Yankee News and Notes-November 13 edition

Photo courtesy of the NoMaas.org

Very slow time right now for Yankee news, despite the hot stove at full flame. Here’s some highlights of the best stuff I’ve read over the past few days-

-This is a poor attempt at making a case for old, outdated methods of measuring the game. The reason why SABR has caught on is it has vastly improved upon the old methods, showing us things the old stats missed. There is a more interesting case to be made for qualitative analysis (scouting) vs quantitative analysis (SABR), both of which have their strong suits and limitations. Advanced stats help us separate luck from skill, and tell us who someone is as a player and where he ranks in general sense. But only by watching a player can we ascertain the kinds of bad habits that lead to bad results, which is what scouts, managers and coaches do on a daily basis. But these tiny samples of a handful of games get dismissed by sabermatricians as being too small to draw any conclusions about, yet that’s what advanced scouting is all about. Basically, it’s macro vs micro. I favor the more balanced approach of using both quantitative and qualitative, as most good teams do. But that just means the hard core stat heads and old school types both think I’m working for the enemy. Their loss.

-Since were on the subject, this is a good example of where old school stats can lead you wrong. I prefer to ignore rather than FJM stuff this bad, but this one is tempting.

-Lee doesn’t like the heat in Texas. His wife doesn’t like New York. Texas doesn’t have the money, at least not yet. All we need now are a few ‘anonymous real estate brokers’ to tell us Cliff was house hunting in Los Angeles.

-Not sure if this is even newsworthy anymore. I like the term “annual waltz” by Mark. What do you expect Andy to say to a local Texas reporter? That he loves getting the hell out of Deer Park, TX for nine months each year?

-From the Daily News, Michael O’Keefe profiled Cliff Lee and his deep roots in his hometown of Benton, Arkansas, providing this little tidbit:

Panthers coach Mark Balisterri, who took over the team in 1995, when Lee was a sophomore, describes Lee as bright, a good kid, well-liked by other students. Lee could throw hard but he had control problems. “He had a hard time throwing strikes,” Balisterri says, shaking his head, a big smile on his face. “He’d throw a one-hitter but he would have 10 walks. He was nerve-wracking. He’d load the bases on balls, then strike out the side.”

Amazing. Something to remember about why Baseball is such a difficult sport to draft, and why teams will take flyers on players who don’t seem all that exciting at first blush.