Worst to First - The Sequel

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by panelpatter

Has anyone in your universe ever hit .400 for the year? Wondering how unique Jeter is vs. rest of your world?

It's been a real long time. Eddie Collins was the only player so far to hit over .400 and he did it twice - .406 in 1921, and .410 in 1925. Last year was the closest anyone has gotten since, with Frank Thomas hitting .375.

So Jeter has been pretty impressive, especially as a rookie. He's got roughly a 90 point lead over the next closest hitter in the NL, and Griffey is leading the AL with a .370 average.

[Trebro]

Originally Posted by NYY #23

It's been a real long time. Eddie Collins was the only player so far to hit over .400 and he did it twice - .406 in 1921, and .410 in 1925. Last year was the closest anyone has gotten since, with Frank Thomas hitting .375.

So Jeter has been pretty impressive, especially as a rookie. He's got roughly a 90 point lead over the next closest hitter in the NL, and Griffey is leading the AL with a .370 average.

That's amazing for him. I wonder, if he ends up staying in Colorado, if the "rare air" would get him close to Cobb/Ruth? (One hopes you won't be stuck in Colorado that long!)

I love this idea, by the way. I may steal it just to play around with. One Dynasty report is enough for me, given it's a world-view.

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by panelpatter

That's amazing for him. I wonder, if he ends up staying in Colorado, if the "rare air" would get him close to Cobb/Ruth? (One hopes you won't be stuck in Colorado that long!)

I love this idea, by the way. I may steal it just to play around with. One Dynasty report is enough for me, given it's a world-view.

Thanks, I sure hope I'm not in Colorado long enough to see Jeter get anywhere close to those numbers, although it will be interesting to see how he does based on his hot start. And good luck playing around with it!

[NYY #23]

What a rookie season by Derek Jeter, as he finished the season with a .420 batting average, which set the single season mark for highest batting average in a season, and he was the first player to hit .400 since Eddie Collins hit .410 in 1925. I definitely don't regret taking Jeter with the number one pick anymore.

We have a couple of bright spots offensively, but after losing 109 games I'm really glad this season is done. Now we need to get some pitching help.

Colorado Rockies - 46-116 (.284) 52 GB
1995 - Colorado Rockies 53-109 (.327) 37 GB (Season Score - 1)

[ShagVT]

Hard to argue with .420 ... with Johnson batting behind him, I bet he scored a ton of runs. Would you mind posting his full stats?

You know what you need? GROUND BALL PITCHERS.

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by ShagVT

Hard to argue with .420 ... with Johnson batting behind him, I bet he scored a ton of runs. Would you mind posting his full stats?

You know what you need? GROUND BALL PITCHERS.

No problem. Jeter had a .420/.472/.574 line with 214 hits, 102 runs scored, 32 doubles, 8 triples, 10 homer runs, and 87 RBI. He was 16 for 22 on stolen bases with a 181 OPS+ and 6.2 WAR. He led the league in hits, hit by pitch (13), sac flies (10), batting average, on-base percentage, and RC/27 (12).

And I definitely agree on the ground ball pitchers. I'm hoping for some pitching help in the draft.

[NYY #23]

One final comparison with Jeter -

Derek Jeter (COL) - .420/.472/.574, 10 HR, 87 RBI, 59.2 VORP, 102 R, 181 OPS+, .447 wOBA, 6.2 WAR
Bobby Higginson (MON) - .344/.424/.667, 35 HR, 104 RBI, 71.6 VORP, 103 R, 189 OPS+, .449 wOBA, 7.1 WAR

Definitely a pretty close rookie of the year race, but the long ball won out in the end.

[NYY #23]

We've got a new manager in town, with our bench coach's contract expiring, Kelsey Nelson was demoted to bench coach, with Ron Oester aboard as our new manager.

The Rockies drafted first overall, and selected SP Hideo Nomo with our top pick. In the second round we selected SP Jason Schmidt with starting pitchers Matt Beech and Jason Dickson selected in the third round. Another starting pitcher Rocky Coppinger was selected in the fourth round, with relievers Matt Ruebel and Trey Beamon rounding out the draft.

As we head into salary arbitration we will be non-tendering MR Mark Davis, MR Jeff Fischer, MR Jeff Sellers, 2B Craig Wilson, and CF Kevin Romine. Based on their performance and age they just weren't worth the money.

The Rockies also had Tom Hausman, Jim Clancy, Tim Conroy, Scott Sanderson, and CF Mike Ramsey retire this year. So even though we drafted seven pitchers, we'll be losing seven pitchers as well.

