Season Log: Iowa City Country

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Thu Apr 18, 2013 5:43 am

7/30-8/1/2010: Iowa City Country at Chicago White Sox

Game one: Country Grindell at White Sox Danks

Summary:

10th inning when the Country score 3 runs to win the game nine – six

Game two: Country Depablos (94 DB SL – four, CB – four, the SL – three) at White Sox Buerhle (90 CA 2SF – two, SL – two, CU – four, CB – three, CH – four)

11 – 6, Country

Comments: this may have been Erdos's worst day at the plate. In five at-bats, he struck out twice and hit into 2 double plays. This was the Depablos 11th win and Broxton's 11th save. Considering that Broxton's only save opportunities have been where he entered the game in the 8th inning protecting a lead of three or fewer runs, and stayed in the game when the Country extended their lead to more than three, those 11 saves are quite significant. Spilborghs was credited with two hits in five at-bats, but should have been credited with a third, as replays show that when he grounded to third base and the third baseman threw home (the runner at home was called safe), Spilborghs was standing on first before the catcher caught the ball, and should have been safe if the throw was to 1st.

Game three: Country Rijo at White Sox Vazquez

swept the White Sox with a 10 – 6 victory

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Thu Apr 18, 2013 5:58 am

Trajectory

I think I just realized that trajectory is very important. Several posts a go, I commented that I was glad that Hyatt had a level 2 traj. A little before that, I commented about how awesome I'm doing with Erdos, who has 20 HRs with only D power. I think his number is 115. I decided to compare his trajectory to Huisman (D-111), McCurdy (D-115), and Spilborghs (140). Spilborghs has about 8 or 10 HRs. Huisman and McCurdy have about 5.

Of that foursome, Erdos has a level 3 traj, Spilborghs is a 2, and Huisman & McCurdy are at level 1.

In kind of assumed that a level 2/3 helps a weak hitter lift the ball over the infield, but I did not think it helped with HRs until you got to B power. Based on this little sampling, level 3 traj seems to make the diff between a hard hit ball and a HR at level D, and I should probably examine that the next time I intend to buy offensive practice equipment. Your thoughts?

My plan is to buy stamina equip for my pitchers - I think that is my priority for offseason & spring training. I was also going to buy defensive equipment, but if I cannot buy a 3rd set of equipment, I'll have to weigh the need for defensive training with the benefits of traj practice.

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Thu Apr 18, 2013 3:39 pm

8-1– 2010: Country – Diamondbacks trade

The Country and Diamondbacks were 2 of several teams announcing last minute trades, theirs not making a big splash, media-wise since it was merely a swap of minor leaguers. The Country sent minor-league second baseman Borland (CDEECE) to the Diamondbacks in exchange for the Diamondbacks' number one draft pick from this season, catcher Dunwoody (EEFDED, good blocker).

Dunwoody, 25, will not be an unrestricted free agent for another six years, though his 1 year $390,000 contract expires after this season. This is Borland's third season in the majors, but he will not be an unrestricted free agent for another 4 1/2 seasons, although his current contract, paying $410,000, expires at the end of this season.

A representative from the Country who asked to remain anonymous commented "Borland has progressed nicely from an offensive standpoint, but when focusing on defensive improvements, he was able to increase his range, but not his arm strength or his error rating, making the team lose faith in his liability as a major league shortstop. We have two minor league players Devore and Finnegan) that we project as having decent offense - 1 has D power and the other has D contact right now - and better overall defense over Borland - in about 1-2 years."

