Twins’ Mauer near-unanimous pick as AL’s MVP

Twins’ Mauer near-unanimous pick as AL’s MVP

Joe Mauer is probably one of the greatest players to wear a Twins uniform and is beyond a doubt a player that every team in baseball would love to have crouched down behind their dish wearing their uniform. But for now that honor belongs to Minnesota. Speaking of honors its been 33 years sense a catcher won the MVP. That honor belonged to Thurman Munson in 1976. Mauer is also the first person to win back to back batting titles sense Nomar Garciapara in 1999-2000.

Its uncertain wether of not Mauer will remain a twin at the end of his contract, the Twins are not known for spending the money to hold on to their stars. If they are smart they will just hand him a blank check and let him fill it out at the end of his current contract.

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The Marlins truly are Stupid

The Marlins have what I consider to be one of the top five pitchers in baseball in Josh Johnson. Sense July of 2008 after returning from Tommy John surgery he is 22-6. He has the third highest average velocity on his fastball in the majors at 95.1 and the Marlins wont give him a four year deal. He is a 25 year old flamethrower and has brilliant command. Josh’s agent used Zack Greinke’s 4 year 38 million dollar deal will the Royals as framework for negotiations. A contract that would cost the Marlins less than 10 million a year is peanuts. They get twice that in free money via revenue sharing every year. Instead they will end up trading him or lose him to free agency at the end of the season. Keeping him for the entire year would be stupid and not trading him before the start of the season would be equally as dumb. Why the marlins continue to cry poverty is inexplicable.Especially considering all the money they are dropping into stadium development. What good is a shiny new stadium if you suck? The Marlins new home was set to open in 2011 has been pushed back to 2012 and you can be certain that Johnson wont be there on top of their rotation.

In case you were wondering who I feel the other four of my top five are they are Tim Lincecum ,CC Sabathia,Roy Halladay, and Zach Greinke

Giants’ Lincecum wins second straight Cy Young

Giants’ Lincecum wins second straight Cy Young

Tim Lincecum continues to be the most dominate pitcher in baseball. A tall slender kid at 5′11 and 170 lbs this 25 year old certainly produces some nasty pitches that bring men twice his size buckling at the knees. With a whip of 1.05 and 261 K’s in 225 innings he is down right nasty. Although he didn’t have the Best record at 15-7  an era of 2.68 is certainly worthy of the honor.  At less than a million a year the Giants have a great value. It will be interesting to see when he becomes eligible for free agency if the Giants will be able to come up with the huge truck full of cash that he will demand with his next contract.

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Tracy, Scioscia named MLB’s managers of year

Tracy, Scioscia named MLB’s managers of year

I don’t have a lot to say about all this except that Tracy was a good choice. Hurdle was an idiot that drove the Rockies into the ground and Tracy basically picked up the pieces and almost got them back to the World Series.

On the other hand I disagree with the American League winner picking Mike Scioscia over Joe Girardi. How  can the manager who took a team that didn’t even make the playoffs the year before and then lead them to 100 wins and a world championship the very next come in third in the voting? I don’t get it.

Anyhow I don’t want to take anything away from Scoscia he did a hell of a job and led his team who wasn’t as talented as the year before all the way to the ACLS, including  an impressive butt whooping on the Red Sox during the Division Series, a team that most felt had more talent. They did it with speed Scioscia picked on the Red Sox weaknesses and exploited them. especially their inability to hold runners.

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Agent says Pedro wants to pitch all of 2010

Agent says Pedro wants to pitch all of 2010

Pedro says he is rejuvenated and feeling no pain for the first time in three years. Pedro pitched well down the stretch for the Phillies after excepting a 1 million dollar contract. But the fact of the matter is that he only pitched 44 innings in which he gave up 48 hits. 48 innings over the course of a couple months is a totally different story than 200 innings over the course of an entire season. The Fact is that Pedro is 38 yeears old and had been plagued by injuries for his last few seasons. To believe that he suddenly is no longer damaged goods because of 48 innings is not smart. If Pedro was smart he would get himself on the Roger Clemens plan. That is pitching the second half of the season with a contender not the Steroid part.

I have said it many times before Pedro Martinez is a sure thing for the hall of fame and had what I consider the best single season in the history of baseball in 2000 when he went 18-6 with an ERA of 1,74. He pitched 217 inning only giving up 128 hits and 42 earned runs. He also struck out 284 batters, That was just an unbelievable season that will never be duplicated. E very player needs to realize when its time to hang up the spikes. I believe that Pedro could be effective for a half season at the most, but over the course of an entire season I think giving him a contract would be a mistake.

Unfortunately for Pedro part of his legacy will be this video, not one of his prouder moments.

