Grading day
One of the funniest things about pro sports’ drafts is when experts all over the country try to issue grades based on a team’s haul. I find it to be incredibly ridiculous because, in most cases, a player’s impact cannot be felt for two, three, four years down the line.
With baseball, few, if any, dole out grades based on draft day and with good reason. First, there are over 1,500 young men chosen in the draft. Some will sign as early as this week and report to towns across the country like Albuquerque, Bakersfield and Colorado Springs. Some, like the No. 2 overall pick Dustin Ackley and his UNC teammates are getting ready for a College World Series appearance and cannot begin to think about the next level this week. Finally, there are players – mainly high schoolers – who will say ‘to heck with it’ and report to a college campus this fall instead in the hope of raising their stock for the 2011 or 2012 draft.
The likes of Gordon Beckham, David Price, Rick Porcello and Daniel Schlereth who make it to the big leagues within a year of being chosen are few and far between. It’s easy to say that you like a player and that you think he’ll fit well within his rights-holding organization is fine, but to say, today, that the Atlanta Braves deserve a ‘B+’ and the Oakland A’s deserve a ‘C-’ for their 2009 drafts is unfair.
What we can judge today is the MLB Network’s inaugural draft day coverage. The network, which launched on Januray 1st, had June 9th circled on it’s calendar since the inception. A live draft, televised in prime time, was a coup for the fledgling network. For their first go-around, I’d give it a ‘C.’
A ‘C’ is average and that’s just what they delivered. Bud Selig came across as dull as ever. He stumbled at the mic a few times:
“With the 11th pick in the 19…2009 …” – Hey Bud we’re halfway through 2009, it’s almost 2010, wake up”
“from Stanford University, Stanford, California.” – Last time I checked, Stanford is in Palo Alto, Calif.
In fairness, I did not watch the whole thing start to finish. I was flipping channels, but I got a good enough impression to be able to call it average, at best. I wish more players accepted the network’s invitation to come to the studip and be part of the coverage live. Kudos to Mike Trout, chosen with the 25th pick by the Angels, for being the only one to accept (though, in fairness, he is from Millville, NJ which is only a little over 100 miles from Secacus). It would have been great to see Stephen Strasburg’s reaction live and sit down for a few minutes with Harold Reynolds.
I do believe that, in time, MLB Network will polish it’s coverage of the draft. Maybe expand beyond the first round. I can only imagine how hard it must be to prepare for an event like that with so many players to choose from, so I give them a lot of credit. It will get better. It has to.
It’s Stephen Strasburg’s day…
The rest of us are just living in it.
I just have a quick thought and question with the MLB Draft a few minutes away. If the Washington Nationals don’t take the San Diego State product with the first overall pick, it will be biggest shock since … since … the Magic upset the Cavs? I guess my point is, we’re used to surprises across the sporting landscape, but, folks, don’t expect it tonight.
Finally, can anyone name the last No. 1 overall pick to win the Cy Young Award?
Don’t rack your brain too hard – that person doesn’t exist!
Cooperstown bound?
In a move that can be classified in the “did he really need to announce this” file, former Major Leaguer Sammy Sosa officially announced his retirement last week. With that, Sosa joins the likes of Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmiero, Roger Clemens et al whose numbers will be scrutinized closer than ever before.
The best year of Sosa’s 18-year career, you’ll remember, was 1998. That was the year
he battled Mark McGwire to be baseball’s home run king en route to claiming the National League MVP award with 66, including 20 in a memorable month of June for the Cubs.
With the news of his retirement coming out, the Chicago Tribune polled it’s 8 BBWAA members who are eligible to vote for the Hall of Fame. The results were as follows:
Yes – 5 (Mark Gonzales, Dave van Dyck, Phil Rogers, Fred Mitchell, Dan McGrath)
No – 1 (Phillip Hersh)
? – 1 (Bob Verdi)
* – 1 (Paul Sullivan)
Those who said they would vote yes (as of this weekend) primarily cited the lack of any hard evidence against Sosa. Gonzales, the paper’s White Sox beat reporter wrote, “Sosa helped invigorate baseball at a time when the sport needed it.
