The Rangers would be 0-162 if they scored 0 runs one game and 12 the next over the course of the entire season.
but he DID do it for a year. going back to the '06 ASB, taveras logged 161 games in which he posted (roughly): .315 ba; .366 ob%. and while you've repeatedly referenced colorado's amazing run and its lack of taveras, let me ask you a question: if the team (presumably) was sooooo much better w/o him... why was he activated for, and is now starting in, the nlcs? he's hit lead-off in all 3 games.
I was in Denver this weekend and caught the games at local sports bars...I was like yeah, we traded him away...Good for him and glad to see the Rockies doing well...
Allow me to actually address the problem here. 1. Taveras is a major league calibur talent. I just don't think that he, or Juan Pierre for that matter is a bona fide, annual all star, gonna be in Cooperstown kind of player. 2. We ALL know that we grossly overpaid for Jennings. If Jennings had been as advertised, I think he would have been worth Taveras and Buchholz, but NOT Hirsch as well.
Clearly, the Rockies have no idea what they are doing. They should listen a typical run of the mill journeyman poster overvalued by...himself.
Great arguments, guys! Major League managers never make lineup mistakes. It's not like we watched Jason Lane play almost half the time for more than two months of this season... or Chris Burke play in CF instead of Hunter Pence. Major League lineups are always exactly what they should be and managers are always correct! EDIT: Actually, Taveras was benched for three games in the 2005 NLCS in favor of Chris Burke. Was Burke the better option in CF?
If you can justify Adam Everett starting everyday, I think you can justify Taveras. Pretty good fielder and much better offensive player than Everett. There's certainly nothing crazy about Taveras starting for a good team.
Eh, it depends on a lot of factors. For one, the average production at SS from an offensive standpoint is less than in center. Second, it depends on the alternative. I don't think Taveras is a bad player. But in this particular instance -- one where the Rockies have a decent defensive CF (Spilborghs) with a much better bat (.850 OPS) who has been hot over the past month -- I think it's a mistake. That said, I agree with Major... at this point, the entire Rockies lineup is so hot that it really doesn't matter much. This might be an exception where sacrificing offense for a slightly better glove means an overall net gain... simply because the rest of the team is hitting so well now that the offensive downgrade really doesn't even get noticed.
I, for one, is happy for Willy T. He is a great team player, and it wasn't his fault that PooPooRuh made that boneheaded trade. I hope he does well in the World Series.
Man it sucks the team we made a trade with is going to the WS. I know they didn't make the WS because of the deal, but Willy T did help them win this series.
I miss Willy But hoping he gets a world series ring, was my favorite Astro last season, seeing him getting traded was devastating for me to take in. Good Luck Willy your still my boy.
so, cat, let me make sure i follow you - ml manager make line-up mistakes... UNLESS the line-up DOESN'T include willy taveras - then it's not a mistake? right? btw, taveras started the other 3 nlcs games (including the clinching game 6) and then all 4 WS games. he was 23 at the time w/ no double A experience. also, the rockies just swept the nlcs.... so, yes - starting taveras all 4 games was obviously a line-up mistake. had he not been in there, they probably would have won in 3. the point remains: after you jumped up and down about how the rockies won w/o taveras down the stretch (because he was hurt; not because he was benched)... as soon as he was healthy, he immediately went back into the line-up that had won a bijillion in a row, starting and leading off. and after the rockies roll continued after taveras' return, your only response is that ml managers make mistakes? including the manager of the nl champion?
Willy T. for WS MVP! I hope he has a whale of a series whoever Colo plays in the main event. Colo's run to the play-offs reminds me of the Astro's own 36-13 finish a few seasons ago.
Did you not read my subsequent post in that thread? I'll quote myself: I was quite up front with admitting that the data was too small to make any kind of judgment and that I was having fun with the situation. It was my way of fighting back against the people that have taken a small percentage of Taveras' career and acted as if it's representative of who he's been all along and who he will be in the future. I'll still point out that 18 games is a hell of a lot larger sample than four. But in either scenario, it's far too small to make a correlation. Also, not sure when I said or hinted that managers don't make lineup mistakes.
but cat, he's maintained a .360+ ob% over his last 600 abs. given his age and his minor league experience (including his lack of), when do we start to accept that maybe, just maybe... a .360 ob% is legitimate? the rockies have built an obviously great team with a lot of young guys, and they've put taveras at the top of its lineup and in CF everyday. i think that speaks volumes that they seem to have a greater appreciation for him than the astros did. and the astros aren't in the WS, coughcough. no one thinks he's a bona fide all-star and certainly not a HoF'er; what a silly response. taveras addresses two glaring needs: he's a lead-off hitter and he's a terrific defensive player. if these two items aren't among your 3 or 4 top priorities looking at the 2008 astros... well, then you didn't watch any of the 2007 season.
Taveras would be the 4th-best OF in Houston right now. He's had a fine calendar year, but players whose OBP is propped up almost entirely by batting average are usually either 1.) not very good or 2.) terribly inconsistent. I'm not saying that Willy T can't have a good career, but history is not on his side.
Taveras missed more games in the second half of the season than he played, and there's a case to be made that the Rockies might not be in the World Series if that weren't the case. Maybe I'm stubborn, but the problem I have believing Taveras is a consistent .360 OBP player is that he doesn't pass the eyeball test. His walk rate hasn't improved, and neither has his patience at the plate. His gap power hasn't improved. The only difference in 2007 is that he's hitting .320 instead of .290 or .280. Now, how did he get there? From watching him, he's not hitting more line drives. His BABIP is a sky high .370. Yes, I know speed guys will always have a slightly higher BABIP (he was in the .330 range in Houston), but .370 is extreme. Combine that with hitting above .300 only once in his minor league career, and it seems to me that evidence points to this being one of those small sample sizes where luck goes his way and balls simply find holes. I'm not saying it necessarily can't be legitimate -- but I'm going to need a greater sample size than what is available now. I watched every game of the 2007 Astros, from a closer perspective than a lot of folks. My top needs, by far: two starting pitchers, at least one additional plus reliever, improved infield defense up the middle, and increased offensive productivity from the catcher spot. Outfield defense is far, far, far down my list... I'll be pretty pissed if they as much as touch the current OF. It's the strength of the team.
