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[devilsrule33]

Crazy how a pitcher can have 6 RBIs in 287 career ABs and match that all with two swings today. Chris Carpenter knocks in 6 a grand slam (his first ever home run) and a 2-run double (his 5th double of his career)

One other thing that amazes me...how about Alex Rios. You think Kenny Williams wants a mulligan with that one. Things were bad with Rios in Toronto, but I don't think anyone saw this. His stats in Chicago:

.175/.208/.277 with 29 strikeouts to 6 walks. I didn't think a major league player could have an OBP that low.

[nmigliore]

.175/.208/.277 with 29 strikeouts to 6 walks. I didn't think a major league player could have an OBP that low.

I thought that was a good move for Toronto to let Chicago scoop him up. Hes got about $60M left on his contract and I can see why Toronto wanted no part of it, especially when they are paying Wells so much money.

Next year should be an interesting one for Rios, his peripherals have been on the decline the past few years:

BB% / K% / IsoP (Isolated Power) / wOBA (weighted on base average)

2007: 7.9% / 16% / .201 / .368

2008: 6.5% / 17.6% / .170 / .350

2009: 6.1% / 18.7% / .148 / .302

I think he'll bounce back a bit though.. I would be surprised if hes a .243/.292/.391 hitter again next year. Its like you said with Wells - he just HAS to bounce back

edit: Forgot to add that the Rockies clinched a playoff spot. And, ironically, they finish off their season with a 3-game set vs the NL West-leading Dodgers with a chance to win the division if they sweep the series (unlikely, facing Wolf and Kershaw). Anyway, if there is a team I will be 'rooting' for this post-season its them.

Edited October 2, 2009 by nmigliore

[devilsrule33]

Well things in Toronto just got a lot interesting. Apparently there is close to mutiny against manager Cito Gaston. Ken Rosenthal broke the story late last night or this morning.

"It's nearly a mutiny right now," one source says. "He has lost the entire team."

The Jays are not playing like a club in turmoil

[devilsrule33]

More Jays talk...with the J.P. Ricciardi era finally over.

http://tsn.ca/mlb/story/?id=293555

Go Twins today. Make it interesting.

Anyone think C.C totally blew his chance at the Cy. Won't get 20 runs and took a bit hit to the ERA. The only thing voters look at.

Edited October 3, 2009 by devilsrule33

[DH26]

More Jays talk...with the J.P. Ricciardi era finally over.

http://tsn.ca/mlb/story/?id=293555

Go Twins today. Make it interesting.

Anyone think C.C totally blew his chance at the Cy. Won't get 20 runs and took a bit hit to the ERA. The only thing voters look at.

CC wasn't winning it anyway. There should be an investigation if Greinke doesn't win with the numbers he's put up. And thank god we never have to see JP anymore. But why would they put him in charge of trading Halladay if they were just going to get rid of him after the season?

[NJDevs4978]

One other thing that amazes me...how about Alex Rios. You think Kenny Williams wants a mulligan with that one. Things were bad with Rios in Toronto, but I don't think anyone saw this. His stats in Chicago:

.175/.208/.277 with 29 strikeouts to 6 walks. I didn't think a major league player could have an OBP that low.

And to think people on a Mets board I post on scoffed when I said Bobby Abreu and Adam Dunn were better players than Rios. Here's a typically funny Ozzie Guillen rip:

What have I seen from Rios? A lot of outs. The only batting ninth guy making $5 million was me. This motherf

[nmigliore]

Anyone think C.C totally blew his chance at the Cy. Won't get 20 runs and took a bit hit to the ERA. The only thing voters look at.

Good, he didn't deserve it anyway. I can point out about 3 more deserving candidates: Zach Greinke (duh), Roy Halladay, and Felix Hernandez.

Just to add to Greinke's credentials - the kid has been just flat out dominant in the 2nd half this year: 1.97 ERA, .207 batting average against (.589 OPS against!), 10.1 K/9 .. his record was only 6-3 but judging pitchers by wins and losses is the dumbest thing one can do.

[NJDevs4978]

As far as Greinke goes he can probably cinch the Cy Young today by eliminating the Twins or at least reducing their magic number though I guess the knock on him up to this point was he didn't pitch against the top teams in the league until beating the Red Sox a couple weeks ago.

Has Halladay ever won the Cy Young? I'm not sure he even has which is hard to believe, I guess Santana in the AL made it tough but still you could pretty much give it to Halladay any year.

