5/28: Epic Duels, Epic Walkoffs With A Side Of West-Coast Bias

Well, it's been an interesting night baseball-wise. The Brewers-Mets game has been an epic pitchers duel to the nth degree as Yovani Gallardo and Johan Santana have put zeros across the score-board all night long.

As I write this, there is one gone in the bottom of the ninth and the Mets are in the process of making a pitching change. Will this be the second straight day the Crew win it in their last at-bat? That is a question that is yet to be revealed. With Braun and McGehee the next two batters up, the Brewers have a shot.

Braun eeks out an infield hit after Reyes makes a diving stop...good for the momentum but there's still work to do. McGehee jumped the gun and hit a harmless pop-up. Tonight in particular it seems like the Crew hitters have an all or nothing approach (i.e. everyone seems to be swinging for the fences).

And just like that IT WORKED. Corey Hart took one DEEP!!!!!!!!!. Had to chill for a few moments and let the walk-off homer sink in. Even though the Brewers still have work to do standings wise (20-28)....it has been nice to get out of the abyss of a 9-game losing and to start winning some games in the 9th inning instead of losing them.

As epic and awesome as tonight's game was, there is still more baseball to get into. We might be getting towards the late games but these games do have heavy fantasy implications for myself. As I write this, my team is trailing by 4 points for the week (191.5-187.5) and two of my starting pitchers are pitching right now (Cain and Richard) and the team i'm up against has Edwin Jackson and Scott Kazmir getting starts currently.

In other words, lots of hectic split-screen back and forth engagement between split-screens on the mlb.tv and the Angels game on Fox Sports West.

Right now, my main focus is on the Padres-Zombie Expos game as Clayton Richard has put up 3 2/3 scoreless right now. If Clayton Richard keeps this up, i'll have to ask myself why it took me so long for me to replace John Lackey with Clayton Richard.

I'd definitely have to say that I find the Padres to be one of the more interesting teams in baseball this year. Pretty much everyone (myself included) thought the Padres had little or zero chance to contend this year. But the way that team is pitching, this is a definitely a team that is not going away anytime soon (even though Willingham just hit a 3-run shot off of Richard).

The Zombie Expos on the other hand seem to be playing the hang around .500 until they can call up Strasburg without accruing arbitration time in 2010 (this rule manipulation is up there amongst things that are wrong with pro baseball). While this team is not going to be as bad as they have been the last few years (100-plus losses)......I definitely wouldn't give the Zombie Expos a higher than 20% percent chance to stick around (tougher division, less overall talent, no way that Livian Hernandez keeps that era low, etc.).

Either way, if I end up winning this league Strasburg will be indirectly involved to some extent (no he's not on my team). To back track, third base had been a black hole for my in the first month of the season as I decided to pick Brandon Wood's upside over Casey McGehee (big mistake). I had stuck with Wood (not good) gave Casey Blake a chance to start (didn't work out) but at this moment, a third basemen fell out of the sky the same way a spinal surgeon fell out of the sky for Benjamin Linus when Oceanic 815 crashed on to the island. I look one day and Casey McGehee was on the waiver wire. I picked him up and out of curiosity looked to see who the NL Leader In RBI was replaced with (none other than Steven Strasburg).

Bounced to the D-Backs-Giants game to see if the Giants can put up some runs on Edwin Jackson. The Giants broadcast team just put up a pop-up of highest slugging average since 2009. Not suprisingly, Kung Fu Panda took the 1-spot. The #2 spot, Andres Torres.

While it may be a small sample size (305 At-Bats) and he didn't exactly set the world on fire prior to coming to The City, it does seem odd that it took Torres a year to get regular playing time considering how much this team has struggled to score runs in recent memory. Playing for the Giants (and thus half his games at Pac-Bell and he's put up a nice 126 OPS+, his profile may be low but that's actually fairly impressive. (Giants went up 2-0 BTW).

Back to the Padres-Zombies game which has the Zombie Expos up 3-1 (my team is up by .5 pts currently).........it looks like lots of leads changes and ties for my fantasy team tonight. Since Richard wasn't back on the mound yet, back to the Giants game and Matt Cain cruising along into the 4th inning.

Cain gets through another scoreless half-inning, my lead jumps to 4 points (helped along by Scott Kazmir giving up 4 runs). Off to the top of the 5th inning, a shot of the San Diego skyline and Richard racking up his second K. Richard shows a nice bounce-back from giving up the homer as he goes through a very quick 1-2-3 5th inning.

Back to the Giants-D-Backs game. I show up just in time to see Bengie Molina strike out. With mega-prospect call-up season right around the corner, Molina may not have many more chances to look clueless at the plate. Molina's (probable) replacement Buster Posey could be coming over from Fresno any day.

While this article indicates that Posey could be brought in to play 1st instead of going behind the plate, it is inevitable that Posey will take his reigns as Giants catcher of the future at some point. With the Giants still having hope for contending (only 3 1/2 out) and their offense struggling as always, there just seems to be more-upside to upgrading (i.e. starting Posey) at Catcher than at First.

Aubrey Huff has had a reasonable bounce-back season so far and it being questionable that Bengie Molina is an asset offensively (yes he can be counted on to hit .270-.290 with 15-20 homers but the last time he even had a 100 OPS+ was in 2006 with the Blue Jays). Point being, the numbers show that Molina is a slightly below league average hitter, he's 35 this year (his hitting is bound to regress at some point) and I think Posey is one of those prospects who steps in and gives his team a boost (probably should have broken camp with the Giants but hey, he "needed" those two months to develop his game.

Well I finished that rant in time to see Cain put up scoreless inning number 5 (as my team has pushed the lead up to 10). Kung Fu Panda misses an opp to blow the game open as he strikes out with the bases are loaded. The Giants are still in good shape though (up 3-0) and my team's lead has expanded to 16 1/2 points.

Well, that's whats going on right now....been a pretty good night.....till next time

Baseball On TV This Weekend

Braves vs. Giants Friday MLB Network

Hudson vs. Sanchez

Interest Level: 6

Will this be the beginning of Tim Hudson's bounce-back season? What will Jason Heyward do to help his team (As a side note, I am glad that the Braves bypassed the send him down for a couple months to bypass the arbitration rules, realized Heyward was their best option and let him start the season in Atlanta....I wouldn't be shocked to see the Braves awarded karmically with a post-season berth for not trying (poorly) to convince everyone that he needs time to "develop" his game say until late-May/early-June when he would "magically" be ready to face major-league pitching

The Giants counter with Jonathan Sanchez. Had an interesting '09 started poorly, threw a no-hitter, finished strong. Is this the start of a 2010 breakout season? On a side note, the Giants handled their prospect situation (Buster Posey) differently be sending him down to Triple-A despite a strong spring.

A's vs. Angels Saturday MLB Network

Sheets vs. Weaver

Interest Level: 9

This week has seen my first exposure to J.J Hardy in a non-Brewers uniform and it looks like our first exposure to Ben Sheets in a non-Brewers uniform. Of course, this is Sheets first big league appearance since 2008 and this step one of the journey to see whether Sheets is worth the investment and can he actually stay healthy for a full season. He has the talent, just a matter of staying healthy to make a full season worth of starts.

The Angels start Jered Weaver ( who happens to be the best MLB pitcher that I watched in-person while they were still in college---he was the starting pitcher for a Long Beach State vs. Cal Poly game I went to in 2003.....I don't know much about college baseball but I know that he DESTROYED Big West hitting)...and on a fantasy baseball note.....will Brandon Wood break out of his slump?

