Braves fixture and all-around mostly-good guy* Chipper Jones has signed a 3 year, $42 million deal that should put him with the Braves through his retirement. As a big fan of Chipper throughout his career, it’s good to see the guy stay in one uniform for the duration, and we sincerely hope we’ve avoid the demoralizing sight of the once-great hero* limping around in a bizarro uniform for one more season.

Just in case you need a reminder, here are some highlights of Chipper’s career, courtesy of Wikipedia, god’s gift to slackers and aspiring sportswriters.

• 1st pick overall in the 1990 amateur draft
• TSN Rookie of the Year (1995)
• 6-time All-Star (1996-98, 2000-01, 2008)
• National League MVP (1999)
• 2-time Silver Slugger at 3rd base (1999-2000)
• Holds the Major League record for most consecutive games with an extra-base hit (14; tied with Paul Waner).
• 8 consecutive 100+ RBI seasons (1996-2003)
• 14 consecutive 20+ home run seasons (1995-2008)
• Most home runs in a season by a National League switch hitter (45; in 1999; tied with Lance Berkman, although Jones completed the task first.)
• Third-most home runs for a switch hitter, behind Eddie Murray (504) and Mickey Mantle (536)
• Hit the first home run at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. (2008)
• 400 Home Runs (hit 400th off Ricky Nolasco of the Florida Marlins) (June 5, 2008)
• Most Home Runs to begin a career playing under one manager (Bobby Cox)
• NL Player of the Week (June 2nd–June 8th, 2008)
• 2008 NL (and MLB) Batting Champ with .364
• 2008 Highest On Base Percentage with .470

*at least until something horrible comes out, which we hope never happens, but you can never be too careful.**

**I was just reminded of the affair with the Hooters waitress but am unsure where this charts on my outrage-o-meter.

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Rick Vaughn chipper jones, espn

Jason Giambi's mustache provided a much-needed drag reduction as he ran the base paths in 2008.

Benjamin Kabak at River Avenue Blues got a bee in his bonnet over Joel Sherman’s comment about Jason Giambi’s base running. Sherman claimed Giambi was “station-to-station” and “offered no threat on the bases,” which is more or less true, but the guy was second-highest on the Yankees last year in terms of OPS. So this caused Kabak to wonder, how much of a detriment can a guy be when he hits 32 home runs and gets on base better than the vast majority of players?

While he doesn’t provide a definitive answer, Kabak does some math and figures out that Giambi’s one of the least efficient base runners in baseball, at least in terms of runs scored per times he reached base.

With an OBP of .373 in 565 plate appearances, he reached base 211 times last year. He scored just 68 runs for a conversion rate of just 32.2 percent. As Sherman notes, when we omit Giambi’s home runs, he scored 36 runs in 179 times on base. That means that in just 20 percent of his non-home run times on base, Jason Giambi scored a run.

Compare that 20 percent with a league-average 31.5 percent. Now, who knows exactly what that means? Giambi’s ability to score once he reaches base has as much to do with the people hitting behind him as it does his ability to go first to third.

Of the people hitting behind him, he was getting a fair amount of help last year. Throughout the year, Giambi could count on some combination of Hideki Matsui, Robinson Cano and Xavier Nady hitting behind him, all guys who get on base quite a bit and posted slugging percentages of .424, .468 and .474, respectively, last year. So it’s safe to say he had a good amount of extra-base hits behind him in the lineup.

Without a larger sample size, though, it’s pretty much impossible to determine just how much Giambi’s scoring efficiency affected the Yankees last year, but Kabak’s numbers still make for a good jumping-off point.

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Joe Blancato benjamin kabak, hideki matsui, jason giambi, river ave blues, robinson cano, xavier nady, yankees

Not pictured: Bronson Arroyo hurting his wrist.

Must be a slow week over at the Reds’ training camp, because Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com has taken it upon himself to shed light on a often-misunderstood disease, one that doesn’t just plague the nation’s secretaries and computer nerds: carpal tunnel syndrome.

Reds starter Bronson Arroyo first developed symptoms of the disease in 2004 when he was with the Red Sox, and has battled occasional pain and numbness in his pitching wrist since then. “My fingers were weak,” he told Mayo, “like they were falling asleep. Then it went away. After I pitched the ALDS, it came back.”

