Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
Miguel Cairo is officially back in the Bronx. But our pal Steve Goldman warns that while Cairo had a nice season for the Bombers in 2004, he isn't necessarily the best available cherce out there:
Cairo's .292 average in 2004 was worth just two wins over replacement. That's not much. Nor is it evidence that playing for the Yankees makes him better, or that he can "hack it in the Bronx." Since he crashed with the Mets, is that proof that he can make it in the Bronx but Queens is too much for him? In fact, Queens represented nothing but a return to form. Batting average fluctuates — sometimes more hits fall in than others. Since hitting for average (or a semblance thereof) is all Cairo can do, he's going to have swings to the negative extreme of his abilities (.245, Cardinals, 2003), the positive extreme (.292, Yankees, 2004), and back again (.251, Mets, 2005). I don't know where Cairo's average will land this year, but looking at his career as a whole, he's far more likely to resemble the Mets version of himself.
Ah, fer the good old days of Chicken Stanley.
I liked Cairo on the Yankees and was sorry to see him go. He worked hard, hustled, and battled at the plate. Is he a superstar? No. How many superstars are going to be bench players?
I think the move to bring back Cairo is excellent.
BP
I think Steve's logic makes sense here, but personality-wise, I enjoyed watching Cairo play.
What's not to like about Miguel Cairo as a backup infielder? I'm happy to see him back on the Yanks.
The best part of that link is Steve's response to letter #6. Ouch, pretentious dude got crushed. The lesson I think is if you're going to insult the guy who's holding the microphone you better be right and you better make it good or your dead. Alex, I think you're safe.
Welcome back, Miguel.
BP
That game left a mark, eh? We were both thinking the same. And that wasn't the only game where Cairo showed his stones, only the one that is most remembered.
BP
(Sorry for the tangent)
BP
To that end, while I agree that Cairo was a valuable player for the Yankees in 2004 and was a player I enjoyed rooting for (especially as the alternative was Enrique Wilson--BTW, in '04 Wilson was sub-replacement level while Cairo was around league average), I'm not convinced that Cairo will significantly outperform what the Yankees could have gotten from Felix Escalona. The issue there isn't getting a better player, but not having to pay $1 million for something you already have at the league minimum.
He reminds me of Brosius, offensively. 1 good year, but was never a guy I was upset to see at the plate in a big moment.
Anyway, how many other players hold onto their batting glovies while running the bases?
good question. baserunners are taught to have something in their hands while they run so as to prevent injury during a slide. Supposedly, you'll keep your hands from scarping the ground as an automatic response.
I think a lot of players use dirt instead of gloves. But you're right. Cairo holding the gloves is his iconic image. Good recall. Also the gapped-tooth grin.
No one will ever be able to beat Michael Strahan's tooth-gap, however. Here's hoping Strahan finds a gap of equal girth in the Carolina O-line on Sunday.
I hadn't noticed Cairo's bizzaro resemblence to Jeter either, but now that you bring it to our attention... hillarious.
But none of us will be laughing if Miggy has to replace Jeets for any length of time. Woof. As serviceable as he is, Cairo would really look like Derek's less-appealing doppleganger as our everyday shortstop.
Postseason totals:
Miguel Cairo .328/.414/.459 - 61AB
Luis Sojo .257/.284/.317 - 101AB
It's a small sample but I like it :).
http://tinyurl.com/8ya8o
Not a bad move at all. I dunno about $2M, but he still has a sweet glove and enough poke left for Pesky's Pole.
Rotoworld speculates that as a looooong shot to make the team out of the Spring, the Senator would probably end up in the YES booth.
If nobody on the bench got ABs, having a hitter as bad as Cairo (etc.) wouldn't be a problem. But they do. And sometimes in key situations.
Getting a solid bench guy isn't as important as having a capable MLB player in CF, but it does make a difference. Having guys like Cairo getting 100+ ABs hurts the team. But the Sojo/Wilson/etc parade marches on.
I just read some of Jeff Angus' 'Management by Baseball' blog and the Angels try and maximize baserunning (1st to 3rd, SBs) and sacrifice bunts because they have low OB%. They use a Moneyball approach to find value in the market for those players (who may be undervalued) as opposed to high OB% players who are increasingly hard to find.
http://cmdr-scott.blogspot.com/2005/10/part-i-sabermetrically-challenged-la.html
Miguel Cairo may be replacement level over 162 games. But in a short series where the value of a sacrifice bunt or a productive out is increased (pythagorean W-L doesn't count in the playoffs) can a player like Cairo have outsized value?
I also like Phil Linz. And he could play the harmonica. Bobby Browns don't come down the pike often. Utility player in 1947-8. Went to medical school, became a doctor and the president of the AL when there was such a thing. Larry Milbourne? Otherwise a lot of drek for utility men.
Chicken, who stayed around for 8 years, 1973-80 batted .261 in 1977 in 48 games, his only respectable year.
That was actually the main reason I was sorry to see him go last year.
I really don't care how much "heart" a player is perceived to have or if he's a "scrapper". I prefer good baseball players over bad ones. The more good players you have-on the bench or starting-the more games you win. That goes for 7 game series or 162 game seasons.
Are you saying or suggesting that Cairo is a "bad" ballplayer?