Until there’s significant evidence he cheated, Sosa gets my wobbly vote.”
Rogers, the National baseball columnist, added, “It’s ridiculous that 540-some BBWAA voters have to come up with their
own standard to deal with the steroid issue. The Hall of Fame’s board
needs to meet and give us a directive on how they want the question
factored into voting.”
On the flip side, Hersh, a former baseball writer who currently focuses on Olympic sports, was firm in his dissention. He writes, “I will continue to vote in Hall of Fame elections until the day I die is to do my part so the likes of Sosa, Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro and Manny Ramirez do not track the slime from baseball’s steroid cesspool into Cooperstown.”
Sullivan, the Cubs’ beat writer, is championing some construction in Cooperstown: “I’m calling for a separate wing for the Hall of Fame for candidates
like Sosa, Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Manny Ramirez and others who have
been suspected of bulking up with improper chemicals.”
Finally, Verdi, a semi-retired columnist, would like to use the mandatory five-year waiting period to digest the numbers and facts.
If I had a vote for the Hall of Fame, I would vote for Sosa, and McGwire for that matter. The two men combined to hit 1,192 career home runs and 136 in 1998 alone. The fact is, if they were injecting their bodies with illegal substances, it hasn’t been (and likely cannot be) proven. It’s a shame that a dark cloud hangs over that era, but Bud Selig’s administration, knowingly or unknowingly, allowed to it take place. Honestly, it’s depressing to me that it happened, but it did. And now, we’ll all just have to wait and see.
Photo Credit:
Sammy Sosa
More debuts
I wrote about Gordon Beckham this morning because, as a White Sox fan, it interested me the most, however, there was another highly-anticipated debut this afternoon in Pittsburgh. Last night the Pirates surprisingly dealt All-Star center fielder Nate McLouth to Atlanta for three minor league players and in a corresponding move, summoned outfielder Andrew McCutchen from Class AAA Indianapolis to make his major league debut.
Beckham was less than spectacular. He received a standing ovation before his first at-bat, but finished the day 0-3 with a strikeout in a, 7-0, loss to the A’s. McCutchen, on the other hand, helped spark the Buccos to an, 11-6, win and a sweep of the Mets. McCutchen went 2-4 with a stolen base and three runs scored for Pittsburgh. I watched a little bit of the game on SNY and McCutchen really impressed me with his speed. I think John Russell could let McCutchen and Nyjer Morgan man the outfield by themselves and play with five infielders the rest of the season. Just kidding, but I really think he’s going to be a lot of fun to watch and maybe today was the start of new era in Pittsburgh as well.
Another much-anticipated debut will take place on Saturday when the Braves send Tommy Hanson to the mound against the Brewers. A big-time strikeout pitcher, Hanson could have a similar effect that David Price had in Tampa Bay last season.
A new era on the Southside
Following last night’s, 5-3, loss to the Oakland A’s, Chicago White Sox General Manager Kenny Williams made a move that many Sox fans have been clamoring for since Spring Training ended. Williams designated utility man Wilson Betemit for assignment and called up his prized prospect, infielder Gordon Beckham from Class AAA Charlotte. The move came just less than one year – 364 days to be exact – after Beckham was chosen with the eighth overall pick in last June’s draft.
This is from the official press release sent out by my good friends in the White Sox Media Relations office: “He [Beckham] will be the fastest White Sox No. 1 draft choice to reach the majors
since Alex Fernandez was selected fourth overall on June 4, 1990 and
made his debut on August 2 of that season at Milwaukee, a span of 58
days. Beckham, a native of Atlanta, also will become the fastest Sox
position player drafted in the first round to debut since shortstop Lee
Richard was taken No. 6 overall in 1970 before making Chicago’s Opening
Day roster in 1971.” That is very elite company.
In just seven games with the Knights, Beckham hit .483 (14-29) with six doubles, three RBI, six runs scored and a pair of stolen bases.
