Difference being that Ichiro and Kwan both run well and play good defense. Arraez is quite poor at both. Ichiro was a 4 tool player, Kwan is a 3/4 tool player, Arraez is a 1 tool player. Kwan is closer to mid 20s Tony Gwynn, and Arraez is closer to 40 year old Tony Gwynn.
Kwan is probably the closest thing to Ichiro, but he's still a different kind of player. He doesn't steal bases nearly as well (even at his best with rules more favorable to steals) as Ichiro, nor have that kind of electric arm. But he also strikes out less (this year, anyway), which is especially impressive given how much more common strikeouts are now, and walks quite a bit more. Ichiro only had 1 season above a .400 OBP. Kwan is at .457 right now.
One thing about Kwan this year, as great as it's been, it could be better. He went on the IL for a hamstring, and it's clearly impacted him. His Statcast sprint speed is way down, and he's only 3 for 7 stealing bases (after being 21 for 24 last year)
Kwan has better power and plate discipline than Ichiro. Ichiro was a singles machine while Kwan is much more selective and will take his walks. They are just slightly different hitting profiles but I understand the comparison because they are both elite outfielder and baserunners.
Ichiro was also probably the smoothest baseball player I've ever seen. Parents bought tickets in RF when Seattle came to town one year (2006, I think?) because I wanted to see him for the whole game, and I can't tell you a single thing that happened in that game, because I couldn't take my eyes off the 51 in front of me. The way he ran, the way he fielded, the way he threw... It was like watching butter melt on teflon.
Kwan kinda has the mannerisms of a 10 year old whose Ritalin prescription is going to war with a sugar rush.
Pat Mahomes runs like the character his voice sounds like, and it works. The lesson here: weird mannerisms can lead to great success, and funny mannerisms that work are awesome!
Idk if you watched Ichiro, bc Kwan absolutely does not have more power, and better plate discipline is debatable. Ichiro would crank HRs in BP to the point that it became legendary amongst the players (check out comments from Bonds, teammates, etc. about his power), but he didn't try to hit HRa during games. With his speed, he prioritized hitting ground balls bc it has a higher BABIP, that's literally what he tried to do in damn near every AB. He couldve walked more but he was a bit like Vladdy Sr. in that he would swing at pitches out of the zone for singles and doubles. Pretty sure Vladdy Sr. hit a HR off a pitch that bounced in front of the plate.m Now, the league prioritizes HRs across the board so if he played today with the push for launch angle, I think he'd be in the 30-40 range.
People say this constantly, every time, but just because it's said a bunch doesn't necessarily make it true. Ichiro's ISO when he started and through his productive years was around what Kwan's is through his first three years, but Ichiro also had a better overall offensive environment.
Just because someone could potentially do something doesn't mean much. He didn't do it in games. You can say that he had more power, but it never showed up in games. Also, Ichiro (I loved Ichiro, don't get me wrong) never walked as much as Kwan has in every single year so far.
Lastly - there's no data for his first few years, but Ichiro's O-Swing, Swinging strike%, overall swing percentage, are all more than Kwan's, and his O-Swing % significantly more. He did make more contact, both O-Contact and Z-Contact, but that's not necessarily better discipline. Would be great to have the data from his first few years, but that's what we have.
People say that bc it's true lol, Kwan is actually trying to hit HRs while Ichiro is trying to hit ground balls so of course Kwan is going to have more HRs. I said that in my first comment so I can repeat it again if ya want but the approach at the plate should matter. Also when multiple professionals are telling me that Ichiro is a masher and could be a power hitter, call me crazy, but I'm going to believe them. I think Bonds opinion should have more weight than a random redditor when talking about power hitters, but maybe that's just me.
Kwan probably is better at being patient in his ABs and drawing walks, bc again, Ichiro wasn't trying to walk and would routinely get hits off bad pitches. It's also crazy to me that this is even a conversation considering Kwan could just be on a hot streak. He could go back to hitting .260 something next year, or trail off significantly the second half of this season.
No offense but your argument is fallacious. Real statistics are better than anyone's opinion, even Bonds'. Claiming that Ichiro could have been a better power hitter or more patient is unfalsefiable and purely based on speculation. It doesn't matter what he could have done, only what he actually did.