Yankees vs. Rays Saturday Fox, Sunday TBS

Sabathia vs. Davis Saturday

Burnett vs. Shields Sunday

Interest Level:4

Umpire Joe West made news this week by saying that the Yankees and Red Sox take too many timeouts and are making the length of games longer. Not sure how true that is but the Yankees and Rays took their sweet time determining who would be starting their games this weekend (single-handedly pushing back the posting of this post by a day)....Personally i'm more concerened with the Randy Levine vs.Mark Attanasio dispute over salary distribution. My take: once every team has their own network to run their games (YES Network) and a national network (ESPN) obsessed with their every move.....then he may have a point. Sure these things have nothing to do with the upcoming games but c'mon it's the Yankees, if you miss these games all you have to do is wait a couple of days.

Mariners vs. Rangers Saturday FOX

Hernandez vs. Harrison

Interest Level: 6

With FOX's regional coverage combined with living on the west coast....i'm probably stuck with this game and this game only regardless of personal preference. On the bright side, this should be my first chance to see this year's re-tooled Mariners team in action. Felix Hernandez, the reigning AL leader in Wins, Winning Percentage, Wild Pitches & Hits/9 Innnings gets start #2 of the season.

The Rangers counter with Matt Harrison who is making career start #27 but has yet to replicate the success of his Saturday counterpart. If nothing else, he has shown a high level of endurance as he threw 2 complete games in his 11 starts from '09 (good for 9th in the AL)

Brewers vs. Cardinals Saturday Fox, Sunday ESPN

See series preview post.

Finally.....Winter's Over....Here's some baseball games that will count

Well, it's FINALLY time for the 2010 baseball season. No more winter, no more spring training....time to see how this goes down....how my predictions (and everyone elses will stand up over the season).....and also how Chedderhead/My Razzball team and the random Cbssports.com fantasy league i'm in that I haven't talked about does.......

Yankees vs. Red Sox

Sunday (Sabathia vs. Beckett) ESPN 2

Tuesday (Burnett vs. Lester) MLBN

Wednesday (Pettite vs. Lackey) ESPN 2

On a scale of 1-10 my interest is a: 1

Like a bad TBS movie that they "give you 3 chances to watch" you get 3 chances to watch the Yankees take on the Red Sox. The Sunday game stands out because its the first game of the season that actually counts. In the context of this season, this series is fairly insignificant but i'm pretty sure ESPN is hyping it like the ALCS because to them, the other 28 teams might as well be Triple-A teams for all they care.....as evidenced by this 2007 expose by the Onion.

In all seriousness, I don't care who it is...baseball is back. You have ex-Brewer Sabathia taking the hill against Beckett who is currently in negotiations for a massive extension (will this keep him in contract year blow the world away mode?)

On Tuesday, MLB Network gets in on the fun as they show game 2 of this series. MLB Network gets a pass on the Red Sox-Yankees criticism I give ESPN as they are taking the step of showing all 30 teams within the first 30 days of the season.

Wednesday marks the first Red Sox start for John Lackey....does he justify the piles of money thrown at him last summer or not? We begin to find out Wednesday

Cardinals (Carpenter) vs. Reds (Harang) Monday ESPN

On a scale of 1-10, my interest is: 6

A few interesting things here:

1) First look at a couple of NL Central rivals: The first look at a Cardinals team that just about everyone (except myself....and I don't see them missing by much) against a Reds team that is a perpetual sleeper in the NL Central

2) A first look at whether Chris Carpenter can replicate his strong 2009 season. Talent isn't the issue, the ability to stay healthy....well that's a completely different story......also he's one of my starters in the CBS league (Baseball, Beer and Bahkas) so i'll be a bit more interested in the results

3) Day 1 of Jay Bruce's breakout season: With Cliff Lee and Huston Street injured, someone is going to have to carry Cheddarhead on their shoulders, it might as well be Jay Bruce.

Indians (Westbrook) vs. White Sox (Buerhle) Monday ESPN2

On a scale of 1-10 my interest is a: 4

The Indians have lots of potential in 2010.....to be as bad or as worse than the Royals. If the Indians have any hope of making that last sentence sound horribly wrong, they are probably going to need Jake Westbrook to make more than 5 starts.

The White Sox on the other hand, have reasonable playoff expectations. They may not be a great team but then again they aren't in the strongest division either. Despite Joe Nathan being shelved for the season, I still think the Twins will win the division (barely.)

Another fun fact is that this game matches up 2 of the 3 pitchers who tied for the league in Hits Allowed in 2006. (The third player, Jon Garland gets the opening day nod for the Padres).

Cubs (Zambrano) vs. Braves (Lowe) Monday ESPN

On a scale of 1-10 my interest is a: 8

Well, the Cubs are involved so if nothing else I have a team to root against. Also, with Carlos Zambrano pitching you never quite know what your getting although this tends to equal itself out over each season as his ERA+ the last few years have been eerily similar (117,118,119) Usually an interesting and harmless experience unless you happened to be dressed like a Gatorade machine and Zambrano doesn't like the umpiring on a given day.

For the Braves, the have Derek Lowe taking the hill here. Lowe is coming off his worst year as a starter but I see him coming back strong in 2010....i'm confident enough in this assertion that he ended up on Chedderhead.

Giants (Lincecum) vs. Astros (Oswalt) Monday ESPN

On a scale of 1-10 my interest is a: 7

Good pitching match-up. Anytime Lincecum takes the hill, it's worth watching (right now he's my favorite non-Brewers player) because you never know whats going to happen. The Astros are looking to Roy Oswalt to anchor their staff this year.

From '01-'07 this would have been a fairly sound strategy. However, Oswalt's performance and his health have regressed a bit in the last couple years ......pretty much a microcosm of the Astors as a whole.

Twins vs. Angels

Baker vs. Weaver Tuesday MLB Network

Pavano vs. Santana Wednesday ESPN 2

On a scale of 1-10 my interest is a : 6

It should be interesting to see how the Twins come out of the gate. Will their saavy winter moves and the momentum of locking up Joe Mauer be the catalyst towards another playoff appearance. Or will the downgrade from Joe Nathan to whoever they have closing games bring them back to the pack.

For the Angels, will they rack up another AL West title or will the Mariners off-season moves allow them to overtake Los Angeles of Anaheim of North America of the Northern Hemisphere and be top of the class. To answer some of these questions but raise more questions than are actually answered, stay tuned to find out.

Brewers vs. Rockies Wednesday MLB Network

See, Brewers-Rockies Series Preview Post

NL West Preview Part II

So after the first half, the NL West power rankings are as follows

D-Backs 17

Dodgers 22

Rockies 25

Giants 26

Padres 30

Starting Pitching

Giants-4

Dodgers-8

Rockies-12

D-Backs-16

Padres-20

The Giants rotation is the class of the division/league. The concept of scoring runs may be foreign to them but the concept of preventing runs from scoring is something they have a knack on. Tim Lincecum has already won the last two Cy Young Awards and is looking to rack up a third one. Matt Cain looks to build upon his breakout year and continue his ascent towards the leagues elite pitchers. Sanchez and Zito aren't going to win any awards but both will have their moments of brilliance.

The Dodgers don't have any pitchers in the neighborhood of Lincecum/Cain (right now). Kershaw is on the cusp of a breakout season (he needs to stop walking people all the time) and Billingsley should bounce back from his 2009 season. Charlie Haeger is a nice sleeper candidate in the back of the rotation. He had a couple nice starts with the Dodgers after getting called up....his track record in the minors doesn't indicate it but with the knuckleballers, you never really know.

