Prospectus Today: Breakout Candidates by Joe Sheehan

Links (24)

Melky Cabrera the next Alex Rios?
Published 1/15/2008 by JMM at MY BASEBALL BIAS
Joe Sheehan of Baseball Prospectus ranks Melky Cabrera as one who might have a break-out year in 2008: Cabrera went backwards in ’07, but not by enough for concern. Remember that he is just 23 years old and has more than 1100 plate appearances in the majors, with average to average-plus defense (good physical tools, but very raw, takes bad routes) and a very good 129/96 K/BB. He is a mature player offensively, patient at the plate and fair on the bases (25-for-35 stealing in his career). One interesting quirk ...

Joe Sheehan with some Ian Kinsler love
Published 1/15/2008 by Adam J. Morris <info@lonestarball.com> at Lone Star Ball: Front Page Posts
Joe Sheehan offers up some breakout candidates for 2008, and includes one of my favorite Rangers on the list: Ian Kinsler: Starting with McLouth, we get into players who aren't quite as strong candidates. Kinsler made small improvements across the board in '07, hitting more ...

[THE HANGOVER] The Rays Drop $2.9 Million On Seventh Inning Pitcher
Published 1/15/2008 by The Professor at Rays Index
... a history of injuries. To expect a full season out of both is expecting a lot. Maybe too much. [Rays of Light] There’s no doubt that Al Reyes and Troy Percival can throw, but there’s also no doubt that at ages 37 and 38 respectively and each with a history of injury, they are much closer to their last pitch than their first. Baseball Prospectus lists Dioner Navarro as one of their 2008 "Breakout Candidates". [Baseball Prospectus] Navarro has been a completely different player ...

Melky Going Forward
Published 1/15/2008 by Nick-YF at YFSF
... BP's Joe Sheehan is a little more optimistic than I am about Melky Cabrera. Sheehan lists Melky as a breakout candidate in his latest piece. ...

Breakout Candidates as Chosen by Joel Sheehan of Baseball Prospectus
Published 1/16/2008 by Shinsano at East Windup Chronicle
... the past 24 hours I’ve been meditating on the fact that the next couple weeks are when baseball is at it’s absolute lowest ebb. Patsball is peaking, basketball is getting into games that actually count and spring training is still a few weeks away (well, except here in Korea). My perception of this is also somewhat distorted because this site has been growing during this time. Weather? I can’t be sure, but what I can say is that deep inside my winter spine I felt a little tinge of excitement for spring when I read this article. ...

BPro: Sheehan: Breakout Candidates
Published 1/16/2008 at BBTF's Baseball Primer Newsblog
BPro: Sheehan: Breakout Candidates Obviously five believers...or fewer, are really in on this. Ryan Zimmerman: Zimmerman may seem like an odd choice for the list, given how well he’s played in his first two full seasons. However, Zimmerman’s raw stat lines have been held down by his home park, RFK Stadium, which just killed power, especially right-handed power. Zimmerman’s home/road splits do not reflect this gap—he’s slugged .501 at RFK in his career, .435 on the road, but a guiding principle of performance analysis is that an individual’s home/road splits, even over two ...

Joe Sheehan: Nate McLouth Could Break Out in 2008
Published 1/16/2008 by Charlie <info@buccosdugout.com> at Bucs Dugout: Front Page Posts
Joe Sheehan of Baseball Prospectus, in a list of 2008 breakout candidates: It's not clear whether McLouth can make enough contact to warrant being called a breakout candidate. However, in his career he's 34-for-36 stealing bases, including 22-for-23 in 2007, and that's a key ...

Sheehan: Melky’s break-out potential
Published 1/16/2008 by Ben K. at River Ave. Blues
In a piece available to non-Baseball Prospectus subscribers, Joe Sheehan talks about his break-out candidates for 2008. Making the list is none other than our own Melky Cabrera, and Sheehan likes what he sees: Cabrera is listed at 5’11” and 200 pounds. He’s not Willy Taveras, but rather a player who should be developing power and learning how to drive the ball, rather than hitting the ball on the ground 60 percent of the time. I’m reminded of Alex Rios, who doesn’t look a thing like Cabrera. Rios was largely disappointing in 2004 and 2005, hitting just 11 homers in more than 900 at-bats, with an isolated power of ...

