I have never seen this movie, but I did some checking and August not only is the eighth month of the Georgian calendar year named after Roman Emperor Augustus, but it also refers to something grand, or majesty. So as I am majestically rushing to get a post in at the end of August, I felt the title made some sense. The reason I am rushing is because this month, like the rest of this summer, has been immensely busy for me. Apart from work and theater, there was a funeral that required attending, an earthquake that hit Virginia and shook apparently everyone on the east coast except me, a brother that needed moving, and the latest and greatest, Hurricane Irene, which saw to it to send me and my fiancée packing for one evening. It's been hectic.
While I'm sharing things, I want to be quite honest with you, my faithful readership. I barely know what's going on in the baseball world right now. Not only don't I have time to check into things, but without cable, it's even harder to catch little tidbits here and there to reference. So please be prepared. This post will be quick and probably without much point as I try to sum up not only for you, but for myself, what the heck is going on in baseball right now. So sit back and relax.
Holy crap, here comes the Milwaukee Brewers. They have won 21 of 26 games in August so far, and have been 32-11 since the All Star Break, making them the hottest team in the game. Led by MVP candidates Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder, the outstanding rotation of Yovanni Gallardo, Shaun Marcum, Zach Greinke, and Randy Wolf, and John Axford closing games at a league-leading pace, this team has been almost unbeatable. The team is second in the NL in team average, fourth in homeruns, and fifth in on-base-percentage. Their pitching has been holding the team up like never before, and with the offense putting up numbers the way they can, this team is looking like a serious contender for the National League Championship.
Elsewhere in the NL Central, the Cubs fired GM Jim Hendry because, well... he kind of sucked of late. After nine off-and-on successful years, the Chicago Cubs decided that it was time to take a different course. The reason? Hendry had been responsible for some of the most disastrous deals in recent baseball history. Still with the team are Alfonso Soriano's roughly $60 million until 2014, the now retired? Carlos Zambrano's $22 million until next year, and they are still paying Kosuke Fukudome's contract even though he's with the Indians. For a full list of Hendry's moves, check out MLBTradeRumors.com's handy-dandy Transaction Tracker. The Cubs may have gotten rid of the ship's captain, but they still need to steer it out of icy waters, which make take a year or two of frugal baseball management.
The Arizona Diamondbacks are showing everyone in the league that they are no joke. They have hit the third most homeruns in the NL and driven in the fifth most runs. But they have always been a good run-producing team. The real difference this year is that the young pitching staff is holding their own against the competition. Led by Ian Kennedy's huge breakout year of 17-4, with a 3.03 ERA, the staff is showing people that there is more to this snake's bite than just the bat. I'm not sure if that made sense or not. Anyway, the young Daniel Hudson, who came over from the White Sox late last year, has been proving a young stud in the making as well. Josh Collmenter and Joe Saunders haven't been getting the same victory totals, but they've been keeping their ERA's low, and not walking too many, which is a recipe for continued success. The real question is, will the Diamondbacks be able to hold off the San Francisco Giants who keep surging and stumbling due to their erratic offense. As there is no other serious competition in that division besides the Giants, the D'Backs could very well take the West this year.
Justin Verlander has been the best pitcher in baseball this year, and finally is getting some of the respect he deserves. It's always been Sabathia and Beckett and others getting the American League pitching pomp and circumstance. Now though, Verlander is leading not only the AL, but both leagues in almost every pitching category. He's first in wins (20), first in innings pitched (215.2), first in strikeouts (218), first in opponent batting average (.190), and first in WHIP (.90), but he's only third in ERA (2.38), so I guess he sucks. With 20 wins already, and the whole month of September to go, he could collect another 4 or 5, depending on how close the race is for the AL Central. The Tigers should be wary not to push him too hard, though. While Verlander has been a workhorse his whole career, if he goes down, so do the Tigers chances of having any post-season success. In the meantime though, Verlander should be getting his trophy polish ready, because I think I see a Cy Young coming his way.
