June 21, 2002

The Daily Prospectus

TGIF

by Joe Sheehan

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• Before we get all excited about Coors Field looking like Coors Field! this week, let's remember that the Yankees have been scoring like an NBA superstar in all parks this season. They can rake, and three games don't tell us all that much.

  It wasn't just that run scoring in Denver was down for two months; it was the degree to which it was down, and the way-the changes in outcomes on balls in play-that it was. Perhaps the extremes of April and May won't be the norm, but it'll take more than three slugfests involving a team with six All-Stars in its lineup to make the case that messing with the baseballs doesn't matter.

• Why is Ben Grieve sixth in the voting for American League All-Star outfielders?

• Erubiel Durazo is rightfully free, but it's worth noting that Mark Grace continues to be an effective player. He's at .275/.376/.450, and is still a pretty good defensive first baseman. The Snakes aren't going to deal him, but you have to think the Braves, Expos, Giants, and Angels could all use Grace as an everyday player, contributing towards a playoff push.

• It's worth repeating: if the Marlins, just 5 1/2 games out of first place, trade Cliff Floyd, it's an embarrassment to the game of baseball and cause for Marlins' season-ticket holders to sue for fraud.

  Down the road, when Bud Selig is an unpleasant memory and baseball is once again recruiting owners who want to compete, want to invest in their product, and want to win, we're going to look back and realize just how much damage Selig did. Choosing ownership groups for their willingness to obey a party line is a criminal misuse of the antitrust exemption.

• Neifi Perez: .227/.245/.313. He has 37 secondary bases (walks, steals, extra bases on hits) in 278 at-bats. You think he's rethinking the four-year, $20-million deal the Rockies wanted to give him a year ago?

• The New York Pizza Feed filled up in three hours, so we've scheduled a second one. Go here for details, which are remarkably similar to those for the first one.

• Is Marlon Anderson eligible as a right fielder in anyone's fantasy league?

• Much is being made of Daryle Ward's measly two home runs, but Ward also has 19 doubles, a sign that he still has the power that makes him such an exciting player. Look for him to have a big second half.

• The career path of Edgardo Alfonzo continues to look eerily like that of Don Mattingly. Alfonzo is hitting .314/.415/.405, showing the skill and plate discipline that made him a star in 1999 and 2000, but none of the power. Mattingly slugged .498 in the three seasons prior to his back injury, but never got above .445 after that.

• Sunday, I embark on a five-week road trip, which will include three Pizza Feeds, a trip to the Society for American Baseball Research's annual convention in Boston, hopefully my first-ever trip to Fenway Park, and a family vacation in the Catskills. If The Daily Prospectus is less so in July, that's why.

Joe Sheehan is an author of Baseball Prospectus. You can contact him by clicking here.

Joe Sheehan is an author of Baseball Prospectus. 
Click here to see Joe's other articles. You can contact Joe by clicking here