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Follow up to Mike G’s Revenue sharing article

well put by  Mikey G these guys all have more money than God and the last time I checked The Royals were owned by a corporation that could buy the Stienbrenners 3 times over. Baseball is a business and teams choose whether or not they will be competitive. Or I should say the owners choose. in 2009 the Marlins payroll was 34.4 million. That is for the entire team! They received 20 million in Revenue sharing. Without  getting into the entire formula of how revenue sharing works its safe to say that The Yankees paid enough in Revenue sharing to pay the salaries  of 3 or 4 of these small market teams. Yes it is a shame that they don’t use this free money to put a more competitive team on the field but you should see the car that Jeffrey Loria (owner of the Marlins) drives.

The system is far from perfect and teams like the Red Sox and the Yankees are always  accused of buying their championships. But in reality they are only investing revenue in their product. Seems to me this is what any successful business does.

 

 

AL Cy Young Goes To…

The Al Cy Young was awarded this afternoon to Zack Greinke. Greinke is nasty without a doubt. He has lights out stuff and was basically unhittable all year. He only mustered up 16 wins and dropped 8 games but that is really not his fault. Wins and loses really depend on how well your team can hit and well, Greinke unfortunately plays for the Royals. Greinke posted a 2.16 ERA. In the American League that is just down right filthy. He also fanned 242 batters while pitching 229 innings through the course of the season. I believe that Zack Greinke deserved the Cy Young.

The real question is how long will Zack Greinke be in Kansas City? I doubt very long. He is currently under a 4 year 38M dollar contract. However, eventually they will have to pay him like a Cy Young award winner and they will claim that they can’t. Of course they can if they want, their powers that be will say they can’t afford him and ship him away but in reality they just want to make more money. That’s the case with most small market teams.  If they broke the bank once in a while, put money into players, and put a better product out on the field in the long run they would fill more seats, sell more shirts, and make more money. It’s a shame that they cry poverty and decide to put inferior products out on the field. It’s a shame for fans that root for these mediocre teams that have no interest in competing. Fans put their heart and soul into their favorite clubs regardless of where their team resides. The truth is that owners in small markets would rather pocket all that revenue sharing money then put a good product out on the field. It’s a shame and the real reason that baseball has no parody. The Rockies, Rays, and Marlins seem to make revenue sharing work for them. Yet the Pirates and the Royals just refuse to do so. Last time I checked all the owners in Major League Baseball are disgustingly rich not just George Steinbrenner and Frank McCourt.

By Michael “Genevosey” Genovese

The kids get their hardware

 

The American League and National League handed out their Rookie of the Year awards today. The awards were given to Andrew Bailey of the Oakland Athletics and left fielder Chris Coghlan in the National League. You can read all about it by clicking on the above link. I however am going to take a look at the people who I thought should have gotten the award.

Coghlan batted .321 with nine home runs and thirty one doubles in 128 games. That is worth a Rookie of the Year award if you ask me. However, JA Happ, who placed second had an outstanding season. He anchored a shaky Phillies lineup and helped propel his team into the playoffs. Happ was 12-4 with a 2.93 ERA. He also fanned 119 during the course of the year. Both guys are deserving but if I had a vote which I don’t I would have voted for Happ. Being on a winning team is a big deal for me as well.

Let’s switch gears to the American League, Andrew Bailey took home the trophy but who else was worthy? Elvis Andrus (Mike Rook’s personal fav) was a defensive giant and if not for Derek Jeter could have easily taken home the Gold Glove. In 145 games Andrus batted .267 with six dingers and 40 RBI. He also pitched in and scored 72 runs. Oh yeah he swiped 33 bags. He came in second in the ROY running. I like Gordan Beckham myself. Beckham was a stand out third baseman for the White Sox. He also pitched in at the plate may I add. He batted .270 with 14 homeruns and 63 RBI. He also slugged .460. Impressive to say the least. Ozzie Guillen says that Beckham is their third baseman of the future and I agree. I also think he should have gotten more consideration for ROY.

More awards will be handed out in the following week including AL and NL MVP’s next week. Stay tuned!

By Michael “Genevosey” Genovese

Rockies decline $5M option on RHP Betancourt

Rockies decline $5M option on RHP Betancourt

The Rockie’s Gm and owners should be shot for declining this option. I was only 5 million dollars for perhaps the best set up man in the game. Last season he pitched 56 innings giving up only 41 hits with an ERA of 2.73 he also struck out 61 and picked up 20 holds. Are these the numbers of someone that isnt worth 5 million ? At 34 Im not sure he will get any more than a two year deal. But a team with a need for a quality set up guy would be hard pressed to find anyone better.

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Mariners to keep shortstop Wilson through 2011

Mariners to keep shortstop Wilson through 2011

In 2004 Jack had 200 hits and batted .308 winning a silver slugger award. Sense then he really hasn’t done anything offensively.  In his defense its probably tough to play eight seasons for one of the worst teams in baseball. Wilson is very solid with the glove which is what the Mariners bring to the table. Good pitching with good defense. He has had his share of injuries over the last few years but is healthy now. He is a good guy and its good to see him get a deal with a team that has the ability to compete. I’m predicting the Mariners might even make the playoffs next season. For two years and 10 million the Mariners got a solid defender and a great clubhouse guy but little else.

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