When asked about the acquisition of C Dunwoody so soon after the acquisition of C Hyatt, the Country released the following statement: "we were interested in both players. Hyatt seems to have a little more upside, although Dunwoodie is more advanced, offensively. Regardless, we will be looking to develop them both and see how things go. We had our eye on Dunwoody since the draft and are really happy with the talent in our minor league system. We currently have two prospects at catcher that could yield excellent results and at a minimum, provide defensive depth, a solid back up first baseman who is already able to hit major league pitching, two solid minor-league shortstops, one of whom is also able to play second base, we have a young player just called up this year (after we traded away Brendon Harris) on our major-league bench backing up at first and third base, respectively, with C comtact and power, and still have 2 young outfielders with impressive skill sets (Timpner and Stanley) and 2 older minor leaguers, one of whom is the best defensive OF after Pence (Thurston) and another whose bat packs a punch (Josh Hamilton).

Considering the similarity of Dunwoody to the Diamondbacks 2009 draft pick, D'Amico (EFEDED, good blocker) who is their current starting catcher, most are not surprised or disappointed with the trade. While it leaves five players on the Diamondbacks major and minor league rosters who can play second, Borland, who was designated for assignment, is similar offensively and defensively to 15 year veteran Ray Durham, and better defensively (but not offensively) to starting second baseman Howie Kendrick (CCDEEC), probably making him second or third on the depth chart.

The Diamondbacks currently have three catchers on their roster, with Saltamaccia and Robbie Hammock in their minor league system.

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Thu Apr 18, 2013 9:58 pm

KC Royals 2010 Trade Analysis

Josh Hamilton and Zack in exchange for minor league OF Hodge and RP Shawn Green

7/22/2010: the Kansas City Royals strike a deal with the New York Mets that sends short reliever Aaron Heilman (96 DE SL – four, SP – two, CH – four, SK – four) to the Royals in exchange for second baseman Brandon Phillips (DBCECF)

Heilman, 31 and is under contract through the end of next season at $450,000 per season. Brandon Phillips will also be a free agent after next season. His current contract is paying $680,000 per season
Analysts criticize the Royals for this trade, pointing to the fact that they already have very capable short relievers in the form of Shawn Greene (94 CE SL – three, SP – four, SK – four), Joel Peralta (94 DE CB – two, SP – two), and Okajima (90 BE DCB – five, CH – five). Perhaps more importantly, the trade leaves the Royals without anyone with second base experience on the major or minor league roster. The Royals roster is incredibly unbalanced, as they have three left fielders, three centerfielder's, three third basemen, three first baseman, 4 catchers, but only one shortstop and no second baseman on the roster.

Analysts for the Mets are generally favorable, as the Mets have 18 pitchers on staff – more than enough to make up for the loss of Hellman, and Phillips is an improvement over Luis Castille (CEBEBB) at the plate if not on the field and is six years younger than Castille, who is earning $6.25 million per season

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Fri Apr 19, 2013 9:14 pm

Twins 2010 trade analysis:

Background: the Twins' 46/63 record puts them in 5th place in the AL Central. With the Country pounding everyone in the league, the other Central teams can only hope for a wild card, but with 4 Western division and Eastern division teams in front of them, that actually makes 6 teams to overtake (3 Central teams and 3 teams from 1 of the other divisions) for the wild card.

Conclusion: the Twins should be reloading for next season.

The Twins were very active in the trade market this season, brining in the following players:

Comments: In all, the Twins appear to have made some nice moves – especially getting a decent pitcher and fielder in return for Blackburn. The trade that netted Felix Fernandez will only be worthwhile if the Twins believe they have a realistic shot at signing the great pitcher to another contract. The Twins are now very weak at SS, but they should be able to find someone in the offseason.

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Fri Apr 19, 2013 9:41 pm

July in review

The Country are 97 and 9, putting them 31 games ahead of the National League leading Astros (66/40) and 34 games ahead of the AL East leading Red Sox (63/43). July was their strongest month to date in terms of winning percentage, as they won 24 games and lost only 1. During this time, they scored 161 runs, allowing only 81, making this their second highest scoring month (behind May) even though they played the fewest games this month. Their 81 runs allowed is their second most runs allowed, behind June.

For the season, 35 of their wins came after falling behind and four of their nine losses for the season came after the Country were ahead. They have five walkoff wins and have not lost a game in which they lead or were tied going into the bottom of the 9th. 19 of their wins this season was by a single run.

