Doing this post makes me realize I know more about baseball than Joe Morgan

Alright so one of my favorite all-time blogs is firejoemorgan.com. Unfortunately, the blog was retired in November 2008. This was one of my favorite blogs as their insight was intelligent, sarcastic and they were not afraid to point out when an "expert" argued witht the logic of a second grader. One of their regular features was a skewering of Joe Morgan's online Q and A [Joe Chat] where they would regularly point to where he was not fulfilling his job as an expert

With nobody taking up the internet void of skewering Joe Chat's ....I figure i'll at least give it a shot.....if it works.....awesome.....if not......at least I gave it a shot

Some of the "highlights are as follows"

joe do what do oyu think the chances of the phils repeatin are? what needs to happen? do you think cliff lee is the best pitcher in baseball right now?

Joe Morgan

(11:32 AM)

They definitely have a chance of repeating. I think the key will be Cole Hamels. If he can get back to being the pitcher he was at the end of last season, with the addition of Lee, I think they have a chance. So, with Hamels and of course Brad Lidge.

Alright, I'll give Morgan partial credit for addressing the first question. However, he fails to answer whether Cliff Lee is the best pitcher in baseball right now. It's obvious that adding Lee gives the Phillies a better chance. Plus, all Morgan would need to do to answer the Cliff Lee question was to look up his ridiculous stats since coming to Philly [5-0 0.68 era 641 ERA+]---ok so that was before his loss to Atlanta tonight--but he's definitely the best pitcher in the NL right now (and even if he didn't think it....he still should have bothered to answer the question. Also, what's with him mentioning Brad Lidge and cutting himself off mid-sentence.

brett...louisville [via mobile]

what is the biggest concern for the reds, pitching or hitting? and can they ever be a contender in the central? thanks joe

Joe Morgan

(11:34 AM)

All of the above. For a while they were hitting very well, scoring some runs and pitching well. Now they look like a team that needs both, pitching and hitting.

This was an answer that was insightful……NOT…..It's also obvious that Joe has no idea what he's talking about. First of all, one quick look at baseball-reference shows that while their pitching has been pretty mediocre (10th in NL in ERA)….their hitting has been a full on trainwreck.

While you could argue that they were pitching well for some point (their team ERA+ is 102), any assertion that they were hitting well at some point this season is preposterous. As a team they are dead last in OPS. Their team OPS+ is 79---their whole team is hitting 21 % worse than average. It's pretty sad when their third best hitter is Laynce Nix. They've given significant playing time to THREE players with an OPS+ below 60 (Alex Gonzales, Willy Taveras and Adam Rosales)……in other words....the hitting has more room for improvement than the pitching

Also, Joe doesn't even address the second question. Obviously the Reds will be a contender in the NL Central at some point…..how soon that happens to be (probably not for another few years) ---is gut instinct answer that popped in my head--but at least I gave an answer which is still a better answer than the one given by some guy who's covered MLB for ESPN since 1990.

Marc (MS)

Joe, of all the divisional leaders, no one is talking about St. Louis. If Carpenter stays healthy, I believe this is a World Series team. Your thoughts?

Joe Morgan

(11:46 AM)

I think at this time St. Louis is the best team in the NL, Carpenter, Wainwright, Pujols, etc. That doesn't mean they're the best team in baseball, but the best team in the NL right now.

So are they a World Series team or not?

Steve (Middletown, CT)

What do you think about Ben Zobrist for AL MVP consideration?

Joe Morgan

(11:47 AM)

There are a lot of guys having a good year on a lot of different teams. But to say that he's an MVP candidate, I don't think so. I think you're looking at Teixiera, Morneau, Mauer. There are guys ahead of him as far as MVP is concerned. But Zobrist is having a good season.

I can't argue too much with picking Mauer/Morneau as being more MVP-worthy than Ben Zobrist. However, just because Zobrist wasn't a big name before 2009 and doesn't means he's not as valuable as Mark Teixiera. The way Morgan answers this question implies that Mark Teixiera is better than Zobrist by leaps and bounds. Taking a look at the numbers…that despite Zobrist's biggest strike against him (playing for Tampa Bay NOT New York)..one look at the numbers shows that he's actually played better than Teixiera up to this point

Zobrist .292/.409/.554 147 OPS+

Teixiera .286/.382/.547 140 OPS+

While Zobrist in the MVP consideration is a stretch, to say that Teixiera is in the discussion while Zobrist is an afterthought is an absolute travesty.