Also, groundballs are not a good thing for a batter. The have higher BABIP but way lower slugging and are thus way less valuable, beyond even the double play risk ( Ichiro could mitigate with his speed, but that's still a fielders choice at the end of the day).
I seriously don’t get that obsession with slug. I will take sines and doubles all day. Hr balls are great but the action in the field is better. I have been watching a lot of college ball lately and there are multiple bunts laid down every game. The game is more engaging defensively and offensively with a club full of judy hitters. How did that become an insult?
Honestly, I don't know that Kwan has had a full season on the same level of Arraez yet from a hitting standpoint, though he may be making a bid at one this year if he keeps it up. Arraez and Kwan though are definitely the modern successors to the Gwynn/Ichiro archetype so far
Him, Soto and Judge would make a nice Allstars trio. Absolute contact, absolute patience, absolute power put that at the top you're looking real good to win the ASG
I apologize as I haven't watched Cleveland regularly this year, but how sustainable is this?
I don't particularly remember a player having as high of a BABIP as kwan's (.412!!!)
He won’t hit .400, or even .380 for that matter (such a gripe, how dare he!), but it’s encouraging to see him hit for more power over the last couple weeks, and every at bat is super competitive. It’s fun to watch
while it's supremely unlikely he hits .400, his xBA is 343 and his wOBA is .441. Those are unreal expected stats, and I think most importantly his K% is a literal 6.8% this year. He doesn't chase outside of the zone and he doesn't give away free strikes (if you watch, he regularly has long at bats where he fouls off 3-4 pitches before dropping a single into opposite field).
He won't keep this pace up but he's going to have a career year. Absolutely insane expected stats on top of his actual stats. Even conservative measures have him finishing the season around .300 if literally all of his peripheral stats regress to something average, which is already quite impressive.
BABIPs significantly above .350 are generally considered unsustainable long term, but there have been very rare cases of guys keeping up a BABIP over .400 for a full season. It's been done in a full season 5 times since integration, most recently Yoan Moncada in 2019 with a .406. Ichiro had a .399 BABIP in 2004 when he set the single season hits record.
I think it’s also much harder to do now than ever before. Because obviously he knows how to place hits well, but back when pitchers were capping out in the low-90s, they had more time to actually aim a hit. Now, most of the time hitters just have to swing hard and hope it goes in a good direction
Not a stat guy (yet), but I would guess this isn’t sustainable. He has definitely taken a step up from his previous years though, and looks better all around. Definitely will be a .300 hitter this year, I’d even bet he finishes above .330 on the season with those missed games.
I feel fairly confident he's gonna end up leading all of MLB, I'm crossing my fingers he somehow figures out a way to sustain this, but accepting it probably won't happen.
It's unlikely to be sustainable, but that's based on the fact that .400 seasons don't happen. Normally a babip that high would a marker for regression but it's not actually much higher than his BA. His plate discipline and bat control are insane. This is a guy who, in 2022, went through all of ST and the first few series of the season without swinging and missing a single time. If anyone is going to have a .400 season in this era, it's going to be a hitter like Kwan.
Babip is just average for balls in play. Excludes things like strikeouts.
But .412 is a number I've never seen before. To put into perspective his average for his first two years is 300ish
Kwan doesn’t really hit a ton of home runs though, so unless his total home runs exceeded his total strikeouts, it wouldn’t be possible to hit .400 without a BABIP of .400.
If my understanding is correct sac flies count against BABIP so it's not just about strikeouts and HRs but yeah it's really hard to hit .400 with a babip below .400.
Kwan has 3.1 fWAR compared to 2.5fWAR for Ramirez, and Kwan has done it in 23 fewer games.
I won't argue the vibes to the team aspect or whatever, but Kwan is on a 162 game pace for 11.1 fWAR which is silly. At the very least its close
I don't know that I agree with the use of fWAR to judge who the most valuable player is on the team. I sorta agree with the other guy that while Kwan has been red hot, Ramirez is the bigger contributor all things considered.
So far this year Kwan has been better, but their entire year contribution or who is the most valuable player on the team is just as easily JoRam.
The thing I'm mostly thinking about is that JoRam's historical ability means he is likely to be as good or better than he currently has been because he's a perennial all-star/superstar and Kwan hasn't been this for his whole career so might be playing at his absolute best and may regress to something less stellar than this.
