Pirates’ fans have seen the results of Ryan Doumit’s defense up close and have pretty universally agreed that it’s not good. Over the past four seasons I’d rate it as “bad,” “somewhat improved,” “wretched” and “eh.” But beyond the passed balls and weak throws, how does he rate as a receiver of ball and strikes? I’ve never heard any of his pitchers call him out (not that they should do so publicly.) Mike Fast at Baseball Prospectus has done more work than anyone else I’ve found trying to give objective analysis to catcher defense. In his latest piece he dissects the effect catchers have on ball and strike calls based on their setup and movement. Standing out among his conclusions: Over the last five years, Doumit is the worst at framing pitches to create strike calls for his pitchers, costing the team 26 runs per 120 games played. - http://643putout.wordpress.com/2011/09/21/ryan-doumit-is-bad-at-framing-pitches
According to Sheldon Hirsch, co-author with his brother, Alan, of this year's "The Beauty of Short Hops: How Chance and Circumstance Confound the Moneyball Approach to Baseball," one of the major flaws of Mr. Lewis's book is that "it distorts the real reason for why the A's reached the playoffs while Beane was GM. With all the talk of sabermetrics, little space is given to their great pitching, most notably their three terrific starters, Mark Mulder, Barry Zito and Tim Hudson. All three were highly scouted. Mulder and Zito were first-round picks. Because of them, in 2002 Oakland had the lowest ERA in the league. But Lewis treats them as an afterthought."- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903703604576584650624090400.html
There is an empty seat this season in the Progressive Field press box. When Cleveland Indians Hall Of Famer Bob Feller died in December of 2010 it marked the end of an era. Feller was one of the most involved retired players from any organization, attending Indians games up until the midway point of the 2010 season. During the many years following his playing days, Feller occupied a seat in the Indians press box where he became friendly with most of the Indians working press. This year Feller’s seat remains empty in tribute to Feller. In the story link below the writers who became friends with Feller share their memories of the legend and talk about how the press box is not quite the same without him. It’s a great read. - http://topprospectalert.com/2011/09/20/bobfeller-greatly-missed-by-cleveland-indians-beat-writers
The Pirates' youth movement has advanced to the point where it is time for many of their players to start getting paid more than the $414,000 major-league minimum salary or a little over that figure. The Pirates have 11 players eligible for salary arbitration, a process that almost always results in significant raises. Eligible are: left-hander Brian Burres, closer Joel Hanrahan, first baseman/outfielder Garrett Jones, right-handers Jeff Karstens, Charlie Morton and Ross Ohlendorf, infielder/outfielder Steve Pearce, relievers Evan Meek, Chris Resop and Jose Veras and infielder Brandon Wood. - http://www.timesonline.com/sports/local_sports/perrotto-pirates-face-key-arbitration-decisions/article_e130efc6-74c2-561d-8e86-bbfec9199aef.html
The St. Louis Cardinals agreed to a one-year, $12 million contract extension with Lance Berkman this morning as they continue to prepare for what could be a franchise-altering offseason. The deal, first announced by the club on their Twitter feed, includes no options or deferred money, as reported by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Berkman, 35, is having a resurgent season with the Cards this year, posting a .300/.412/.555 line with 31 homers over 138 games split between first base and the outfield. He's been the third-best hitter in the National League according to wRC+, and likely has another solid year of offense in his powerful bat. - http://twitter.com/#!/dgoold/status/116899758588690432
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