ESPN, Big Markets, and the East Coast Media Bias

I am what some might consider a sports purist. I follow three of the four major sports very closely, and my favorite teams are all in smaller markets. Therefore I am supposed to hate ESPN. Particularly for basketball and baseball (the NFL, to its credit, has marquee teams in Pittsburgh and Dallas – not exactly New York and Boston), ESPN perpetuates the “Evil Empire” status. More times than not, the Yankees and Lakers headline both their programming and website content, while the Kings and A’s are left in the cold.

Yet I can’t stop watching.

ESPN’s programming is hip, insightful and covers all sports. While i do watch NBATV and MLBTV, ESPN still gets most of my attention. Their baseball coverage on the station is so-so, with the highlight normally being John Kruk in-studio and Jon Miller’s play-by-play. The ESPN.com content is highlighted by Buster Olney’s blog, and very little else. It’s easy to jump on the Joe Morgan hatred train, so I’ll pass for now.

Their basketball programming is terrible. Michael Wilbon is probably their best analyst. Magic is, and has always been, terrible in-studio. Stuart Scott’s gimmick wore out years ago. And I wonder, often, how Jon Barry got in the studio. As far as the booth, Jeff Van Gundy is fantastic. But he is always paired with Mark Jackson, who is for my money, the worst in the business. However their on-line content has John Hollinger, Chad Ford, and Bill Simmons. All three of which are must-read. But basketball is tolerable because once a week we get Inside the NBA on TNT. Which destroys anything ESPN has ever done. Baseball doesn’t quite have that saving grace.

But it’s not their sport-specific content that makes me watch ESPN. It’s their analysis, original sportswriters’-heavy programming. PTI, Around the Horn, and SportsNation are all must-watch programming for sports fanatics. More than anything else they have, those shows are the core of my fan-dom with ESPN. So much to the point that I ignore my hatred of their sports-specific shows, (do we really need nightly NFL shows when they only play once a week?) and continue to keep ESPN on my mind.

And their 30-For-30 series is terrific. But more on that later.

 

“What’s So Different?”

Last season, Jack Cust and Kurt Suzuki were probably the A’s best hitters.  Especially considering the only guys who played enough games to be considered “regulars” were Bobby Crosby, Jack Hannahan, Daric Barton, Emil Brown, and Mark Ellis.  Ryan Sweeney was on the borderline, and was stastically (percentage based numbers only) a little better than Suzuki.

So the A’s beefed up the team.  Matt Holliday replaced Emil Brown, Jason Giambi replaced Barton, a healthy Chavey replaced Hannahan, and Orlando Cabrera replaced Bobby Crosby.

The result?

The team’s two best hitters, so far, are Jack Cust (OPS .848) and Kurt Suzuki (OPS .835).  Among regulars, no one else is even above .630.  In other words, it’s not even close.  Cust is essentially the same.  His power numbers are down but his contact numbers are up.  But to his credit, Zook has jumped 120+ points so far this year and is currently on a tear. But otherwise, the offense has been nothing if not disappointing.

So what went wrong?

Well basically, the guys with the big names are hitting like the crappy guys we has last year.  Chavvy is particularly bad, with an OPS of .262.  In case you were wondering, the newly re-called Hannahan’s OPS was .647, good for worst in the league among regular players, but still more than twice what Chavez currently stands at.  Orlando Cabrera’s OPS is a putrid .525 (even WITH him hitting a respectable .286 Batting Average).  Last year, Croz had an OPS of .645.  Giambi and Holliday currently stand at .626 and .629, respectively.  Last year, Brown and Barton were at .683 & .675.

So this year’s team, with all the big names, is actually batting WORSE than last year’s league-cellar hitting team.

 

“….Pleeeeeeeeeeeease….Let The Dollar Circulate”

The Sub-Plot For the 2009 season in baseball will be the recession

The Haves and have-nots in baseball will become even more exaggerated in 2009. On one side of the coin, the Yankees and Mets have rolled out $2 billion worth of new stadium. On the other hand, the A’s have the most out-dated current stadium with both Florida teams passing for new stadiums (though in both of their cases, i’ll believe it when i see it).

Money will affect everyone, as we saw with big-name free agents not receiving the sort of contracts they were expecting. With that in mind, let’s look through the 2009 Baseball season:

30. San Diego Padres
The Pads still have the same holes as before. It’s nice that Giles and Gonzalez are still there, and Peavy. But after those 3, what do they really have? David Eckstein is probably the next name on the team that would come across to you. But with the Giants getting better, the Dodgers and D-Backs should both still be good, the NL West looks very competitive going into this year. And the Pads just don’t have the horses to keep up.

29. Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pirates should be juuust good enough to be better than the Pads. But they don’t have any pitching, and sporadic hitting. After McLouth, who can you trust in this lineup? Freddy Sanchez had one good season two years ago, LaRoche is a great prospect but unproven in the bigs. Same with Moss and Wilson. The biggest thing with the Pirates is, can anyone teach this team to win?

28. Seattle Mariners
Yes, they play in a weak division, but they’re still far behind the rest of the pack. Especially after this offseason’s firesale. Bringing back Griff was a nice story, but I don’t see much translation into results. The front-end of that rotation is very strong with King Felix and Bedard, but they have no hitting and a pretty weak back end of the rotation. And they just traded their closer. And now Ichiro’s hurt. There’s some young talent on this team, but it might be a while before it develops.

27. Washington Nationals
A lot of people have them improving this year. But that division is really tough, and it’s only going to get better. The Phills won the whole thing, the Mets and Braves got better, and Florida’s stars are just getting better. Still they do have Christian Guzman, Lastings Milledge, Adam Dunn, and Ryan Zimmerman in that lineup. If the pitching comes up they could surprise a couple people. But they’re not going anywhere in that division.

26. Toronto Blue Jays
Everyone is expecting a firesale at mid-season from these guys. Alex Rios, Vernon Wells, and even Roy Halladay are supposedly going to be available if the team has another bad year. And in the toughest division in baseball, they just don’t have the talent to compete.  The Yanks, Sox, and Rays are the cream of the league.  And the O’s are getting much better.  The Jays just lost their second best pitcher (AJ Burnett) and weren’t too good last year.  It’s going to be a long yearn in the T.dot.

