Results tagged ‘ league ’
Why The Rays Will Not Win The AL East
There has been a lot of speculation this season that the Tampa Bay Rays can return to their 2008 form and overtake the Yankees and Red Sox. Writers have been naming players like Evan Longoria to win the MVP (which is entirely possible) and carry the ball club. However, there is one word that sums up why the Rays cannot match up with the Yanks and Sox: Pitching.
In 2008, the Rays were the cinderella story of baseball. They had star young players like Longoria and B.J. Upton that were led by veterans such as Carl Crawford and Troy Percival. They were also led by a great pitching staff that included Matt Garza, James Shields, and Scott Kazmir. It was the perfect storm and they rode it all the way to the world series.
Also in 2008, the Yankees failed to reach the playoffs for the first time in ages, and thus were motivated to go on a spending spree in the offseason. Not only did they pick up one of the best offensive players in the game in Mark Teixeira, but they also fortified their rotation with CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. Those two, along with good ‘ol Andy Pettitte, took the Yankees all through October and went on to win the world series.
This too had an effect on a division rival, as the Red Sox also fortified their team over the 2009-10 offseason. They went out and signed the likes of John Lackey, Mike Cameron, Adrian Beltre, and Marco Scutaro. By combining Lackey with their already strong rotation, they have one of the very best rotations in all of baseball.
Another team with one of the best rotations: the Yankees. After trading for Javier Vazquez and finally placing Phil Hughes in there, they are all set for October. This is why the Rays cannot beat the Yankees or Red Sox, their starters just don’t match up. Think about the starting five for the three teams:
Yankees:
1. CC Sabathia
2. A.J. Burnett
3. Andy Pettite
4. Javier Vazquez
5. Phil Hughes
Red Sox:
1. Josh Beckett
2. Jon Lester
3. John Lackey
4. Dice-K
5. Clay Buchholz
Rays:
1. Matt Garza
2. James Shields
3. Jeff Niemann
4. David Price
5. Wade Davis
The Yanks and Sox’s rotations are far superior. If you look at the individual match-ups, the only way the Rays could theoretically win is if Price and Davis finally start pitching their potential. Until then, the Rays will remain in 3rd place, and out of the playoffs while the Yankees and Red Sox fight it out at the top.
Who’s Getting In?
I’ve noticed a lot talk about A-Rod not getting into the Hall of Fame now that it’s been revealed that he has taken steroids. Well does this mean that Alex was going to get in the Hall before he took ‘roids? I’ve heard the term “future-hall-of-famer” thrown a lot recently (*cough* *cough* Michael Kay) especially when talking about guys like A-Rod and Jeter. Well that brings me to my main question: who are the “future-hall-of-famers” and what did they do to get that honorable title. Players with a “*” next to their name have won a major award (Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, MVP) Well I’ve selected the bunch that I believe will make it (in no particular order):
The Sure-Things:
Greg Maddux*: If you go up to someone, in this day and age, and tell them that a pitcher, that pitched during the steroid era and in the age of 5-man rotations, would rack up 335 career wins, a 3.16 ERA, 109 complete games, 3371 Ks and over 5,000 innings, they would think you’re crazy (especially for that giant run-on sentence). But none the less, Greg Maddux did all that. He might even get the first unanimous Hall of Fame election ever.
Derek Jeter*: One of the things that I would be amazed to see in my life, is an argument against putting the captain in the Hall. He’s a sure bet for 3,000 hits, he’s one of the greatest leaders, shortstops and post-season performers of all-time. There really isn’t any limit on the good things you can say about Jeter. He’s definitely going to make the 218 mile trip to Cooperstown sometime soon.
Mariano Rivera: Another Yankee, another post-season great. In the post-season, “Mo” is 8-1 with 34 saves and a 0.77 ERA. You put that with more sub-2.00 ERA seasons than Dennis Eckersley, Bruce Sutter, Lee Smith and Trevor Hoffman combined, and you’ve got yourself the greatest closer of all-time. Looks like he will be the first pitcher ever to make the Hall with one pitch.
The Probablys:
Alex Rodriguez*: He had it all. He was young, rich, and was possibly more talented than any player in MLB history. But in 2003, Alex Rodriguez took a turn to the dark side when he took performance-enhancing-drugs. However, that is the only mark in what could be, the greatest career in big league history. A-Rod is pretty much a sure bet to break the home run record and some have even speculated that he could even reach 800 career big-flies. I think that says enough.
Ken Griffey Jr*: Once called the best player of all-time, Griffey put up possibly the best clean-numbers of anyone during the “Steroid Era.” “The Kid” blasted his 600th home run this past season and probably could’ve even hit 700 if he had stayed healthy. However, the one mark against Griffey is that he’s never won a championship; something that could play a big role in his Hall-consideration.
Manny Ramirez: Manny is definitely one of the greatest right-handed-hitters of all-time. I really don’t need to go into statistics, just know that they’re huge. There isn’t much reason to keep him out of the Hall other than his personality (which I’m sure you all know about). However, I highly doubt any writer will care that much.
