Rick Ankiel signs with Nats

[Kevrock]

Well that's depressing. I posted mine and then rolled out. I never got to see the   s in their full glory. Mod hacks.

[houston-nat]

Well that's depressing. I posted mine and then rolled out. I never got to see the  s in their full glory. Mod hacks.

Just to be clear, Kevrock, weren't you the first guy to post the and nothing else?

[Kevrock]

I think so... I might have quoted him. There could have been one above me. I didn't put much thought into it, whatever I did.  

[RyanTheRiot]

This signing is a good value.  Ankiel is coming off a down year (well, two), but he's still in prime of his career and he could bounce back nicely in a new environment.  One hopes that he can re-discover his power stroke, filling the need of lefty power off the bench.  He can play any outfield position, and do a pretty decent job.  He's a good candidate to collect a few spot starts and a lot of pinch-hit opportunities.  This also makes me think Rizzo sees Morse as a 1B (as he should)

[The Chief]

You guys are just jealous of my powers

[DPMOmaha]

Jealous wasn't the word that came to mind...

[EdStroud]

I.....EdStroud F'ed up the   thread by clicking to soon and got another icon.  Tried to go back but there were a bunch of  


Chief was trying to help out my screw up

[PANatsFan]

Alright, I've never claimed to be anything more or less than an idiot when it comes to technology.  I've checked my ignore list and I don't have anyone on ignore.

I only see five  's so either something's wrong, Chief/tom deleted them or you're yanking my chain - in which case hats off to you and I owe you a beer on the 23rd of January.

It's the latter

[Tyler Durden]

Would Podsednik have been better?

Better OBP, more speed.  Less defense.  I'd say Ankiel is better for this team.

[Minty Fresh]

Would Podsednik have been better?

Better OBP, more speed.  Less defense.  I'd say Ankiel is better for this team.

Will you please try to stay on topic?  We're talking about emoticons here......

[Evolution33]

Would Podsednik have been better?

Better OBP, more speed.  Less defense.  I'd say Ankiel is better for this team.

One of the big problems last year was power off the bench. With Stairs, Ankiel, and Morse the Nationals have decent power from both sides of the plate off the bench and Gonzalez who can play all infield positions.

[The Chief]

One of the big problems last year was power off the bench. With Stairs, Ankiel, and Morse the Nationals have decent power from both sides of the plate off the bench and Gonzalez who can play all infield positions.

Solid analysis, and it made me think "he's the new Willie Harris".  Then I wondered just how appropriate that comparison was, so I went digging.  Some sad/incredible facts about Willie Harris:

-He played in 409 games for the Nats in 3 seasons

-He was a replacement-level player in 2010 (0.0 WAR)

-He had a 3.2 WAR in 2008

-His wOBA in 2008 and 2009 were nearly identical (.340 vs .342), but his WAR in 2009 was only 1.0, which means his fielding must've been f*king terrible.

[PatsNats28]

Solid analysis, and it made me think "he's the new Willie Harris".  Then I wondered just how appropriate that comparison was, so I went digging.  Some sad/incredible facts about Willie Harris:

-He played in 409 games for the Nats in 3 seasons

-He was a replacement-level player in 2010 (0.0 WAR)

-He had a 3.2 WAR in 2008

-His wOBA in 2008 and 2009 were nearly identical, but his WAR in 2009 was only 1.0, which means his fielding must've been f*king terrible.

Or fewer ABs?

Liking the advanced stats btw

[PANatsFan]

Ankiel has nice power against righties. This is something the Nats really needed to address.

[PatsNats28]

I don't mind starting Ankiel against righties... he's probably better than Bernie against them. Maybe go with him in left and Morse at first?

[natstime]

If he does end up on the bench, and bernie and nyjer beat him out in Lf and Cf then he is a huge upgrade from willie harris.

[The Chief]

Or fewer ABs?

424 vs 393 (PA), not that much diff.  OF UZR of 16-something in '08, negative 8-something in '09.  I'm sure I'm using these stats all wrong but whatever, what I think they mean mostly agrees with what I remember.

