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Worst AL MVP season of the past decade?

Sat, 23 Oct 2010 19:37:00 EDT

The following are the stat lines of each of the past 10 MVP campaigns in the American League.

2009: .365/.444/.587 28 Home Runs, 96 RBI, 94 Runs 170 OPS+2008: .326/.376/.493 17 Home Runs, 83 RBI, 118 Runs 122 OPS+2007: .314/.422/.645 54 Home Runs, 156 RBI, 143 Runs 176 OPS+2006: .321/.375/.559 34 Home Runs, 130 RBI, 97 Runs 140 OPS+2005: .321/.421/.610 48 Home Runs, 130 RBI, 124 Runs 173 OPS+2004: .337/.394/.598 39 Home Runs, 126 RBI, 124 Runs 157 OPS+2003: .298/.396/.600 47 Home Runs, 118 RBI, 124 Runs 147 OPS+2002: .308/.354/.508 34 Home Runs, 131 RBI, 108 Runs 128 OPS+2001: .350/.381/.457 8 Home Runs, 69 RBI, 127 Runs 56 SB 126 OPS+2000: .333/.476/.647 43 Home Runs, 137 RBI, 108 Runs 187 OPS+

Now, if we're want the worst MVP season, we should automatically include the 2 players who did no lead their league in any of the major stats, Miguel Tejada in 2002, and Justin Morneau in 2006. Let's add one more team to the argument. I'm going to say Dustin Pedroia's 2008 season, taking him as one of the worst over Ichiro in 2001.

Top ten AL players by WAR

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 19:54:21 EDT

Quick, name the two Yankees that rank in the top ten of fan graphs WAR. Robinson Cano? Good, that's one. Rodriguez, no. Teixiera no. Swisher? Good Guess. Brett Gardner...? Yes. Gardner is the second highest rated fielder next to Carl Crawford (in both leagues for that matter). So good in fact that his value as a fielder outweighs his value as a batter. Now, to be fair, the drop off between Cano at number 7 and Gardner at number 8 is precipitous. Cano has a WAR of 5.9, Gardner's is 4.9. But still, Brett Gardner is more valuable right now then two guys getting paid a combined $500 million. Which moves me to my next point. The Yankees have 6 players in the top 25 players by WAR. The Rays have 3, the Red Sox have 1. That right there is the difference in standings. And also the dominance of the A.L. East. Three teams together have the 10 of the 25 best players. The Rays have two in the top 5. Things change when you look at Pitching though. The Yankees only have a single starter in the top 35. The Blue Jays and Twins each have 4. The Ranger have 3. Want to know why the Rangers swept the Yankees over the weekend, there you have it. The Rangers balance of excellent pitching and hitting is superior to the Yankees. Consistency wins in Baseball. The Yankees pitching staff has fallen apart due to injuries (Pettitte), innings (Hughes), and ineptitude (Burnett, Vazquez). The Yankees need Pettitte to return healthy or their season long dominance will matter little during the post season.

MLB: Predicted Standings:

Mon, 05 Apr 2010 23:46:54 EDT

American League

East

New York Yankees

Boston Red Sox

MLB Team Rankings- Pre-Season

Mon, 05 Apr 2010 23:00:36 EDT

The following rankings are based off of ESPN.com mock draft rankings for each position. The assigned dollar values for all of a team's players were added up to figure out each team's overall worth

Overall Rankings:

New York Yankees- $183

Philadelphia Phillies- $169

Top rotations in the AL..

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 3:09:52 EST

Best Rotation 1-3:

The prohibitive favorites:

Boston Red Sox: The Sox top three pitchers are Jon Lester, Lackey and Beckett. At this point, Lester still has room to develope, but we pretty much know what you're going to get from Lackey and Beckett. Lackey will "workhorse" his way through a solid 200 innings with an ERA between 3.50 and 3.75. You could also reasonably expect him to need a month or two to adjust to the quality of hitters in the AL East, which is effectively on another league when compared to the rest of the AL. Beckett will provide pretty much the same stats, though there is the chance he gets a little magic together and drops his ERA into the 3.25 range, and there is a chance he could jump above 4.00, it's how he is. Lester is the Sox best pitcher, and he could still get a little better. He has seen a marked improvement in his SO/BB ratio over the past few seasons, which is a good sign of things to come.

