A True Yankee award picks

Pretty straight forward here, at the end of the season an MVP, Cy Young and Rookie of the year award are all given out to someone in each league who is selected by eligible baseball writers. I say someone because the winner is many times not the best but simply whomever the writers decide is the best, which is true in all sports I guess, but its more subjective in the MLB.  Many writers disqualify players from teams who don't make the playoffs and will occasionally decide that Pitchers qualify or don't qualify for the award, somebody actually gave Michael Young a first place MVP vote in 2011 and Ryan Howard came in tenth in the NL vote that year with his 1 win above replacement. Its a very odd process but unfortunately baseball writers like to make this more about themselves than anything else, which comes as no surprise because they do the same thing with everything else. Anyways though here are Nick, Brooke and Chris's picks for who should win the hardware.


Nick
AL Cy Young: Chris Sale
I know the sexy pick is Max Scherzer, and Scherzer does lead the AL in pitcher WAR but despite Sale's 11-13 record I think he has had a better year than Scherzer. Sale plays in a big time hitters park, he has walked fewer batters and pitched more innings despite pitching in two fewer starts than Scherzern because Sale has four complete games and Scherzer has none. Sale leads Scherzer in ERA and xFIP, and honestly if Sale wasn't on such a terrible team or Scherzer didn't have twenty wins then Sale would be the favorite.

AL MVP: Mike Trout
I know Mike Trout isn't going to win the MVP but he absolutely should and you cant even make the argument that his 10 WAR is all coming from his defense this season as he has rated much lower defensively this season than it did in last year, in terms of dWAR. With how much injuries have hurt Miguel Cabrera in the last month he should probably should be behind Josh Donaldson, but this is all because of him needing to play third everyday, I know he can make the throws but he just doesn't have the body for it anymore.

AL ROY: Will Myers
The AL Rookies are a mess as Myers and Iglesias are the only names you have ever heard of and those two along with David Lough are the only three rookies in the AL with a WAR above 2, and Lough is 27. Its really Myers or Iglesias and honestly it could easily be either of them but I will go with Myers for the Power he has shown.

NL Cy Young: Clayton Kershaw
If Matt Harvey was healthy I might pitch for him to get the Cy Young, but Kershaw's season has been extremely impressive, Not just for the ERA or strikeouts but the guy has a WHIP of 0.928 which is just insane. He will win his second CY Young in 3 years. I re-watched the Kersahw v Pettitte game from 2010, the one where the Yankees came back against Broxton and the announcers were talking about how Kersahw might be almost as good as Strasburg, funny in retrospect.

NL MVP: Andrew McCutchen
The NL MVP race doesn't have a great candidate much like the 2011 AL MVP race didn't, so don't be surprised if Kershaw gets the MVP. McCutchen has had another great year and ranks behind only Mike Trout in WAR. For whatever reason a lot of his Home Runs from last year have turned into doubles this year, but he still has 20 HR on the year.

NL  ROY: Jose Fernandez
The favorite pick is Puig, but I think people are starting to appreciate just how great a season Fernandez had and he is only 21. Remember Fernandez came out of High A to start in the majors and everyone thought this was an insane idea but it worked out brilliantly for the Marlins.


Chris
AL Cy Young: Max Scherzer
You could make an argument for others but his K rate is insane and ERA and Whip are off the charts good.

AL MVP: Miguel Cabrera
Best hitter in baseball. End of story.

AL ROY: Will Myers
Who the hell else is there? Seriously I wish they could just give this to the field.

NL Cy Young: Clayton Kershaw
Do I even need to explain this?

NL MVP: Paul Goldschmidt
Top of all offensive category and a good defender too. Really made the Diamondbacks relevant in the NL wildcard push.

NL  ROY: Jose Fernandez
2.19 ERA, a sub 1 WHIP, and was able to get a 12-6 record on a dreadful team, honestly if he was in the AL I would give him the Cy young.

Brooke
AL Cy Young: Max Scherzer
I would love to say Mariano Rivera, but Max Scherzer's stats are in another galaxy.

AL MVP: Mike Trout
I believe he has closed the gap with Miguel Cabrera.

AL ROY: Will Myers
Is there anyone other than Will Myers? A disembodied hand? That guy who ran on the field in a body suit (that took grit)? The field? Anyone? Bueller?

NL Cy Young: Clayton Kershaw
Clayton Kershaw, enough said.

NL MVP: Freddy Freeman
Paul Goldschmidt is the obvious choice, but I'd prefer to see it go to Freddy Freeman and if not him then Andrew McCutcheon.

NL  ROY: José Fernandez
Out of this world good and potential Cy Young material if he were in the AL or not up against Kershaw. He will get CY votes though.

So surprisingly Puig mania has worn off already and none of us picked him for NL Rookie of the Year, all three of us picking Fernandez over Puig. How about the fact that there are 11 NL rookies with an equal or higher WAR than Will Myers AL leading 2.1 WAR. How about three different NL MVP's or two of us going with Trout over Miggy. We shall see what happens.

