Kings of Kauffman » 2010 » November

Ready To Go

Michael Engel — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 01:29:04 +0000

Twitter more or less exploded a few times with a few reports that Zack Greinke would be willing to accept a trade to a big market team.

Jeff Passan at Yahoo Sports reported a quote from a source (anonymous, of course) that Greinke likes the Yankees “because they’re winners” and that the 2009 Cy Young winner just wants to win.

This is a change from past reports that Greinke has a number of big-market teams on his no-trade list, but if this source is correct and reliable, Greinke could approve a deal to the Yankees.
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Fun With Statistics

Michael Engel — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 19:30:20 +0000

I’m a sucker for baseball books. I work in a bookstore and thankfully we’ve moved the sports books section so that it’s against the wall on the outside of the building. It used to be set up right along the walkway towards the front exits, so I’d find myself walking towards the door to head home when out of nowhere, a beacon of light would shine on the bookcase, the songs of angels beckoning me to approach. Time stood still.

Inevitably, I’d buy something. Great for entertainment and enjoyment, but man, it adds up.

I can tune out the siren song better with that case against the wall, but with every new shipment of books we receive, I can’t help but peek at the sports sorting shelf to see if there’s another new gem I must have.

One of the newer acquisitions in my possession is the Bill James Handbook for 2011 and there were some interesting nuggets of information in here I’d like to share.
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The Real Real Zack Greinke

Michael Engel — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 04:07:49 +0000

You may have read an article on The Hardball Times recently that wasn’t very kind to Kansas City ace Zack Greinke. It wasn’t quite a screed against the 2009 Cy Young Award winner, but the article was quite pessimistic about Greinke’s ability to be the starter he’s hyped up to be.

Much of the article is focused on the shift from 2009 to 2010, and to compare the two seasons, it’s obvious that his follow up season was a disappointment. But, as the article states in the opening, Greinke’s 2009 was the season with numbers that “come along only about once a decade” so that’s a tough bar to reach anyway on that standard.

The following is my defense of my favorite player in baseball, the enigmatic Donald Zachary Greinke:
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