[nmigliore]

Halladay won the Cy Young in 2003.

edit: his highlights that year - 3.25 ERA, He won 22 games, pitched 266 innings, threw 9 complete games, walked only 33 batters (finishing 1.1 BB/9), he averaged like 7.4 IP per game start in 2003 too... insane.

Edited October 3, 2009 by nmigliore

[devilsrule33]

Good, he didn't deserve it anyway. I can point out about 3 more deserving candidates: Zach Greinke (duh), Roy Halladay, and Felix Hernandez.

Just to add to Greinke's credentials - the kid has been just flat out dominant in the 2nd half this year: 1.97 ERA, .207 batting average against (.589 OPS against!), 10.1 K/9 .. his record was only 6-3 but judging pitchers by wins and losses is the dumbest thing one can do.

Unfortunately this is what so many voters look at: win-loss record, ERA, strikeouts. Some say they study this thing like an exam, but for others...

I would vote for CC, but not so much for that reason. I would vote for him because when he came to the Yankees, he was under extreme pressure to do three things: 1) win games; 2) be the ace of the staff; 3) beat Boston. The only thing left to do is lead them in the playoffs, but the votes will be in before the playoffs. There have been a lot of guys that they brought to that staff to be the ace and haven't, guys like Randy Johnson. CC will have more innings pitched, Greinke may have better other numbers. But for me it's innings pitched and wins and losses. But you can not take away from what Greinke has done. I would not argue with anyone who votes for him.

That was Joe Morgan. Now everyone knows Morgan is an idiot, but a lot of people are no different from him when picking the award winners.

Edited October 3, 2009 by devilsrule33

[devilsrule33]

Halladay won the Cy Young in 2003.

edit: his highlights that year - 3.25 ERA, He won 22 games, pitched 266 innings, threw 9 complete games, walked only 33 batters (finishing 1.1 BB/9), he averaged like 7.4 IP per game start in 2003 too... insane.

Some other highlights from that season: Won 15 straight decisions (a streak that went from April 20th to August 25th) and pitched the first extra inning shutout since Jack Morris in game 7 of the 1991 World Series. He gave up his first hit in the top of the 8th and only allowed 3.

Edited October 3, 2009 by devilsrule33

[nmigliore]

Some other highlights from that season: Won 15 straight decisions (a streak that went from April 20th to August 25th) and pitched the first extra inning shutout since Jack Morris in game 7 of the 1991 World Series. He gave up his first hit in the top of the 8th and only allowed 3.

Thats just insane. No other ways to describe it.

As for Cy Young voting though - As stupid as it may sound, wins are just such a weak measurement. Livan Hernandez typically ends up with like 11-15 wins every year, with a good amount of innings thrown too, but yet his other peripherals are always between below average-to-awful (for example: his ERA is usually in the mid-to-high 4's or low 5's, his batting average against and WHIP are always high, his HR/9 has been pretty bad the past few years too).

I just don't understand why the voters go by that so much. I mean, despite C.C. Sabathia having more wins on his record than Zach Greinke, Zack Greinke's performance this year [in terms of value] has been worth 3 more wins to his team than CC Sabathia's has. Its not made up. The pitcher's win-loss record should be the last thing they look it, if at all.

Even if you don't look at VORP and WAR etc, you can see who the better pitcher was this year without using their win-loss records:

Greinke - 223.1 IP, 2.06 ERA, 7.6 H/9, 0.4 HR/9, 2.0 BB/9, 9.6 K/9, 213 ERA+

Sabathia - 230 IP, 3.37 ERA, 7.7 H/9, 0.7 HR/9, 2.6 BB/9, 7.7 K/9, 133 ERA+

And the "well CC plays in a big-time hitter's park" excuse is still poor here since Greinke blows Sabathia away in ERA+ which factors in league and ballpark factors. And even the "well CC has faced tougher lineups" excuse is poor as well - Greinke's Opp_Qual_OPS is higher.