On Monday, manager Ozzie Guillen said this about the former Georgia Bulldog to the Chicago media: “He’s a great player, he’s going to be in the big leagues, he’s going
to be a big part of this organization pretty soon. But we don’ t have
Beckham on our mind right now. I don’t and I’m the one making the
lineup. If we have Beckham here, we’re in trouble.”
After the game, when the move had been announced, Guillen had changed his tune a little bit, saying, “Beckham, he’s going to play. Where’s [he] going to play? We’re going
to find out. How we’re going to start him, where we’re going to start
him. Move him around. Play a little bit third base, second base, help
‘The Missile’ [Alexei Ramirez] get a rest, but I have to get him
at-bats.” Guillen added, laughing, “I hope he can save us.”
Sounds like Ozzie was asking more questions than providing direct answers, but I expect Beckham to be playing … starting rather, at least four days a week, whether it’s at third base, shortstop (least likely), or second base. The reason I think SS is least likely spot, isn’t because he can’t play there, but because Alexei Ramirez has that spot on lock-down for the foreseeable future. Shortstop is actually Beckham’s natural position, but through his brief time in the minor league system, he has shown the versatility to handle all three spots. Josh Fields will likely see hit playing dwindle the most, although he’ll see some at-bats at first base and DH now that Betemit is gone to spell Paul Konerko.
The White Sox will try to salvage a split against the Oakland A’s this afternoon at 2:05 EST. Beckham is in the starting lineup at third base and batting eighth.
Photo Credit:
Gordon Beckham
Meet Me in St. Louis – Part II
Just as I did yesterday, it’s time again to follow up and check on the American League ballot. Here are the AL starters if voting ended today:
C – Joe Mauer
1B – Kevin Youkilis
2B – Ian Kinsler
SS – Derek Jeter
3B – Evan Longoria
OF – Jason Bay
OF – Josh Hamilton
OF – Ichiro
And here is the lineup that I chose a little less than a month ago:
C – Victor Martinez
1B – Youkilis
2B – Kinsler
SS – Jason Bartlett
3B – Longoria
OF – Bay
OF – Nick Markakis
OF – Nick Swisher
Just like my National League picks, I have four correct at this point, with one player (Bartlett) in second place. We’ve also made some noise in pushing Bartlett up the ballot, but there is no chance, especially with his ankle injury and ensuing stint on the disabled list that he’ll catch Derek Jeter, whom he trails by 582,000 votes. In fact, Jeter has more votes than Bartlett and Texas’ Elvis Andrus combined.
1B – This call is no easier to make than it was the first time around. I can make an argument for any of the players currently in the top four: Youkilis, Mark Teixiera, Justin Morneau and Miguel Cabrera. Despite a stay on the 15-day DL with an oblique problem, Youkilis is continuing to rake at .366/.478/.672, trailing only Minnesota’s Joe Mauer in OBP and Slugging percentage among everyday players. After a miserable April, Mark Teixeira had a monster month since teammate Alex Rodriguez returned to the lineup. Teixiera batted .330 with 13 homers and 34 RBI in May. Morneau boasts at .342 batting average and leads the group with 47 RBI. Cabrera trails only Youkilis in average at .355. This race is too close to call, but I’m going with Kevin Youkilis because he has been the most consistent since Opening Day. All four players certainly deserve to be in St. Louis. Youkilis leads Teixeira by almost 94,000 votes.
2B – Ian Kinsler leads the group in homers (13), RBI (39) and is tied with Brian Roberts of Baltimore with 10 stolen bases, so on paper, there is no need to change this vote. That said, I am changing to Toronto’s Aaron Hill. Through the recent skid his Blue Jays team has gone through, Hill has remained a relative constant. He leads all of baseball with 77 hits and ranks third in the AL with 120 total bases. His .333 average is tops among AL 2B and his 12 HR and 37 RBI are second only to Kinsler. He is currently fourth on the ballot behind Kinsler, Dustin Pedroia and Robinson Cano. Kinsler leads Pedroia by 146,000 votes.
