chisenhall 3 31.5 Curtis Granderson 1 11 Carlos Gomez 1 8.1 Carlos Gonzalez 2 14.5 Brandon Guyer 1 7.3 Bryce Harper 7 138.6 Jason Heyward 2 22.4 Matt Joyce 1 11 Nick Markakis 2 17.6 Andrew McCutchen 3 45.6 Hunter Pence Invite Yasmany Tomas 4 46.4
A second interesting note is that BORAS thinks Adam Jones is more valuable than Nick Markakis. I think a lot of folks will disagree with that. I ran an unscientific twitter poll a while back and four to one think Markakis will see a better pay day.
My last thought is on Yasmany Tomas, who will not opt out of his deal. That said, 4/46.4 would not be happening for him.
19 October 2018
BORAS Blowout 2018/19: Centerfield
Catcher | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | LF | CF | RF | DH | SP
The BORAS model projections for centerfield are a bit more interesting than the other recent ones. One, it takes a look at what Adam Jones can expect. Two, I decided to take a gander at two player who are not free agents: Mike Trout and non-centerfielder Mookie Betts.
What is going for him that BORAS does not consider is that he is a good clubhouse presence and he is considered able to play all outfield positions even though his effort or comfort looked very subpar in right field as his season ended. Jones could find himself a second wind. He has the bat speed and the other qualities that made him an all star quality player. Perhaps moving to a corner position will help him. Maybe focusing on a more contact oriented approach to improve his barrelling. I do not know. The only negative is that he has sure slowed down a bit over the years. His speed never played well on the basepaths, but he was a plus runner. He now is a 45/50 runner, but maybe that was impacted by overuse and injury.
So...I also looked at Mike Trout and Mookie Betts. The reason why was because I wondered about Manny Machado's 10/250 projection. I had thought that perhaps the model, lacking data in the young superstar area, might underproject the Machado deal. The Trout and Betts projections indicate otherwise. The 400+ MM deals for Trout and Betts appear to validate the model and suggest that we should expect a monster deal for Machado, but far less than was expected a few years ago.
The BORAS model projections for centerfield are a bit more interesting than the other recent ones. One, it takes a look at what Adam Jones can expect. Two, I decided to take a gander at two player who are not free agents: Mike Trout and non-centerfielder Mookie Betts.
Lets talk Adam Jones first. Last year, I made some favorable assumptions and pegged Jones as looking forward to a 2/22 extension. I cannot find the series of tweets, but someone tagged him on the projection and he voiced his displeasure at the number. 2018 was not exactly kind to Jones in a few ways, including his performance in the field. BORAS downgraded him to a 2/18.7 deal. I have a hard time seeing him accept anything below an annual 10 MM salary, but the market may well dry up.
Years Total (MM) Gregor Blanco Invite Rajai Davis Invite Craig Gentry 1 7.6 Carlos Gomez 1 8.1 Jon Jay 1 8 Adam Jones 2 18.7 Leonys Martin 3 19 Cameron Maybin 1 9 Andrew McCutchen 3 45.6 AJ Pollock 3 38.1 Denard Span 2 20.4 Mike Trout 12 407 Mookie Betts 12 417
What is going for him that BORAS does not consider is that he is a good clubhouse presence and he is considered able to play all outfield positions even though his effort or comfort looked very subpar in right field as his season ended. Jones could find himself a second wind. He has the bat speed and the other qualities that made him an all star quality player. Perhaps moving to a corner position will help him. Maybe focusing on a more contact oriented approach to improve his barrelling. I do not know. The only negative is that he has sure slowed down a bit over the years. His speed never played well on the basepaths, but he was a plus runner. He now is a 45/50 runner, but maybe that was impacted by overuse and injury.
So...I also looked at Mike Trout and Mookie Betts. The reason why was because I wondered about Manny Machado's 10/250 projection. I had thought that perhaps the model, lacking data in the young superstar area, might underproject the Machado deal. The Trout and Betts projections indicate otherwise. The 400+ MM deals for Trout and Betts appear to validate the model and suggest that we should expect a monster deal for Machado, but far less than was expected a few years ago.