25. Cincinnati Reds
It’s only a matter of time before these guys make a real run at the Central. But I don’t think this is the year. Jay Bruce and Joey Votto look very good. So does Brandon Phillips. And Ramon Hernandez will do wonders for that young staff. But after Harang and Volquez, the talent is questionable. When some other young kids start to develop, they will be a force. But it’s not their time yet. Just yet.

24. Colorado Rockies
They were an average team last year, and lost a top 10 hitter in the league. Ubaldo Jimenez looks for real, but what else do they have on that staff? Troy Tulowitzki is an absolute stud, but he’ll probably even see his numbers drop without Holliday in the order to protect him. I see this as a looong season in Colorado, though I like to see all the A’s castoffs.

23. Detroit Tigers
I don’t really feel right putting them here. But it’s hard to predict they’ll be much better than last year. Their bullpen is suddenly very suspect and Maggs suddenly is starting to fall off. There’s also a lot of talent in the rotation, but just as many ifs. “If” Verlander can get back on track, and “if” Galarraga is ready, and “if” Jackson can adjust to his move higher in the rotation, this could be a very good pitching staff. But as I learned with last year’s A’s, “if”‘s aren’t good to bank on.

22. Chicago White Sox
I’m not sure what Ozzie’s doing here. The sox still have a meaty middle of the order with Carlos Quentin, Alexei Ramirez, and Jermaine Dye. The rest of the team looks not so good. I’m not sold on Danks and Floyd. Buehrle’s on his way down, so are Konerko and Thome. Jenks has always been iffy. But at least Colon seems like he might return to form. The AL Central will be a three-team race, but the Sox won’t be in it.

21. Milwaukee Brewers
Last year’s postseason darlings return minus their top 2 pitchers. Personally, I don’t like this strategy, considering their pitching wasn’t particularly good after CC and Sheets. But this lineup is still loaded, and that should win them enough games to avoid the cellar. Maybe I’m overstating pitching, when Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, Ricky Weeks, Corey Hart, and JJ Hardy is one helluva dangerous lineup. But this is a really bad pitching staff. Really bad.

20. Texas Rangers
They are the Brewers-AL. They have a huge batting lineup with Josh Hamilton, Michael Young, Ian Kinsler, and Hank Blalock (though they did lose Milton Bradley), but really no pitching to speak of. I also think Hamilton will go down a bit, and Young and Kinsler already were. They are going to have some trouble making the AL West a three team race. I predict the Rangers will have enough 14-5 games to make you think they’re competitors. But such would be a foolish proposition.

19. San Francisco Giants
What’s the opposite of the Rangers and Brewers? The SF Giants. They have, really, 5 stud pitchers. They also have a lot of solid hitters, but no greats. Emanuel Burress, Pablo Sandoval, and Fred Lewis could be great down the line, but are very young and inconsistent at the moment. Leading me to believe they’ll only be as good as the young hitters. Which would make them inconsistent.

18. Arizona Diamondbacks
The pitching here is not quite as loaded as in SF. But the hitting is a little more timely. Plus I like the addition of Garland to the back of that rotation. I’m also betting on a huge year from Justin Upton. He saw his bro on the big stage and wants a piece of the action. Behind Brandon Webb and Dan Haren, they have a shot. But I’m not too confident.

17. Atlanta Braves
I think these guys stay competitive in the division, even taking the lead for a while, for most of the year. But in the end, i think they fall short. Chipper, McCann, and Franceour certainly have the power, but I think they lack the bottom of the order/rotation depth to stay in the race. If any of those three or Derek Lowe get hurt, they’re done. And with those four players, the injury bug is inevitable.

16. Baltimore Orioles
This division is so good, the fourth best team is still among the top half of the league. Everyone on this team is young, and they’re starting to come into their own. Adam Jones in particular looks like a monster. And Markakis, Roberts, and Huff will help provide enough offense to stay competitive. How competitive remains to be seen. Especially in a division with 3 legit title contenders.

15. Houston Astros
To me, this is the hardest team to place. On one hand, that offense looks loaded. Berkman, Tejada, Lee, Bourn, Pence & a motivated Pudge? But after the ever-great Roy Oswalt, the rotation looks shaky. But I like this team as a sleeper pick. Sort of like the Braves and O’s above them. They’ll look good for most of the year, but will fall short in the end of being true contenders.

14. Kansas City Royals
Some of yall are sayin “whaaaaaaaaaat??!!” right now. Lots of good young talent here. Jacobs, Dejesus, Gordon. Greinke, Davies, Ramirez round out a talented young staff. They might be third in the division, but they will be a solid team. Watch out league.

13. Anaheim Angels of Los Angeles
Call me a homer all you like, but I think the Angels are in some trouble this year. K-Rod? Gone. Texiera? Gone. Garrett Anderson? Gone. Lackey? Hurt. Santana? Hurt. Escobar? Hurt. Vlad? on his way down. Abreu? On his way down. Joe Saunders is still solid, but how’s the rotation after that? What about the bullpen? Questionmarks surround this team. Even moreso than the A’s. Which is why I pick the A’s to win the division. Ok there. I said it. You’ll see my reasons later.

12. Florida Marlins
The Marlins were that team last year that stayed in the race most of the year but ended up on the wrong end at the finish. This year, I’d expect them to get a little better. But because the Phills and Mets are both looking better, the Marlins’ improvement isn’t likely to show up in the standings. The lineup is set, they’re just waiting on the young staff to catch up. Annibal Sanchez looked especially nasty at times last year. Nolasco’s quite good too. And Hanley Ramirez is a stud.

11. Minnesota Twins
If Francisco Liriano is as dominating as he was a couple of years ago watch out. They could easily win the division. But the bet here is that he’s sporadic. Although the Mauer/Morneau injuries bug me, I still think this is a very good team. If Gomez, Cuddyer and Nathan all play up to par, they should be in this race until the end. The Twins never cease to amaze.

10. Oakland A’s
A lot of people haven’t actually seen how good these kids in Oakland’s rotation are. While it might sound like I’m setting the bar a bit high, I fully expect Brett Anderson to be near-dominant right out of the gate. I think Cahill will start to come on more towards the end of the season, when he gets called back (he’s starting in the rotation mainly as a placeholder until Duke is healthy). Plus, did I mention they have a lot of guys who can hit now? Holliday, Giambi, Eric Chavez looks good, Cust, Cabrera, Nomar, etc. This is going to be a very solid ball club.

