Results tagged ‘ A's ’
Much News, But Nothing Really Big…
The biggest news may be the National League MVP, winning his second, Jose Alberto Pujols.
I think he deserved it, but he didn’t seem to get a ton of recognition for his godly season. He hit .357, boosting his career average to .334. He hit 37 homers, surpassing 300 on his 8 year career, and will pass 1,000 RBIs next year. He also scored 1 more run than last year, bouncing back from his first sub-100 run season, with 99 in ’07. Is he headed for the Hall Of Fame? Tell me your opinion.
Secondly, apparently there are ”nine or 10″ teams interested in Rafael Furcal.
As it said on mlb.com, the A’s and Giants are after the shortstop. So are the Dodgers (well, yeah) and Cardinals, but those are the only ones specified. So, after his fluky .366 average in 32 games before missing most of the season, do you think the four years and $10 million a year he’s asking is too much, or too big a risk.
Third, it was announced today that the Yankees would open the new Yankee Stadium versus the Cubs in a pair of exhibition games on the 3rd and 4th of April.
Since there is nothing really controversial about this (I think it’s cool), I don’t have a question for you about it.
Finally, I’ve seen murmurs of a weird trade going down.
Dontrelle Willis for Julio Lugo? Two bad contracts for each other? What do you think of this? It’s a terrifying thought the Red Sox are clearing up the shortstop position for Mike Lowell or Kevin Youkilis, so first base is open for M-M-Mark T-T-Te- No! Don’t jinx it! Tell me what you think.
One Question for You All
I have a (I think) very interesting question for all you bloggers out there who may be looking at my blog. Who is your MVP for each team this season? Here’s how it goes for me:
Yankees
Mariano Rivera, RP
Red Sox
Daisuke Matsuzaka, SP
Rays
Maybe Evan Longoria, maybe Scott Kazmir, etc.
Blue Jays
Roy Halladay, SP
Orioles
Aubrey Huff, DH
White Sox
Carlos Quentin, LF
Twins
Joe Nathan, RP
Tigers
Magglio Ordonez, RF
Royals
Joakim Soria, RP
Indians
Cliff Lee, SP
Angels
3 way tie: Francisco Rodriguez, RP, Joe Saunders, SP, Ervin Santana, SP
A’s
Justin Duchscherer, SP
Rangers
Josh Hamilton, CF
Mariners
Ichiro, CF
Coming tomorrow: the NL!
Nathan, Mauer, Morneau and Co. Come To Town
So, we have quite the matchup, the legendary
Sidney Ponson and the immortal Nick Blackburn. Ponson has a
10-2 career record versus los Twins. I don’t know a whole lot
about Blackburn. Just like I associate Ponson with being a
knight and drunk driving rather than pitching, I think of
black forest ham rather than Nick Blackburn usually. Anyway,
food-pitcher associations aside, my fellow blogger, el hombre
de Nueva York, the KidFromNewYork, or
yankeesquad.mlblogs.com, made a very valid point about the
Yankees this year. That the offense can be subpar at times,
but we can still win. He said look at the A’s, look at the
Twins, look at the ’69 Mets! And that really struck a chord
with me, because he was right. The Yankees are supposed to be
this huge offensive powerhouse with subpar pitching, but just
look at the rotation by pure stuff and ability. Joba
Chamberlain has some of the best pure stuff in the major
leagues, and Sidney Ponson, this year and in 2003, showed the
world he could really pitch, when his being arrested,
attitude, or control didn’t get in the way. Andy Pettitte
falls under this category as well, even though admittedly not
as much. In the bullpen, we still have LaTroy Hawkins, who
has done badly this season, but remember, we’re just looking
at stuff. We have Kyle Farnsworth, who hits 97 on the radar
gun regularly. We have Jose Veras, Edwar Ramirez, and David
Robertson. Plus of course Mo. Coming off the DL someday will
be Phil Hughes and Chien-Ming Wang. And that’s just stuff
wise. Falling under control and craftiness, we have Mike
Mussina headlining and Darrell Rasner, Dan Giese, and
Pettitte also going on that shelf. And we have that man who
has been forgotten in the minor leagues and on the DL, Ian
Kennedy, also going in the control and craftiness category.
That is a really great pitching staff, talent-wise. So if
they pitch to their full abilities, the Yankees won’t need to
live up to their powerhouse offensive team reputation. Just
look at the men from Minnesota who are coming to
town.
I’m Back!
Hello readers (insert sarcasm), sorry I was gone for a while there. First on our agenda, we have my assessment (I think that’s spelled wrong) of the All Star Game. What a contest! Unusually good defense. Derek Jeter said it best when he simply stated, “The Stadium just didn’t want to let go.” One question: How many of the esteemed predictors, the “experts”, the senior advisors who make the smart predictions, or the average Joes who make brash, crazy predictions for shock value, would have seen in their crystal ball that J.D. Drew, in a Red Sox uniform, the one who was booed in his home park in his first season, would be cheered at Yankee Stadium in the All Star Game for game-tying two run homer late in the game? Out of all those categories, I bet the number of people who could have seen that coming is zero. Zip. Nada. Goose Egg. Nil. But it went and happened anyway. And that later, he would win the ASG MVP? 15 innings of close calls, surprise heroes (Aaron Cook, Drew, Miguel Tejada, George Sherrill, Evan Longoria) and surprise goats (mostly Dan Uggla, but some Ervin Santana). Ah, Uggla. Unless you are a baseball fan and you were trapped under a rock or in a coma until this moment, you probably know about his errors, so I won’t cover that. The use of all the players was interesting, but luckily it ended in time so we didn’t have to turn to Drew and David Wright to pitch. But you guys have all heard about the All Star Game, so let’s hear about me! Just kidding. That would be an immensely boring story involving, well, nothing of interest to you. Anyway, I ask you, MLBlog nation, to feel free to leave comments, and tell me, what do you make of the signing of Richie Sexson? I think it may work. Jason Giambi versus right handers plus Richie Sexson versus lefties adds up to this: a .285 average and 18 homers with 50 RBIs in 239 at bats, about half a full season. That projects to a .285-36 homer-100 RBI full season. If they platoon and produce at the same rate for a full year, it’s like signing Lance Berkman with a lower batting average. So I just convinced myself it was a good move. By the way, it’s 7-1 Yanks, so unless they collapse (don’t count that out), Moose will go to 12-6, further proving my point that he should have been an All Star.
Those are the photos I have for you so far. Hope I’ll be back at the end of the game.
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