18 October 2018
BORAS Blowout 2018/19: Left Field
Catcher | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | LF | CF | RF | DH | SP
And after a little respite, here we go with the next batch. The BORAS model projections for left field:
As always, once the model sinks below the 10 MM mark, things can get weird. No, Gentry will not find himself a 1/7.6 MM deal.
And after a little respite, here we go with the next batch. The BORAS model projections for left field:
This group includes a number of players who have been addressed before. I think the main miss here, as it has all along, is Marwin Gonzalez. He is so flexible and useful that I imagine he finds himself a larger deal. He is a poor man's Ben Zobrist or a rich man's Steve Pearce.
Years Total (MM) Gregor Blanco Invite Michael Brantley 4 55.2 Melky Cabrera 1 7.7 Rajai Davis Invite Daniel Descalso 2 18.8 Brett Gardner 2 24.4 Craig Gentry 1 7.6 Carlos Gonzalez 2 14.5 Marwin Gonzalez 1 11 Brandon Guyer 1 7.3 Jon Jay 1 8 Cameron Maybin 1 9 Gerardo Parra 1 5
As always, once the model sinks below the 10 MM mark, things can get weird. No, Gentry will not find himself a 1/7.6 MM deal.
12 October 2018
BORAS Blowout 2018/19: Third Base
Catcher | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | LF | CF | RF | DH | SP
Alright, after being leveled by some respiratory disease for a week, we are back on with the third base installment of the BORAS model. Some long time readers of the site still think that I call up Scott Boras and get his take, but no. I have already mentioned it a few times in this series and have gone through some messy bits in years past, but the BORAS model stands for Ballplayer Observation-based Renumeration Assumption System. The name is a very stretched out attempted to make it BORAS. So there you go. Again, I look at the historical relationship between several different performance variables for years prior to signing a contract and the contract itself. The current model is now a collection of really six models that are split by position and age. I hope this clears things up. Go back to the older introduction articles to get more of a history.
The third base batch below contains projections for those who retired as well as a few who have been covered in previous positions.
Some might think Josh Donaldson's 3/54 deal is a bit light. From 2013-2016, Donaldson was a golden god with an average bWAR of 6.6. However, 2017 and 2018 were mired with injuries. That said, he has had a very late season boost since becoming an Indian and could see a team take a chance. If you completely ignore last season and have him repeat a modest 4 WAR season, then BORAS would change the expectation to 5/115. Third base, however, is a fairly bountiful position right now in the Majors, but I could see a club tossing out a 4/100 deal to him.
I think the Headley, Kang, Sandoval, and Romine deals are overly kind. They exist in this little bubble of the model where they it has a hard time discerning whether a player is really worth a contract and it feels fine putting down a 6 or 7 or 8 MM cost to it. I think all of these guys are more or less invite quality players.
Anyway, this is the third base group. Come Monday I will be posting left fielders.
Alright, after being leveled by some respiratory disease for a week, we are back on with the third base installment of the BORAS model. Some long time readers of the site still think that I call up Scott Boras and get his take, but no. I have already mentioned it a few times in this series and have gone through some messy bits in years past, but the BORAS model stands for Ballplayer Observation-based Renumeration Assumption System. The name is a very stretched out attempted to make it BORAS. So there you go. Again, I look at the historical relationship between several different performance variables for years prior to signing a contract and the contract itself. The current model is now a collection of really six models that are split by position and age. I hope this clears things up. Go back to the older introduction articles to get more of a history.
The third base batch below contains projections for those who retired as well as a few who have been covered in previous positions.