9. Cleveland Indians
I think they win the Central. I think Cliff Lee plays a little worse, but everyone else plays much better. I see Carmona and Pavano coming back into form and those young bats getting better production from Hafner Shin Soo Cho, Peralta, Cabrera, and a recovered Victor Martinez. You know you have a very good outfield when Ryan Garko can’t even break into the starting lineup. I think they win the Central, but ultimately lose in the ALDS to the Wild Card team.

8. New York Yankees
I think the Yanks give it a run. They’re much better this year, even with A-Rod hurt. But in the end, the A-rod injury is going to be too much to handle against the Red Sox and Rays. For one, the team’s strength is now the starting rotation with CC, Burnett, Wang, Pettite and Joba. But the bullpen is questionable and the lack of sluggers is alarming (especially for the Yanks). I like the Yanks, but not in that division.

7. New York Mets
I think the Mets fixed one hole only to create another. Yes the bullpen is much improved with K-Rod and Putz. But the rotation after Johan is questionable at best. We all know they can hit. Reyes, Wright, Beltran, and Delgado are all capable all-stars. But when Mike Pelfrey and Oliver Perez are your 2 & 3 starters, you might be in trouble. Just as the Giants won’t be able to win every game 1-0, the Mets will have trouble winning every game 15-10.

6. St. Louis Cardinals
I see a big bounce-back year for the Cards. In particular I see them getting healthy for once and grabbing the wild card from the Mets at the last moment. If Wainwright and Carpenter can stay healthy, they will be among the best in the league. They are solid 1-9 with a budding star in Ankiel and the best hitter in baseball in Pujols. They are my top sleeper pick for this year because the talent is there. But everyone has to stay healthy.

5. Los Angeles Dodgers
The real LA team re-signed Manny and Furcal. They also went out and grabbed Hudson. They look solid at every position with a true superstar in Manny and a great leadoff guy in Furcal. Billingsley and Kershaw looked better as the year went on, and I’d expect them to improve this year. The Dodgers are very good. But I don’t see them getting out of the NLDS, because the NL has suddenly gotten very good.

4. Tampa Bay Rays
I see the Rays grabbing the wildcard and returning to the ALCS, where they have revenge extracted upon them. Nevertheless they are very good. The crazy thing about their run last year is that most of these guys have more upside. They weren’t just playing over their heads. Evan Longoria will have a full year this time. They added a much needed DH in Pat Burrell. BJ Upton became a sueprstar last year, and he hit more homers in the postseason than the regular season. They still have that stud-laden pitching staff 1-4, with David Price just waiting to grab the fifth spot. These guys were no one year wonder, they’ll be back in the middle of things this year.

3. Chicago Cubs
Adding Milton Bradley is like making a one year investment. It’s basically saying “we want to win it all this year and don’t care about next year.” Well unfortunately, I see the Cubs falling in the NLCS this season. That bullpen just looks suspect to me. But wow, that’s a lineup. Adding Bradley to a lineup with Aramis Ramirez, Derrek Lee, Geovany Soto, and Alfonso Soriano. Again, Wow. And as I’ve mentioned many times, when healthy Rich Harden is the best pitcher in baseball. They also have Carlos Zambrano, Ted Lilly, and Ryan Dempster. Anything less than a title will be a disappointment. Well, I’m sorry to leave you disappointed Cubs fans.

2. Boston Red Sox
Think about this, the Sox rotation goes like this: Josh Becket, Jon Lester, DiceK, John Smoltz. This team is so loaded, Brad Penny is the long reliever. You have two (maybe 3) legit Cy Young candidates, a future hall of famer…..wow. I would say some of the older sluggers could use replacements like Ortiz, Lowell, Drew, and Varitek, but those guys are all still very quality hitters when in there. Plus, they even have very solid backups. That bullpen is still scary as well. It’s going to be tough to beat them, but one team can do it…..

1. Philadelphia Phillies
We know that they have superstars in Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, and Jimmy Rollins. We know that they have budding stars in Jason Werth, Shane Victorino, and Carlos Ruiz. We know that Cole Hamels and Brad Lidge are out of this world. We also know that Myers/Blanton/Moyer is as solid 2-4 as anyone. We also know Chris Coste and Greg Dobbs would start for most teams, maybe even in the middle of the lineup. We also know their bullpen is solid and that they’ll get good contributions from Raul Ibanez and Pedro Feliz. I like them to repeat. But what you might not know is just how funny Jimmy Rollins is:

My Five Favorite Jimmy Rollins YouTube Clips
5. Teaching Mike Lieberthal how to dance
4. The Sportscenter Training clip
3. The Dicks Sporting Goods Ad
2. Charlie Manuel bobblehead doll
1. His Ricky Henderson imitation

 

My name is Windy…and i like to blow trees…

With all the Atlanta dick-riding going on, it made me think of what other cities are relevant in hip hop today. Miami is makin some noise, obviously NYC is the mecca, but I think the next top city is Chicago, Illinois – and not just because our president reps it.

What it does have is most everything Atlanta has. It’s a city whose name was kept alive for over a decade by a superstar R&B singer. Atlanta has Usher, Chicago has Kellz. It’s a city that features one of the 3 mainstream-relevant rapers right now. ATL has Tip, Chicago has Kanyeezy. The only other mainstream-relevant rapper is a guy from New Orleans (which had its’ own time) who now lives in Miami, and is part of that movement there. It has secondary stars as well. ATL has Jeezy and Luda. Chi-town has Common and Lupe. But oh yeah, Chicago is a much bigger city. And that Obama guy reps it. Dwayne Wade and Derrick Rose? Yep, them too.

As far as professional sports go, Chicago’s a mixed back. The Cubs are good every year, but not great. The White Sox won a title a couple of years ago, but I wonder how far they can ride Carlos Quentin this year. The Bears aren’t too good, and the Bulls are lookin like they’re gonna grab either the 7th or 8th spot in the NBA playoffs.

But its all about hip hop in the Chi. Even beyond the holy trinity of Kanye, Common and Lupe, there’s Twista, Rhymefest is ill, and there’s the 90’s staples Do Or Die on the underground and Da Brat on the radio.

