Pujols vs. A-Rod—Who’s the Best Hitter
Who is the best hitter in baseball? Last year it would have seemed unanimous that it was A-Rod. A-Rod had one of the best seasons in history outside of the steroid era. This year, however, it is a different story.
Quietly, Pujols is putting up some ridiculous numbers himself this year. He doesn’t have the home runs of A-Rod last year, or the RBI, but some of that is due to missing a few games to injury, and some of it is due to not playing in as potent a lineup.
I took the liberty of comparing the numbers of Pujols and A-Rod over the past 5 seasons plus this season so far.
Pujols: .339 AVG, 239 HR, 691 RBI, 697 Runs, 538 BB, 330 KO
A-Rod: .302 AVG, 248 HR, 709 RBI, 701 Runs, 495 BB, 748 KO
These two guys are undoubtedly the best hitters in the league over this time period. The power numbers are nearly the same, though A-Rod has a slight advantage. There is a significant difference in average and strikeout to walk ratio, in which Pujols has a clear advantage. Pujols is a much better contact hitter, striking out fewer than half as many times as A-Rod and getting more walks.
Pujols has amazing plate discipline and is a threat each year to win the batting crown, whereas A-Rod is a .300 hitter that gets KO’ed 120 times a season. Let’s not forget that A-Rod has had much more protection in the Yankee lineup than Pujols has ever had in the St. Louis lineup.
A-Rod has had some amazingly productive seasons, but his playing with the Yankees has put him in the spotlight as the best hitter in the game. Pujols has been relegated to playing second fiddle mainly because of having to play in St. Louis.
A-Rod is better on the base paths, but I am only considering the best hitter, not the best all around player. I am going to have to go with Pujols being the best hitter in the game. A-Rod is amazing and deserves all the pub he gets, but Pujols is simply a better hitter.
Here Comes Instant Replay
It appears as if we are really going to have some sort of instant replay in baseball and most likely by the end of the regular season. This is good news for the pennant races and the playoffs. Those pesky balls bouncing off foul polls can now be called correctly.
There is not set timetable on when the instant replay will go into effect, but the equipment is already being installed in stadiums and the details of how the replay is to be used are being ironed out, as they say.
The most likely use will be on foul vs. fair balls and on whether or not the ball actually goes over the fence. I hope there is something in place to consider fan interference. Ask Moises Alou, there is nothing worse that some little snotty kid reaching his grubby little hands (or glove) over the fence to take the ball out of your glove.
I would be for extending instant replay to plays at the bags, or at least plays at the plate. I see so many missed calls around the bags; it would be nice if they could get those right as well, especially when we are talking about a play at the plate that means a run. Those plays at the plate are hard calls to make because of the collisions and the out of the baseline slides.
I’m not trying to say that the umps do a bad job; I am simply saying that these are tough calls to make, and it wouldn’t hurt to have some backup on those important calls.
Some people say instant replay will slow down the game, but we all know that is ridiculous; just take a look at football and basketball. Besides, if there is one game in which they don’t care about slowing down, its baseball.
I do wonder how the managers are going to eventually take this, especially guys like “Sweet” Lou Piniella and Bobby Cox. Are they really going to argue over an instant replay call? They will, seemingly, have less to argue over. They may actually go into some sort of strange withdraw. I don’t know if I would like a sweeter, kinder Lou.
Fantasy MVP Possibly Done for Season
Ian Kinsler has hit the DL with a sports hernia and there is serious talk about season-ending surgery. Actually, it seems more like a foregone conclusion that he is done for the year. If you are like me, and are counting on Kinsler to lead your fantasy team to a championship, you are certainly crying the blues right now.
Kinsler has been the undisputed fantasy MVP for this season. I am in a points league, and at the moment, he has scored the most points of any other hitter. Some may argue that Carlos Quentin, Josh Hamilton, or Nate McLouth should be considered the MVP because of their draft position. These guys are all outfielders, where as Kinsler plays at the thin 2B position. Considering his position and where he was drafted, Kinsler has been the most valuable.
This is a disaster for my team, as I am currently in 2nd place, hot on the heels of first place, but also with 2 other teams close behind me. It is a money league, and if I drop to 4th I am out any money.
It is a really big deal for one of the top fantasy studs to go down for the rest of the season. The scramble for a 2B to fill the void is frightening if you don’t have another good guy on your bench. I had to go with Freddy Sanchez, because there is no bench in my league and each team carries 2 second basemen.
