March 2006
The Last Weekend of the Void
Any of you who have read the book "Bunts" by George Will – from which the name of the Blog was taken – are probably familiar with the two-season concept. That is, Baseball Season and The Void.
Last year, on the day of Game 4 of the World Series, I cried in the middle of my psychology class. I couldn’t help it. I knew that I would be watching my last live baseball game for months and it made me terrified. Would I be able to survive The Void this year? Or would it take me before Baseball Season returned? I was scared, frightened, and downtrodden. But – I persevered through the winter months, survived The Void, and now Baseball has arrived. Every year, my routine is the same… grit my teeth, watch Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS (I’m serious, it’s saved on my computer,) and count down the days. As spring approaches, I start listening to Buck 65′s album "This Right Here is Buck 65" – baseball’s soundtrack – and start right into the swing of things. I was extremely busy (and sick) for the last month so it was difficult for me to devote as much time as I usually do, but it’s ok. I start wearing my autographed Andres Torres Fan Club T-Shirt, (see the story) and trying to get a game of catch going. Yesterday, Michigan decided to be about 65 degrees (???) so I spent some time outside throwing around. It was amazing.
In any case, baseball has arrived. The Void is pretty much over. Therefore, I think it’s only appropriate for us to declare us much. Out with the Void, bring on the baseball. One of the first things I’ll be doing when I get home from school around the 2nd week of May is going to a Tigers game. I’ll go alone if I have to. But I’m going. And then I’ll go to another… and hopefully about 15 more. I can say hi to all my usher-friends – I haven’t seen them since August – and make new friends with the Cops, since the last one – Famous Officer Diaz – got laid off by silly Detroit. How exciting is this? Think about it, genuine, real-life baseball. No more getting by on simple TV spring training games, or MVP 2004, and no more not wanting to wake up because your baseball dreams are better than real life. No more. Baseball Season has arrived, and (not coincidentally) the Sun has started shining in Michigan. I don’t think I’ve seen sunshine here since, say… early November.
In any case, the prep for the Season has been pretty strong here on BHGM. I encourage you to check out the team and divisional overviews – many of the teams can be found within their respective divisional overviews, obviously.
Cleveland Indians – A very detailed mailbag response.
Toronto Blue Jays – Brief, mostly pitching oriented look.
Detroit Tigers – Detailed look at the hometown team.
NL East – Mets and Phillies, with a smidge of Braves, Nats, and Marlins.
St. Louis Cardinals – Covering Sidney Ponson here.
New York Yankees – Focusing on the rotation… because we know how the offense will do.
Washington Nationals – Jim Bowden’s second fatality.
Cincinnati Reds – Not too many details… because they’re screwed up. See above.
NL West – Please, you’ve got to be kidding me. If you don’t know how I feel about them by now, you haven’t been paying attention.
Toronto Blue Jays/AL East – Just reminding the Jay’s what division they’re stuck in.
We’ll be seeing more excitement as the weekend continues. But for now, thanks for reading. Also, check out the new BHGM Site Search. You can find it on the bottom left toolbar.
Mailbag: Cleveland Indians
Today I got an e-mail from Aaron in Mill Creek, Washington. He wanted to know what I thought about the Indian’s chances this year and for the future, since they’ve only lost Coco Crisp and gained much in the offseason. I decided the Indians are overdue for some coverage, so here we go. Most of you who have read my division/team overviews know that I don’t like making predictions on where teams will end up at the end of the year – I prefer to break down a team’s strength’s and ‘holes,’ because to be honest, predictions are a crapshoot anyway.
Since finishing 93-69 and just 6 games behind the White Sox in 2005, the Indians have re-signed Jhonny Peralta (5 years,) and Grady Sizemore (6 years,) to long term contracts. They’ve acquired Guillermo Mota and signed free agents Paul Byrd and Jason Johnson. Aaron wondered whether these gains, offset only by the loss of Coco Crisp, gave the team a chance to make a run this season. Aaron, you forgot to mention that the Indians let the pitcher with the best ERA in the AL walk away to free agency. He is currently playing for the Rangers. I’ll give everyone a couple seconds to think about who that might be, because it still amazes me that this guy had the lowest ERA of any starting pitcher in the AL and barely anyone knows it.
Alright, times up – it was Kevin Millwood. In any case, maybe people didn’t take note because he went 9-11 last year. How you can start 30 games and have a 2.86 ERA while playing for a team that won 93 games – but only win 9 games yourself – is beyond me. Oh well. On to Coco Crisp. Do you remember before the 2004 season, when the Indians shipped tinder-box Milton Bradley to the Dodgers so they could make room for Coco Crisp on the roster? Think about that for a minute, and it will become clear. If you still need help, think Monopoly and Breakfast. In any case, Coco is an average center fielder (his natural position), and the guy who’s playing in center instead – Grady Sizemore – is younger and more qualified for the job. I agree with Aaron that the loss of Coco Crisp isn’t a huge loss – more so since the Indians acquired a valuable defensive backup catcher in Kelly Shoppach, a quality reliever in Guillermo Mota, and a highly valued 3rd base prospect in Andy Marte. Marte is only 22 now, but he’s an amazing fielder and has great potential at the plate.
However, many Indian fans don’t like this trade because of the chemistry Coco brought to the team. I guess others feel that GM Mark Shapiro was trading away the present for the future, but nothing could be further from the truth, in my opinion. Crisp wasn’t playing in his natural position, and he wasn’t going to as long as Grady Sizemore is in town – which is going to be about 6 years. Power-hitting, quality fielding 3rd basemen are hard to come by, and Andy Marte will develop into one within the next couple years. Some people have even raised the idea of turning Victor Martinez into a 1st baseman and starting Kelly Shoppach at catcher, because he is defensively superior. This is a possibility, but not in the near future. Before I go further, let me say that I was almost done with this piece when my computer decided to restart. So I lost the last half. Oh well, here we go again. This is how the Indians line up on the depth chart for the 2006 Season:
Catcher – Victor Martinez
First Base – Ben Broussard
Second Base – Ronnie Belliard
Third Base – Aaron Boone (for now)
Shortstop – Jhonny Peralta
Right Field – Casey Blake
Center Field – Grady Sizemore
Left Field – Jason Michaels
DH – Travis Hafner
Many of you who have read my team overviews are familiar with the holes analogy. We see another good use for it right here; the Indians don’t have a lot of holes, provided the team plays like they did last year. Red Sox Killer Aaron Boone should be able to produce, as long as he doesn’t get any worse than he was last year. I don’t like Jason Michaels in Left, if only because he’s never played a full season. However, Todd Hollandsworth is there to back up any outfielders that go down, and I’m comfortable with that. The Indians are young, and that’s their greatest asset. V-Mart, Belliard, Peralta, Blake, and Sizemore are only getting better, and I don’t see any of them having huge off years that would ruin the team, (but Martinez always starts slow, so be weary.) Broussard and Hafner may improve a little, but Hafner is already a great DH to begin with. Remember, this lineup finished 93-69 last year. The only major thing offensively that’s changed with the Indians is the departure of Coco Crisp, which is not a big loss to the team offensively – some Indian fans will contend that it is a matter of chemistry, but that debate won’t be settled here. The most important thing to remember is that all the members are generally consistent performers – unlike the Mets, their season isn’t riding on the success of one or two guys.
