The Crane Pool Forum

Noted in the TWIB thread, but I think it deserves it's own ride. If you're good and you're a Marlin, you're not going to be a Marlin for long.

So learned Christian Yelich, and so learned Miguel Cabrera, and so learned a long litany of terrific players before them, seemingly dating back to the dawn of the organization.

You, Luis Arraez, 27-year-old two time batting champ, with a .324 lifetime batting average and a beautiful, resplendent, Samoan head of hair, despite being Venezuelan, that reality has now come knocking upon your door. You are now a San Diego Padre. Please clear all of your excellence out of your locker and leave quietly.

I looked at their roster to see if there was anyone else who the Mets might want to investigate.
You take away Arraez (.299) and their team BA drops below the current .223.
Man, what a copious quantity of ca ca. And we can't even blame Derek Jeter any more.
Maybe lefty reliever Tanner Scott?
I dunno.

Later

Oakland 15, Miami 1 in the bottom of the seventh.

Athletics 20, Marlins 4 is your final. Official attendance was 7,809.

On the other side of the deal Arraez led off and DH'd for the Padres in Arizona, going 4-for-6 with a double, an RBI, and two runs scored for the Padres as they whupped the Diamondbacks, 13-to-1.

I'm not saying that big trades affect the morale of the teams involved, but that narrative sure jives with this evening's evidence.

Edgy MD wrote: ↑Sat May 04, 2024 12:19 pm Noted in the TWIB thread, but I think it deserves it's own ride. If you're good and you're a Marlin, you're not going to be a Marlin for long.

So learned Christian Yelich, and so learned Miguel Cabrera, and so learned a long litany of terrific players before them, seemingly dating back to the dawn of the organization.

You, Luis Arraez, 27-year-old two time batting champ, with a .324 lifetime batting average and a beautiful, resplendent, Samoan head of hair, despite being Venezuelan, that reality has now come knocking upon your door. You are now a San Diego Padre. Please clear all of your excellence out of your locker and leave quietly.

Arraez isn't Yelich or Cabrera, not even close. He is basically Jeff McNeil but hasn't had the years where BABIP luck bites him in the ass yet. Marlins sold high here on an overrated player. Whether any of the prospects pan out, you just never know.

I'm far from believing the difference between one player with a .324 batting average over his career and another with a batting average 29 points lower is purely luck on balls in play.

I'm certainly open to enlightenment, but I didn't embrace the Voros McCracken thesis when it first arrived and little has happened since to change my feelings.

I think this episode proves that players who get traded tend to get traded.

I think Arraez is plenty valuable.

The Mets could use a few hitters (like Arraez) that can actually consistently get hits and reach base. Far too many Mets regulars (Nimmo, Lindor, Alonzo, Stewart, Narvaez, & Nido) are hitting under .220 Compared to them, McNeil is raking with his .239 average. Only Martinez, Baty, Bader, Taylor, and Marte are hitting better than .260

Having a player with a high OBP probably isn't too valuable to this Mets team, because no one seem capable of reliably driving him in.

Tony Gwynn through 569 career games: .326/.378/.427 with 25 HR
Luis Arraez through 569 career games: .324/.377/.423 with 24 HR

Luis is off to a good start.
Later

Edgy MD wrote: ↑Sun May 05, 2024 12:44 pm I'm far from believing the difference between one player with a .324 batting average over his career and another with a batting average 29 points lower is purely luck on balls in play.

I'm certainly open to enlightenment, but I didn't embrace the Voros McCracken thesis when it first arrived and little has happened since to change my feelings.

McNeil and Arraez have virtually the same career OPS+ - I'm not saying they have the same outlook going forward because McNeil is 5 years older, but the next few years of Arraez ought to look something like the past few years of McNeil. He is no star player and not worthy of the mention in the same breath as Cabrera/Yelich. That doesn't make him a scrub. It does make him a guy that a bad team is smart to sell high on right now.

See you in five years.