You may not be in the same precarious boat as me: your pickings may not be as slim. Here are a few guys you should check out to replace your fantasy leader.
Alexei Ramirez: This rookie has been on fire since getting the starting gig. He has plenty of pop, is hitting over .300, and even steals some bases. He is probably the top guy that may be available in your league, currently available in about 20 percent of all leagues.
Ian Stewart: It depends upon your league eligibility rules, but Stewart did play 8 games earlier in the year at 2B and may be eligible. He has tons of pop and potential and is hitting well right now.
Rickie Weeks: He is day-to-day right now, but is expected to begin playing again this week. Many have soured on him and he is currently available in about 25 percent of leagues. He is streaky and risky, but you may not have much of a choice.
Mark Ellis: You will have to endure a low average (.233 at the moment), but he hits some dingers and steals some bases.
Alexi Casilla: He is scheduled to come of the DL on Wednesday and should get his starting job back. He hits for a good average (over .300 on the year), but doesn’t do much else.
If you can’t get any of these guys, you can also grab Sanchez, or if Ty Wigginton is eligible as a 2B in your league you should grab him right now.
I am still devastated by this loss. It was unexpected and was the last player on my team I could afford to lose because of having to start 2 second basemen.
Please get better and don’t have the surgery Kinsler. The fantasy world is counting on you. Oh yeah, your teammates might be counting on you too.
Sheffield Should Just Shut-Up
Just when you thought Gary Sheffield had just gotten over his tendency to run his mouth, he proves that he can still tick off his manager and organization. Sheffield opened his mouth to complain about having to DH and taking a seat on the bench every so often.
I think Gary is forgetting that he is in the major leagues and that guys who can’t get the ball back into the infield, don’t need to be playing in the outfield. I also suppose he is forgetting that guys who are hitting .222 with only 10 home runs and 33 RBI aren’t exactly guaranteed to have a spot in the lineup each and every night.
According to Leyland, Sheffield was told before coming to Detroit that he would be the DH. Sheffield was promised nothing more than to play DH for a contender and hit in the middle of a stacked lineup offering him protection. Sheffield promised he would hit well enough to earn his $14 million. It appears to me that only one side lived up to its bargain. Of course, you could say that the Tigers are not really contending anymore this season.
Sheffield has a long history of speaking his mind, which is fine, except when you say stupid things to tick off those that sign your paycheck. Most teams have overlooked his occasional outbursts because he was still a beast with the bat. The bat isn’t there anymore and this recent stupid thing has reportedly put him on the waiver wires. A just-in report claims that Sheffield has been put on waivers by the Tigers.
Now this doesn’t necessarily mean that what Sheffield said is the reason for him being on waivers. I mean the guy is not producing, but the complaining surely didn’t help.
Another just-in report; as I am writing this Sheffield has just hit his 2nd home run of the night. Talk about timing.
Regardless of the two dingers Sheffield just hit, his mouth and salary make him too expensive for the production he gives. If he thinks that old timer Jim Leyland is going to deal with him pouting and not knocking in runs, then Sheffy has a rude awakening coming.
As if the Rays Needed a Challenge
Tampa, known only for futility, is now is the position of having to fight off the two most dominant baseball franchises over the past decade to win their division. That is a difficult enough a challenge for a franchise that is just learning how to win, but now they have to do so without a couple of their best players.
Carl Crawford may be done for the year, and Evan Longoria is going to be out at least 2-3 weeks. This is much more damaging than just losing offensive punch and speed on the bases. This is messing with team defense and, in turn, messing with the pitching staff that has been so good this year.
Crawford and Longoria are two of the best defensive players in baseball. The real secret to the Ray’s success this year has been their defense. The young pitching staff has the confidence to throw strikes because they know the defense will be there. If some balls starting landing in the gaps and getting over the third base line, those close games during the heat of the pennant race will go the other way.
There is very little room for error in the last 45 games if the Rays are going to win the A.L. East. They are up 4 games on the Red Sox and 9 games on the Yankees. That is a little breathing room, but not enough of a lead to relax. This would be an easy time for the young and inexperienced Rays to fold. The Rays have already passed their highest win total in franchise history, and they still have 45 games left to play. They could easily pack it in and call it a successful season.
I don’t think this team will do that. I don’t think Madden will let it happen. The Rays have a large enough lead and decent enough replacements that they can hold up for a couple of weeks while Longoria heals. Hopefully, Crawford will not have to have season ending surgery and will be back to man left field.