Links
Published 1/16/2008 by Pat at Where have you gone, Andy Van Slyke?
Charlie keeps his comparison of Huntington to other small market GMs going. Since I think this is the best way to evaluate Huntington, I'll keep linking. SID BREAM WILL BE THE TOP ASSISTANT WITH THE STATE COLLEGE SPIKES. Also, Brad Fischer is the new manager there, displacing the ever-so-popular Turner Ward. BP rates the breakout candidates for 2008. On the list is Nate McLouth. It’s not clear whether McLouth can make enough contact to warrant being called a breakout candidate. However, in his career he’s 34-for-36 stealing bases, ...

Sheenhan on Cabrera
Published 1/16/2008 by StatsGuru at Baseball Musings
Joe Sheehan looks at players who might break out in 2008 , and Yankees blogs are surprised at Joe's prediction for Melky Cabrera. My Baseball Bias , Yanksfan vs. Soxfan , and River Ave. Blues all are skeptical. I tend to be more positive on Melky than most people I read, due to the fact that he's getting a lot of playing time at a young age. The 2007 season lowered my expectations for him as he appeared to take a step back, but a decent centerfielder with a .340 to .350 OBA is still a useful player. Given that he still has time to develop, he could turn ...

Wednesday Morning Mets Newsstand
Published 1/16/2008 by Eric Simon <amazinavenue@gmail.com> at Amazin' Avenue: Front Page Posts
... At Baseball Prospectus, Joe Sheehan looks at a number of potential breakout candidates for next season. None of them are Mets, so Sheehan can just go !@#$ himself. I'm just kidding; check it out. ...

Will The Melk Man Deliver?
Published 1/16/2008 by Greg Cohen at Sliding Into Home: A Yankees Blog
... Joe Sheehan of Baseball Prospectus wrote an article today about the potential breakout players for the 2008 season. Yankees centerfielder Melky Cabrera made the list. Many have disagreed with Sheehan’s assessment, I do not. I feel that Melky will be a very solid player for the next 10+ years for the Yankees, or Twins, or whichever other team is he on. But now let’s take a look at what Sheehan had to say: ...

[THE HANGOVER] The Rays Drop $2.9 Million On Seventh Inning Pitcher
Published 1/16/2008 by The Professor at Rays Index
... a history of injuries. To expect a full season out of both is expecting a lot. Maybe too much. [Rays of Light] There’s no doubt that Al Reyes and Troy Percival can throw, but there’s also no doubt that at ages 37 and 38 respectively and each with a history of injury, they are much closer to their last pitch than their first. Baseball Prospectus lists Dioner Navarro as one of their 2008 "Breakout Candidates". [Baseball Prospectus] Navarro has been a completely different player ...

Frodo to break out
Published 1/16/2008 by Rowdy at Honest Wagner
Joe Sheehan of Baseball Prospectus likes what he sees in Nate McLouth. Curiously, the article says nothing about Romulo!.

Yappin’ Joe Sheehan?
Published 1/16/2008 by Tangotiger (tangotiger@yahoo.com) at THE BOOK--Playing The Percentages In Baseball
It looks like Joe Sheehan has decided to put out his Bloomberg List.  You know, those yappin’ talking heads who will tell you which stocks will rise over the next 6 to 12 months, which of course they won’t put their own money on, allowing them to not retire early, and then give us another list in a month.  And on and on it goes. Now, how am I supposed to evaluate Joe here?  The Marcels seem like a good fit.  The 9 hitters that Joe mentions (the 8 plus Francoeur) are expected by Marcel to perform at these levels: 4633 PA, 1116 H, 388 XBH, 556 RBI, 612 R, 86 SB, 20 CS, 421 BB, and 765 K.  (If ...

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Published 1/16/2008 by Chris Needham at Capitol Punishment
1) Baseball Prospectus sez (based on nothing, really) that Ryan Zimmerman's going to be a breakout candidate. A reasonable enough statement. But then as that particular author is wont to do, he takes it a step further to say that he'll outproduce David Wright, who was a legit MVP candidate last year. Um, yeah. Possible, I suppose, but then so is the possibility of me being elected Pope. (Wily Mo Pena gets an honorable mention) Somewhat-related discussion (though not as much angst from Mets fans as I was hoping) ...

