"Clueless Joe" Morgan
Get it? It's a play on Shoeless Joe Jackson...anyways, the alternate title was "Joe Morgan--3 strikes you're out" but then I realized that Joe has already had about 800 strikes.
Strike #1: From today's chat 7/31/2007:
Chris (Tampa): Does adding Teixeira to the Braves lineup give them one of if not the most potent lineup in baseball?
Joe Morgan: (11:23 AM ET ) No, there are better lineups than the Braves--the Tigers, the Mets. He may help their lineup, but it doesn't make them the best.
Let's do a little comparison (note this is without Teixeira, so this is with Salty/Thorman at 1B)
Runs - Braves 506, Mets 481
OPS - Braves .764, Mets .756
TB - Braves - 1574, Mets - 1518
Now you're probably thinking, well what about park effects, cuz the Mets play in a pitcher's park so their numbers overall could be down because their home numbers would skew them lower (although so far this year according to ESPN Park Factor Turned Field is playing more like a pitcher's park than Shea Stadium)...so let's compare the Road Splits (since these should theoretically be similar since they each play in same road ballparks roughly the same number of games).
Runs - Braves 279, Mets 254
OPS - Braves .786, Mets .753
TB - Braves 866, Mets 778
So the Braves have clearly been a better offensive team this year, at least according to Joe's requirements "batting average really is secondary, the most important thing is run production" (primarily due to the fact that Reyes isn't homering as much and Delgado has been struggling--or not struggling in his own words) and now they are going to start Teixeira (7.69 RC/27) over Thorman (3.41) and Saltalamacchia (4.73).
Strike #2: From Joe's chat 7/24/07
Kevin (Hamler, OH): Do the Tigers have enough bullpen pitching without Zumaya and Rodney to make a serios run at a world championship?
Joe Morgan: That is hard to say because you never know who is going to step up. But if they get those guys back I think they will win it all. At the moment it is very hard to tell what is going to happen in Detroit. But at this point I think they may be the best team in baseball and that is even considering the hot streak the Yankees are on.
Notice Joe says that Detroit may be the best team in baseball...theoretically, the best team in
baseball usually makes the playoffs (not always, but usually)..Then later in the Chat
ben (new york): Joe- who are your playoff teams
Joe Morgan: I can only name a couple. I say Boston, Dodgers, Mets, and I would say the Yankees or Cleveland. But the Angels always make a good run. Those are the teams for now.
Notice that Detroit is coincidentally absent...as in the Indians are going to win the division from "may be the best team in baseball" and the Yankees will overtake "may be the best team in baseball" for the Wild Card...
Strike 3: From today's chat 7/31/2007
Charlie (NYC): Joe, do you think that the Dmitri Young extension by the Nationals was a good move?
Joe Morgan: You have to keep talent if you're going to build, even if you're going to trade him later for value. He's been their best hitter, so yes, I think it was a good move.
While it is possible that Joe is referring to the choices of
*Sign Dmitri Young to a contract extension
*Not sign Dmitri Young to a contract extension and let him leave the team
any normal, person who follows baseball realizes that the question was really between
*Sign Dmitri Young to a extension
*Trade Dmitri Young to a contending team for prospects
I won't bother going through and explaining the obvious reasons why the Nats should have traded him for prospects (difference in wins to Nats from Young over next 2 years is minimal compared to potential prospect impact over next 6 years, Young will theoretically have to play OF if Nick Johnson ever heals, Young is having a career year unlike any he has ever produced before) since Keith Law did an excellent job spelling it all out a couple of days ago here. But I would love to see a poll and see how far in the minority Joe is on this decision. 80-20, 90-10. I'd bet somewhere in the middle.
Finally, I would just like to point out that the title of reference for Joe in the chats and such on ESPN.com is "hall of famer". As if being in the Hall of Fame somehow qualifies him to discuss and analyze baseball on a regular basis and as we all know it clearly doesn't, based on the number of times Joe has answered with "I don't know", "I haven't been able to seemuch this year", and "It's hard to say really".
Strike #1: From today's chat 7/31/2007:
Chris (Tampa): Does adding Teixeira to the Braves lineup give them one of if not the most potent lineup in baseball?