As for the rotation, I like it and it tends to be fairly solid. C.C. Sabathia is one of my favorite pitchers, and he’ll be the ace again this year. The problem with C.C. is that he has a tendency to get hit around the yard a lot. His typical ERA hovers around 4, but most people forget that C.C. is only 25 years old. This could be the year that he pulls everything together. Apparently, I fell asleep and when I woke up, it became ok to start Jake Westbrook at the Major League level. I’m not gonna bash the guy too much, because frankly he doesn’t deserve it. Ok, maybe 2005 was an off year – I mean, 2004 was his good year, and all the others were just off years. My point is that 2004′s 3.38 ERA looks more like a statistical anomaly than a genuine, quality performance. But who knows, Westbrook is supposed to pull it together any year now, (he’s 28,) and this might be the year. Cliff Lee is next in line. Lee has really figured things out since his rocky full-time debut in 2004, when he had a 5.43 ERA but somehow managed to win 14 games. In 2005, he won 18 games with a 3.79 ERA, and I think he’s for real. Furthermore, I forgive Cliff for pitching his glove into the crowd after he exited a game in 2004, unhappy with his performance. And before you ask why anyone would ever start
Westbrook over Lee… Sabathia, Lee, and Jason Johnson (the #5) are all Lefties. Handedness aside, the rotation might fall to some variation of Sabathia, Lee, Byrd, Westbrook, and Johnson. The veteran of this young staff is Paul Byrd, at number 4. And hold it a minute, I’ll get to Johnson in a second. Byrd has had a good last couple of years. I’m not going to go into the hurricane that’s been his career, but basically it’s stabilized. If he can continue his sub-4.00 ERA ways and stay consistent, he’ll be a great #4. And then there’s Jason Johnson. I saw him start a few too many games for the Tigers last year, and I don’t like him. I’m convinced the guy is a fraud. He’s another one of those players I just don’t care for. I’m not saying he’s a bad guy or anything, his style of play just concerns me. And by style of play, I mean he’s only had two sub-4.50 ERA seasons – for the Orioles in 2001 and 2003, 4.09 and 4.18, respectfully. But, I do understand that guys that can go 200 innings with a 4.50 ERA are a little rarer than we typically think. If Johnson can stay healthy and stable, he’s doing his job as a number 5. Overall, this is a solid rotation if it stays healthy, which it has in the past. Neither Paul Byrd nor Jason Johnson strike out a lot of guys, and therefore the outfield defense which some people worry is a little shaky may be a problem – no one seems to be too sure how it will perform. Byrd caused some worries earlier in Spring Training when he was roughed up for 7 runs in 1.2 innings and said, "I need to get more zip on my fastball… it feels like I’m pitching underwater." That’s not a good feeling. The Indians are working on Fausto Carmona as well – Carmona is a 22-year-old prospect who allowed just 1 ER and recorded 8 K’s in 12 IP this spring. He’s set to spend the year in AAA Buffalo, but I think that if Byrd, Johnson, or Westbrook goes down for any length of time he may be called up, if he’s having a good year at AAA. Of course, this isn’t a long term solution because you risk pitching him too many innings and pulling a Mark Prior on him, but at least he provides a little bit of insurance.
The bullpen is a little bit shaky still, but it simply wasn’t the priority to be fixed during the off-season. Right now, the only reliable guy is one Rafael Betancourt, who still claims he wasn’t juiced up. But this guy is good. I actually drafted him last year because if Wickman goes down – not unlikely – he’s #2. Guillermo Mota, who was acquired when Coco Crisp departed, should be good, but there’s no telling for sure.
Ever since Mota was shipped to the Marlins in 2004 with Paul Lo Duca, he’s been a mess. His 2005 season was a total loss, but it did produce Todd Jones as a closer (again), and he’s in Detroit now. Relief pitchers aren’t something you want to bet on because they can be so fickle from year to year, but I think Mota can pull something out of his bag and get back to a serviceable condition this year. The car crash that is Danny Graves has also arrived at the Jake, and apparently won itself a roster spot. If Graves thinks Wickman’s gonna go down this year, and Eric Wedge will panic and hand him the closer spot, he needs to drop back down to planet Earth. Maybe, maybe, if the rest of the bullpen is assassinated he’ll have a shot. Do you remember when the Indians were on their bus to the Kansas City airport near the close of the 2004 Season, when all of the sudden reliever Kyle Denney was shot? The best part of this was that Denney was wearing a white cheerleader’s outfit as part of a hazing ritual, and the high white boots he was wearing may have saved him from further injury. Can you imagine how that must have gone?
"Skip, I’ve been shot!"
"Shut up Denney, you haven’t been shot."
"No, he’s serious! Reliever down! Reliever down!"
Too much. In any case, If Graves and Mota pull it together, you’ve got a decent bullpen. But any team who signs Danny Graves is grabbing at straws, and Mark Shapiro knows it. Bob Wickman, who saved 45 games last year, is fine if he stays healthy. I was at an Indians v. Tigers came last year, and I chanced into Bob Wickman by the dugout – I think it was just after we had gotten into the park. We asked Wickman if he could sign, and he said sure. He came on over, and then he dropped the bomb.
Do you care where I sign? Want it in the sweet spot?
Anyone (above the age of 15) who has ever gotten a player’s autograph know’s that this is just 
absurd. Most of the time, the players will ignore your attempts to speak to them. You’ll say,
‘thanks,’ and they’ll give you a standard ‘no problem’ without looking up or making eye contact. Wickman looked me straight in the eye and treated Kevin and I respectfully, because he knew we’re the reason he has a salary. I’m not saying players who don’t do this are bad guys – I understand that a lot of fans are obnoxious, and the players don’t have time for everyone, etc – but anyone who takes time out like Bob Wickman gets an A+. Remember the Andres Torres Story? Additionally, anyone who has attended an Indian’s game has probably seen the old
T-Shirt lady. I won’t go into it now, but… screeching at players like
you’re their mother is not the way to go. In any case, the 37-year-old Wickman had one of his best years last year, dropping his ERA to a solid 2.47. Again, if he stays healthy he’s perfect – if not, start looking for a replacement. But Wickman is a good guy.
That said, I’m going to remind you that I like to break down teams and let you decide where they’ll end the year at. But, if I had to take a guess – and I think the AL Central is one of the easier divisions to predict, although everyone else will disagree with me – we’ll go Indians, White Sox, Tigers, Twins, Royals. The Indians and Sox may swap; the Tigers and Twins may swap. (Check out the Tiger’s Overview.) Again, there’s no way to know for sure. But the Indians have put together a great club recently and stand a good chance of running away with the division. Aaron, I hope I answered your question. Any other e-mails are welcome and I’ll do my best to address them and use your ideas.
Thanks for reading.