MLB leads the way in disaster relief

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 22:29:30 EST

There are times where, as a Baseball fan, I lose faith in this great game of ours. But then there are times that remind me of how great this game really is. For a prime example, you can look no further than the recent crisis in Haiti. Baseball has gotten a bad rep in recent years for the Steroid Era, and rightfully so. It's a stain on the game's great history. But today, I got onto CBS sports to find an article about MLB donating $1 million in aid to Haiti, mostly through Unicef. The Yankees, as they did with the Tsunami a few years back, followed suite and donated $500,000. A quick look at the MLB website shows a front page with information on how to donate and help the cause displayed prominently in the middle of the page. Quick looks at the websites for the NFL and MLS display nothing as to the tragedy. The NBA did mention the tragedy on their website, it was listed as the 5th most important news item in the rotation. There was a blog entry on the NFL website about the NFL partnering with the Red Cross to aid relief efforts. It mentioned a $10,000 donation by the Colts to jump start things. Ten thousand dollars. There has been no mention of the NFL, NBA or MLS donating money themselves to help. Let's do a little math. The base price for a ticket to the Superbowl the past few years has been $1,000, and the game is usually held in a stadium that holds anywhere from 75k to 100k people. So for one game, the league makes $100 million, yet they can't donate anything at all? Considering the profit made by most teams in the NFL, this is deplorable. Yes, the NFL and NBA have partnered with charities to raise money, but it just does't seem like they're doing their part. Say whatever you like about the Steinbrenners, but just as they did for Hurricane Katrina and the Indonesian Tsunami, the Yankees have showed themselves to be an example of how a Major League sport team should act. Props to Major League Baseball for mobilizing so fast and trying to do some good. And to the NHL, which donated $100k to Haitian relief efforts. And shame on the other leagues for not doing their part. Not everyone is as fortunate as you.

Does Texas have a chance to rise from the ashes?

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 13:42:03 EST

By now, everyone and their grandmother knows what happened in yesterdays's BCS Title Game. College Football's own Ironman, Colt McCoy, went down with an injury seven plays into the game. True Freshman Garrett Gilbert came in and by halftime, the Crimson Tide had built what seemed like an insurmountable lead. What we saw in the second half of the game was both Magical and Heartbreaking. For a while, we actually thought he would lead the Texas Longhorns to victory. Those hopes were dashed by two desperation passes that became touchdowns. But going forward, the score doesn't matter. The game is already over. What Longhorn fans need to realize is that in Garrett Gilbert, they have a Quarterback worthy of succeeding Colt McCoy. Game Experience and practice will fix Gilbert's miscues from the title game. It would be unreasonable to expect a freshman with little game experience to be able to lead his team to victory in the National Title game. What can't be taught, and what Gilbert has, is a laundry list of superlatives: Determination, Willpower, Guts, whatever you want to call it. Leadership. Those things cannot be taught. Garrett Gilbert has it, he proved it. As far as make-up goes, he seems about as good as you could hope for. When asked about the game, he responded that it was something to build upon. And with three years of time to do just that, I think we just might see him back here again before he graduates. Is it to early in a career to call a Heisman? Cause I think he'll win one.

The Big Unit wrongly goes out underappreciated

Sat, 09 Jan 2010 8:20:01 EST

The man who, for a long time, cast the largest shadow in Major League Baseball saw his shadow shrink measurably when he retired today. Sports. I can only scrape the iceberg in this column, in relation to the greatness of Randy Johnson. The top story at ESPN.com as we speak is the Orange Bowl between Iowa and GT, Randy Johnson's retirement comes in second in front of a Point of Interest piece about the Kansas Jayhawks. SI is mostly the same, though they at least list Johnson first. Most criminally, yahoo.com apparently ranks the potential height of Yao Ming's offspring as more important than the retirement of the greatest lefthander on the history of Major League Baseball. The likes of the Kansas Jayhawks and Yao Ming do not deserve to be ranked ahead of Randy Johnson. When it broke that Roger Clemens used steroids, it prompted ESPN.con to forego their usual news rotation and devote the entire page to the story. The same with Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds and the like. When Chris Henry died a month back, the entire page of both SI and ESPN were both devoted to his passing. Is this what Sports Media has been reduced to, reporting solely on those stories about ruined lives and ruined dreams? Why not acknowledge the many flaws that humans have and celebrate the great ones. Randy Johnson is a great one. In an age where at least one of his few peers (Roger Clemens) used steroids, and a large number of the batters he faced used Steroids, Randy Johnson stood alone. A man who fought nature's natural downward progression with will and sheer spite. Someday, baseball fans will look back at the 1990's in awe, and wonder how Johnson, Pedro and Maddux did it (I leave out Roger Clemens on purpose, I was a huge fan in his Yankee days, but the revelation of his steroid use and how he handled it, particularly in regards to his treatment of Andy Pettitte has changed that). How they dominated the greatest hitters era in baseball history. How Randy Johnson made Hall of Fame sluggers look like Ramiro Mendoza with a startling ease. It's a startling feet, what these three men accomplished. Which makes it an even larger travesty that he's not being properly celebrated for his accomplishments. ERA+ will tell you that Koufax's famous 5 years really weren't all that great, it was a pitchers era. Johnson played in a hitters era and a hitters park. He'll go down as the greatest left hander ever to play the game. Shame on them for forgetting that. Hopefully, the HOF voters will right this 5 years down the road. It's about time somebody entered Unanimously, isn't it?

ComparingAlbert Pujols to the Babe...