The Sox' signing of Snow is significant for another reason. It signals the Sox readiness to commit to Kevin Youkilis at first base, with Snow to face some righties and play late defense. Despite all the beating of breasts and hair pulling, the Sox appear, even with their holes, to be a stronger team in every way next year, starting, relieving, defense, offense. Even with Adam Stern and Alex Cora/Dustin Pedroia in the starting lineup.
The pitching we know about. The defense is upgraded at every infield position.
The offense is upgraded or equivalent to last year in every spot but the 9 hole. Remember, they did lead the league in runs scored last year with a lot of holes in the lineup.
As currently constructed: The Sox leadoff hitter the last four years, I've forgotten his name, had an aggregate OBP of .362. Youkilis, despite spending most of his time gathering dust on the bench the last two years, has compiled a career OBP of .376 in 430 plate appearances. He's a good baserunner with above average speed and similar power to what's his name. He won't steal bases, but with Manny and Papi, we don't need no stinkin' swipes. The Sox lose nothing at the top.
Loretta is a nice upgrade from Edgar Renteria, who, while doing a dismal job turning double plays as a shortstop, managed to hit into them like a lead-footed power hitter.
Manny-Papi-Varitek are the same guys.
Nixon was on the DL or playing hurt half of last season.
Will Lowell bounce back as most prognosticators think or did elimination of steroids cause his early demise. In either case, he can't be worse than Kevin Millar was last year. This could be a huge upgrade.
The eight hole. Alex Cora is certainly no replacement for Bill Mueller. We have a significant downgrade here. The only one.
Even if Adam Stern winds up as the everyday centerfielder, can he possbily give the Sox less in the 9 hole than the got from Mark Bellhorn, who was the regular for 2/3 of the season. In all liklihood, Stern will be the backup to an acquisition.
The answer is yes, we could have done better at #1 reserve IF, but Cairo is one of Joe's guys. With Joe's guys ability is secondary.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/c/cairomi01.shtml
http://www.hardballtimes.com/winshares/index.php?search=&linesToDisplay=100&sort=total&sort2=WSAB&limit1=NYN&limit2=Position&leagueLimit=League
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/cairomi01.shtml
Cairo stopped.
speaking as something of an aficionado of the subject, I can tell you that some of the best futilitymen of the past decade are guys who went on to claim full-time jobs: Melvin Mora, Chone Figgins, Mark Loretta, Ronnie Belliard, Placido Polanco Sometimes, like Figgins, those jobs aren't just at one position; they're everyday utilitymen like Mark McLemore, or, to go back a few years, Jose Oquendo, Tony Phillips or late-career Davey Lopes. To a lesser extent, Desi Relaford was pretty good there for a couple years, as was our man Luis Sojo.
In general, the best these guys bring you is an acceptable OBP and maybe a bit of speed. Miggy was damn useful when he put up a .346 OBP two years ago, and there may be something to his working with Don Mattingly -- he certainly was happy about his progress. But with a career OBP of .318, the odds of a repeat are against him. Still, he's light years better than a return engagement for Enrique Wilson, truly one of the most useless wastes of protoplasm ever to wear pinstripes -- unless Pedro Martinez was pitching, of course.
In a short series there may be certain talents like base stealing and sacrifice bunting that increase your ability to score the decisive game winning run as the circumstance present themselves, not on a statistical average over a 162 game series.
And you completely discount the value of Cairo in things like pitch tipping mentioned above. He can also mentor Cano in a way that adds value. I'm just not understanding the anti-Cairo sentiments here.
If it was all about OPS we should just get Miguel Tejada to be the PIUGY, right? Beyond that everything is a compromise and I like the compromise of having Cairo on the bench.
Cairo's defensive limitations were noted by quite a few observers when he was here and the numbers bear the observations out, and now he's two years older.
Thanks for looking at that. I think your answer illustrates the point I want to make, that is, with this lineup there aren't going to be the opportunities that existed for Melvin Mora, Chone Figgins, Mark Loretta, Ronnie Belliard, Placido Polanco and others for Cairo. Mora, Figgins and Belliard were major factors in their teams offense. What I think Cairo is going to be expected to do is provide a Luis Sojo like presence. Show up knowing he may not play but be ready to if he's called upon. At this stage he can't expect to leverage his position into full time work. I don't see why he won't be able to do that. He'll know his role, he'll accept it and he won't embarrass his bosses while performing it on the field, in the clubhouse or on the back pages. I like him. I'm glad he's back.
Thanks,
The Management
a) what is the impact on the Yankees budget
b) what else could they have used the money for
c) would he really perform better than a 4-A type guy who could be added for the major league minimum.
While I enjoy watching Cairo play, I don't enjoy watching the Yankees subsudize the rest of the league with their luxury tax payments, and I certainly don't appreciate the affect it has on the ticket prices year-to-year. This deal doesn't add allot to the payroll relative to the other contracts, but you string together enough of these and they start to add up.
Read number 33 again. The way I read it, Cairo was the runner on 2nd, Clemens the pitcher. Hence, not teammates.
Regarding Red Sox line-up. A very significant assumption is continued production from Jason Varitek. Given his age, position, and second half struggles last year, I have to say that there is a very significant chance of a rapid decline for Varitek.
I believe that you present only the best case scenario for the Red Sox (which as a fan, you are entitled to do) and not the most realistic scenario.
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