Blue Jays, Carl Pavano and Beantown Victory Counter!
I haven’t been posting a lot lately because I’ve been absolutely swamped with work. It’s nuts. I had to talk to my advisor on Monday, and I walk in the door and he says, ‘wow, you look a little frazzled.’ Hmm, thanks. And today I had a great day in the Chemistry department; I cut my hand, got Hydrochloric acid on my finger (pH < 0,) and spilled some Chromium on my hands on top of that. Great. Well, that said… let’s get back to the baseball.
Few topics I want to cover tonight:
Where are the Blue Jays going this year?
The Blue Jays recently placed A.J. Burnett on the DL, but there’s more too it. See, medically, he can play, but they want to give the scar tissue which evidently tore loose some more time to get itself worked out before they throw him into a game. I’m gonna say this right now – smart move. Burnett is only missing two starts, and that’s a bargain. The Jays are paying this guy $55 million for 5 years. That means, if he develops a problem – Mark Prior or Kerry Wood like – they’re stuck with him. And worst case scenario, the Jay’s lose two games they may have otherwise won – again, worst case scenario. And that’s about 200 times better than having Burnett go down anytime during the season, because if he does it’ll be for much longer.
Burnett should have a great year. And as I’ve said time and time again, Halladay will be even better. If, disregarding any freak injuries, I had to pick one guy for the AL Cy Young this year, it would be Roy Halladay. Dude is lights out. I’ve talked about this before. But basically, take my word, Halladay is the man. However, I worry that the Jays are a lot of big names with not a lot behind them. Glaus, for example, is a big home run guy at 3rd base. However, he cannot hit well for an average. He’s been this way his whole career – the Blue Jays know it, obviously, and they don’t expect it to change. But, what does this do for the much-advertised,
"Vernon Wells gets protection in the lineup" scheme? Furthermore, upon close inspection of the rest of the Blue Jay’s team, you still see a lot of holes. The lineup is about average – which, of course, doesn’t win the AL East. The pitching was the problem last year. For example, the Jays scored 775 runs last year; the White Sox scored 741. However, the White Sox allowed 645 runs, (earned and otherwise,) for a 3.61 ERA. The Jays allowed 705 total runs for an ERA of 4.06. 60 runs may not seem like a huge difference, but it is about .37 runs per game. My point, however, is that you don’t win the AL East with lackluster pitching and an average lineup. B.J. Ryan, A.J. Burnett, and a healthy Roy Halladay may solve that problem. However, it is not often that a team can be in 3rd place one year, make a few trades, and contend for the division the following year. Winning has to be bred from within the organization.
I like the Blue Jays a lot, and I like what they’ve done as an organization. They’re on the rise as a club. And, if they were in the AL Central, or the AL West, they would have a serious shot at this thing. But as of now, they simply cannot compete with the Yankees or the Red Sox. Regardless of what the opening day lineup is for the Yankees, Steinbrenner would support the WBC before he allowed the Jays to go over him in the AL East. It won’t happen. And if you need more evidence, here you go.
Does Carl Pavano still play baseball?
He is listed as an active player, but I’m not so sure. If I have my facts straight, about a week ago he threw ‘for real’ for the first time since last August, although this is a really muddled situation. I know the guy isn’t milking the team for cash, but he’s still managing to make me upset. I feel like he’s standing there laughing at us, "Haha, yeah, you know, I’m just taking it slow. I’m primed for rebound season though. The difference between how I pitched last season and how I’m throwing now is amazing. I feel good. Blah Blah Blah.********." Great. Again, it seems inconceivable that a Major League baseball pitcher would just act like he had a sore back/shoulder so he didn’t have to pitch to earn his cash. I mean, it’s illogical for starters. That’s certainly is not going to make you any more money in the long run. So what’s this guy’s deal? Why is he so intent on taking his time to recover? Perhaps he just doesn’t know how to handle the media – I don’t know. I guess my point is that it seems like he’s taking his ‘rehab’ very slow. Don’t like that one bit.
Beantown is about to get pissed
I want to say something. There’s an article floating around MLB.com that notes that since 2001, four of the five teams that won the World Series didn’t even make the playoffs in the previous year. Diamondbacks in 2001, Angels in 2002, Marlins in 2003, White Sox in 2005. That’s right, the Red Sox aren’t included. Why? They might have made the playoffs in 2003… but they hadn’t won the World Series in 86 years. You know, that’s a really long time. You could conceivably be born the year after the Red Sox won the Series, fight in WWII, marry, have children, get grandchildren, retire, etc etc, and then die. And then, the Red Sox would win the World Series again. An entire lifetime! Do you understand how ridiculous that is? I’m just happy I got my two days of crying in already – I know I won’t have to do that ever again. With that, I introduce the following counter. It’s kind of like my garlic and cross against Beantown. E-mail me if you would like the code.
–
–
–
–
–
The Radio Show
Kevin and I are still working on the Radio Show and trying to line up some guests. So far, we’re still looking for George Will, Andres Torres, Jim Bunning, and anyone else. If you know any of these people, tell them we’d like to get in touch. Apparently my Dad, who does some work with public policy institutes, knows people who know George Will and Perfect Game Winner/U.S. Senator Jim Bunning. But again, if you’re close with these people – or anyone else who would want to be on a sweet show and talk about baseball – tell them to talk to us.
–
–
It’s been great. Talk to you tomorrow.
Can we talk about something for a second?
Ah, it seems MLB.com is at it again. First, I love the new look. Second, I don’t like the cover story, "NL West Battle: Better from top to bottom." I’ve said it about 17 times now; there is no such division. It appears that MLB.com misidentified the division formerly known as the NL West with the actual NL West, which hasn’t existed in quite some time. Please, as I said before, it matters not what is done in the Western Division this year. Last year, the top finisher in that race ended with an 82-80 record after, "a strong finish." There are consequences for such lackluster ‘performance.’ Consequences which include probation. That’s all.
What’s with the Red Sox and Devil Rays?
I’m at my wit’s end here. I don’t understand the whole Red Sox – Devil Ray ‘rivalry’ talk that’s cropping up these days. Just because they threw a couple pitches at each other’s skulls last year, (and I wrote about that too,) and now they’re fighting each other in Spring Training doesn’t mean their rivals, does it? In any case, you’ve got to hand it to the D-Rays; this was probably the best thing they could do to provide their team with some good PR. Don’t scare people by being a good baseball team, scare them by beating them up, great idea. Your team isn’t going anywhere in the batters box or on the mound, so why not step into the ring and throw a few punches?
You may recall that after the Red Sox and Devil Rays got into it last year, the Ray’s manager at the time, Lou Pinella, said that "We didn’t throw at guy’s heads, but if we’re thrown at, we’re gonna defend ourselves." Then, Curt Schilling fired back, saying that some of the Rays had told him that Lou told them to throw at guy’s heads, and that he’s the reason they’re a lock to lose 100 games every year. Pinella shot back at Schilling, saying that he’s forgotten more baseball than Schilling will ever know. That’s incredible. I said it then, and I’ll say it again – the Devil Rays aren’t a team of fiery competitors, they’re a band of unknowns. I don’t think they have to worry about the Red Sox insulting their dignity.