These injuries will certainly make things tougher for the Rays, and I suppose we will just have to wait and see how they handle. I would like to see some new blood in the playoffs or at the very least an interesting pennant race.
Good Bye Detroit Tigers
The scariest team going into the 2008 MLB season was thought by many to be the Detroit Tigers. They had some good young starters and a lineup from top to bottom unmatched by anyone in baseball. The additions of Cabrera and Renteria to an already potent lineup had many people putting them into the World Series. It now looks as if the Tigers are going to be watching the playoffs from their plush couches at home.
I can’t say much myself; I thought the Mariners looked like the most well-rounded team in the A.L., and I also had the Tigers in the playoffs. It appears as if we all failed to realize just how bad the Tigers pitching, especially their bullpen, really was. And we also over-estimated just how big their bats were.
The Tigers are currently 23rd in baseball in ERA and have converted only 23 of 43 save opportunities. We all knew Todd Jones was shaky, but Rodney has been just as bad, Zumaya has missed much of the season and is not quite right yet, and Farnsworth has been knocked around like a pinball machine.
The starting pitching has not been very good either. Verlander, Bonderman, and Rogers have been average at best, while Robertson has been horrible. The saving grace of the pitching staff has been Galaragga, a rookie that was an afterthought going into the season.
The hitting has been good, they are currently 3rd in baseball in runs scored, but this was supposed to be the best offense in baseball. The Tigers needed to be the best offense in baseball in order to overcome their pitching problems.
The offensive problems stem from the fact that Renteria can’t hit in the A.L. for whatever reason, Sheffield is over the hill, and Cabrera has to deal with the transition to a new league. Cabrera is starting to rip the ball, but it looks like it is too little too late.
Also, can someone explain to me why Granderson is not running as much this year? Is it Leyland holding him back, or Granderson holding himself back?
This year’s Tigers team is not as aggressive on the bases, their hitters are not as dangerous, and the pitching staff is much worse than the Tigers of last year.
The Tigers currently sit 7 1/2 games out of the Central Division race and 9 ½ out of the wild card with 48 games left to play. If the Twins and White Sox continue at their current pace, the Tigers will have to finish the season up on a 35-13 tear to win the division. That is a .729 winning percentage, which if done for the entire year would yield 118 wins. I don’t think the Tigers have that in them with their pitching staff in such shambles.
I am sorry to say it Tiger fans, but I think 2008 is not the year for Detroit.
Who is the World’s Greatest Closer?
In the past week or so there have been some really bad performances by closers around MLB. That being said, this may be one of the best years ever for the elite closers. K-Rod may break the single-season save record, Rivera is back to his dominant ways, Lidge hasn’t blown a save, Nathan has a ridiculous ERA, and guys like Papelbon, Soria, and Wagner are having great seasons.
All of this got me to thinking about who was the best closer in the game right now. The answer is not so simple, so I decided to dig into the numbers and see how the top guys compared to each other.
The numbers I am about to give you include this year so far, plus 2006 and 2007. Therefore, guys like Lidge who had bad years in 2006 and 2007 do not rate, as well as Trevor Hoffman who is have a bad year this year. Joakim Soria, who is ridiculous this year, only started closing the last half of last year and thus does not yet have enough history behind him.
Here are the top 5 guys and their stats over the last 2+ years.
Francisco Rodriguez 132 saves (90.4%), 2.30 ERA, 1.19 WHIP
Mariano Rivera 90 (92.8%), 2.23, 0.96
Jonathan Papelbon 103 (88.8%), 1.55, 0.80
Joe Nathan 103 (92.0%), 1.58, 0.91
Billy Wagner 101 (85.6%), 2.40, 1.06
The percentage is the percentage of converted saves over the 2+ years. As you can see by the numbers, Wagner can be separated from the top 4 guys, but after that it is tough to pick who has the best stats.
K-Rod has the most saves, Papelbon and Nathan have the best ERA’s and WHIP, and Mariano has the best save percentage. If you attempt to put these numbers into a rotisserie style format you end up with the following “standings.”
Nathan 15.5 pts
Papelbon 15.5
Rivera 12
K-Rod 11
Wagner 5
This only helps a little and that is only if you believe that putting this into a rotisserie style format is valid. This still leaves us without a clear number one closer in all of baseball. Many may want to go with K-Rod because he has so many more saves, but he also has had many more chances. And, his other stats are not as good as the other guys. Some may want to say Rivera is the top dog, and that would be true in my opinion if you were talking about the greatest reliever of all-time, but we are not.
