So this may ring a bell for some of you as this was the match up back in 2006 and the Yankees lost 3-1 and ending the series very meekly with a score of 8-3 in game four. The Yankees scored 8 runs in game one but scored only 6 over the next three games including a shutout in game 3.The tigers would go on to win the AL pennant but they lost to the Cardinals. Now the Yankees match up with the Tigers again and will try to have better results than five years ago. I'm gonna check out the pitching, offense and defense match ups between the two two teams and we will determine who has the advantage.
Game 1: Sabathia vs Verlander
Verlander is the runaway Cy Young winner and people have picked him over Bautisa for MVP for a reason that I will never truly understand. He has had a great season, but the two times we have faced the Verlander led Tigers we won and he has an ERA against the Yankees of 4.50. Sabathia's ERA isn't that much better at 4.15. I would call this pitching match up even but you cant predict the playoffs.
Advantage: Even
Game 2: Fister vs. Nova
Can you believe some people actually decried the Fister trade at the time and said that Fister would be a bust for the Tigers. I knew how great a pickup Fister was and so did every other MLB team. Fister has been even better than he was with the Mariners and now that he has some offense behind him he has gotten some wins too. Nova has had a great rookie season especially his second half where he has put up a 3.18 ERA in 11 starts and 73.2 IP. Fister has put up even better numbers with a 2.47 ERA in the second half, which is actually better than Justin Verlander. Even more impressive is that with Tigers hae has had an ERA of 1.79. That being said we did beat him back in July when CC took a perfect game into the 7th when we scored three runs off him but one game isn't a great sample. Nova has had a great second half but Fister has been the number two that the Tigers needed. I expect us to win at least one of these first two games but for this match up i'm gonna have to go with Fister.
Advantage: Fister
Game 3: Scherzer vs Garcia
Scherzer was a part of the three way trade between the Tigers, Diamondbacks and Yankees and he spent most of the year as the number two starter for the Tigers. He has pitched nearly 200 inning the last two years but his ERA has jumped almost a full run since 2010. I don't really know what to expect from Garcia, he could go 7 stong or give up 5 in 4IP. Detroit has some good hitters and he has done the job against better offenses than Detroit's.
Advantage: Garcia
*Game 4: Porcello vs. Sabathia
This is a no contest. Porcello has been nearly replacement level and has actually been worse at home. Anything can happen but it would be an upset if Porcello out dueled Sabathia. Also Leyland said he would under no circumstances start Verlander on 3 days rest so we will have to see if that holds up.
Advantage: Sabathia
*Game 5: Verlander vs. Nova
Nova has had a better year than expected but facing off against Verlander he would have to get some good run support or have a career game.
Advantage: Verlander
Bullpen:
The Yankees bullpen this year has ranked 4th in Baseball with an ERA of 3.12 while Detroit's ranks 25th with an ERA of 3.93. The Yankees bullpen has also pitched more innings than the Tigers bullpen, but people seem to think that the Tigers bullpen is elite because of Valverde's perfect save record. That being said their top three of Valverde, Alburquerque and Benoit have been very good this year. Simply put though the Yankees bullpen despite the numerous injuries has been better than the Tigers and honetly without Soriano and a with a healthy Joba you've got the best bullpen in baseball. After those three relievers the Tigers have one guy in the bullpen with an ERA under 4 and that's Daniel Schlereth. The Yankees only have 1 reliever on the postseason roster and a ERA above 3.5 that's Rafael Soriano.
Advanatge: Yankees
Offense:
Its hard to rate offenses going into the playoffs because you get guys like Cody Ross who hit .350 in the NLCS. The Yankees rank 2nd in runs scored and Detroit ranks 4th. The Yankees have hit more Home Runs than anybody else this season, but the offenses are so similar that I can't really give anybody an advantage.
Advantage: Even
Defense:
The Yankees ranked 14th in Errors while the Tigers Ranked 15th, they had exactly one more error than the Yankees did. Again the two teams are surprisingly even and so there is no real advanatge.
Advantage: Even
I'm not going to make a prediction because that would just be a guess but this game tonight could really set the tone for the series. Go Yankees!
Friday, September 30, 2011
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Final Thoughts on the Red Sox Complete Collapse
On September 1st the Red Sox had just lost 2 of 3 to the Yankees in Fenway, but hey were still 1/2 a game up in the division and nine games ahead of the Rays. The Rays had a 1% chance of making the playoffs, but nobody thought they would be able to beat the Red sox for the spot. The Red Sox went 7-20 in September and they won ONE game where they scored less than 7 runs, they did not win back to back games the entire month and only once did they win two games in a three game stretch and that was when they won against the AAA Yankees on Sunday and then again on Tuesday 9/27 when they won 8-7 over the fighting showlaters. As of Wednesday morning the Red Sox were still favored to make it to the Playoffs and nobody in the national media seemed to think it was possible that they would lose as most of them had picked the Sox to win the world series. It happened. Baseball fans never thought it would but the Red Sox blew a 9.5 game lead in the wildcard when they lost to the Baltimore Orioles and the Yankees epically didn't care and let the Rays comeback and win in extra innings.
This Year wasn't supposed to be the Yankees year and many people said they were too old and would miss the playoffs all together. The fact was that all of us were blinded by the Crawford signing, the Cliff Lee not signing and the Adrian Gonzalez trade. Gonzalez didn't have the power that he was supposed to, Crawford was mediocre from the get go and a rejuvenated Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia as well as a better than expected Ivan Nova meant that the Yankees didn't miss Cliff Lee as much as they thought they would.
My pre season assessment of the Sox was very close to true but I still thought they would win the Division:
The Red Sox were already a formidable team that contends every year, but then they went out and traded for Adrian Gonzalez who if healthy will be an absolute beast in Fenway park. The Red Sox, being the scrappy small market team that they are, were able to scrounge up some change and pay free agent Carl Crawford $142 million over 7 years. Last year the Boston bullpen struggled so the Sox acquired Dan Wheeler and Bobby Jenks to bolster their pen and possibly take over for Pappelbon if he proves to be unreliable. The Red sox have a great rotation, but after Lester every one of them has question marks as Beckett and Dice-K have had recent injury problems, Lacky suffered from being mediocre and over hyped and Buchholz stats suggest he will regress this year.Even if the Rotation has problems the Red Sox have good rotation depth and their offense should be able to overcome any pitching problems and win them games.