SS – I’m sticking to my guns with this one and voting for Tampa Bay’s Jason Bartlett. Don’t get me wrong, Derek Jeter is having a great season and was one of the few guys who played well for the Yankees when they weren’t playing so great in April and early May. I just don’t know how Bartlett can be ignored; his .373 batting average is the best in baseball, he has the same amount of homers as Jeter (seven) and has five more RBI and four more stolen bases than the Yankee captain, despite the fact that he hasn’t played since 5/24 with an ankle injury that’s sent him to the disabled list. Jeter is a reputation vote if there ever was one. As mentioned above, Jeter leads Bartlett by 582,000 votes.
3B – No reason to deviate from Evan Longoria, the AL’s leading vote-getter. He continues to lead all of baseball with 55 RBI and he ranks second in the AL (third overall) with 124 total bases. He ranks second among AL 3B with a .327 average. The 2008 Rookie of the Year has gone from playing at Class AAA Durham to a serious MVP contender in a mere 14 months. Longoria leads Michael Young by 594,000 votes.
C – I’m going to write what everyone is thinking: Joe Mauer is the best hitter in the American League and maybe even on the planet. He began the season on the 15-day DL, but since joining the Twins on May 1st, Mauer is hitting .414/.500/.838 with 11 homers and 32 RBI. Oh, by the way, his career high for home runs in a season is 13, set in 2006. Victor Martinez has played the whole season and has only five more RBI and three fewer homers. He’ll likely be chosen as the Tribe’s lone representative, but Mauer, no doubt, deserves the start. Jason Varitek has also had a nice season and deserves to be in St. Louis as well. Mauer leads Varitek by 362,500 votes.
OF – No argument with Boston’s Jason Bay. In his first full-season in the AL, the Canadian is trailing only Longoria with 49 RBI. He also leads AL OF with 15 HR. Manny who?
I’m going to vote for a Baltimore Oriole again, but it’s not Nick Markakis, it’s Adam Jones. In the second season with the O’s, Jones is showing no signs of cooling off in 2009. His .346 batting average trails only Ichiro (.352) and he has 11 HR and 36 RBI, which trails only Bay, Torii Hunter and Markakis (tied with Nelson Cruz).
Nick Swisher has probably played the worst of anyone since being named on my ballot in early May and despite a few nice games in Cleveland, this weekend, it’s not enough to keep around. The third spot is going to one of the guys who narrowly missed the cut the first, time around, the Angels’ Torii Hunter. No one will argue that he’s one of the best defensive players in the game and in 2009, he has 12 HR and 42 RBI to back it up.
Photo Credits:
Kevin Youkilis
Joe Mauer
Meet Me in St. Louis
As we turn the calendar to June today, I will look back at the way I voted for the National League All-Stars and make a few revisions. The latest results released by MLB this afternoon show the starters to be as follows:
C – Yadier Molina
1B – Albert Pujols
2B – Chase Utley
3B – David Wright
SS – Hanley Ramirez
OF- Ryan Braun
OF- Raul Ibanez
OF – Alfonso Soriano
This is the lineup I picked a month a go:
C – Bengie Molina
1B – Pujols
2B – Utley
3B – Zimmerman
SS – Hanley
OF – Carlos Beltran
OF – Raul Ibanez
OF – Manny Ramirez (later changed to Andre Ethier upon Man-Ram’s suspension)
A month later, that’s four correct picks with two others in second place (Zimmerman and Beltran – technically he’s fourth). First off, I want to thank baseball fans everywhere for heeding the call last week to stop voting for J.J. Hardy and showing love for Ibanez, who climbed up from sixth to second in about a week’s time.
Here is how I’m casting a ballot today:
1B – I still have to give the vote to Albert Pujols, this year’s hometown hero. His average has dropped to a more realistic .339 since May 7th (when I wrote the first post), but the power numbers continue to be there with 16 homers and 42 RBI. Adrian Gonzalez of the Padres has more homers (20) and Prince Fielder has more RBI (48), but their averages are nowhere close to Pujols’, plus he’s still a decent threat in the running game with seven steals. I am surprised that Gonzalez is all the way back in fourth place behind Pujols, Fielder, Ryan Howard and Joey Votto. Gonzalez will be in St. Louis as a Padres representative, perhaps along with Heath Bell. Pujols leads Fielder by 713,000 votes.
