Bill James, the master himself, made an appearance over at ESPN.com the other day. Some highlights:
Jake (Mountlake Terrace, WA): Bill, can we gleam anything from the Win Shares system after only 40-odd games, or is it a tool that’s truly accurate after a full 162-game schedule?
Bill James: Nothing. Win Shares are a tool used to analyze a season after it is over. They have no relevance at all to a moving object.
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Jake (Mountlake Terrace, WA): Kansas City Royals: will they merely settle in as a slightly-above .500 team, or will they crash and burn like the 2001 Minnesota Twins? How do you see the young pitchers progressing (or regressing)?
Bill James: I don’t honestly see tham as being any better than they have been. Pena has very significantly re-educated a bunch of the young pitchers, many of whom frankly don’t look anything like they did last year. This is ONE step toward making them good major league pitchers–but it is just one step along a long road.
(Looks like Jake was hogging the chat)
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Jason Rose (Chicago): What players would you say are the most valuable commodities in all of baseball, taking into account everything (talent, age, contract status, expected durability)? I would say 1) A Rod, (2) Vlad Guerrero and (3) Mark Prior.
Bill James: I think I would be Prior ahead of Guerrero, but that’s a REAL good list. I don’t know that there is anybody else who would break up that top three.
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Ted (Charlottesville): When will we get your next book?
Bill James: I don’t know; when did you get the last one? I’ll have a book to a publisher next spring. . .don’t know when it will appear.
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Jordan: There’s been a lot of chatter about moving Piazza to 1B. My feeling is that he’s of more value as a catcher even with all the stolen bases, especially with offense at such a premium for the Mets. What’s your take?
Bill James: I’d move him, and let Mo Vaughn catch. I think he’d throw out about as many runners, and it would be more entertaining to watch.
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Kevin (Harrisburg, PA): Bill, do you think the comparisons of Randy Wolf to Glavine are legit?
Bill James: Yes. If you put Wolf on the Braves, he would win 18-20 games.
Read the whole thing.