The Country's team ERA of 2.9 continues to lead the league by just under two full runs per game and they continue to have allowed the fewest hits and homeruns by a significantly large margin. The teams 745 strikeouts puts them forth in their six team division.

Offensively, the Country's 326 team batting average leads the league by 30 points, but their 683 runs scored does not lead the league although they are second only to the Colorado Rockies. The Country's 170 stolen bases bests the second-place cubs by 50 stolen bases.

As for individual achievements, the Country's Rijo was named pitcher of the month for July, during which time he had three wins, a 1.27 ERA, and 17 strikeouts

The Country's pitchers have not thrown enough innings to be considered among league leaders, except for pitching wins, in which Depablos and Lincecum are tied for third with 11, Stratton is tied for a eighth with 10. Based on their ERA, here is how their starters would be ranked if they were eligible:

Thus, although eating up innings has been a problem, when Country starters take the mound, they are generally pitching like one of the top five starters in Major League Baseball

On offense, Spilborghs leads the league by 20 points with a 394 batting average and leads with 47 stolen bases (Juan Pierre is second with 40)

Jack Cust, Josh Fields, and Hunter Pence are first, second, and third in major league baseball with homeruns, having hit 60, 42, and 35, respectively. Dan Johnson is seventh with 26 home runs.

Jack Cust also leads major league baseball with 123 RBIs. Pence is ninth with 92.

Harden leads the league with 32 saves – 10 more then the 2nd place Hudson Street. He has only blown two saves so far this season. Andrew Brown is fourth in major league baseball with 15 holds. Broxton is ninth with 13

With the amazing pitching and hitting the country have had all season, it is understandable why, of their seven trades this season, only two affected their starting lineup or starting pitching – the May 19 trade with the Astros for Hunter Pence and their January 15 trade with the Giants for Lincecum.

ZeroGibson13 · **Posted:** Sat Apr 20, 2013 1:04 am

97-9!

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Sat Apr 20, 2013 12:01 pm

Thos 9 games were real heartbreakers!

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Sat Apr 20, 2013 11:07 pm

Cleveland Indians trade report

June 9: picked up free agent SS Khalil Greene (EBDCCC). The seven year veteran shortstop was signed to a five-year contract paying $4.51 million per season

July 10: traded for second baseman Aaron hill (DBCECD) from the Blue Jays, giving up second baseman Cabrera (EDECAB). Aaron will be an unrestricted free agent. His current salary is $510,000 a season.

July 14: traded for catcher Posada (BAFDDC) from the Dodgers, giving up picture Sheets (96 CA HSL – two, DCB – five, CH – three). Posada has one and a half seasons left on his current contract at $13.1 million per season

July 27: traded for relief pitcher BJ Ryan (94FE QSF – two, SL – four) from the Nationals In exchange for 3B/RS Casey Blake (DBFCCC, clutch hit – one). The 11 year pitching veteran will be an unrestricted free agent after this season, in which he is earning $9.7 million

August 1: Traded for catcher Schneider (EDDDEC) from the Cardinals In exchange for SS Johnny Peralta (DBECCC), who will be a free agent at the end of this season. Schneider has 1-1/2 seasons remaining before free agency at $4.87 million

The Indians seem to have been a little "catcher happy" this season, as in addition to trades for Schneider and Posada, they drafted a catcher and on May 31, traded for a catcher from the Marlins.

The loss of Ben Sheets hurts, but if Jorge Posada hits as well as he can, the Indians have enough pitching to absorb the loss. The pick up of Schneider does not look like a good trade on its face, as there are catchers available with his skill set for less money. The pick up of Khalil Greene as a free agent, to back up starting shortstop Great Kennedy, made Peralta unnecessary, and the trade for Schneider might be a way to trim payroll.

