Russell Branyan: An Ex-Mariner to Queens?
Posted by CaseStreet on 6:42pm, Monday November 23rd 2009
Yahoo’s Tim Brown tweeted the Mets are courting Ex-Mariner First Baseman Russell Branyan.
The Mets have called on Russell Branyan.
Branyan is a 6′2″ 195 lb. lefty first baseman who crushed the ball in the first few months of 2009 but then went cold. Some claim his back issues may have been the cause in the dropoff. The Mariners took a $1.4M chance with Branyan in 2009. He thanked them by hitting 31 HR, 21 2B and sported a line of .347 OBP, .520 SLG, .867 OPS.
According to Fangraphs.com, Branyan was worth a 2.8 WAR and 1.8 UZR last year. In comparison, Daniel Murphy was worth a 0.6 WAR and a 4.7 UZR at 1B, while hitting 12 HR, 21 2B and had a .313 OBP, .427 SLG, .741 OPS.
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would make for a good platoon
I think he bats lefty Rusty….
oops my bad - same as the overbay deal lol
Well, while I generally am head of the Ex-Mariners in Queens! fan club, I am not sure Branyan would be my first choice….
If we want him, why not just re-sign Delgado? Only 3 years older…
I’m shocked and amazed. You must immediately renounce your Chairmanship of the Ex-Mariners in Queens Fan Club!
I will do no such thing!
I would root extra hard for Branyan if he indeed joins the exclusive Met/Mariner club, but I sure would prefer Cameron. Or maybe even Oliver Perez Pineiro. Or Randy Johnson.
But yeah, Branyan does have a lot of pop, and would not be too pricey. But I do like Murph. If Murph goes in a trade for anyone named ROY, or for some good players from FL or CIN, then I am fully on the Branyan bandwagon, but he better be a LOT cheaper than Nick Johnson.
now that would be quite a platoon. Branan SLG and Johnson OBP.
Branyan’s career line: .234 .331 .491
Branyan’s first half of last season: .280 .382 .573 (um, fluke?)
Branyan’s second half of last season: .193 .274 .414
Branyan’s 2007: .196 .320 .423
Branyan’s 2008: (152 at bats) .250 .342 .583
However, his 2008 was almost exclusively against RH pitchers. Only 14 at bats (0-14) against LH pitchers.
All of this confirms to me what we’ve already known: Branyan is not that good. Branyan is a strict platoon player:
Career v. lefties = 210 .297 .459
Career v. righties = 239 .339 .498
Pass.
If you look at his BABIP in splits by month, his first month was very luck while the last few seem to be very unlucky.
Bottom line, he ain’t real good!
What’s worse is that this ain’t Jim Spencer with the Glove we’re
talkin’ either!
If there is any truth in this rumor..
I say, PLEASE NO OMAR!
And Brock, where’s Slick Watts or
“Downtown” Freddy Brown these days?
It’s a shame that the NBA let that
team move!
b/t/w, with your Nets, it’s also a
shame that b/c of the NBA’s dopey
lottery, your 7-75 finish won’t assure
the First pick in the draft next yr.
Yeah, with our luck, we will go 5-77 and get the 6th pick or something!
The Sonics move absolutely infuriated me, and I blame Howard Schultz, the Starbucks founder who bought the team from the Ackerleys, ran it into the ground, and then sold it to an even slimier lying jerk. I actually stopped drinking Starbucks coffee after over 15 years as a personal protest against Schultz, that rancid jerk.
I have seen at least one rumor that if the Nets’ new Russian owner somehow does not get league approval, a group from the northwest might try to buy the Nets and move them to Seattle!
I could make a snide
remark like…..
They(The Nets)should
keep on flying west..
to Siberia AND THAT
they’d feel comfortable
there since theres little diff b/t Siberia
and Jersey in the winter….But I won’t.
I have lots of family in Jersey, don’t feel
any ill-will toward
the Nets AND have respect for you.
But Man is it cold in the Meadowlands in December!
Fong buddy, I appreciate it, but the area where I currently live, north of Albany NY, is actually much worse than NJ. The winters here S*CK.
The decade in Seattle has made me absolutely hate winter.
I’m with you
on that.
I’m in the Susquehanna Valley
b/t Harrisburg and State College
and we get some wicked winds,snow and rains.
Also, the older I get, the more I hate the cold
and snow.