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 15:02:13 EST

I'm writing this entry as a follow up to the entry I did comparing Albert Pujols to Lou Gehrig. As far as the discussion for greatest player ever goes, Babe Ruth is the obvious answer, with Ted Williams coming in second. The best statistic for comparing different eras is OPS+, because it tells the story of how good the player was in comparison to his peers. For those of you who don't know, Babe Ruth's career OPS+ was a ridiculous 207, 100 being league average. Over his entire career, he was twice as good as the average player. What we're going to do is see what stats Pujols would have had to achieve in his best season, 2008, to equal what Ruth did in his best season, 1920. For this, we're going to need Slugging (TB/AB) to help us guess at how many home runs, doubles and so on that Pujols would have to get to be as good comparatively as Ruth was. So, let's start with what stats Pujols would need to get to equal Ruth's best season. Now, Babe Ruth had an OPS of 1.382 in 1920, for an OPS+ of 256. That would equate to an OPS of 1.500 in Pujols best season, 2008, when he had an OPS of 1.114. Let's break it down

You gotta do it now...

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:50:44 EST

I'll be the first one to admit that I know little about Boxing. But I know a good bit about steroid arguments. The back and forth between Floyd Mayweather Jr., and Manny Pacquiao is getting really old. Like it or not, the performance enhancing card has been thrown. With the stigma that has these days, the only thing Manny can do now is agree to the Olympic style testing. Let's face it, we're all skeptical of athletes these days, and rightfully so considering the events of the past decade. If you have never taken performance enhancing drugs, than you shouldn't have anything to worry about. Pacquiao needs to agree to the testing and get this fight scheduled. Everyone wants it to happen. Refusing is just saying you have something to hide. Don't feed us this bull about it effecting your performance, because you're both being tested. And a real champion doesn't back down from adversity. All his refusals are doing is making things extremely fishy.

Yankees trade Melky for Vazquez

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 14:36:02 EST

Okay, let's get one thing out of the way first. the Yankees just traded a guy who has averaged a .269 batting average, 9 home runs, 55 RBI and 65 R, essentially a minor leaguer, for a guy who placed 4th in the NL Cy Young vote and had an ERA under 3.00. Cool, sounds like a steal. Let's not get ahead of ourselves however. Yes, Vazquez pitched very well last season. He gave up 11 runs against the Phillies over 32.1 innings. Which is a pretty good estimation of what you can expect him to do in the AL, as the Phillies lineup is the closest you'll get to an American League lineup. And he held Boston to one run in his lone Inter league start against them. He's also a workhorse, averaging 200 innings a year over the past 12 seasons. That's a trend that's not to be ignored. But in 4 seasons in the American League, his ERA is well above 4.00, and that's a concern. Not to say he feasted off of poor teams. He made a respectable ten starts against playoff teams, but National League lineups just aren't as good as American League lineups. And definitely not as good as AL East lineups. So there is a possibility that he could revert to a league average pitcher. That said, with the lineup the Yankees figure to field, league average is good enough. So let's look at the positives and negatives:

Lou Gehrig is the Elephant in the room

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 21:15:36 EST

If you've ever wondered why you always get this nagging feeling when you mention one of today's players possibly ending up as the best ever, it's because of Lou Gehrig. He's the elephant in the room. The decade is ending, and that means many sports news outlets have been compiling lists of the best players, feats and games of the past decade. And everywhere I see Albert Pujols listed as the best player of the decade. I won't argue with that, he was that, though Alex Rodriguez could have his say as well. What I will argue is the tagline that follows "He might just retire as the best player to ever play the game." Excuse me, he won't even retire as the best first baseman, how could he be the best player. Yet again, baseball has forgotten the greatness of Lou Gehrig, his legacy reduced more to his farewell speech than his inhuman accomplishments. They say this past season was the best so far of Albert Pujols's career. That he just keeps getting better. And he had a pretty nice statline. But look at the second stat line, that is the statline Gehrig averaged for a season.

Pay Attention, you might be witnessing History...

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 23:07:25 EST

With Tiger Woods, there's always been this feeling that every time he stepped on the Green, there might be a chance to witness history. I don't profess to know much about Golf, I've never played a day in my life and don't watch it much on TV. But I do know one thing: We might be watching the greatest downfall in sports history. There has never been, and there might never be a single athlete more famous, more influential then Tiger Woods. Yes, Jackie Robinson broke the Baseball Color Barrier. And then there was Joe Louis, it was like he had singlehandedly beat the Nazi's when he defeated Max Schmeling at Yankee Stadium. But this is the age of Mass Media and the Internet, and there has never been an athlete as famous world-wide as Tiger Woods. And we all might just be seeing his fall from grace. Tiger Woods has lived a life so remarkably private, considering his fame, that Superman would be jealous. And with a single car crash, a single crack in his armor, it might all just fall apart. Multiple women have come forth and claimed that they have had affairs with Tiger Woods. They've claimed proof of Text messages and voice mails and polygraphs. We're either seeing the greatest smear campaign in history, or the downfall of the world's most recognizable athlete. Forget the other sports scandals of the recent past. Forget Tyson, forget Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez and Mark McGuire. This is "Derek Jeter has used Steroids his entire career" big, bigger really. This is the a man who's managed to make his personal life utterly secret, a man with a supremely unblemished and perfect public persona. They say the bigger they are, the harder they fall. If all these allegations are true, how does Tiger Woods survive. How does the PGA tour survive. If even Golf can be tainted, then what hope is there for its survival. Count me intrigued. I want to know whether Tiger can be as good when he doesn't have his perfect shield. With his private life in full public view, will he still be able to be invincible, the golfer that, when on, everyone knows, absolutely knows, they have no chance of winning? We might just be witnessing the downfall of Tiger Woods. Pay Attention.