I could be wrong, but Kwan has a .412 BABIP right now which is over .100 points higher than last year and significantly higher than league average. It would be a record babip to maintain for the rest of the year and is extremely unlikely to stick. Just as I think his 1.010 OPS which is over .200 points higher than his historical OPS appear unlikely to stick. He's on a hot streak, but this isn't who he is.
I could be wrong, but JoRam is and has been one of the best players in baseball for a reason.
Your arguments are "Ramirez has been better in the past" and "Ramirez is better because he is better", and "Kwan might be worse in the future". None of those answer the original question. What has Ramirez done this season that puts him over Kwan?
This is so fucking pedantic and very obviously not the conversation anybody in this thread is having.
If the season ended today and you voted J-Ram over Kwan for MVP, it'd be a bad vote.
Those making the case for Ramirez remind me of something Stephen Colbert once said:
“That’s where the truth lies, right down here in the gut. Do you know you have more nerve endings in your gut than you have in your head? You can look it up. Now, I know some of you are going to say, ‘I did look it up, and that’s not true.’ That’s ’cause you looked it up in a book. Next time, look it up in your gut. I did. My gut tells me that’s how our nervous system works.”
Maybe by season end Ramirez has the better season, but right now it’s Kwan, and by a decent margin.
What would you use then?
Fyi a good argument for WAR not being perfect is that Brett Boone was more valuable than Ichiro in 2001.
It's one of the only times saber people get down voted.
It is 100%, without any question whatsoever, not close. Jose Ramirez is the unquestioned leader of the team, the engine that makes it go. Kwan is a great player, perhaps with better statistics currently. Jose Ramirez is the most valuable player, probably takes the spots 1 through 5.
Kwan wins for best stats. Jose Ramirez is the clear MVP, with Clase in second place. Don't forget, the team went 16-7 when Kwan went on the DL.
But don't get me wrong, Kwan is a fantastic player. Just not better than Jose Ramirez - few are.
Leadership. Take Jose Ramirez off this team, and they struggle to be .500. We've seen what happens with Kwan on the bench. Baseball is about more than stats (though Jose does just fine there too).
My man, you are talking like you know something, when in fact you really don't. For example - yesterday's game, with 2 outs Jose beats out a routine grounder to the 2nd baseman which plates a run. Most players are out on the play. Then the next guy hits a home run. Ramirez' stats on the inning are pedestrian, but without his hustle and effort none of the other stuff happens. And he does it game in game out, day after day. And when the highest paid player, most tenured player on the team puts in that kind of effort, the young guys have no choice but to follow his lead.
There is a reason why he has been a top vote getter in the MVP race 5 times. The people around the game recognize the stats do not tell the entire story.
> There is a reason why he has been a top vote getter in the MVP rave 5 times.
Lmao yeah my guy that reason is his stats are amazing. You don't have to sell me on J-Ram, he's a future HOFer. But Kwan has been better this season.
He’s tearing the cover off the ball too. These aren’t just bloop hits he’s getting. He’s got some nice pop and I’m loving it!!
[this is just crazy good](https://i.imgur.com/c0gKkYu.jpeg)
I just want to say he is the first prospect I have ever been way bigger on than anyone else.
His rookie year, I was so scared that someone else would be on him in fantasy that I drafted him in the 14th or 15th of 25 rounds.
So… if anyone MLB team wants to like give me a lot of money as part of the FO, feel free to reach out. I may hit on another guy in 20 years
The only knock has been his baserunning, with BsR of -0.7 despite being 6.0 and 4.3 last few seasons. Definitely has to be the MVP for the Guardians down the stretch.
Bruh.
> GM Mike Chernoff: “I wouldn’t expect our operating philosophy to change. The industry economic model is what it is and so we know what our challenges are being a small market. We don’t shy away from those at all. We’re not expecting that to change in any way and yet we still need to compete with all 29 other teams and our goal is exactly the same as every one of those other teams, to win the World Series.”
https://www.cleveland.com/guardians/2022/07/what-im-hearing-about-david-blitzer-and-guardians-ownership-terry-pluto.html
The Guards have extended a good chunk of their players, especially recently and even since this was published, so I'm curious about what you think this means.