2B – Chase Utley and Orlando Hudson are both making great cases to be the NL’s starter at second base. Utley is hovering near .300 with 11 home runs and 33 RBI. Hudson is setting the table for one of the best offensive teams in baseball with a .332 batting average, three homers and 31 RBI. The O-Dog also leads the NL in hits with 70. He’s been put into the third spot in the lineup by manager Joe Torre and he’s hardly skipped a beat. The best team in baseball should have a starter in the lineup and since it won’t be Manny Ramirez, it should be Orlando Hudson. Hudson currently trails Utley by over 625,000 votes.
SS – Hanley Ramirez remains the class of a weak crop of NL shortstops this season. Batting .330 with eight homers, 23 RBI and eight stolen bases is clearly the best of this bunch. Miguel Tejada and Cristian Guzman are putting together pretty solid seasons, but they play for last-place teams and aren’t being noticed like they should. Guzman has also been nicked up quite a bit this season. Ramirez leads Philadelphia’s Jimmy Rollins by 16,600 votes.
3B – Much the same as second base, David Wright and Ryan Zimmerman are both playing well and deserve a chance to run out onto the field in the top of the first inning in St. Louis. It’s tough to decide because, while Zimmerman’s Nationals have been playing poorly from the word go, he has remained a constant bright spot. He had this season’s longest hitting streak to-date at 30 games, he’s batting .319 and leads all NL 3B with 35 RBI. Wright’s home run numbers are down – only three this season, but he’s still knocking in runs (30) and is a threat to steal (12 SB). In addition, the Mets are only a half-game out of first place. No matter, I’m still voting for Ryan Zimmerman at this point, who trails Wright by almost 204,000 votes.
C – In the first entry, I wavered between which of the Catching Molina Bros. I would give my vote to, eventually deciding on the elder, Bengie. I’ve wavered again and now my vote lies with St. Louis’ Yadier, even though Bengie has 10 more RBI (32) than any other NL backstop (Pudge Rodriguez has 22). He’s also tied with Chris Iannetta with eight homers. It’s not right that Bengie is not even in the top five, but I do think he’ll be chosen to back-up little brother in the game. I enjoy Yadier’s all-around game better and I try to put hometown starters in the game where possible. Molina leads Milwaukee’s Jason Kendall by more than 157,000 votes.
OF – Outfield is always one of the toughest positions to sort out because you have about 45-50 players to sort through to get to the top three. Raul Ibanez remains a no-brainer for me. He leads the position in homers (17) and RBI (46) and he is in the top five in batting average (.332). Ryan Braun has also proved that he is worthy of a starting spot. The left fielder for the first-place Brewers has nine home runs and 32 RBI while maintaining a .316 batting average.
For the final selection, I’m going completely off the radar. In fact, I’m choosing a player who isn’t even in the top 15 at his position as released this afternoon: Colorado’s Brad Hawpe. Hawpe is batting .348 with seven home runs and 39 RBI. Perhaps this weekend’s managerial change will get the Rockies pointed in the right direction and will have more people noticing Brad Hawpe in the final month before the game. Carlos Beltran trails Alfonso Soriano for third place by 33,000 votes. Manny Ramirez is in fifth place and Mike Cameron in sixth.
Photo credits:
Ryan Zimmerman
Brad Hawpe
Where Amazing Happens
No, this is not about the NBA Playoffs (which I have actually enjoyed despite the fact that my team – the Bulls – was ousted almost a month ago). This is about a college baseball game that took place on Saturday night…and Sunday morning in Austin, Texas.
Boston College was making it’s first appearance in the NCAA baseball tournament since Lyndon Johnson was in the White House and they certainly got their money’s worth. They battled the Longhorns for over seven hours and 25 innings. Texas eventually won the game, 3-2, on Travis Tucker’s RBI single.