It comes down to this for me. If you want to talk about the best reliever in the game currently, I would say Joe Nathan for the regular season. The reason is that Nathan is the most consistent of all the relievers and his stats are also the best. He doesn’t get the attention that he deserves, but he is certainly worthy of consideration as the game’s top closer.
I said I would take Nathan during the regular season, but when playoff time comes around, I would have to go with Mariano. There is no replacing the kind of big game experience Mariano has to go along with his dominance. And this comes from a Yankee hater.
Of course Red Sox nation will want Papelbon and other fans will want their guy, so let the arguments begin.
Liriano is Back
The biggest addition to a contending roster over the last week may have been through a minor league call-up rather than a trade for a big name. Francisco Liriano made his long awaited come back to the Major Leagues with a bang. He was mostly un-hittable on Sunday, as he threw 6 shutout innings, KO’ing 5 and allowing only 3 singles. He showed that his dominance in the minors was not just a product of facing non-major leaguers.
Liriano regaining his old form means the A.L. playoff race just got a little more interesting. Once again, the Twins are contenders when no one thought they would be. They lost possibly the best pitcher in all of baseball in the off-season and Liriano has been in the minors for most of the season, but the Twins find themselves smack dab in the middle of a playoff race, and they have as good a shot as anyone.
The Twins are an amazing organization and with Liriano back, this young and talented team could even be considered the favorite to win the A.L. Central. They are doing it with outstanding young starters, a good bullpen, and good enough hitting to get by.
Liriano looked amazing, but he did have a few control issues. He walked 3 batters, and went deep into the count with many of the hitters he faced. He should improve in this regard with each passing start. Liriano may end up being the most dominant A.L. starter down the stretch and that is something the Twins will take advantage of.
As much as Liriano will make a difference, there is still a ridiculous amount of competition in the A.L. The Yankees improved from trades and are making a push, and the Tigers are starting to hit well. There is also the White Sox and the Red Sox to deal with. If Liriano keeps it going though, the Twins could once again make the playoffs when most think they didn’t have a shot.
Fall Out From the Trade Deadline: Cubs, Brewers, Yankees
All the big news of late has been about what big name would end up where. This has been one of the busiest trade deadlines in recent memory and a ton of big names traded uniforms. With all the controversy and talk all that really matters is what does it mean in terms of the pennant race. Did any of these trades really affect the pennant races and the playoffs?
The answer to that is, of course; however, maybe not so much as the pundits like to make out, but some teams certainly improved and helped their chances to make the playoffs and some of the teams made themselves more difficult to knock out during the playoffs. There is a difference in players that help you get to the playoffs and players that help you win in the playoffs.
The Yankees helped themselves more than any other team to get to the playoffs in my opinion. They added a big time bat in Nady, a reliable reliever in Marte, and they filled the hole left by Posada with Pudge.
I think the Yankees will pass the Red Sox and be in a battle with Detroit and Minnesota for the Wild Card spot (Yes that means I think the Rays are going to win the division). If I had to pick right now, I would go with the Yanks, but I think they will get bounced from the playoffs due to their lack of dominant pitching.
I think the Cubs, along with the Brewers, helped themselves out the most when it comes to winning in the playoffs. Pitching is the key to the playoffs and if you have 2 shutdown pitchers, you are in good shape in a 7 game series. Consider the combo of Schilling and Randy Johnson for the Diamondbacks in 2001. The schedule for the playoffs and World Series allow you to get your 2 studs to each pitch 2 games. For those of you who are not whizzes at math, that adds up to the 4 wins you need.
The Cubs added Harden to its ace Zambrano to give them an awesome 1-2 punch, and the Cubs also have Ryan Dempster who is suddenly one of the top starters in all of baseball. The Brewers gave themselves a formidable 1-2 punch by adding Sabathia. If there offense gets hot during the playoffs and Sheets and Sabathia do their thing, I don’t know if anyone can beat them. The only problem with the Brewers is that they may not make the playoffs. If the Brewers make the playoffs, then it will be quite a pitching battle with the Cubs.
When you think about the Cubs, there is another transaction that didn’t seem like such a big deal when it happened, but it will make the Cubs more difficult to beat during the playoffs. The Jim Edmonds signing has given the Cubs an experienced bat that has been killing the ball since he signed with the team. The Cubs are using Edmonds enough to keep him sharp, but not too much to wear out the veteran.
I think the Yankees did the most to improve, but in the end I think it is still going to be the Cubs breaking their own curse and becoming the World Series champs.
