Nine Lives and Five Cats...
Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 10:36 am
Enevitably, in every roster shown on the Boards, there will be a description of a player who is a five category player. I know the writers mean well, and you and I know what they mean, but it makes players look better than they actually are.
To me, a five category player is a player who excels at each category. Even the word 'excel' has to be explained though.
So, let's go to Numerish. .300/100/25/100/20 would be my idea of a five category player. Even if a player is off by a digit or two, good enough for me.
So, how many players from last year are five category players?
Three.
Matt Kemp, Ryan Braun, and Jacoby Ellsbury.
If we knocked down the numbers to .290/90/20/90/15, a sizable drop in each category, these players can now, also be considered five category players....
Dustin Pedroia
Carlos Gonzalez
That's it.
Of these five players mentioned, Pedroia has the lowest adp at the 17th overall pick.
Let's pick on a couple of players that have been called five category players-
Andrew McCutchen hit .259 last year.
He has never had 100 rbi or runs scored.
Last year was the first year he hit over 20 home runs.
Adam Jones had 68 runs scored last year. 68!
Alcides Escobar, hitting eighth and ninth last year had 69 runs scored.
Besides, Jones only had 12 stolen bases.
In fact, Jones hit 25 homers last year. That is the only time he has EVER reached ANY of the even lowered five category qualifications.
Adam Jones is not close to being a five category player.
He is a very athletic player who looks better than the numbers he actually puts on the board.
....RANT ALERT!!
Which puts a picture of Yoenis Cespedes in my head....Does anybody know of one player playing in Cuba right now?
Me neither.
Unless I'm looking to get an all-beefcake team (Anybody who has seen the Cespedes workout video knows what I am talking about) Cespedes is hands off for me.
It is hard enough to think that somebody coming from AAA can play with the big boys. Cespedes comes from an island of pitchers he knows well and when he plays outside of that realm, he has faced the best pitchers in the world. That is, if you don't count Major Leaguers and think a lot of the pitching rotations in Holland and France, and Austrailia.
Even with more competition in his country and being older and wiser and given a ball park to succeed in, Hidecki Matsui only hit 16 homers his first year in America. I don't think Cespedes hits 10.
In short, I would at least Missouri Cespedes. If he succeeds this year, I'll eat my words. I've eaten 'em before.
But, I have a strong suspicion I won't have to and that Cespedes is sent down after getting frustrated by Big League pitching.
RANT OVER!
Some players came close to being five category players last year such as Justin Upton, Gordon, Cabrera, and even Jeff Francoeur. Besides Upton, the other players would have to come close or do it again to be considered 'real' five category players.
A younger friend asked the other day why hitters are more coveted than pitchers in our contest.
I mentioned the 14 hitter slots as opposed to nine pitching slots.
The different positions we have to fill.
The everyday play as opposed to once a week.
He said, "Oh, I thought it was because no pitcher can help in all five of their categories."
It was then that I got a sense of how the young want it all as fast as they can get it.
Maybe there is a little truth in that, and maybe we do hope for five categories with our picks.
But the reality is, few deliver.
To me, a five category player is a player who excels at each category. Even the word 'excel' has to be explained though.
So, let's go to Numerish. .300/100/25/100/20 would be my idea of a five category player. Even if a player is off by a digit or two, good enough for me.
So, how many players from last year are five category players?
Three.
Matt Kemp, Ryan Braun, and Jacoby Ellsbury.
If we knocked down the numbers to .290/90/20/90/15, a sizable drop in each category, these players can now, also be considered five category players....
Dustin Pedroia
Carlos Gonzalez
That's it.
Of these five players mentioned, Pedroia has the lowest adp at the 17th overall pick.
Let's pick on a couple of players that have been called five category players-
Andrew McCutchen hit .259 last year.
He has never had 100 rbi or runs scored.
Last year was the first year he hit over 20 home runs.
Adam Jones had 68 runs scored last year. 68!
Alcides Escobar, hitting eighth and ninth last year had 69 runs scored.
Besides, Jones only had 12 stolen bases.
In fact, Jones hit 25 homers last year. That is the only time he has EVER reached ANY of the even lowered five category qualifications.
Adam Jones is not close to being a five category player.
He is a very athletic player who looks better than the numbers he actually puts on the board.
....RANT ALERT!!
Which puts a picture of Yoenis Cespedes in my head....Does anybody know of one player playing in Cuba right now?
Me neither.
Unless I'm looking to get an all-beefcake team (Anybody who has seen the Cespedes workout video knows what I am talking about) Cespedes is hands off for me.
It is hard enough to think that somebody coming from AAA can play with the big boys. Cespedes comes from an island of pitchers he knows well and when he plays outside of that realm, he has faced the best pitchers in the world. That is, if you don't count Major Leaguers and think a lot of the pitching rotations in Holland and France, and Austrailia.
Even with more competition in his country and being older and wiser and given a ball park to succeed in, Hidecki Matsui only hit 16 homers his first year in America. I don't think Cespedes hits 10.
In short, I would at least Missouri Cespedes. If he succeeds this year, I'll eat my words. I've eaten 'em before.
But, I have a strong suspicion I won't have to and that Cespedes is sent down after getting frustrated by Big League pitching.
RANT OVER!
Some players came close to being five category players last year such as Justin Upton, Gordon, Cabrera, and even Jeff Francoeur. Besides Upton, the other players would have to come close or do it again to be considered 'real' five category players.
A younger friend asked the other day why hitters are more coveted than pitchers in our contest.
I mentioned the 14 hitter slots as opposed to nine pitching slots.
The different positions we have to fill.
The everyday play as opposed to once a week.
He said, "Oh, I thought it was because no pitcher can help in all five of their categories."
It was then that I got a sense of how the young want it all as fast as they can get it.
Maybe there is a little truth in that, and maybe we do hope for five categories with our picks.
But the reality is, few deliver.