The trade of Casey Blake is puzzling, however, as it leaves the Indians without a viable third baseman (the stats of the only player listed with third-base experience is FFEEEC) and one right fielder – DeLucci (EEEEDC). While BJ Ryan is a nice pick up, the Indians still have Rafael Betancourt, Michael Wuertz, and several others to work short relief, and will likely miss Blake more than they will appreciate Ryan

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Sun Apr 21, 2013 9:01 pm

IOWA CITY GAZETTE - HELP WANTED

WANTED - VOLUNTEERS TO ANALYZE BASEBALL SALARIES. The Iowa City Country is seeking volunteers to (1) consider the rankings and abilities of current players, (2) find players of similar capabilities and age around the league, and (3) provide a information to assist the team in assess the appropriate level of payment to offer during upcoming negotiations.

BACKGROUND: 9 key players will be restricted free agents at the end of this season, and the Country wants to offer contracts that reflect current market value. Volunteers are needed to seek out similar players on other teams to determine the range of salaries being paid. Volunteers should be willing to either (1) assess salaries based on the current year of their current season mode game or (2) start a new league and assess salaries based on 2007 or 8 standards. For these purposes, comparable young players in their 1st contract earning sub-$500,000 salaries should be ignored.

POSITION PLAYERS: with position players, certain positions are not comparable to others. An outfielder should only be compared to outfielders, and infielders should only be compared to infielders at the specific position. For example, a left fielder and a center fielder can be considered to be similar positions, but a catcher would only be comparable to other catchers.

PITCHERS: With pitchers, it should be understood that only players with the same stamina can be comparable. Volunteers should use their own judgment in assessing comtrol, pitch speed and breaking ball similarities. For example, a volunteer may decide that another pitcher is comparable to a Country pitcher if they have similar total breaking pitch points (so a pitcher with 1 pitch thrown at level 4 and 2 pitches thrown at a level 3 is similar to a pitcher with 2 level 5 pitches), or if the points on the main pitches thrown are similar (so a pitcher with 3 level 4 pitches is similar to a pitcher with only 2 breaking pitches if both are thrown at level 4). Pitchers are not similar just because they throw the same pitches (ex, 2 pitchers that throw a slider, curve, and change are not similar if 1 throws each of those pitches at level 4 and the other throws each at level 2).

DATA REQUESTED: volunteers should provide specific examples of other players, their capabilities, age, and salary. At a minimum, the volunteer would provide this on the lowest-earning nonCountry player, the highest-earning nonCountry player, and a player or an explanation about the middle ground. General comments about the state of contracts are welcomed. For example, for Hunter Pence, a volunteer might respond as follows:

Following are the players for whom comparisons are needed:

POSITION PLAYERS:

PITCHERS:

VOLUNTEERS ARE ASKED to notify the Country of which player they will analyze so that multiple volunteers are not assigned to the same player.

[COMMENT: now that I've got such a strong, low salary team, I realized that I can probably agree to requested salary increases over the years and never have a problem. I want to force myself into some contract problems, and I think the 1st step is to start awarding market value contracts to my starters. I'll still take some liberties, like offering a salary in the lower range and offering a long-term contract based on current abilities that does not consider future improvements. I'm also only going to do this with firmly-established starters, so when Matt Kemp's or Josh Hamilton's contracts come up, they won't qualify for this unless they became an entrenched starter. I think the next step will be to assess how much income I bring in from games, and to make sure total team salaries do not go over that amount. I will not count expected bonuses that I always pay towards training equipment. Since I've never done this before, I do not know how significant the impact will be, but if I do it again next year, I think that will be extra tough, as I'll have awarded big contracts this year with Johnson, Fields, Cust, and my two other starting pitchers being up for contract negotiations at the end of the next season]

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Tue Apr 23, 2013 6:23 am

Due to the OVERWHELMING outpouring of volunteers, I will handle the pitcher comparisons myself. Anyone interested in helping with position players?

dishnet34 · **Posted:** Tue Apr 23, 2013 6:34 am

Hmm...I could give it a shot. What would you like me to do?