The Rockies have a solid front 3 of Jiminez, Cook and De la Rosa (two of which are members of Chedderhead). On talent alone, the D-Backs should be at least #3, maybe higher but that would hinge on Brandon Webb staying healthy (already not off to a good start). The Padres, they have some young pitchers with potential. They have a possible sleeper pitcher in the back of the rotation in Clayton Richard (part of the package they got from Jake Peavy) but overall, not that impressive.

Bullpen

Dodgers-4

Padres-8

Rockies-12

Giants-16

D-Backs-20

Pretty solid crop of closers/bullpens in the division. Broxton looks to be the most likely to replicate his success. He's still young (26 in June), overpowering 114 Ks in 76 innings and he's proven to be effective at closer. The Padres lost Trevor Hoffman to the Brewers in '09 but Heath Bell made sure the bullpen remained a strength in San Diego......and gained my respect for calling out ESPN for only caring about the Red Sox, Yankees and Mets .

Close call between the Rockies and Giants. Huston Street looks to have another solid year (which should be a given as he's one of two closers for Cheddarhead). Brian Wilson should rack up some more saves and possibly set a single-season record for saves recorded after loading the bases. The D-Backs aren't in terrible shape with their bullpen provided Chad Qualls stays healthy......their bullpen would rank higher in another division but with the depth in the NL West, someone has to be last.

And now our final standings:

Dodgers-34

Giants-46

Rockies-49

D-Backs-53

Padres-58

Nothing like doing the second half of a divisional preview to course correct the projections. While the Dodgers had an inactive off-season, they still have a pretty strong team and should 3-peat in the west. The Giants are on the upward swing but inept offense is going to do them in (again). I've had a sinking feeling that the Rockies aren't going to be as good as most people think so i'm not shocked to see them in third. The questions surrounding the Arizona pitching staff moved them down to a realistic 4th place finish. The Padres, the only reason to pay attention to them is A-Gon (until he's gone) and the newest member of Cheddarhead (fresh off the waiver wire) Kyle Blanks.

NL West Preview Part I

Off to the NL West....the division I see the most of (outside of Brewers) because why? They show a lot of Dodgers games on TV where I live. Time to see how the West is going to be won:

Catcher:

1-Miguel Montero

2-Chris Ianneta

3-Buster Posey

4-Russell Martin

5-Nick Hundley

Toss-up between Montero and Ianneta for the top spot. Montero a better source for contact/average, Ianneta a better source of power....factor out the Coors bump and he goes in second. Buster Posey was the hardest one to project. According to the Baseball Forecaster, his Minor League numbers equate to a .836 OPS. With those numbers over a full season, Posey has an argument for being 1 or 2 but with the learning curve to adjust to Major League pitching and the likeliness that the Giants will insist he needs some time in Fresno to develop his game (say till late-May/Early June....regardless of whether or not said time to develop is needed).

First Base

1-Adrian Gonzales

2-Pablo Sandoval

3-Adam LaRoche

4-Todd Helton

5-James Loney

As usual, a deep position. Gonzales gets the nod for now (Sandoval will probably get bumped to first when NOT if A-Gon gets shipped out of San Diego). I see Pablo Sandoval having a nice breakout season.......he was THIS close to being a member of Chedderhead but Ryan Zimmerman got the pick instead with the deciding factor being Pac Bell Park. Few things in life are guaranteed Death, Taxes and LaRoche struggling in the first half, surging in the second half and ending with a .270 average and 25 homers. Unlike Sandoval, LaRoche is a member of Chedderhead as he got drafted in the second to last round.

Second Base

1-Freddy Sanchez

2-Clint Barmes

3-Ryan Roberts

4-Jamey Carroll

5-David Eckstein

The wasteland. Clint "Sub .300 OBP" Barmes, Ryan "Didn't Get A Chance Till 28" Roberts and The King of Grit himself David Eckstein. Interesting thing about Barmes......it took me a few years of him in the bigs to realize that his last name was Barmes not Barnes. There were countless times where I would think things like why does Clint Barnes last name look different, why that n looks like an m and finally realizing that oh his last name is Barmes not Barnes.

Shortstop

1-Troy Tulowitzki

2- Stephen Drew

3-Rafael Furcal

4-Edgar Renteria

5-Everth Cabrera

Tulowitzki graduated from promising young player to Star last year. Stephen Drew has shown flashes of promise and hopes to join Tulowitzki at the top of the class in 2010. Furcal and Renteria are interchangeable 30-somethings who have seen better days and Cabrera is in last because I don't care for light hitting middle-infielders regardless of how many bases they steal why? Because you are more likely to score a run when you hit a home run than when you steal second.

Third Base

1-Mark Reynolds

2-Casey Blake

3-Mark DeRosa

4-Chase Headley

5-Ian Stewart

Like Tulowitzki, Reynolds graduated to the top of his class at his position last year. Casey Blake and Mark DeRosa are interchangeable players that will give you between a .265-.275 average and 15-20 homers a year. The musical equivalent is Nickelback. They've been releasing the same album for the last decade with the same songs under but with only slight variations. This applies here because Casey Blake and Mark DeRosa are the same player with slight variations. The tie-breaker....Casey Blake is on Chedderhead so if he does better than expected, that would contribute to Chedderhead's inevitable title while DeRosa playing better than expected won't impact my life what so ever. Why is Ian Stewart last? Well when factoring in MLE equivalent numbers in the Forecaster, his contact rate has dropped 16 percent and in 3 straight years.......he doesn't strike me as a breakout candidate, he strikes me as a candidate for the Bill Hall All-Stars.

Left Field

1-Manny Ramirez

2-Kyle Blanks

3-Carlos Gonzales

4-Conor Jackson

5-Eugenio Velez

Well, Manny Ramirez may be a bit older his bat may be a bit slower after going on a 50-game maternity leave and Manny is still Manny which still means expect Manny to put up some crazy power numbers. Kyle Blanks....well he was the one that got away from Chedderhead. If it weren't for the fact that Chedderhead was drafted while I was hungover and functioning on 3 1/2 hours of sleep, we would have realized he was available in the last round and given him Mike Cameron's position instead of feeling like a complete idiot when he got picked a few picks later. We were even discussing using a pick on Blanks the night before when we were discussing who we wanted, who we didn't want and who we liked but knew they were going to get picked at least a few rounds earlier than we wanted to pick them....point being Blanks has 35-40 Home Run power written all over him.

Center Field

1-Matt Kemp

2-Chris Young

3-Scott Hairston

4-Aaron Rowand

5-Dexter Fowler

Matt Kemp has graduated to the top of the class in 2009. OMG did you hear he's dating Rihanna. In a related story, TMZ needs to go away. Nothing about Young and Hairston inspire me too much. Dexter Fowler gets hype for having a breakout season coming up. I'm not one of those people.....not sure if his high BABIP from last year is sustainable, he could be in for a long year.

Right Field

1-Justin Upton

2-Andre Ethier

3-Brad Hawpe

4-Nate Schierholtz

5-Will Venable

Look for Upton to break into the elite players section this year. Look for Andre Ethier to show that his career year in 2009 was no fluke. Look for Hawpe to quietly go yard 20-25 times this year.

Standings At The End Of Part I:

D-Backs 17

Dodgers 22

Rockies 25

Giants 26

Padres 30

Just finished doing the NL Central preview that produced some unconventional results. After the first half of this preview we have a team (Arizona) on top that absolutely nobody thinks has a chance. Is this just a fluke of being early in the process or am I about to make another risky this may make me look like a complete moron type pick? If i've learned anything from being a fan of Lost, its to leave questions unanswered and to just end

My take on Todd Wellemeyer signing with the Giants

The Giants have just signed pitcher Todd Wellemeyer to a one-year deal.

