I'd like to hear your comments on acquiring Eric Brynes.

Funny, last year the park in Atl was worse for HR's than ours. I think Huff is a better move anyway. LaRoche is a horrible first half player and he would have been more expensive too boot.

One more thing we should appreciate about Huff: He has the balls to play in a real baseball park. It wouldn't give me a lot of "confidence" if I thought my success depended on batting in a dollhouse. Suck one LaRoche (and Bay). Lets go Huff-Daddy!

Come on, didn't you get a free copy of Bill James Handbook? (Or was that Grant) For those who want data like this, the book is cheap on Amazon and it came out much earlier.

Index 100 = neutral
3 year average

Runs 101
Hits 104
Doubles 106
Triples 139
Homers 91

Of course, triples are not that often, so that won't make up for the missing homers. But with the extra hits and doubles, apparently that makes up for the homers not hit.

I thought I was the only one to try that maneuver with the g. fries.

There are OTHER ways to look at it as well. Have you ever played softball in a park where the fence isn't too hard to reach? I usually try to "jack it out" and end up flying out deep instead and end up going 2-4 with no hrs. When I play in a huge place knowing I can't really hit one out I usually go 3-4 or 4-4 with 3 doubles etc. Your hitting adjusts to the park you're playing in. Anybody going to be upset if Huff's doubles, obp, runs and rbi's go UP and his hrs go down a little?

bigO has a good point - its analogous to the Green Monster. If you're focused on hitting it over that close wall, good luck. LaRoche's comment about "foul pole to foul pole" is pretty disquieting about his approach at the plate.

I would note that Bill James does not simply take home and road and compare them in a ratio, as ESPN does. He adjusts those totals by the at-bats, so that the results are not skewed by their being more at-bats in one situation than another. He also provides 3 year averages plus does not provide 3 years if the stadium changes during that period.

I couldn't find my 2008 book to cover Bonds's last years, but here's something even better for you all: Bill James made a mistake in the 2007 book, so he republished the whole indices on-line in a pdf: http://www.baseballinfosolutions.com/images/ParkIndices2007errata.pdf

With Bonds 2004-2006:
102: BA
101: Runs
100: Hits
104: 2B
127: 3B
84: HR
98: BB
97: SO
99: LHB-BA
74: LHB-HR
104: RHB-BA
90: RHB-HR

2007-2009:
104: BA
103: Runs
104: Hits
106: 2B
139: 3B
91: HR
93: BB
95: SO
105: LHB-BA
88: LHB-HR
103: RHB-BA
93: RHB-HR

You can see the big changes particularly for LHB before and after.

Here is 2009:
103: BA
105: Runs
101: Hits
104: 2B
113: 3B
99: HR
88: BB
98: SO
104: LHB-BA
81: LHB-HR
103: RHB-BA
112: RHB-HR

So it appears that triples was greatly affected by 2008's stats, where the index was 187, when we had faster guys on the team getting more ABs. Doubles too, 113 in 2008. LHB-HR was also skewed by 2008, it was 101 that year.

So Bonds being around did help out LHB stats overall, but clearly, it is a pretty bad park for any left-handed hitter who is dependent on HRs for their offensive value (like Bay or LaRoche) but good for a player who has a good BA and is a gap hitter, particularly one with speed who could turn doubles into triples.

And that reminds me: the doubles are above 100 despite the fact that many doubles are turning into triples in AT&T.

Sanchez signs for $2.1M for 2010.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100119&content_id=7935782&vkey=news_sf&fext=.jsp&c_id=sf&partnerId=rss_sf

One down, two to go. I think Wilson will probably be signed before the meeting, but have no guess on what will happen with Lincecum (hopefully a multi-year deal).

Let's try this scenario: LaR thought the Giants would up their offer, and found that instead the bottom was likely to drop out of his market. He had to settle for less with Arizona. But he didn't want to sound as though he was settling or that he had misplayed his hand. So he made up something more creditable to him and maybe? flattering to his new team.

LaDouche signed with AZ because it's a hitter's park and he wants to put up big numbers so he can hit the free agent market next year and try to get the ridiculous long term deal he sought this offseason. Too bad LaRoche doesn't realize that he's not a special player. To be honest, he looked for the lesser of two evils after his 2/17 mil offer from SF dried up. It was Baltimore, where the chances of competing for the playoffs are slim and none, or Arizona, which has a young, talented team in what is basically a wide open NL West.

Quick note on the Adam Laroche rationale for signing with Arizona...his not being candid, period. Laroche would take a time machine back and sign that deal were it on the table at the same time his deal with Arizona was. No player would ever take less years at substantially less money, even if it meant playing in a park that was going to be less beneficial to his overall numbers. Laroche is going to have way stiffer competition from Free Agent first baseman in 2010. Pujols, Carlos Pena, Adam Dunn, Nick Johnson, Konerko, Cantu, Berkman, Derrek Lee...He was being as honest as McGwire. As I said, he'd do anything to take the Giants deal were it still available. I've even considered blogging on this particular subject.