This doesn't happen so much in baseball, but I often think about the unfortunate great players who happen to play in an era with an all-time dominant player, grabbing all the headlines and the trophies. What would we think of Mickelson if there wasn't a Tiger? Of Stockton, Malone, Drexler, Ewing, Olajuwon if there wasn't a Jordan? Of Messier if there wasn't a Gretzky? Of Nadal and Roddick if there wasn't a Federer? Where would Borg and McEnroe be if Federer had played back then?

Dale Murphy.
Andre Dawson.
Bert Blyleven.

Put any of them in the Northeast and they coast in.

I do not agree with this belief that Rodriguez carried the Yankees against the Twins in 2004.

Yes, A-Rod had the big hit in the bottom of the 12th in Game 2. And, in the 11th inning of Game 4, Rodriguez doubled, stole third, and scored on a wild pitch.

But, Derek Jeter and Hideki Matsui also tore the cover off the ball for that entire series. And, believe it or not, Kevin Brown pitched a gem in Game 3 (when the series was tied 1-1). And, of course, Mo was Mo, as usual, in that series.

Also, it was Ruben Sierra who hit that clutch 3-run HR with one out in the 8th to tie Game 4 at five. If Big Rube does not get that hit, it's a tied series going into a "winner-take-all" Game 5 situation.

This is not to say that A-Rod did not have a fine 2004 ALDS - because he did. But, to claim that "he carried the Yankees" in this post-season series is a joke.

He got a big hit in the 12th to help set up the great comeback win in Game 2. And, he hit a double to help set up the tie-breaking game-winning-run in the 11th inning of Game 4. But, a lot of other Yankees did big things at the plate and on the mound to win Game 3, and, it was Ruben Sierra who "carried" the team in Game 4 - not A-Rod.

"..and passed quietly and respectably from the game, vaguely admired by all"

Like in the game of chess, I think a GM has to look at the FA market 3 years ahead, and I assume Cashman is doing this.

I am reminded on how out of nowhere, Cash swooped on Damon and turned him onto a Yankee overnight. Is Tex in Cashmans sights?

Ty Cobb also lept to mind, but Cobb had an excellent 1908 Series.

Banks and Allen, of course, never got the opportunity, and Williams only had one.

1 Blyleven doesn't apply. He has two World Series rings, a career 2.47 ERA in the postseason, and a 2.35 World Series ERA, all with strong peripheral stats. He had 1.80 ERA in the 1979 Series, winning his one start and also pitching in relief, and in the NLCS against the remnants of the Big Red Machine that year he tossed a complete game, allowing 1 run and striking out 9.

Dawson had a solid 1981 NLDS against the Phillies, but that was the first round of the strike-year playoffs so I can understand why it's been forgotten.

8 Palmeiro does have 4 postseason homers and a pretty good career line in the ALCS, his best series coming agains the Yankees in 1996.

5 Frank Thomas has 3 postseason homers, a career .433 OPB in four postseason series and was a monster in both the 1993 ALCS and 2006 ALDS.

10 Teixeira is one of the best defensive first basemen in baseball. I believe he'll be a free agent after the 2008 season unless the Rangers give him a long-term deal, which they should do. If he hits the market he'll be one of the top, if not the top, names on it.

Take a look at another Yankee famous for postseason heroics, Derek Jeter: .262/.339/.405 in 7 career ALCS but .370/.431/.580 in 11 career ALDS. Overall: .314/.384/.479 postseason, .317/.388/.463 regular season.

This works very well for Mr. October and Mr. November because they played in so many postseason series that the sample becomes resonable (Jackson: 281 postseason ABs, Jeter: 478 postseason ABs--and Jackson's sample is still small).

As for Alex Rodriguez, he's a career .315/.413/.611 hitter in his three ALCS appearances and was a monster vs. the Yankees in 2000 and vs. the Twins in the 2004 ALDS. He doesn't apply here, he's gotten those big hits.

I guess we can argue about whether he "carried" the team or not, but the bottom line is Arod's series was very "clutch".

Finally, it is worth noting that Arod WAS very good in the post season with the Mariners; had a great start to the 2004 ALCS; and also had a very good .OBP in the 2005 ALDS (even though he was single handedly blamed for that series loss).

If this is true, can the Rangers afford to re-sign him? We are talking in the neighborhood of 6/96? If the Rangers need pitching, would Melky and 3 (non-Hughes) kids do it? To some extend, it would be a salary dump for Texas, and is smarter then letting him become a FA and only getting 1 draft pick for him.

My question is: Is this in the front of Cashmans mind? Might this partially explain Minky?

It appears as if Bernie and Jeter are very similar in overall stats, but Jeter has more "moments".

Many Yankees, in fact, have varied post season splits. Probably the most consistent was Tino, but that wasn't a good thing.

The Yankee who most perfectly fits the description is Bobby Abreu.

