I do hope Billy restructures and comes back.

Also, when you mention WAR, I think most people assume you are using baseball reference. If you use Fangraphs, you should probably call it fWAR. I prefer baseball reference. I think what fWAR is doing with defense is interesting, but I really don't like the fact that Fangraphs uses FIP for pitchers.

Meh **** it

Go Royals

They said it would take a butt load including possibly Duffy to get Samardjia. That's not happening. I think Zobrist is the most likely given his ability to play 2 positions we are weakest at and it wouldn't cost a ton.

Fun Fact: In baseball's modern era, the greatest single season of all time as measured by WAR is Babe Ruth in 1923 (14.0). The 2nd-best is Dwight Gooden in 1985 (13.2).

That in a nutshell is one reason why people love WAR. How do you objectively compare the value of a given pitcher to a given non-pitcher who played in separate leagues over 60 years apart? That is really the only way.

I keep seeing people float the Zobrist thing and part of their reasoning is him being able to play 3rd, something he's actually never even really done as a MLB player. Yeah, the guy is Mr. Utility, but he's much more of a 2B, SS, OF guy.

All of this is assuming you meant play for Moose when you wrote 2 weakest positions. If not, nevermind.

Luis Valbuena- plays third, mashes righties, perfect platoon partner for valencia.

AL, I've got a "Fun Fact" for ya, In 1980, Matt Keough threw 187 pitches in a 14 inning complete game for Oakland. You'll never see that in today's MLB.

Valbuena

vs RHP: .287/.384/.476/.860
vs LHP: .269/.367/.346/.713

HAVANA -- Cuban authorities say hard-hitting outfielder Yasmani Tomas of Havana's powerhouse ballclub Industriales has defected.

Communist Party newspaper Granma said Friday that he left the island "through unscrupulous, illegal human trafficking."

According to BaseballdeCuba.com, Tomas hit .286 last year with 15 homers, 45 runs scored and 60 RBIs.

The website says he is "without doubt the 'slugger' of the team."

We lose one game out of 10 and Prison Bitch turns into a...well, bitch.

I think he's really bitter with the current Royals organization. He might really be Frank White?

Eval I did on another site regarding trading for Samardzija and the potential gains (based on WAR)

• Shark has 2.3 WAR in 15 starts. 0.15 per start. Worth 2.4 over a half season.
  
• Duffy has 1.0 in basically 9 starts. 0.11 per start. Worth 1.8 over a half season. Half win difference.
  
• Vargas has 1.9 in 15 starts. 0.13 per start. Worth 2.08 over a half season. 1/3 win difference.
  
• Ventura has 1.3 in 13 starts. .1 per start. Worth 1.6 over a half season. 0.8 win difference.
  
• Guthrie has 0.8 in 15 starts. 0.05 per start. Worth 0.9 over a half season. 1.5 win difference.

If they could replace Guthrie with Samardzija, the Royals would probably pick up a few wins, at least on paper. It sounds like, though, to acquire Samardzija you're talking about moving either Duffy or Ventura to make that happen. Then the gain is marginal and the cost is extreme.

The Royals would gain a lot more by acquiring a RF at a much lower cost (Rios, Byrd, Seth Smith, etc).

At least for this season... and if Samardzja continues to pitch at this level (something he has yet to prove he can really do). He fell apart from June on last year, and has an ERA approaching 6 in June this season...

Duncan, you know your shit- I think valbuena is a natural fit for us, but nobody entertains the idea. What am I missing here?

Valbuena would be a nice fit and shouldn't cost much at all. Like the versatility and LH pop.