Edited October 3, 2009 by nmigliore

[devilsrule33]

My favourite baseball column of the year. Jayson Stark's year end awards, which include the injuries of the year, box scores of the year, craziest games of the year and a whole lot more.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=4526015

Just Joshin': June 7: Diamondbacks 9, Padres 6 in 18 mesmerizing innings. The Padres really aren't required by their lease at Petco Park to play one 18-inning game every year. It just seems like it. You had 18 different pitchers combine to throw 593 pitches in this game. David Eckstein, a man with zero homers at the time, tied it with a three-run pinch homer with two outs in the ninth. But after that, 31 Padres hitters came to the plate -- and none of them got a hit. And it still took the Diamondbacks nine innings to win it, on a three-run 18th-inning homer by Mark Reynolds -- off an infielder. That was Josh Wilson, who became the fourth position player in the last 40 years to figure out a way to become a losing pitcher. Incredibly, Wilson had just pitched in a game for the Diamondbacks 27 days earlier. So he also became the first position player to pitch for two teams in one year since Willie Smith did it in 1968. Was Josh Wilson the most historic figure of 2009? Maybe Ichiro, Derek Jeter and Pudge Rodriguez will fight us on that. But he sure kept Year in Review entertained.

One of the weirder delays:

http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=5370943

Edited October 3, 2009 by devilsrule33

[nmigliore]

Bah, the NL Cy Young is so close. Lincecum has had the more dominant peripherals and value but Carpenter has had the edge in record and ERA (although I will say Lincecum has the better FIP). Javier Vazquez is definitely worth mentioning too. I still like Lincecum for the award, but Chris Carpenter will probably win it because of the ERA and record.

The NL Rookie of the Year is also a tough one. Personally, I like Tommy Hanson: 11-4, 2.89 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 8.2 K/9

Jim Tracy should easily run away with the NL Manager of the Year.

Other than that everything seems fine. Mauer and Pujols are my MVPs, Greinke is my AL Cy Young, and Andrew Bailey is my AL Rookie of the Year.

Edit: Off topic to the awards discussion, but wow, the Twins are up 4-1 vs the Royals in the 7th. All 4 runs came against Greinke and Nick Blackburn is pitching a gem. The Tigers have a rookie starter (Alfredo Figaro) going against the White Sox later. With a Twins win (looking likely) and a White Sox loss, both teams would be tied for 1st place heading into their final games tomorrow. What a collapse this could be for Detroit.

Edited October 3, 2009 by nmigliore

[devilsrule33]

Bah, the NL Cy Young is so close. Lincecum has had the more dominant peripherals and value but Carpenter has had the edge in record and ERA (although I will say Lincecum has the better FIP). Javier Vazquez is definitely worth mentioning too. I still like Lincecum for the award, but Chris Carpenter will probably win it because of the ERA and record.

The NL Rookie of the Year is also a tough one. Personally, I like Tommy Hanson: 11-4, 2.89 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 8.2 K/9

Jim Tracy should easily run away with the NL Manager of the Year.

Other than that everything seems fine. Mauer and Pujols are my MVPs, Greinke is my AL Cy Young, and Andrew Bailey is my AL Rookie of the Year.

But the real question is...was David Aardsma's injury your worst injury of the year?

And if the Twins can hold the lead, they will be making the AL Central division race very very interesting. They look like they have got passed Greinke, which is no easy talk. Greinke hadn't given up more than one run in over a month.

Edited October 3, 2009 by devilsrule33

[nmigliore]

But the real question is...was David Aardsma's injury your worst injury of the year?

Im sensing some sarcasm here '

I kinda feel bad for Detroit. If you look at their 'probable pitchers' schedule it already has the Twins vs Tigers 1-game playoff game set for Tuesday at 5pm.

Edited October 3, 2009 by nmigliore

[devilsrule33]

Im sensing some sarcasm here '

I kinda feel bad for Detroit. If you look at their 'probable pitchers' schedule it already has the Twins vs Tigers 1-game playoff game set for Tuesday at 5pm.

Not really sarcasm. You just went into his predictions, which I enjoy reading too since Stark gets it, but I just enjoy the column for all the other stuff you never talked about like the ridiculous box scores and pitching lines or the recaps of the craziest plays of the year.

I'd feel bad for the city of Detroit if they missed the playoffs. They need something to cheer about. The whole auto industry crisis, the Wings losing game 7 of the Cup Finals, the end of an era for those fantastic Pistons teams with Billups and Wallace gone, the Lions going 0-16. Now if you add this...that just be too cruel.

But you have to respect what a small budget team like the Twins are doing without arguably their best player (maybe not this season, but most years).

Edited October 3, 2009 by devilsrule33

[nmigliore]

Not really sarcasm. You just went into his predictions, which I enjoy reading too since Stark gets it, but I just enjoy the column for all the other stuff you never talked about like the ridiculous box scores and pitching lines or the recaps of the craziest plays of the year.

