FanHouse

LVP: Who's Costing Their Team Most?

Jacob Wheatley-Schaller — 2009-06-05T20:45:00 00:00

Last week in this space we looked at the players which have been most valuable through the first two months of the season. Those are the guys that always get the most press, but the other end of the spectrum -- players who are costing their teams dearly -- is really more interesting.

There's nothing to do when a guy is playing well other then watch him dominate; when a player is struggling, though, especially as much as these guys are, there's a problem that desperately needs to be solved. We'll look at the two guys who, according to FanGraphs' player values, have been even less valuable than the most high-profile case in this category, David Ortiz.

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Most Valuable? Here's Answer So Far

Jacob Wheatley-Schaller — 2009-05-30T20:00:00 00:00

by Jacob Wheatley-Schaller

Filed under: Phillies, Rays, Royals, Twins

Now that we've almost turned the calendar to June, it's a good time to start taking some of the league leaders seriously. Emilio Bonifacio is no longer hitting .500 (he's actually all the way down to .246 after a huge first week), and most of the names atop the leaderboards are the ones you'd expect. This is especially true for FanGraphs' "Value" section, which looks at how many wins each player has been worth in all facets of the game.

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Tigers' Doubted Rotation Now Roaring

Jacob Wheatley-Schaller — 2009-05-22T18:30:00 00:00

by Jacob Wheatley-Schaller

Filed under: Tigers, AL Central

Coming into 2009, the Detroit Tigers' rotation didn't exactly look like a strength. Every member of the staff had some serious question marks, which was a big reason that very few analysts picked the Tigers to emerge victorious from the AL Central. But now, as we approach June, a few Detroit starters have answered those concerns emphatically, making the Tigers the clear favorite to win the division.

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On Field, Loss of Manny No Big Deal

Jacob Wheatley-Schaller — 2009-05-08T11:45:00 00:00

by Jacob Wheatley-Schaller

Filed under: Dodgers, NL West, MLB PEDs

The Dodgers have gotten off to a fantastic start, winning 21 of their first 30 games, including each of their first 13 at home before last night's loss to the Nationals. With none of the other four teams in the NL West getting off to even remotely comparable starts, that leaves the Dodgers six games clear of the rest of the division, and a whopping nine ahead of the team most picked to finish second back in March, Arizona.

Los Angeles' big early lead, along with the fact that they pretty clearly look like the best team in the division, had led some to declare the race over, even before Mother's Day. Obviously, losing Manny Ramirez for the next 50 games changes that equation a bit. But how much?

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For Rays, It's Getting Late Early in '09

Jacob Wheatley-Schaller — 2009-05-01T21:00:00 00:00

by Jacob Wheatley-Schaller

Filed under: Rays, AL East

It's rather strange to say that 9-14 is a disappointing start for the Tampa Bay Rays, but they've put us in that position after their incredible emergence in 2008. Predicted by most to contend for another AL East title after last year's 97-win season, Tampa Bay disappointed in April, which has people wondering whether the Rays are for real, or if last year was just a fluke.

First off, there are a couple external factors that have negatively affected Tampa Bay in the early going. Residing in the AL East, it has to deal with a difficult schedule all the way through, but the first month was particularly tough. According to the advanced projection systems (PECOTA and CHONE), the average winning percentage of their opponents in the season's first month was .524. Over their final 139 games that SOS will drop slightly, down to .514.

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Mariners Might Have Staying Power

Jacob Wheatley-Schaller — 2009-04-23T10:00:00 00:00

by Jacob Wheatley-Schaller

Filed under: Mariners, AL West

In 2008 the Seattle Mariners, projected by many to contend with the Angels for the AL West title, suffered through a miserable season, finishing the year 61-101. Because of that disappointment -- they ended the season 39 games behind first place L.A. -- people were generally down on their prospects in '09. So when they started hot out of the gate, 9-6 and 2 1/2 games clear of the rest of the division, it took many by surprise.

For a variety of reasons, though, it's really not all that shocking. First and foremost, it's only 15 games; I mean, come on, even the Pirates are 9-6. But there were also a number of reasons to think that Seattle would be significantly improved entering the season.

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Expectations Ray-sed in Tampa Bay

Jacob Wheatley-Schaller — 2009-03-28T16:00:00 00:00

by Jacob Wheatley-Schaller

Filed under: Rays, AL East, FanHouse Previews

FanHouse continues its 2009 MLB Preview with a look at the Tampa Bay Rays.