Other “probablys” include:
Randy Johnson*
Tom Glavine*
Pedro Martinez*
Albert Pujols*
Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez*
Ichiro Suzuki*
Trevor Hoffman
Frank Thomas*
John Smoltz*
Chipper Jones*
Jeff Kent*
Omar Vizquel
Mike Mussina
Jim Thome
Carlos Delgado
Curt Schilling
Gary Sheffield
Todd Helton
Roy Halladay*
Jorge Posada
Andy Pettitte
Troy Percival
Todd Jones
Vladamir Guererro*
Kerry Wood*
Jamie Moyer
The Close But Not Quite (no description):
Mark Prior
Roy Oswalt
Andruw Jones
Adam Dunn
Johnny Damon
Tim Wakefield
David Ortiz
Bobby Abreu
Vernon Wells
Jason Giambi*
Carlos Beltran
Carlos Lee
Jermaine Dye
Travis Hafner
Torii Hunter
Troy Glaus
Nomar Garciapara*
Alfonso Soriano
Aramis Ramirez
Derek Lee
Jason Varitek
The Too-Young-To-Tell, But Promising:
Johan Santana*
Miguel Cabrera
Mark Teixeira
Francisco “K-Rod” Rodriguez
David Wright
Joe Mauer
Hanley Ramirez
Evan Longoria*
Grady Sizemore
Lance Berkman
CC Sabathia*
Brandon Webb*
Joba Chamberlain
Chien-Ming Wang
Robinson Cano
Dustin Pedroia*
Kevin Youkillis
Jason Bay
Fausto Carmona
Matt Holliday
Jonathan Papelbon
Joe Nathan
Nick Markakis
Felix Hernandez
Tim Lincecum*
If there are any players you feel were left off this list, please leave a comment.
Morneau Should’ve Been MVP
Many of you Red Sox fans will probably disagree with me, but I believe that Justin Morneau should’ve been the American League MVP, not Dustin Pedroia. Now before you go ballistic, let me give you my argument:
I’ll start off with stats; Pedroia’s batting AVG (.326) was 26 points higher than Morneau’s (.300), but, as we saw last year with A-Rod and Ordonez, if the other stats are large enough, batting average doesn’t matter as much. In 2008, Morneau drove in 129 runs, good enough for 2nd in the American league (Josh Hamilton had 130). However, Pedroia only had 83 which is 27th in the AL! That’s also a difference of 46 RBI! Morneau also had 23 HR while Pedroia only had 17. And for all those people saying “but wait, the Red Sox made it to the playoffs and the Twins didn’t.” Well that would work except for the fact that the Twins only missed the playoffs by 1 stinking game. The discussion of playoff-team players shouldn’t be included because of that. So as you can see, it should be Morneau, not Pedroia, owning the hardware and on the front of MLB ’09 the Show.
AL East Best Player List
ESPN.com has MLB player rankings on their site. They use a combination of 2008 statistics and formulas to determine the best players in the league. I’ve put together my own list using the same basic principles but I factored in new players as well
Top 10 Position Players:
1. Alex Rodriguez NYY
2. Mark Teixeira NYY
3. Dustin Pedroia BOS
4. Kevin Youkilis BOS
5. Nick Markakis BAL
6. Brian Roberts BAL
7. Derek Jeter NYY
8. Carlos Pena TB
9. Alex Rios TOR
10. B.J. Upton TB
Top 10 Starting Pitchers:
1. CC Sabathia NYY
2. Roy Halladay TOR
3. Daisuke Matsuzaka BOS
4. Chien-Ming Wang NYY
5. A.J. Burnett NYY
6. Jon Lester BOS
7. James Shields BOS
8. Josh Beckett BOS
9. Scott Kazmir TB
10. Joba Chamberlain NYY
Ultimate Lineup:
1. Dustin Pedroia 2B
2. Derek Jeter SS
3. David Ortiz DH
4. Alex Rodriguez 3B
5. Mark Teixeira 1B
6. Nick Markakis RF
7. Jason Bay LF
8. Jorge Posada C
9. B.J. Upton CF
Ultimate Rotation:
1. CC Sabathia
2. Roy Halladay
3. Daisuke Matsuzaka
4. Chien-Ming Wang
5. A.J. Burnett
Best Available Team
On Buster Olney’s blog, he created a team out of the remaining free agents. I’ve put done sort of the same thing. Instead of using the best of the remaining free agents, I used the best of the players that were on the market (via trade or free agency). Here’s what I got:
Lineup:
1. Brian Roberts 2B
2. Orlando Cabrera SS
3. Jermaine Dye RF
4. Manny Ramirez DH
5. Adam Dunn LF
6. Nick Swisher 1B
7. Jim Edmonds CF
8. Joe Crede 3B
9. Jarod Saltalmachia C
Starting Rotation:
1. Ben Sheets
2. Derek Lowe
3. Andy Pettitte
4. Randy Wolf
5. Jon Garland
Closer:
Bobby Jenks
Yanks Make Small Moves
On a day in which the Yankees made a big splash, they also made a lot of little ones too. They signed Angel Berroa, Jason Johnson, and John Rodriguez to minor league deals. Berroa, 30, will likely compete with Cody Ransom for the job as the Yankees’ utility man. Johnson, 35, will compete for the fifth-starter spot in the Yankees’ rotation and is known for inducing ground-balls. The Yankees signed John Rodriguez for a little over $400k.
