Results tagged “baseballprospectus”

Baseball Prospectus, the annual book of hardcore statistical analysis and predictions, doesn't seem to think the big off-season moves of both our local teams have turned them into division favorites. (You may have heard of BP recently because of its many mentions as the launching pad for 2008 election predictor Nate Silver.) This year's Prospectus (courtesy this week's Onion) sees both teams coming in with under 90 wins— 89 for the Mets, 87 for the Yankees. Despite the Yankees becoming “simultaneously better and younger" with their free agent signings, the book says, "(They) only partly mask an aging lineup and a shoddy defense.” As for the Mets, BP doesn't exactly predict Philadelphia to run away with the NL East (with 93 wins) and goes so far to declare that the team “will never have a better opportunity to win a World Series with their current core than they do now.” The harshest criticism around town (as it often is with statheads) comes at Derek Jeter, who the book says “By 2010, Jeter’s glove won’t play in the infield and his bat won’t play anywhere else.”

He's only won two matches, but Andre Agassi has already made his final U.S. Open memorable. Thursday's win over Marcos Baghdatis, the No. 8 player in the world, came after a tortuous match. After leading by two sets, Agassi dropped the third, but he rebounded to take a 4-0 lead in the fourth set. Baghdatis rallied to take that set and an early break in the fifth, but Agassi broke right back, and neither player lost his serve until Agassi broke Baghdatis to win 7-5. He'll next face Benjamin Becker, a qualifier, so a fourth-round match against Andy Roddick could be in the offing. No matter what fans thought of Agassi's earlier career, which included immaturity and a lack of success against some of the game's biggest stars (Pete Sampras), few should be in a rush to see Agassi leave.

-Mets 7, Blue Jays 4: What are the chances the Mets will reach the playoffs? High, according to Baseball Prospectus? Why? Their offense has been excellent and their pitching has kept up. A year after making the fourth-most outs in the history of baseball, Jose Reyes has proved to be something other than an offensive black hole. Carlos Beltran has come close to earning his paycheck, and everyone knows about David Wright. Steve Trachsel has always been adequate, and that's what he was Sunday.

SPORTS: Does it seem like everyone you know is suddenly wrapped up in their fantasy leagues? If you're fully engullfed in your own, or if you're feeling left out because you just don't "get it" - head over to Housing Works for a discussion on fantasy baseball. Experts Ron Shandler (Baseball Forecaster), Sam Walker (Fantasyland), and Nate Silver (Baseball Prospectus) will let you know what it's all about.