I actually moved back to NY yrs ago after doing some P.I.&Bail Bond
work in
the deserts
of Cali&
Nevada.
Hated not just the daily 110degree summers
but also
the 80degree
winters.
Christmas with
coyotes,
scorpions&snakes..not a
lot of fun!
What I meant is, I’ll take a snow storm or two but not the winters in Buffalo!
b/t/w, Omar….’cause I know you read
this blog, find the RIGHTHANDED version of Branyan or Cust!
Then you’ll be heading in the Right…pun intended…direction.
Cantu!!!
Can too!
I agree, mes think that is a perfect fit!
The only problem is that it is pretty much a guarantee that whichever prospects the Marlins choose from us will become the next Hanley and the next Josh Johnson!
But damn, if we could work out a deal for Cantu and Johnson?
Murph, Maine, and their choice of 2 or 3 prospects?
Well, my idea was to keep Murphy to platoon,
I hate giving up on Maine,big,hard thrower…..and
the 2or3
prospects they’d ask for would be FMart,
Niese&Davis
I don’t see us getting him BUT
he is the type I think we
need to supplement Murph
@1B.
I like Murph and Maine too, I really do.
But Murph, Maine, Niese, maybe a lesser prospect, and then Davis OR FMart for Cantu and Johnson?
Where’s TRS, so he can sign off on this….
sorry man i do not trust johnson - and maybe im putting to much stock in davis but if he can be even a dave magadan or rico brogna type - i will be more than satisfied
Yeah, Johnson has a very short track record and some injuries, that is for sure…but he would be better than the Wolf/Marquis/Oliver Perez Pineiro group most likely.
Funny!
Im with ya though.If we’re talkin’
Johnson&Cantu, they can have Maine,
Neise,Fmart&Murphy.
Nut thats it!
I would give ANY two of our top prospects for Johnson. That is the type of player we should be looking for if they are available. I don’t see him being out there though.
Branyan?
No, not, never, un uh.
Next silly rumor from a supposed professional please!
Amen. Please no on Mr. Branyan.
Is it fair to compare tatis and cantu? Wouldn’t tatis be the ideal platoon with Murphy? (not that I think Murphy needs to platoon)
I think the problem I have with both of them is that they don’t know how to play 1B. There is much more to 1B than just range. Murphy and Tatis positioning, dig ability, stretch… they were terrible at. I am guessing there are no stats to show that.
Seriously? Tatis will be a 35 year old bench player who had one good full season 10 years ago. Cantu will be 28 and all three of his full seasons have been very productive.
Cantu is definitely an everyday player who could reasonably be expected to hit 40 2B, 20+ HR, and drive in 100.
Ok, all I knew from him was that he’s a Mets killer.
Isn’t everyone in a Marlins uniform?
Check out Cantu’s stats–especially the decrease in Ks last year—this guy can hit.
Even if he never played in Seattle, I would surely take him over three Russell Branyans….
Here’s his Baseball Reference page–check out the three full years and the increase in BB and decrease in Ks:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/cantujo01.shtml
Kingman of course I would take him over Russell but don’t you think he would cost significantly more than Russell as well? Obviously I am not a big fan of Branyan and would rather have Delgado but we have to understand the cost to obtain Canut IF he is even available which based on the last report he is not.
Sure he would; but he is much younger and much, much better-past, present, and future.
To be fair to Tatis, IF you pushed his numbers to a full season you would get very similar numbers. Obviously we have no way of knowing if Tatis could keep his line up over a full season starting every day. However, here are his projections compared to Cantu over a full season.
Cantu
HR 16 H 169 2B 42 3B 0 SB 1 RBI 100 R 67 BB 47 SO 81 TB 259
Tatis
HR 14 H 163 2B 36 3B 7 SB 7 RBI 82 R 71 BB 37 SO 92 TB 253
This, my esteemed friend, is exhibit A of “statistics are like a bikini-they show you a lot, but not everything.”
Comparing Tatis/Cantu, Hart/Pagan, Marquis/Figgy, etc, is really less than a meaningless exercise.
Tatis had one good full season–in 1999.
Agreed, but the idea of trading top prospects for Cantu is also risky (See 2006 and 2007). Tatis is not great but can play many positions and would accept a platoon. Obviously if we brought in Cantu there is no platoon.