Ah, December 2006. A more innocent time when I actually had hope of improvement for the 2007 version of the Baltimore Orioles. As I was just starting to blog about the O's, I started laying out some preseason predictions for various players which I now thought would be amusing to revisit.
December 27th, 2006:
Regarding a proposed Brian Roberts/Hayden Penn for Adam LaRoche/Marcus Giles trade:
"I like Brian Roberts a lot but in all honesty, Marcus Giles probably would have replaced his offensive numbers and defense and they are both the same age."
Oh, that's rich.
Roberts: .809 OPS
M. Giles: .621 OPS
A stinker of a prediction. That doesn't even take into account the 50 to 10 edge in stolen bases (with Roberts stealing at an 87% success rate...). Scuttling that deal may be the best thing Peter Angelos has ever done for this club.
Regarding Kevin Millar:
"I don't like him as a primary option at first base but for $2.75 million for one year, he will give you better production for less money than some of the free agents listed below."
One of the fee agents listed below was Aubrey Huff:
Millar: .785 OPS
Huff: .779 OPS
You wouldn't want to live on the difference but Millar did outperform the highly paid free agent at about 1/3 the salary. I'll stand by that statement. However...
Regarding Carlos Pena coming to the Orioles:
"Another one I don't get unless you can get him signed to a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training. Maybe Terry Crowley can work some magic and turn him into a poor man's Richie Sexson but that's a real long shot at this point in his career."
I was clearly wrong about not wanting to give this guy a shot. The Devil Rays were able to turn him into a poor man's Richie Sexson. In fact, Richie Sexson's never had a season as good as Pena posted this year. In fact, if Pena had played for a winning team, he probably would get some serious MVP consideration. Baltimore could've had him...
December 29th, 2006
Re: David Newhan being let go.
"I liked Newhan as a utility man but even Jay Payton will be quite an upgrade in left."
Newhan: .573 OPS
Payton: .668 OPS
That's for 2007 and, yeah, Payton was an upgrade from what Newhan did for the Mets this year. But do you know what Newhan posted in 2006 for the O's? A .668 OPS. Andd to that the fact that Payton was more expensive and can't play the infield...maybe he would've been a better option for the Orioles.
Decemnber 30th, 2006
RE: Corey Patterson
"...he should be able to maintain his batting average in the .265-.275 range...I expect Patterson to at least approach his offensive numbers and continue to play a fantastic centerfield."
Patterson hit .269 for the year so I had that one right. However, even with his late season surge his offensive numbers were significantly down (OPS declined form .757 to .690) and his defense seems to have slipped a bit too. His Fielding Percentage was a bit higher but he didn't get to as many balls this year.
I hope the O's don't overpay for Patterson. He is a really interesting player to watch but he's really inconsistent and he'll never get much better than he is right now which means he will be an average centerfielder at best.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Saturday, September 29, 2007
New UDC tool from MagnaView
At the UDC seminar 2007 in The Hague, MagnaView presented an innovative visual application which gives you the possibility to view the UDC Master Reference File in novel ways, and to interact with it visually.
From MagnaView UDC Viewer brochure:
"UDC Viewer offers you an instant and visual access to the complete content of the Master Reference File (MRF), i.e. to all records and all tags.
From MagnaView UDC Viewer brochure:
"UDC Viewer offers you an instant and visual access to the complete content of the Master Reference File (MRF), i.e. to all records and all tags.
New UDC tool from MagnaView
At the UDC seminar 2007 in The Hague, MagnaView presented an innovative visual application which gives you the possibility to view the UDC Master Reference File in novel ways, and to interact with it visually.
From MagnaView UDC Viewer brochure:
"UDC Viewer offers you an instant and visual access to the complete content of the Master Reference File (MRF), i.e. to all records and all tags.
