Are We Too Hard On Bloomquist?
by Freneau on Jul 5, 2010 2:22 AM EDT
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PrintI'm not a fan of Willie Bloomquist. The problem isn't really Bloomquist himself, rather it's Bloomquist the idea, Bloomquist as he's presented. My guess is that, if you kept a running tally of every comment made during a Royals broadcast this season, you'd probably end up hearing more positive comments about Bloomquist than most of the other Royals. I'd bet, he's at least in the top 5, which is remarkable because a) he just isn't good and b) he doesn't play a lot. However, if you're of a certain baseball age, praising Bloomquist is evidence of how much you know about the game. There are lots of media and fans that live in that world, and they probably always will.
Now, Bloomquist is damn lucky that he's slipped into that mold. Somehow, being the utility guy who hustles and does the little things has turned into a very lucrative career. As weird as it sounds, if Bloomquist was 20% better, he'd probably be out of baseball right now. If Bloomquist had been a slightly better hitter in the minors, I doubt the Mariners would have so quickly made him into a utility player, not wanting to mess up a potentially decent 2B. Now a 20% better Bloomquist still wouldn't have ended up as a useful Major League infielder, and he would have been viewed as a failed 2B prospect. If this guy can't hit enough to play 2B, there's no point in making him an OF. But because he was worse, he emerged as a jack of all trades, because he had no potential to lose. Sure, there's still the central fact that having a guy who plays a lot of positions and doesn't hit at all isn't actually that useful, but as far as I can tell no one else in the game sees it that way. He can play all over the field! This is like Target hiring me to stock shelves one day, cashier the next, and work in the pharmacy on the weekends, despite the fact that I'm bad at all of those jobs.
But back to 2010. As fan, we overanalyze things. We'd love to have a 24th or 25th man who is better than Bloomquist (and cheaper). We'd also love to have better middle relievers and a better 5th starter. So would every other set of fans in the game, however. If you read other team blogs, you'll soon discover that everyone has their own Bloomquist, and in their town the old school/non-reality based guys love that player and talk endlessly about how useful he is, and the people on sites like this one hate it. Now, there's a wider issue in the industry, perhaps, that rosters keep getting made in such a way, but it's close to a universal problem, like internet spam, the cold, or Twilight.
So yes, in some ways, I feel like hating Bloomquist is a responsibility. If so many people are going to worship at the church of St. Willie, I've got to be anticlerical. Maybe. Maybe not.
For me, I've only got so much animosity to go around (though it seems to be more than what most people have). As long as Bloomquist isn't playing too much, I've got to let it go. He's basically the last guy I'd like to see in the lineup, but if its only once or twice a week and as long as the other options are bad, what does it matter? He's over-rated and over-loved, but in the end, who really cares?
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Rosenthal mentioned the Yanks with possible interest in him as a utility guy
doubt that’s true. Theres really no reason to trade him he isn’t overly expensive at this point with say 800k remaining on the contract.
Checkout Royals minor league notes at www.14for77.blogspot.com
The one positive of trading him is additional playing time for Getz and Maier.
Glad I came, just wish I hadn't stayed so long.
People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball...Rock Chalk Talk
Except that it is the Yankees
Derek Jeter makes 800k in about 0.235432656 seconds. Fact.
Just let it go man
Besides, I sense that a major cause of your true resentment is that he is not known as “Will Bloomquist”. Or that you’re not known as “Willie McDonald.”
Just let it go. Focus your bile on Kendall.
"Shot by my own men."
I think
it just is a sore subject because we hear so much praise about hustle and grit all that. When you see that the “intangibles” are highly overrated you can do nothing but rebel against it.
Obviously, you are not a golfer.
or
the whole thing about him being the first pinch runner, when he is pinch running his way to a performance bonus for just being in 70 games
Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/bhindepmo (follow me, because reloading my twitter page 40 times a day is kind of creepy)
He's Frisbee Freel
Lite. He never was quite as good at his peak, and Freel made way too much money in Cincy and Baltimore, but as of now there’s probably not a nickel’s difference. Well, other than Freel is out of MLB and wealthy.
I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.
Why not?
Yes, teams sometimes have to have a Bloomquist at the end of their bench, but they pay him the league minimum and go year to year (or close to it, if they’re ability to scout the scrubs is stretched so thin that they can’t locate a Kevin Frandsen out there), they don’t give him $1.5M a year for two guaranteed years+ incentives.
Bloomquist is a total scrub. That’s fine. Pretty much every teams has to have at ends up with near- or-total scrubs on their bench, and sometimes they get forced into duty. The difference is that smart teams realize that no matter how old or white or gritty the scrub might look, no matter how much he makes your “old school announcer” and the few remaining moron columnists needs to change their underwear, he’s just another one of the hundreds of guys out there like him, there’s no need to recruit, and certainly no need to promote.
Along with The Marketing of Rick Ankiel, Willie Bloomquist might be one of Scott Boras’ most underrated achievements.
Colon better be worth it.
I'm not a sabermetrician, but I do play one at FanGraphs and Beyond the Box Score.
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I wish I would catch embarrassing grammatical mistakes before I hit "post"
I'm not a sabermetrician, but I do play one at FanGraphs and Beyond the Box Score.
Can't get enough of me? Check out my Twitter feed.
by Matt Klaassen on Jul 3, 2010 4:36 PM EDT up reply actions
Last year, I hated Bloomers
This year, I’m OK with him, borderline like him. The reason to hate him last year was he sucked out 434 ABs while barely posting an OBP over .300 while stealing potential ABs from the Maiers of the world (on a team that really needs to find out what it has in the minors).