But it’s not just that Kanye, Common, and Lupe are dope. It’s not just that Twista and ‘Fest can rhyme. It’s the conscious underbelly of all five emcees’ material. All five of them are more righteous than club-hoppers. Kanye’s greatest asset as an emcee is the soul and spirit with which he makes his most emotional material. Think the uplifting joy of “Family Business” or “Good Life,” the despair of “Roses” or “Heartless,” or the anger and frustration of “Crack Music” or “Two Words.” Common is similarly soulful, dating back to his “I Used To Love her” days. Like Kanye, he makes music about love, pain, joy, and struggle. Lupe is another range. He likewise rhymes about conscious themes, but has been an even bigger inspiration to the current fad of “hipster” rappers out there. ‘Fest falls somewhere in between Kanye and Lupe. Meanwhile there’s Twista, the underground legend/multi-platinum rapper. He crosses the line between gangsta and righteous as well as anyone.

While there are more dope rappers on the underground tip, the mainstream ones line up with just about any area. Especially when you throw the R&B singers like R. Kelly and Donell Jones in there. Altogether, it’s about time Chicago started getting its’ props!

 

How It Was Supposed To Be….

The World Baseball Classic is already really good, but….
it could be great.   It just isn’t.  Yet.  I love Jayson Stark’s column about how we could fix it.  How we could get all the big names involved.  Namely….let’s do it All-Star Weekend.  The weekend will actually be a weekend. As opposed to the worst all-star game of the 3 sports.  All anyone really cares about is the Home Run Derby.  And even that is losing fans’ attention with the lack of big names entering (ala the NBA Dunk Contest).  Because, though I always root for Korea, let’s face it: the American Hemisphere faces a distinct disadvantage, because so few stars actually participate.

So for this imaginary sequence, we are going to forget about the Asian side of things, and just assume Japan and Korea make the final 4 (which they always do anyway).

Let’s start with Venezuela, a country in which most of the top players actually played – with a couple major exceptions.   They are already in the final four anyway this year, but just imagine if they had added Johan Santana and Carlos Zambrano.  Who in the world would be able to hit a Santana/Felix Hernandez/Zambrano trio?
Perhaps a Dominican team with this starting nine:

1. CF Jose Reyes
2. SS Hanley Ramirez
3. 1B Albert Pujols
4. LF Manny Ramirez
5. 3B Alex Rodriguez
6. DH David Ortiz
7. 2B Miguel Tejada
8. RF Alfonso Soriano
9. C Miguel Olivo

Ouch.  Any lineup in which Soriano hits eighth is impressive/historic.  Of course we really have three shortstops out there.  Tejada’s shown he’s willing to play out of position (he played third this year anyway), and Reyes definitely has the speed to play center.  Did i mention that they’d also have a rejuvenated Pedro, Edison Volquez, and Ubaldo Jimenez as the team’s starters? Pretty solid….but that doesn’t quite compare to the pitching the States could throw out there.

Pick any three out of Tim Lincecum, Jake Peavy (who’s there anyway), Cole Hamels, Brandon Webb, Jon Lester, Dan Haren, or that Josh Beckett guy. Roy Oswalt’s already there, and Roy Halladay should go too. I’m leaning towards Beckett/Hamels/Halladay.  Love Oswalt and Peavy.  But those might just be the three best pitchers on the planet.  How about Brad Lidge, Trevor Hoffman, and Kerry Wood as your closers? Plus the US’ lineup wouldn’t be half bad like this:

-At catcher, Brian McCann’s a solid pick, but I’d lean more towards Joe Mauer, given the choice.

-I like both Mark Teixera and Ryan Howard at first.  Let’s put Tex in the field and bring in Howard as the DH.

-Let’s get Howard’s teammate Chase Utley to play second.  Nothing against Dustin Pedroia, but Utley is hands down the best second baseman on the planet.

-The David Wright/Chipper Jones and Derek Jeter/Jimmy Rollins combos at third and second are fine how they are.

-The outfield needs to be completely re-modeled.  Let’s go with Matt Holliday in left, Josh Hamilton in right, and Grady Sizemore in center.   If we need a bench, we can get Braun and Dunn back.

So our final lineup would look something like this:

1. SS Jimmy Rollins
2. CF Grady Sizemore
3. 1B Mark Texiera
4. DH Ryan Howard
5. LF Matt Holliday
6. RF Josh Hamilton
7. 3B David Wright
8. C Joe Mauer
9. 2B Chase Utley

But all this talk leads me into something I’ve wanted to write about for a while…
The 20 Best Hitters In Baseball

20. Carlos Quentin, CWS
He probably wins the MVP if he stays healthy last year. But it was really his only good year thus far, which is why he’s as low as he is on this list. He probably also leads the lead in dingers if he stays remotely healthy (as was he finished one behind Cabrera). I’m not sure what direction Ozzie’s going in, but i bet he’s building around CQ.

19. Alfonso Soriano, CHC
Soriano gets the nod here despite a slightly disappointing season last year (though he still .280 with 29 dingers and 75 RBIs). That his numbers gone down each of the last 2 seasons makes you wonder if he peaked already in 2006. But he carries the Cubs for large stretches of the season and, when on, can take a good club and make them great. But where is in the clutch?

18. Lance Berkman, HOU
I’m prone to chalk up last season to a random lucky year. But I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt for now. But let’s face it, Lance is 33 and was coming off his worst year as a pro. To give him the benefit, he did have a great year two years ago. It’s hard to read how he’ll do this season. For now, 19 feels like the right spot for him.

17. David Wright, NYM
Though i still think he’s slightly overrated, Wright is no doubt among the best players in the NL. The Reyes/Wright debate has some weight (Reyes probably juuuust misses this list), though last year Wright was vastly superior. But like Soriano, where is he in the clutch?

16. Miguel Cabrera, DET
Did you know: his .886 OPS last year was his worst since his rookie year? And he still led the league in bombs. What’s crazy is, despite the great lineup he hits in, he never gets walked. Hitting .292 with 37 homers and 127 RBI is a great year for most. But not for a guy whose OPS is typically right around the 1.000 line.

15. Kevin Youkilis, BOS
This is a guy who was overrated for so long, then you turned around and he had become just as good as advertised. I didn’t realize he had a .959 OPS last year. Or that he was third in the league in slugging percentage. He’s almost gotten good enough to replace Manny. almost.

14. Chase Utley, PHI
I think Rollins probably juuuust misses this list, or we’d have gotten all three Phillies’ superstars. But Utley will win an MVP one of these years, provided he stays healthy, to join his buddies. He had a better year than Pedroia, who won the AL MVP last year. Utley is hands down the best second baseman in the business (as i noted above). And that’s that.

