Woods Recruiting » some

Study Shows Subpar African-American Graduation Rates At Some Top College Football Programs

Al Woods — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 16:24:02 +0000

A study from the University of Central Florida shows that when it comes to graduating student-athletes – especially African-Americans – some top college football programs have plenty of work to do.
SportsGrid

One More Way to Spend Some Soccer Time

Al Woods — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 11:52:07 +0000

Looking around earlier today at MLS’s website ahead of tomorrow’s draft, I stumbled across something they have been running for the past couple months but until today I have missed. They have a “Fantasy League” running, but it isn’t completely MLS centric. Questions come from Major League Soccer, English Premier League, and Champions League games. [...]
Avoiding the Drop

Some Thoughts on Andrew Luck: Respect the Decision and He Ain’t Jake Locker Folks

Al Woods — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 15:17:21 +0000

So by now you’ve all heard the news I’m sure. You know, the whole Andrew Luck, probable number one pick will be returning to Stanford for his redshirt junior season. A lot of news causes ripples, this was a tidal wave type shocker on several different fronts. The NFL community was dumbfounded by the man’s return to college football when he seemed to be the most pro ready quarterback since Peyton Manning. The college community was torn as a star quarterback came back to school and while it was good for the game, was it really good for the kid.

In all of this the Carolina Panther fans’ response was the most “Finebaum-esque” in their hilarious lack of perspective but equally appalling anger at a kid that never even was guaranteed to their team. I tuned into Charlotte local radio and it has been alternating between “woe is us” attitudes, “we hate you Jerry Richardson” sentiments and of course the “how could he do this to us” resentment.

There is plenty to be said, plenty has already been written about Luck and his decision to return to school. Some folks have called it flat out stupid already. Some have bought into the actual idea that education is the reason he chose to return to Stanford. Some have tossed out the idea that Luck and family wanted to avoid the Panthers even as his father tried to bury those rumors.

Read more on Andrew Luck…

In The Bleachers – A College Football Blog and Podcast

Video: Rangers Center Dale Weise Gets Some Gatorade Bukkake

Al Woods — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 04:48:31 +0000

Poor Dale Weise—today was definitely not his finest day. First the Rangers center has a goal disallowed because the refs felt he redirected the puck using a distinct kicking motion. Unintentional or not, it happens. At least he can cool himself off with a refreshing swig of Gatorade, right? What could go wrong with that? Just about everything, because the top comes off mid-squeeze and Weise gets showered with a mess of Gatorade bukkake, and the top ends up in [...]
The Last Angry Fan

Wilmer Flores, Brad Emaus and Some other Notes from Winter Ball

Al Woods — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 12:06:58 +0000

Posted in Wilmer Flores

A few notes on some Mets guys playing winter ball….

Wilmer Flores (pictured) is hitting the cover off the ball in Venezuela. He had two hits in both Saturday and Sunday’s contests. In the Venezuelan Winter League (VWL) he’s hitting .369/.397/.538 with five doubles and a pair of home runs. The VWL is averages .257/.341/.364.

Newly acquired Brad Emaus is hitting .263/.349/.456 in 114 AB over 33 games for the Toros del Este in the Domincan Winter League. He’s shown his usual outstanding control of the strike zone with 13 walks against 17 strikeouts. His platoon split has been huge: .462/.533/.731 in 26 AB vs. lefties and .205/.293/.375 in 88 AB vs. righties. Why shouldn’t you take this seriously at all? In AAA, the right-handed hitting Emaus hit .206/.333/.365 in 63 AB vs. lefties and handled righties at a .321/.411/.528 rate in 246 AB.

Francisco Pena has seen action in 31 of 43 games for Aguilas Cibaenas in the DWL and hit a meager .165/.230/.228 and has struck out in 22% of his plate appearances (19 K/87 PA).

Presented for goofiness:
Aussie Stefan Welch is playing in the new Australian Baseball League but hitting just .172/.254/.375 for the Adelaide Bite. He’s played 16 games at third and two at first. Welch has not played a single game at third in the US since 2008.

Your 2011 Bullpen?
Oliver Perez in Culiacan in Mexico: 5.73 ERA, 9 G, 4 GS, 22 IP, 22 H, 14 R, 3 HR, 14 BB, 17 K.
…..What’s the over/under on his release date?
LHP Michael O’Connor has been effective for Licey in the DWL with well over a strikeout an inning: 18 G, 1.38 ERA, 13 IP, 17 K, 4 BB, 11 H, 3 R.
….. He’s not on the 40-man roster at the moment. The only left-handed reliever aside from, ahem, Oliver Perez is Pat Misch.
RHP Manny Alvarez has been unexceptional for the Navegantes del Magallanes in the VWL: 2.95 ERA, 21.1 IP, 19 H, 9 R, 8 BB, 14 K.
….. Unlike O’Connor, Alvarez is already on the Mets 40-man roster and has some shot to break camp with the Mets after a strong 2010 season that finished up in Buffalo.
RHP Francisco Rodriguez made one appearance for the Tiburones de la Guaira on December 2, pitching 1.2 innings to earn the save.