Although they ended up falling short at the end, 2008 was the year of the Rays. After being the butt of jokes for the first 10 years of its existence, Tampa Bay turned an impressive collection of baseball talent into an impressive team, finally assembling a competent bullpen, and utilizing some position shifts to put a much improved defense on the field. With the pieces in place, everything came together, and the Rays increased their win total by 31 games on their way to winning both the AL East and AL pennant.

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A Sixth Sense for Upsets

Jacob Wheatley-Schaller — 2009-03-17T06:00:00 00:00

by Jacob Wheatley-Schaller

Filed under: Big East, Pac-10

Over the past few months, Bracketology Busters has broken down potential brackets and examined teams that were significantly more or less talented than their projected seeds. With the real thing now here, we'll continue with the same type of analysis, just with less speculation.

Today we'll take a look at an incredible quirk in this year's bracket -- the four No. 6 seeds are arguably stronger than any other seeded group, save the four seeds each at Nos. 1 and 2.

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Missouri Rescues a Bubble Team to Be Named Later

Jacob Wheatley-Schaller — 2009-03-14T20:20:00 00:00

by Jacob Wheatley-Schaller

Filed under: Big 12, West Region

Baylor made quite a run in Oklahoma City this week, but in the end they came up a game short. After beating Nebraska, Kansas, and Texas to reach the Big 12 title game, the Bears saw their tournament hopes end on Saturday with a loss to Missouri.

Because of their disappointing 5-11 regular season conference record, Baylor is extremely unlikely to hear their name called on Sunday evening. That means there's one more at-large spot than there would've been if they had won, which is very good news for the Creightons and Marylands of the world.

No. 14 Missouri 73, Baylor 60: Recap | Box Score | RPI | Scores

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Maryland Upset Keeps Hope Alive

Jacob Wheatley-Schaller — 2009-03-13T21:25:00 00:00

by Jacob Wheatley-Schaller

Filed under: ACC

After finishing just 7-9 in ACC regular season play, the Maryland Terrapins needed yet another big win to remain in the NCAA tournament discussion.

Their win over Wake Forest in the ACC tourney quarterfinals on Friday night is exactly what they needed. At worst, the Terps will be prominently featured in the discussion on Saturday afternoon, and even if they lose on Saturday Maryland now has a good chance of receiving a bid.

Maryland 75, No. 8 Wake Forest 64: Recap | Box Score | RPI | Scores

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It's Bedlam as Oklahoma Goes Down

Jacob Wheatley-Schaller — 2009-03-12T21:45:00 00:00

by Jacob Wheatley-Schaller

Filed under: Big 12

Throughout the regular season, three teams separated themselves from the pack in the Big 12. But after not even two full days, two of those teams -- Kansas this afternoon, and now Oklahoma -- have been eliminated from the conference tournament.

It was a crazy environment in Oklahoma City, coupled with some fiery emotions and a bizarre ending. But in the end it was Oklahoma State taking down Blake Griffin and the Sooners, 71-70.

Oklahoma State 71, No. 6 Oklahoma 70: Recap | Box Score | RPI | Scores

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Baylor Takes Down Kansas

Jacob Wheatley-Schaller — 2009-03-12T14:45:00 00:00

by Jacob Wheatley-Schaller

Filed under: Big 12

Baylor had a very disappointing regular season, bringing back the majority of last season's 21-11 (9-7 in the Big 12) squad, yet going 5-11 in conference play. Fortunately for Baylor, everyone starts anew in the conference tournament, and the Bears have taken advantage, following up Wednesday night's win over Nebraska with a shocking 71-64 victory over No. 1 seed Kansas Thursday afternoon.

Baylor 71, Kansas 64: Recap | Box Score | RPI | Scores

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Big 12 Tournament Preview: Hoping For No More Surprises

Jacob Wheatley-Schaller — 2009-03-11T08:00:00 00:00

by Jacob Wheatley-SchallerThings haven't gone quite according to plan in the Big 12 this year, but it's still been another successful year for the conference. As expected, Oklahoma has been a force to be reckoned with, led by national player of the year favorite Blake Griffin.

But while Texas has failed to meet expectations after the departure of D.J. Augustin, two surprising contenders have emerged.

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Tribe Hoping Things Even Out in '09

Jacob Wheatley-Schaller — 2009-03-09T17:00:00 00:00

by Jacob Wheatley-Schaller

Filed under: Indians, AL Central, FanHouse Previews

FanHouse continues its 2009 MLB Preview with a look at the Cleveland Indians.

Coming off a 96-win season in 2007, the Indians were expected to be one of the stronger teams in the AL last year. Cleveland looked like it was going to compete with the Tigers all year for the division crown. They had Victor Martinez, one of the best catchers in the league, along with a 1-2 punch of CC Sabathia and Fausto Carmona atop the rotation. As always, there were some concerns, including fifth starter Cliff Lee, whose 2007 ERA was 6.29. But on the whole, it looked like it was going to be a pretty good year.