13. Justin Morneau, MIN
The Canadian slugger is probably the opposite of Youkilis. He was underrated for a couple years, but his production started to slip right when everyone was realizing he was underrated – so now he’s overrated. But he’s still a great, great player. .300, 23, 129? Any team in the league could use that.

12. Chipper Jones, ATL
I couldn’t quite keep him in the upper half of this list despite his numbers from last season deserving it. It’s just….he’s getting really, really old. The crazy thing is, he’s hit his stride here in the latter years of his career. In the past 5 seasons, his lowest OPS is .968. And last year he spent most of the year toying with the .400 line.

11. Ryan Braun, MIL
I’ll admit that I’m a tad biased towards this guy. Braun is outrageously good as it is, but he just goes about his business the right way. He realized he wasn’t the best 3B, so he was open to letting the Brewers put him in Left. He didn’t want his contract negotiations to be a distraction, so he took the best deal on the table. And he dropped 37 bombs with 104 RBIs and hit .285.

10. Milton Bradley, CHC
While his game is often overshadowed with his mouth and actions, Bradley has quietly become one of the best hitters in baseball. Do you realize he had a .999 OPS last year? It was a career year for him at age 30. He was also third in the league in batting average, fourth in slugging, and his earlier mentioned OPS was tops in the AL.

9. Grady Sizemore, CLE
There are a few who thought Sizemore was the best player in the AL last season. While his outfield play should be strongly considered, he wasn’t quite touching the best guys in the league. Does that make him a worse hitter than Youk, Pedroia, or Hamilton? Not necessarily. It should be noted he stole 38 bases in addition to his 33 bombs (one of two 30/30 guys last year). But his average was down a bit, to .268. That’s perhaps a result of feeling the pressure of being the only worthwhile guy in his lineup.

8. Hanley Ramirez, FLA
The other 30/30 guy from last year. He’s .940+ in OPS the last two years. He also launched 33 from the leadoff role and stole 38. And did i mention he hit .301 last year? He’s the best player on a very impressive Florida club.

7. Josh Hamilton, TEX
One of the best stories from last year was Hamilton’s comeback from drug abuse. And he put on quite a show in the home run contest. He hit .304 and slugged .530 and had 130 RBIs. He rarely walks, and thus ended up with 190 hits (!). We’ll see if he can keep it up before we move him up in the rankings.

6. Mark Teixeira, NYY
Tex hit .302 with a .962 OPS in a very potent Angels’ lineup. It should be noted that he’s going into a great Yankees lineup, but will be without A-Rod for long stretches. So he’s actually joining a weaker lineup by going to the Yankees. Will he keep it up or will he drop to “Great player on a bad team” numbers like he had the year before (Runs and RBI’s drop dramatically)? If he doesn’t, he’s a true superstar.

5. Matt Holliday, OAK
The problem with Holliday is it was hard to judge him in Colorado. Now we’ll see how he does in a pitchers’ park in Oakland. He’ll actually be in a better lineup too. Despite Oakland’s historically terrible lineup last year, he’ll have Jack Cust, Jason Giambi, Orlando Cabrera, and either Nomar or Chavvy hitting around him. But his OPS has been above .900 for three straight years (including a rediculous, Bonds-ian 1.012 in 2007), and he had a slightly “disappointing” .321/25 hrs/88 RBI/28 SBs last year. He is the main reason I’m PSYCHED about this year in Oakland.

4. Ryan Howard, PHI
Yes his average has gone down for a couple seasons. But he’s still the best pure slugger in baseball. He’s the ultimate three outcome player. His notorious slow starts always keep his seasonal numbers down, but he’s always catching fire down the stretch. If you argue “who’s the most feared hitter in baseball” he might be number one.

3. Alex Rodriguez, NYY
I might catch some flack for not having him at number one, but the guys above him have had more team success with them as the absolute best player on the team. Plus he actually had worse stats last year than both of these guys. I think there’s some argument with A-Rod and my pick for number 2. But I think number 1 is completely clear. Oh yeah, A-Rod hit .302 last year with 35 homers, 103 RBI, and an OPS of .965. You could make the argument that he’s on the “downside” of his career. But still has top 5 in the league numbers. I’ll have to see another “down” season to move him lower than 3 for now.

2. Manny Ramirez, LAD
You can say a lot of things about Manny. You could say his personality overshadows his play. You could say he doesn’t always give it his all. You could say he doesn’t play defense. But Goddamn if he can’t hit. He had a 1.031 OPS last year. That’s after supposedly “dogging it” for most of the year in Boston. He still had 37 homers and 131 RBI. He hit .301, slugged .601, has two rings, and single-handedly led his team to the NLCS. Did I mention he might be the best right handed slugger ever?

1. Albert Pujols
As i mentioned above, I don’t think there should be any argument for Pujols. It should be noted that these three have been 3 of the 4 best players in the league since 2004. And if you throw Barry Bonds in the mix, these are the best four hitters since the turn of the decade. Let’s compare:.

2002:
Bonds: .370 avg/1.381 OPS/46 HR/110 RBI/Giants Lost WS to LAA
Manny: .349 avg/1.097 OPS/33 HR/107 RBI/Red Sox second in AL East
A-Rod: .300/1.015/57/142/Rangers last in AL West
Pujols: .314/.955/34/127/Cards lost ALCS to SF

2003:
Bonds: .341/1.278/45/90/Giants lost in NLDS to Marlins
Pujols: .359/1.106/43/124/Cards third in NL Central
Manny: .325/1.014/37/104/Red Sox Lost ALCS to NYY
A-Rod: .298/.996/47/118/Rangers last in AL West

2004:
Bonds: .362/1.421/45/101/Giants second in NL West
Pujols: .331/1.072/46/123/Cards Lost WS to Red Sox
Manny: .308/1.010/43/130/Red Sox Won WS
A-Rod: .286/.887/36/106/Yanks Lost ALCS to Red Sox

2005:
Bonds: (played very little due to injury)/Giants 3rd in NL West
Pujols: .330/1.039/41/117/Cards lost ALCS to Astros
A-Rod: .321/1.031/48/130/Yanks lost to Angels in ALDS
Manny: .292/.982/45/144/Sox lost ALDS to White Sox

2006:
Pujols: .331/1.102/49/137/Cards won World Series
Manny: .321/1.058/35/102/Sox 3rd in AL East
Bonds: .270/.999/26/77/Giants 3rd in NL West
A-Rod: .290/.915/35/121/Yanks Lost ALDS to Tigers

2007:
A-Rod: .314/1.067/54/156/Yanks Lost in ALDS to Cleveland
Bonds: .276/1.045/28/66 (played sparingly)/Giants Last in NL West
Pujols: .327/.997/32/103/Cards 3rd in NL Central
Manny: .296/.881/20/88/Red Sox won World Series

2008:
Pujols: .357/1.115/37/116/Cards 4th in NL Central
Manny: .332/1.031/37/121/Dodgers lost NLCS to Phillies
A-Rod: .302/.965/35/103/Yanks 3rd in AL East

With the exception of his injury-plagued 2007 and Manny’s Bonds-impression in 2002, Pujols has clearly been the cream of the non-bonds crop.

