I Love Hank Steinbrenner

Hank Steinbrenner is rapidly becoming my new favorite MLB team owner. As a non-Yankees fan, I generally think that anything an everything associated with that franchise has the taint of pure evil about it. However, Steinbrenner is quickly becoming an exception to the rule.

Of course, this isn't because of Steinbrenner's ability as a major league executive. Quite the opposite, in fact. As ESPN.com's Bill Simmons has repeatedly pointed out, "Kim Hank-Il" seems determined to take the lessons learned at his father George's knee literally: make bizarre, hysterical statements; play into media biases; spend money like a crazy person; whine when you don't get your way; and generally run your franchise like a lunatic.

Hank is the same guy who declared that the Yankees would not re-sign Alex Rodriguez if he opted out due to some gibberish about A-Rod not being a "True Yankee" - despite the fact that A-Rod is probably the best player in Major League Baseball today (here's a link to one of many firejoemorgan.com articles making that exact point). Hank paid several hundred thousand dollars to rip up newly poured concrete at new Yankee Stadium to remove a David Ortiz jersey an enterprising construction worker-cum-Red Sox fan had buried there in order to "curse" the Yankees, even though there's no such thing as a curse. As this blog post points out, Hank repeatedly threatens his management team with termination if they fail to make the playoffs - even though beyond actually assembling the team, management has very very very little to do with the action on the field, and given the complete randomness of an individual baseball game, it is borderline insane to fire the manager for a loss in one game (of course, Hank isn't alone in doing so - rumors were flying this weekend that the Mets were going to fire manager Willie Randolph if they didn't take at least two out of three from the Rangers [Ed. note: this was published about three hours before the Mets actually fired Randolph early Tuesday morning]). Plus, as has been repeatedly hammered into the ground in the blogosphere, Hank has also admitted that his favorite actress is Jennifer Love Hewitt, which should alone be enough to have him committed. At least he didn't claim Kate Bosworth as his favorite.

Anyway, today Hank decided to continue his insanity by calling out the National League for daring to have pitchers hit. Yankees "ace" Chien-Ming Wang tore a tendon in his foot running the bases in an interleague game, and it looks like he'll be out until at least September, leading to this Kim Hank-Il tirade:

"My only message is simple. The National League needs to join the 21st century," Steinbrenner said in Tampa, Fla. "They need to grow up and join the 21st century... "Am I [mad] about it? Yes," Steinbrenner added. "I've got my pitchers running the bases, and one of them gets hurt. He's going to be out. I don't like that, and it's about time they address it. That was a rule from the 1800s."... "This is always a concern of American League teams when their pitchers have to run the bases and they're not used to doing it," Steinbrenner said. "It's not just us. It's everybody. It probably should be a concern for National League owners, general managers and managers when their pitchers run the bases. Pitchers have enough to do without having to do that."

Um, Hank? This was kind of a freak injury. Yes, National League owners, general managers and managers are worried when their pitchers are out there running the bases. They are also worried when everybody else is out there running the bases. They are worried when any player steps on the field. They are worried when their pitchers step onto the mound and start throwing warm-up pitchers. THEY ARE WORRIED BECAUSE INJURIES ARE PART OF THE GAME, AND ANY PLAYER CAN GET HURT AT ANY TIME.

I'm on record as being opposed to the designated hitter rule, simply because I think it makes the game more interesting when the pitcher has to bat. There's no real right or wrong answer to whether or not the DH is good for baseball - frankly, I think it's one of the cool things about having two leagues with slightly different rules. I'm not a big fan of the DH and my favorite team happens to be in the National League, so I guess I'm more of a National League guy. I know people who are of the opposite view. Again, there's no right or wrong answer: it's just a difference of opinion.

That said, blaming Chien-Ming Wang's freak injury on a late 20th century rule change is borderline insane, and was probably said to distract Yankees fans from the tricky problem that the Yankees now have no pitching to speak of (which could have been remedied if they had made that trade for Johan Santana, but hey, hindsight is 20-20, right?). Anyway, Hank, keep it up: you're definitely entertaining this baseball fan.

Simpsons Reference of the Day

(after explaining the concept of BABIP [batting average on balls hit in play] to M)
M: What was it about my face that suggested to you guys that I wanted you to explain that to me?
Me: I like stories.

(Note: Exchange has been edited to reflect what my response should have been; actual response was something along the lines of "I like hearing myself talk.")