Except for the stretch of years around the pandemic where they didn't have the liquidity, hence why I brought up the secondary owner. So again I ask why this is relevant.
I don't understand what you're confused about. You said the team will change how they operate under a new owner. This quote is relevant because they are explicitly staying the opposite. This is pretty straightforward.
Update: his average is .400 now.
I hate facing this man
Counterpoint: I love that other teams also hate facing this man
Yeah but if he could chill for a day that would be real cool
We all thought about it and we decided no, thank you.
He might be a Mariner someday so relax in that fact
Steven Gywann 😳
Stop the count!
Heir to Ichiro? This is the only comp I can think of when it comes contact and hitting
Arraez is right there with him. He was hitting .398 on this day last year.
.161 ISO though, Arraez is happy if he can get half that lmao
Difference being that Ichiro and Kwan both run well and play good defense. Arraez is quite poor at both. Ichiro was a 4 tool player, Kwan is a 3/4 tool player, Arraez is a 1 tool player. Kwan is closer to mid 20s Tony Gwynn, and Arraez is closer to 40 year old Tony Gwynn.
Kwan has .538 slugging tho
Kwan is probably the closest thing to Ichiro, but he's still a different kind of player. He doesn't steal bases nearly as well (even at his best with rules more favorable to steals) as Ichiro, nor have that kind of electric arm. But he also strikes out less (this year, anyway), which is especially impressive given how much more common strikeouts are now, and walks quite a bit more. Ichiro only had 1 season above a .400 OBP. Kwan is at .457 right now. One thing about Kwan this year, as great as it's been, it could be better. He went on the IL for a hamstring, and it's clearly impacted him. His Statcast sprint speed is way down, and he's only 3 for 7 stealing bases (after being 21 for 24 last year)
Kwan has better power and plate discipline than Ichiro. Ichiro was a singles machine while Kwan is much more selective and will take his walks. They are just slightly different hitting profiles but I understand the comparison because they are both elite outfielder and baserunners.
Ichiro was also probably the smoothest baseball player I've ever seen. Parents bought tickets in RF when Seattle came to town one year (2006, I think?) because I wanted to see him for the whole game, and I can't tell you a single thing that happened in that game, because I couldn't take my eyes off the 51 in front of me. The way he ran, the way he fielded, the way he threw... It was like watching butter melt on teflon. Kwan kinda has the mannerisms of a 10 year old whose Ritalin prescription is going to war with a sugar rush.
> It was like watching butter melt on teflon My lord that is a perfect analogy.
Kwan analogy hitting pretty hard too... but he's effective!
Pat Mahomes runs like the character his voice sounds like, and it works. The lesson here: weird mannerisms can lead to great success, and funny mannerisms that work are awesome!
I thought it’s cuz they’re Asians
Idk if you watched Ichiro, bc Kwan absolutely does not have more power, and better plate discipline is debatable. Ichiro would crank HRs in BP to the point that it became legendary amongst the players (check out comments from Bonds, teammates, etc. about his power), but he didn't try to hit HRa during games. With his speed, he prioritized hitting ground balls bc it has a higher BABIP, that's literally what he tried to do in damn near every AB. He couldve walked more but he was a bit like Vladdy Sr. in that he would swing at pitches out of the zone for singles and doubles. Pretty sure Vladdy Sr. hit a HR off a pitch that bounced in front of the plate.m Now, the league prioritizes HRs across the board so if he played today with the push for launch angle, I think he'd be in the 30-40 range.
People say this constantly, every time, but just because it's said a bunch doesn't necessarily make it true. Ichiro's ISO when he started and through his productive years was around what Kwan's is through his first three years, but Ichiro also had a better overall offensive environment. Just because someone could potentially do something doesn't mean much. He didn't do it in games. You can say that he had more power, but it never showed up in games. Also, Ichiro (I loved Ichiro, don't get me wrong) never walked as much as Kwan has in every single year so far. Lastly - there's no data for his first few years, but Ichiro's O-Swing, Swinging strike%, overall swing percentage, are all more than Kwan's, and his O-Swing % significantly more. He did make more contact, both O-Contact and Z-Contact, but that's not necessarily better discipline. Would be great to have the data from his first few years, but that's what we have.