There were a couple things that we found out this year that blew these assumptions out of the water. Lackey wasn't as bad as he was last year he was worse, Adrian Gonzalez wasn't healthy, Jenks and Wheeler did almost nothing, Crawford was mediocre which nobody expected, The Sox Farm system got exposed as overrated as did their rotation depth. Now many Sox fans are calling for the heads of Theo Epstein and Terry Francona and don't be surprised if either some key Sox don't come back or the Sox go on another spending spree this winter. That being said I have gotten Four different reactions from Sox fans:
Reaction 1) We only lost because of Injuries: Adrian Gonzelez claimed that they lost because of Injuries/God (read here) and fans have claimed that if would have been different if Youkillis hadn't gotten hurt late then things would have been different. They also already pointed to their various injuries and one person I know even stated that the Yankees didnt have the same injury issues that the Sox did to which I smiled and laughed. Youkillis is your cleanup hitter and spent time on the DL but still played in 21 more game than our own cleanup hitter. The Yankees had more cumulative time on the DL than any other team. Stop bitching, great teams overcome.
Reaction 2) Numbness. With all the success of Boston and New England teams have come three big epic failures, Red Sox September 2011, Superbowl 42 and the Bruins losing in the playoffs after being up three games to none. As a Patriots fan I remember Suprebowl 42 and it was seriously 3 years before I could discuss it with people and even now I refrain from doing so in the same way I refrain from talking about 2004. Remember that numb feeling and just remind yourselves to never count your rings until after you've won them.
Reaction 3) Devastation: first of all as I said in the last reaction dont count your rings until you've got them. Second of all This sucks and there is no way around it but Boston and New England based sports teams have not only been in consistent contention every year for years but each major sports team has won a championship since 2004 and in total they have won 7 since Brady beat the Rams in 2001. You gotta get over it, it will suck but honestly San Diego, Seattle and Cleveland would all kill for one championship appreciate what you have.
Reaction 4) "your Yankees let me down" / The Yankees TANKED the game: Lets be clear YOU let YOU down, the Yankees contributed to your epic fail but if you had kept your lead against the Orioles then none of this would have happened, you had two strikes and two outs and blew it. Are you really trying to tell me that the Yankees who had literally NOTHING to play for should have brought in Mariano or Robertson to save that game when they play again in two days. I wasn't even that comfortable with Luis Ayala and Corey Wade pitching, I thought Proctor should have pitched the last two innings. Your telling me that with everything clinched the Sox would have brought in Papelbon and Bard to get the save in a meaningless game, no way. If our loss had kept you out even if you won that's different but it didn't, take responsibility for the fact that your number one offense in baseball could only score 3 runs off the Orioles worst pitching staff in the American league and your closer ,who according to some Sox fans is better than Mariano Rivera, couldn't hold the lead with two outs. Staying healthy was more important than winning games since they clinched home field advantage and if you had been in the same position you would have done the same. Keep in mind that this Sox team was the greatest baseball team in the history of the game as can be noted here.
First of all I want to say that if you haven't seen the video of the Orioles walking off you need to watch it, but also these two losses against the Orioles for the Sox provided two awesome Gifs.
On letting the Rays come back I have to keep reminding myself that in an even remotely meaningful game the Yankees go to a least Wade after Ayala walks the bases loaded but I'm not as happy about the Rays coming back as I thought I would be. However you have to give credit to the Yankees offense and honestly I am not even sure why Ayala and Wade came in as opposed to Scott Proctor. I just hope this game won't affect the Yankees in the ALDS because they are really going to need it while facing Verlander and Fister. If anyone is concerned about the Yankees losing four before going to the playoffs just remember that the Yankees lost their last seven in 2000 before winning the world series including 3 to the Rays in Tampa. Also two things that hadn't occurred to me, The Red Sox haven't won a playoff game since 2008 and could this be the death of Pink hat Nation?
This Year wasn't supposed to be the Yankees year and many people said they were too old and would miss the playoffs all together. The fact was that all of us were blinded by the Crawford signing, the Cliff Lee not signing and the Adrian Gonzalez trade. Gonzalez didn't have the power that he was supposed to, Crawford was mediocre from the get go and a rejuvenated Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia as well as a better than expected Ivan Nova meant that the Yankees didn't miss Cliff Lee as much as they thought they would.
My pre season assessment of the Sox was very close to true but I still thought they would win the Division:
The Red Sox were already a formidable team that contends every year, but then they went out and traded for Adrian Gonzalez who if healthy will be an absolute beast in Fenway park. The Red Sox, being the scrappy small market team that they are, were able to scrounge up some change and pay free agent Carl Crawford $142 million over 7 years. Last year the Boston bullpen struggled so the Sox acquired Dan Wheeler and Bobby Jenks to bolster their pen and possibly take over for Pappelbon if he proves to be unreliable. The Red sox have a great rotation, but after Lester every one of them has question marks as Beckett and Dice-K have had recent injury problems, Lacky suffered from being mediocre and over hyped and Buchholz stats suggest he will regress this year.Even if the Rotation has problems the Red Sox have good rotation depth and their offense should be able to overcome any pitching problems and win them games.
There were a couple things that we found out this year that blew these assumptions out of the water. Lackey wasn't as bad as he was last year he was worse, Adrian Gonzalez wasn't healthy, Jenks and Wheeler did almost nothing, Crawford was mediocre which nobody expected, The Sox Farm system got exposed as overrated as did their rotation depth. Now many Sox fans are calling for the heads of Theo Epstein and Terry Francona and don't be surprised if either some key Sox don't come back or the Sox go on another spending spree this winter. That being said I have gotten Four different reactions from Sox fans:
Reaction 1) We only lost because of Injuries: Adrian Gonzelez claimed that they lost because of Injuries/God (read here) and fans have claimed that if would have been different if Youkillis hadn't gotten hurt late then things would have been different. They also already pointed to their various injuries and one person I know even stated that the Yankees didnt have the same injury issues that the Sox did to which I smiled and laughed. Youkillis is your cleanup hitter and spent time on the DL but still played in 21 more game than our own cleanup hitter. The Yankees had more cumulative time on the DL than any other team. Stop bitching, great teams overcome.
Reaction 2) Numbness. With all the success of Boston and New England teams have come three big epic failures, Red Sox September 2011, Superbowl 42 and the Bruins losing in the playoffs after being up three games to none. As a Patriots fan I remember Suprebowl 42 and it was seriously 3 years before I could discuss it with people and even now I refrain from doing so in the same way I refrain from talking about 2004. Remember that numb feeling and just remind yourselves to never count your rings until after you've won them.
Reaction 3) Devastation: first of all as I said in the last reaction dont count your rings until you've got them. Second of all This sucks and there is no way around it but Boston and New England based sports teams have not only been in consistent contention every year for years but each major sports team has won a championship since 2004 and in total they have won 7 since Brady beat the Rams in 2001. You gotta get over it, it will suck but honestly San Diego, Seattle and Cleveland would all kill for one championship appreciate what you have.