How Follish to pick against the New York Yankees

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 16:59:57 EST

The supreme majority of baseball writers predicted that the Boston Red Sox would win the 2009 World Series. The Phillies were disrespected, the Tampa Bay Rays were disrespected, the two participants of the previous World Series The Yankees were disrespected. What do you have to say now? This is what happens when you bet against History. In 1923, the Yankees opened the Grand Daddy of all stadiums, the original Yankee Stadium, the most famous stadium in the world. The Yankees won the World Series that year. The Yankees opened a new Yankee Stadium in 2009, the largest, most opulent palace $1.5 billion could buy. A testament to the wealth and power of the Yankees. And you all thought the Yankees wouldn't win the World Series. Only three times in History has a team won the World Series in a year they opened a Stadium. The Yankees have done it twice (Cardinals have the other time, 2006). Two stadiums, two World Series championships to inaugurate them. People will ask why after all the millions and billions the Yankees spent since their last World Series championship in 2009. Why this team? I'll tell you why. Destiny was on the Yankees side this year. How dare you bet against her.

The Definitive Payroll Argument...

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:50:37 EST

Since the Yankees won the World Series Wednesday, the media and fans alike have been harping with the obligatory payroll complaints. I'd like to once and for all lay down the facts and see what conclusions we can draw from them. Using a rather simple formula, I'm going to try to figure out each teams true payroll. The payroll that they should be able to have. Forbes releases figures each year for every team, and one of the is each team's operating income. A team's operating income is the difference between their costs and their revenue. This money is pure profit, so as fans, you might want to ask what your team is doing with their money. What I'm going to do is equalize every team' operating income to zero, and see how much money they could be spending to field the best team possible. You'll find the teams listed by their 2009 payrolls. The next aspect of the equation will be the equalizer. The third figure is the team's true payroll. I'm going to define that as how much money each team could spend if they chose to use their profits for the good of the team. Figures in parenthesis are in millions.

Why the Phillies will lose tonight...

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:48:23 EST

The old saying goes that pitching wins in the post season. And thus far, that has been abundantly clear this World Series. The Phillies won game one behind an all-time pitching performance from Cliff Lee. The Yankees won game two because A.J Burnett threw 7 dominant innings and Mariano Rivera was, well Mariano Rivera. The Yankees won game three because their bullpen was strong where the Phillie's was weak and because their starter went log enough to take the pressure off said bullpen. The Yankees won game 4 because the Phillies closer could not convert the save. Rivera meanwhile needed 8 pitches to do his job. The Phillies won game 5 because A.J Burnett lasted two innings, while Cliff Lee was dominant until Manuel made the mistake of leaving him in for the 8th inning.

World Series: Game 6

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:38:20 EST

Note:

To all the sports writers on any and all the major sports sites who wrote articles today about how poor a decision it was for the Yankees to start A.J. Burnett on three days rest, I'd like to remind you that before the game you were all writing about how good Burnett has been on short rest in his career and that it was a brilliant move.

If the Phillies do manage to come back from being now 3-1 and win this World Series, they will owe everything to Chase Utley. If it's possible to give out more than a whole share, he deserves it.

It doesn't matter if you make mistakes, as long as you win. Charlie Manuel can thank that simple fact for him not getting roasted today. Manuel already took heat for not starting Cliff Lee in game 4, and in my opinion, rightfully so. He waited until game 5, and then almost blew it. He kept Cliff Lee in for the 8th inning when he had over 100 pitches, after throwing almost 130 in game one. That decision led to 3 Yankee runs, and suddenly, the game was a lot closer then it should have been. So now we have Cliff Lee's line from last night. 7 IP 7 hits 5 ER 3 BB 3K's. So where was the advantage in starting Cliff Lee in game 5 instead of 4. I can't be the only one wondering whether the Phillies could have won game 4 with Lee pitching. Lucky for Manuel, the Phillies won last night. So he won't have to answer that question Things to watch for Wednesday Night:

The Phillies are doomed

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:11:25 EDT

The most tell-tale sign of this World Series was an Article on Si.com about Cole Hamels, in response to the Phillies decision to start Blanton in game 4. Hamels has been atrocious this season, in the regular season and the playoffs. They are banking thus entire series on him recapturing his 2008 mojo, and beating the pitching with the most wins in playoff history. If they don't win game 3, they face an epic mismatch in game 4, C.C. Sabathia vs Joe Blanton, down 2-1. Come, just try to convince me the Phillies win that game. That means they're staring down defeat in game 5 down 3-1, and Cliff Lee vs A.J. Burnett will come down to which A.J. shows up, and which offense can break the other Ace. It will also come down to whether Lee can go deep into the game, because as much as the Phillies say they have faith in Brad Lidge, you know they don't want their World Series hopes riding on him. Let's say the Phillies win that game, then you have Andy Pettitte vs Pedro Martinez in game 6. The advantage goes to the Yankees there. But again, let's say the Phillies win and force a game 7. Here's your Marquee game 7 matchup, C.C Sabathia vs Cole Hamels. Oh, pardon me, I mean C.C. Sabathia vs Cliff Lee after the Yankees knock Hamels out early and the Phillies bring in Lee as relief ala Randy Johnson. In the 5 remaining games of the series, the Phillies have a favorable pitching matchup just once, game 5 with Cliff Lee vs A.J. Burnett. How do the Phillies make up that difference when their lineup is weaker than the Yankees? When their intangibles, their clutchness, is matched and beaten by that of the Yankees. The moment Charlie Manuel chose to not have Cliff Lee start game 4, the moment Lee decided not to press for that start, was the moment the Phillies lost all chance of winning, and the fans were robbed of what could have been the most epic World Series in a decade. Who wants it more? Cliff Lee's already told us that. C.C. Sabathia wants that start, he wants the ball with the season on the line. Cliff Lee, he'll start game 5. He better be ready to save his team from elimination.

How Foolish the Phillies are

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 0:19:37 EST

Today, there was an article on cbs sports about the Phillies confidence that they will break Mariano Rivera. They said by forcing him to throw 39 pitches in game two of the world series, they've improved their chances, and will now study those pitches to figure out his weakness. I'm sorry, but the Phillies need to learn some respect. If that was the case, people would have figured out his one pitch ages ago. This is Mariano Rivera, the man who throws one single pitch, the most devastating pitch in baseball history, and no one can hit it. When a batter steps into the batters box against Mariano Rivera, they know what pitch is coming. His famous cut fastball. They still can't hit it. The Phillies had one of the best lineups in the National League, but learn some respect. You are not the Mariners of 1996 whom the Yankees faced in the ALDS, a team, that had Juan Gonzales, Ken Griffey Jr., and Alex Rodriguez in the middle of the order. You are not the Boston Red Sox,with David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez in their prime. You are not any of the Brave teams from the 90's. Your lineup, when compared to some of those the Yankees have faced, isn't all that great. What makes you think you can do what they can not. What Hall of Famers have been unable to do. This is a man with a .76 career post season ERA. In 85 post season games, he has lost just once. Yes, he blew 3 saves in 2004. Did you also know his ERA that post season was .71. And you, a mere National League lineup, masquerading as an American League lineup, thinks you have what it takes to beat him? He faced the best you had, and got 6 outs. He struck out your best, and hottest hitter on three pitches. You, of the 3 automatic outs in the bottom third of your lineup. God help you if it is those three Rivera faces in the 9th inning.

Playoff Update

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 16:26:35 EDT

They say that pitching wins Championships, and that has never been more true then in the postseason this year. The four teams that advanced to the Championship series all featured team ERA's under 4. The surprise lies in which teams have had the best pitching. The Cardinals went into the postseason with what was unquestionably thought of to be the best 1-2 punch, which is the biggest advantage in a best of seven series, and yet the Cardinals lost in three straight despite also having a team ERA under 4. Of course, pitching can only do so much. The Cardinals managed all of six runs against the Dodgers, who currently sport a shiny 2.28 ERA. Any other year, that would be good enough to lead the league, but this year the Yankees have given up a total of 9 earned runs in 5 games for a rediculous 1.59 ERA. As of right now, no one is questioning the Yankees choice to stick with the 3-man rotation for the ALCS, despite that requiring games 4 and 5-6-7 if necessary, to be started by a pitcher on short rest, with C.C. drawing the short stick of three starts on short rest.

Postseason Predictions

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:47:49 EDT

Predictions are probably moot considering we all know which team is going to win the World Series but...

American League

ALDS

Yankees vs. Twins: Congratulations on beating the Tigers, Twins. Your prize, a first round boot by the New York Yankees. I just don't see how a drained Twins team puts up any level of a fight with that pitching staff. Yankees in 3 games, with a +25 run differential. Difference Maker: Everything. The Twins are only better than the Yankees at one position, Catcher. And Jorge Posada shouldn't be counted out. This is the Post Season, so the difference isn't too huge.

MVP Awards

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 10:52:27 EDT

Today, the regular season ends for all but the Detroit Tigers and the Minnesota Twins. So that means that it's time for the awards. Now, without further ado, we have the awards, starting off with the most contentious.