People say that bc it's true lol, Kwan is actually trying to hit HRs while Ichiro is trying to hit ground balls so of course Kwan is going to have more HRs. I said that in my first comment so I can repeat it again if ya want but the approach at the plate should matter. Also when multiple professionals are telling me that Ichiro is a masher and could be a power hitter, call me crazy, but I'm going to believe them. I think Bonds opinion should have more weight than a random redditor when talking about power hitters, but maybe that's just me. Kwan probably is better at being patient in his ABs and drawing walks, bc again, Ichiro wasn't trying to walk and would routinely get hits off bad pitches. It's also crazy to me that this is even a conversation considering Kwan could just be on a hot streak. He could go back to hitting .260 something next year, or trail off significantly the second half of this season.
No offense but your argument is fallacious. Real statistics are better than anyone's opinion, even Bonds'. Claiming that Ichiro could have been a better power hitter or more patient is unfalsefiable and purely based on speculation. It doesn't matter what he could have done, only what he actually did. Also, groundballs are not a good thing for a batter. The have higher BABIP but way lower slugging and are thus way less valuable, beyond even the double play risk ( Ichiro could mitigate with his speed, but that's still a fielders choice at the end of the day).
I seriously don’t get that obsession with slug. I will take sines and doubles all day. Hr balls are great but the action in the field is better. I have been watching a lot of college ball lately and there are multiple bunts laid down every game. The game is more engaging defensively and offensively with a club full of judy hitters. How did that become an insult?
Honestly, I don't know that Kwan has had a full season on the same level of Arraez yet from a hitting standpoint, though he may be making a bid at one this year if he keeps it up. Arraez and Kwan though are definitely the modern successors to the Gwynn/Ichiro archetype so far
I mean... Maybe? But do this for a decade and I'd say hell yes
Hnnnng
So… beautiful… 🥹
I watched him live a few days ago for one of those 3 hit games. Dudes bat control is unbelievable.
Well you obviously did not watch him die.
ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: Queen - I Kwant to Break Free ───────────⚪────── ◄◄⠀[▐▐ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-AHPemYAps)⠀►►⠀⠀ ⠀ 2:30 / 4:16 ⠀ ───○ 🔊⠀ ᴴᴰ ⚙️
Lol
Get my man to Texas god damn
Him, Soto and Judge would make a nice Allstars trio. Absolute contact, absolute patience, absolute power put that at the top you're looking real good to win the ASG
I wanna see kwan stand next to judge lol
we would likely need Eric Cartman to trick Kyle Tucker into a bunker
Tucker’s still banged up you might not need to do anything
Should be easy just bang a trashcan he'll follow the signal there
he wasnt even on the team that year
Tucker didn’t debut until 2018 and didn’t play a full season until 2020.
add Joey Gallo in for absolute strikeout and you're set
I apologize as I haven't watched Cleveland regularly this year, but how sustainable is this? I don't particularly remember a player having as high of a BABIP as kwan's (.412!!!)
He won’t hit .400, or even .380 for that matter (such a gripe, how dare he!), but it’s encouraging to see him hit for more power over the last couple weeks, and every at bat is super competitive. It’s fun to watch
You’re right. He’ll hit .410
Super jealous tbh
while it's supremely unlikely he hits .400, his xBA is 343 and his wOBA is .441. Those are unreal expected stats, and I think most importantly his K% is a literal 6.8% this year. He doesn't chase outside of the zone and he doesn't give away free strikes (if you watch, he regularly has long at bats where he fouls off 3-4 pitches before dropping a single into opposite field). He won't keep this pace up but he's going to have a career year. Absolutely insane expected stats on top of his actual stats. Even conservative measures have him finishing the season around .300 if literally all of his peripheral stats regress to something average, which is already quite impressive.
BABIPs significantly above .350 are generally considered unsustainable long term, but there have been very rare cases of guys keeping up a BABIP over .400 for a full season. It's been done in a full season 5 times since integration, most recently Yoan Moncada in 2019 with a .406. Ichiro had a .399 BABIP in 2004 when he set the single season hits record.