[NYY #23]

With $12 million available for free agents this offseason the Rockies have weaknesses at first base, left field, right field, the rotation and the bullpen to address.

We started out with signing Darren Lewis to play right field on a one year contract. The 28 year old hit just .226 last season with 8 home runs, but just one year ago he hit .328/.388/.417. He seems like a good candidate for a rebound season.

Dennis Cook agreed to a one year contract as well, and he'll get a chance to help our rotation. Another starting pitcher, Kelly Downs was brought in on a one year contract.

We also brought in utility man Craig Grebeck on a one year deal. He hit .252 last year with a .342 on-base percentage and can play second, third, and short for us.

Catcher Joe Girardi was signed to one year deal to serve as our new backup catcher.

In the bullpen we added 30 year old Mark Dewey, 32 year old Jeff Brantley, 35 year old Jeff Robinson, and 36 year old Don Heinkel to one year deals.

To fill our first base hole we signed Kevin Maas to a one year $3,800,000 contract. Last year Maas hit .278 with 20 home runs in his final season in Toronto.

Then last but not least we broke out the checkbook and brought aboard LF Sammy Sosa on a five year $25,000,000 contract. Sosa hit .265 last year with 30 home runs in Atlanta, and was the best offensive player who didn't require compensation.

While I would have liked to upgrade our pitching more, there wasn't many good options. The best pitcher available was Brian Barnes, who went 11-14 with a 4.08 ERA last year. For his asking price I was able to sign Sosa, Dennis Cook, Kelly Downs, and a reliever, not to mention he was a type A.

[ShagVT]

Wow - is Sosa going to hit 80 HR in Coors Field? If Jeter can hit .420, one can only imagine.

Two questions - did you give any attention to ground ball ratios with the new pitchers? And to what extent do you evaluate players based on scout ratings versus on-field production?

[Trebro]

Originally Posted by ShagVT

Wow - is Sosa going to hit 80 HR in Coors Field

Ah, but this version won't have access to drugs!

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by ShagVT

Wow - is Sosa going to hit 80 HR in Coors Field? If Jeter can hit .420, one can only imagine.

Two questions - did you give any attention to ground ball ratios with the new pitchers? And to what extent do you evaluate players based on scout ratings versus on-field production?

I won't predict 80, but I can definitely see Sosa hitting 60. I like our offense, I think it's shaping up nicely.

Pitching on the other hand...I did pay attention to ground ball ratios when selecting pitchers, although in some cases there were other factors. Picking Nomo first was a reach, but I really wanted a pitcher. It basically came down to Nomo or Justin Thompson, who had a slight advantage. I had a hard enough timing passing up Vladimir Guerrero and Nomar, so I had to go with Nomo who looks to be a better pitcher.

It played a larger factor in selecting Schmidt and Matt Beech. Based on his ratings I want to call Beech a sleeper and one to watch. I won't rule out having a bad scout because I don't even recall the name, but he's a ground ball pitcher with decent ratings. Both Cook and Downs are ground ball pitchers, but I won't pretend they were good. They were cheap, and potentially capable of eating inning.

Pulsipher is definitely not a ground ball pitcher, but was better than expected. Carlos Perez was perhaps our best ground ball pitcher last year, before his injury. Pitching will be an adventure again, but I'm hoping that three of Nomo, Schmidt, Beech, Pulsipher, and Perez will show enough progress that I'm only needing to fill two rotation spots next year.

For the most part I like to look for production on the field first and place more weight on that. Because it seems like I'm always broke I will go a couple of years back with guys like Sosa and Darren Lewis to see if they've had success before and are coming off a down year, or look for something that stands out that says they may be a better player than they've shown. I'd rather pour my money in to amateur scouting, and trust my scout there.

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by panelpatter

Ah, but this version won't have access to drugs!

Sosa did hit .294 with 41 home runs two years ago, and .298 with 42 homers the year before. He's had a weird career path though, with a bad year, followed by two good years, followed by a bad year, then two good years again, with a bad year last year. So I'm expecting good things, at least the next two years.

[NYY #23]

With a 15-11 record the Rockies jumped out to first place after the first month of the season. Who knows if we can keep it up, but the NL West is a pretty weak division.

New addition Sammy Sosa won the Batter of the Month after hitting .364 with 12 home runs and 29 RBI.

Our top pick Hideo Nomo has gotten off to a rough start, going 1-1 with a 9.49 ERA in 5 starts.

Bill Pulsipher added a changeup to his repertoire this offseason and has gone 6-0 with a 2.62 ERA so far. It's definitely working for him so far.