Cowherd, Cano and Casual racism

Thearon W. Henderson

I honestly doubt that most of the people at ESPN even watch baseball; they basically are just casual baseball fans who have a TV network and talking points. Colin Cowherd says a lot of controversial things, just like many other talking heads at ESPN, but his statement on his Wednesday radio show that: "Robinson Cano plays a lot harder in those [WBC] games than he does for the Yankees," is just flat out stupid and has been called stupid by pretty much everyone, but I also think that this issue speaks to a larger issue not just with ESPN but with sports and how we watch athletes in general.

First off that Robinson Cano is top 5 players in the MLB, plays 160 games a year and is without a doubt the best second baseman in baseball. He's been an MVP candidate in each of the last 3 years and is the best position player in the AL East. Despite all this you know what comes up when you Google "lack of hustle" memorable quotes from Heavy weights, but after that you get article after article about players lack of hustle and many of them are about Robinson Cano and his perceived lack of hustle on the base paths or in the field. Many fans have crucified Cano for this stating that he has no heart and that the Yankees should let him walk because of this perceived lack of intensity, apparently Colin Cowherd, who I doubt actually watches baseball, listens to these people because why else would he think that an MVP candidate played harder in the World Baseball Classic than he does for the New York Yankees? Don't get me wrong Cano is less than perfect and to us as fans a player needs to be perfect at all times in order to be acceptable and in that quest we can ignore how great a player like Cano really is. Cano has nearly 1500 hits, 177 Home runs and has hit .308 over his first 8 seasons in the majors; Bill James gives him a 32% chance of getting 3,000 hits. He's had over 40 doubles six times in eight seasons, just missing 50 twice and despite what some think he is one of the best defenders in the game. How much better is he supposed to do if he is apparently such a lazy bastard according to Mr. Cowherd? Cano has done everything that is expected and wanting more from a player isn't wrong, but the casual racism of Colin Cowherd and many others in this manner is wrong.

Before I get into the issue of Casual Racism in baseball let me making a short statement. This is not simply an issue relating to just baseball it’s in all sports and it’s in all sports because it’s in our society as a whole. Also I am a White male living in Connecticut and so I have never experienced racism directed toward myself, but we all know "that guy" (and for all I know you could be that guy) who has said some less than nice things about another person based on their race and we have all probably made an unfair judgment about someone based on it as well. This does not make any of those statements any less wrong and when media figures do it they should be called out for it, which is what I am doing here. There is a problem in baseball that many people have called out in which Hispanic and Black players are often called lazy or lacking hustle and it’s not cherry picking answers, I mean watch a game of baseball or just talking heads talk about baseball they always find time to call out some kid who didn't hustle on ground ball and chances are that that player is Black or Latino. I wasn't joking when I said that I googled lack of hustle, here are some of the black and Latino players who came up when I did this:

Hanley Ramirez, Jimmy Rollins, ROBINSON CANO, Edwin Encarnacion, Starlin Castro, Alex Rios, Domonic Brown, Justin Upton, BJ Upton, Alfonso Soriano.

How about White players: David Wright (article from 2009) and Lucas Duda. That's its nobody else, I seriously doubt that all white players are 100% focused all the time during a 162 game season and while we as fans may hope for that not to be the case it is. There were also several articles about the racism of this situation, but we still do it I mean Kevin Towers has gutted a team that won 94 games two years ago because his players were not GRITTY enough, so he traded Chris Young and Justin Upton and replaced them with Cody Ross and Adam Eaton because they are gritty and have fire. I am going to say that Kevin Towers is a complete moron if he believes that Cody Ross is better than Justin Upton. Trading Justin Upton because he isn’t “intense” or “fierce” like Cody Ross, or that he isn’t a leader, or that he makes the game look too easy, is another way of saying he’s black. And that in lies the problem, Gritty players are what everyone loves and you know what players described as gritty are, white. Does this mean that the Arizona Diamondbacks’ front office and everyone who thinks like them are racist? No. But our social constructs influence the way we evaluate players and that's why people like Colin Cowherd buy into the idea that Robinson Cano is lazy and doesn't try because he isn't diving head first into first base at every ground ball. Does Robinson Cano make every play that he should, no and you know what nobody does including great players like Ichiro Suzuki or Joey Votto and most of the time it’s not because of a lack of effort. John Harper, of New York Daily News, said it best last September after Cano was blasted for not getting a ball in a game against Tampa "Cano’s history of nonchalance, most of which he has overcome, still gets him unfairly labeled as lazy. The real issue is that he’s the best defensive second baseman in the majors, and as a result, he thinks he can make any play at any time....He made a costly mistake on Monday (referring to the in game mistake) — a mistake in judgment, not effort." Unfortunately this isn't an issue that will go away any time soon and undoubtedly someone will blast Cano, or any other Black or Hispanic player, the second he doesn't make a play that somebody think he should have.

