Good Article XI

Here is an article about how the agents now control the MLB draft. And here is an article on Fangraphs tearing it apart.

Good Article X

http://www.fangraphs.com/community/index.php/stephen-strasburg-should-be-an-all-star/

Just for a change of pace, here's an article on why Strasburg should be an all-star. The author also destroys my contention that he hasn't pitched enough to qualify.

Good Article IX

This funny article comes from Matthew Coller of Chicago Sun-Times. It's a great example of how meaningful rumors reported by 99% of sports journalists really are.

Good Article Part VIII

This article by Steve Kelley. My second ever article on here was about me falling for a columnists bad prediction. Steve Kelley actually has the guts to call himself out on his poor prognostication (after he gets an email about it at least). It's good to see a journalist taking responsibility for their poor guesses and not assuming everyone has the memory of a mouse.

Good Article VII

No bad columns to cover in the last couple days. I'm sure someone somewhere wrote a bad sports article, but I'm sadly limited to the English language newspapers. So I came across this from Jeff Sackman. I find it a great example of how statistics can be corrupted when the person reading them does not know how to put them into context. Enjoy.

Good Article VI

An excellent article about punting in football by Greg Easterbrook. The part about punting is near the bottom of the page.

Good Article V

Here is an article by John Mayne about improving the projections for Pitchers. The conclusion of it is that hard throwing pitchers tend to outdo their projections more often than soft tossers.

Good Article Part IV

I haven't posted anything good in a while so I thought I would throw this article from THT out regarding Park Factors. Good read and well researched.

Good Article Part III

Here is a link to a good article by Glenn Dickey analyzing the Huff signing. Unfortunately his conclusion is a bit off. The idea that the signing is 'out of touch with reality' is dramatic at best. His salary is at 3 million. and CHONE projects Huff to be worth 2.7 million. It is not the kind of signing that is going to change the your expectation of the offense. But of course the signing did not happen in a bubble.
Huff will take the place of last years starter Travis Ishikawa (presuming Huff plays most of his time at 1st; also his name makes me thing about Jimmy Wang Chang). Travis was a stud at defense last year according to UZR. And even though he isn't as good on offense, Travis' defense alone puts him over the top of Huff as far as WAR and value. Add in that Travis is 26 and Huff is 32, it would seem taking at-bats away from a player entering his prime, and giving them to a player leaving his, is not a step in the right direction.
Case Closed!!!

P.S. Here is a much better article by Evan Brunell of the Hardball Times. He completely shames me with his analysis, but we both came to the same conclusion that Travis is the better long term choice.

Good Article Part II

Gwen Knapp of the San Fran Gate wrote an article regarding the future of the NFL and the impending lock out here. It was a good read and breaks down some of the more negative business practices the NFL has perpetrated.

Good Article Part I

So this article by Rob Neyer is a succinct argument for Tim Raines to get into the Hall Of Fame. You can read it here. It's pretty heavy on the counting stats, but if you're going to try and convince the old curmudgeons that vote for the Hall that's what you have to go with. Anyway, obviously I agree with him and that's why I've pointed the article out, but it is still well-written and strongly argued.