In Light of the Mitchell Steroid Report, is Santana More, or Less, Valuable Now?

[maverick4]

Within a year or two we'll be back to like baseball was like in the early 90's, with lots more skinny and regular sized batters at the plate. Facing diminished hitting power, an ace pitcher can control the game even more than he could over the past 5 years.

 

[maverick4]

Re: In Light of the Mitchell Steroid Report, Santana is Even More Valuable

Actually, hmmm it's weird, an argument can be made for the flip side too, in that batters with true power are even more rare and thus valuable.

Does fixing the steroids problem help pitchers or batters more?

 

[sdaniels7114]

Re: In Light of the Mitchell Steroid Report, Santana is Even More Valuable

I'd say batters, but only by a little bit.

Edit: Let me re-phrase, Steroids help batters more, therefore taking steroids away helps pitchers.

 

[FreeTedWilliams]

Re: In Light of the Mitchell Steroid Report, is Santana More or Less Valuable?

Their are alot of pitchers on that report. Clemens, Pettitte, Gagne, most of the real dominant pitchers of that time.

 

[maverick4]

Re: In Light of the Mitchell Steroid Report, Santana is Even More Valuable

Edit: Let me re-phrase, Steroids help batters more, therefore taking steroids away helps pitchers.

But with overall less power all around the league, doesn't that make the difference between an average and a great pitcher much smaller, and thus less valuable?

 

[JoeSixPat]

I'd say more valuable - but I also think that a lot of the steroid use and even HGH has lessened in recent years with the higher scrutiny.

So whereas there was a big slim down over the last two years I question how much more there will be now

 

[maverick4]

In the steroids era there was lots of power all around so it took real great pitching talent to mow down a quality batting lineup, whereas an average pitcher had a greater chance of getting eaten alive.

In the post-steroids era where a lot less guys will hit for as much average or power, doesn't this diminish the distance between average and great pitchers? Great pitchers will still be great but average pitchers won't get burned as often now on extra base hits, HR's, and such.

 

[Omega Supreme]

I don't think the changes are going to be as drastic as a lot of people think. For one, HGH isn't going to go away anytime soon, or at least not until there is an effective method of testing for it. Also, steroids or not, today's ballplayers on average are much better athletes than in years past. There's no doubt that HR numbers will decline as they have in the last few years. but it's not like we're about to enter into another "dead ball" era like the 80s.