The Jetsam: 1.16.08
Published 1/16/2008 by Flotsam Media at Flotsam - We'll tell you what to think
... Bill Parcells' first big move as Dolphins' GM was to hire Tony Sparano. ESPN's Matt Mosley examines the question: Who the hell is Tony Sparano? [sidenote: how many Tony Soprano jokes will we have to endure?] Baseball Prospectus takes a look at breakout candidates for 2008. And yes, Dioner Navarro is included. ...

2nd base is an open competition
Published 1/16/2008 by thewizardsofoz <info@southsidesox.com> at South Side Sox: Front Page Posts
... Great Falls will continue to be affiliated with the Sox. ***** In other news, Jim looks at Phil Rogers' 'Top 10 Sox prospects' list. Joe Sheehan (BP) list his breakout candidates. Tango wonders what breakout would that be. Could the Rangers DFA Jason Botts? (Hat Tip: MLBTR). Speaking of MLBTR, check this out. Dan Agonistes: A Podsednik Nugget? (Hat Tip: BBTF). Go inside for a look at Great Falls' new uniforms. [great falls tribune[: ...

Rangers Notebook: A Bullpen Primer
Published 1/16/2008 by Joey Matschulat at Baseball Time in Arlington
... Splits currently has data available for only the most recent season - but at the same time, this serves as a fairly hefty piece of evidence against Gold’s case of platooning with Broussard. T.R. Sullivan’s notes in his latest MLB.com mailbag that while the Rangers “could use” Dodgers infielder Nomar Garciaparra, they “aren’t going to get him away.” That’s encouraging. Baseball Prospectus’s Joe Sheehan has pegged second baseman Ian Kinsler, who is coming off an impressive 20-20 ...

Baseball Prospectus: Zimmerman will be better than Wright
Published 1/17/2008 at The 'Ropolitans - New York Mets Baseball Blog
Baseball Prospectus: Zimmerman will be better than Wright 2008-01-17 at 4:43 pm In a recent article on Baseball Prospectus , Joe Sheehan claims that Ryan Zimmerman will have a better season than David Wright . From BP: "Zimmerman’s raw stat lines have been held down by his home park, RFK Stadium, which just killed power, especially right-handed power. Zimmerman’s home/road splits do not reflect this gap—he’s slugged .501 at RFK in his career, .435 on the road, but a guiding principle of performance analysis is that an individual’s home/road splits, even over two years, do ...

This Week's Links (1/14-1/18)
Published 1/18/2008 by Vegas Watch at Vegas Watch
BBTF hands out some Gold Gloves. Listen, Buster. Listen. He listened! The Post not making much sense. Carl echoes the same thoughts, except Carl is joking. Sheehan's '08 breakout candidates. Duke or UNC? Shaughnessy at it again. Jack Morris for the HoF? In that case, how about Rob Nen? Grant Wahl doesn't include UNC in his "Magic Eight". His reasoning behind this is questionable (see update).

Friday Notes
Published 1/18/2008 by Nick N. at Nick & Nick's Twins Blog
... * Earlier this week, Joe Sheehan of Baseball Prospectus put together a list of nine young players who are "breakout candidates" in 2008. Fifth on the list is Kubel, about whom Sheehan has this to say: ...

2008 Breakout Candidate #4: Ryan Zimmerman
Published 1/26/2008 by Daniel Rathman at The MLB Source
... Joe Sheehan of Baseball Prospectus writes, “David Wright might well have been the most valuable player in the National League last season; Zimmerman will be a better player than Wright in 2008.” ...

Recap: First Pitch New York
Published 3/12/2008 by Derek Carty at THT Fantasy Focus
... . Back in November, Zimmerman broke a bone in his left wrist, forcing him to have surgery. As per Rick's timetable, Zimm won't regain 80 percent of his power until July or August. When you consider how high some people are on Zimmerman an example is Baseball Prospectus' Joe Sheehan, who said that "Zimmerman will be a better player than ...