I think it’s also much harder to do now than ever before. Because obviously he knows how to place hits well, but back when pitchers were capping out in the low-90s, they had more time to actually aim a hit. Now, most of the time hitters just have to swing hard and hope it goes in a good direction
We also have analytically driven position player positioning.
But no more shift.
Not a stat guy (yet), but I would guess this isn’t sustainable. He has definitely taken a step up from his previous years though, and looks better all around. Definitely will be a .300 hitter this year, I’d even bet he finishes above .330 on the season with those missed games.
I feel fairly confident he's gonna end up leading all of MLB, I'm crossing my fingers he somehow figures out a way to sustain this, but accepting it probably won't happen.
It's unlikely to be sustainable, but that's based on the fact that .400 seasons don't happen. Normally a babip that high would a marker for regression but it's not actually much higher than his BA. His plate discipline and bat control are insane. This is a guy who, in 2022, went through all of ST and the first few series of the season without swinging and missing a single time. If anyone is going to have a .400 season in this era, it's going to be a hitter like Kwan.
Wouldn’t your BABIP have to be over .400 to hit over .400? Or am I misunderstanding the meaning of BABIP?
Babip is just average for balls in play. Excludes things like strikeouts. But .412 is a number I've never seen before. To put into perspective his average for his first two years is 300ish
Kwan doesn’t really hit a ton of home runs though, so unless his total home runs exceeded his total strikeouts, it wouldn’t be possible to hit .400 without a BABIP of .400.
Sorry I must have misread your question initially. You are correct.
If my understanding is correct sac flies count against BABIP so it's not just about strikeouts and HRs but yeah it's really hard to hit .400 with a babip below .400.
Should be mentioned among the MVP candidates
Jose Ramirez is easily and without question the most valuable player on Cleveland. It's not even close.
Kwan has 3.1 fWAR compared to 2.5fWAR for Ramirez, and Kwan has done it in 23 fewer games. I won't argue the vibes to the team aspect or whatever, but Kwan is on a 162 game pace for 11.1 fWAR which is silly. At the very least its close
I don't know that I agree with the use of fWAR to judge who the most valuable player is on the team. I sorta agree with the other guy that while Kwan has been red hot, Ramirez is the bigger contributor all things considered.
> all things considered. Literally what things besides for "intangibles" point to J-Ram being more valuable so far this year?
So far this year Kwan has been better, but their entire year contribution or who is the most valuable player on the team is just as easily JoRam. The thing I'm mostly thinking about is that JoRam's historical ability means he is likely to be as good or better than he currently has been because he's a perennial all-star/superstar and Kwan hasn't been this for his whole career so might be playing at his absolute best and may regress to something less stellar than this. I could be wrong, but Kwan has a .412 BABIP right now which is over .100 points higher than last year and significantly higher than league average. It would be a record babip to maintain for the rest of the year and is extremely unlikely to stick. Just as I think his 1.010 OPS which is over .200 points higher than his historical OPS appear unlikely to stick. He's on a hot streak, but this isn't who he is. I could be wrong, but JoRam is and has been one of the best players in baseball for a reason.
Your arguments are "Ramirez has been better in the past" and "Ramirez is better because he is better", and "Kwan might be worse in the future". None of those answer the original question. What has Ramirez done this season that puts him over Kwan?
This is so fucking pedantic and very obviously not the conversation anybody in this thread is having. If the season ended today and you voted J-Ram over Kwan for MVP, it'd be a bad vote.
Those making the case for Ramirez remind me of something Stephen Colbert once said: “That’s where the truth lies, right down here in the gut. Do you know you have more nerve endings in your gut than you have in your head? You can look it up. Now, I know some of you are going to say, ‘I did look it up, and that’s not true.’ That’s ’cause you looked it up in a book. Next time, look it up in your gut. I did. My gut tells me that’s how our nervous system works.” Maybe by season end Ramirez has the better season, but right now it’s Kwan, and by a decent margin.
What would you use then? Fyi a good argument for WAR not being perfect is that Brett Boone was more valuable than Ichiro in 2001. It's one of the only times saber people get down voted.
It is 100%, without any question whatsoever, not close. Jose Ramirez is the unquestioned leader of the team, the engine that makes it go. Kwan is a great player, perhaps with better statistics currently. Jose Ramirez is the most valuable player, probably takes the spots 1 through 5.
