Tim Marchman on which team has the most core talent:
Over a decade and a half, the constant in Yankee championships has been the home grown quartet of Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera: The Core Four, as the papers (among others) have it. From one angle, this is evidence of the strength of the Yankee Way; from another, it’s proof that the Yankee Way is a synonym for money. (Retaining the services of those four players has cost the team about a half billion dollars over the course of their careers.)
As the Yankees try to defend their World Series title, a striking bit of evidence for the second possibility is that despite their many virtues, it could be argued that none of the team’s Core Four are among their actual core four — i.e., their best four players — something having less to do with their still-considerable powers than with how strong the rest of the team is.
It could be argued that Derek Jeter hasn't been one of the best four Yankees on the team? Really?
I'd ask the same question for Mo, even though a lot of folks don't seem to think a relief pitcher is that valuable.
[1] yeah seriously. i would suggest mr. marchman take a gander at league leaders in war last year.
[1] Yeah, the paragraph quoted is so very, very wrong. I have a hard time seeing how Jeter and Posada are not among the core four (along with A-Rod and probably CC). Teix is really nice, but I think having the best or second best hitting C and SS in the league is more valuable than having a very fine slugging 1B. Anyway...
I think the whole core four thing is silly anyway. Was Posada really "core" in 1996? Some might argue: "Not at all".
I write this semi-obscured by an SNY banner.
Well, those comments may be shooting the messenger ... he does say he's using CHONE, and we might direct assaults at the method? By WAR or PECOTA different results may accrue, and I assume projections are also involved, not last year's numbers.
For what it is worth, as I gear up for a fantasy draft, it is interesting to see that a surprising number of the touts are very high on Javier V ... even though they discuss his earlier Yankee fail, and the negative of switching leagues (and into the worst division for a pitcher) many of them still like him a lot.
Cross fingers, anyhow.
(Also, for what it is worth, a lot of them are backing away from Ichiro this year. Some of it is just 'he's gotta drop sometime, right?' and some is the decline in sbs, where a lot of his fantasy value lay.)
[4] Good point. He was blocked by Professional Pitcher Handler Joe Girardi. And why four? Why not core three or core five?
BTW, I use a Mac and finally conceded: I swapped out of using Safari ( a brilliant browser but not compatible with all sites) and switched to Firefox. The banter should show up just fine with Firefox, or at least it does with mine.
That said, the aesthetics of wordpress leave a little to be desired...
Hate to talk off-topic, but do you think there's gonna be an post about Emma Span's book release? I'm having a baseball book giveaway to celebrate.
[6] Holy smokes are you saying you switched browsers for the love of the banter? I can't do it. On my machine, Firefox is noticeably slower.
For me, Firefox is slower for some things but not for others. I am using Safari right now and the blockage by the sidebar is minimal. But if I had to pick one browser, it would be Firefox, because some of the plug-ins are so useful.
[7] i would think so
[8] on a mac can you install both firefox and safari and just use firefox for the sites safari doesn't work well?
[6] The way I look at it:
Jeter has been the top SS of the last dozen years.
Posada has been the #1 or #2 Catcher of the last dozen years.
And Mo......... only God Knows.
Andy has not been an Elite Pitcher, but a reliable innings eater who probably rates as a solid #2 over the last 12 years.
So 3 of the Core 4 have been Elite at their position, and one has been well above average. Not to many teams can say that.
[7]
Attention baseball fans ... buy this book
http://www.amazon.com/90-Game-Half-Mental-Baseball/dp/0345501756
[8] [10] Exactly, I run them both, depending on the site. However, in my business soooo much stuff works better on Firefox. It's not that Firefox is faster (it's not), but rather it has better functionality because so many sites are simply not designed to work with Safari. For example, my school uses a web-based education platform (WebCT) for creating secure course websites, so the course pages can be linked to the registration database, email, etc.
[11] And let's not forget Bernie, who was as valuable as any of the core four in the previous dynasty years. Something about strong up the middle, that's what the old-timers talk about, right?
More seriously, it has gotten a bit annoying, this "core four" thing. It's a nice story that four players came up through the system together and played all (or mostly all) of their careers with the team. But as Hawk points out, it's an artificial construct to speak of these four only as some inherently relevant group, or to talk of any core four, new or old. Indeed, one could argue that Andy should not be in the group because he left, if we want to look at the core
fourthree from a nostalgic perspective.[10] Yes, absolutely. In fact, I would also recommend Opera for certain sites, as it is faster than both Firefox and Safari. However, it can't handle email sites for jack. I use Opera mainly for downloads, but it seems to work well with other light-duty sites like Banter.
[5] Good point about shooting the messenger. Looks like the CHONE has Jeter reverting back to sub-par defense this year. Let's hope that's wrong.
I'm not sure why nobody likes IE. It sure is easier to develope in.
i know next to nothing about computers, but i use Firefox and love it. i got a new laptop as well, and Firefox has been kicking ass for me.
much better than IE [17] - sorry OYF!