This begs the question of will this be one of the more brilliant signings of the winter or just another space filler. At first brush, he strikes me as a one-year wonder ('08) that has come and gone. He's started more than 10 games in 3 seasons. He's had one average year ('07) one good year ('08) and one terrible year ('09).

According to his baseball-reference page his career has been similar to luminaries such as Joaquin Benoit, Willie Banks and Marvin Freeman.

For a better answer, it's time to consult Ron Shandler's baseball forecaster for further insight. He ain't repeating '08 but I see him as an inning-eater. Bad luck can be blamed for some of his struggles as his opposing H% was 35 (he was in the 27%-29% range the previous three years). This inflated his WHIP (although his decreased strike percentage helped out), his hr/fb and flyball percentages stayed within his historical norms.

Verdict: If he makes the rotation his ceiling would be 10 wins/4.5 era. He works as a stop-gap/innings-eater/likely to do better than your typical AAA player but not someone who's getting a long term deal or on very many fantasy teams anytime soon.

Lincecum v. Giants

So, the Giants and Tim Lincecum have a bit of dispute regarding how much money he should get paid in 2010. The Giants think he should be paid $8 million while Lincecum thinks he should be paid $13 million.

Case For Lincecum:

Let's see, he's only the best, most exciting pitcher in the game today. His career ERA+ is 152, he turns 26 this year and he's only getting better. He's led the NL in Strikeouts and Strikeouts/9 IP the last two years. He led the league in Complete Games and Shutouts last year. He's won the last two Cy Young Awards.

The only other pitchers to win Cy Young Awards in Consecutive Years:

Sandy Koufax

Denny McLain

Jim Palmer

Roger Clemens

Greg Maddux

Pedro Martinez

Randy Johnson

I don't know about you, but to me that's a pretty impressive list. Point being, Lincecum is one of the greatest if not THE greatest pitcher of this generation. The Giants need to do everything in their capacity to keep him happy.

The (Very,Very,Very,Very,Very,Very........Very) Weak Case Against Lincecum:

Um he led the league in wild pitches in '08. The one time I saw him pitch in person he lost to Manny Parra. He's a .140 career hitter. Yes a very absurd argument against giving him what he wants that was cherry picked as much as it could.

Verdict: There's no way Lincecum can lose this case. Usually I would be against giving a player this much money but Lincecum is carrying whatever team he's playing for for the next decade-plus. If he wants $20 million , you give it to him, if he wants his own private jet (hand it over), if he wants to be owner, gm, manager (give him what he wants)

An Award List.....With A Twist

So, it was announced the other day that two ex-Brewers, Bill Schroeder and Greg Vaughn into the Cape Cod Baseball League Hall of Fame.

This piqued my curiosity about other Major League Players to play in the Cape Cod League. It turns out there are plenty of Cape Cod League Alums playing in the Big Leagues. The most recent list of Active Players is this list from 2008 (I had no luck finding a list from '09). Anyways with many of the major baseball awards being handed out soon, I decided to do my own top 10 list for the Most Valuable Player. The one caveat for making this list is this list is limited to Cape Cod League Alums.

10- Mark Reynolds .260/.349/.543 123 OPS+

Reynolds made some major strides as a player this year. Reynolds seems destined to become the 2010s version of Adam Dunn. He re-wrote the record books as he struck out 223 times this year. Still, he had a solid year and proved to the league that he will be a force to reckon with (when he makes contact)

9-Carlos Pena .227/.356/.537 130 OPS+

The American League, injury prone equivalent to Reynolds. Despite missing the last month of the season, Pena still managed to lead the AL in homers.

8-Adam Lind .305/.370/.562 144 OPS+

The Blue Jays may have had a bad year, but without Lind it would have been much worse. 2009 was Adam Lind's first year playing full-time and he made the most of it. Lind's season definitely qualifies as one of the most secretive 30+ homer seasons of this decade.

7-Evan Longoria .281/.364/.526 130 OPS+

Longoria was able to avoid the sophomore slump and have a solid season. The only damper is Tampa Bay was not able to follow up on last years World Series appearance and leading the AL in GIDP. Still, Longoria is going to be a star for many years to come and he demonstrated why in '09.

6-Lance Berkman .274/.399/.509 139 OPS+

One of the few bright stops in an otherwise terrible year for the Astros. It should be interesting to see how long he can keep his productivity up.

5- Jason Bay .267/.384/.537 134 OPS+

Jason Bay had a strong year in his first full year in Boston. He did a good job keeping the left field spot in Boston productive. He definitely showed why hes going to be one of the most sought after free agents in the winter.

4-Kevin Youkilis .305/.413/.548 145 OPS+

Another solid year from Youk. In these rankings, Youk and Bay are fairly interchangeable.

3- Tim Lincecum 15-7 2.48 era 176 ERA+

The only pitcher to appear on this list. Lincecum had another excellent year and further cemented himself as one of the best pitchers of our generation. He already has one Cy Young Award to his name......with possibly a second one coming soon.

2-Chase Utley .282/.397/.508 136 OPS+

An elite second baseman on a Phillies team that went to a second straight World Series. Plus he was mentioned prominently in an episode of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia as Mac was trying so hard to meet him and hand deliver a letter to him.

1-Mark Teixeira .292/.383/.565 149 OPS+

Teixiera had a strong first year for the Yankees. As much as I don't like the Yankees, Teixiera did enough to rise above the competition from his Cape Cod League Alumni. Still doesn't change the fact that he's not going to get the actual MVP (That goes to Joe Mauer)

Hot Stove Rundown--Only 150 Days to Opening Day

So, today was the first full day of the Baseball off-season. But some baseball news did happen today

OMG!!!!! Tim Lincecum got caught with trace amounts of pot

Apparently this is a big enough story to make Lincecum #16 on Google Trends (as of 9 P.M. Pacific Time) and is splattered all over the front page of Ball Hype. Personally, I could care less whether or not Lincecum likes to smoke weed. I have a bad gut feeling that the media will try to blow this like the whole Michael Phelps picture where hes taking a bong rip. If he got caught with something like Crystal Meth, then it would be a big deal

but c'mon....its the off-season, he pitched better than everyone except Chris Carpenter in the NL in '09 and he Spring Training is still a few months away.....anyways thats my take on it...hopefully this is both the first and last day people talk about this

Jeremy Hermida traded to the Red Sox

Former First Round pick Jeremy Hermida has finished off the Florida Marlins portion of his career. As a top prospect big things were expected from him but he has been plagued by bad defense and has been an average player.

It may be speculative but I see either two motives behind this trade A) This is a minor first step for the Red Sox to re-tool after an early playoff exit and they see Hermida getting 200-300 plate appearances as either a back-up outfielder or someone to fill in at DH if Big Papi gets hurt or takes a day off B) Hermida is a stop gap option in case they are unable to retain Jason Bay and/or pick up an elite left fielder to replace Bay if they were to lose. Considering that Hermidas big league performance has been most similar to Jody Gerut and Ryan Church.......I definitely see option A is the much more likely scenario

Mark Teahen Traded To The White Sox.....maybe.....maybe not

This development has been a bit strange. First, its always odd when divisional rivals trade with each other. Second, there seem to be conflicting reports on whether or not this trade went down. If it does...it would mark another deal centered around an under performing 1st round pick.

Teahen was a former first-round pick (like Hermida) who hasn't had the greatest start to his career. Hes a versatile player with experience in both the infield and outfield. While the MoneyBall claim of him being the next Jason Giambi isn't going to come true.....his career should be rejuvenated by escaping the baseball purgatory of Kansas City.