But this year, he’s on pace for almost 300 last ABs. His OBP is slightly worse, and his OPS is only slightly higher, but it doesn’t matter because he doesn’t matter. He’s not changing entire games with his presence, and even when he plays defense, he’s still an upgrade over the the pirate in right field or Yuni diving aimlessly at balls my 8 year old niece could likely field cleanly.
Like Stonewall said, just let it go. There are people in AAA I’d rather see in his utility spot right now, but I don’t think any of them will wow us. Bloomquist is far from the biggest problem on this team.
Plus, we’re 6 of our last 8, so within a few weeks, we’ll all praise Bloomy and Guillen for their determination and guile in bringing us from the abyss to first place.
I guess I had the same problem with Bloomy last year too
But I don’t actually blame Bloomy. I blame the people overexposing him. The sad part is that we had a Bloomy type player in Tug Hulett for cheaper and never gave him a shot, and when they did, they small sample sized him, said he sucked and shipped him back to AAA.
wow
if Bloomquist was 20% better, he’d probably be out of baseball right now.
Dang, I think you’re right. WEIRD!
You could probably take it further.
I’m not trying to start something racial here, but if Willie was black, would he be considered the gritty, hustle player he is currently considered? I think he may be out of baseball in that case as well, or would he be considered someone that never lived up to their potential (potentially somebody like Joey Gathright or Derrick Robinson)?
"In the end, who really cares?"
That would be me.
Bloomquist really bothers me. I know every team has a scrub or two, and I don’t even care about the salary (actually yes I do). What really bothers me is that these guys who fancy themselves baseball experts are just so damn wrong about Bloomquist. I can’t let that go. How can Dayton (and people like him) not wrap their heads around the reality of what Bloomquist is? They’re paid to do this!
It’s just really weird and gross. Dayton can talk about his process, and his developmental plans, and changing the culture, and whatever else. But if he thinks Willie Bloomquist is a valuable player, he’s clearly too stubborn (and maybe stupid?) to have any sustained success at this level.
It isn't Bloomquist or his role that bothers me
…it is his contract. Willie Hustle can be a solid 25th man on a roster. But 25th men don’t make $1.5MM/year, they make 1/3 of that.
Scott Boras is a hell of an agent
ask Willie.
P.S.: 25 Willie Bloomquists.. the point in which people began to wonder about Ned’s head
Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/bhindepmo (follow me, because reloading my twitter page 40 times a day is kind of creepy)
I'll Give Ned
A pass on that one. That’s the typical kind of praise the Bloomers and Gloads of the world get from a manager who’s stuck with them. I think it means there’s not much good to say about his actual performance, so you mouth vague platitudes about intangibles.
I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.
by philofthenorth on Jul 3, 2010 7:40 PM EDT up reply actions
I never had a huge problem with Bloomquist
he’s just not played enough to warrant rage. All of my wrath this season is reserved for the guys who are there every damn day, i.e. Pods and Kendall.
Place witty signature here.
Will, fear not,
I am full of fucking rage—certainly enough to actively hate about 44% of the starting line-up and a good chunk of the bullpen, not to mention a certain LOBster in Omaha, and a GM who cannot construct a Major League roster without overpaying gamers and grit-meisters. I just don’t have the time right now to write much of anything Royals-related.
Hating life as a Royals fan 365 days a year at Royalscentricity
and that is just hatred focused on the team that I root for. Don’t get me started on the Yankees or White Sox or the slew of fat-headed players I have utter disdain for.
Hating life as a Royals fan 365 days a year at Royalscentricity
by Old Man Duggan on Jul 3, 2010 8:32 PM EDT up reply actions
Love the fact that Bloomquist has a great attitude and hustles
His ability to play multiple positions is a great quality, too. However, he doesn’t play any of them really well. And, when he is played too often, like last year, his flaws are exposed. Willie is a great guy for the NL – double switching, playing a few innings, he can run and steal a base. But the fact that KC pays him as much as they do is more a statement about KC’s FO than Willie.
The end of your post says it all
Not just about Bloomquist, but about the 2010 Royals: “but in the end, who really cares?” While this year could have been about seeing what Kila, Maier, Aviles, Getz, Pena, etc, could bring on an everyday basis, instead it’s become about riding out bad contracts and giving too much playing time to a bunch of “veterans” who just don’t matter now or in the long run. When Bruce Chen going perfect through six is the highlight of the week, you know your team is just not that interesting. Going .500 to stay 10 games under or so is just not that interesting. Watching Guillen, Pods, Kendall, Willie B., and Yuni play either every stinking day or just far too often for their actual talent and production is just not that interesting. What’s happening in NW Arkansas and Wilmington, well that’s interesting. 2010 is just about surviving until there’s something to actually get excited about.
So, at this point, no, there is no reason to care if Bloomquist plays 1 day or 5 days a week. Should GMDM actually care about fielding a team anyone wants to watch next year, then Willie and the rest of his veteran ilk won’t be here come Opening Day 2011. And if he doesn’t…well, I try not to think about that.
It's all ball bearings these days!
by CentralChamps20?? on Jul 4, 2010 12:16 AM EDT reply actions
I think a lot of guys are harder on Farnsworth, who's got an ERA of just barely over 2-point-Oh
… and I do kinda like Bloomie …
"I shall conquer untruth by truth" - Mahatma Gandhi
"It's always easier to sell 'em some shit than it is to give 'em the truth" - Shel Silverstein, The Perfect High
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hi, Mo! 5 minutes!!!
I Don't Know
About Bloomers, but I’m pretty sure we’re too hard on Wood at times.
I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.
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