I meant to link last week to this interview with Bill James over on Slate. Among other things, James continues to defend his views on Mike Stenhouse (he's done a bit of rethinking on Brad Komminsk and Doug Frobel). And there's this:

[W]hat do you think of the prospects of using play-by-play analysis to differentiate players' defensive skills? Is it possible to draw a meaningful separation between data and noise at the play-by-play level?

Yes, it is possible. But ... this is among my primary projects right now, and I don't want to talk about the sauce while it's still in the skillet.

Sounds like some new defensive measures are on their way . . .