P.S: I just want to point out that players who play really hardnosed ball "gritty baseball" hurt themselves all the time and as much as it’s fun to see Brett Gardner dive head first into first base or lunge at a ball it’s not fun when they hurt themselves and most of the time the injury is not worth the results.

A True Yankee Podcast 2/12

A New Podcast for pitchers and catchers reporting! Brooke returns from her hiatus and we talk about the World Baseball classic, the A-Rod PED accusations and the Yankees offseason. Focusing on the Youkillis signing, the Ichiro deal, the catching situation and a potential new deal for Cano. We also examine the competition in the AL East and what to watch for in Yankee spring training.

First Podcast of 2013

First Podcast of the New Year! We talk about the Yankees at every position, the moves they have made and the rest of the AL East. 

Evan Scribner wins the AL West for the Oakland A's

While some may say credit is due to the Oakland Athletics offense who put up 12 runs on Texas pitching, but i'm going to give it to CCSU alumni and Connecticut native Evan Scribner who took over for AJ Griffin, after he had given up five runs in 2.2 innings, and shut down the best offense in baseball for three innings to earn his second career win. He also struck out Josh Hamilton and Mike Napoli and left to a standing ovation after his three innings.
I wrote about Scribner here and in fact this blog sponsors his Baseball refrence page which you can view here. After today the Blue Davil alumni finishes his season with 35.1 innings pitched and a 2.55 ERA and nice bounce back year in Oakland after his last few outings for San Diego tarnished what had been a decent season last year. Check out Evan Scribner's twitter page or Facebook fan group and give him your congratulations.

Yankees clinch Playoff berth

The Yankees clinched a playoff berth with a win today and an Angels loss, as did the Rangers and Orioles. It looked like the Yankees would be doomed to 2nd place as they trailed by four runs after five innings, but the Yankees showed grit and rallied to split the series in Toronto. The Orioles and Yankees remain tied for the division lead with the last series remaining and the Yankees have the clear advantage in facing the Red Sox in the Bronx, while the Orioles face the Rays at Tropicana field. Hopefully the games swing the right way and they will not have to use Hiroki Kuroda in Wednesdays game, otherwise he would have to pitch on three days rest in game two. The end result though is that the Yankees need to win these games so that they can avoid the one game playoff and on a side note, congratulations to the Baltimore Orioles fan base on your first playoff berth in 15 years.

Stretch run Predictions

Well here we are in September, the official stretch run and the Yankees are going to be playing meaningful baseball against the Rays, which is not surprising and the Orioles, which is extremely surprising. Of the eight playoff spots seven are still decently up in the air, but as we saw last September any lead can evaporate. Here are my predictions for the playoff spots.

American League

AL East-Yankees
Quite honestly the division could easily go to the Rays or the Orioles, but the Yankees are the ones with the lead and are hopefully going to get Mark Teixeira, Arod and Andy Pettitte back soon so that should only be an improvement over the current roster. For all the pessimism from Yankees fans, the Yankees still have the best team in the AL East and should still win the division.

AL Central- White Sox
Ive talked about this quite a bit, I know the Tigers are the better team but the White Sox have been ahead of them for long enough that people need to accept that they are not going to just conceded to the Tigers. The White Sox lost three of four to the Orioles are are still three games up on the Tigers. The White Sox have a good enough team to win the division and the Tigers have played crappy baseball all season, why wouldn't they in September?

AL West- Rangers
This one is easy, despite the injuries the Rangers have suffered they are four games up on the A's and 8.5 games up on the Angels. The A's could make a run, but that Texas offense is too good to lose the division and Ryan Dempster will probably adjust to the AL.

AL Wild card- Rays v. Tigers
How awesome is the playoff going to be if the pitching match up is  David Price vs. Justin Verlander. The Tigers are 3 games back, but the AL east is going to beat up on each other which will leave an opening for the Tigers or A's and I expect the Tigers will prevail.


National League

NL East-Nationals
I know they are going to shut down Stephen Strasburg, but unless the other four members of the rotation forget how to pitch they are going to win that division, they are just too good.

NL Central- Reds
The Reds currently have the best record in baseball without Joey Votto and he's coming back soon. Johnny Cueto is a legitimate CY Young candidate and both Todd Frazier and Zach Cozart being NL ROY candidates. Their Rotation and Offense are both great and they have the best shot of finishing with the best record in baseball having won 80 games already.

NL West- Giants
The Dodgers had their mega deal with the Sox and the Giants lost Melky, but the Giants are playing better right now and winning the games they need to win. Even with Timmys troubles their pitching is better than the Dodgers and I expect they will ride that pitching into October. It also helps that Buster Posey is having an MVP caliber season.

NL Wild card- Atlanta v. Cardinals
Atlanta is having a great year and do not look like they will fall like they did last season, also despite the Dodgers acquisitions, they aren't clicking right now and while that can change I think that the Cardinals are built to make a run better than the Pirates or Dodgers. I initially went with the Dodgers but I do not know if they can make up that deficit without Chad Billingsly.