Arroyo also plays the guitar, but he claims that hasn’t affected his wrist negatively.

Now that he’s on the Reds, team doctors have begun treating the disease, but there’s no telling what Dusty Baker may do to aggravate the situation.

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Joe Blancato bronson arroyo, injuries, mlb.com, reds

Jose Canseco's defensive woes could have impacted his net worth in the developing market.

Eric Neel has a great article on the developing world of defensive sabermetrics at ESPN. He details how GMs around the league are all warming up to run differential as a way of evaluating a player’s overall contribution to a team.

Neel drags out all the usual suspects: He mentions Bobby Abreu’s fear of padded walls, Derek Jeter’s range to his left and the giant hole in Adam Dunn’s glove. He also talks about how more front offices are adopting stats like WARP and UZR to determine how much they’re willing to spend on a player.

Of course, baseball is steeped in tradition, for better or worse, so this new renaissance of glove work is born less out of progress and more out of precedent, namely the 2008 Rays:

In 2007, Tampa Bay had one of the worst defenses in modern history; according to BP’s calculations, the fielders cost the pitchers 117 runs compared with a league-average defense. But a few smart moves turned it all around: switching B.J. Upton from second base to centerfield; trading Delmon Young, who had been playing some center; and establishing Jason Bartlett, acquired in the Young deal, as the starting shortstop. Then, two weeks into the season, Evan Longoria came up from the minors and solidified third base. The collective result was one of the best defensive teams in baseball, saving 59 runs in the field. The net turnaround, from –117 to +59, accounted for almost 20 wins.

It’s hard to argue with that.  I doubt baseball will start throwing record-breaking contracts at the Christian Guzmans of the world, but in an era where power numbers are in decline, teams will need to find new metrics to be successful.

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Joe Blancato adam dunn, bobby abreu, christan guzman, derek jeter, eric neel, espn, statistcs

Sheffield has a personality as big as his numbers.

Big news today: The Detroit Tigers have released possible Hall of Famer Gary Sheffield. Jason Beck at MLB.com has the story, which came as a surprise to Sheffield and at least one teammate, Miguel Cabrera:

As Sheffield talked with reporters, he shook hands with Cabrera when he arrived.

“I’ll see you,” Sheffield said.

“Where are you going?” Cabrera asked.

Ian Casselberry at Bless You Boys shared his opinion about the release as well: “I have to say, I’m pretty stunned by this and didn’t see it coming. … his certainly allows the Tigers more lineup flexibility in terms of shuffling players around the outfield and DH spot.  Sheffield looked to me like an immovable object at DH, anchored by that $14 million contract and a manager that seemed to be exceedingly loyal to him.”

Sheffield’s career has spanned seven teams. He began life in the Majors as a Brewer before having his best years in the late ’90s for the Marlins. He also spent time with the Braves, Dodgers and Yankees before heading to Detroit to reunite with manager Jim Leland.

While his personality never quite endeared him to the press and ruffled more than a few feathers, his performance on the field was herculean. For instance, last year was the first year he had a season’s worth of plate appearances where his OPS+ was under 100 (it was 90). In his best offensive year, 1996, his OPS+ was 189 (real OPS: 1.089). That and his 499 home runs makes him a viable candidate for the Hall, assuming he were to retire today.

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Update: The Phillies just released Geoff Jenkins, which may indicate their interest in Sheffield.

Joe Blancato gary sheffield, mlb.com, tigers, transactions

Pictured: Wall Street, Present Day

In perhaps an omen of things to come–all owners should kiss their teams goodnight and maybe linger in the doorway a little–two minor league baseball teams are ceasing operations. The Atlantic City Surf and the Ottawa Voyageurs of the Independent Can-Am league will be no more, says the AP.

Miles Wolff, the league’s commissioner, said Monday that a deal to sell the Surf last week fell through. Without strong ownership and the money to back it, Wolff says it made no sense to continue to operate the club.

“We are tremendously disappointed that the Can-Am League will not be in Ottawa and Atlantic City in 2009,” Wolff said. “These are two cities that we believe can be strong members. However, without solid ownership and the financial commitment behind these teams, it is in the best interest of the league to go with six clubs.”