He was traded for Chris Getz who struggled at the plate in his first full season. The White Sox also threw in Josh Fields who has gotten very little playing time since his rookie season in '07. The discussion of this trade may prove to be counter-productive if it turns out it isn't completed but its still interesting to speculate about either way.

Outsmarting the experts and why I would vote Chris Carpenter for the Cy Young Award

This is the second (in a yet to be determined amount of columns) where I use logic and reason to outsmart Joe Morgan. This time, instead of taking a broad brush the focus is going to be on the NL Cy Young Race. During his chat last Tuesday, the following question was posed:

Steve (Middletown, CT)

Who is your NL CY Young winner?

Joe Morgan

(11:17 AM)

I would give it to Wainwright, but there are a lot of people that believe that Carpenter deserves it. Wainwright pitched more innings, he was there the whole year. Carpenter had the injury. Wainwright led the league in wins and had more innings than Lincecum and Carpenter. ERA and strikeouts don't impress me as much as wins do. The name of the game is to win.

Admittedly, the Cy Young Award race is close and all 3 of the pitchers mentioned (Wainwright, Lincecum and Carpenter) have pretty strong cases. The problem I have is the way he reaches his conclusion.....i'll breakdown the segments and then mention why I would vote for Carpenter

a) Wainwright pitched more innings, he was there the whole year

Fair enough. Wainwright did lead the NL in innings pitched but didn't necessarily leave his Cy Young competition in the dust. Wainwright had 233, Lincecum 225 1/3 and Carpenter 192 2/3, all three have a long body of work and pitched more than enough innings to contend for the lead in rate statistics (ERA, SO/9, WHIP, etc.)

Using innings pitched for Cy Young Criteria isn't the best logic. For example, Bronson Arroyo was 4th in innings pitched with 220 1/3, but it would be absolutely absurd to vote for him and his 15-13 3.84 era 115 ERA+ season for a Cy Young Award over a more deserving candidate such as Carpenter on this basis.

b) Carpenter had the injury

Alright, he was injured but he only missed about a month. Granted this doesn't help his case but it isn't an automatic dis-qualifier. Still, Carpenter was very dominant and was healthy in the June/July part of the season when the NL Central was close and needed him to step up (which he did). Also, Lincecum only gets a passing mention here and he didn't even lose time to injury.

c) Wainwright led the league in Wins

That's nice...the Cy Young Award is around for the purpose of recognizing the best pitcher. While being a superior pitcher generally leads to more wins, that is not always the case. On a theoretical basis, pitcher A pitches 5 innings gives up 6 runs, leaves with a 10-6 lead which his bullpen holds on to and gets the win. Pitcher B pitches a gem throws 8 shutout innings but gets no run support and gets a no-decision or loss. Is pitcher A a better pitcher because he got the win? no.........while this is one start and a small sample size it does illustrate that having more wins doesn't make one a better pitcher

In a world where wins was used as the criterion for Cy Young voting....a league average pitcher like Jorge de la Rosa 16-9 4.38 era 103 ERA+ would be in this Cy Young discussion while Tim Lincecum's much better 15-win season would be ignored....obviously most people see through the absurdity of the win-total statistic and thankfully no one is dumb enough to vouch for de la Rosa winning a Cy Young for this reason.

To further demonstrate the absurdity of win-loss totals, i'll use my Brewers as an example. Braden Looper (1/2 of the two-headed monster i've named Jaden Loopan) led the Brewers in wins with 14. Was he the best Brewers pitcher this year? Would anyone be dumb enough to argue this? No and I really hope not. Looper gave up a ridiculous amount of home runs but also had a ridiculous amount of run support.

In comparison, Yovani Gallardo had a much better season, was the ace of the staff and ended up with a record of 13-12. Anyone with half a brain would realize that Gallardo is a much better pitcher than Looper and the differences in win-loss records had a lot more to do with one pitcher getting much better run support than anything else........a vote based on win totals could lead to a Looper-esque pitcher being backed for Cy Young Award and that is a scary notion.

d) ERA and Strikeouts don't impress me as much as wins do

Since I just finished a very long-winded rant about the weakness of the win stati'll focus on the ERA part of the argument. Since I don't necessarily hold high batter strikeouts against a player if they are productive hitters otherwise (i.e. Adam Dunn/Mark Reynolds) i'm going to divert my argument towards the ERA side.

While ERA isn't a perfect stat, it does a much better job of measuring pitching effectiveness than wins. It does cut pitchers some slack in some cases such as if they give up a big hit after an error for example but there are worse stats (Wins)....but it gives a reasonable portrayal of how good or bad a pitcher is

Carpenter 2.24

Lincecum 2.48

Wainwright 2.62

Also, even though he hasn't been in the Cy Young discussion at all (due to bad luck in W-L column) i'd like to recognize Jair Jurrgens for having an excellent season and having a better ERA than Wainwright.....he had to work much more for his 14-win season than Braden Looper and Carl Pavano had to work for theirs.

Personally, I depend more on the ERA+ statistic as a better metric and to give context to where these pitchers rank within the league (Carpenter 185+, Lincecum 173+, Wainwright 158 ERA+)........to wrap around to the initial argument, why do I mention these numbers.....well because the object of the Cy Young Award is to recognize the best pitcher and the ERA stats are able to give us a quick and dirty measurement of who pitched better, pitcher A, pitcher B or pitcher C

e) If I had a Vote for the Cy Young Award I would vote in this order and because:

1) Chris Carpenter-By every measurable metric, he has the most well-rounded and dominant body of work....the missed starts weaken his case but it only makes the race closer....but not cost him the award

2) Tim Lincecum- Lincecum is a beast, a freak of nature (in a good way) and one of the most exciting players to watch. If the season had ended in August I may have been swayed to place him #1. However he has two flaws in his body of work which drop him to second. First, he didn't quite measure up statistically to Carpenter. Second, even if he did what he did with the season on the line would have been used as a tie-breaker that he would have lost. He had a bad month (by his standards) a 3.38 era in September and most importantly got rocked in a crucial game against LA on the 20th 5 ER in 4 innings when the Giants were playing for their playoff lives. Carpenter on the other hand, was unbeatable in July (when St. Louis was fighting for NL Central Supremacy) and in August (when they were pulling away).

3) Adam Wainwright- I know it may sound like i'm being critical of him in this article. But he had an amazing season and a strong breakout year. Carpenter's and Lincecum's seasons were just better.

Baseball Weekend Preview

The second to last weekend of regular season baseball is upon us. The pennant races are not as thrilling as usual but there's still a glimmer of hope that if Detroit or Colorado struggles an entertaining week could still happen. As always, the games are ranked from 1 to 5 based on how interesting I find the series.

Red Sox vs. Yankees =1

FRI-TBS, SAT-FOX, SUN-ESPN

Lester vs. Chamberlain

Matsuzaka vs. Sabathia

Byrd vs. Pettite

There are 28 other teams that play major league baseball but these two are the only ones to get slobbering obsessive coverage from the national media. If a playoff series was at stake I could see having all 3 games on national TV but in reality this series is a play-off tune up for both teams. The Yankees have a pretty healthy lead in the AL East and the Red Sox have the wild-card more or less locked up.

Still, there are a few things to watch for this weekend. First, OMG Joba Chamberlain is starting. OMG the Joba Rules....lets see how bad we can mishandle Joba Chamberlain and how much hype we can give an average pitcher who had two really good months...back in '07. This is the real life equivalent of that South Park episode where it's revealed they build up stars at a young age only to watch them self-destruct (Britney Spears/Miley Cyrus).

Second, Can Dice-K bounce back from a bad year and be a factor in the playoffs? He's pitched better in his first two starts back. How he does against the Yankees will go a long way to determine this.