[NYY #23]

The Rockies played even better in May, winning one more game while losing the same number of games, but the Giants have gotten hot and we now trail them by 5 1/2 games. We do still hold a 1 1/2 game lead over the Cubs for the Wild Card though.

What a difference a month makes, Hideo Nomo won the Pitcher of the Month Award after going 5-1 with a 2.01 ERA, including a no-hitter against the Marlins.

Sammy Sosa won his second straight Batter of the Month Award after hitting .375 with 16 home runs, 25 runs, and 32 RBI. He's now just 2 shy of his 1995 home run total. Rumor has it that he's started taking Flintstone vitamins, and credits them with his power surge.

Chipper Jones picked up 6 hits in a 19-8 win over the Marlins.

[illeracula]

Your starters ERA is manageable but man that bullpen needs some serious help!

Have to like what your offense is doing, maybe Sammy is sharing those vitamins with the rest of the team.

Jeter sure does love Colorado. I bought my tickets to see the real Jeter in NY one last time, hard to see him go... and I am going to try to get some Baltimore tickets. Its great being stuck in the middle, lol.

Good luck chasing down those Giants. Get that bullpen in control and you will be set.

Who are the "starts" on the Giants? Anyone worthwhile?

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by illeracula

Your starters ERA is manageable but man that bullpen needs some serious help!

Have to like what your offense is doing, maybe Sammy is sharing those vitamins with the rest of the team.

Jeter sure does love Colorado. I bought my tickets to see the real Jeter in NY one last time, hard to see him go... and I am going to try to get some Baltimore tickets. Its great being stuck in the middle, lol.

Good luck chasing down those Giants. Get that bullpen in control and you will be set.

Who are the "starts" on the Giants? Anyone worthwhile?

My bullpen definitely needs quite a bit of help. Not much help in the system either, so that could be our downfall.

Jeter really does love Colorado, it's pretty cool to see how well he's been doing. I do need to get tickets to see the real Jeter one last time too, because I agree, it's definitely hard to see him go.

The Giants are an unusual team. Their big star is Nelson Simmons, who has developed into a .300/30 home run threat, and he's been remarkably consistent. They are seeing quite a bit of production out of a pair of rookies, Andruw Jones and Bill Mueller. Mark Sweeney, Scott Cooper, and Mark Loretta have been playing pretty well this year, but they look like they are overperforming.

Their pitching may be worse than ours, with Ismael Valdez and Mark Guthrie having breakout years. Guthrie was 4-11 last year with a 5.96 ERA, and he looks like a 20 game winner with an ERA under 3.50. They do have a clear advantage in the pen though, with Mel Rojas, Wayne Edwards, Ramon Manon, Scott Ruskin, and Dan Miceli all pitching better than any of our relievers.

So I think we've got a shot against the Giants.

[NYY #23]

The Rockies continue to roll along, finishing with a 17-12 record for the month, although the Giants have gone 40-14 in May and June and lead by 7 games. I'm not saying the Giants are a bad team, but they aren't that good.

Derek Jeter had a 21 game hitting streak end this month, but is still hitting .420 for the year.

Bill Pulsipher won the Pitcher of the Month after going 5-0 with a 2.14 ERA this month. He's now 13-3 this season with a 2.89 ERA. I had to check his real life stats because I didn't remember him amounting to much, and he won 13 games in his career. That changeup is doing wonders.

[NYY #23]

The Rockies had a losing month in July, but still managed to make up ground on San Fran, who we now trail by 6 games. More importantly we still hold a 2 1/2 game lead in the Wild Card.

I don't think we are a championship team, but maybe we can hit our way to a World Series?

Sammy Sosa finished the month with a 20 game hitting streak, and won another Batter of the Month after hitting .368 with 16 home runs, 40 RBI, and 33 runs scored. With 56 home runs this year it'll be interesting to see how many he can hit in Coors Field.

Chipper Jones had a 20 game hitting streak stopped in a 8-5 loss to the Cubs.

Finally, Bill Pulsipher, Derek Jeter, and Sammy Sosa represented the Rockies in the All-Star Game.

[NYY #23]

The Rockies returned to winning with a 17-11 month, and remain in control of the Wild Card with a 4 game lead.

Sammy Sosa saw his 27 game hitting streak come to an end. Sosa continues to chase history though, targeting Mark McGwire's record of 68 home runs in 1987, and Juan Gonzalez's 169 RBI in 1994.

Meanwhile, Derek Jeter continues to chase .400 for the second consecutive year, hitting .409.