While neither team seems to have been strong financially, as firm devotees of minor league baseball, we are tremendously sad to see two teams go, though one does have to wonder about the implications for the future of all baseball.

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Rick Vaughn AP, business, minor leagues

Pictured: Wall Street, Present Day

Someone may want to tell Bud Selig that the glory days of billion dollar new baseball parks are likely gone, what with the economic apocalypse we’re currently dealing with here in the heartland. Nonetheless, MLB is absolutely determined that the Athletics are going to get a new stadium, one way or the other!

“Lew Wolff and the Oakland ownership group and management have worked very hard to obtain a facility that will allow them to compete into the 21st century,” Selig said. “To date they, like the two ownership groups in Oakland before them, have been unsuccessful in those efforts, despite having the significant support of their corporate partner Cisco. The time has come for a thorough analysis of why a stadium deal has not been reached. The A’s cannot and will not continue indefinitely in their current situation.”

If I may make a recommendation to the committee, please read any business news website or the business section of your local paper, assuming it hasn’t been shut down.

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Rick Vaughn athletics, bug selig, seattle times

Connie Mack knew how to build a ballclub.

Frank Fitzpatrick at the Philadelphia Inquirer put together a pretty compelling article comparing the great Athletics team of the early ’30s to the ‘08-and-on Phillies. The 1930s A’s were outshadowed by the Yankees of a similar time, even though they beat them for the pennant three years in a row. If it wasn’t for the Great Depression hitting, Fitzpatrick and others believe that the A’s could’ve been a force to be reckoned with for even longer than the three-year span in which they were dominant, but budgetary constraints caused Connie Mack to cut back on the team.

Fitzpatrick sees parallels to the ‘08 Phillies in the early-’30s A’s. He says:

“If the 2009 Phillies are to emulate the 1930 Athletics and repeat, they will do so in a far-different era but with a very similar formula.

“Like those A’s, these Phillies remain virtually unaltered from the previous October. They too will rely on a potent lineup that mixes speed and strength, will be powered by a monstrously strong first baseman, will have a dominant lefthander at the head of their rotation, will have a 46-year-old veteran on their staff, and will play solid defense.”

That, and Great Depression II: Electric Boogaloo is extremely nigh.

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Joe Blancato athletics, connie mack, frank fitzpatrick, philadelphia inquirer, phillies

Are the Orioles going to be competitive this year? Probably not. But who do you throw to the wolves in a non-competitive year?

Dempsey’s Army, one of the Orioles’ fan blogs, takes a look at who is available and builds out a “shoulda been” rotation accordingly.

Raise your hand if you honestly believe the Orioles can win this season? Yeah , me neither. So unlike most teams, this is not just a matter of picking pitchers who give the team the best chance to win. It goes deeper than that.

1) Pitchers who give you team the best chance to win.
2) Pitchers with upside who may or may not be ready for the majors but are out of minor league options.
3) Pitcher who can be used as cannon fodder, eating some innings for a couple months while better options can be found without resorting to rushing young arms to the majors.

Some interesting insights in there.

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Rick Vaughn orioles, pitching

Immigration to the U.S. has never been easy, baseball prospect or no.

Looks like the art of smuggling baseball players has finally drawn the long arm of the federales. Peter Gammons is reporting that Major League Baseball is working with the FBI to get to the bottom of a litany of problems originally brought about by issues within the Nationals and White Sox organizations.

Former Nats GM Jim Bowden was recently forced to resign over accusations that he was skimming bonus money from contracts offered to Latin American players, and the White Sox have been accused of falsifying birth records to speed up the immigration process  for their prospects.

So far, over 70 players have been detained. It seems like much of the investigation at this point is clerical; just making sure every player is in fact who he says he is. But who knows how far the investigation can run up the chain.

Smuggling players out of Cuba has been a cottage industry for quite some time, as Michael Lewis wrote in “Commie Ball.” Much of what Lewis discovered was shady as all get-out, but due to Cuba’s diplomatic status with the U.S., Cuban players have the luxury of asking for political asylum before going on to make millions in the Majors.

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Joe Blancato espn, immigration, jim bowden, nationals, peter gammons, smuggling, white sox