When the Giants Come to Town, It's Bye-Bye Baby

02.27.2008
It's Up to You Not to Heed the Lineup

LineupIn yesterday’s comments I was ribbed for leaving Joe Crede out of my revised post-Vizquel-injury lineup. Everyone seems to find it inevitable he’ll be a Giant come opening day; I’m not as sure, though I concede that if Vizquel’s injury proves more serious, the temptation to trade for Crede will grow.

Let’s assume the Giants get Crede. Using Baseball Musings’ lineup analysis doo-hickey, how does the Giants projected lineup compare to, say, a miserable rag-tag group of homeless free agents?

You know where this is going, don’t you?

The homeless lineup first:

Kenny Lofton CF
Corey Patterson RF
Corey Koskie 3B
Barry Bonds LF
Mike Piazza C
Shea Hillenbrand 1B
Tony Graffanino 2B
Royce Clayton SS

I’m using a DH-less National League lineup, and I’m taking generous and obvious liberties. First, this could be the worst defensive team ever. Also, Koskie might never play again because of a severe concussion, and Piazza, if he can find a job, will never again catch on a regular basis. Bonds, you know about. To generate the analysis, I plugged in each player’s expected SLG and OBP from BP’s 2008 PECOTA forecast (or for Koskie, a best guess derived from his career averages).  

Expected runs per game: 4.13. By batting Bonds first and tweaking things we could get it to 4.4.

Now the Giants, first with Vizquel:

Roberts LF
Frandsen 3B
Winn RF
Molina C
Rowand CF
Durham 2B
Ortmeier 1B
Vizquel SS

Expected runs per game 3.98; best-case scenario 4.22.

Now with Crede instead of Vizquel:

Roberts LF
Frandsen SS
Winn RF
Molina C
Rowand CF
Crede 3B
Durham 2B
Ortmeier 1B

Expected runs per game 4.04; best-case scenario 4.31.

Pitching and defense! Pitching and defense! Sis-boom-bah!

(Photo courtesy of *ejk* under a Creative Commons license.)
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[February 27, 2008 3:31 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Brian said

Here's something else to ponder. The Yanks had a split squad game today, here are the lineups for each team:

The Gooses
Melky Cabrera CF
Derek Jeter SS
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada C
Shelley Duncan 1B
Morgan Ensberg DH
Wilkson Betemit 3B
Jason Lane LF
Jose Tabata RF
Jeff Karstens RHP

The Gators
Johnny Damon LF
Jose Molina C
Bobby Abreu RF
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Jason Giambi 1B
Cody Ransom DH
Nick Green 2B
Chris Woodward SS
Brett Gardner CF
Mike Mussina RHP

Are both of those lineups more potent than the Giants #1 lineup?

[February 27, 2008 3:57 PM]  |  link  |  reply
ELM said

Cody Ransom sighting! He'd probably bat cleanup for the Giants this year.

[February 27, 2008 4:18 PM]  |  link  |  reply
bigO said

from ESPN:

Joe Crede, playing his first game since season-ending back surgery last June, appears to have recovered nicely.


During the White Sox intrasquad game, Crede charged a slow roller by minor league catcher Donny Lucy and made a quick stop and throw on the run to throw him out.


''The only thing I can control is my health,'' Crede, who is a free agent after this season and the subject of trade rumors, told reporters. ''I just want to play baseball. It's the game I love and what I want to do for a living, and I'm just happy to have a uniform and be able to do this every day."


[February 27, 2008 4:26 PM]  |  link  |  reply
gadfly said

how's the pitching for the miserable rag-tag homeless free agents?

[February 27, 2008 4:47 PM]  |  link  |  reply
ELM replied to gadfly

Jeff Weaver, Kyle Lohse, David Wells...

This link gives you a full peep.

[February 28, 2008 12:03 PM]  |  link  |  reply
bigO said

I have a bet with a friend of mine with dinner for 4 on the line. The bet=He has Timmy and I have Cain in these 5 categories. Who do you think will win?
Wins
ERA
WHIP (
K/BB
Opponents batting avg