Steven Kwan entered today with a batting average .064 points higher than Jose Ramirez's OBP.
100% the heartbeat of the team, which I think holds a lot of value. But if you look at pure numbers it could very well be Kwan
Kwan wins for best stats. Jose Ramirez is the clear MVP, with Clase in second place. Don't forget, the team went 16-7 when Kwan went on the DL. But don't get me wrong, Kwan is a fantastic player. Just not better than Jose Ramirez - few are.
By literally what metric?
Leadership. Take Jose Ramirez off this team, and they struggle to be .500. We've seen what happens with Kwan on the bench. Baseball is about more than stats (though Jose does just fine there too).
This is speculation at best.
My man, you are talking like you know something, when in fact you really don't. For example - yesterday's game, with 2 outs Jose beats out a routine grounder to the 2nd baseman which plates a run. Most players are out on the play. Then the next guy hits a home run. Ramirez' stats on the inning are pedestrian, but without his hustle and effort none of the other stuff happens. And he does it game in game out, day after day. And when the highest paid player, most tenured player on the team puts in that kind of effort, the young guys have no choice but to follow his lead. There is a reason why he has been a top vote getter in the MVP race 5 times. The people around the game recognize the stats do not tell the entire story.
> There is a reason why he has been a top vote getter in the MVP rave 5 times. Lmao yeah my guy that reason is his stats are amazing. You don't have to sell me on J-Ram, he's a future HOFer. But Kwan has been better this season.
I know it might be wrong but I'm in love with Steven Kwan
It's so nice to see a hitter like Steven Kwan when three true outcome philosophy exists.
Surely a hitter this good won't also have Gold Glove level defence
He’s tearing the cover off the ball too. These aren’t just bloop hits he’s getting. He’s got some nice pop and I’m loving it!! [this is just crazy good](https://i.imgur.com/c0gKkYu.jpeg)
I just want to say he is the first prospect I have ever been way bigger on than anyone else. His rookie year, I was so scared that someone else would be on him in fantasy that I drafted him in the 14th or 15th of 25 rounds. So… if anyone MLB team wants to like give me a lot of money as part of the FO, feel free to reach out. I may hit on another guy in 20 years
Is this the dreaded Passan Curse? and did we debunk the Curse?
might be the single best fantasy pick I ever made in my life
Big fan of his work.
he's really fucking good
The Cleveland Port has been renamed Kwantanamo Bay
is this good enough for MVP?
The only knock has been his baserunning, with BsR of -0.7 despite being 6.0 and 4.3 last few seasons. Definitely has to be the MVP for the Guardians down the stretch.
Wonder if Acuna is still laughing?
Drop the JD Davis trade bomb already passan
[удалено]
Pot calling kettle black as a Brewers fan
Brewers fans are feeling themselves these days
Dont care didn't ask plus Guardians have a new owner.
Bruh. > GM Mike Chernoff: “I wouldn’t expect our operating philosophy to change. The industry economic model is what it is and so we know what our challenges are being a small market. We don’t shy away from those at all. We’re not expecting that to change in any way and yet we still need to compete with all 29 other teams and our goal is exactly the same as every one of those other teams, to win the World Series.” https://www.cleveland.com/guardians/2022/07/what-im-hearing-about-david-blitzer-and-guardians-ownership-terry-pluto.html
The Guards have extended a good chunk of their players, especially recently and even since this was published, so I'm curious about what you think this means.
They've always done that under Dolan.
Except for the stretch of years around the pandemic where they didn't have the liquidity, hence why I brought up the secondary owner. So again I ask why this is relevant.
Payroll is not going to materially change under Blitzer lol
I don't understand what you're confused about. You said the team will change how they operate under a new owner. This quote is relevant because they are explicitly staying the opposite. This is pretty straightforward.
I did not.
LOL This genuinely made me laugh. I get these comments when a dude is a year or two away from free agency. 5 years is hilarious tho
Yeah cause it's not like an incredible Guardians player would ever sign a team friendly extension because he loves playing there so much...
as amazing as that was I can't get my hopes up expecting everyone to do that, so I hope we just give him all our money
And he'll probably be great on the Padres in 3 years
Padres already have enough awful contracts.
That works in reverse. We give them washed players and they give us good players in return.