The length of the game, however, is not the story here. The story is Longhorns’ reliever Austin Wood (by the way, how great is the name Austin Wood for a UT pitcher?). Wood entered the game in the top of seventh and he went on to throw 169 pitches over 13 innings before being removed in the 20th. Are you amazed yet? No? Well, how about the fact that he threw 120 strikes? That’s probably more than Fausto Carmona has thrown all season.
This is what amazed me the most: upon entering the game, Wood threw 12.1 IP of no-hit baseball before surrendering a two-out single to the Eagles’ Tony Sanchez in the 19th. THAT is amazing.
Here is a link to the story in today’s New York Times by George Bretherton and another one from Sports Illustrated’s Peter King who talked to Wood and included him in his Stat of the Week/Hero of the Week section of his Monday Morning Quaterback column.
Hurdle to be fired
In a move that didn’t come as a surprise, the Denver Post is reporting that the Colorado Rockies will announce this afternoon that manager Clint Hurdle has been fired. Just two seasons removed from a National League Championship, Hurdle would become the second NL West skipper to be removed this season, joining Arizona’s Bob Melvin.
Unlike Arizona, who went with the inexperienced A.J. Hinch, the Rockies have tapped former Pirates and Dodgers field boss Jim Tracy to run the club.
Tracy has a career record of 562-572 in seven seasons with Los Angeles and Pittsburgh. Don Baylor, the Rockies inaugural manager, is also serving as Colorado’s hitting instructor.
Making an early case for Zack
Off the top of my head, I can’t name the last pitcher to be awarded an MVP award. The old argument always goes, pitchers have their own award (Cy Young), so they should not be considered as legitimate MVP candidates.
For the record, in the American League, the last pitcher to claim the MVP was Oakland’s Dennis Eckersley in 1992 (7-1, 51 saves, 1.91 ERA and 93 strikeouts). Eck, obviously, also won the CY Young Award that season. In the National League, you have to go back to 1968, when the Cardinals’ Bob Gibson won (22-9, 1.12 ERA and 268 strikeouts). Coincidentally, ’68 is the last time a pitcher won the MVP in BOTH leagues as Denny McClain of the Tigers (31-6, 1.96 ERA and 280 strikeouts) took home the hardware as well.
The last starting pitcher to win the award was Roger Clemens, who won it in 1986 as a member of the Red Sox. The Rocket was 24-4 with a 2.48 ERA and 238 strikeouts. For a frame of comparison, the Yankees’ Don Mattingly finished second in the AL voting. Mattingly received five first place votes to Clemens’ 19 (Clemens’ teammate and 2009 Hall of Fame inductee, Jim Rice, got four votes) while batting .352 with 31 HR and 113 RBI.
I am one of those fans who believes that the MVP award should be given out to the player who best embodies the true meaning of ‘most valuable.’ Should Alex Rodriguez have won in 2003? Probably not. He had awesome numbers, but his Rangers team was pretty bad at 71-91, 25 games behind division-winner Oakland. If you took ARod off that team, they are probably not more than five or six games off that mark
.
It is with all that in mind that I would like to make an early case for Zack Greinke, starting pitcher for the Kansas City Royals.Here’s why:
- Greinke is 8-1; the Royals are 8-2 in games that he has started and 15-22 in games started by anyone else.
- He leads the league in the following categories: wins (8), ERA (0.84), CG (5), shutouts (2) and WHIP (0.88). He also leads in HR/9.0 IP because HE HASN’T GIVEN ONE UP YET.
- His five complete games equal the total of the Rangers (tied with KC for most in baseball) and are more than the entire NL East combined (3).
I wrote about Greinke a few weeks ago and I believed then, as I do now, that he has finally figured everything out. He’s come a long way from the time he was ready to walk away to be one of the most dominant and fun-to-watch pitchers in the game today. With the way the AL Central is shaping up, the Royals could be in the thick of the race deep into September. If they are, it’ll be because of the right arm attached to No. 23.
mlblogstoolofignorance
Recent Comments