We’ve reached the end of the line on the fielding chronicles for another season. I often enjoy this series because it helps explain teams like the Nationals. They are a very good team and yet over time they have underachieved. You look at their starting pitching and their hitting talent

Tanking is such a dirty word. No one truly loses on purpose. At least, no one purposely tries to lose that we know of. However, it is difficult not to look at the Padres record (15-29 going into the weekend), their payroll, and the moves they’ve made and come to

One of the great things about sports is that you can never predict the future. Unfortunately, fan of the Giants are witnessing the downside of that fact. As of this writing, they stand in fourth place in the NL West and that is only due to the struggles of the

Every organization operates differently even when they use data to support their moves. The Cardinals are a unique franchise because they have enough revenue to operate like a big boy, but they like to build their team through their farm system. So, most of their players are home grown and

Most of the time, you want star players on your team. Stars obviously produce great numbers in their own right, but they also attract other players. Then, there is the marketing that goes along with those stars. Andrew McCutchen might or might not be a legitimate star, but he is

One of the truths of using a zero-based system is that someone must be negative. Defensive runs saved uses a zero-based system and in that system approximately half of the regulars and half of the teams will be below zero. No matter how much we may like a team, player,

The Mets have been to the playoffs in two out of the past three seasons, so they must be doing something right. Watching different teams reach the playoffs is a testament to the different philosophies that can succeed in the sport. Try as we might, we cannot dictate how a

The Brewers are embarking on a rebuilding project and they seem to be ahead of schedule because of some clairvoyant decision making. Both Travis Shaw and Eric Thames have paid huge dividends so far. David Stokes learned from the best in Houston, so it makes sense that he would be

A funny thing happens to people that have been poor their whole life and suddenly become rich. Most of the time, they don’t suddenly become sophisticated. They make many of the same poor choices they made before they were rich. There are plenty of stories of lottery winners that wound

Thankfully, the Jeffrey Loria era is about to come to an end in Miami. Baseball’s bulimic franchise is about to gain some stability. At least we hope the new ownership group (whoever it may be) will bring some stability to south Florida. Like with real bulimia, the baseball version causes