Teams Avoiding Boras
With Mark Teixeira being the only exception, most baseball teams (including the Yankees) have been avoiding Scott Boras clients. In fact, Teixeira is really the only Scott Boras client to sign this winter. CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett had different agents, and both Manny Ramirez and Derek Lowe (Boras’ top free agents left) haven’t signed. The most likely reason behind this is the economy. Boras always advertises his clients to be worth more than they are. However, now teams don’t have the financial stability to go that high. Derek Lowe is a great example of that. Lowe is probably worth somewhere between $13mm-$15mm a year (Mets offer is 3-years, $36mm). However, Boras has been trying to get him between $16mm-$19mm a year, its just not happening. Boras needs to lower his demands, because he needs to realize that teams just aren’t going to pay that much.
He’s getting lucky with Manny Ramirez as now that the Giants are in it too, he can produce a bidding war between them and the Dodgers. The cool thing about that, is that which ever one gets him, pretty much gets the division.
2009 Season Predictions
Sure it might be a little early, rather, a lot early but I think it’s fun to make predictions of what the 2009 season will bring:
American League:
East:
1. New York Yankees
2. Boston Red Sox
3. Tampa Bay Rays
4. Toronto Blue Jays
5. Baltimore Orioles
Central:
1. Minnesota Twins
2. Detroit Tigers
3. Kansas City Royals
4. Chicago White Sox
5. Cleveland Indians
West:
1. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
2. Oakland Athletics
3. Texas Rangers
4. Seattle Mariners
Wild Card: Boston Red Sox
National League:
East:
1. New York Mets
2. Philadelphia Phillies
3. Florida Marlins
4. Atlanta Braves
5. Washington Nationals
Central:
1. Chicago Cubs
2. St. Louis Cardinals
3. Milwaukee Brewers
4. Houston Astros
5. Cincinnati Reds
6. Pittsburgh Pirates
West:
1. San Francisco Giants
2. Arizona Diamondbacks
3. Los Angeles Dodgers
4. Colorado Rockies
5. San Diego Padres
Wild Card: Philadelphia Phillies
If you have any questions or comments about my pics than leave a comment and I’ll reply to it.
What SHOULD’VE Happened In ’08
As we all know, baseball isn’t a game that pans out how it should . It frequently happens that the best teams on paper, don’t always win. Using Bill James’ Pythagorean theorem of baseball, Runs scored [squared] / (Runs scored [squared] + runs allowed [squared]), one can determine what a teams win-loss record should be based on the amount of runs they’ve scored and the amount they’ve given up. Here is what the standings would look like if this had happened last year:
American League
East:
1. 97-65 Boston Red Sox (2)
2. 94-68 Toronto Blue Jays (4)
3. 92-70 Tampa Bay Rays (1)
4. 88-74 New York Yankees (3)
5. 72-89 Baltimore Orioles (5)
Central:
1. 90-72 Chicago White Sox (1)
2. 89-73 Minnesota Twins (2)
3. 86-76 Cleveland Indians (3)
4. 78-84 Detroit Tigers (5)
5. 71-91 Kansas City Royals (4)
West:
1. 89-73 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (1)
2. 75-86 Oakland Athletics (3)
3. 75-87 Texas Rangers (2)
4. 66-97 Seattle Mariners (4)
Wild Card: Toronto Blue Jays
National League:
East:
1. 94-68 Philadelphia Phillies (1)
2. 90-72 New York Mets (2)
3. 81-80 Florida Marlins (3)
4. 78-84 Atlanta Braves (4)
5. 61-100 Washington Nationals (5)
Central:
1. 100-61 Chicago Cubs (1)
2. 88-74 Milwaukee Brewers (2)
3. 87-75 St. Louis Cardinals (4)
4. 77-84 Houston Astros (3)
5. 71-91 Cincinnati Reds (5)
6. 66-96 Pittsburgh Pirates (6)
West:
1. 87-75 Los Angeles Dodgers (1)
2. 83-79 Arizona Diamondbacks (2)
3. 73-89 Colorado Rockies (3)
4. 67-95 San Francisco Giants (4)
5. 66-96 San Diego Padres (5)
Wild Card: New York Mets
A few notes on these:
The NL East and West were the only divisions to have the ex standings match the actual ones
The biggest change happened in the AL East in which 4 teams were in different places
The AL Central was the only division to have a different last-place team
In the x standings, the Cubs had the best record in baseball, as opposed to the Angels
The Nationals had the worst record in both
The Mariners were the worst AL team in both
The Red Sox were the best team in the AL instead of the Angels
The Angels had the most change (11 games) followed by Houston (9) and Toronto (8)
The Rays and Blue Jays moved the most in the standings, each having moved 2 spots
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