Presented for goofiness:
RHP Marcos Tabata, who throws a ton of breaking balls, has a 0.39 ERA for Aguilas del Zulia in the VWL in 23 innings despite walking 19 (!) while fanning 23.

Presented for old-times sake:
Jesus Flores, who the Washington Nationals swiped from the Mets in the 2006 rule five draft, is hitting .360/.396/.520 in 14 games in the VWL. Flores missed all of the 2010 season with a torn labrum in his right shoulder.

The full stats of all of the Mets’ players in Winter ball are here.

Some Extra Opinions on the Mets Rule Five Draft Work

Al Woods — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 09:15:14 +0000

Posted in Rule 5 Draft

Here are some comments from other prospect-experts from around the web.

On Brad Emaus
Sandy Alderson, as quoted by Adam Rubin at ESPNNY: We’re very high on his potential as an everyday player out of the Toronto organization. [Former Jays GM] J.P. [Ricciardi], [and new Mets scouts from Toronto] Roy Smith and Jim D’Aloia, Paul [DePodesta] know him pretty well and felt strongly about him. So we’re very pleased that he was there.

Baseball America staff report:

Offensive-minded utility type, chance to be a regular maybe, can’t play SS though.

Emaus on Emaus, as quoted by John Manuel:

“…right now I’m just very ecstatic, excited to be given another chance by
the Mets. … I’m just a blue-collar guy, a solid
guy who has to know the game, has to have some (baseball IQ) because I
don’t have great tools. I’m not flashy but I bring my best every day and
go out trying to find an edge.”

Kevin Goldstein at Prospectus:
“Ceiling only of nice bench player, but might be there now.”
Two seasons ago, in March of 2009, Goldstein ranked Emaus as the Blue Jays’ #7 prospect and wrote:

Perfect World Projection: A solid everyday second baseman.

Glass Half Empty: A utility type who can play anywhere in the infield except shortstop.

Emaus did not make Goldstein’s Jays list in 2010.

Jason Grey of ESPN.com:

When he’s on, he features a stroke that scouts call “short to and long
through.” In other words, a short path to the ball, and his bat stays in
the hitting zone a long time.

On Pedro Beato
Alderson: “A power arm, probably out of the bullpen, and somebody who can compete for an everyday job. So we’re happy with that.”

John Manuel at Baseball America: Beato’s fastball has average velocity and peaks at
93 mph with sink and tail, and he has a decent sinking changeup and
slurvy breaking ball. …. He profiles as a middle reliever.

Goldstein: “…stuff is still well below draft-level, but he found some consistency and success this year as a two-pitch reliever.

There’s a chance, probably a little better than even money, that neither Beato nor Emaus play significant roles for the 2011 Mets. However, there’s a chance that Beato contributes as a middle reliever and Emaus plays his way into the second base job in spring training and holds then holds onto it. There are certainly no sure things as baseball players, but both Beato and Emaus are potentially nice, cheap additions at thin areas for the Mets.

I’ve been asked to handicap the Mets spring training battle for second base between Emaus, Daniel Murphy, Justin Turner, Luis Castillo and Ruben Tejada. Right now, I’d say it’ll be a battle with Tejada starting behind the other four thanks to his youth and punchless offensive game. Turner brings the most defensive versatility of the rest, while Murphy brings the most pop in his bat. Emaus brings a tremendous plate eye. Castillo merely brings the final year of an ill-advised contract.

Some Help from the Official Scorer?

Al Woods — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 12:32:53 +0000

Pekka Rinne, career:
at Home: 42-17-5, 2.21, .924, 29.12 SA/60
on Road: 20-15-4, 2.87, .897, 27.84 SA/60

Those splits certainly make one at least a bit skeptical about whether Rinne’s save percentage is being accurately reported in his home rink in the Music City, and whether we can therefore rely on those numbers to accurately reflect his performance. Nashville has been one of the places suspected of a shot recording bias (for more info see Tom Awad or JLikens), which increases the probability that there may be overcounting going on in Rinne’s favour.

Unfortunately, this case is not entirely clear cut, because former Predators goalie Dan Ellis doesn’t have the same extreme splits. In fact, Ellis actually has a higher career save percentage on the road despite playing all but one game of his career for the same Predators team as Rinne:

Dan Ellis, career:
at Home: 18-16-5, 2.59, .910, 28.82 SA/60
on Road: 32-26-5, 2.68, .913, 30.78 SA/60

Backup goalies can sometimes have skewed numbers because of relief appearances, but even after taking out the 12 games where Ellis came in off the bench, the pattern persists:

at Home: 18-15-4, 2.57, .913, 29.58 SA/60
on Road: 30-22-4, 2.65, .916, 31.62 SA/60

This is a fairly small sample for both Rinne and Ellis, and I expect that some of the effect is simple random variance. It is likely that the .027 difference between Rinne’s home and road performance has been a bit of a statistical quirk, as has his good fortune to face almost 4 fewer shots against per game than Dan Ellis while on the road, but I’m still slightly suspicious of the official scorer in Nashville. It will be interesting to see if similar results continue this season with Ellis in Tampa and Rinne expected to once again be the main man in the crease in Nashville.

Brodeur is a Fraud