This fight was even better. Apparently, Julian Tavarez was covering home when Joey Gathright slid in. Gathright said,
I slid in and then he was standing on my arm — I can show you marks. I was trying
to get up. I couldn’t get up, because he was putting more pressure on
it. I was like, ‘Get off my arm,’ but he wouldn’t move, so I tried to
get up and push his knee back, and I was getting up. He swung at me,
and that’s when it all started.
Alright, sounds good. Tavarez had this to say:
You have to defend yourself, man. I don’t have a twin
brother out there. He was like, ‘Hey man,’ I tried to get out [of the
way] and I wasn’t going to let him throw a punch at me right away. You
ever hear that whoever gets the first punch gets the win? That’s what
happened. That’s how it goes.
Are you freaking kidding me? First, you basically just told us that you punched him for saying ‘hey
man.’ And I don’t have a twin brother out there? Maybe not, but you have at least 25 teammates out there. And if you get wronged, they stick up for you. So, let me try to understand what happened here. You thought that after Gathright slid into home, he was gonna fight you. As Gathright helped himself up off the ground, you performed a pre-emptive strike on his face with your right fist. After that, you punched him again in the head.
With the Yankees picking up Kyle Farnsworth, you’ve just added fuel to the fire. On top of the usual cast of characters, you have two of the biggest fist-throwers in the league. Fantastic. I can’t wait to see them go at it. What if the Sox and Yanks fight again this year, and the bullpen’s empty… and then Farnsworth tackles Tavarez on his way out of the pen? How mad would that be?
Check out my NL East Overview; apparently it was snuck into the cover story. I’m reading from the MLBlogs homepage, and I get to, "what do you think?" and the word you is linked. I think, hmm, is this some new messageboard? I’m curious. So I click on it and end up on my own website. Cool!
Also, check out the new MLBlogsosphere blog, it’s that new messageboard.
The Tigers dump Pena and re-tool for 2006
I think I owe the hometown team a little bit of love. I’m gonna throw a few years of Tiger thoughts into this, concluding with a full review of this year’s team.
Carlos Pena
The news out of Tiger Town today is that Carlos Pena is done, unconditionally released. I’m sure many of us are upset about this; Pena was only 27 and he was coming off a bad year, right? We should give him another chance. Besides, if Shelton flops (unlikely,) the only other option at 1st is Dmitri Young. And you don’t want to see that. Young is the sloppiest fielder I have ever seen. That said, losing Pena was bad, right?
Wrong. Let’s review the facts. Pena had a ‘bad year’ last year, so bad that he was sent down to AAA for about half the season. Because of that, he played half the games he typically would in a full season at the Major League level. Here are the numbers from Pena’s ‘bad year’: 260 AB, 18 HR, 44 RBI, 95 K’s, and a stellar .325 OBP and .235 AVG. That sounds like a bad year to me. But, check this out. Pena’s career OBP is .330, and his career average is .243, nearly identical to last year’s figures. And this isn’t a statistical fluke; he put up numbers right in that area every year. If you carefully compare Pena’s numbers in 2005 to his 2004 numbers by doubling all the categories, you’ll find that they’re pretty much identical. In 2004 Pena was the hero on a club that finished 72-90, and was just coming off a season where they lost 119 games and finished the season 47 games back of the division leader. Pena was good for this club when we were atrocious. No longer. 1st base is flooded with power talent, and besides the fact that there wasn’t much room for Pena on the roster, he simply wasn’t a good player. Moving on.
First you need to understand what it’s like rooting for the Tigers…
It’s really hard. Flashback to the Tiger’s 2003 and 2004 seasons, where we finished with a record of
43-119 and 72-90, respectively. Awful. In 2003, the Tigers were on the verge of breaking the AL record for most losses in a season – 120 – as they played the last game of the season. But, miraculously, (for them,) they were able to pull off a win. It was probably the saddest day in Tiger history – I would’ve preferred a loss. Why, you ask? You avoided notoriety in the record books and the label of worst team in the history of the American League. Correct, but after the win the Tigers celebrated like they just won the World Series, no joke. Ok, there wasn’t any champagne, but the rest was still there. Chest bumps, high fives, the works. Embarrassing. You just avoided becoming one of the worst teams in history, (although nothing beats the infamous Cleveland Spiders,) and it’s clearly the best thing to happen to you all season. The kicker came the next year, in a 2004 double-header against the Royals, the other doormat of the AL Central.
The Royals piled on the Tigers in Game 1 of a double header, 26-5. 6th most runs scored in a single game since 1900. Then, they got SHUT OUT by the Tigers in Game 2, 8-0. Only two very bad teams can pull that off. It’s almost like they got together before the game and told each other, ‘alright, you play really crappy the first game, we’ll play really crappy the second game.’ The Royals’ Joe Randa was 6 for 7 in Game 1, scoring 6 runs. In Game 2, he didn’t play. Royals Manager Tony Pena explained, saying ‘he was tired from running the bases.’ That’s hilarious. And you know what else is hilarious? At the time, your team was 50-89, 29 games out of first place! There’s the real joke. Needless to say, Pena was canned next year, as was Tigers Manager Alan Trammel.
This year’s team
Well, without any more of the ado, let’s get a review of the hometown team. I know more about the Tigers and their organization than any other team, with the possible exception of the Yankees. But I see a lot more Tiger games than Yankee games, so I have a better feel for the players.
Now, Leyland has apparently settled on a lineup/batting order:
1) Curtis Granderson – CF. Nook… where are you…
2) Placido Palanco – 2B
3) Ivan Rodriguez – C. Leyland thinks he’ll bounce back this year.
4) Magglio Ordonez – RF
5) Dmitri Young – DH. Just don’t stick him on the field. Too hard to watch.
6) Craig Monroe – LF
7) Carlos Guillen – SS
8) Chris Shelton – 1B. He’ll work his way up if he keeps performing.
9) Brandon Inge – 3B. Guess we’re going with the ‘set the plate’ idea.
Look at how solid that lineup is. Going with the holes analogy again,
there really aren’t any big ones here. Everyone’s generally consistent, with the exception of Granderson, who hasn’t had a chance to prove himself. I guess Leyland just doesn’t think Nook deserves the leadoff job. That said, Granderson has had an exceptional spring, and Nook’s has been awful. Granderson is currently batting .413 to Logan’s .208. People are always talking about Nook’s ability to steal bases at will; whenever he gets on, he steals and it doesn’t matter that the opposing battery knows it, because they can’t stop him. However, Granderson is 5-5, and Logan is 6-6 in SB attempts. Furthermore, of Granderson’s 19 hits, 8 were for extra bases – including 5 HR. All of Nook’s 11 hits were singles. In short, In 7 fewer at bats, Granderson has produced 27 more total bases, (38 to 11.) But, Granderson hasn’t been able to prove himself as a consistent Major League performer. If he can hold on through the year we shouldn’t have any problems.