Reaction 4) "your Yankees let me down" / The Yankees TANKED the game: Lets be clear YOU let YOU down, the Yankees contributed to your epic fail but if you had kept your lead against the Orioles then none of this would have happened, you had two strikes and two outs and blew it. Are you really trying to tell me that the Yankees who had literally NOTHING to play for should have brought in Mariano or Robertson to save that game when they play again in two days. I wasn't even that comfortable with Luis Ayala and Corey Wade pitching, I thought Proctor should have pitched the last two innings. Your telling me that with everything clinched the Sox would have brought in Papelbon and Bard to get the save in a meaningless game, no way. If our loss had kept you out even if you won that's different but it didn't, take responsibility for the fact that your number one offense in baseball could only score 3 runs off the Orioles worst pitching staff in the American league and your closer ,who according to some Sox fans is better than Mariano Rivera, couldn't hold the lead with two outs. Staying healthy was more important than winning games since they clinched home field advantage and if you had been in the same position you would have done the same. Keep in mind that this Sox team was the greatest baseball team in the history of the game as can be noted here.
First of all I want to say that if you haven't seen the video of the Orioles walking off you need to watch it, but also these two losses against the Orioles for the Sox provided two awesome Gifs.
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| $142 million Crawford Fail |
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| Bellsbury |
Mike & Mike's Red Sox Collapse Song
Mike & Mike's Red Sox Collapse Song
This is from Sliding into Home: A Yankees blog. I love the song I wish they would put it on itunes so I could play it for my friends who are red sox fans. Take a listen
This is from Sliding into Home: A Yankees blog. I love the song I wish they would put it on itunes so I could play it for my friends who are red sox fans. Take a listen
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Looking at the Red Sox collapse and how the Yankees came out on top in 2011
The Yankees officially cinched both a postseason berth and the AL East by sweeping the doubleheader from the Tampa Bay Rays in one of the best days of the season in a season that included Derek Jeter's 3,000th hit and Mariano Rivera becoming the all time saves leader. The 8th inning was key in both games as the Yankees took the lead on Robinson Cano's booming double that put the Yankees ahead after Eduardo Nunez had tied the game up on a solo shot off James Shields and in game two Posada pinch hit for Montero and broke the tie by hitting a solid two run single that let the Yankees clinch the division., interesting note Posada said after the game that he thought it was the 9th. This could not have been accomplished if the Red Sox had not been humiliated by the fighting show alters aka the Baltimore Orioles who out small market underdoged the Red sox who are the ultimate small market scrappy underdog team by taking 3 out of four from them. I thought the Yankees 2010 September was bad but the Red Sox have not had a quality start all month and are currently 5-16 with only 6 games left in the season and this is the team that somebody said would be the greatest team ever....back in January and again in august. Everybody and their cousin, including Yankees fans and all 45 ESPN writers ,I'm looking at you Aaron Boone, bought into the hype about the 2011 Boston Red Sox and the biggest question wasn't if the Red Sox would make the World Series but if they could beat the Phillies. I did however find an article written by Eric Wilbur from boston.com who wrote an article called "The Great Red Hype", its a great article especially in retrospect and back in march he makes the bold claim that not only is it too early to declare the 2011 Red Sox world champions and the greatest team ever but it may be too much to be ensured of at least 100 wins. He pointed out the taboo topic that the 2010 Red sox who won 89 games overachieved and he points out the real reason why the Red Sox ownership made these moves which was declining viewership that has become inflated by pink haters. He also brought up the question of whether or not the Sox can stay healthy and if they can be the bets team ever with 3 erratic starters in Lackey, Matsuzaka and Beckett, which is something that nobody wanted to talk about in March. I love what he wrote to end the artilce which was this:
"The Sox are re-loaded, but how much different are they really from last year? Instead of Adrian Beltre and Martinez, they have Gonzalez and Crawford. While Gonzalez is a perfect fit for this team and this ballpark, is Crawford? Or is he here mainly for flash and ratings?
The bullpen is vastly improved, but what are the Sox going to get out of John Lackey, Josh Beckett, and Daisuke Matsuzaka? Can the best team ever have a trio of erratic starters in its rotation?
The team won 89 games last season, so popular thought is that with the returning players and the additions, 100 is an easy goal. Then again, you could argue that Terry Francona's team over-achieved last year; that they were more an 80-win team based on the Triple-A roster that spent much of the summer at Fenway Park.
But that's not what we've been sold. And in the end, World Series win or not, that's really all that matters. Just remember that hype can be an evil component.
Favorites? Sure. Best team ever? Just...stop."
Depth, Injuries and Offense, at the end of the regular season both teams had offense and injuries but only the Yankees had depth. Its surprising that we did not talk more about how despite the fact that the Red Sox had two starters who missed significant time in 2010 with injuries they only had Tim Wakefield as a starting pitcher depth option. That didn't seem to be effecting the Red Sox too much going through the summer but then Buchholz went down, Lester and Beckett both missed time and Lackey continued to be bad. Red Sox fans will likely blame the injuries as J.D Drew and Dice-K were lost for the season and numerous others including Youkilis, Lester and Crawford spent time on the DL. However the Yankees had more players spend time on the DL than any other team in the MLB and they were still able to win because they had depth. The Yankees lost A-rod and Eric Chavez and Ramiro Pena and they still had Eduardo Nunez and Brandon Laird to play 3rd. The Yankees had so much bullpen depth that injuries to Feliciano, Soriano and Joba while inconvenient haven't slowed them down as they acquired Corey Wade off waivers and they have acquired more depth over the course of the season in people like Brian Gordon, Buddy Carlyle, Aaron Laffey, Raul Valdes and Scott Proctor and more guys like Kevin Millwood and J.C Romero were let go by the Yankees and are now pitching with the Rockies. The Yankees acquired depth even when they didn't need it and were always prepared for somebody to go down which is why they sent down Ivan Nova instead of cutting Fredy Garcia and while that may seem trivial now imagine if they had and now that Hughes has back spasms and may not pitch before the end of the season they would have to go to a 3 man rotation or start Burnett in game 4. The Yankees have aggressively sought out depth and since Girardi came in the Yankees depth has gotten better each year especially in the bullpen and the rotation. The Red Sox had to make acquisitions at and after the July deadline and while Mike Aviles and Connor Jackson have been decent acquisitions, Erik Bedard has been effective when healthy but has only made 7 starts since he was acquired at the July deadline and only 2 in September. The Red Sox have wined about not getting enough off days but it seems even the media wont give them that one as the Yankees have managed to somehow win the AL East with only one off day in September and playing a double header and that crazy two days where they played 3 games over about 36 hours against the Orioles. The Red Sox spent big this off season with their attempts to upgrade their offense and bullpen while the Yankees biggest deal was resigning their veterans. The Sox assembled a team of all stars and hoped they would make it through the year okay and when they started to break down they just hoped that everybody would be healthy and the offense would carry them. They actually talked about this on ESPN baseball today and were straight to the point when they said "You can't spend 160 million and not have enough depth". If the Red Sox continue to slide and are overtaken by the Rays then the big name guys will take the heat and rightfully so, but not because of a disappointing Lackey or Crawford because the Sox overcame those, the real fault is with The Red Sox organization for failing to acquire any depth and for their farm system for failing to grow any real depth, especially pitching depth, in the last decade.