 

Damn Yankees

Those effin Yanks are at it again.  They are the new owners of a brand new Mark Texiera, a C.C. Sabbathia, and a AJ Burnett.  Now I have to admit, I was not too impressed with the Burnett signing, and I’ve always thought Sabathia should stay in the NL where he hasn’t been figured out yet.  But Texiera??! Plus they might get Manny??!!

It is very possible that the Yanks could be rolling out a lineup of the following:

1. Robinson Cano, 2B

2. Derek Jeter, SS

3. Manny Ramirez, LF

4. Mark Texiera, 1B

5. Alex Rodriguez, 3B

6. Xavier Nady, RF

7. Hideki Matsui, DH

8. Nick Swisher, CF

9. Jorge Posada, C

That would be one helluva lineup.  But didn’t they just have an all-star lineup in 07?  Things will definitely be interesting in Yankee-land.

 

The 10 most important players left in the MLB playoffs

What’s this?  Another top 10?!  Yup…

10. 2B Dustin Pedroia, Boston:

If Papi struggles as he has been, these two have to be the two best hitters in the series to beat Tampa.  And if they make it there and Papi continues to struggle, they’d have to hope their pitchers can silence Philly’s big guns. And with TB’s pitching having owned Youk this season, they’re gonna need a huge series out of Pedroia.

9. SS Rafael Furcal, LA:

We pretty much know that Manny’s the big gun.  But Furcal has to keep his end as the team’s secondary star to set up Manny and Andre Either (who barely misses the list) with RBI opportunities.  The Dodgers have no chance if they must rely on Kemp, Martin, and Looney against the 3 staffs that are left.

8. 3B Evan Longoria, TB &

7. 1B Carlos Pena, TB

I think it’s pretty safe to say Shields and Kazmir are going to pitch well.  It’s also safe to say Garza is going to struggle and Sonnanstine is a wild card.  So the Rays need offense to win this series.  Fun fact: Longoria actually lead the majors in Slugging percentage.  Luckily, some of Boston’s big guns are off: Lowell’s out, Youk’s been owned by TB’s staff, and Papi’s still obviously hurt.  So it might not take too much offense to beat them.  But Longoria and Pena are the key guys here.  Upton’s pretty solid as well, but one of these two needs to take over every night for four nights out of 7.

6. 1B Ryan Howard, PHI

Time to wake up big guy.  The Dodgers aren’t going to avoid you and Utley like the Brewers did.  Especially with the postseasons Victorino and Burrell are having.

5. 1B David Ortiz, BOS:

Big Papi’s actually the wild card here.  If he catches fire, there’s no way the Rays can beat them.  But with only Bay and Pedroia, the Sox might have a lot of problems.

4. 2B Chase Utley, PHI:

This would’ve been much more prophetic had i written this post yesterday.

3. LF Manny Ramirez, LA

It’s not a stretch or a surpise to call Manny the most important offensive player remaining.  He might still be the best right-handed hitter in the game.  And he’s definitely the best in big games.  But i’d expect to see him get a lot of walks.  If the Phills pitch to him, it might be trouble.

2. SP Cole Hamels, PHI

Two postseason starts, two dominating performances.  He’s building his own legend here.  The Dodgers have a very good staff, but the Phills match up pretty well with them.  Billingsley, a righty, faces a lefty-dominant lineup tonight.  Plus, there’s no one on the Dodgers’ staff that can match up with Hamels.  You can practically write two wins in for the Phills.  And if they get to the World Series, you might need to notch two more.  But if they get there, there is the potential for an all-time classic pitchers duel.  Hell, we might even get two, as he’d face up with….

1. SP Jon Lester, BOS

It  might be easy to say that, 1-5, the Rays and Dodgers have better staffs than the Sox and Phills.  But the latter two have the best pitcher in each series.  Plus both teams have shitty fifth starters.  So it evens the staffs out a bit.  For Lester, it’s like watching Beckett last year, when he pitches.  If anything, all baseball purists should be rooting for the Sox and Phills just so we can see potentially two Lester/Hamels matchups.

 

And Down The Stretch They Come…

The baseball season is over in 13 days, and only one playoff spot has been clinched.  The hated Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim clinched the AL West sometime last season (or so it seems).  In fact, the lack of important games seemed to have caused the team to slide a bit, but they’ve recently righted the ship with a 5-game winning streak.  We’ll get to them in a bit.  First let’s get to the races:

The AL East and Wild Card spots look like they will go to the D-Rays and Red Sox in some order.  Technically, the Blue Jays and Yankees are both in both races and the Twins could catch the Wild Card.  But the Red Sox, who currently hold the Wild Card, are 6.5 games up on the next place Twins, and it would take a monumental collapse (something on par with last year’s Mets) for any of those 3 teams to catch Tampa or Boston.  The Sox go to Tampa and Toronto, before finishing the season with a four game set vs. Cleveland and end the year hosting the Yankees.  Tampa follows Boston’s visit with Minnesota coming to town, followed by trips to Baltimore and Detroit – all of them (after the Boston) of the 4-game variety.  If the D-Rays can take two of three from the Sox and then split with Minnesota, they should be able to take 3 of four from both Baltimore and Detroit.  In which case, I think they should win this division.  Boston will get the Wild Card though, no sweat.

The Central has the hurting White Sox leading the Twins by 1.5 games.  The Sox are suffering from injuries, but the Twins are shooting themselves in the foot.  The Chi-sox are probably going to take this division.  The only series left against playoff contenders is a showdown against the Twins.   The Twins also have a four gamer against the D-Rays.