[15] Chyll - you did great with your "hemoglobin" exchange yesterday, but don't ever recommend Opera to anybody. ever. ; )
I'm still trying to figure out the title. Is it a reference to Ed Figueroa? Was he part of the "core four" from 1976-78? If the criterion is consistent contribution (compound WARP) over those three years, he probably makes it along with Munson, Nettles and Randolph.
When MLB becomes more like wiffle ball and starts getting played with only four fielders, perhaps this post will start making sense.
[19] I thought the same thing, but then I saw CHONE and figured it was a reference to Chone Figgins; thus the "A Yankee Thread"... but it easily be both >;)
[18] Bad experience? I warned it's no good with email sites. I can't use it at all on Yahoo or Gmail. There are specific functions it's actually very good for and better than the other two, but I won't get into it here. And no, I'm not inferring anything nasty... at any rate, Firefox and Safari compliment each other well.
Ian Kennedy news ...
http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/features/rumors
Ian Kennedy has been picking the brain of Brandon Webb about one specific thing -- his deadly sinker.
And he better, because Kennedy's bread-and-butter pitch is his four-seam fastball, which some scouts say is straightening out a lot. That's bad news if he wants to pitch in Arizona's low humidity, high altitude park. Sinker ballers and those with lots of movement on their pitches have typically thrived there, while others have been pounded into the stands.
Kennedy has also picked up a two-seem fastball which might be just as crucial.
. . . With this new development, he's trying to learn the "come-backer" from Webb, which is a sinker/two-seemer that starts off the plate and tails back in for a strike. Kennedy told the Republic, "You used to watch Greg Maddux do it. I would love to learn how to do that and get the confidence to do it all the time."
[21] bad experience? yes - Classical Music School! now, i totally dig Verdi, but i'm just not an Opera fan. i just don't like the style. Baroque, is my favorite! : )
now, as far as 'Opera' being some computer related thingy-thang, um...never hoid of it!
(i can't believe you didn't get my initial sarcasm/joke! ah, i guess that's what Spring Training is for!!!)
: )
[23] Umm, yes... Spring Training... >;)
Opera is meant to put men to sleep so women can whisper suggestive things to them they would not ordinarily do, like pay more attention to me, or do 100 situps, pushups and ab crunches at least twice a day or even take me to the opera again for further programming. Yeah, I'm not a fan either, though I have more of an appreciation for it thanks to Bugs Bunny and Tom & Jerry cartoons.
The 'Opera' I was referring to is a comparable web browser which operates quicker than Safari and Firefox, but is less functional than both. Thus it's excellent for processing and downloading items, but not good for interfacing. In other words, if browsing was like snacking, Safari is fruits and veggies, Firefox is a party platter and Opera's junk food. You might like it, come to think of it... >;)
[24] nice! i'm actually not that big a fan of junk food, either. i guess i just don't like to eat! : )
speaking of which, hope you enjoyed your tuna sammich. i'm out...
Google Chrome is viciously fast and has a minimal window frame so you get all the screen for web content - not that I need it on my 30" work LCD. It's incorporated into Firefox and vice versa. Once you get a little used to it (type searches into the url box - it knows the difference) it will be a huge improvement. I heard about it a from an old crotchety developer that uses Macs at home - he still uses chrome whenever he can.
Core four is about as useful for baseball analysis as analyzing the mascot.
Whoa, okay, thelarmis [25], you're gone. But I can't believe you were dissing opera. Wagner, dude. Boring?? (It's a good thing Weeping isn't here to read that or you'd be a dead man.)
[26] Man, I'd love to try out Chrome, but you need OS Leopard for it and my desktop is running Tiger, so it won't even let me download it. My friend gave me his Powerbook with Leopard, but I don't have the OS disk to wipe it so I can install my own software, so until then Google Chrome is wishful thinking. But if it gets high marks, I remain wishful...
[25] Thanks, but I'm saving it for din-din. Eating can be a chore sometimes, especially if you have neither time nor something that appeals to your senses. Cheers!
It's funny but switching between browsers seems like overkill to me. I guess I'm just lazy, is what it comes down to.
[29] overkill - one of my favorite metal bands! new album - Ironbound - is excellent! : )
[28] Chrome - my favorite Joe Jackson song from his excellent Volume 4 album! that was a reunion of his original band...
[27] well, i didn't say it was "boring". yeah, wagner definitely has some exciting material!
in the 90's it Paul ONeil and David Cone who were the core Yankees. Jeter, Jorge, Mo,
Bernie wree to young to lead. That is why after 2001, the Yankees didn't win but 2009. In
2009 Jeter finally became a leader and Jorge a real catcher. Mo was always Mo and Andy
got his mojo back. Tex and the Nick Brothers need to step up this year. Just let AROD hit and we
will be OK.