From MagnaView UDC Viewer brochure:
"UDC Viewer offers you an instant and visual access to the complete content of the Master Reference File (MRF), i.e. to all records and all tags.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Picking Up The Pieces
It's been real busy at work these last two weeks and quite frankly, I wasn't seeing much worth writing about on the field so apologies for the lack of posts this month. With only four games to go, it's time to start sifting through the wreckage so I'll start with some stats.
I stated at the beginning of the month that some Oriole hitter would have to go on a tear to reach 20 homers this year and wouldn't you know that Nick Markakis did it. He hit 6 in August and has continued that pace with 6 more in September. He now sits at 22 homeruns, not to shabby for a 23 year old rightfielder.
Nick also has accumulated 110 RBI so far. Quick, name last Oriole who drove in 110 RBI in a season by the age of 23? Give up? Well, there was no last one. No Oriole had done that before Markakis (Cal drove in 102 during his age 22 season). So hats of to Nick for a record-breaking season.
+++++
Does anybody realize how long it's been since we had a good regular leftfielder? The last guy who manned that position well was B.J. Surhoff! More on leftfield later...
+++++
Brian Roberts is quickly setting the standard for Oriole secondbasemen for years to come. If he can manage two more doubles this year he will own the top three spots for 2B by a secondbagger in Oriole history. If he can steal two more bases, he will join Roberto Alomar as the only two secondbasemen in history to hit 40+ doubles and steal 50+ bases. Enjoy him folks, he's a special player.
+++++
Baltimore Orioles' ERA+ in 2004 and 2005: 101 and 106 respectively
Baltimore Orioles' ERA+ in 2006 and 2007: 84 and 88 respectively
I know he hasn't had much to work with but the Oriole staff has actually gotten statistically worse since Leo Mazzone's arrival.
+++++
Forget the wins. There are only three Oriole pitchers who have come on the scene in their rookie year with such positive results: Mike Boddicker, Mike Mussina and *mumble*rodrigo lopez*mumble*. Well, two outta three ain't bad...
I stated at the beginning of the month that some Oriole hitter would have to go on a tear to reach 20 homers this year and wouldn't you know that Nick Markakis did it. He hit 6 in August and has continued that pace with 6 more in September. He now sits at 22 homeruns, not to shabby for a 23 year old rightfielder.
Nick also has accumulated 110 RBI so far. Quick, name last Oriole who drove in 110 RBI in a season by the age of 23? Give up? Well, there was no last one. No Oriole had done that before Markakis (Cal drove in 102 during his age 22 season). So hats of to Nick for a record-breaking season.
+++++
Does anybody realize how long it's been since we had a good regular leftfielder? The last guy who manned that position well was B.J. Surhoff! More on leftfield later...
+++++
Brian Roberts is quickly setting the standard for Oriole secondbasemen for years to come. If he can manage two more doubles this year he will own the top three spots for 2B by a secondbagger in Oriole history. If he can steal two more bases, he will join Roberto Alomar as the only two secondbasemen in history to hit 40+ doubles and steal 50+ bases. Enjoy him folks, he's a special player.
+++++
Baltimore Orioles' ERA+ in 2004 and 2005: 101 and 106 respectively
Baltimore Orioles' ERA+ in 2006 and 2007: 84 and 88 respectively
I know he hasn't had much to work with but the Oriole staff has actually gotten statistically worse since Leo Mazzone's arrival.
+++++
Forget the wins. There are only three Oriole pitchers who have come on the scene in their rookie year with such positive results: Mike Boddicker, Mike Mussina and *mumble*rodrigo lopez*mumble*. Well, two outta three ain't bad...
Monday, September 10, 2007
Catch Up
Wow, so much for my sunny optimism...
A couple of weeks ago I was confident that the O's could finish somewhat strong (maybe just a hair below .500 for the month of September) but now, let the stinkfest continue! The Orioles were somewhat respectable until the Warehouse officially hired Dave Trembley and since they have gone in the toilet. 30-3. No-hit by a rookie. Routinely bludgeoned by the Devil Rays. Add it all up and it's looking like a dismal end to the season.