In the NL, the races are a little more wide open.  The Cubs are leading the Brewers by 8 games and look like the closest thing to a lock.  The Dodgers have also extended their lead on Arizona to 4.5 games, and look must be feeling pretty secure at this point as well.  The final two births are completely up for grabs.  The Mets lead the East  by a game on the Phillies.  But the Phills are also tied for the Wild Card with Milwaukee, and only 2 games up on the quietly creeping Houston Astros.  St. Louis and Florida are still in the mix at 4.5 and 5.5 back as well.  I think the Phills are the strongest team of the main 3 (Philly, NY, and Milwaukee), and the other two are a bit shaky mentally.  With the rise of Brett Myers, the Phills now all of a sudden have become a pitching-heavy team with Cole Hamels, Jamie Moyer, and Joe Blanton.  The team’s major weakness (bullpen depth after closer Brad Lidge) hasn’t been as big of a factor as of late.  And Ryan Howard and Jason Werth are on a tear.  They also have a relatively easy schedule the rest of the way, after sweeping four games against Milwaukee.  Aside from a three-gamer in Florida, they play the other nine games against teams under .500 (3@ATL, 3 vs. ATL, 3 vs. WAS).

I think the Mets could be the next best team, as Carlos Delgado is making a late MVP run, but their bullpen is an even bigger weakness.  But they also have to close the year with both the Cubs and Marlins coming to town for the last 7.

The Brew-crew is probably more talented than the Mets, but they have 6 more left against the Cubs, and after losing 11 of 14, you have to wonder about this team mentally.  Two weeks ago their lead in the wild card looked insurmountable.

The Astros are the X-Factor.  Aside from losing the last two to the Cubs, they’d won 14 of 15 to re-join the wild card race.  They are undoubtedly the hottest team in the run.  And their schedule is pretty favorable and their ace, Roy Oswalt, has 3 more starts scheduled.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see them grab the Wild Card if the Mets falter at all.

So how do they match up?  Houston would probably draw the Phillies in the first round.  Call it Brad Lidge’s revenge.  This is the one team the Phills would love to draw in the first round.  They can beat the Astros.  The Phills have the pitching depth and star hitters to beat the Astros.  Both times are a little over-reliant on sluggers to be a quality playoff team, but in this matchup I’m taking the Phills in 4.

The Cubs would then draw the Dodgers in a media-friendly matchup.  Here, the Harden/Zambrano/Dempster combination will be too much for the Dodgers.  Harden is lights out when healthy, and Zambrano just threw a no-hitter.  Dempster has been the steady hand all season, and I like the Cubs in a sweep.  The Dodgers are a nice story with Joe Torre returning to the playoffs, but they just aren’t on the Cubs’ level.

The Cubs/Phillies matchup should be a dousy.  Harden/Hamels in the opener should be the premier matchup of the playoffs.  A Myers/Zambrano matchup probably goes to Myers right now, and Dempster/Moyer could go either way.  Surprisingly, the Cubs don’t generate a lot of runs from non-sluggers either.  I’m taking the Phils in an upset here.  Just too strong of a lineup in Philly.  You have Rollins/Utley/Werth/Howard – all of whom can take over the series.  Not to be out-done, the Cubs counter with a top 4 of Soriano/Theriot/Lee/Ramirez.  But I like the Phills because of their pitching depth (surprisingly enough).  Neither Ted Lilly or Jason Marquis beats Joe Blanton.  Kyle Kendrick, the Phills’ struggling fifth starter, is relegated to bullpen duty in the playoffs.  Beating Harden would be tough.  But the Phills can count on Myers/Moyer over Zambrano/Dempster.  I’m taking the Phills in 7.

Off to the AL, where it looks like the Rays would get the White Sox in the first round.  Here I like the Rays all the way.  The Rays can manufacture runs in the playoffs, the Sox have to hit the ball out of the ballpark.  It’s really what this comes down to because the White Sox don’t have the front line starters to beat out the Rays’ top 4.  Rays in a sweep

The Angels would get the Red Sox – again.  I like the Sox – again.  Becket, Lester, and Dice K should be able to silence an Angels team that is vulnerable to a lack of patience.  Despite the Angels’ success in the regular season, I don’t think they can take the Sox in the playoffs.  Sox in 4.

This would set up what everyone’s waited for all year – D-Rays vs. Red Sox.  The Rays’ fourth starter, Andy Sonnanstine is the only spot where they have an advantage on Boston.  Becket beats Kazmir, Lester beats Shields, and Dice K kills Garza.  At the plate, a healthy Red Sox team features all-star caliber players all over the place.  The D-Rays’ main advantage (bullpen) is negated a bit in the playoffs with all the days off.  I think the Sox take this in 6.

This sets up Sox vs. Phillies in the World Series.  Here the Sox should win it pretty handily.  The Phills have all sorts of matchup problems against Boston.  Too many sluggers, too much over-swinging.  I take the Sox in 5.

 

The Wizard of Oz

When you choke, Oz lets you kno

Ok, to be real for a minute: Ozzie Guillen is my favorite MLB manager.  He has the balls to say stuff your favorite team’s manager thinks, but is scared to say.  A couple years ago, people complained that he’d picked too many of his own guys on the All-Star team.  “Oh yeah?” he said, “you don’t like me?  Then beat me.  Then I won’t be choosing guys.”  True statement, and in successive years, PC-managers Jim Leyland and Terry Francona notably snubbed two of their own guys.  Think Gary Sheffield and Jim Lester wish they had Oz managing them so they could get their all-star bonuses?  My opinion is that Oz is a lot smarter than the media and fans tend to think.  He uses the media to get his players rallied up.  And might I add, he has the ring to prove that it works.

So he admitted to plunking Miguel Olivio in retaliation for the Royals’ plunking Nick Swisher.  So what?  Pardon me while I yawn.  If anyone says they care, they’ll be the first one.  Because anyone who believes that players don’t throw at other players for retaliation, is living right next to Peter Pan in Never Never Land.  Ozzie might be looking at a suspension.  It appears to me that the Griffey trade was an admission that the Nick Swisher signing didn’t quite provide the offense they were looking for.

But I would expect the media tirade that will come from this interview to result in a 10 game winning streak.  You can say whatever you want about Ozzie’s out-bursts, but his team sure does get them wins.