Joe, do you think it was a mistake to bench Juan Pierre right when Manny came back? The Dodgers were so hot with him and he was playing some of the best ball of his life. Do you think they should have found something else for him?

Joe Morgan

(11:50 AM)

Kevin, you are the first guy that thinks like I do. I've said all along that Juan Pierre brought an energy to that team that they didn't have with Manny in the lineup. He's a lifetime .300 hitter, so he wasn't just getting hot with Manny gone. I'm not saying they should have benched Manny, but they should find a way to get him more at bats and get him more time to play. He needs to have more of a chance to play now that they're struggling. Maybe Joe Torre will do that. Manny's not hitting well either. And when he's not hitting well, he's not helping you that much.

Energy…..the new grit….this is the type of thinking that inflates the reputation of weak-hitting middle infielders everywhere…..energy is nice but producing on the field is nicer……while Pierre has been as asset to the Dodgers…..to even suggest that his value even approaches Manny……not buying it……what they've done this year is as follows…..

Ramirez .306/.424/.536 151 OPS+

Pierre .319/.376/.403 106 OPS+

Not even close….even a struggling, distracting Manny Ramirez does more to help the Dodgers than a solid Juan Pierre. It's nice that Pierre hits .300+ but Ramirez does that to. Unlike Pierre….Ramirez also hits the ball beyond the outfield fence more than twice in a given year.

Well, there would have been more skewering but this particular session was fairly short. Still, there was enough there to see that Joe Morgan is still up to his old ways and even if i'm not the one meant to point this out......it's still clear that needs to be done by someone

Weekend Preview: Yanks-Sox plus other action

The Weekend is upon us and another weekend baseball preview. As always, ratings are from 1 to 5. With that being said, let the games begiiiiiiinnnnn.


Red Sox vs. Yankees = 1 [minus 3 points due to ESPN overkill]
Saturday-FOX Sunday-ESPN

Saturday [Burnett vs. Tazawa] Sunday [Sabathia vs. Beckett]

I really want to rate this series higher than a 1. There are plenty of playoff implications. Do the Yankees pull away further, what about the Red Sox loose grip on the wild card race. While there are interesting things about this match-up [most notably Sunday's potential pitching duel]......ESPN has overkilled this series and undermined from me actually caring.

Watching MLB Network last night it is clear I am not alone.....I was watching MLB tonight and they were doing a cut-in to last night Yankees-A's game and Matt Vasgersian makes a random comment along the lines of nobody making a big deal about Johnny Damon leaving Oakland and something along the lines of it's all about the Yankees and Red Sox in a disproving matter.....God I love the MLB Network.......while Vasgersian may not be able to differentiate between Fernando Vina and Fernando Valenzuela....or refrain form dropping F-Bombs on live tv........his comment was one of those moments that made me glad ESPN actually has some competition

Cubs vs. Dodgers
Saturday- FOX [Lilly vs. Haeger] = 3

Not the best series this weekend....but still worth checking out. Both teams have struggled as of late and one of these teams will turn it around by default. The Cubs are quickly fading away from the NL Central and Wild Card race and starts their only all-star this year [Ted Lilly]. The Dodgers whose once insurmountable NL West lead has trimmed to four games counter with Charlie Haeger.

Giants vs. Rockies
Saturday-MLB Network [Martinez vs. De La Rosa] =4

This series has heavy playoff implications as these two teams are neck and neck in the NL Wild Card race. The Giants start rookie Joe Martinez while the Rockies counter with one of my least favorite pitchers in the league Jorge De La Rosa....either way this should be a really close, intense and good game

Rangers vs. Rays
Sunday TBS [Feldman vs. Price] =3.5

Another wild card battle. The Rays are looking to make a return trip to the playoffs [this year as a wild card] the Rangers are looking for their first playoff trip in 10 years around a much improved pitching staff......the Rangers resurgence is occurring in ex-Brewers pitching coach Mike Maddux's first year as the Rangers pitching coach........this has a lot to do with why the Rangers pitching has helped them stay in contention and why the Brewers pitching has fallen off a cliff....but that's besides the point.......good game.....solid teams...heavy playoff implications....can't ask for much more on a Sunday morning.