The rotation goes like this: Kenny Rogers, Jeremy Bonderman, Nate Robertson, Mike Maroth, and Justin
Verlander. Again, mostly solid and consistent. Rogers and Bonderman are two solid starters, which is one more than we’ve had in the rotation in awhile. Rogers will have his typical pre-All Star Break fun, while 23-year-old Bonderman will hopefully become one of the better pitchers in the AL Central this year. He finished 2005 with an ERA of 4.57, but before he dropped the last 4 games of the season he stood at 4.02. Both Bonderman and Maroth won 14 games last year. Robertson is definitely improving, and is only 28 years old. Maroth – our former 21 game loser – seems to have hit his peak with an ERA around 4.50, but is also 28. If Maroth and Robertson can stay consistent, they’ll keep the rotation solid. At least Maroth isn’t our number 3 anymore, because it’s never ok to start a 21-game loser at #3.
23-year-old Justin Verlander has a whole season of professional ball under his belt, and he’s a
full-fledged #5 starter. Better than AAA-bound Wil Ledezma,
last year’s #5, I guess. I saw Verlander pitch once last year, and he didn’t seem like
anything special, although he obviously is. In 32.2 IP for
the AA Erie Seawolves, he allowed one run. That’s a 0.28 ERA. He then
allowed 9 ER in 11.1 IP for the Tigers last year, (2 starts,) but this
really doesn’t mean much. I guess I’m just not sure if we should be
breaking him in at the Major League level like this. If he’s ready,
fine, go ahead. But don’t set him up to fail just because we don’t have
anyone to start. Apparently Joel Zumaya,
even though he has more experience at the minor league level, isn’t
ready to start, so he’ll be in the pen. Eh, ok. He’s only 21, and
Verlander is 23, (college experience,) so I guess that’s cool. But look at the age of this rotation – Bonderman and Verlander, 23. Robertson and Maroth, 28. Zumaya, who will likely replace Rogers in a couple years, (or Robertson/Maroth, if they leave town,) is only 21. In three years, you’re looking at three possible stars and two mediocre pitchers who can hold their own. Not bad.
I reviewed the Tiger’s Bullpen a month ago.
I guess I’m happy with
what the Tigers have done lately; we might actually have a winning
season this year! That would be the first time since 1993. When asked what he thought about this, Leyland said,
Under normal circumstances, is .500 good? No, not at all.
But under the circumstances when you’re 20 games under and you haven’t
done it for 12 years, you have to start somewhere. I would not be
happy, but it would be better than being 20 games under. No, .500
basically means you kissed your sister.
Hmm. Basically, Leyland thinks cheering for .500 is pathetic, but he knows it means the world to Detroit – and he knows how pathetic that is. Leyland won’t be happy until we bring home a
championship. Far cry from Trammel,
who was content with letting Vance
Wilson bat in the bottom of the 9th with a
runner on 1st and 1 out
while we were behind one run. I remember this very well. I said, ‘Alan,
please, put in someone, anyone besides Vance. He’s currently batting
.091. Put in Pudge, I don’t care if it’s his day off. Wilson is gonna
ground into a double play.’ Sure enough, Wilson hits a hard grounder
right to the SS. Game over. The last five years in Detroit baseball have been an awful lot like that play – depressing. Every year, it’s the same thing – the Tigers win their first Spring Training game, or we win opening day, and everyone walks around talking about how this is our year, with a huge grin that says they know how hilarious it is. With the exception of 2003, when we lost our first 12 games in a row or something – no one didn’t know how that season would end up. But the problem has been that, year after year, no one within the organization seems to mind the perpetual losing. Every year, it’s the same. We trade away guys at the deadline, then call up a ton of minor leaguers to join in the misery for the rest of the season.
This year will be different, I hope. The White Sox are good, obviously. The Twins are rebuilding, (I don’t care what anyone says, they’re rebuilding,) and the Indians are finally coming into their own. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Indians come over on the White Sox this year; remember, the Tribe finished just 6 games back of the Sox last year, with 93 wins. The Tigers, of course, had only 71. But, on July 31st, we were only 4 games behind .500, at 50-54. So, I think this may be the year that we finally capture that elusive winning season. I know that half the League is laughing at us right now, but I don’t care. Baby steps, baby steps. At best, the Tigers finish ahead of the Twins but behind Cleveland and Chicago. The Royals, of course, end up dead last again, because that’s what they do.
Thanks for reading. I just started up my second fantasy league, which drafts on Thursday night, 10.15p Eastern. If you’re interested, e-mail me. The league is free but competitive.
Jeff Bagwell and some fun stuff
I try to run a blog that hits on a variety of topics. There are variousschools of thought on this; some people think that if you focus on one
thing, (i.e., the Yankees,) you can develop a hardcore fan base, one
that’s ‘loyal’ and comes back to read your interesting thoughts every
day. People have had success with this method. I haven’t seen many
people do what I do, which is write about all sorts of teams and
players with no commonalities. I guess this leaves people confused as
to where my personal loyalties are. I’ve never properly
introduced myself, (besides my about page, which nobody reads,) so let
me, briefly, explain where I stand in the baseball world. A little
baseball litmus test, if you will.
My favorite team is the New York Yankees. I don’t live in New York,
I’ve only been there twice, and I don’t plan on ever moving there. The
Tigers are my hometown team and I frequently overlook their
organizational missteps because of the Home Team Rule. It’s kind of how
you love your kids no matter what they do. I want to live in Chicago, but I don’t particularly like the White Sox
or the Cubs. My favorite divisions are the AL East, Central, and NL
Central. I prefer the AL to the NL because it’s so much better. I
support the DH rule. Besides the Tigers and Yankees, I like the
Cardinals, A’s, Indians, Braves, Angels, Blue Jays, and Rangers, in
that order. I love baseball and the many nuances of the games. Once the season starts, we’ll be
seeing a lot more player/game/team strength analysis, especially after I
get out of school in early May. Hopefully coverage that blends with what we’re seeing now.
That said, there hasn’t been a whole lot going on lately that’s of
value. So I planned some fun time for us today. Let’s proceed with business.
Bagwell tries to earn his pay
I’m not sure what to make of this whole Jeff Bagwell thing. For some
reason, his contract has him getting paid $17 million this year, which
is ridiculous seeing as he turns 38 in May. If he undergoes this
surgery, he takes himself out for the season, and likely won’t play
again. The Astros are currently trying to recover $15.6 million of the
$17 million they owe him through an insurance policy, but in order for
that to happen he needs to sit out the whole year – which would be
guaranteed if he has the surgery. I get that he needs the surgery, but
seeing as the club holds his option for 2007, it seems like there is
more to the story. Think about it – the Astros recover their jack, and
Jeff gets his shoulder fixed. There’s a very slim chance he’ll be able
to recover and play again. He’ll be 39 by then anyway, and will have to
convince the club to exercise their option on him, which could be
tough. At least Bagwell went out and tried to make the club so he could
actually earn his paycheck, but it looks like he’s through. 99% chance
he won’t come back next year.
I saw a cat fall 80 feet from a tree.
