: April Fools
: By Rich Lederer
: The first month of the season is almost behind us. We know who has performed
: well: Chase Utley, Chipper Jones, Pat Burrell, Albert Pujols, Derrek Lee,
: Hanley Ramirez, Rafael Furcal, Lance Berkman, Nate McLouth, and Manny Ramirez,
: to name ten hitters; plus Cliff Lee, Ben Sheets, Zack Greinke, Edinson
: Volquez,
本球季第一個月已經快過完了，我們知道誰表現的好:
Chase Utley, Chipper Jones, Pat Burrell, Albert Pujols, Derrek Lee,
Hanley Ramirez, Rafael Furcal, Lance Berkman, Nate McLouth, and Manny Ramirez
是其中十位表現最好的打者，
另外還有Cliff Lee, Ben Sheets, Zack Greinke, Edinson Volquez,
Tim Lincecum, 與Brandon Webb,是在季初最佳的半打投手。
: Tim Lincecum, and Brandon Webb, as among the half dozen best pitchers in the
: early going.
: But which players have put up the worst numbers during April?
但是誰在四月的表現數字最差呢?
: Jayson Nix: .111/.216/.133 with 1 XBH in 51 PA. Nix has gone 0-for-17 since
: his
: last hit on April 13. Although the rookie hit .256/.321/.399 over seven
: minor-league seasons, he repeated AA and AAA along the way to the majors. His
: numbers were not particularly impressive last year playing in a friendly
: ballpark (Colorado Springs) and league environment (PCL). There is more reason
: for skepticism than optimism here.
Jayson Nix(洛磯): 打擊率/上壘率/長打率分別是.111/.216/.133 在51打席中有一次的XBH
(extra base hit)。自他在四月13日擊出安打後，他已經17個打數沒有出現安打。
即使這位菜鳥在過去七個小聯盟球季打出.256/.321/.399的成績，他在上大聯盟之前在
2A與3A之間遊走。去年他的表現以較友善的球場(Colorado Springs)和較友善的聯盟
(PCL)而言並不讓人特別印象深刻。對此有較多的理由令人感到懷疑而非持樂觀看法。
: Tony Pena Jr.: .149/.171/.194 with 2 BB and 16 SO in 71 PA. Pena has never
: shown a proclivity for hitting. He put up a MiL line of .252/.282/.332 with
: 102
: BB and 528 SO in 2698 plate appearances. He doesn't hit for average, doesn't
: hit for power, and doesn't walk. Unless Pena is the greatest fielding
: shortstop
: in the history of baseball, he simply can't play.
Tony Pena Jr.(皇家):打擊率/上壘率/長打率分別是.149/.171/.194，71打席中有2次保
送，16次三振。Pena從未顯示擅長打擊的傾向。他的小聯盟成績是.252/.282/.332，在
2698打席中有102次保送與528次三振。除非他是棒球史上防守最好的游擊手，他不適合
在大聯盟打球。
: Cody Ross: .149/.160/.213 with 1 BB and 6 SO in 50 PA. Ross put up terrific
: numbers (.335/.411/.653) last year but did so in only 197 plate appearances.
: The 27-year-old outfielder has shown an ability to hit for some power in the
: past but has never hit for much of an average aside from his "breakout" last
: season. At best, Ross is a fourth or fifth outfielder, depending on whether he
: plays for a contending team or not.
Cody Ross(馬林魚): .149/.160/.213在50打席中有一次保送與6次三振。Ross在去年拿出
極佳成績(.335/.411/.653)但他那年只有197打席。27歲的外野手已在過去顯出一些長
打威力，但是打擊率除了上一季的爆發之外從來沒有突出的表現。Ross最好的情形是他是
個第四號或第五號的外野手，這取決於他是否待在有競爭力的球隊。
: Wily Mo Pena: .170/.220/.170 with 0 XBH, 3 BB and 15 SO in 50 PA. The Pena
: name
: isn't doing too well this season. I have never drunk the WMP Kool-Aid. Sure,
: Pena can hit for power, but he strikes out way too much for my tastes,
: especially given his anemic walk rate. His plate discipline and pitch
: recognition skills are lacking (swung and missed at 31% of strikes over the
: course of his career vs. a MLB average of 14%), and I would be surprised if he
: becomes much more than a platoon player.
