Mike Adams - WEEI

1. What is your favorite statistic / metric to use when evaluating the effectiveness of a pitcher?

Still ERA, W-L can be very deceiving and WHIP etc. don't show responsibility for runs crossing the plate.

2. What's your analysis of the current controversy surrounding Anthony Weiner's Twitter account?

With all due respect to the Big Show's Weiner Wiener Line, these are 2 weenies nobody should care about, except Mrs. Weenie.

3. If you could take a baseball road trip anywhere, where would you go and why?

I guess Japan, because the women are hot, and I don't like wearing shoes when I eat.

You can catch Mike Adams on the The Big Show everyday from 2-6 and Planet Mikey on Sports Radio WEEI. You can also follow Mike no Twitter @MikeyAdamsWEEI

Three Up Three Down: Mikey Adams Adams

Casey Stern - MLB.com

1. Do you think Major League Baseball clubs should issue credentials to qualified bloggers and how would you define "qualified"?

Sure, why not. If you are covering the game and there are people who are reading what you have to say because they respect it, then yes, you should be there. However, it shouldn't be every 17 year old that just started a website. As they say in the mafia, if someone or a group of someones "Vouch for you" then I'm all for it.

2. Should Major League Baseball make any adjustments to further protect catchers from collisions at the plate?

For me, the Posey thing was WAY overblown! Look, this is part of baseball and has been for a long time. Nobody was crying when Cervelli went down. Nobody (other than the Yankees) cared. For people to spend more time talking about the collision than they did about where the Giants and Posey go from here, is a joke. No rules need to be changed whatsoever. I also don't agree at all with the idea of Billy Beane or anyone else telling their catcher to not put themselves in that situation. If that's the case, don't catch. I don't use an Atari or a Commodore 64...I am ALL for change. When it's right. It is not in this case. It's baseball. Get over it.

3. What do you think Manny Ramirez is doing right now?

If I had to guess, Manny is laughing. This guy was one of the greatest run producers of our time or any for that matter. Covering his clutch runs in October with the Sox, I watched a guy who was at times stupid is as stupid does in the field or with the mic, but was Albert Einstein with the bat. That said, behind the scenes he was disrespecting the game and its fans even more than he was in front of our eyes. His last gasp with the Rays was a disgrace. To me, Manny being Manny simply means being close to greatness and taking a swift left turn to idiocy.

You can keep up with Casey Stern on Twitter (@caseystern) as well MLB.com Midday.

Three Up Three Down: Casey Stern

Kevin Goldstein - Baseball Prospectus

1. What is your favorite statistic / metric to use when evaluating the effectiveness of a pitcher?

There are all sorts of great numbers out there that are far better measurements, but for a quick and dirty number I can do in my head, especially with pitching prospects, I like to go with my own metric I call "Missed Bat Number". It's simply K-H-BB. Anything positive is great, Pedro Martinez holds the single season mark in one of his crazy Red Sox seasons.

2. If you were a closer, what song would they play as you took the ball in the ninth?

Soldier's Requiem by Naked Raygun

3. If you were forced to change roles with any MLB club executive, who would it be an why?

I'd like to go into the commissioner's office and try to convince them to stop worrying so much about the draft when in the grand scheme of a baseball economy, it's just a drop in the bucket.

You can read more of Kevin Goldstein on Baseball Prospectus and of course Twitter (@Kevin_Goldstein).

Three Up Three Down: Kevin Goldstein

Matt O'Donnell - Fenway West

 

1. What is your favorite statistic / metric to use when evaluating the effectiveness of a pitcher?

My favorite metric is Strikeout to Walk Ratio with WHIP coming in a close second. Take Jonathan Papelbon, he is having a great year and when you compare his Strikeout to Walk Ratio compared to last season you can see why. Last season the his K/BB was 2.71, this season it is 10.33! His WHIP last season was 1.26 and this season it is 1.05. If you were to just look at those two stats you can get a real clear picture or what a pitcher is doing.

Now let's compare those numbers to Mariano Rivera's. Mo's K/BB is 4.25 and his WHIP is 1.078. If you were asking which closer was having a better year and were just looking at saves you would choose Rivera with his 13 saves compared to Pap's 10, but by looking at K/BB and WHIP you could clearly see that Pap is having a better season.

2. Is it true that all bloggers live in their Mom's basement and they do their best work in their underwear?

I think the idea of bloggers living in their mom's basement came from a time when you had to be very tech savvy to have a blog. Blogging has become much more accessible to mainstream baseball fans so the number that reside in their mother's basement has likely dropped a great deal. Newspapers were quick to disregard bloggers and their contributions to baseball media until blogs started to impact their bottom line. Now some of the best bloggers are now affiliated with mainstream media outlets and most newspaper beat writers have their own blogs.

Many teams are beginning to give press credentials to bloggers and social media sites like twitter are continuing to change baseball reporting. With the lower cost of powerful technology it is possible to create high end websites and webcasts anywhere, even in a basement. However, most good bloggers have come out of the basement years ago. For the record I live over 3,000 miles from my mother's house and she doesn't have a basement.

3. If you could switch places with any baseball writer who would it be?

I would switch places with Craig Calcaterra of HardballTalk. He has found a way to write about anything he wants in baseball and gets paid enough money to do it full time. He left his job as a lawyer to follow his passion and seems like he is having a good time. I cannot imagine having a quality life with my wife and two great kids and being a beat writer at the same time. Craig seems to have found the perfect solution.

For more from Matt O'Donnell you can follow him on Twitter (@FenwayWest) or visit FenwayWest.com

Molly Sullivan - Sports Reporter

1. If you could make one change to the game of baseball what would it be?

Other than speed the game up...I would bring a team to Vegas.

2. What is your most embarrassing guilty pleasure (please don't say Glee)?

My first thought would be running on the treadmill at three in the morning.

3. You reside in Las Vegas... do you think Pete Rose should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame?

Pete Rose always comes across as very humble to me...whether I cross paths with him at N9NE Steakhouse or Amp Salon or perhaps just walk by one of his infamous autograph sessions around town, he simply enjoys talking baseball and the community has embraced that. In fact, for Rose’s 70th Birthday this past April, George Maloof even put his name up in lights on the marquee at the Palms Casino Resort...it read: Happy 70th Pete Rose 4,256. It was a pretty special moment. Look, it’s time to forgive the Hit King. He has paid his dues by following what late commissioner Bart Giamatti asked of him by “reconfiguring” his life.

I guess I would now like to see two things become mutually exclusive...a lifetime ban on baseball and actual induction into the Hall of Fame. Rose belongs in the Hall, a place that honors achievement and teaches the history of the game...he just doesn’t belong on the diamond, going forward. Two separate rulings. That’s just my own personal take on it.

Bud Selig, future commissioners, and the veterans committee will continue to do what they feel is best for the game of baseball and, at the end of the day, I respect that most of all.

You can keep up with Molly Sullivan on her official website: www.mollysullivan.tv