Check this out. It’s unbelievable.
MLB.TV
A lot of people have been finding my site by google-ing "MLB.TV 5
minute limit." Well here’s the story. If you’re watching an archived
game on the same day as the game was played, it will stop every 5
minutes. So basically, with MLB.TV you can watch games live or archived
next-day. Also, people have been searching for news on the new media
player. To see that, go here and click on the link in the bottom right, where it says ‘click here for a sneak preview.’ Exciting?
Thanks for reading.
Will the Braves make it…15 straight? NL East overview
I’ll focus on the two major threats to the Braves this year – the Mets and Phillies. I’m really not an expert on the NL East, so this is really uncharted territory for me. You’ll probably notice throughout the year that I root for the entire AL and the NL Central.
Atlanta Braves
I was pretty sure before the last two seasons that the Braves were through. Uh, no. They’re like baseball’s version of a vampire. You think they’re dead, you start throwing dirt on the grave, and then they come back, again, and again, and again. Don’t get me wrong – there’s no other team in the NL East I would rather see win, with the possible exception of the Phillies, because I’m starting to like them. But how do they do it? I’m not gonna waste my time trying to answer that, so I’ll move on. I think that this may be the year the Braves end this insane run. I’m not sure if it will be the Mets or the Phillies, but… I don’t like the rise of those two teams, combined with the loss of Mazzone and Furcal. Maybe Mazzone was nothing special, and he just had good pitchers to work with – that’s certainly part of it, anyway. And maybe Renteria comes back and puts up some good numbers. I just think the Mets and Phillies are too good for it to matter. I don’t think that the Phillies will steal the division, although it’s certainly a possibility. However, the Braves have 38 games to play against the Mets and Phillies, and that will certainly make things difficult. But before we listen to everyone proclaim the Braves’ demise, let’s examine carefully the supposed threats coming from those two teams.
New York Mets
The Mets have done good things in the last two years, but that ship is still full of holes. It’s afloat, and it’s not sinking… yet. Such a hole can be found at 2B, where the Mets are fielding Kaz Matsui. Matsui used to be a pitcher until he was converted to a 2B by his former Japanese team. However, if you looked at his batting stats, you’d never guess! In 265 AB’s last year, he was able to produce 3 HR, 9 doubles, and 68 total hits. His average was .255, his OBP was .300, and his slugging percentage was .352. Grand. He did a little better in 2004 but not much. I know he’s kinda new to the whole America thing and all, but whatever. It’s possible to win a division with that. Now it’s time for me to include an excerpt from the Rabid Mets Fan, from MLB Radio’s Stayin’ Hot with Seth and Bone last year… or maybe Under the Lights with Casey Stern. Can’t remember.
Well I found this year’s Kaz Matsui trade. Danys Baez to the Mets. For Yusmeiro Petit! Don’t do it Omar! Don’t do it Omar! Why would you do that! I think Baez is the worst closer in baseball! Is he better than Braden Looper!? I dunno, I should, cuz I see him every night, but what, is he gonna take us to the World Series!? No… why would you trade him away for someone who’s working his way up through the system?!
There’s a lot of wasted words there, because that’s how the guy talks. The point is that Mets fans want Kaz out of there, for some reason. I don’t like ever saying that a team’s season depends on a few guys, but for the Met’s I think it’s true. If Beltran comes back to his old form, David Wright has another good year, and Peddy somehow manages to pull it together again, they have a good chance of overtaking the Braves this year. The biggest hole is the Met’s rotation. I still don’t understand it. Let’s lay it up:
1) Pedro Martinez – 5′ 11" dude that frankly, I don’t like. Pedro played Villain too long in Bean Town.
If the Universe turned on it’s skull and Pedro somehow landed in a Yankee uniform, I would go out back and hang myself. In any case, this run isn’t gonna last forever. I’m just waiting for the season to come when Pedro has a 4.20 ERA, strikes out 100, and wins 8 games. Mediocrity. Let’s see how he deals with that.
2) Tom Glavine – Turned 40 today. And he’s exactly 25 wins short of 300. His ERA was only 3.53 last year, but he just got 13 wins. That was a bullpen problem. If he can tough it out for another two years he’ll be good. I don’t see him breaking down too much more this year. One cause for concern is the fact that he’s a lefty, and left handers are batting .323 off him.
3-5) Steve Trachsel, Victor Zambrano, and Aaron Heilman? – As I said earlier, I’m really no expert on the NL East. I do know that Trachsel is not that good, Zambrano is worse and looks even goofier than Trachsel in his profile picture, and Heilman is a train wreck. The Mets have been trying to start Heilman for years and the experiment has never really worked out. Meanwhile they keep hiding him in the bullpen, but it looks like they won’t have that option this year.
This is what I don’t get. The Mets offense is strong, but let’s go back to the analogy of the Mets team as a ship with a bunch of leaky holes. The offense/defense has a few of the holes, but the ship is still afloat. Add the pitching to the mix and it’s like you just struck an iceberg. I can’t see the Mets making a reasonable run in the playoffs unless they can shore up that rotation and bullpen. The one bright spot is Billy Wagner, (courtesy of the Phillies, ironically enough.) Wagner might be a tiny and goofy looking dude, but he’s lights-out. Much better than Braden Looper. I remember writing this after the Met’s opened 2005 by having their bullpen sabotage their first few games.
The Mets bullpen is not good. They’re 0-2 now in holds and saves. Their bullpen consists of Manny Aybar, who said that parts of his family are unaware that he’s an MLB pitcher even though he’s been in the Majors 8 years. Felix Heredia is a lefty specialist who can’t get any lefties out and had an ERA of 6.28 in 39 innings last year. Mike DeJean is about 90 years old. Dae-Sung Koo is 36 and made his MLB Debut just this year. Roberto Hernandez is 41 years old. Mike Matthews had an ERA of 6.30 in 30 innings pitched last year. And Braden Looper, the one supposed bright spot, has yet to get a single batter out this season, although he has given up 3 runs. Bunch of firestarters.
But that was last year. This year, Chad Bradford and Duaner Sanchez will do their best to hide a bunch of 5.00+ ERA stars. Bradford and Sanchez are actually 3.50-.75 ERA gems themselves. All this team really has to do is make it to the 9th inning with a lead, and they’re good. The problem is, with that weak rotation and that 2-man pen, how many times will that happen? Last year, Pedro was terrified to leave any game before he had to because he knew that bullpen would screw it up. Hopefully – for the Mets – this year will be different. I doubt it. But if they were able to finish 83-79 last year – enough to beat that entire West Coast League – and they’ve only gotten better, it seems they have a legitimate chance, somehow.
Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies’ main if is their pitching. The Phillies are trying to re-tool Tom Gordon back into a closer. This is unlikely to work out. I’m making this statement based on one fact – Tom Gordon’s own admission. About two years ago, I was listening to an interview of him and he said he didn’t believe he could ever close games again, because he only had two pitches. I’ll tell you what’s happening here. He was sick of winning, I mean, playing for the Yankees. First, he obviously thinks he can close; he left because he wasn’t ever gonna close in New York unless a lighting bolt struck down Mo. He would not have taken a closing job if he thought he was just gonna make a fool out of himself. That being said, the last time I checked, age 38 wasn’t the best time to turn a guy back into a closer. Let us not forget, he has 116 career saves. But only 18 in the last 4 years. He’s been putting up great numbers; from 2002, his ERA has dropped per the following: 3.38, 3.16, 2.21, 2.57. But he’s been away from the job for too long, I think. I’m not sure what it is I don’t like, because if you just look at his numbers he almost checks out. But the numbers are all over the place. Of course, the craziest part is where he saved 46 games for Boston in 1998. That was 8 years ago. In any case, it doesn’t matter that he just isn’t as good as Wagner. What I’m concerned about is his ability not to totally flop. You know the Phillies would’ve preferred to sign someone a little more solid, but they couldn’t. They’re just as nervous about Gordon as I am.
Other than that, the Phillies have a lot in common with the Mets. A mostly-experimental infield, an
anchored (Bobby Abreu) outfield, and a shaky rotation. The Phillies rotation looks much more solid than the Mets’, but I’m not even sure I can break it down because I don’t even know that much about it. It looks like Ryan Franklin, Cory Lidle, Jon Leiber, Ryan Madsen and Brett Myers will form it up. With the exception of Madsen, all have career ERA’s between 4.20 and 4.50. This typically translates into a reliable, albeit not lights-out, rotation. Brett Myers appears to be the leader (read: opening day starter,) of this little band after he pulled together a reasonable 2005 campaign, but it’s likely that Leiber – 10 years older than Myers – will likely be doing most of the actual leading. Madsen has only started one MLB game; he made 51 appearances in relief for the Phillies in 2004 with a 2.34 ERA, and 78 in 2005 for a 4.14 ERA. In any case, he’s filling in for Randy Wolf, who’s out recovering from a Tommy John-er and will be back by the middle of the season, hopefully. The problem is that if any of these guys go down, there’s no one to fill in. The bullpen is already weak with the departure of Madsen to the rotation. And Arthur Rhodes, Robinson Tejeda, Aaron Fultz, and Tom Gordon are your big men. Tejeda and Fultz? Arthur Rhodes is one of the sketchiest guys in the league, and we already talked about Gordon. There’s simply no one there if a starter goes down or if (when) Rhodes/Gordon do something weird.
That said, if the Phillies somehow make it through 2006 with their fragile pitching intact, they too have a legitimate chance of overthrowing the Braves. I didn’t delve into their hitting because I don’t think that will be their problem; it’s average and you’ve been reading long enough.
Washington Nationals
Baseball in the District. Fantastic. Jim Bowden in the District – catastrophe. Frank Robinson will have a fun time battling through the trash that Bowden through in his lap – mainly, Alfonso Soriano. That said, the Nationals have too many holes in their ship to keep afloat for the entire season. As if that wasn’t enough, Tony Armas Jr., Pedro Astacio, and Ramon Ortiz comprise 3/5 of your rotation. At least they’ve got horse Livan Hernandez to anchor it; the Phillies have no such ace. Without stretching it out, the Nationals are still too much of a puzzle team for the big time. Too many ifs, and too many potential problems. I don’t see them playing through the entire season and ending on top. Furthermore, I think the NL Wild Card will likely go to a Central team, or the Phillies/Mets/Braves – not the Nats.
Florida Marlins
Someone needs to alert GM Larry Beinfest that he needs to field a Major League Baseball team in less than two weeks. 50% chance you’ll catch him unawares. After the Pokey Reese defection/escape, the Marlins line up like this, from the 1-9 spot on the defensive depth chart.
1) Dontrelle Willis will be leading this band of unknowns – SP
2) Josh Willingham? – C
3) Mike Jacobs? – 1B
4) Dan Uggla? – 2B
5) Miguel Cabrera – 3B? They finally shifted the bus to the infield.
6) Hanley Ramirez – SS. I know the name… but his MLB experience is 0-2, with 2 K’s.
7) Chris Uguila? – LF
8) Reggie Abercrombie? – CF
9) Jeremy Hermida – RF. Rookie of the Year candidate.
Manager – Joe Girardi. Rookie Manager.
The question marks are because, lets face it – six of those eight position players have less than 100 AB’s at the major league level. Chris Uguila has 123, and Miguel Cabrera has played 63 games at 3rd Base. The rotation is more of the same.
The Marlins aren’t a major league team. They’re a team of unknowns.
That’s all for now. Thanks for reading.
Hold on Barry – This is too Much
Alright, after I ranted about Bonds last time I said I wouldn’t talk about him and steroids anymore. This doesn’t really count. In my last post on him, I asked that, if you were in Bond’s position, would you:
A) Tell your PR man to take care of it, B)Defer all questions to your team, C) Call your lawyer, tell him to sue
everybody involved, and talk to every single reporter you can and tell
them that these allegations are false and defamatory, or D) Let it
slide. I’m going with C. Bonds chose D.
Well it looks like I spoke too soon. Bonds just sued the authors and publishers of "Game of Shadows." But, that’s not the whole story, see, why he sued – that’s where it gets tricky.
Did he sue on grounds that the book was false? No. That the book was defamatory? No. Instead, he said that the Grand Jury testimonies were "illegally obtained and possessed under federal law." I can’t make this stuff up, folks. Check it out for yourself. Here’s the best part though. Bonds wants the authors and publisher to forgo all their profits and donate them to charities for low-income youth. Are you kidding me? Again, I can’t make this stuff up. The scary part is this – what if it works? The two authors of this book just spent two years writing and researching this thing. For them not to profit from their work is, I believe, a sin. I’m no lawyer, but I think that alone is enough to kill Bond’s case, as it’s the authors’ whole livelihood. I’m sure we’ll find out soon. (If any lawyers wanna chime in, now is the time.)
Seriously, get a load of this. Do you think Bonds really cares about how much money those guys make? It doesn’t effect him one bit. And if he cared that much about kids, he’d donate the money himself – he certainly has it. (And if you’re gonna stick up for Bonds and tell me he already has, I don’t care. He can donate more.) If Bonds wins, remember, he actually loses money. I think it’s pretty safe to say that he would rather send Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams into Chapter 11 than anything else, just for the sake of revenge. It’s also pretty safe to say that I have two exams tomorrow and frankly, I’m sick of studying.
Some random thoughts which have no business here before I go:
1) Newman, what exactly determines the order of the "Look who’s blogging now" list? It’s not that I don’t like it, but I’ve searched for a pattern for hours and still can’t see anything. So either it’s random or you’re a mathematical genius and programmed some extremely complex algorithm into it. I have no idea why you would do that. Please set me straight.
2) I was in my room studying today and the window was open, as usual. All the sudden, I started smelling pot. That’s right, someone was smoking the reefer right outside my window. Why would you do that? Don’t do drugs, kids. Nothing good can ever come from it, I’m serious.