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Tue Apr 23, 2013 7:29 am

Thanks! Could you do a search and find outfielders like Spilborghs - around 30 years old with rankings similar to BBADFD, and then let me know who they are and their annual salaries?

Spilborgh's power is a very low B, so if a player with C power is similar, we can use that, too

Thanks!

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Tue Apr 23, 2013 1:35 pm

RESTRICTED FREE AGENT PITCHERS

Lincecum, 26 (100 DA 2SF – three, SL – four, DCB– Four, CH – four) $900,000

Similar Pitchers:

$9.67 million

$8.3 million

$2.53 million

I do not know why Wang's salary is so much lower than Willis & Matsuzaka

Depablos, 22 (94 DB SL – four, CB – four, VSL – three) $470,000 & Rijo, 23 (97 DB SL – four, CB – three, FO – three) $490,000

Similar Pitchers:

$1.7 million

$9.06 million

$3.9 million

Looper does not have the pitches that compare, but he is the most similar, in terms of pitch speed and stamina;other than Looper, the other pictures listed have significantly higher Stamina

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Tue Apr 23, 2013 10:04 pm

WHITE SOX TRADE DEADLINE REVIEW

At 63 and 46, the White Sox are tied with the AL East leading Red Sox, three games ahead of the Western division leading Athletics, and five games up on the Eastern division's 2nd place Yankees. As such, the wild card is theirs to lose, although it is certainly not guaranteed.

With an aging bomb squad of Jim Thome, Paul Konerko, AJ Pierzinski, and Jermaine Dye, the White Sox' window of opportunity is closing, and this may be one of the last seasons in which they would be "buyers" for potential talent to take them to the World Series.

7/9/2010: the White Sox and Padres struck a deal in which the White Sox received right fielder/1b Xavier Nady (DBDFEC) in exchange for White Sox closer Bobby Jenks (100 BE 2SF – one, HSL – three, CB – three ). The 31-year-old Nady will be a free agent at the end of this season, earning $1.74 million. The 29-year-old Jenks, earning $1.18 million, will be a free agent after the end of next season.

7/31/10: On the final day of trading, the Brewers sent 34-year-old 1bLance Berkman (CBFDDC) to the White Sox in exchange for 36 year old Jermaine Dye (DBFDCB). Berkman will be a free agent after this season, earning $14.5 million. Dye is under contract for another 4-1/2 seasons at $9.13 million per season.

The White Sox lost some defense with the loss of Jermaine Dye, but Xavier Nady (DBDFEC) provides similar offense, is younger, and less expensive. He will likely start alongside Nick Swisher and Carlos Quentin. The Sox accepting Berkman for Dye has been criticized because Berkman is an 11 year veteran who can only play a position at which the White Sox currently have a 12 year veteran (Paul Konerko) and an 18 year veteran (Jim Thome). Perhaps the White Sox believe the league will allow two designated hitters next season?

Critics applaud the Brewers for getting good value for an aging player who was stuck behind Prince Fielder on the depth charts. With Dye joining Corey Hart, Mike Cameron, Cliff Floyd, and Ryan Braun, the Brewers have five strong offensive outfielders. Although they have no backup first baseman, critics believe this was a good move.

The San Diego media have generally panned the Nady-Jenks trade, pointing to players already on the Padres' roster such as Clay Meredith (90 BE SL – four, CH – four, ?? – three), ?? (100 DE HSL – one, CB – two), and Heath Bell (97 BC SL – two, CD – two, SP – three, SK – two) as other closing alternatives, although they admit that Jenks has a more proven track record and with Brian Giles (DBFDCC) in right field and Adrian Gonzalez (DCECDB) manning first, the loss of Nady should not be noticed.

White Sox analysts expect that with Jenks gone, Linebrink (95 CE SL – two, SP – three, CH – three) will take over the closer's role.

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