| By Jason A. Churchill |  | By 09-21-2012 |
In case you haven't heard ... I have agreed to join the Baseball Prospectus staff and will begin my work there sometime next week or the following week. This means I'll be doing more work on prospects from organizations not located in Seattle.
What this does not mean is that things will change here at Prospect Insider.
My role at ESPN also remains unchanged.
A few related notes of change that were not impacted by my new role at Baseball Prospectus include the timing of some regular features here at PI.
announcement-time
Comments
The following 42 comment(s) for this article are shown below:
| 1. By: nwmsfan on 09-20-2012 22:22:35 Whoa. Congrats Jason. Very stoked for the changes |
| 2. By: nwmsfan on 09-20-2012 22:23:29 Or should I say expansions* |
| 3. By: dawgncarolina on 09-20-2012 22:24:35 I had a feeling this might happen. This is AWESOME. Congratulations, old friend. Very happy for you. |
| 4. By: sexymarinersfan on 09-20-2012 23:06:39 Congratulations! Very well deserved! |
| 5. By: dewey on 09-21-2012 01:04:27 Nice very well deserved.I was bored tonight so i went and looked at our record against the five teams that our in the playoffs as of tonight we have 3 left with Oakland and 3 left with Texas againt them all we our 19-40 NYY3-6,TEXAS 7-9,OAKLAND 7-9,WHITESOX 1-8,BALTIMORE 1-8 .Im guessing you have to play 500 against the good clubs and beat up on the weak ones. |
| 6. By: DKulich44 on 09-21-2012 08:16:49 Well, I will say that I was pumped for you getting that job, and that it couldn't go to a more qualified and perfect individual. But, I couldn't help but be slightly worried about the future of PI. But holy cow (to quote the great Harry Carrey) you certainly smashed those fears with a hammer. I could not be more excited for you, and now the staff and readers at PI. Awesome, awesome, awesome. Thanks for everything JAC. |
| 7. By: eknpdx on 09-21-2012 11:28:49 Jason, Good to see your efforts are rewarded. I still recall the scout.com days (whatever it was called before that), your first live chat at Cheney way back then, and how you use to participate on forums. Well deserved, and keep up the excellent work. |
| 8. By: Jason A. Churchill on 09-21-2012 12:21:17 dewey is right, which is why I warned anyone who would listen that despite the fact that the M's were once within 7 games of the WC, there was still no true hope. |
| 9. By: Edman on 09-21-2012 12:35:34 I'm not sure just who thought there was hope to get into the wildcard race, but it certainly wasn't me. The only target I had in mind was them getting to .500, which was a huge enough goal, and one that won't be achieved. |
| 10. By: Jason A. Churchill on 09-21-2012 13:11:48 I was asked about it on Softy's show back then -- late August, maybe? -- and when I said "no" Softy was all "come on!" There may not have been anyone HERE that thought about it being possible, but 1995 skewed a lot of fans' level of realistic expectations. |
| 11. By: johnbeck1000 on 09-21-2012 16:53:51 Congrats JAC! |
| 12. By: jsmitty on 09-21-2012 17:01:29 Congrats Jason! Anyone notice how Ichiro is doing in New York? Only 3 walks in 54 games. What a dick. |
| 13. By: MtGrizzly on 09-21-2012 19:36:19 Congrats, man. Well deserved. The M's blogosphere is a special thing, launching careers in baseball and keeping the fans engaged at a very deep level. I wonder if we really appreciate just how incredibly fortunate we are that guys like Jason have led the creation of this little space on the web for us to enjoy. I know I do. |
| 14. By: Jason A. Churchill on 09-21-2012 23:46:16 Thanks, fellas, much appreciate the kind words. And yes, Grizzly is right. The baseball team in this town may have never won a World Series and produced twice as many 100-loss seasons and 95-win ones, but it's also inspired the production of a ridiculous amount of baseball careers. |
| 15. By: Marlin Man on 09-22-2012 08:35:35 Congrats JAC- don't forget all your little friends back here when you get to the show, full time!!!! ALSO: Congrats to Billy Beene, I see he has done it again!!!!! They outta make a movie about that guy!! M.M. |
| 16. By: PhillyMariners on 09-22-2012 10:22:51 Congrats Jason! Any thoughts of picking up the Up and In podcast where it left off? |
| 17. By: burn31226 on 09-22-2012 16:08:21 Congrats on the new job Jason!!! |
| 18. By: Jason A. Churchill on 09-22-2012 18:46:36 PhillyMariners, No, I won't be doing any regular podcasts for BP. I will be on MLB Network occasionally, starting Sunday night. |
| 19. By: graywilli on 09-22-2012 18:53:39 Congratulations Jason. I rarely comment on here, but I am an avid reader. Your work is awesome. Good luck with the new endeavor. |
