And now the Joe Torre love fest begins in earnest in the media.
For the next few weeks, all the pundits will be chiming in about the great Torre era and how his departure means that the Yanks are no longer "classy" and "elite."
Well, it's true that Randy Levine bluster makes the team appear less eloquent, but the departure of Torre tells me that the team is simply moving on. I feel it's refreshing not to be stuck in the past when the present is no longer working.
Keep in mind that one of the main reasons that the beat writers love Torre so much is because he is great with the media and gives them unprecedented access. Those are wonderful attributes to be sure, and it makes the writers' jobs much easier.
But making the job of the writers easier is not my main priority. I want the Yanks to win another championship. That's why I've felt for awhile now that it's time for Joe to go.
The Yanks (whoever they are, but that's the subject of another article) made Torre an offer with a base salary that would keep him the highest paid manager in baseball history. This is a diss? Moreover, with the incentives, he could earn more than he did last year.
Personally, I don't see a problem with a performance based salary structure. That's how the real world works.
12 years is an awful long time for a manager. We've all read that Bill James piece with the research of how a manager's best years come in his first two or three seasons with a team. Torre has become too close to his veterans. They are too comfortable with him at the helm.
Another interesting aspect that came out of the meetings is Cashman's comment about the new manager: "There may be some surprising names that show up."
Something tells me it won't be Mattingly or Girardi. It will be a bigger name.
Final AL RCAA Leaders
I meant to post this much earlier but I got all caught up in the daily Torre drama. Below are the Final 2007 AL Leaders for Runs Created Above Average (courtesy of Lee Sinins).
No surprise with A-Rod at #1. And again, Posada's value to the team seems to grow each year. Posada is in many of the top 10 categories, all-time, for catchers in OPS, OBP, and other critical categories.
Curtis Granderson is an under-rated player, but how about Jack Cust? He's come a long way since his Baltimore base running blunder. (No doubt this board's beloved bobby jr. blamed the Cust base running miscue on the Yankee payroll.)
AL RCAA*
LEADERS
1 Alex Rodriguez 83
2 Magglio Ordonez 73
3 David Ortiz 70
4 Carlos Pena 69
5 Jorge Posada 47
6 Curtis Granderson 45
7 Vladimir Guerrero 41
8 Jim Thome 39
9 Ichiro Suzuki 38
10 Jack Cust 35
Woe is Melky, Final Yankee RCAA:
YANKEES
Alex Rodriguez 83
Jorge Posada 47
Hideki Matsui 21
Derek Jeter 19
Bobby Abreu 15
Robinson Cano 12
Jason Giambi 5
Johnny Damon 4
Shelley Duncan 2
Chris Basak 0
Doug Mientkiewicz 0
Jose Molina 0
Bronson Sardinha -1
Kevin Thompson -1
Wilson Betemit -3
Alberto Gonzalez -3
Josh Phelps -4
Miguel Cairo -6
Andy Phillips -6
Wil Nieves -9
Melky Cabrera -14
* RCAA definition from the online Glossary of Sabermetric Terms:
RUNS CREATED Bill James's formulation for run contribution from a variety of batting and base running events. Many different formulas are used, depending upon data available. In its basic expression, the formula is:
(Hits + Walks) (Total Bases)
--------------------------
At-Bats + Walks
The essence of this formulation is that the ability to get on base and the ability to push base runners around fairly describes offensive ability. James later refined the formula with a "stolen base version":
(Hits+Walks-Caught Stealing)(Total Bases +.55 X Stolen Bases)
----------------------------------------------------------
At-Bats + Walks
In its current version, the formula is:
A factor: Hits + Walks + HBP - GIDP - CS
B factor: Total Bases + ((Walks + HBP - Intentional Walks) * .24) + (SB * .62)
+ ((SH + SF) * 0.5) - (SO * .03)
C factor: AB + Walks + HBP +SH + SF
Runs Created = (A + B) / C
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