Wily Mo Pena:(國民).170/.220/.170在50打席中有3次保送與15次三振，沒有長打。
Pena在本季沒有表現的很好。我從來沒喝過WMP Kool-Aid。當然Pena是一個有長打威力
的打者，但他被三振的次數就我看來太多了，尤其是和他很低的保送率相比較。他缺少
選球能力與判斷球種的能力(他的好球中有31%是揮棒落空，遠超過大聯盟平均的14%)，我
會驚訝於他表現的比單純替補選手還要好。
: Tom Gorzelanny: 1-3, 8.46 ERA with 22 BB and 13 SO in 22.1 IP. Gorzelanny has
: been drilled twice by the Cubs so it may be more team specific than anything
: else. However, the lefty's K/BB ratio is a bit alarming and should be watched
: closely over his next few starts.
Tom Gorzelanny(海盜):一勝三敗，8.46的自責分率，在22.1局中投出22個保送與13次三振。
Gorzelanny被小熊隊掃射了兩次，所以可能主要是隊伍因素。
(譯按:四月七日，四月19日對小熊皆投不滿三局失七分，
game by game log:
DATE GAME W L ERA G GS CG SHO SV SVO IP H R ER HR BB SO
NP-S GO-AO
APR 02 @ATL 0 1 4.50 1 1 0 0 0 0 6.0 6 3 3 1 3 3 95-54 9-6
APR 07 CHC 0 0 10.80 1 1 0 0 0 0 2.1 6 7 7 0 4 2 70-36 3-2
APR 13 CIN 1 0 6.75 1 1 0 0 0 0 6.1 4 1 1 0 4 1 102-62 10-8
APR 19 @CHC 0 1 9.35 1 1 0 0 0 0 2.2 6 7 7 1 4 3 80-47 3-2
APR 24 STL 0 1 8.46 1 1 0 0 0 0 5.0 2 3 3 0 7 4 94-49 6-4
APR 30 @NYM 1 0 6.91 1 1 0 0 0 0 5.0 1 0 0 0 5 4 84-46 3-8 )
然而這位左投的三振/四壞比有點要緊，應該在他接下來的幾次先發中嚴格檢視。
: Kenny Rogers: 1-3, 7.66 ERA with 15 BB and 9 SO in 24.2 IP. The 43-year-old
: may
: be at the end of the road unless Jim Leyland wants to convert him to a LOOGY.
: Righthanded batters are ripping him to the tune of .356/.443/.562. You can
: only
: get by so long on guile as opposed to stuff and command.
Kenny Rogers(老虎): 一勝三敗，7.66的自責分率，在24.2局中投出15個保送與9次三振。
這位43歲的投手似乎走到盡頭，除非老虎教頭Jim Leyland想要把他變成一人左。
右手打者對他的打擊成績是.356/.443/.562。在缺乏stuff與控球下你只能靠狡猾過下去。
: Jason Jennings: 0-4, 7.46 ERA with 17 BB, 12 SO, and 8 HR in 25.1 IP. The
: 29-year-old righthander has spent his career pitching in hitter-friendly
: ballparks (Colorado, Houston, and Texas) but has has gone from a
: league-average
: or better pitcher to replacement level or worse since the end of the 2006
: season. At his current pace, Jennings will be hoping and praying that a team
: will sign him to a major-league contract next year.
Jason Jennings(遊騎兵):零勝四敗，7.46的自責分率，在25.1局中投出17個保送與12次三
振。這位29歲的右投手在生涯中大多數的投球是在對打者友善的球場(科羅拉多，休士頓
與德州)，但是他自2006年球季結束後已從聯盟平均甚至更好的投手掉到替補層級或是更
差。在他現在的處境下，Jennings將會希望有球隊能在下一年以大聯盟合約簽下他。
: Among the biggest names, Robinson Cano (.158/.216/.221), Alfonso Soriano
: (.175/.230/.298), Troy Tulowitzki (.157/.225/.245), Andruw Jones
: (.159/.266/.256), and Gary Sheffield (.159/.321/.254) are also feeling the
: summer heat earlier than normal.