Third, will C.C. Sabathia pitch strong and strengthen his grip for the battle of who's going to finish 2nd in the Cy Young voting to Zack Greinke?

Cubs vs. Giants =3

Sat-FOX Gorzelanny vs. Zito

The Cubs playoff hopes are more or less done. However, they do have a chance to play spoiler and bring the Giants down with them. The Giants have exceeded preseason expectations all year and still have a slim hope at the wild card despite having a horribly inept offense (except for Pablo Sandoval).

The main reason to watch this one is to see if Zito can keep his hot streak alive. After signing a massive contract for the Giants, he has performed significantly worse than the contract given to him. This year he's experienced a resurgence as well and a big start from Zito would do a lot to keep the pressure on the Rockies.

Cardinals vs. Rockies = 3.5

Sat-MLB Network

Wainwright vs. Jimenez

Probably the best series of the weekend. For the Cardinals, this series serves as a play-off tune up as they've long since left the rest of the NL Central in the dust. That doesn't mean they're going to take it easy on the Rockies as they co-ace Adam Wainwright.

For the Rockies, they need to play well in this series to maintain their lead in the wild card race and to seal off their playoff hopes. The Rockies have their own developing ace, Ubaldo Jimenez taking the hill on Saturday.

In other words, expect a really good pitchers duel in this game. Also, as much as I hate to admit...the Cardinals playing well this weekend would be good for MLB overall as it would increase the chance of a thrilling end of season showdown between the Rockies, Giants and Braves.

Baseball For the Weekend: These Races Need to be Closer

So, Baseball is coming down the stretch run, another weekend closer until we can talk about the Playoffs?!!....Also, with the weekend is another batch of games....as always games are ranked on a scale of 1-5.

Angels vs. Rangers =4

SAT-MLB Newtwork (Weaver) vs. (Feldman)

Sun-TBS (Lackey) vs. Holland)

Well this is he Rangers last chance to steal the AL West from the Angels. They've had a solid year to build on in 2009 and seem to have found a formula for the next few years (provided they're able to keep Maddux as their pitching coach). However, when it comes to their 2009 Playoff hopes, they need to sweep the Angels to keep themselves in contention. If this don't happen the Rangers playoff hopes are most likely put on hold for another year.

The Angels, are in a much better position as they sport a comfortable 6 game lead as of this writing (thursday morning). They've gone through a lot of adversity this year, have had struggles in the starting rotation (though Lackey and Weaver are their two starters who have pitched well)..and have benefited from Kendry Morales' breakout year.

The Rangers start one pitcher having a good year (Feldman) the value of which is inflated by his 16 wins and one pitcher having a terrible year (Holland). They counter Morales in the breakout year department with ex-Brewer prospect Nelson Cruz.

Giants vs. Dodgers =4.5

(Penny) vs. (Billingsley) SAT-FOX

The Giants/Dodgers games have a tendency to be entertaining in September regardless of their places in the standings. They have a tendency to play spoiler to each other which is expected out of bitter in-state rivals.

This year it's the Giants who are fighting for their playoff lives after falling 3.5 games out of the Wild Card race and being shut out by Jorge de la Rosa, a pitcher who was so bad when he played for the Brewers that he got exiled to the Royals for Tony Graffanino. Brad Penny had an excellent start against these same Dodgers on Sunday and they need him to repeat that performance to keep their fading playoff hopes alive.

The Dodgers have the best of both worlds. They are likely playoff bound as they have a comfortable 5 game lead in the NL West AND they get a chance to spoil the Giants playoff hopes.

Either way, expect an intense back and forth game with a slight chance of this game being talked about years later.

Twins vs. Tigers =4

(Pavano vs. Verlander) Sat-FOX

Well, it's do or die time for the Twins. They have managed to get themselves within 4 1/2 games of the Tigers and a weekend sweep would be the first step towards wiping out 140 or so games of mediocrity and sneak into the playoffs.

The Twins start Carl Pavano in this one. Despite his injury/mediocrity laden past, he has a chance at redemption in Minnesota. When the Twins traded for him, I argued that the trade was unlikely to make an impact on the race. So far that argument has been weakened as Pavano has pitched reasonably well in Minnesota 3-3 3.75 era 111 ERA+. A strong start by Pavano here as the chance to kill my original argument and make me look like an idiot. Still, I wouldn't mind if this happens since this season needs an epic pennant race (or two) and the Twins playing well this weekend would be a first step towards that.

The Tigers counter with ace Justin Verlander who takes the hill in an attempt to shut down the Twins' said playoff hopes. Also, Verlander has a chance to increase his league lead in Strikeouts and Strikeouts/9IP.

Cubs vs. Cardinals =2

(Dempster vs. Smoltz)=Sat-FOX

(Zambrano vs. Carpenter)= Sun ESPN

In most years a September, Cubs/Cardinals match-up would be more compelling as these two teams are fighting for a playoff spot more often than not.

However, 2009 is a whole different beast as the Cardinals have left the rest of the NL Central in the dust, thus making this series less compelling.

The Cubs only post-season hope is if the Rockies and Giants BOTH choke and stop winning games all-together. That's unlikely to happen so for the Cubs the only motivation is playing for pride while for the Cardinals this series will be a likely playoff tune-up.

Week 1 NFL Preview---Lots of Questions--Too Early For Answers

Well, the 2009 NFL Season is upon us and it is time to preview some (but not all) of the week 1 games. The these previews are going to work is that the Packers get previewed first, followed by whichever games involve players on my fantasy football team (lame but whatever.....I do what I want)

Packers vs. Bears

I wouldn't want the NFL season to start any other way. I've been looking forward to this game since the schedules were released. Packers vs. Bears games are always intense and anything can happen regardless of where these teams are in the standings.

Also, this game will give us a glimpse of who gets first dibs on NFC North supremacy. It will also be the first game (of likely many) matching up Aaron Rodgers against Jay Cutler. For the Packers, we will begin to see how Aaron Rodgers follows up on his excellent first season as a starter. Also, it will be interesting to see if their defense improves from last year or if it's going to still be terrible.

For the Bears, is Jay Cutler their answer? Will he be the strong quarterback the Bears have been seeking since, forever? How will his play affect the balance of power in the NFC North?

Colts vs. Jaguars

How will the Colts play in Jim Caldwell's coaching debut? Will they still be the contenders they have been for the better part of the decade? Also, I am curious to see what number is higher....the amount of commercials starring Peyton Manning that are shown tomorrow or the number of passing yards he has.

The Jaguars are looking to bounce back from a disappointing 2008. They looked to be on the cusp after a strong 2007, but it looks like they could just as easily slip back into mediocrity for a few years.

Falcons vs. Dolphins

The two most surprising teams of 2008 face off against each-other in this match-up. Will the Falcons and Matt Ryan follow up on a strong season or do they regress back into a non-playoff team?

For the Dolphins, does Chad Pennington have another career year and if not how much impact will it have on the Dolphins? Considering that they popularized the WildCat offense last year, what will the Dolphins do in 2009 that half of the league will inevitable rip off? Personally, i'd be cool with them bringing the triple-option offense back in style.

Broncos vs. Bengals

Will Brandon Marshall justify all his off-field arrests, shenanigans, etc. by producing on the field. How many more times does he need to get arrested to either a) get suspended or b) traded to the Bengals.

For the Bengals......will Carson Palmer be a factor for the Bengals and will they be relevant anytime soon? or ever?

Texans vs. Jets

Will the Texans make the playoffs for the first time in franchise history? Will Steve Slaton have the monster/epic season that I think he will have?