The Yankees went almost the entire year without A-Rod and so everybody else picked up the slack especially Curtis Granderson who nobody thought would be as hot as he was closing out last season. Posada was a disappointment but he came through at some good times, which makes us forget all those times he didn't and the batting 9th issue that nobody is talking about anymore. Everybody thought Jeter would just limp to 3,000 but then he came back from the DL red hot and had a day that nobody will forget. Mariano broke the all time saves record and everybody had a big moment this season. The Yankees only big name signing was Soriano and he went down early and was replaced by Dave Robertson, Jesus Montero didn't come up until September and the Yankees didn't trade for a starter and in the end they didn't need to. Fans weren't enthusiastic about this year but the Big Bart, D-Rob, CC and the Grandy man helped us forget about all the flash of the Red Sox.
The Red Sox and Red Sox fans problem is that they keep trying to pretend that they are these gritty underdogs but the Sox and Boston sports as a whole expects championships now and having a good season is no longer just a season where you win more than you lose, you have to win it all. The Red Sox nation has been overtaken by pink haters who demand wins but try and still pretend that their team is somehow different because they play with heart and are underdogs. This year pink hater nation was hyped up as hell with the big signing and while they had a bad April they were kicking the Yankees around and dominating all summer and were debating who on the Sox would win the MVP. But the Yankees kept grinding and not just with evil home runs but with every facet of the game. Everybody on the Yankees stepped up at some point this year including disappointments like Burnett, Posada and Soriano. In 2009 the Yankees had the year of the walk-off and in 2010 it was the Grand Slam Year, this year is what? We did have 9 Grand slams including that 3 grand slam game, but we didn't walk off very much and in fact were awful in extra innings games winning only four, we just played the game and won. The Red Sox had their flash and dash but what do they have to show for it? their losing money, may not make the playoffs, probably wont go far in the playoffs if they do make it and they really don't have any excuse for why they didn't make it this year.
The Red Sox collapse isn't complete yet and the Rays are still 2 1/2 games behind the Sox as are the Angels and anything can happen in the playoffs just ask the 2010 Giants but this team had so much hype and all its really done is expose both the Red Sox organization's terrible farm system and poor planning, as well as the fair weather Red Sox nation. The Curse was broken ,so whats the excuse now?
"The Sox are re-loaded, but how much different are they really from last year? Instead of Adrian Beltre and Martinez, they have Gonzalez and Crawford. While Gonzalez is a perfect fit for this team and this ballpark, is Crawford? Or is he here mainly for flash and ratings?
The bullpen is vastly improved, but what are the Sox going to get out of John Lackey, Josh Beckett, and Daisuke Matsuzaka? Can the best team ever have a trio of erratic starters in its rotation?
The team won 89 games last season, so popular thought is that with the returning players and the additions, 100 is an easy goal. Then again, you could argue that Terry Francona's team over-achieved last year; that they were more an 80-win team based on the Triple-A roster that spent much of the summer at Fenway Park.
But that's not what we've been sold. And in the end, World Series win or not, that's really all that matters. Just remember that hype can be an evil component.
Favorites? Sure. Best team ever? Just...stop."
Depth, Injuries and Offense, at the end of the regular season both teams had offense and injuries but only the Yankees had depth. Its surprising that we did not talk more about how despite the fact that the Red Sox had two starters who missed significant time in 2010 with injuries they only had Tim Wakefield as a starting pitcher depth option. That didn't seem to be effecting the Red Sox too much going through the summer but then Buchholz went down, Lester and Beckett both missed time and Lackey continued to be bad. Red Sox fans will likely blame the injuries as J.D Drew and Dice-K were lost for the season and numerous others including Youkilis, Lester and Crawford spent time on the DL. However the Yankees had more players spend time on the DL than any other team in the MLB and they were still able to win because they had depth. The Yankees lost A-rod and Eric Chavez and Ramiro Pena and they still had Eduardo Nunez and Brandon Laird to play 3rd. The Yankees had so much bullpen depth that injuries to Feliciano, Soriano and Joba while inconvenient haven't slowed them down as they acquired Corey Wade off waivers and they have acquired more depth over the course of the season in people like Brian Gordon, Buddy Carlyle, Aaron Laffey, Raul Valdes and Scott Proctor and more guys like Kevin Millwood and J.C Romero were let go by the Yankees and are now pitching with the Rockies. The Yankees acquired depth even when they didn't need it and were always prepared for somebody to go down which is why they sent down Ivan Nova instead of cutting Fredy Garcia and while that may seem trivial now imagine if they had and now that Hughes has back spasms and may not pitch before the end of the season they would have to go to a 3 man rotation or start Burnett in game 4. The Yankees have aggressively sought out depth and since Girardi came in the Yankees depth has gotten better each year especially in the bullpen and the rotation. The Red Sox had to make acquisitions at and after the July deadline and while Mike Aviles and Connor Jackson have been decent acquisitions, Erik Bedard has been effective when healthy but has only made 7 starts since he was acquired at the July deadline and only 2 in September. The Red Sox have wined about not getting enough off days but it seems even the media wont give them that one as the Yankees have managed to somehow win the AL East with only one off day in September and playing a double header and that crazy two days where they played 3 games over about 36 hours against the Orioles. The Red Sox spent big this off season with their attempts to upgrade their offense and bullpen while the Yankees biggest deal was resigning their veterans. The Sox assembled a team of all stars and hoped they would make it through the year okay and when they started to break down they just hoped that everybody would be healthy and the offense would carry them. They actually talked about this on ESPN baseball today and were straight to the point when they said "You can't spend 160 million and not have enough depth". If the Red Sox continue to slide and are overtaken by the Rays then the big name guys will take the heat and rightfully so, but not because of a disappointing Lackey or Crawford because the Sox overcame those, the real fault is with The Red Sox organization for failing to acquire any depth and for their farm system for failing to grow any real depth, especially pitching depth, in the last decade.