Still, there was really no reason to let Wilson go. He is right handed and has a very solid track record. Unfortunately, his performance last season landed him in Torre's dog house. Who knows? Maybe he didn't have enough fire in his belly?

The only memorable moment I have of Langston is of him crying in the dugout after being outdueled by Randy Johnson in the 1-game 1995 playoff for the AL West.

This isn't about me being a fan boy. This is about objectively evaluating the dude's performance.

I guarantee you that if we took a poll of every Yankee fan in America right now, more of them would be ok with trading A-Rod than Matsui, and that's outrageous and stupid.

http://tinyurl.com/3calcm

(Schilling discusses Senate candidacy, via Deadspin)

I still remember him as a quarterback for the Tennessee Vols. However, even there he was best known for backing up Heath Shuler for two years and then losing his starting job to Peyton Manning after an injury.

Bernie was better than both.

Though I'm sure I'll appreciate it if it's posted.

That said, I have trouble seeing where you stand on the Cairo signing. You seem to say "He's what he is, but there wasn't much out there."

What grade would you give it? Surely, not an A or B? Indeed, I'd be very curious to see your report card on the GM near the end of the off-season.

14 I agree on Blyleven though he'd be in the HOF if he had done any of that in a bigger city.

======================
So what can we expect from Eyechart going forward? ZiPS has his 2007 projection as .255/.342/.383. Marcel has him at .260/.336/.402. Let's average them out: .258/.339/.393. Using a simple Runs Created formula, that works out to 77 runs per 650 plate appearances.

Now that's not very good. The average AL 1B hit .280/.352/.467. In the NL, it was .290/.372/.507. Let's say that the average 1B hits .285/.362/.487, or 102 runs/650 PA. Maybe that's unfair to Mientkiewicz, since the NL is the easier league and those stats should be discounted a bit more, but whatever.

Anyway, we can put those numbers on a scale of batting average with this formula: (1.8*OBP + SLG) * .2595. For Mientkiewicz, it's .260. For the average 1B, it's .295. You can look at those numbers the same way you look at batting average, so they're easy to understand.

Baseball Prospectus figures replacement level in a couple different ways. This one works on the batting average scale, this one on the runs scale. These would set the replacement level for first basemen at a .261 average and 75 runs. What was Mientkiewicz again? .260 and 77 runs. In other words, he's the definition of replacement.
=============================

So basically, offensively, he is the definition of replacement level, and defensively he is still above average even if his defense has slipped a bit in recent years.

And, to top it all off, he has only receieved a 1 year $1.5M contract.

http://tinyurl.com/ysb5jg

have a nice weekend everyone. looking forward to that post you mentioned, cliff. and, yes, abreu has a nice shot at the HoF. i'm a HUGE fan of the 300-300 club and really enjoy following 20-20, 30-30, 40-40 seasons. i've written a few "articles" about it. bobby is all over the consistent 20-20 seasons, up there w/ both bonds. a really great all-around player. i followed him throughout his philty career and hope we pick up his '08 option (granted he stays healthy, of course)...

For one, no way is Tabata considered a top 10 prospect in all of baseball. As much as I love him, it is just not accurate to say.

Also, Tabata is no longer in the Venezuelan league because while Law reports he "is swinging without problems" he reaggrivated his hand injury at least a month ago and was sent home so he could just stop and rest before the season.

People like Jorge Bell, Jesse Barfield, etc.

Fred McGriff also comes to mind...

"They played on no great teams, took part in no immortal moments"

the name "Lou Whitaker" flashed through my head. But the '84 Tigers were a great team, and that 35-5 start was an immortal moment, though I think Whitaker is 4th or 5th on the list of "Tigers you think of when someone mentions the '84 team" (behind Morris, Trammel, Kirk Gibson, and maybe Willie Hernandez).

Its a shame, IMHO, that Whitaker was passed over so easily for the Hall of Fame - he didn't even get enough votes to stay on the ballot after his first year of eligibility.

37 Raines to me doesn't work because he was, of course, on the '98 Yankees, and he ought to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

This becomes null and void when he gets his 3000th hit (an immortal moment), but for now, how about Craig Biggio?

How about Ichiro?

He did play for a great team, the 2001 Mariners who won 116 games, but he and his team did nothing in the playoffs after advancing past Cleveland.

Ichiro was pretty much a non-factor vs the Yanks in the ALCS (.222/.364/.278) and hasn't played October ball since.

And at the risk of committing Bronx Banter Blasphemy, Mattingly also fits some of the criteria.

Sure, we as Yankees fans have many memories of him (including his incredible Division Series against the M's in '95: .417/.440/.708)

but outside Yankeeland I think Mattingly could be regarded as a player who "took part in no immortal moments, and passed quietly and respectably from the game, vaguely admired by all" -- even if we Yanks fans consider him a Yankees immortal.

Joe Morgan in 50 postseason games.

.182 .323 .348

As Cliff pointed out Ted Williams -- because Williams' great moments, hitting .406