Joe Morgan: (11:23 AM ET ) No, there are better lineups than the Braves--the Tigers, the Mets. He may help their lineup, but it doesn't make them the best.
Let's do a little comparison (note this is without Teixeira, so this is with Salty/Thorman at 1B)
Runs - Braves 506, Mets 481
OPS - Braves .764, Mets .756
TB - Braves - 1574, Mets - 1518
Now you're probably thinking, well what about park effects, cuz the Mets play in a pitcher's park so their numbers overall could be down because their home numbers would skew them lower (although so far this year according to ESPN Park Factor Turned Field is playing more like a pitcher's park than Shea Stadium)...so let's compare the Road Splits (since these should theoretically be similar since they each play in same road ballparks roughly the same number of games).
Runs - Braves 279, Mets 254
OPS - Braves .786, Mets .753
TB - Braves 866, Mets 778
So the Braves have clearly been a better offensive team this year, at least according to Joe's requirements "batting average really is secondary, the most important thing is run production" (primarily due to the fact that Reyes isn't homering as much and Delgado has been struggling--or not struggling in his own words) and now they are going to start Teixeira (7.69 RC/27) over Thorman (3.41) and Saltalamacchia (4.73).
Strike #2: From Joe's chat 7/24/07
Kevin (Hamler, OH): Do the Tigers have enough bullpen pitching without Zumaya and Rodney to make a serios run at a world championship?
Joe Morgan: That is hard to say because you never know who is going to step up. But if they get those guys back I think they will win it all. At the moment it is very hard to tell what is going to happen in Detroit. But at this point I think they may be the best team in baseball and that is even considering the hot streak the Yankees are on.
Notice Joe says that Detroit may be the best team in baseball...theoretically, the best team in
baseball usually makes the playoffs (not always, but usually)..Then later in the Chat
ben (new york): Joe- who are your playoff teams
Joe Morgan: I can only name a couple. I say Boston, Dodgers, Mets, and I would say the Yankees or Cleveland. But the Angels always make a good run. Those are the teams for now.
Notice that Detroit is coincidentally absent...as in the Indians are going to win the division from "may be the best team in baseball" and the Yankees will overtake "may be the best team in baseball" for the Wild Card...
Strike 3: From today's chat 7/31/2007
Charlie (NYC): Joe, do you think that the Dmitri Young extension by the Nationals was a good move?
Joe Morgan: You have to keep talent if you're going to build, even if you're going to trade him later for value. He's been their best hitter, so yes, I think it was a good move.
While it is possible that Joe is referring to the choices of
*Sign Dmitri Young to a contract extension
*Not sign Dmitri Young to a contract extension and let him leave the team
any normal, person who follows baseball realizes that the question was really between
*Sign Dmitri Young to a extension
*Trade Dmitri Young to a contending team for prospects
I won't bother going through and explaining the obvious reasons why the Nats should have traded him for prospects (difference in wins to Nats from Young over next 2 years is minimal compared to potential prospect impact over next 6 years, Young will theoretically have to play OF if Nick Johnson ever heals, Young is having a career year unlike any he has ever produced before) since Keith Law did an excellent job spelling it all out a couple of days ago here. But I would love to see a poll and see how far in the minority Joe is on this decision. 80-20, 90-10. I'd bet somewhere in the middle.
Finally, I would just like to point out that the title of reference for Joe in the chats and such on ESPN.com is "hall of famer". As if being in the Hall of Fame somehow qualifies him to discuss and analyze baseball on a regular basis and as we all know it clearly doesn't, based on the number of times Joe has answered with "I don't know", "I haven't been able to see
Labels: Joe Morgan is an idiot
posted by DWTHTB at 12:05 AM
1 Comments:
It's nice to know that Joe is answering questions based on perception. Yes, the perception is that the Mets have a great offense, just like they did last year. Except even last year, their feared - AL quality - lineup was in fact 3rd in runs scored in their own DIVISION.
Poor Joe. He really is clueless. I don't think he ever looks at numbers or understands them if he does. Except for wins, of course, which is the most important stat for pitchers, right Joe??
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