For the Jets, how do they recover from the mess that Mangini and that old guy from the wrangler commercials left behind? Will Mark Sanchez be the franchise quarterback that they hope/think that they are getting? Will the Jets ever get past their apparent 9-win glass ceiling?

Redskins vs. Giants

Will the Redskins on-field production match the ridiculous amounts of money spent on the team? How will the Giants be affected by the loss of Plaxico Burress? Will the Giants still be one of the elite teams in the NFC?

Seahawks vs. Rams

How will the NFL be without Mike Holmgren being a head coach? While he isn't THE Jim Mora, I like that there is A Jim Mora with an NFL head coaching job? This begs the question of how long until Jim L. Mora provides the world with a quote that can be repeated ad-naseum and never get old? On second thought, there is NO way to top both Diddly Poo AND Playoffs?!!.

For the Rams, outside of going 0-16 and/or hiring Matt Millen as a GM....there's probably no way this team can get any worse than they were in 2008....

Bills vs. Patriots

Will T.O. be the difference for the Bills and help them make the playoffs for the first time in years? How long before the team-cancer side of T.O. pops up and starts trashing Trent Edwards publicly?

For the Pats...it's a given they'll get back to the playoffs. The main question with them is whether Tom Brady will be able to replicate his record setting 2007 season? Also, will he get the Pats back to the Super Bowl?

Well as you can see, there are a lot of unanswered questions as we head into Week 1 of the NFL season. Some of them may get answered tomorrow. Most of them will probably go unresolved for awhile. This doesn't include yearly factors such as what teams will come out of nowhere to either play much better or worse. Either way this season should be a fun ride.

Weekend Baseball Preview: As Much As I Like the NFL, Baseball Still Comes First

Well, we're another weekend closer to the playoffs.....yet there is more baseball yet to be played...some of it relevant....some of it not so much. As always, games are rated on a scale from 1-5....with that, let the games begin.

Mets vs. Phillies -Saturday FOX/Sunday ESPN =2

Saturday [Pelfrey vs. Happ]

Sunday [Redding vs. Martinez]

Well these two teams are heading in opposite directions. It's tough to tell what's been more disapointing this season for the Mets, their team or their new stadium. The Phillies look to be headed to the playoffs for the third straight season. They have a solid chance to win the title for the second straight year (although I have a gut feeling that Brad Lidge will pitch the Phils out of it at some point)

Saturday the Mets start Mike Pelfrey who has had an uninspring season. He goes up against J.A. Happ who is having an excellent season and looks to be a star in this league for years to come. It is definitely easy to see why the Phillies would not give him up (even for Roy Halladay)

On Sunday the Mets start Tim Redding (who's somehow made 13 starts this year....seriously he's still pitching in the bigs?)....the Phillies counter with ex-Met Pedro Martinez who has pitched solid since coming back from injury.

White Sox vs. Angels- Saturday FOX

(Danks vs. Santana)= 2.5

White Sox management seems to have thrown in the towel by trading Jim Thome, but they have shown a strong ability to play well against teams fighting for a post-season spot as evidenced by them taking 3 of 4 from Boston last weekend. The Angels have a 4 1/2 game lead over Texas in the west and seem headed towards another post-season appearance.

The White Sox are starting John Danks who has had a solid season. Even though the White Sox are the weaker team, anytime Danks starts the White Sox have a chance to beat superior competition. The Angels start Ervin Santana who has followed up a strong 2008 by having a horrible season. Even though the Angels are the better team, the White Sox definitely have the upper hand for at least Saturday.

Braves vs. Cardinals =3

(Hudson vs. Lohse)

The Braves are fighting for their NL East and Wild Card lives while the Cardinals are cruising with a large lead over the joke that is the rest of the NL Central.

The Braves start Tim Hudson who is making his 3rd start of the season. Hudson's return bolsters an already strong Braves rotation....unfortunately for the Braves, it seems to be too little too late. The Cardinals counter with Kyle Lohse who is doing what Kyle Lohse has always done....eat innings at the back of the rotation and making sure the 4/5 spot is in decent shape.

Dodgers vs. Giants---Saturday MLB Network/Sunday TBS

(Padilla vs. Sanchez)

(Billingsley vs. Penny)

The Dodgers are struggling at the wrong time of the season and have seen their once insurmountable NL West lead sink to 2 1/2 games. The Giants have also picked a bad time to struggle and are quickly fading behind the Rockies for the Wild Card lead.

Saturday, the Dodgers start Vicente Padilla who has actually pitched well since being cut by the Rangers. The Giants counter with Sanchez who has pitched well in the second-half and is coming off a strong no-decision versus Milwaukee last weekend.

Sunday, the Dodgers start Billingsley who has quietly had a solid season (even though he leads the NL with wild pitches), the Giants start Brad Penny who pitched terrible in Boston, but has pitched like a star in his first two Giants starts. Come to think about, a lot of AL pitchers have gotten cut for being terrible only to factor in NL teams playoff hopes.....even Vicente Padilla.....point being the Giants need Penny to continue his hot streak to keep the Giants postseason hopes alive.

Spoiler Opportunity #1-Brewers/Giants Preview

The Brewers started September with an uninspiring thud.....losing 2 out of 3 to St. Louis to fall 13 games out of first while the Giants are 1 game behind the Rockies in the NL Wild Card race which is definitely the most entertaining pennant race in baseball right now. With that said it's time to take a look at the matchups.

Brewers (65-68) vs. Giants (73-61)

Suppan (6-8 5.20 era 81 ERA+) vs. Zito (9-11 3.94 era 110 ERA+)

A battle of two pitchers who are not as good as their massive contracts indicate. At this point, the bar is set so low with Jeff Suppan that anytime he gives up less than 5 runs in a game is a miracle. He actually pitched well in his last start....and I don't have much faith in his ability to string together two straight good starts. Speaking of large contracts, Zito has taken a lot of heat for not living up to his $126 million mega contract. Unlike Suppan, Zito is at least pitching decently this year even if he's not getting the wins.

Saturday

Gallardo (12-10 3.56 era 119 ERA+) vs. Cain (12-4 2.50 era 173 ERA+)

The Brewers one solid starting pitcher takes the hill Saturday and as usual he is taking the hill against the opposing team's best pitcher (or in this case someone who would be the best pitcher in any rotation w/o Tim Lincecum in it). This will likely be the most captivating game of the series. Gallardo gets a chance to show he's a legit pitcher on the national television and Cain gets a chance to help his Cy Young case and the Giants playoff hopes.

Sunday

Looper (11-6 4.92 era 86 ERA+) vs. Sanchez (6-11 4.15 era 104 ERA+)

Braden Looper gets the start Sunday and another chance to increase his home runs allowed total. Coming into Sunday's game, the Looper has given up 33 homers leaving him tied for 153rd all time. The Giants start Sanchez who has recovered from a slow start to throw a no-hitter against the Padres and pitch well for the last couple of months.

Well, that's what is on tap for the Brewers...........a team that is a sweep away from .500

The (Late) Weekend Preview

Well , it's coming a day later than usual.....but the weekend preview is here....as always games are ranked on a scale of 1-5.....and with that.....let the games begiiiiiin

Dodgers [Haeger] vs. Reds [Maloney] Saturday FOX =2

These teams have had very opposite seasons. Despite their recent struggles, the Dodgers are still the team to beat in the NL West and start the weekend with a 4-game lead. The start knuckleballer Charlie Haeger who pitched very impressively last weekend against the Cubs, getting his first win of the season. The Reds [despite their sweep of the Brewers] are still a team going nowhere and nowhere fast....despite playing well enough to be within striking distance in the first half of the season....they still sit a whopping 16 games under .500.....they counter with rookie Matt Maloney who is making his fourth start and still seeking his first ML win...thus far his closest claim to ML fame was being traded for Kyle Lohse in 2007.....another fun fact is if you look up Matt Maloney on wikipedia it defaults to the ex-Houston Rocket of the same name.....

