Soriano joins 40/40 club

[crockpot]

[ QUOTE ]
crockpot,

Do you realize how many people play baseball? More than you actually know, so out of all of these people there are going to be a ton that play like [censored] when they are happy but it isn't because they are happy obviously. The point is is that you give yourself the best opportunity to succeed when you are happy than when you are miserable, this is a fact.

[/ QUOTE ]

i'm not going to argue this point with you, because it's a subjective thing and i can't prove anything. what i can show is that throughout recent history (when baseball contracts exploded), players in contract years do not perform better as a whole. for every adrian beltre, there is a mark mulder. (actually, several mark mulders are needed to even out beltre, but there are many more bad baseball players than good ones.)

also, while it might be true that happy players inherently play better than unhappy ones, this effect is confounded by the fact that successful players, or those on successful teams, will naturally be happier, as a result of this, than others who are not doing so hot. this is similar to the idea that clubhouse chemistry causes teams to win, rather than vice versa, or that running the ball 40 times is the key to winning a football game, rather than a result of getting a big early lead.

[Pudge714]

tdarko,
I agree historically was a bad word to use. I'm not saying it his production is solely due to it being a contract year, but it doesn't hurt.

Also if you don't mind who did you refer to in your last post?

crockpot,

Do you agree with UCF that steroids is a major cause of contract yearsor do you have other reasons?

[Jack of Arcades]

[ QUOTE ]
he is good.

[/ QUOTE ]

He's good at hitting home runs, and that's about it.

[tdarko]

crockpot,

First off you agreeing with me that players in contract years don't play better so I don't know why you are arguing with me b/c you agree with me.

Secondly, I am not sure why you are writing the second paragraph either...it is basically seconding that happier players are more likely to play better. So yea, I agree with you. I understand about clubhouse chemistry, successful teams, etc. This was exactly my point in talking about happier players and a little nugget/example of this was Soriano's first year with Texas, his worst year to date. He was publicly unhappy about his move and stated that he didn't like it with the Rangers (who does?) and his performance suffered initially. He sucked it up the next year, still not Soriano numbers but much better anyway.

Anyway, you kind of said everything that I was saying...so thanks I guess.

~td

[Boris]

TD - I wasn't speaking more to his basic hitting stats, BA, OBP and SLG, not so much the 40-40 achievement. Don't you find it odd that Soriano outperformed his Texas numbers with the Nats? I mean Texas is a great hitters ballpark and Texas has a pretty monster line-up. How does he move to the Nats and have his OPS jump over 100 points? Someone somewhere told him to be more selective at that plate. Now whether that was his agent or his batting coach I don't know. I just think it's kinda funny he did it in a contract year.

[Jack of Arcades]

Not to rain on everyone's parade, but even though it's a 40/40 year he's not having that great of a year. His EqA is .305 and falling fast. His SB % is 71%, which means he's not doing anything more than breaking even (if he's doign that).

[Boris]

tdarko - what's so great about playing for the Nationals? They suck. Also, did Soriano have an epiphany and suddenly realize playing left field is awesome compared to second base?

[crockpot]

[ QUOTE ]
Do you agree with UCF that steroids is a major cause of contract yearsor do you have other reasons?

[/ QUOTE ]

there really isn't enough data to make any conclusions on the effects of steroid use, especially since no one is really sure who has used and who hasn't. though bonds had a huge spike in his contract year, he sustained this growth for three years.

my contention is that while some players might feel more motivated and play better as a result, most of the contract year spikes are simply noise.

soriano has slugged .579 this year. in his career, he has slugged .547 and .525 in yankee stadium, not a friendly place for right-handed power hitters. .579 is not a huge jump from .547 and .525. meanwhile, the apparent increase in his walk rate is primarily the result of more intentional walks and more pitchers avoiding throwing him strikes this year.

yes, soriano has had an unlikely increase in production. it's no more unlikely than the spikes of morneau, hanley ramirez, holliday, atkins, dye, or uggla. none of those guys are playing for a free agent contract this year, and only dye will be a free agent next year.

isn't everyone already talking about what a weak free agent class there will be this year? would they really be saying that if all the contract-year players were performing well?

[crockpot]

[ QUOTE ]
crockpot,

First off you agreeing with me that players in contract years don't play better so I don't know why you are arguing with me b/c you agree with me.

Secondly, I am not sure why you are writing the second paragraph either...it is basically seconding that happier players are more likely to play better. So yea, I agree with you. I understand about clubhouse chemistry, successful teams, etc. This was exactly my point in talking about happier players and a little nugget/example of this was Soriano's first year with Texas, his worst year to date. He was publicly unhappy about his move and stated that he didn't like it with the Rangers (who does?) and his performance suffered initially. He sucked it up the next year, still not Soriano numbers but much better anyway.

Anyway, you kind of said everything that I was saying...so thanks I guess.

~td

[/ QUOTE ]

sorry, i think i either misinterpreted the tone of your post or forgot your earlier posts in the thread.

i still don't think a happier clubhouse causes you to play better, though, just that a successful season will cause a happier team.

[tdarko]

Boris,

LOL @ thinking his agent teaching him about hitting. Is this really a thought of yours? First off agents don't really know [censored], trust me on this and every crosschecker, director of player personnel, scouting director and even scout knows this. Agents are basically bad lawyers, they don't know baseball. Moving on.

Texas has been known to have guys either shine or not shine and the guys that don't do well here (I say here b/c I am in Dallas) always seem to move on and produce. There could be many reasons for this, happiness could be one, I dunno. The hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo doesn't mesh with everyone that comes through has been a big one, he has been viewed as either a guru or a moron, never in the middle. It was known that Soriano didn't work well with Rudy's style and approach to hitting. You never know Frank Robinson could have helped Soriano and his approach (he had probably forgotten more than anyone in that clubhouse knows), and I don't know who the hitting coach is either but you never know what he is learning every day that he wasn't getting with Texas. It is really easy to sit home and judge from behind a computer but just know that you have know clue what kind of work that man has put in to achieve the year that he has.