| 20. By: Timberwolf on 09-22-2012 19:27:17 Congratulations on the new gig. You deserve it. As for Ichiro, I was noticing that his numbers in New York were looking a lot more like Ichiro 2006 than the guy we saw sleepwalking his way through 2011 and 2012. I guess hiding in the corner of the clubhouse and getting more days off agrees with him. If he were playing for anybody but the Yankees, I'd be wishing him well, but I won't root for the Yankees until they take the field against Al Qaeda. |
| 21. By: Jason A. Churchill on 09-22-2012 20:44:05 Ichiro is simply on a hot streak. Even the sun shines ... yeah. He's still a below-average player that had no place in Seattle anymore. |
| 22. By: dewey on 09-22-2012 23:07:59 I think Ichiro got stale here and it was best for both partys to move on.B ut he still has value just a 4 million player not a 18 million player .Put him on a good team and not ours and he is part of it not the guy who is supposed to carry the mail.I hope he gets that W.S. win this year and thanks for the memorys itch i loved you. |
| 23. By: jsmitty on 09-23-2012 13:58:35 Jason, Ichiro may be a below average player at this point in his career (I don't think he is), however his OBP, SLG, OPS, and extra base hit totals are all better than our stud hitting prospects: Montero, Smoak, and Ackley. So if those guys still aren't as good as a below average 38 year old has-been, what does that say about the future of this organization? |
| 24. By: StandinPat on 09-23-2012 15:06:00 @23 Jack shit? Young players get better all the time |
| 25. By: jsmitty on 09-23-2012 15:23:31 StandinPat, "Young players get better all the time." That's your argument? Wow, okay dude. |
| 26. By: StandinPat on 09-23-2012 15:44:48 Yes, my argument is reality, and basic common sense. You just asked about the future, based on a set of criteria basically irrelevant to said future. All three of those players need to improve, if they do future better, if they don't then its next man up. What Ichiro did or any other player for the matter did this year in comparison is meaningless. |
| 27. By: jsmitty on 09-23-2012 15:51:26 So how long do you give them? And who are the next men up if they fail? |
| 28. By: jsmitty on 09-23-2012 15:55:11 Did you really say "my argumnent is reality?" |
| 29. By: StandinPat on 09-23-2012 16:01:28 Well its not too difficult a concept to say you give Ackley and Montero more than one full season, Smoak is anybody's guess. Zunino, Franklin, Miller and Romero will all prob see time at some point next year. But again, but to the crux of your post. Ichiro going forward is a below average regular, who is being platooned and riding a hot streak, that has BARELY gotten him above the three players you mentioned, who are currently struggling, much the same way many young players do. Still unclear what that's suppose to say about our future compared to what we already knew. |
| 30. By: StandinPat on 09-23-2012 16:05:18 "Did you really say "my argumnent is reality?"" reality tells us many young players struggle early and improve over time, so saying that you can't read the future based solely off their early career numbers is reality. Di you just ask if I said something you can clearly see I did? |
| 31. By: jsmitty on 09-23-2012 16:13:27 It amazes me the how much of a lightening rod Ichiro is. It's easy to piss people off on this blog by just bringing up his name. He may be below average and on the decline, but his numbers are still better. I can't wait to listen to you shit Felix when he's 35, topping out at 88, throwing junk with a 5.00 ERA. Or is that a different situation? |
| 32. By: redrock on 09-23-2012 16:14:43 The Rainiers got Franklin listed as being 6 ft one and 190lbs.He looks more like 5 ft nine and about 160lbs.Do you still think he will be a major leage hitter? |
| 33. By: StandinPat on 09-23-2012 16:32:19 @31 That's YOUR argument? Wow, okay dude. I guess we've move on to the part where we can't actually argue our original position anymore, so we just make the argument about something else entirely. What does the Ms future and what people think of Ichiro have to do with each other again? |
| 34. By: jsmitty on 09-23-2012 18:41:31 StandinPat, Post #24, you said "young players get better all the time." In post #26 you back it up by saying "it is the reality and basic common sense." Let's start with "young players getting better all the time." Are you kidding? Please don't make me go back and research all the young players in the Majors that didn't get better. Did Marc Newfield get better? Did Jeremy Reed get better? Did Jeff Clement get better? There's no guarentee that Montero, Ackley, and Smoak will get better. I'm not saying they won't, but we don't know. What's wrong with me asking an open ended question (in post 23)about the future of the organization and these 3 young hitters? It seemed to ruffle your feathers when I compared their performances this season to Ichiro. The reality is Ichiro's perfomance is better than their's over almost an entire season. We can debate if Ichiro is an average or below average player, but the FACT is his numbers are better than Ackley, Montero, and Smoak. |