AL MVP

1. Mark Teixeira, New York Yankees. I know I'm in the minority on this one, but I think Teixeira was the most valuable player in the American League this season. When I look at which player was the most valuable, I want to see which player helped their team win the most. How does a team win? They have to score runs. Maybe I'm old fashioned like that. Teixeira drove in the most runs in the American League, and had the most Home Runs. He was also the most dangerous hitter in the best offense in baseball.

AL MVP Race...

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 1:19:56 EDT

It is pretty widely acknowledged that the AL MVP race is down to two people, Joe Mauer of the Twins and Mark Teixeria of the Yankees. I'm going to tell you right now, Joe Mauer should not win the Most Valuable Player award. The thing about Baseball is this: The team that scores the most runs wins. Therefore, the player that is most responsible for netting his team runs would theoretically be the Most Valuable Player. Joe Mauer is not that player, Mark Teixeira is. I am going to completely ignore two things in comparison: Batting Average and Home Runs. Having a high number in both is obviously great, and both merely serve as a way to drive in runs. And last time I checked, runs counted the same, whether they came from a home run or a sacrifice fly. Thus, because they each beat the other in one of those categories, it's a wash.

That didn't take long...

Sat, 09 May 2009 0:06:32 EDT

The entire world has probably heard by now that Alex Rodriguez hit the first pitch he saw all season for a three run homerun. They've probably also forgotten that it was his only hit of the evening. But what matters is that Rodriguez made an impression. His home run was a shot at his critics, a message telling them to put the past behind them like he says he has and let him do what he does best, be the best player in baseball.

Also of note is that C.C Sabathia finally pitched like the pitcher the Yankees though they were getting when they dished out $168 Million dollars for him. Sabathia lowered his ERA almost a full run, in allowing zero runs, four hits and a walk while striking out 8 over a Complete Game shutout. But what was probably the most important thing was that he conserved his pitches, needing only 84 to get through 7 innings, and a total of 112 for the entire 9 innings. He had great placement of all of his pitchers, a good sign considering the control issues he was having earlier in the season.

The prodigal son returns

Fri, 08 May 2009 8:44:38 EDT

Three months ago, we would not have been calling Alex Rodriguez the Yankees savior. Three days ago we would not have called Allex Rodriguez their savior. But today, Rodriguez returns and suddenly he is no longer the brunt of the Steroid conversation. Mere days after his book entered the media he is forgotten in the wake of this latest steroid scandal. Nor did we expect that the Yankees would need a savior. They had just spent over four hundred million dollars putting together what was suppossed to be the best Pitching Staff in baseball, with three bona fide aces at the top. They were expected to pitch their way to the World Series. Now they find themselves a month into the season with the second highest ERA in basbeall at 5.85, with their star Closer, the best there ever was, having blown a save against the Red Sox and given up back to back homers for the first time in his career.

2004 and 2007 Void?

Fri, 08 May 2009 8:17:46 EDT

I'm going to go ahead right now and say that I am a Die-hard Yankees fan, and thus very Anti-Red Sox. But I'm not willing to say that the Red Sox World Series win in 2004 is void by the fact that Manny has tested positive for Steroids. Here is Manny's stat line from the 2004 World Series.

1 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI, .412 BA

The Red Sox swept the Cardinals that Series, and it wasn't even close. The Red Sox team ERA of 2.50 had far more to do with their Victory then Manny Ramirez, who was given the WS MVP Award. Not a single hit of Manny's decided a game in the World Series. So sorry Yankee fans, they stil get credit for winning 2004.

He was even less of a factor in the Red Sox 2007 World Series win. He drove in 2 runs in the first game (Sox won 13-1), but was invisible for the rest of the series, authoring this stat line for the Series.

Manny Ramirez tested positive for Steroids.

Thu, 07 May 2009 12:06:07 EDT

The bigger they are, the harder they fall. We never even considered that Manny Ramirez would test positive for steroids. The wacky, crazy club-house destroying masher with a work ethic that defies the laws of humanity. Sound familiar...Mr. Alex Rodriguez. If there was any player we could say flew under the radar in the entire Steroid conversation, it was Manny Ramirez. Maybe we just didn't think he was "smart" enough to think to take steroids, to realize the benefit they offer. Or maybe we thought with his crazy baseball IQ, he was too smart to take steroids. And yet here we stand, today, with Manny Ramirez testing positive for steroids NOW. Not some day in the already distant past, but now in the post Mitchel Report Era where everyone was suppossed to have gone clean.

New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox...

Fri, 08 May 2009 20:11:48 EDT

I'll be at the game tomarrow, twittering live from the stands. Seats aren't as great as last time (where I was 5 rows back from the Yankees dugout), but college kids can't afford $1250 seats. My twitter page is this...I'll also blog from here if I can depending on my Wifi capabilities. Twitter= http://twitter.com/MGalbraith. Go Yankees!!!

Power Rankings (2 ed.)