Liking the advanced stats btw

Don't take it as me turning a new leaf or anything.  I think it's just as interesting for what it may or may not say about those stats as for what it says about Willie Harris.  I also think it's funny to note that '09 Harris had 1.0 WAR and '09 Dunn had 1.2 WAR

[imref]

One of the big problems last year was power off the bench. With Stairs, Ankiel, and Morse the Nationals have decent power from both sides of the plate off the bench and Gonzalez who can play all infield positions.

was that a dis of Kevin Mench?

[tomterp]

Well that's depressing. I posted mine and then rolled out. I never got to see the   s in their full glory. Mod hacks.

Fixed.

[Dave B]

maybe he'll just find better steroids and be awesome

[NatsDad14]

424 vs 393 (PA), not that much diff.  OF UZR of 16-something in '08, negative 8-something in '09.  I'm sure I'm using these stats all wrong but whatever, what I think they mean mostly agrees with what I remember.

Don't take it as me turning a new leaf or anything.  I think it's just as interesting for what it may or may not say about those stats as for what it says about Willie Harris.  I also think it's funny to note that '09 Harris had 1.0 WAR and '09 Dunn had 1.2 WAR

I think the fielding dip had more to do with the positions Harris had to play. Harris played a lot of LF in 2008 where he is one of the best in baseball (EX: ask the Mets). But in 2009, he had to play a lot of CF because of the failures of Dukes/Milledge and a lot of 2B because Hernandez sucked.

[PatsNats28]

424 vs 393 (PA), not that much diff.  OF UZR of 16-something in '08, negative 8-something in '09.  I'm sure I'm using these stats all wrong but whatever, what I think they mean mostly agrees with what I remember.

Don't take it as me turning a new leaf or anything.  I think it's just as interesting for what it may or may not say about those stats as for what it says about Willie Harris.  I also think it's funny to note that '09 Harris had 1.0 WAR and '09 Dunn had 1.2 WAR

Haha I love the defensiveness there. Yeah Dunn's fielding really hurt him, his wRAA was pretty solid.

[Lintyfresh85]

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/rick-ankiel-is-spelled-with-a-k/

The story on the news feed is that Rick Ankiel has signed with the Nationals on a one-year $1.5M contract, but the story of Rick Ankiel cannot be told without the letter K. Though moving from the rotation to the lineup is an amazing feat, it’s worth wondering where Ankiel would have been without that special K.

...

And wouldn’t you know it, the letter ‘K’ has done a lot to inform his work at the plate as well. As Ankiel has made his way around the league with the position players, his strikeout percentage has slowly climbed upward. In his re-debut in 2007, he struck out 23.8 percent of the time and looked fantastic at the plate. That went up to 24.2 percent the next year, 26.6 percent the year after, and then a whopping 33.6 percent last year. His wOBA has declined accordingly.

[Kevrock]

How we will feel about Rick Ankiel.

Joining us to weigh in on Rick Ankiel to the Nats is noted Rick Ankiel fan and Deadspin founding editor Will Leitch.

Here’s what’s going to happen:

1. He’s going to hit about .225.

2. Anytime he faces a left handed pitcher, he will strike out on four pitches, the fourth of which will be a curve ball that hits the dirt 12 inches in front of his foot. This will not stop him from swinging at it. It will in fact encourage him.

3. For all the talk of his defensive prowess, you will find that he gets horrible jumps and will end up splayed on the ground as the ball rolls past him to the wall at least six times.

4. Just when you have had enough of him, when you are convinced that Leitch is an idiot and this guy is the WORST, someone will leave him a changeup right down the middle, and he will hit it about 500 feet. Then, the next inning, he will make a diving play 400 feet away from the plate, leap up and throw a dead strike to nail a guy trying to tag between second and third. Then he’ll hit another three run homer to cap off a comeback in which the Nats were down by six going into the ninth inning.

5. He will then go 0-for-his-next-23.

6. He then will repeat steps 2, 3, and 4.

7. And then, then you will know, and you will understand.

 

http://misterirrelevant.com/index.php/2010/12/20/will-leitch-rick-ankiel-nationals/

[chemist]

http://misterirrelevant.com/index.php/2010/12/20/will-leitch-rick-ankiel-nationals/

Will Leitch, former Deadspin guy, on Rick Ankiel.