David Freese looks a little bizarre, but he is one of those guys who when skillfully deployed really helps to boost an offense. For instance, he only netted himself about 300 PA for the Pirates and Dodgers this season, yet he was able to have a 2.1 bWAR. That kind of quality usually comes with some investment in years and total money from a club. However, Freese is considered a platoon bat against left handers, which usually limits the market. Plus, he may now be more of a first baseman than a third baseman, which also limits the market. A 1/6 or 1.7 deal would be my expectation instead of a 2/20.6.
Years Total (MM) Adrian Beltre 1 9.7 Asdrubal Cabrera 3 30.9 Josh Donaldson 3 54 Logan Forsythe 1 7.6 David Freese 2 20.6 Marwin Gonzalez 1 13.4 Chase Headley 1 7.4 Jung-ho Kang 2 17.4 Jed Lowrie 4 56.8 Manny Machado 10 250 Mike Moustakas 2 28.6 Eduardo Nunez 1 6.6 Jose Reyes Invite Andrew Romine 1 5.3 Pabl0 Sandoval 1 6.5 Luis Valbuena Invite
Some might think Josh Donaldson's 3/54 deal is a bit light. From 2013-2016, Donaldson was a golden god with an average bWAR of 6.6. However, 2017 and 2018 were mired with injuries. That said, he has had a very late season boost since becoming an Indian and could see a team take a chance. If you completely ignore last season and have him repeat a modest 4 WAR season, then BORAS would change the expectation to 5/115. Third base, however, is a fairly bountiful position right now in the Majors, but I could see a club tossing out a 4/100 deal to him.
I think the Headley, Kang, Sandoval, and Romine deals are overly kind. They exist in this little bubble of the model where they it has a hard time discerning whether a player is really worth a contract and it feels fine putting down a 6 or 7 or 8 MM cost to it. I think all of these guys are more or less invite quality players.
Anyway, this is the third base group. Come Monday I will be posting left fielders.
05 October 2018
BORAS Blowout 2018/19: Shortstops
Catcher | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | LF | CF | RF | DH | SP
As I have marched through the model projections, today was one that quite a few folks had circled with some anticipation. I mentioned the projection on twitter, but here it is in its full glory. Shortstops (aka Manny Machado and some other guys).
Once you get past Manny Machado, the shortstop position opens up to Asdrubal Cabrera, Eduardo Escobar, and Jose Iglesias. Cabrera has put in a few good seasons and looks to benefit from those. Escobar has rebounded nicely from his 2016 season and will probably squeaked out a three or four year deal around 10 MM per instead of the BORAS estimate of 1/15.4 (but who knows?). Iglesias is fully converting his glove into money, which may or may not pan out.
All in all, looks like a decent set of projections.
As I have marched through the model projections, today was one that quite a few folks had circled with some anticipation. I mentioned the projection on twitter, but here it is in its full glory. Shortstops (aka Manny Machado and some other guys).
Years Total (MM) Elvis Andrus p58 1 10.5 Asdrubal Cabrera 3 30.9 Alcides Escobar Invite Eduardo Escobar 1 15.4 Freddy Galvis 2 14 Marwin Gonzalez 1 11 A. Hechavarria Invite Jose Iglesias 2 22.6 Manny Machado 10 250 Jordy Mercer 2 13 Eduardo Nunez p5 1 6.6 Jose Reyes Invite Eric Sogard 1 5.9
Machado's value of 10/250 is an astoundingly large contract. With whispers of a 400 MM deal being considered by the Depot just a year and a half ago, the total value might feel lean. It is good to remember though that 2017 was a rough offensive year for Manny and this year was a fairly unspectacular defensive one with a shift to Shortstop. With that in mind, it makes sense that the model is not saying that Machado should be handed a deal that results in the air being sucked out of the industry.
But is the model unable to value machado properly because he is an exceptional talent? Well, lets consider that by looking at two exceptional players: Mike Trout and Mookie Betts. I think we can all agree that these guys are stunningly good baseball players. What does BORAS think about them?