: I would like to finish with three off-the-field personnel:
在這些最大的名字中，Robinson Cano (.158/.216/.221), Alfonso Soriano
(.175/.230/.298), Troy Tulowitzki (.157/.225/.245), Andruw Jones
(.159/.266/.256), and Gary Sheffield (.159/.321/.254)也比平常提早感覺到夏日
的熱力。
我想以三位不在球場上的人物結束這篇。
: J.P. Ricciardi: Signed Frank Thomas to a minimum guaranteed contract of $18
: million ($9.12M signing bonus plus $1M salary in 2007 and $8M in 2008), then
: released him on 4/20/08 after The Big Hurt fulfilled just one year and three
: weeks of the two-year deal.
J.P. Ricciardi(藍鳥GM):以最低18M的合約簽下Frank Thomas(2007年9.12M的簽約金與
1M的薪水，2008年，8M)，然後在2008年4月20日在重傷害只履行了2年合約中的一年三個禮
拜之後將他釋出。
: Ricciardi worked for but apparently didn't learn much from Billy Beane, who
: inked Thomas to favorable terms before and after J.P. To wit, Beane got a
: .270/.381/.545 (140 OPS+) season out of Thomas in 2006 for $3.2M ($500,000
: salary plus $2.7M in roster, performance, and award bonuses), received a
: sandwich round draft pick in 2007 as compensation for losing him via free
: agency, and swooped in and signed the future Hall of Famer last Thursday for
: $390,000 (pro-rated share of the MLB minimum) for the remainder of 2008. Buy
: low, sell high, and buy low a second time. Now that is Moneyball!
Riccardi曾為Billy Beane工作過，但似乎沒從他那裡學到多少東西，他在J.P,Riccardi
之前與之後的有利時刻與Frank Thomas簽約，在2006年取得了.270/.381/.545(140 ops+)
的成績，該年付給他的薪水是3.2M(50萬的底薪與2.7M的其他金額包含了在先發名單，表現
與獎項的獎勵)，在2007年他成為FA時得到一個三明治選秀權作為補償，而且在上禮拜四
再度以39萬(MLB最低薪資)簽下這位未來的名人堂球員2008年剩下的球季。低買，高賣，再
一次低買。這就是錢球!
: Dave Littlefield: The former Pittsburgh GM really qualified as a July 2007
: fool, but it bears repeating that Littlefield acquired Matt Morris right
: before
: the trading deadline last year and, in so doing, assumed the remaining portion
: of his contract in full.
Dave Littlefield: 前任匹茨堡海盜隊的經理，十分有資格成為2007年七月的當月傻瓜，
但依然值得重複他在去年交易大限之前要求Matt Moriss，
: Now that Morris has been released, we can tally up his performance (3-8, 7.02
: ERA over 16 GS and 84.1 IP) vs. the cost (approximately $14M). Considering the
: money involved, that deal has to go down as one of the dumbest in baseball
: history – and not with the benefit of hindsight like so many transactions.
: This one was a disaster from the get go. It was universally panned and no one
: did a better job than our own Patrick Sullivan.
現在Moriss已經被釋出了，我們可以算算他的表現與成本的關係。
(三勝八敗，在16場先發中與84.1局中自責分率是7.02)
(大約14M)
考慮到這些金額，這宗交易可被稱為棒球史上最蠢的－即使不以這麼多交易的事後之明來
看，這宗交易自一開始就是一大災難。這宗交易廣受批評而沒有人比我們的記者
Patrick Sullivan罵得更好。
: While Brian Sabean found a sucker for Matt Morris, he needs to look at himself
: in the mirror for agreeing to give Barry Zito a seven-year deal worth a
: minimum
: of $126 million. It was the largest-ever pitcher contract at signing. The
former Cy Young Award winner posted an 11-13 win-loss record and 4.53 ERA with
mediocre peripherals in 2007 and has gotten off to a 0-6, 7.53 ERA, 15 BB, 11
SO in 28.2 IP start to the 2008 season.
當Brian Sabean(巨人GM)批評Matt Morris的時候，他該因為同意給Barry Zito七年至少
126M的合約照照鏡子。這是投手所簽下有史以來最大的合約。這位前賽揚獎得主在2007
年是11勝13敗4.53的自責分率，在2008年至今變成0勝六敗，7.53的自責分率，在28.2
局中投出15次保送與11次三振。
: Let the countdown begin. Seven baseball months down, 35 to go! Or looked at it
: another way, the Giants have paid Zito about $12-13M thus far and still him
: more than $110 million.
讓倒數開始吧，過了七個球季月份還有35個!或是從另一方面看，巨人隊到現在要付給Zito
12-13M，還要給他多於110M。