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Free agent LHP Horacio Ramirez will throw for scouts in Tempe, Ariz., tomorrow at 10:30 am, according to his agent.
Horacio Ramirez, 32, is likely a left-on-left reliever at this point in his career. Held lefties to a .711 OPS last year with #Angels.
Let's examine.
(1)
Horacio Ramirez is not an interesting, popular, or particularly talented player. Last year he was bad. He didn't pitch in the majors the year before. He has a 70 major league ERA+ since 2007. He is 32 years old. He is not a guy like Brandon Webb or Mark Prior, who had an excellent career derailed by injuries. He is a guy like Horacio Ramirez. The name 'Horacio Ramirez' does not capture one's attention.
(2)
This isn't even a rumor involving Horacio Ramirez. If Horacio Ramirez were connected to a team, I could see that team's fans being like, "okay, Horacio Ramirez, what might this mean?" Horacio Ramirez isn't connected to a team. He will be observed by an unknown number of scouts with unknown affiliations. This tweet basically says "Horacio Ramirez will throw a bullpen for somebody."
(3)
This reads to me like Morosi is showing that he's connected without thinking about how he's showing that he's connected. Maybe it wasn't intended that way, but that's how I read it. Nobody is impressed that Horacio Ramirez's agent might have Jon Morosi's email or phone number. We know that Jon Morosi is connected. That's why we follow Jon Morosi. Who the hell is Horacio Ramirez's agent?
(4)
The evidence presented that Horacio Ramirez is likely a left-on-left reliever is that last season he held lefties to a .711 OPS. Last season, lefties had a .727 OPS overall. They had a .656 OPS against left-handed pitchers. The Angels play in a pitcher-friendly park.
(5)
That .711 OPS is based on 23 plate appearances. Ramirez threw nine innings as an Angel.
Maybe this isn't the worst use of Twitter. Spamming or hate speech is probably the worst use of Twitter. But this is among the most pointless uses of Twitter. And so this is among the most pointless uses of our blogging space. Thanks for reading!
11 comments
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Comments
And here I was trying to figure out how to make that tweet into a post over at MLBDD.
You win this round, Sullivan.
by Justin Bopp on Feb 8, 2012 5:48 PM EST reply actions
And holy crap it's Horacio Ramirez...
by ThundaPC on Feb 8, 2012 5:50 PM EST reply actions
Rob Neyer
The worst use of Twitter is the use of your twitter account for reason’s other than those people started following you for. Rob Neyer continues to tweet his political opinions, but 99% (I’m guessing) of his followers are following him for his great insight on the game of baseball.
by joeychepa on Feb 8, 2012 6:18 PM EST reply actions
You might want to check the byline again.
"[The Cubs] have a very famous tradition in baseball, and it will be nice to be part of turning it around." ~ Jamie Quirk, Bench Coach
by daver on Feb 8, 2012 6:22 PM EST up reply actions
If you don't like it
don’t follow him. I don’t think anyone should be silent about something they care about, just because most people pay attention to them for some other reason. Rob Neyer is Rob Neyer, not Rob “I Only Care About Baseball” Neyer, and can voice his opinions as he wishes. The same is true for anyone.
by ackbar7 on Feb 8, 2012 7:17 PM EST up reply actions
Good Point, but...
I love Rob and and his status as one of the pioneers in statistical analysis. He has done so much and continues to be relevant here at SB Nation after his move from ESPN, BUT….I don’t think it is wise for him to co-mingle feeds. I didn’t follow him for his political opinions, just like I don’t follow Bill Simmons or Peter King for their political leanings…only their relevance in regards to sports. I think it’s a cop-out to just say “don’t follow him if you don’t like his political opinions”. It’s a more complicated scenario for someone who’s livelihood is driven by page views.
by joeychepa on Feb 8, 2012 8:08 PM EST up reply actions
Life isn't segregated into nice neat buckets
I learn a lot from the smart baseball people I follow on Twitter, and not just about baseball. And there is something to be learned from people’s political leanings as well. If you can’t follow someone solely because you dislike their politics, there is a word for that: intolerance.
(I’m not saying you are joeychepa, just saying that’s where it can lead if one must tune out all those who disagree with him.)
Follow @DavidYoungTBLA
- The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
by David Young on Feb 8, 2012 8:43 PM EST up reply actions
hmmm
I know others have pointed out this seemingly impossible concept but it does become tiresome to continue to read this type of complaint.
I think you are confusing a professional blog with a personal twitter account. Rob Neyer is paid to edit/write for SBNation in the SBNation forum. Rob Neyer is probably not paid to post to his personal twitter account. There is at least one SBNation official twitter account, I think it features a graphic of a gentleman with a handlebar mustache, probably an artist’s rendition of what Grant Brisbee would have looked like 100 years ago or something, you will know it when you see it.
While it is certainly true that Rob Neyer uses his personal twitter account to promote his professional endeavors, it still remains a personal account. Unfortunately, like many other humans, Rob is a complicated individual with a myriad of interests. But fortunately for you, it is not required that you follow his twitter feed to gain access to his great passion and knowledge of baseball.
If his twitter handle was @RobNeyer_SBNation or some such nonsense, I could understand your complaint. But it is very clearly a personal twitter account. Besides, is it really that difficult to filter his non baseball tweets?
Now I am going to crawl back into my cave until I hear that Yoenis Cespedes has signed with the Marlins.
Cheers
by andy.richter on Feb 9, 2012 1:42 AM EST up reply actions 2 recs
seems to me like Rob uses his twitter feed to talk about all sorts of random stuff
I think I counted more music tweets than political tweets, definitely if you don’t count RTs. Kind of like how Keith Law likes to tweet about pie. It’s just that the political stuff is more likely to put people off. (Except for my wife, who is put off by pie.)
Not actually affiliated with whygavs.
by WHYG Zane Smith on Feb 9, 2012 11:35 AM EST reply actions
all this did...
Was make me think about Bad Horacio and Good Horacio, which were the terms used on Braves Journal when he would have the inexplicable 4 shutout innings sandwiched giving up 5 runs in a random inning. Sometimes you got 6 of those good innings in a row. Sometimes you got two bad ones to start a game. It’s like a lottery!
Sometimes I tweet: @jmjonesjr
by AU_Jonesy on Feb 13, 2012 1:15 PM EST reply actions
What a waste of an article ......
You have all of these stats and your self absorbed opinion about somebody who is playing in the highest level of baseball. Regardless of what you say , he made it. He is fulfilling his childhood dream and he sacrificed probably more then you ever will. He maybe at the end of his career but to kick somebody who is already down and to humiliate his name? I hope nobody ever puts you on blast and crushes your writing skills and your pathetic attempt at journalism. I hope Mr. Ramirez reads this article and somewhere down the road runs into you.
by Rocky2012 on Feb 20, 2012 10:27 PM EST reply actions
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