Mon, 04 May 2009 0:51:54 EDT

Power Rankings edition two, here we go. First, I want to apologize for the Carlos Santana mistake. I blog pretty late at night usually so I probably wasn't thinking clearly. Great job picking up on that though. I also need to apologize since these rankings are about 4 days late. But from now on, the Nerd's Power Rankings will be up every Sunday. Expect something new to my rankings next week, an average ranking for every team up to each week.In response to some of your messages from last week. I will rigorously defend my rankings if anyone wishes to toss me an email. Including my ranking of Florida first, even though they crashed recently. There's a new team ranked at the top of the power rankings this week, the L.A Dodgers. Huzzah for Joe Torre.1. L.A. Dodgers. They don't have a single player in the top 5 of any offencive category, but collectively they have the fourth highest batting average in the league (.283). It's been a collective effort on the part of the entire lineup. Broxton has been pretty damn near unhittable and is tied for second in the league with 7 saves. Billingsly is starting to look like the CY Young candidate people have always predicted he would be. 10 Home wins in a row to start off the season is nice. Of course that means they are merely a .500 team on the Road.2. Toronto Blue Jays. It was a very tough decision to place them behind the Dodgers. If it was a one game series, I'd pick the Jays to win solely because of Doc, but in even a 3 game set my money would be on the Dodgers. Good pitching always beats good hitting, and the Dodgers have better pitching.3. St. Louis Cardinals. I got a lot of flack for ranking them 5th last week. All they've done is expand their division lead to 3.5 games even without Chris Carpenter. They rank 2nd in the Majors with an ERA of 3.57 and 5th in the Majors with a batting average of .280. This is a balanced team that's starting to make me look briliant for picking them to win their division. Lohse is looking like one of the best FA signings of the decade.4. Boston Red Sox. They swept the floor with the Yankees and then lost a series to the Rays. That said, they're playing .600 ball and have rebounded nicely from their slow start. They're pitching staff has been a weak point, with Beckett shouldering a lot of the blame, but the lineup is producing nicely, in spite of David Ortiz.5. Kansas City Royals. Another team that is making me look like a genius. It's to early in the season to party though, they have to keep this up for another 5 months. Zach Grienke...I'm not even going to say anything about him since other writers have waxed so eloquently about him already. But he's a big reason the Royals rank 4th in the Majors in ERA.6. New York Yankees. I dropped them two spots, happy. Every other team in the majors is on notice, because the Yankees Lineup is about to get real scary. They have scored the second highest number of runs (142) in the majors, without Alex Rodriguez and with Mark Teixeira batting .180 (with no Yankee playing above their talent level). That's with two less games played then the Jays in front of them (155). Now if only they can get that pitching staff fixed. If Hughes pitches as well as he did in hir first start up, their problems might be solved. A healthy return of Wang allows them to return Joba to the bullpen which will effectively make every game 7 innings long. I mean really, how often is Rivera going to let up a 2 run home run. If they can even lower there staff ERA to 4.50, which is quite easily possible, then I think they win the division.7. Seattle Mariners. The Mariners don't even move a spot, which is a lot more than I expected. They lead their divison b 2.5 games now, and their pitching staff has been lights out with an ERA of 3.60. King Fenix is doing his thing, hard to believe he's been in the majors so long already. Brandon Morrow is pitching pretty decent. They really need to fix that anemix offence. Good thing it seems like they have a gold glove caliber fielder at every position, or some deliciousness like that. 8. Chicago Cubs. They're not hitting or throwing the ball well right now, so I have no idea why they have a winning record. Their run differential is 0, 111 scored, 111 given up. I'm going to start saying I told you so pretty soon if Zambrano doesn't start pitching better. Lucky for them the ever consisten Ted Lilly is on the prowl.9. Detroit Tigers. Wow, not even out of the top ten and we're already reaching the teams that don't do anything well. 14th in the league in ERA and 12th in abtting average. Rumor mill says Cabrera might get traded...again...and again...and again. Still hasn't happenned yet. Oh, and did you see that scrumptiousness that was quality pitching from Justin Verlander, yum!.10. Philadelphia Phillies. Their woefully inept pitching staff is killing them. They score a decent number of runs, thanks to the awesomness that is the Chase Utley. But that's not enough. Remember when I said they wouldn't win the division because they lack pitching depth, yeah, good times.11. Florida Marlins. Yes, they lead the division. Yes, they are indeed behind the Phillies. I predicted that they would push the Mets, and they still might. But when you're batting .245, you can't win, expecially when your team ERA just crashed an entire run in the past week.12. Cincinatti Reds. Frankling, their closer that I have never heard of is a perfect 7-7 in save opportunities, which is nice. And the rest of the pitching staff is coming together. But they are just another team doomed by an anemic offense. Who would have guessed losing Dunn would hurt so much. Um...me.13. San Fransisco. Randy Johnson is a freak of Nature. Seriously. Why almost no one else didn't want him for the bargain price of something like 5 million is a mystery to me. They have the best