Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Unbalanced.
It’s Time to Shake up the Yankees’ Front Office
The biggest story from the arbitration hearings this offseason was undoubtedly the newly-emerged feud between RP Dellin Betances and the Yankees’ front office. For those unfamiliar with the events of the past few days, the gist of the story is this: Betances and the Yankees had gone to salary arbitration, with Betances asking for $5 million and the Yankees countering with $3 million. The Yankees won the case, largely because of how dated the arbitration system is.
By John Edwards8 years ago in Unbalanced
Leave OBP Alone
Concession number 1: The term “On Base Percentage” is a misnomer. OBP doesn’t truly measure all the times a player is awarded a base. It doesn’t include the times a player reaches base due to fielders choices/errors, dropped third strikes, obstruction, or catcher’s interference.
By John Edwards8 years ago in Unbalanced
Chris Paul Is Done With Your Hate
Once the playoffs begin, a switch flips for almost everyone. Some players kick it into high gear, while others consistently fall short of their regular season heroics. For his entire career, Chris Paul has been grouped in with the latter.
By Dan O'Shea8 years ago in Unbalanced
Yonder Alonso Figured It Out
Yonder Alonso, up until 2017, had looked like James Loney — a 1B without any power. Alonso could reach base at a decent clip, hit for a decent average, but never slugged above .400 in a full season. In 2,343 PA from 2010 to 2016, Alsonso slugged 39 HRs total. On a rebuilding Athletics team with their sights set on the number one draft pick, Alonso fit in — but on any team hoping to compete this season, he would have likely been relegated to backup.
By John Edwards8 years ago in Unbalanced
Why it’s Time to Consider the Celtics Amongst the League’s Elite
The last two seasons, nobody’s respected the Boston Celtics. That’s okay. Even though they’ve had a remarkable turnaround from when they traded away Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett and planned to be amongst the league’s bottom feeders for the long haul till their playoff bout against Cleveland two years ago, it was okay not to take them seriously.
By Dan O'Shea8 years ago in Unbalanced
The “Legend” Lost as Indiana Struggles to Keep Pace
Once upon a time, professional basketball in the “Hoosier” state flourished, and it seemed to be headed back to prominence. In fact, it was not that long ago, and as recent as the year 2014, when the Indiana Pacers were not only among the league's elite, but a step away from competing for a title. Those days seem like such a long time ago, as many of those pieces have since moved on, and the aura that once surrounded them has now dimmed to something akin to a flickering spark, if that.
By Kenneth Wilson8 years ago in Unbalanced
Breaking Down the WBC: Pool B
The “World Series” is a misnomer — the final round of the MLB playoffs only determines the best team in America/Canada. The true “World Series” is the World Baseball Classic, where the top baseball teams from all across the globe compete.The WBC isn’t like Olympic Baseball, where only the best amateurs compete — instead, countries draw on the best professional talent tied to the nation and assemble powerhouses of teams to compete with one another.The first round of the WBC consists of four pools of four teams who compete in a round robin tournament. The top two teams from each pool move onto the next round. For the next week, I’ll be ranking each WBC team, pool by pool, to see who might be best poised to make it to the next round. Teams are sorted from 1st to 4th by their ability to contend in the WBC. I reviewed Pool A last week, and now I’ll look at one of the strongest pools in the WBC: Pool B.
By John Edwards8 years ago in Unbalanced
Breaking Down the WBC: Pool C
The “World Series” is a misnomer — the final round of the MLB playoffs only determines the best team in America/Canada. The true “World Series” is the World Baseball Classic, where the top baseball teams from all across the globe compete.The WBC isn’t like Olympic Baseball, where only the best amateurs compete — instead, countries draw on the best professional talent tied to the nation and assemble powerhouses of teams to compete with one another.The first round of the WBC consists of four pools of four teams who compete in a round robin tournament. The top two teams from each pool move onto the next round. For the next week, I’ll be ranking each WBC team, pool by pool, to see who might be best poised to make it to the next round. Teams are sorted from 1st to 4th by their ability to contend in the WBC. I reviewed Pool A and Pool B already, so today I’ll look at Pool C.
By John Edwards8 years ago in Unbalanced
End of the Line for Iginla and Doan?
The longer a veteran player goes unsigned during an offseason, the more the retirement talk ramps up. And unless your name is Jaromir Jagr, this offseason has been no different. For seasoned veterans Jarome Iginla and Shane Doan, the questions about their possible retirement have flown around in recent days. So what will happen to these great players? Have we seen the last of them?
By Kyle Vandenberg8 years ago in Unbalanced
Creating the Boston Celtics’ Super Team
Now that the “Trust The Process” celebratory riots have died down and Boston fans have crawled out from under their desks to take a break from weeping, it’s time to digest what just happened. The Celtics have officially passed on the chance of picking Markelle Fultz — who is widely considered to be a potential superstar — for more draft picks.
By Dan O'Shea8 years ago in Unbalanced
Giving Players the Bonds Treatment
There is no higher compliment that can be given to a ballplayer than to be given “The Bonds Treatment” — being intentionally walked with the bases empty, or even better, with the bases loaded. It’s called “The Bonds Treatment” because Bonds recorded an astounding 41 IBBs with the bases empty, and is one of only two players to ever record a bases loaded intentional walk. In other words, 28% of IBBs ever issued with the bases empty were given to Bonds — and 50% of IBBs with the bases loaded. Bonds was great, no denying that — but is there anyone out there today who is worthy of such treatment?
By John Edwards8 years ago in Unbalanced