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Oklahoma Can't Keep Up With Missouri

Jacob Wheatley-Schaller — 2009-03-04T23:30:00 00:00

by Jacob Wheatley-Schaller

Filed under: Oklahoma, Big 12, Missouri

It's incredible to still be saying this March 4, but before Wednesday night's game against Missouri the Oklahoma Sooners hadn't been faced with a real road test while at full strength all season. They didn't play any potential NCAA Tournament teams on the road in non-conference play, and Blake Griffin was injured in the first half of their game in Austin.

That finally changed when they went into Columbia, and while they didn't embarrass themseleves, the Sooners sure didn't have the look of a national title contender in their 73-64 loss to Mizzou.

No. 15 Missouri 73, No. 4 Oklahoma 64: Recap | Box Score | RPI | Scores

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Bracketology Busters: Beware the Bruins

Jacob Wheatley-Schaller — 2009-03-04T15:45:00 00:00

by Jacob Wheatley-Schaller

Filed under: UCLA, Pac-10, March Madness

Each week, ESPN's Joe Lunardi predicts the NCAA tournament field if the season ended today. While he's good at this, Lunardi only focuses on past performance, and wins and losses. Bracketology Busters looks at which teams should be expected to perform significantly better or worse than their projected seeds.

This week we'll look at a team that's seen their perception drop after a great three-year stretch, but is primed to make yet another late season run.

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Bracketology Busters: Memphis Blues

Jacob Wheatley-Schaller — 2009-02-25T14:20:00 00:00

by Jacob Wheatley-Schaller

Filed under: Memphis, Conference USA

Each week, ESPN's Joe Lunardi predicts the NCAA tournament field if the season ended today. While he's good at this, Lunardi only focuses on past performance, and wins and losses. Bracketology Busters looks at which teams should be expected to perform significantly better or worse than their projected seeds.

This week in Bracketology Busters we'll look at a couple teams that are both currently projected to be No. 2 seeds, but are going in dramatically different directions at this stage of the year. Today, it's a team that was front and center a year ago, but has been largely ignored this season despite performing at a similarly high level.

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Texas Stops Griffin-less Oklahoma

Jacob Wheatley-Schaller — 2009-02-21T23:40:00 00:00

by Jacob Wheatley-Schaller

Filed under: Oklahoma, Texas, Big 12

All the hype prior to Saturday night's primetime showdown between Texas and Oklahoma was focused on superstar Sooners forward Blake Griffin, but in the end it was two guards who stole the show, with Texas' sharpshooter getting the last laugh.

Griffin suffered an apparent concussion after taking an elbow to the nose midway through the first half, and didn't play at all in the second period, finishing with just two points on the night. The Longhorns went on a run right after the break to go up 12, but for a while it looked like freshman Oklahoma guard Willie Warren would be the star of the night, as he hit four threes in a 3:28 span to put OU up five.

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Bracketology Busters: No. 1 Pretender

Jacob Wheatley-Schaller — 2009-02-18T11:54:00 00:00

by Jacob Wheatley-Schaller

Filed under: Oklahoma, West Virginia, Big 12, Big East

Each week, ESPN's Joe Lunardi predicts the NCAA tournament field if the season ended today. While he's good at this, Lunardi only focuses on past performance, and wins and losses. Bracketology Busters looks at which teams should be expected to perform significantly better or worse than their projected seeds.

With less than a month until Selection Sunday, things are starting to shake out, but there are still some large gaps between perception and reality. This week, we feature an emerging Big East team, and a Big 12 power that might be overrated.

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Syracuse Hangs On Against Georgetown

Jacob Wheatley-Schaller — 2009-02-14T14:45:00 00:00

by Jacob Wheatley-Schaller

Filed under: Georgetown, Syracuse, Big East

Up 16 with 8:12 remaining in the second half, it looked like Syracuse would coast to an easy victory in their Big East showdown with Georgetown. The Hoyas had other ideas though, as a flurry of points -- 15 in the last 2:12 of regulation -- sent it into overtime. But Johnny Flynn and Eric Devendorf combined for 14 of Syracuse's 15 points in the extra five minutes, and the Orange hung on for a 98-94 victory.

Flynn got off to a quiet start, and was actually held scoreless for the first 16:27 of the first half. But that was soon forgotten, as he started getting to the rim, and very frequently getting to the line; he made 15 of 16 free throws on the afternoon. Flynn scored six of his 25 points in OT, including two FTs that essentially sealed it for the Orange with four seconds left.

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