Bright side: The Baltimore Orioles are now sporting the third worst record in baseball. We may as well go for it and lose out to garner the number 1 pick in the 2008 amateur draft.
The two reasons to watch the O's this season, Erik Bedard and Brian Roberts, are no longer worth watching. Bedard is now injured and his season is over. (He holds the Oriole record for K's in a season but I was looking forward to seeing him break the record for the franchise. It was easily within his reach.) Roberts is still playing but has been mired in a terrible slump and is now hitting less than .300.
Add to this Jeremy Guthrie's strained oblique and the starting pitching looks scarier and scarier. A weird hodge-podge of rookies and scrapheap guys. Victor Zambrano?
The curse of Wild Bill Hagy?
In the midst of all this, Jay Gibbons is linked to the HGH investigation. Has there been a team with more players linked to steroids with less success to show for it? The Baltimore Orioles are the poster child for not using steroids!
Bright sides: (There are very few.) Looks like Millar will be back next season, a good veteran presence and until we get better talent, one of the more useful members of our lineup. Nick Markakis is putting up great numbers. A bunch of kids are going to get some valuable playing time over the next three weeks. And as the season wraps up, I'll have some really gnarly numbers to look at as we sift through the wreckage. Ugh.
A couple of weeks ago I was confident that the O's could finish somewhat strong (maybe just a hair below .500 for the month of September) but now, let the stinkfest continue! The Orioles were somewhat respectable until the Warehouse officially hired Dave Trembley and since they have gone in the toilet. 30-3. No-hit by a rookie. Routinely bludgeoned by the Devil Rays. Add it all up and it's looking like a dismal end to the season.
Bright side: The Baltimore Orioles are now sporting the third worst record in baseball. We may as well go for it and lose out to garner the number 1 pick in the 2008 amateur draft.
The two reasons to watch the O's this season, Erik Bedard and Brian Roberts, are no longer worth watching. Bedard is now injured and his season is over. (He holds the Oriole record for K's in a season but I was looking forward to seeing him break the record for the franchise. It was easily within his reach.) Roberts is still playing but has been mired in a terrible slump and is now hitting less than .300.
Add to this Jeremy Guthrie's strained oblique and the starting pitching looks scarier and scarier. A weird hodge-podge of rookies and scrapheap guys. Victor Zambrano?
The curse of Wild Bill Hagy?
In the midst of all this, Jay Gibbons is linked to the HGH investigation. Has there been a team with more players linked to steroids with less success to show for it? The Baltimore Orioles are the poster child for not using steroids!
Bright sides: (There are very few.) Looks like Millar will be back next season, a good veteran presence and until we get better talent, one of the more useful members of our lineup. Nick Markakis is putting up great numbers. A bunch of kids are going to get some valuable playing time over the next three weeks. And as the season wraps up, I'll have some really gnarly numbers to look at as we sift through the wreckage. Ugh.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
UDC at IFLA 2007
A UDC Update meeting at the 73rd IFLA General Conference and Council in Durban - South Africa, took place on Monday 20 August 2007 for an informal exchange of information about UDCC and the current work on UDC. See the UDC Update 2007 report.
The UDC editor in chief Maria Ines Cordeiro also participated in the 5th Annual Dewey Translators Meeting, on 21 August 2007, giving a brief update on the
The UDC editor in chief Maria Ines Cordeiro also participated in the 5th Annual Dewey Translators Meeting, on 21 August 2007, giving a brief update on the
UDC at IFLA 2007
A UDC Update meeting at the 73rd IFLA General Conference and Council in Durban - South Africa, took place on Monday 20 August 2007 for an informal exchange of information about UDCC and the current work on UDC. See the UDC Update 2007 report.
The UDC editor in chief Maria Ines Cordeiro also participated in the 5th Annual Dewey Translators Meeting, on 21 August 2007, giving a brief update on the
The UDC editor in chief Maria Ines Cordeiro also participated in the 5th Annual Dewey Translators Meeting, on 21 August 2007, giving a brief update on the
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