Mets [Parnell] vs. Cubs [Dempster] =2---Saturday FOX

A match-up between two teams who have played worse than expected this year. The Mets have been decimated by injuries and start Bobby Parnell who has pitched primarily in the bullpen this year. The Cubs counter with Ryan Dempster.....who has regressed back to his career averages...not the best way to follow-up a career year and the ensuing contract extension.....

Rays [Price] vs. Tigers [Robertson] =3.5 Saturday FOX

Not the most exciting match-up...but it gets bumped up a point since there are playoff implications. The Rays are sitting 3 1/2 games out of the wild-card starts David Price. The Tigers are up 4 games in the AL Central and they are giving Nate Robertson his first start of the season...

Giants [Zito] vs. Rockies [Marquis]---Saturday MLB Network =4

Easily the best game on TV this weekend. The Giants and Rockies are in a battle for the wild card spot. As of this writing, the Rockies are up 3 games. It will take a lot to out-do the series they had last week culminating in a 14th inning grand slam.

White Sox [Garcia] vs. Yankees [Chamberlain] = 2 Sunday TBS

This game gets a point knocked off because the Yankees are involved. The White Sox despite struggling this year are still only 4 games behind the Tigers. They trot-out injury prone Freddy Garcia who is making his 3rd start of the season. The Yankees trot out Joba Chamberlain.....who is definitely gets more hype/publication than than he would if he didn't play in New York.....but hey not if you lead the league in hit batsmen....well i can't think of anything else significant he's done this year

Braves [Jurrjens] vs. Phillies [Blanton] = 3.5 Sunday ESPN

A Solid NL-East battle to finish off the weekend. The Braves bring in start Jurrjens who has pitched much better than his 10-8 record. The Phillies counter with Joe Blanton...a very prototypical mid-rotation pitcher....the Braves need to take at least 2 of 3 this weekend as they are sitting 7 back in the NL East and need to go on a tear to make a deeper impact on the wild card..........

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.

The Thursday Post

Well it's Thursday and that means time to look ahead to another weekend of baseball games..........as always games are ranked on a scale of 1 to 5......and let the games begin

Phillies vs. Braves-Saturday [TBD vs. Kawakami] FOX =4
Sunday [TBD vs. Vasquez] ESPN =4

Definitely one of the better series this weekend. The Phillies have gotten a bit complacent lately letting half of their NL East lead in a recent sweep against the Marlins. The Phils have not decided who to pitch this weekend.

For the Braves, they have played some of their best ball in the last couple of weeks, breaking away from .500 land. They still have work to do as they still sit at 4 1/2 back. It will be interesting to see if Kawakami can follow up his strong start in L.A. with another clutch start on Saturday. On sunday, they bring out Javier Vasquez who is quietly having his best season this year.

Phillies win Saturday, Braves win Sunday

Giants [Cain] vs. Mets [Santana]- Saturday FOX = 3.5

This match-up gets an extra point and a half due to the pitching match-up. While the Mets have two strikes against them [they play in New York and not being good] the Mets are worth watching in this game solely due to Johan Santana getting the start.

The Giants are in a year long experiment to see how inept a team can be offensively while still making the playoffs. While Tim Lincecum has gotten his well-deserved respect for helping this cause along, Matt Cain is having a MONSTER season and has played a big part into why the Giants are within striking distance [ 1 1/2 games back] of the wild card.

Giants win this game 1-0

Indians [Huff] vs. Twins [TBD] =2

This match-up looked a lot better before the season began. At this point of the season, not so much. This is the teams first meeting after consummating that epic trade bringing Carl Pavano to Minnesota.

The Skeleton Indians start a rookie named David Huff who i've never even heard of. Looking at his stats it's easy to see since he's having by all stretches of the imagination, a terrible year [6-6 6.72 era 68 ERA+]

The Twins have yet to decide who they're starting but does it matter. While they are only 5 games back, they seem to be going nowhere and through the motions.......if they're gonna make a run...sweeping the skeleton Indians would be a good first step.

Whoever the Twins start is getting themselves a win.

Rangers vs. Red Sox [Penny vs. Holland] Saturday MLB Network =4
[Tazawa vs. Nippert] Sunday TBS


The pitching match-ups may not be top notch but this game has very heavy wild card implications. As of this writing, the Red Sox are clinging to a 1/2 game wild card lead over the rangers. The Red Sox had a terrible weekend in New York but bounced back by taking 3 out of 4 from the Tigers.

This will be a close and high scoring series. Both teams have loaded offenses and will be going up against pitchers that just aren't that good. The Red Sox will probably will do just enough pitching wise to pull out the series win.

Weekend Preview: The Post-Trade Deadline Addition

Another weekend is upon us which means another preview of this weekend's televised Baseball action.....games are ranked 1-5 based on the compelling-ness of the match-up


Saturday FOX Afternoon (Regional)

Yankees (Burnett) vs. White Sox (Danks) =2

Yankees......zzzzzz......wake me in the playoffs. White Sox.....lucky for them they are playing in a weak AL Central and sit only 3 games out despite struggling most of the season.

Expect Good Games Out of: Paul Konerko, Jorge Posada
Don't Expect Good Games Out of: A.J. Pierzynski, Derek Jeter

Dodgers (Wolf) vs. Braves (Lowe) = 3

Dodgers are crusing through the NL West. Braves have been up and down this year and have ex-Dodger Derek Lowe pitching for them.

Expect Good Game Out of: Chipper Jones, Rafael Furcal
Don't Expect Good Game Out of: Juan Pierre

Royals (TBD) vs. Rays (Niemann) =1

Decent Rays team fighting for wild-card against a Royals team that has taken up permanent residency as irrelevents.....to think it was only may when the Royals were in first and the Onion wrote an article about the Royals not being able to find themselves in the standings


Expect Good Game out of: Jeff Niemann
Don't Expect Good Game out of: The Royals

Saturday night MLB Game

Cardinals (Carpenter) vs. Astros (Rodriguez) =4

Sure these teams aren't great but this game does carry pennant race implications. The Cards are tied for the Cubs for first while the Astros are tied with the Brewers at 4 games out of first.....the Astros might be the weaker team on paper but they do tend to play really well the last couple months of the year.....definitely the best game out of the televised action on Saturday.

Expect Good Games out of: Ivan Rodriguez, Matt Holliday
Don't Expect Good Games out of: Miguel Tejada, Brendan Ryan

Sunday TBS Game:

Phillies (Hamels) vs. Giants (Zito) =3.5

Potential playoff preview. The Phillies just acquired Cliff Lee for a lot less than what the Blue Jays were asking....the Phillies (along with the Dodgers) look to be the teams to beat in the National League...the Giants suprising season plugs along as they are clinging on to the Wild Card lead.....Ryan Garko may not be Cliff Lee but he should make a positive impact in the starting line up

Expect Good Games Out of: Jimmy Rollins
Don't Expect Good Games Out of: Bengie Molina, Raul Ibanez

Dodgers (Billingsley) vs. Braves (Jurrgens) = 3.5

Good weekend ending match-up. Sold starter in Billingsley versus Jair Jurrjens who is quietly having a much better season (155 ERA+) than his 9-7 record would indicate

Expect Good Game Out of: Jair Jurrjens
Don't Expect Good Game Out of: Ryan Church