The Yankees went almost the entire year without A-Rod and so everybody else picked up the slack especially Curtis Granderson who nobody thought would be as hot as he was closing out last season. Posada was a disappointment but he came through at some good times, which makes us forget all those times he didn't and the batting 9th issue that nobody is talking about anymore. Everybody thought Jeter would just limp to 3,000 but then he came back from the DL red hot and had a day that nobody will forget. Mariano broke the all time saves record and everybody had a big moment this season. The Yankees only big name signing was Soriano and he went down early and was replaced by Dave Robertson, Jesus Montero didn't come up until September and the Yankees didn't trade for a starter and in the end they didn't need to. Fans weren't enthusiastic about this year but the Big Bart, D-Rob, CC and the Grandy man helped us forget about all the flash of the Red Sox.
The Red Sox and Red Sox fans problem is that they keep trying to pretend that they are these gritty underdogs but the Sox and Boston sports as a whole expects championships now and having a good season is no longer just a season where you win more than you lose, you have to win it all. The Red Sox nation has been overtaken by pink haters who demand wins but try and still pretend that their team is somehow different because they play with heart and are underdogs. This year pink hater nation was hyped up as hell with the big signing and while they had a bad April they were kicking the Yankees around and dominating all summer and were debating who on the Sox would win the MVP. But the Yankees kept grinding and not just with evil home runs but with every facet of the game. Everybody on the Yankees stepped up at some point this year including disappointments like Burnett, Posada and Soriano. In 2009 the Yankees had the year of the walk-off and in 2010 it was the Grand Slam Year, this year is what? We did have 9 Grand slams including that 3 grand slam game, but we didn't walk off very much and in fact were awful in extra innings games winning only four, we just played the game and won. The Red Sox had their flash and dash but what do they have to show for it? their losing money, may not make the playoffs, probably wont go far in the playoffs if they do make it and they really don't have any excuse for why they didn't make it this year.
The Red Sox collapse isn't complete yet and the Rays are still 2 1/2 games behind the Sox as are the Angels and anything can happen in the playoffs just ask the 2010 Giants but this team had so much hype and all its really done is expose both the Red Sox organization's terrible farm system and poor planning, as well as the fair weather Red Sox nation. The Curse was broken ,so whats the excuse now?
Monday, September 19, 2011
Mariano is Baseballs all time save leader
Mariano is Baseballs all time save leader. Let that sink in, Mariano Rivera now at the age of 41 has acheived his 42 save of the year and become baseballs all time save leader with 602 saves. Its very frustrating for me because I was supposed to be at today's game but I had a last second meeting this morning and couldn't go. For awhile it looked like AJ would pitch well enough that he Mariano Rivera would not be necessary as the Yankees were up 5-0 after the 3rd inning and Burnett had struck out 7. Then he had a shaky 4th but got through it with giving up one run on a homerun. Then in the 5th the wheels came off and Burnett gave up 3 straight hits including a home run to Michael Cuddyer and was yanked for Corey Wade who loaded the bases and gave up one run on a ground out before striking out the next two batters. The Yankees tagged on another run on an A-Rods single and Granderson hustling in from second. The Twins twice threatened in the 6th but Logan retired the lefty and it was cruise control from there. The only threat to 602 saves for Mariano was the Yankee offense but Nick Swisher's GDP ended that threat. Mariano Rivera came in and his first two pitches were bad, but after that it was vintage Mo with a ground out and a fly out, then we all gathered around the TV as Mariano got called strike, a foul ball before having a perfect cutter on the outside corner to strike out Chris Parmelee looking. It was picture perfect ending in the same way that Derek Jeter's home run 3,000th hit was.
The only question now is where will Mariano be ranked all-time in the greatest Yankees. Sliding into home ripped Kevin Kernan here for ranking Mariano 5th all time behind Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio and Jeter. Sliding into home is right though; Mariano is the Greatest closer of all-time and nobody will ever be as good as Mo is, but he is in my mind 8th alltime in the list of the greatest Yankees ranking behind with the top ten looking like this:
1. Babe Ruth
2. Lou gehrig
3.Mickey Mantle
4. Joe DiMaggio
5. Derek Jeter
6. Yogi Berra
7. Whitey Ford
8. Mariano Rivera
9. Bill Dickey
10. Jorge Posada
The best part is Mo will be around for another year at least and we all need to make sure we get out and see Mariano while he is still here. I got to see him get the save against the Mariners on July 26, 2011 and his entrance to Enter Sandman was epic especially for a Metal head like me. However I will always regret not going to today's game, but I had a friend who had tickets to the game where Derek Jeter hit his 3,000th so I guess now we are even. In case you missed it here it is:
The only question now is where will Mariano be ranked all-time in the greatest Yankees. Sliding into home ripped Kevin Kernan here for ranking Mariano 5th all time behind Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio and Jeter. Sliding into home is right though; Mariano is the Greatest closer of all-time and nobody will ever be as good as Mo is, but he is in my mind 8th alltime in the list of the greatest Yankees ranking behind with the top ten looking like this:
1. Babe Ruth
2. Lou gehrig
3.Mickey Mantle
4. Joe DiMaggio
5. Derek Jeter
6. Yogi Berra
7. Whitey Ford
8. Mariano Rivera
9. Bill Dickey
10. Jorge Posada
The best part is Mo will be around for another year at least and we all need to make sure we get out and see Mariano while he is still here. I got to see him get the save against the Mariners on July 26, 2011 and his entrance to Enter Sandman was epic especially for a Metal head like me. However I will always regret not going to today's game, but I had a friend who had tickets to the game where Derek Jeter hit his 3,000th so I guess now we are even. In case you missed it here it is:
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Where will Montero fit in?