I think he pretty much has everything right with his Least Valuable Players and his Cy Yuks. I can't offer up my own boxscores, I'll leave that one up to Stark who does a great job with finding that stuff. Craziest plays? Come on, that one's too easy for me - just watch the Mets.

But you have to respect what a small budget team like the Twins are doing without arguably their best player (maybe not this season, but most years).

Yeah, the Twins have a great minor league system and a core of great home grown talent. And sadly the Royals just tied it 4-4 which gets Greinke off the hook.

edit: Michael Cuddyer goes yard now to give the Twins the 5-4 lead in the bottom of the 8th, wow! If there is 1 player whose stepped up for them in the absence of Morneau its been him.

Edited October 3, 2009 by nmigliore

[devilsrule33]

I think he pretty much has everything right with his Least Valuable Players and his Cy Yuks. I can't offer up my own boxscores, I'll leave that one up to Stark who does a great job with finding that stuff. Craziest plays? Come on, that one's too easy for me - just watch the Mets.

Yeah, the Twins have a great minor league system and a core of great home grown talent. And sadly the Royals just tied it 4-4 which gets Greinke off the hook.

edit: Michael Cuddyer goes yard now to give the Twins the 5-4 lead in the bottom of the 8th, wow!

Those players owed it to Greinke to get him off the hook. I am sure most of them feel terrible about what they have done for Greinke this season.

[nmigliore]

So the Twins won and the White Sox just got done putting a beating on the Tigers; heading into the final game of the regular season, 1st place in the NL Central is tied.

Tigers' final game: tomorrow vs White Sox (Verlander vs Danks), 1pm ET

Twins' final game: tomorrow vs Royals (Duensing vs Hochevar), 2pm ET

And while I'm at it....

The goat of September for the Tigers: Brandon Inge (.216/.298/.314)

The star of September for the Twins: Michael Cuddyer (.282/.321/.563, 8 HR!)

Should be fun.

EDIT (sunday) : Hmm, apparently the Twins are going with Pavano on 3-days rest instead of Brian Duensing, which I find a little strange. Pavano has a 6.63 ERA vs KC in 6 starts against them this season.

Edited October 4, 2009 by nmigliore

[DH26]

I really hope the Yankees end up playing the Twins. Like the Sox have owned the Angels, the Yankees have owned the Twins (the last time the Yanks won a series was 04 against the Twins) and haven't lost a game to them this year. I'm scared to death of CC vs. Verlander since CC hasn't exactly been stellar in the playoffs in his career. The yankees knocked him around in 2007 but just couldn't hit Carmona.

Anyway, I guess the MVP is sewn up for Mauer...

[nmigliore]

I wouldn't worry about Sabathia in the playoffs. In 2007 he threw a career high 241 IP (which is a significant jump from the 192 he threw the year prior) so he was probably really wore down. As for his struggles in the 2008 postseason (well it was only 1 start but he got hit hard by Philly) it was because he was definitely worn down then too; the Brewers were using him on like 3 days rest for the last 2 weeks of the season and he ended up logging a career high 253 innings.

He threw 230 this year which is still pretty high but I would imagine hes used to it and he also will have proper rest, which he didn't have for the last 2-3 weeks with the Brewers last year.

Edited October 4, 2009 by nmigliore

[Hi, I'm VALUE!]

Has anyone else heard the story going around out of Detroit about Miguel Cabrera?

I got a listen to it on the FAN at lunch today and almost crashed my car laughing.

To paraphrase: After the Tigers loss on Friday, Miguel Cabrera drops off the grid. He reappears at his wife's house at 6 AM drunk out of his goddamn mind. One thing leads to another, police are called, and Cabrera ends up in lockdown, to be bailed out by his GM Dombrowski. Apparently Cabrera went out partying that night...with the White Sox players that were celebrating their win.

There's a quality teammate right there.

[nmigliore]

Tigers @ Twins, 5pm ET on TBS. Porcello vs Baker. Oooh this is gonna be good. I'm taking Minny in this game, they are just too hot while Detroit sorta stumbled into this game. Plus, the MetroDome is going to be rocking and the 20 year old kid (Porcello) is gonna have a ton of pressure on him. Oh, and Kubel owns Porcello.

And the Miguel Cabrera incident certainly doesn't help either.

Edited October 6, 2009 by nmigliore

[nmigliore]

Amazing. 3 of Orlando Cabrera's 4 hits in his career vs Zach Miner are homeruns.

Edited October 6, 2009 by nmigliore