pitching staff in their division, which is why they will continue to be competitive. But you jus have to score more then 81 runs.14. Milwaukee. Another team that excels at nothing. The team ERA is marginally top ten, but the lineup is bottom ten. They really need to get some depth in that rotation, because you can't cut it with just Gallardo. Having the offense play up to their capabilities would be nice too.15. Chicago White Sox. They are not scoring runs like we are used to see them doing. Quentin has 1/3 of the teams home runs. Danks and Mark "I had no idea he had so many career wins" Buerhle are pitching quite well. They could have a good chance of winning if Floyd could start pitching circa 2008. The offense isn't doing enough to have a back end of the rotation that bad.16. Pittsburgh Pirates. They're giving up under 4 runs a game, which is rediculous. All that pitching talent that we though had coming over the past few years suddenly arrived at the same time. Weird thing is they have a better run differential then the Marlins and Red Sox, yet have significantly worse records. If they can keep a steady is average offense going, they might have a real chance. I can't believe I'm saying that.17. Minnesota Twins. They haven't been pitching well, Liriano has been a disaster, and they haven't been hitting the ball well. Of course that was before Joe Mauer returned, expect a significant improvement in their offensive capabilities with him back.18. Texas Rangers. They're hitting, which is unsurprising. And they're not pitching, which is unsurprising. Though Kevin Milwood suddenly having a Rennaisance is. I'd like to file a missing person's report on Josh Hamilton. He was last seen blasting Home Runs all over the old Yankee Stadium.19. New York Mets. Money well spent=Johan Santana. Money poorly spent=Oliver Perez. That's basically the definition of their season right now. They're batting .284 as a team but with only 108 runs to show for it. Compared to the Marlins who are batting .243 and have scored 119. Weird.20. Atlanta Braves. The difference between these two teams isn't much right now. The Mets are hitting, but not pitching. The Braves are pitching but not hitting. Guess you can't have it all. Unless you're the Cardinals. Jurrjens is pitching very well.21. Houston Astros. Where in god's name did this Wandy Rodriguez come from. He must be the evil, much better pitching, twin of the Wandy we all know and get annoyed with. He's k-ing something like 7.5 batters per inning. They've scored 85 runs...E-i-g-h-t-y F-i-v-e.22. L.A Angels. They're 4 games back with the return of Ervin Santana and John Lackey getting closer by the day. I don't think that's a big enough lead for the Mariners to keep their lead when they return. In other news, when did the Angels start having such a proficient offense.23. Tamba Bay Rays. This will be the lowest I rank them this season probably. Though I did say that last week. They won the weekend series against the Sox, so we know they'll counce back eventually. They need to get their Pitching staff to where it was last year. Who knew they would be missing Edwin Jackson.24. Arizona Diamondbacks. The pitching Staff has been okay, Dan Haren is holding up pretty well and sports a shiny 1.47 ERA. They're ranked last in Batting Average. I know they're still ungodly young, but this talent needs to get their eventually, right.25. San Diego. Bad offense. Check. Good Pitchi...wait a second... Jake Peavy's stock is doing a pretty fine impersonation of the Stock Market last Fall. Adrian Gonzales needs to be traded, for his own sake. He's far to good to be on the Padres. Nine home Runs in the vaccum known as Petco is rediculous.26. Oakland Athletics. They moved up somehow. They have Matt Holiday on their team and still only have 10 Home Runs. Seriously, Coors effect to the extreme. I think he'll be fine though. They have an impressive pitching staff of no bodies, that have only given up 92 runs. Yet they still have a negative run differential.27. Colorado Rockies. They're not hitting or pitching. They have no depth in either. This club just seems dead, which is unfortunate considering all that hope that built up in 2007.28. Cleveland Indians. Nothing is going right for them. Cliff Lee is 1-4, Pronk is still not Pronk and something is wrong with Grady Sizemore. Good news, they're still scoring runs and super-prospect Laporta just got called up.29. Baltimore Orioles. They dropped 12 places in the rankings...and hard, losing the past 6 straight. The bottom fell out of the pitching staff, but the offense is still doing quite well. Nick Markakis can't still be under-rated, can he?30. Washington Nationals. They're scoring runs, and the Pitching staff hasn't been the worst. This is a case of Epicely bad luck. But hey, super-pitcher Stephen Strasburg, he of the "reguraly clocked above 100mph" fastball is coming soon.

Power Rankings

Sun, 03 May 2009 23:12:25 EDT

1. Florida Marlins. In my preseason divisional rankings, I said the Marlins would finish in second place in the NL east. That assesment is looking pretty decent right now. I still think the Mets will win it, we'll find out soon enough whether the Marlins can hang with the big boys. Hanley Ramirez is looking decidedly average lately.

2. LA Dodgers. At the moment, the Dogers have a collective OPS of .867. That's pretty damn good. And that's without Manny being Manny. The rotation has a sparkling 3.16 ERA. They look to be the kings of a weak division. I wonder what will happen when they face a team with a Major league offense.

3. Toronto Blue Jays. They've averaging just over 6 runs a game, or roughly what people expect the Yankees and Red Sox to be averaging. They're in first place for now, but there is no way they keep it. That rotation behind Doc is cringeworthy, despite whatever that Romero guy is doing.