So the Yankees beat King Felix on Monday and Austin Romine made his first full game debut a day after an interesting catching weekend with both Martin and Cervelli getting hurt, Posada catching part of a game and Montero making his catching debut. Montero wasn't exactly gold glove caliber, but neither was Posada. Romine caught Hughes and it doesn't look like the Yankees are totally confident on having Montero catch, but if they aren't then where will he fit in to the Yankees in 2012 and the future. Sure Montero could DH in 2012 and 2013 but A-Rod and Teixeira are locked up until 2017 and 2016 and Jeter will be playing the next few years. Montero would lose significant playing time to these guys if he is nothing but a DH so the Yankees need to put him somewhere. Obviously Montero is a catcher but his defense is only passable and it seems every other team views him as a first baseman and nobody thinks that he will stick at catcher in the long term due to a lack of defensive skill and his size. Brian Cashman said at the beginning of the year that Montero would be the starting catcher, but then they signed Russel Martin and Montero didn't even win the backup spot. With Martin and Cervelli hurt it seemed like an ideal time to give Montero more time behind the plate but instead they had him catch Garcia and then they replaced him with Austin Romine in the 7th and it looks like Romine will be the primary backup as Cervelli's return this season is not guaranteed. If the Yankees don't plan on having Montero be the primary backup now will they be confident next April? Could the Yankees possibly decide to carry Martin, Cervelli/Romine and Montero in 2012 and have Montero be the primary DH? Ideally they would have Montero be the backup/primary DH and have Martin be the starting catcher but I don't know if they trust him as the backup. If the Yankees don't see him as a catcher even now then where are they going to put him? He can't move to first because Mark Teixeira is under contract until 2016 and is a gold glove first baseman. Some might suggest that they move him to RF because Nick Swisher has a team option for 2012 but if they were going to do that they should have moved Montero to the outfield awhile ago because Montero would be a huge defensive liability having never played any position but Catcher in the minors. The Yankees are getting older and they have some great young players and Montero has the potential to have the best bat of all of them and he is only 21. The Yankees are going to need to figure out what they are doing with Montero or they are going to have to trade him and I really doubt that they want to do that now that Jesus is Loose. In my opinion they should put him as the backup Catcher/ Primary DH for 2012 and see if he sinks or swims.
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| Jesus is Loose |
Monday, September 5, 2011
The Yankees like this September so far
I know its only been 5 days but what a September the Yankees have had so far especially compared to September 2010 when the Yankees went 12-15 and scored 5 fewer runs than they allowed. Lets hope we continue the winning because last year we won the first 4 games and so we really went 8-15 after September 4th. The Yankees looked like they were trying to lose this game with Garcia giving up a season high 7 runs in just 2.2 innings as Garcia himself said "I got my ass whooped". The Yankees would have been really screwed if the Orioles pitching wasn't equally terrible with Matusz giving up five before Buck yanked him but then Jakubauskas came in and gave up Cano's grand slam Eyre, Johnson and Patton pitched the rest of the game with Johnson giving up two Home runs to Montero and nobody gave up anything else but the Yankees needed all 11 runs. After Garcia Scott Procter came in and pitched 2 innings giving up a game tying home run in the 5th to Robert Andino and Laffey actually did a decent job and got the two lefties out but walked hardy before Ayala came in and despite giving up a walk and a hbp he pitched 1.2 scoreless innings. Logan i guess retired the two lefties when he got Hudson to ground out and the Yankees got Nick Markakis out trying to advance to third on Dickerson's error. Rivera came in and had a very interesting 9th with two singles a HBP and 3 I don't give a fuck despite it being a one run game Stolen bases before striking out JJ Hardy. Mo is only 3 saves away from 600 and there is a decent possibility that he breaks the all time saves record this year.
The Yankees called up Noesi and George Kontos who has been very good out of the bullpen this year, Ramiro Pena and Greg Golson also got called up today. Brackman, Garrison and Whelan also have a possibility of getting the call but garrison or Whelan will likely get DFA for Kontos and apparently Cashman wants to get Betances up.
The Yankees started off the month with not a lot of hope, we were facing the Red Sox and John Lester and were sending out A.J Burnett who had not inspired confidence with an ERA over 11 in August and was looking like he would be the odd man out in the rotation. Russel Martin hit a double to put the Yankees ahead in the 7th and Mariano Rivera struck out Adrian Gonzalez with the bases loaded in the to save the game. Come from behind wins would be a theme of this first week as only CC Sabathia's Sunday start wasn't a come from behind victory. Ivan Nova started the Series against the Jays with giving up two runs in the first and was only limited to two thanks to two big defensive plays from Brett Gardner. Gardner also tied the game with one of his rare home runs and Robinson Cano hitting a go ahead single in the 5th. On Saturday the Yankees knocked around the very good Rickey Romero behind a shaky Colon and Robbie Cano put the Yankees ahead in the 7th with a clutch double, but we got another clutch home run from Francisco Cervelli. Cervelli doesn't get cheated on his home runs as all three of his this year have been absolute bombs. On Sunday Carston Charles Sabathia went 7.1 and gave up just two to earn his 19th win of the season. Soriano tried to make it interesting in the 8th by giving up a home run to Bautisa but the Yankees scored 4 in the 8th with a 2 runs Swisher bomb and a captain 2 run single.
The Yankees have three more games against the Orioles with the Friday game being at Camden to make up the rain out from Hurricane Irene and then they head off to a west coast trip against the Angels and Mariners. The pitching rotation for this week will be Phil Hughes, A.J Burnett, Ivan Nova facing the Orioles and then Colon, Sabathia and Garcia. Hopefully the only bad start of this week was Garcias because the offense, especially Robinson Cano, have been great and we will need that when we play the Angels this weekend.
Remember how awesome the Red sox rotation was going to be? Well Josh Beckett sprained his ankle in his start against the Jays today and so now their next time through the rotation will be Lester, Wakefield, Miller, Lackey and somebody for Beckett. The Yankees need to pad the lead right now and with a great week they could get several games up. The Yankees need to keep their foot on the gas because they could pick the Red Sox in the rear view this week.
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| Jesus is Loose |
The Yankees started off the month with not a lot of hope, we were facing the Red Sox and John Lester and were sending out A.J Burnett who had not inspired confidence with an ERA over 11 in August and was looking like he would be the odd man out in the rotation. Russel Martin hit a double to put the Yankees ahead in the 7th and Mariano Rivera struck out Adrian Gonzalez with the bases loaded in the to save the game. Come from behind wins would be a theme of this first week as only CC Sabathia's Sunday start wasn't a come from behind victory. Ivan Nova started the Series against the Jays with giving up two runs in the first and was only limited to two thanks to two big defensive plays from Brett Gardner. Gardner also tied the game with one of his rare home runs and Robinson Cano hitting a go ahead single in the 5th. On Saturday the Yankees knocked around the very good Rickey Romero behind a shaky Colon and Robbie Cano put the Yankees ahead in the 7th with a clutch double, but we got another clutch home run from Francisco Cervelli. Cervelli doesn't get cheated on his home runs as all three of his this year have been absolute bombs. On Sunday Carston Charles Sabathia went 7.1 and gave up just two to earn his 19th win of the season. Soriano tried to make it interesting in the 8th by giving up a home run to Bautisa but the Yankees scored 4 in the 8th with a 2 runs Swisher bomb and a captain 2 run single.
