Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Two Items

Two quick hits for today:
  • If you're wondering about the August waiver rules, and you know you are, I wrote this piece two years ago to help explain the process.
  • Ever wonder why hitters can't seem to hit Mariano Rivera even when they know what's coming? Here's an interesting video that attempts to explain the phenomenon.

8 comments:

Colin said...

Paul, thanks for the video on Mo...very enlightening, because, YES, I have actually always wondered how he was so dominant with one pitch.

Question for you: Is there an explanation for the drop in Edinson Rincon's BA this year from past years? It also seems like he's suddenly walking at a much lower rate, and his OBP is down almost 100 points from where he was the past two seasons. Is there that big of a difference in the pitching he's facing at Fort Wayne than the pitching he faced at Eugene? (Still, you guys have to be encouraged by how the kid has progressed before his 20th birthday.)

sdsuaztec4 said...

Why was the decision made to demote Craig Cooper and Lance Zawadski to San Antonio?

Paul DePodesta said...

The Ph.Dude,

The Midwest League, in general, is a really tough place to hit, especially early in the season. To that point, most of our guys have improved dramatically after the first month or tow. We're pretty happy with what all of our teenager position players there have done - Rincon, Galvez, and Everett Williams.

Paul DePodesta said...

sdsuaztec4,

We signed a few veteran players to stabilize our AAA team, so those guys were going to lose playing time if we didn't send them down. This was the best way to ensure that they would keep getting the highest number of at-bats.

MarkAse said...

Paul,

Any word on Tate? You mentioned Williams and others, but left Tate out....is he healthy?

Paul DePodesta said...

MarkAse,

Tate has battled a handful of nagging injuries, though he is back playing. However, he's playing in Arizona and not Fort Wayne. After missing the better part of a year, he still needs to get his sea legs back.

Unknown said...

Seems you jinxed Tate by saying he's playing again!

If you're on the Ft. Wayne trip with Jed and the other front office staff, any chance you can explain what all you try to accomplish on a trip out to an affiliate and then give a look at some of the players (especially DePaula, Spence, Lollis and the other lesser-known arms) out there?

sdsuaztec4 said...

Mike Baxter is putting together a 20 HR 20 SB season at AAA while hitting around .300. Are Baxter and Pena going to get some looks in September even though they aren't on the 40 man?