Money Ball the movie

I heard one of them on the radio last week and he was making sense. He had problems with the book.

The movie has dredged a lot of this shit right back up just when it was even mildly beginning to settle.

 

There are legitimate problems with "Moneyball". I completely agree. Anyone can point out the omission of Hudson/Mulder/Zito.

There are even more problems with "Short Hops", which was basically written as a response to "Moneyball". Their arguments are worthless and they should stop being quoted.

 

Jonah Hill should've played Jeremy Brown.
Jeremy Brown = bigger bust than Van Poppel

 

My understanding is that their book is harshest on Voros McCracken.

A guy who has completely vanished aside from that sad profile a few months ago. Is he even mentioned in the movie?

 

Jeremy Brown was a player on nobody's radar (if the book is to be believed). Not even worthy of being scouted.

He turned into a solid AAA catcher who was worth a cup of coffee in the majors and would probably have had a nice career as a fringe major leaguer if he'd wanted to stick with it.

That's not a bust. That's above-average for a sandwich pick and fantastic for a guy who wasn't supposed to be drafted at all.

 

They took him with the sandwich pick -- the 35th pick of the draft. He played in 5 major league games. Solid PCL catcher? Did you watch him in the PCL? In an offensive league, he had a little above average numbers. no i'm not going to look up the average obp and ops for players in the PCL but Brown was .364 and .833. decent or good for a catcher, not great. so he was better than a guy who shouldn't have been drafted, but if he was on nobody's radar why pick him 35th overall. if he's on nobody's radar was someone just going to pick him in the 3rd or 4th round.

 

I'm glad to hear that, seriously. In retrospect, I shouldn't have painted any more territory than this one author and this one book. I heard the story direct from him and was as appalled by it as he was.

 

I said he was solid. You said he was decent or good, but not great. What exactly is the quibble here?

And more importantly, what do you think is a normal expectation for a 35th overall pick?

 

well bust is a term for a guy who doesn't reach the expectations. 1st round and sandwich picks should last a little bit in the majors. of course in baseball it's a way lower percentage compared to other sports but still i would say a guy picked in the first round who doesn't make the majors is a bust.

tough to accept a guy who probably would've had a nice career just said fuck it, don't want to play anymore. don't know enough about Brown to comment on his reasons. i do think that the old-time know-nothing scouts have a valid point in trying to evaluate a player's makeup -- heart, desire, ability to put in extra work, ability to perform under pressure, etc. i also agree Beane had a valid point about not dismissing guys who don't have the 'baseball body.'

 

What percentage of sandwich picks do you think "last a little bit" in the majors?

 

don't know, probably 50. but if he's off the radar and no one else was going to take him, wasn't there anyone else they thought would make the majors. like an unproven hs guy, like a Josh Johnson maybe.

 

There were 11 sandwich picks the year Brown was picked.

8 of them have never played in the majors. Brown got a cup of coffee. Dan Meyer pitched 113 innings in relief across five partial seasons with a 5.46 ERA. Mark Teahen is an MLB regular.

So in terms of major-league contributions, Brown was 3rd out of 11.

Not a bust.