The Yankees have three more games against the Orioles with the Friday game being at Camden to make up the rain out from Hurricane Irene and then they head off to a west coast trip against the Angels and Mariners. The pitching rotation for this week will be Phil Hughes, A.J Burnett, Ivan Nova facing the Orioles and then Colon, Sabathia and Garcia. Hopefully the only bad start of this week was Garcias because the offense, especially Robinson Cano, have been great and we will need that when we play the Angels this weekend.
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| I think he knew |
Remember how awesome the Red sox rotation was going to be? Well Josh Beckett sprained his ankle in his start against the Jays today and so now their next time through the rotation will be Lester, Wakefield, Miller, Lackey and somebody for Beckett. The Yankees need to pad the lead right now and with a great week they could get several games up. The Yankees need to keep their foot on the gas because they could pick the Red Sox in the rear view this week.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Predicting the AL and NL Award winners
Predicting who wins the silver sluggers and Golden gloves can always be a little difficult especially the golden gloves as they seem to be just picked based on who is the biggest name. Ive put who the likely winner will be and then other possibilities bellow in parenthesis. The people who statistically should win are italicized.
American League
Silver Sluggers
OF- Curtis Grandson, Jose Bautisa, Jacoby Ellsbury
( Adam Jones, Alex Gordon, Nick Swisher)
These three should be pretty straight forward, but if one slips up in September don't be surprised if Gordon get the award.
1st- Adrian Gonzalez
(Miguel Cabrera, Mark Teixiera, Paul Konkerko)
Its Gonzalez's award plain and simple
2nd- Robinson Cano
(Dustin Pedroia)
This one is tough because the national media worship Pedroia and they could give him the award for that reason. And despite cano being better in nearly every category they could decide that Pedroia's scrappiness deserves the award, they did give him the 2008 MVP for it.
SS-Asdrubal Cabrera
(JJ Hardy, Yunel Escobar, Jhonny Peralta)
Peralta deserves it more but people are enamored with Asdrubal this year
3rd- Adrian Beltre
(A-Rod, Kevin Youkillis)
I really can't tell you who deserves it this year because everybody has missed significant amounts of time this year and whomever wins it will be the one with the best September
C- Alex Avila
(Matt Weiters, Russel Martin)
Avila deserves it he has been the best catcher in a weak hitting field. Technically Napoli has been better but he has only caught 42 games this year.
DH- David Ortiz
(Michael Young)
Power numbers win this award and Ortiz has had the power.
Gold Gloves
These are always hard to predict because it seems that people just pick these at random sometimes. Because every stat last year (sabermatics and standard) screamed that Gardner was the best defender in baseball and he didn't win. What also surprised me is how high Nick Swisher ranks in terms of defense and how much Granderson's defense has fluctuated.
OF- Jacoby Ellsbury, Adam Jones, Peter Bourjis
(Alex Gordon, Ichiro Suzuki, Brett Gardner, Austin Jackson)
Outfield is always the hardest because it seems to be picked by whomever is seen the most on sport center. Jones is a perfect example of that.
1st- Mark Teixiera
(Adrian Gonzalaez, Mark Trumbo)
Tex deserves it but they could end up just deciding Gonzalaez deserves it.
2nd- Dustin Pedroia
(Ian Kinsler, Robinson Cano)
Pedroia is a good defensive 2nd baseman and will win the award
SS- Asdrubal Cabrera
(Alexei Ramirez, Elvis Andrus, Yunel Escobar)
Cabrera actually ranks as one of the worst defensive shortstops right now but that hasn't stopped voters before.
3rd- Adrian Beltre
(Evan Longoria, A-Rod)
A-rod deserves it more than you think and if he had played more games than he has i would say him but Beltre will win it.
C-Matt Weiters
(Russel Martin, Miguel Olivo, Alex Avila)
I would not be surprised at all if they give it to martin or Avila but Weiters should win it this year.
P- Mark Burhlee
(Felix Hernandez, Brad Penny, Jeff Francis)
This is just awarded to whomever makes the best sport center play
AL MVP - Curtis Granderson (Jose Bautista, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Adrian Gonzalez)
Granderson is a close second and could surpass Bautista in September but the only reason Bautista wont win is that he plays for the Jays.
AL Cy Young- Justin Verlander ( CC Sabathia, Jered Weaver)
Verllander has surpassed everybody else no question.
AL ROY- Dustin Ackley (Michael Pineda, Ivan Nova, Mark Trumbo)
Sorry to all you Trumbo fans but he has a sub .300 OBP.
National League
Silver Sluggers
OF- Matt Kemp, Ryan Braun, Lance Berkman
(Justin Upton, Shane Victorino, Matt Holiday, Mike Stanton, Jay Bruce)
No doubt that Kemp and Braun will each win one the third is Berkman's to lose.
1st- Prince Fielder
(Albert Pujols, Joey Votto, Michael Morse)
Votto wont win because the reds aren't in it, but he does deserve it more than anybody else.
2nd- Rickie Weeks
(Dan Uggla)
Its Weeks unless he missed the rest of the season
SS- Troy Tulowitzki
(Jose Reyes, Starlin Castro)
people seem to have fallen off the Reyes train but a stellar September and he could win it.
3rd- Aramis Ramirez
(Ryan Roberts)
only quality 3rd baseman to go the full year in both leagues.
C- Brain McCann
(Miguel Montero)
McCann will win in hands down
P-Daniel Hudson
(Carlos Zambrano, Dontrelle Willis)
I don't think baseball want to acknowledge Big Z right now and Willis hasn't played enough.
Gold Gloves
OF-Shane Victorino, Andre Ethier, Justin Upton
(Drew Stubbs, Ryan Braun, Gerrado Parra, Chris Young)
Its surprising how good everybody in the D-Backs outfield is but names come first which s why Braun is on the list.
1st-Joey Votto
(Todd Helton, Carlos Pena, Albert Pujols)
Votto deserves it but they could pick Pujols out of the blue
2nd- Brandon Philips
(Rickie Weeks, Darwin Barney)
Philips by far but Barney and Weeks are names that people like too
SS- Troy Tulowitzki
(Jose Reyes)
same argument as the silver slugger
3rd-Placido Polanco
(Chipper Jones, Aramis Ramirez)
Polanco does deserve it but its been a poor year for 3rd baseman overall
C- Yadier Molina
(Carlos Ruiz, Chris Iannetta, Miguel Montero)
Montero has been the best defensively in every category but they will give it to Molina.