Mike Trout 12/407That seems to sink that argument for Machado. Again, one of the murmurs that has followed Machado for years has been when will he go from being one of the 20 best players in baseball to one of the all time greats. He simply has not gotten there, but he seems to have that potential. Will a club pay him like an all time great or will they pay him like a current great?
Mookie Betts 12/417
Once you get past Manny Machado, the shortstop position opens up to Asdrubal Cabrera, Eduardo Escobar, and Jose Iglesias. Cabrera has put in a few good seasons and looks to benefit from those. Escobar has rebounded nicely from his 2016 season and will probably squeaked out a three or four year deal around 10 MM per instead of the BORAS estimate of 1/15.4 (but who knows?). Iglesias is fully converting his glove into money, which may or may not pan out.
All in all, looks like a decent set of projections.
04 October 2018
BORAS Blowout 2018/19: Second Base
Catcher | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | LF | CF | RF | DH | SP
So far, we have looked at catchers and first basemen. Today is second base. Again, the BORAS model looks at historical performance and regresses it against contract values. It is a multivariable, multistep approach. We have been running the models for several years and they are one of the best projection tools for contract terms for regular players. Things tend to drop off the table for role players or extreme platoon players.
So far, we have looked at catchers and first basemen. Today is second base. Again, the BORAS model looks at historical performance and regresses it against contract values. It is a multivariable, multistep approach. We have been running the models for several years and they are one of the best projection tools for contract terms for regular players. Things tend to drop off the table for role players or extreme platoon players.
Years Total (MM) Asdrubal Cabrera 3 30.9 Daniel Descalso 2 18.8 Brian Dozier 2 28.4 Logan Forsythe 1 7.6 Marwin Gonzalez 1 11 Josh Harrison 2 18 Ian Kinsler 1 8.9 DJ LeMahieu 4 47.2 Jed Lowrie 4 56.4 Daniel Murphy 2 34.4 Eduardo Nunez 1 6.6 Jose Reyes Invite Sean Rodriguez 1 6.5 Eric Sogard 1 5.9 Neil Walker 2 18.2
For fun, I also ran former Orioles Jonathan Schoop through the model. He is currently under contract with the Brewers and has one more arbitration year left if the Brewers wish to hold onto him. BORAS thinks holding onto Schoop a bit of a wash and probably worth it. If Schoop was a free agent, BORAS pegs him as a 5/52.5 player. This past year undercut his projection by about 30 MM.
Overall, the numbers suggested here are not all that surprising. Jed Lowrie would be signing through his age 38 year, but he has shown decent versatility and a good bat. He is not exactly in the same class as when Ben Zobrist signed with the Cubs, but he is not far off. My guess is that he gets three years and an option.
Daniel Murphy sees his years dwindle due to his acceptable, but not great year this past season. The model still thinks he can garner something around 17 MM, which would surprise me. However, he really is not all that far away from his offensive years. Neil Walker is often thrown in the same bucket as Murphy, but Walker has taken more of a progressive nose dive. The model can forgive a one year drop, but it finds trends harder to ignore.
Shortstops are next.
03 October 2018
BORAS Blowout 2018/19: First Base
Catcher | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | LF | CF | RF | DH | SP
Yesterday, I wrote about catchers and a bit about the new BORAS model system this year. Today, we move on to first basemen. While catchers had a potentially big name in Yasmani Grandal, the big name here (Justin Smoak) has a club option for eight million, which seems like an easy decision for the Blue Jays to pick up as Smoak has accounted for quite a bit of offense these past few years in Toronto.
Here is the BORAS projection for first base.
All in all, the numbers above look about right with a few issues. BORAS does not know that Valencia is a weakside platoon bat, that will drop his value in the open market (not to mention the mumbling of clubhouse concerns). Reynolds and Ramirez also feel a bit high as they are uneven veterans with younger talent undermining their value.