 

The Future of the A’s

Ryan Sweeney is not going anywhere

With the competitive part of the A’s season pretty much over, it’s time to look towards the future. A lot of kids have spent time with the big league squad, but it’s time to look at the future of the team at each position. Who to get rid of, who to keep, and what we need to add, as the team looks forward to its’ move to Fremont in a couple of years.

The Untouchables:

OF Ryan Sweeney, OF Carlos Gonzalez

CarGon is as untouchable as there is on the A's

If your team had two early-20’s rookie outfielders (Sweeney is 23, Gonzalez is 22) who were both threatening to hit .300, run like the wind, play Gold Glove caliber defense, and hit tons of will-be-home-runs-when-they’re-bodies-develop doubles, would you even consider letting them go?  Good neither will Billy Beane.  Gonzalez is a better power hitter, and Sweeney is a better contact hitter, but they both look like superstars in the making.

Untouchable – For Now:

RHP Trevor Cahill and LHP Brett Anderson: These two guys get more press than most of the current staff (sans Duke).  The A’s are considered to have a top 3 Farm System in the Majors, but these two are the team’s prize possesions.  Gio Gonzalez is a borderline third guy on this list, but we may get a glimpse of him as the current team’s fifth starter very soon.  But Cahill and Anderson completely dominated the California League, and are continuing to one-up each other in AA as well.  Actually a glimpse into that AA Midland squad just might feature four feature starters for the big league squad (RHP Vincent Mazzaro is the league’s most best pitcher all season, and 2006 first rounder James Simmons is also coming into his own).

We’d be willing to talk, but the price would be really high:

LF Eric Patterson, C Kurt Suzuki, RHP Sean Gallagher, LHP Greg Smith, RP Brad Ziegler, RHP Michael Inoa, 2B Jemile Weeks, LHP Gio Gonzalez, Simmons, Mazzaro: This list is pretty long, mainly consisting of five more potential starting pitchers that we are waiting out.  Ziggy is probably off limits until he gives up a run.  Inoa, obviously, we just spent a bunch of time and effort into signing.  Gallagher looks like a keeper from the Harden trade, Simmons and Mazzaro are the next best pitching prospects in our system (after Anderson and Cahill), Gio is going into the rotation soon, and Smith has been very effective in our rotation so far.  Suzuki is our all-everything catcher, but I’m wondering if he ends up at 2B (ala Craig Biggio) because his speed has become very important to what we do.  Patterson currently projects as our future left fielder, assuming Cust ends up at DH.  Obviously, we are not going to end up keeping 8 starting pitchers, but some may end up in the bullpen and some may not end out making it.  We are going to give them every opportunity to make it as an Athletic though.

The A's aren't going to give him away, but Jack Cust can be had if your willing to give something up

We’ll think about it:

DH Jack Cust, 1B/3B Wes Bankston, RP Joey Devine, 3B Jack Hannahan, OF Travis Buck, RP Joey Devine, RP Santiago Casilla, RHP Henry Rodriguez, IF Jesus Guzman, 1B Deric Barton, 2B Gregorio Petit, 2B Mark Ellis: Cust and Ellis are probably our most valuable veteran hitters on the current squad, so it would take a bit to persuade us to trade them.  Ellis in particular, is in contract talks so his spot on this list may fluctuate greatly depending on how that works out.  Petit is a solid, but not spectacular infielder with some decent upside.  Guzman turned out to be quite a find, but we seem to be loaded with so-so potential infielders with Petit, Guzman, Bankston, Hannahan, and Barton.  Barton was supposed to be the prize of our system a couple of years ago, but hasn’t really made an impression in the bigs.  Bankston has been the best of the bunch so far, surprisingly enough.   But we have some other power hitters in our system to play the corners. Casilla and Devine look like our best young relievers (depending on what happens when hitters figure out Ziggy), but we’ll see what happens as they are both coming off of injuries.  H-Rod is back in A-Stockton, but was the talk of the Futures game.  Dude already has a 100 mph fastball, and looks like an ideal closer.  At this point I’d have to say there’s probably no way we’re letting him and Devine go.  We’re going to keep one or the other to eventually takeover the closer’s role.  Which one, I’m not sure of yet however.

You can have them, if you’re willing:

3B Eric Chavez, SS Bobby Crosby, OF Emil Brown, OF Rajai Davis: These are four vets who are in various different stages of their careers.  Chavy has been as close to a superstar as the A’s have had since Miggy left town.  But he’s also coming off two straight injury-plagued seasons and has a huge contract, making him difficult to trade.  Crosby was supposed to be the next great hitter, but has never gotten over the injury bug that’s plagued his career.  Brown has under-produced, and is stunting the growth of some talented young outfielders behind him.  And Davis just sucks.  He’s completely one-dimensional.  Anything involving speed he’s great at.  Anything not involving it, he sucks.  Like hitting.  Take them if you want, but I don’t see anyone lining up.

The Most Likely to Be Moved:

CL Huston Street, RHP Justin Duchscherer, LHP Dana Eveland, RP Alan Embree, RP Keith Foulke: These are all guys with trade value that the A’s don’t really have in their long term plans.  Street and Duke already have the trade rumors swirling.  And as soon as Foulke gets off the DL, he’ll probably join them.  Embree would be a good late-season addition to a top tier team (like anyone in the NL Central) that needs bullpen help.  And Eveland looks a lot more vulnerable now that the AL has caught up to him.  A trip to the NL might be in the works, as teams could always use more young left-handed starters.

Consider them gone after this year:

DH Frank Thomas, 1B Mike Sweeney, LHP Lenny DiNardo, OF Matt Murton, IF Donnie Murphy: These guys are all pretty much gone after this year.  DiNardo and Murphy have already been DFA’d once this year, which signals the A’s are pretty much giving up on them.  Murton has looked horrible at the plate, and with the young OF’s in the system, probably has no place here.  Big Frank’s comeback has been short thus far, but will probably play somewhere else next season so Cust can DH.  And in a perfect world, we convince Sweeney to retire and be our hitting coach.  But chances are, he signs elsewhere next year as well.

Of course, I didn’t cover all of our top level prospects (IF Cliff Pennington, OF Aaron Cunningham, and 1B/DH Chris Carter are the ones that immediately comes to mind), but that was mainly because I haven’t gotten a grasp of where they stand with the organization.   But this is just a breakdown of where I think the organization stands.