3) We added a couple new countries to our visitor lists today. Ireland and France. Come to think of it, I think France was on here earlier but I’m not sure. We also got 212 hits today, (Thursday,) which is an all-time high for us. The previous one-day record was 106. Shut up Red Sox Chick, I don’t wanna hear about your 24,000 hits in 2 months, I’ve only been up for about a month so any comparisons are void.
4) Every year I always overestimate Duke and Seton Hall. I always underestimate Gonzaga, UConn, Syracuse, and MSU. Anyone who’s been following the tourney this year knows that, with the exception over Duke, Seton Hall, and UConn, I pretty much got destroyed this year. Whatever, I don’t care. Half of my Final Four is dead – Syracuse and Gonzaga – and I don’t care. I just heard somebody yell, "I hate UCLA!"
5) I also want to say that I saw on MLB.com that Ichiro returned to the Mariners with ‘Classic-like’ intensity. Hold it right there. Ichiro can hit .900, get 400 infield singles, and never make a single error. Heck, he can be in the batting order three times for all I care. The Mariners still aren’t gonna mean anything this year, and that’s that. Welcome to West Coast Baseball, (minus the Angels.) And yes, I know the Mariner’s aren’t in the NL West. I’m trying to show a pattern, people. (Get it, NL West… AL West?)
See you guys later.
David Wright, Aramis Ramirez, and Yankees-Red Sox
For those of you who read my Mock Draft, you’ll see that I drafted David Wright as my starting 3rd baseman. Wright has only been in the Majors for a year and half, but I’m already very excited about him. He just turned 23, and he’s already putting up exceptional numbers. Last year he played 160 games – amazing for a guy in his first full season, (in 2004 he appeared in 69 games.) Let me point out the important stuff. In 575 AB’s – the same number as White Sox 1B Paul Konerko – Wright had 99 R, 102 RBI, and .388 OBP, with a .306 BA. Konerko’s numbers? 98 R, 100 RBI, and a .375 OBP. Wright’s average is also 23 points higher than Konerko’s. The difference? Wright has 27 HR, Konerko has 40. Yet they’ve driven in the same amount of runs. And I can’t stress this enough – David Wright is only 23! Right now we’re looking at a guy who is putting up stats better than Hank Blalock – who’s 25, surrounded by a more potent lineup, and in a hitters park, as opposed to Shea, which tends to favor pitchers. Wright is on his way to being a superstar, no doubt. I always worry about young players and guys that have only played one good year. Could it be a fluke? Could they break down next year? I’m still a little weary of Wright for these reasons, but less so than the typical young player because his stats were so solid. A .306 average is one of the reason’s I’m not as worried. You can’t just go out and do that without skill. On top of that, Wright was playing in New York on a team with a ton of new guys. Not only is he a good player, but it looks like he’s a solid guy too. Such traits aren’t always easy to find in a young kid, and I think Wright will have a great future with the Mets or wherever else he plays. But, it’s possible his last year will be his only exceptionally good year – like Rick Ankiel, with complications. In that case, I’ve got Aramis Ramirez to back him up if he does anything weird.
Aramis Ramirez
Aramis Ramirez is an underrated player, flat out. Every year people seem to start to notice him again, but then he’s forgotten by draft day the next year. The guy turns 28 in June, which is always a good age. He had 27 HR in 2003, 36 in 2004, and 31 in 2005. Last year, he played 123 games before straining his quad and sitting out the rest of the year. His stats are otherwise comparable to Wright’s. I still can’t understand why no one seems to have any knowledge of his existence. I drafted Ramirez with the 105th overall pick in my draft – other players who went in that round included Jermaine Dye, Pat Burrell, Matt Holliday, Ryan Howard… it just seems crazy. Evidence shows that age 27 is the ‘average’ breakout age. Therefore, Ramirez being 27 and already a proven great performer, I simply don’t understand why he’s not getting more run – in Fantasy circles or elsewhere. Maybe it’s just because he’s on the Cubs, and no one likes to be around the ornery people. Maybe one day I’ll talk about why I always say the Cubs are ornery, wimps, crying, etc. Not today.
Yankees – Red Sox
The Yankees played the Red Sox in Spring Training last night.
And of course, what would a
Yankees-Sox game be if it wasn’t… more
than baseball. This time, Mike Myers – formerly with the Red Sox, now
with us – drilled J.T. Snow – formerly with the Giants, now with the
Sox. After that, David Riske hits Jeter with a splitter. Splitters tend
to sail away from pitchers at times, because they’re that kind of
pitch. That being said, there’s a good chance Jeter wasn’t the victim
of a retaliation strike. However, with the first pitch of the next
inning, Tanyon Sturtze drilled Mike Lowell. This looks bad, because it
looks like Sturtze gunned down Lowell for no good reason. First off,
Jeter was probably an accident. And even if he wasn’t, then it was just
in response to us nailing Lowell. We nail them, they nail us. Continue
playing the game. You don’t escalate it, because that’s how wars get
started. So, if Sturtze hit J.T. on purpose, he was wrong to do so, not
just because Jeter was probably an accident, but because we got them
first. However, Sturtze was not gonna lie down. After the game he said,
I don’t care if they get upset. They can get upset at
whatever they want. I was trying to go fastball in and I got it in too
deep. I don’t care who gets upset. I’m still trying to work on my
command. I’ve been struggling this whole spring.
I have no picture, but you can imagine he was probably popping a vein
while he said that. Basically, he’s gonna screw up however he wants and
he doesn’t care what anyone thinks. Hold on, Tanyon. You’ve pitched 5
innings so far this spring, and you’ve given up 5 runs. You’ve nailed 3
guys, walked another, and given up 7 hits while striking out 2. In
short, you’ve been getting jerked around the yard. I know it’s spring,
but you’re 35 and there are 3 people you should worry about upsetting:
Joe Torre, Brian Cashman, and George Steinbrenner. Any one of those
guys gets pissed at you, and you’re done. This reminds me of last years
Devil Rays – Red Sox pitching scandal. That was pretty hilarious.
In all seriousness, sometimes pitchers need to put
themselves ahead of drilling guys, if only because their team would benefit more from them going deep into games then earning an early exit.
Last year, Mark Buehrle had a streak
of consecutive starts in which he went at least 6 innings, which is why
I always liked him. He’s consistent. This streak was a big deal – at
least once, Guillen left Buehrle out there without his best stuff just
so he could keep his streak going. However, one game some White Sox
batter got hit. Buehrle was on a roll and it was about the 4th inning
or so, and he went out and drilled the next batter to get tossed. He
knew it was gonna happen and he said as much after the game. He already
had the record at something like 50 consecutive games, but I would’ve
liked to see him keep it up. I know it’s big to stand up for your team,
but I don’t think anyone in the Sox clubhouse would fault Buehrle if he
hadn’t done that. Knowing that, let me say that Buehrle is one of my favorite pitchers, up there with Halladay. Both of them are on my fantasy team this year, which I love.
That’s about all for now. Baseball has been kind of slow these last couple days, so we’ll just grit our teeth and wait for the season opener. It’ll be here soon, don’t worry.
mlblogsreid
Recent Comments