BORAS loves it some Steve Pearce. It always has and it really has always been correct about his value, if not his contract terms. Teams seem to be concerned about his injuries, streaky bat, and positional concerns, but he always seems to do well as a strong role player. His arm may not be what it was, but he should be a highly sought after bench/role bat.
BORAS seems a little confused by Marwin Gonzalez and his 1/11 deal seems a little rough. I see Gonzalez as a healthier Steve Pearce. These are the kind of guys teams really need. Their bat can be surprisingly good and they positional flexibility enables a team to use the best player available in the minors when an injury arises instead of the best available player at a given position. My best is that teams are willing to hand over a greater commitment to Gonzalez.
All in all, I think the projections are roughly about where they should be given that this system does well with 2+ year commitments and AAVs over 8 MM.
Yesterday, I wrote about catchers and a bit about the new BORAS model system this year. Today, we move on to first basemen. While catchers had a potentially big name in Yasmani Grandal, the big name here (Justin Smoak) has a club option for eight million, which seems like an easy decision for the Blue Jays to pick up as Smoak has accounted for quite a bit of offense these past few years in Toronto.
Here is the BORAS projection for first base.
As this is an Orioles site, I added two players who are not free agents, Chris Davis and Mark Trumbo. Neither live up to their current deals, but Davis is the hard one to take for Orioles fans. BORAS is so unimpressed with Davis that the invite status is an incredibly kind designation. For Trumbo, there is an upside there. He notoriously underperforms as a designated hitter, but if he had put up his on field batting numbers while at first base then he would be looking at something more in the neighborhood of 3/40 or even more.
Years Total (MM) Matt Adams 1 11.1 Lucas Duda 2 18.2 Marwin Gonzalez 1 11 Joe Mauer 1 10 Logan Morrison m8 2 22.6 Steve Pearce 2 21.8 Hanley Ramirez 1 7.2 Mark Reynolds 1 8.5 Justin Smoak c8 3 44.1 Danny Valencia 1 7 Chris Davis Invite Mark Trumbo 1 8.3
All in all, the numbers above look about right with a few issues. BORAS does not know that Valencia is a weakside platoon bat, that will drop his value in the open market (not to mention the mumbling of clubhouse concerns). Reynolds and Ramirez also feel a bit high as they are uneven veterans with younger talent undermining their value.
BORAS loves it some Steve Pearce. It always has and it really has always been correct about his value, if not his contract terms. Teams seem to be concerned about his injuries, streaky bat, and positional concerns, but he always seems to do well as a strong role player. His arm may not be what it was, but he should be a highly sought after bench/role bat.
BORAS seems a little confused by Marwin Gonzalez and his 1/11 deal seems a little rough. I see Gonzalez as a healthier Steve Pearce. These are the kind of guys teams really need. Their bat can be surprisingly good and they positional flexibility enables a team to use the best player available in the minors when an injury arises instead of the best available player at a given position. My best is that teams are willing to hand over a greater commitment to Gonzalez.
All in all, I think the projections are roughly about where they should be given that this system does well with 2+ year commitments and AAVs over 8 MM.
02 October 2018
BORAS Blowout 2018/19: Intro and Catchers
For the past several Octobers (give or take an extended playoff appearance), the writers here at Camden Depot would put together organizational blueprints for the off season to suggest what the Orioles should do to improve the squad. That will not happen this year. However, a major component of that work was our contract projection model: BORAS.
Catcher | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | LF | CF | RF | DH | SP
In case you forgot or never knew, BORAS takes into consideration several characteristics of a player (e.g., age, offensive performance, defensive performance, historical contract comparisons) and uses that information to project what the new contract will look like. Each year, we add on another season of data and try to tinker with the model to improve upon it. This year, the primary model improvement comes from using a batch age model to weight things differently.
Our first series of posts will consider BORAS(po), the position player contract model. What we found was that younger players and older players were really being valued differently beyond their age. For instance, our analysis suggests that older players are sought after for their offense with considerably less value placed on their defense. If we look at encapsulated metrics, defense was valued about half as much on a per run basis as offense was in the 31 and older player set. For 30 year olds and younger, the value gap shrank from 52% to 17%. Differences like these can really impact the quality of a model. By taking these into consideration, we improved the performance of our model internally by about 15%.