Reference: "Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie", Season 4, Episode 6.

Please, Jim Hendry, I'm Begging You...

If you will all indulge me in a baseball-related vignette...

Those of you who were around the law school today may have heard me ranting about this article. (Original source article here, hat tip to MLB Trade Rumors)

For those of you too lazy to read it, it suggests that the Cubs may indulge Manager Lou Piniella's left-handed-power-hitting-outfielder jones by signing Jim Edmonds, recently released from the San Diego Padres and formerly of National League Central Division rival St. Louis Cardinals.

I cannot even begin to emphasize how terrible of an idea this is. But hey, I'll take a shot:

A) The San Diego Padres have a run differential of 128-173. Opponents have outscored them by 45 runs this season. I don't have Baseball Prospectus' preseason PECOTA prediction for runs scored handy, but it suggested that they would go 79-83, suggesting a 48%-52% run differential for the season. One major reason for this? The presence of Jim Edmonds.

B) Jim Edmonds is 37 years old.

C) St. Louis gave Edmonds away last winter while agreeing to pay part of his salary. Generally speaking, trading for/signing guys other teams are so desperate to get rid of that they agree to pay part of their salary is not good business sense (see, ex., Monroe, Craig, all of 2007 season).*

D) Jim Edmonds' 2008 line: .178/.265/.233. His 2007 line: .252/.325/.403. His 2006 line: .257/.350/.471. His 2005 line: .263/.385/.533. See a trend in those numbers?

E) Super-nerd stat time: From 2005 through 2008, Edmonds' EqA: .307, .285, .260, .187. (.260 is average). From 2005 through 2008, Edmonds' WARP3: 10.4, 4.6, 3.8, 0. Similar declines in both WARP1 and WARP2. Ditto for defensive numbers. About the only thing that didn't change was his K/BB rate, except this year (and as with all 2008 numbers, there's a SMALL SAMPLE SIZE ALERT attached to them).

Now, the obvious point I've been trying to make with all these stats is that Edmonds simply isn't a productive player any more. Granted, his production this year should not be this bad - his BABIP is .227 (average is .290), so he's probably "due" to improve his overall numbers. Of course, Edmonds' BABIP has also been consistently declining at the same rate as the rest of his numbers over the past few years. Edmonds, though, being a formerly dominant left-handed hitting power-hitting outfielder, has emerged on the Cubs' radar to replace/platoon with Felix Pie and Reed Johnson. Which brings me to my next point...

F) This plan, if it came to fruition, would take valuable at-bats away from Chicago's best outfield prospect. Now, I will grant you that Felix Pie is having a rough start to the year. He's largely been replaced as a starter by Reed Johnson, who was rather inexplicably cut by the Blue Jays to start the year (Note: I am also not a fan of Reed Johnson being a starter - great utility guy, though). As of this morning, though, Felix Pie has 264 career major league plate appearances. You know how he gets better, how he becomes more comfortable at the plate? BY GETTING MORE PLATE APPEARANCES. Giving up on one of your best prospects and sending him back down to Triple-A (where he was mashing minor league pitchers, by the way) in favor of an ancient 37-year-old with bad knees is the definition of short-sighted madness.

I know the Cubs have a real chance to contend this year, and that they are probably only a piece or two away from making a spot in the postseason certain. That said, sending Felix Pie back down to AAA is probably not going to help his development at all, nor will sending Jim Edmonds to patrol the outfield help the Cubs' postseason chances. If you're really that hard up for a final piece to the puzzle, make a Godfather offer to Cincinnati for Ken Griffey, Jr. (and send Kosuke Fukudome out to patrol center), talk to the Marlins about Luis Gonzalez on a one-year rental, or try to grab Matt Stairs from the Blue Jays. Hell, you could even try to talk the Giants out of Randy Winn if you really wanted to. I'm not advocating any of those moves (although seeing Griffey in a Cubs uniform would be pretty cool), but they would all be better than signing Jim Edmonds. Plus, let's not forget that if you want a young, left-handed hitting center fielder who plays good defense and has the capacity to be a star, you already have that in Felix Pie. Please, Jim, I'm begging you. You've made so many strides this year (signing Fukudome especially) toward allowing me to forgive you for the craptastic Juan Pierre and Craig Monroe trades and the Jacque Jones and Jason Marquis signings. Don't put yourself back to square one with me.

*I know, I know - gross overgeneralization. It's still a pretty damn bad idea, though.