Personal Dork Assistant

Speaking as a science-y geek,

Speaking as a science-y geek, I do love what the Baseball Prospectus folks have done with the game in creating metrics that actually explain why teams win. Work like this is why the A's are still a watchable team. On the other hand, callous statements like this about a kid who's worked his ass off his whole life is why casual fans hate the statheads:

Foster isn't really an organizational soldier, considering he has less than three years and barely more than a hundred games of pro experience, but he hasn't really been shunted into a situational-relief, although he's never started a game, either. He was effective at Myrtle Beach in 2000 and at Greenville in 2001. As long shots go, stranger candidates have had careers.

After the kids get the big contract, though, they're fair game, far as I'm concerned:

Parque is left-handed, and throws as hard as the power of positive thinking lets him. Rauch is likely to be pigeonholed as the lumbering gentle giant, while Parque is Thailand's answer to a Napoleonic complex, the little guy who can take on the world.