In the past, I would just drop the whole player list and then run away. This year, we will try to be more comprehensive and cover a large swath of the player market as well as putting in some arbitration eligible Orioles because...eh, why not? Again the caveats remain as they have in the past. This model does not know about injuries or suspensions. This model is based on a data set that largely ignores players who get bench level playing time. Those can be two major blindspots at times. Finally, our first post here deals with catchers and this model has always struggled with catchers. In my opinion, this will probably be the worst performing projection group.
BORAS(po) 2018/19 Catcher contract projections
As this is an Orioles blog, I added arbitration eligible Caleb Joseph. He should be looking at 1.5 to 2 MM in arbitration while BORAS projects Joseph to be worth slightly more in the open market. With the Orioles organization in possession of a few decent catchers that would come in under the 1.5 MM mark, it may well make sense to non-tender Joseph even though his arbitration value might be a slight bargain.
Tomorrow, I will post first basemen.
Catcher | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | LF | CF | RF | DH | SP
In case you forgot or never knew, BORAS takes into consideration several characteristics of a player (e.g., age, offensive performance, defensive performance, historical contract comparisons) and uses that information to project what the new contract will look like. Each year, we add on another season of data and try to tinker with the model to improve upon it. This year, the primary model improvement comes from using a batch age model to weight things differently.
Our first series of posts will consider BORAS(po), the position player contract model. What we found was that younger players and older players were really being valued differently beyond their age. For instance, our analysis suggests that older players are sought after for their offense with considerably less value placed on their defense. If we look at encapsulated metrics, defense was valued about half as much on a per run basis as offense was in the 31 and older player set. For 30 year olds and younger, the value gap shrank from 52% to 17%. Differences like these can really impact the quality of a model. By taking these into consideration, we improved the performance of our model internally by about 15%.
In the past, I would just drop the whole player list and then run away. This year, we will try to be more comprehensive and cover a large swath of the player market as well as putting in some arbitration eligible Orioles because...eh, why not? Again the caveats remain as they have in the past. This model does not know about injuries or suspensions. This model is based on a data set that largely ignores players who get bench level playing time. Those can be two major blindspots at times. Finally, our first post here deals with catchers and this model has always struggled with catchers. In my opinion, this will probably be the worst performing projection group.
BORAS(po) 2018/19 Catcher contract projections
The adjustments made this year have resulted in a much more competent model at first look, but there are a couple peculiar projections. I have a hard time seeing Suzuki making 2/20 even though he has experienced a bit of a late career bloom. Second, I think the model might be a bit too hard on Wilson Ramos who has had to deal with some misfortune with respect to his health. I also think Ramos gets dinged a bit due to his poor base running, which I think in general does not impact catchers all that much when it comes to signing a contract.
Years Total (MM) Drew Butera Invite Robinson Chirinos 1 9.9 AJ Ellis 1 6 Yasmani Grandal 3 45.3 Nick Hundley 1 5.6 Jonathan Lucroy 1 4.4 Martin Maldonado 1 4.6 Jeff Mathis Invite Brian McCann 1 7.7 Devin Mesoraco 2 14.9 Wilson Ramos 3 26.3 Rene Rivera 1 7 Kurt Suzuki 2 20 Matt Wieters 1 4.1 Caleb Joseph 1 3.9
As this is an Orioles blog, I added arbitration eligible Caleb Joseph. He should be looking at 1.5 to 2 MM in arbitration while BORAS projects Joseph to be worth slightly more in the open market. With the Orioles organization in possession of a few decent catchers that would come in under the 1.5 MM mark, it may well make sense to non-tender Joseph even though his arbitration value might be a slight bargain.
Tomorrow, I will post first basemen.