| 35. By: StandinPat on 09-23-2012 21:06:45 "Please don't make me go back and research all the young players in the Majors that didn't get better" That would certainly take less time than researching all the young players who did. "Did Marc Newfield get better? Did Jeremy Reed get better? Did Jeff Clement get better?" No you're right, those three players are a way better example than the field. "There's no guarentee that Montero, Ackley, and Smoak will get better. I'm not saying they won't, but we don't know." That's right, we don't know. We don't know either way, so what does their young performances compared to a veteran players, in a platoon role, mean at all for the "future." "What's wrong with me asking an open ended question (in post 23)about the future of the organization and these 3 young hitters?" That's not even close to what you asked. You tried to compare two things that are completely separate and irrelevant to each other, in an effort to convey a negative context with the Ms future. "It seemed to ruffle your feathers when I compared their performances this season to Ichiro" Your flow of logic frightens me. You are the only one talking about Ichiro. I could care less what Ichiro does. Ichiro isn't a part of the Ms future(Not even part of their present), so what does he have to do with their future? "The reality is Ichiro's perfomance is better than their's over almost an entire season" Again...future? how is this relevant? "We can debate if Ichiro is an average or below average player, but the FACT is his numbers are better than Ackley, Montero, and Smoak." So is your whole entire point that Ichiro has performed better than a group of under performing young players? Again, why are you so obsessed with Ichiro's number's compared to these three players? Has anyone argued that these three players weren't below average this year as well? Has a player ever had a below average year early in their career and then gotten better or been replace by someone better in the future? Tell me again what Ichiro having a good stretch while being platooned is an ominous sign for the Ms? And tell me again what a player who is not even currently a Mariner has to do with the future of said Mariners? |
| 36. By: jsmitty on 09-23-2012 21:55:33 StaninPat, Jason made a comment that Ichiro is a below average player that doesn't belong in Seattle anymore and I was responding to that. |
| 37. By: rocketdawg31 on 09-24-2012 12:58:14 I've been occupied for the last few days, Jason, but congratulations on landing the Baseball Prospectus gig! It is richly deserved, and I couldn't be happier. As for this burgeoning, roiling debate about Ichiro and the context of struggling young players: Jason made the comment that he had no place in Seattle anymore because NO MATTER WHAT Ichiro's skill level is, was or isn't anymore...he's soon 39 years old and this is a team dedicated to a youthful rebuild. That's all he was saying. Ichiro is having a slightly better year than much of our young talent. Okay. Sure. That plus $4.50 means you still get a grande mocha from Starbucks. It's not even remotely troublesome to me that Ichiro is outperforming our younger players this season, there's no dark omen in that, no meaning, no relevance. If you're playing the odds, SOME of our talent will improve- maybe even markedly. Probably, some will improve to beyond the level Ichiro is currently playing at. Probably, some will not improve as much, there's even the chance that there won't be ANY improvement (or even decline) by some. Time alone will tell on any and all of it. This argument was just silly. |
| 38. By: davelee99 on 09-25-2012 00:42:56 JAC - Belated congratulations! You're the best. |
| 39. By: Rudolf on 09-25-2012 18:50:12 Congrats, JAC! Obviously we all love this site, so thanks for sticking with it as you move onward and upward! |
| 40. By: Mackie on 09-25-2012 18:57:29 Congratulations Jason, it's well-deserved! Have a blast! Also, I'm mostly in agreement with what Dewey said (#22), and with what Rocketdawg31 said (#37). |
| 41. By: dewey on 09-26-2012 14:29:51 Is it real or is it a tease? Im talking about the small run we have seen from Guitterez being healthy and Smoak having a very nice 2 week run? We have been teased by both before im interested to hear thoughts on this one. |
| 42. By: rocketdawg31 on 09-26-2012 17:14:18 Dewey, if I'm Jack Zduriencik, I fervently hope that it's real, but I prepare thoroughly for the case that it isn't. Those two just can't be your Plan A with nothing else as Plan B. There needs to be other options, and if you can upgrade at reasonable cost? Zduriencik should use any method he can find. This includes free agent outfielders (the strength of this God-awful FA class), trading off Jesus Montero and/or coveted minor-league talent for me. If any of that is what needs to happen to improve this offense, make it so. |
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