P-Roy Halladay
(John Lannan, Hiroki Kuroda)
Kuroda has started 4 DP and has a perfect fielding pecentage with no errors but Halliaday has to win something.
NL MVP- Matt Kemp (Jose Reyes, Ryan Braun, Joey Votto, Justin Upton, Troy Tulowitzki)
Votto deserves his second MVP but Kemp will win
NL Cy Young- Clayton Kershaw (LeeHallidayHamels, Ian kennedy)
Kershaw is so good that I think he will win but any of the three headed ace could win.
NL ROY- Craig Kimbrel (Danny Espinosa, Freddie Freeman)
Espinosa deserves it by far but they will give it to Kimbrel.
American League
Silver Sluggers
OF- Curtis Grandson, Jose Bautisa, Jacoby Ellsbury
( Adam Jones, Alex Gordon, Nick Swisher)
These three should be pretty straight forward, but if one slips up in September don't be surprised if Gordon get the award.
1st- Adrian Gonzalez
(Miguel Cabrera, Mark Teixiera, Paul Konkerko)
Its Gonzalez's award plain and simple
2nd- Robinson Cano
(Dustin Pedroia)
This one is tough because the national media worship Pedroia and they could give him the award for that reason. And despite cano being better in nearly every category they could decide that Pedroia's scrappiness deserves the award, they did give him the 2008 MVP for it.
SS-Asdrubal Cabrera
(JJ Hardy, Yunel Escobar, Jhonny Peralta)
Peralta deserves it more but people are enamored with Asdrubal this year
3rd- Adrian Beltre
(A-Rod, Kevin Youkillis)
I really can't tell you who deserves it this year because everybody has missed significant amounts of time this year and whomever wins it will be the one with the best September
C- Alex Avila
(Matt Weiters, Russel Martin)
Avila deserves it he has been the best catcher in a weak hitting field. Technically Napoli has been better but he has only caught 42 games this year.
DH- David Ortiz
(Michael Young)
Power numbers win this award and Ortiz has had the power.
Gold Gloves
These are always hard to predict because it seems that people just pick these at random sometimes. Because every stat last year (sabermatics and standard) screamed that Gardner was the best defender in baseball and he didn't win. What also surprised me is how high Nick Swisher ranks in terms of defense and how much Granderson's defense has fluctuated.
OF- Jacoby Ellsbury, Adam Jones, Peter Bourjis
(Alex Gordon, Ichiro Suzuki, Brett Gardner, Austin Jackson)
Outfield is always the hardest because it seems to be picked by whomever is seen the most on sport center. Jones is a perfect example of that.
1st- Mark Teixiera
(Adrian Gonzalaez, Mark Trumbo)
Tex deserves it but they could end up just deciding Gonzalaez deserves it.
2nd- Dustin Pedroia
(Ian Kinsler, Robinson Cano)
Pedroia is a good defensive 2nd baseman and will win the award
SS- Asdrubal Cabrera
(Alexei Ramirez, Elvis Andrus, Yunel Escobar)
Cabrera actually ranks as one of the worst defensive shortstops right now but that hasn't stopped voters before.
3rd- Adrian Beltre
(Evan Longoria, A-Rod)
A-rod deserves it more than you think and if he had played more games than he has i would say him but Beltre will win it.
C-Matt Weiters
(Russel Martin, Miguel Olivo, Alex Avila)
I would not be surprised at all if they give it to martin or Avila but Weiters should win it this year.
P- Mark Burhlee
(Felix Hernandez, Brad Penny, Jeff Francis)
This is just awarded to whomever makes the best sport center play
AL MVP - Curtis Granderson (Jose Bautista, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Adrian Gonzalez)
Granderson is a close second and could surpass Bautista in September but the only reason Bautista wont win is that he plays for the Jays.
AL Cy Young- Justin Verlander ( CC Sabathia, Jered Weaver)
Verllander has surpassed everybody else no question.
AL ROY- Dustin Ackley (Michael Pineda, Ivan Nova, Mark Trumbo)
Sorry to all you Trumbo fans but he has a sub .300 OBP.
National League
Silver Sluggers
OF- Matt Kemp, Ryan Braun, Lance Berkman
(Justin Upton, Shane Victorino, Matt Holiday, Mike Stanton, Jay Bruce)
No doubt that Kemp and Braun will each win one the third is Berkman's to lose.
1st- Prince Fielder
(Albert Pujols, Joey Votto, Michael Morse)
Votto wont win because the reds aren't in it, but he does deserve it more than anybody else.
2nd- Rickie Weeks
(Dan Uggla)
Its Weeks unless he missed the rest of the season
SS- Troy Tulowitzki
(Jose Reyes, Starlin Castro)
people seem to have fallen off the Reyes train but a stellar September and he could win it.
3rd- Aramis Ramirez
(Ryan Roberts)
only quality 3rd baseman to go the full year in both leagues.
C- Brain McCann
(Miguel Montero)
McCann will win in hands down
P-Daniel Hudson
(Carlos Zambrano, Dontrelle Willis)
I don't think baseball want to acknowledge Big Z right now and Willis hasn't played enough.
Gold Gloves
OF-Shane Victorino, Andre Ethier, Justin Upton
(Drew Stubbs, Ryan Braun, Gerrado Parra, Chris Young)
Its surprising how good everybody in the D-Backs outfield is but names come first which s why Braun is on the list.
1st-Joey Votto
(Todd Helton, Carlos Pena, Albert Pujols)
Votto deserves it but they could pick Pujols out of the blue
2nd- Brandon Philips
(Rickie Weeks, Darwin Barney)
Philips by far but Barney and Weeks are names that people like too
SS- Troy Tulowitzki
(Jose Reyes)
same argument as the silver slugger
3rd-Placido Polanco
(Chipper Jones, Aramis Ramirez)
Polanco does deserve it but its been a poor year for 3rd baseman overall
C- Yadier Molina
(Carlos Ruiz, Chris Iannetta, Miguel Montero)
Montero has been the best defensively in every category but they will give it to Molina.
P-Roy Halladay
(John Lannan, Hiroki Kuroda)
Kuroda has started 4 DP and has a perfect fielding pecentage with no errors but Halliaday has to win something.
NL MVP- Matt Kemp (Jose Reyes, Ryan Braun, Joey Votto, Justin Upton, Troy Tulowitzki)
Votto deserves his second MVP but Kemp will win
NL Cy Young- Clayton Kershaw (LeeHallidayHamels, Ian kennedy)
Kershaw is so good that I think he will win but any of the three headed ace could win.
NL ROY- Craig Kimbrel (Danny Espinosa, Freddie Freeman)
Espinosa deserves it by far but they will give it to Kimbrel.
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