There has been some other big news around the league. Jose Tabata and Jered Weaver both received contract extensions recently. Tabata's extension is for 6 years, with option years in 2017, 2018, and 2019. If the extension is played out in its entirety, Tabata will receive $37.25 million. This seems a very team-friendly contract as Jose won't make anything north of $9 million for any season of the extension. Tabata is a skilled centerfielder with very good speed. He's only 23 so his power numbers will go up, but it appears he will be a solid lead-off or number 2 hitter in the lineup for years to come. It's nice to see the Pirates signing their young talent to stay. Meanwhile in Los Angeles, the Angels signed Jered Weaver to a five-year, $85 million extension. "The deal includes a full no-trade clause", according to Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports, and various "significant" bonuses for winning the Cy Young and MVP awards and for earning All-Star berths, writes Scott Miller of CBSSports.com. Weaver is having the best season of his career as he has the second best ERA of any starting pitcher, and could easily eclipse his career win total of 16 in a season this year. Congrats to both players.
This post wouldn't be complete, however, without mentioning one of my favorite players accomplishing a tremendous feat. The 40-year-old Thome became the eighth player in baseball history to reach 600 homeruns, hitting two in one game against the Detroit Tigers. It's true that Thome isn't the player he once was, but he's been a productive asset to the Twins over the past two years. Soon after hitting his 600th though, Thome was asked to become a productive part of his former club, the Cleveland Indians, as the Twins traded him through waivers. With Travis Hafner out again, Thome will be the regular DH for the rest of the season as the Tribe tries to fight back against the White Sox and Tigers atop the AL Central.
But let's get back to Big Jim for a second. The Illinois native is one of the most dominant power hitters ever to play the game. His 1665 RBI are 27th best All Time, and his 1715 walks are 8th best All Time. The ferocity with which he hits homeruns is so palpable, that seeing him hit is like watching fireworks go off. His days as an Indian during the mid to late 90's, when he, Albert Belle and Manny Ramirez were all knocking the stuffing out of baseballs, must have been a thing of beauty to see in person. His electric and amicable personality always made me root for him, even when he was with the Phillies. While he might play for a little bit longer still, many think this might be his last year. It's a wonderful way to go out, if he does. Hitting 600 homeruns is an accomplish only 7 living people in the whole world can say they've done. I can't think of a finer person to be a part of those ranks. Congratulations Jim.
Thanks again to my readership for putting up with my delays and for continuing to bug me about writing another post. I started out doing this for myself, but I quickly learned that I was writing this for you all. Thanks for being a part of this little baseball-minded universe I've created here. Your support, feedback and comments are always appreciated. Until next time, whenever the hell that is!
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Saturday, August 6, 2011
New Jersey
My beloved state of New Jersey gets a bad rap more often than not. While I would love to take an entire blog to illustrate why my state is, at times, one of the best places to live in the country, this post title refers instead to the gaggle of new players in the majors leagues that switched team jerseys as a result of the recent July trading deadline. At the request of one of my readers, we will delve into the wheeling and dealing that occurred just one week ago. So let's get to it.
As my good friend, The Big Man-Tuna says, "Go Big." Go Big we shall by starting with possibly the biggest and most impactful trade of the deadline: Hunter Pence to the Philadelphia Phillies. Hunter Pence has been one of the most consistent outfielders of the past five years in terms of offensive output and defensive gumption. While sabermetric analyzers may say he's not the greatest glove in rightfield, he surely gives 110% on every play, as I've seen numerous occasions where he is diving, sliding and jumping to save an inning or game. He has put up 25 homers each of the past three years and could surpass those numbers while hitting in the friendly Citizen's Bank Park. While not a tremendous on-base guy, he puts the ball in play, and that is precisely what he'll be doing in the fifth spot in the lineup.
The Houston Astros received for Pence, young pitching prospect Jarred Cosart, the 19 year old phenom Jonathan Singleton, whom the Phillies really didn't want to give up, a righty reliever Josh Zeid, and a player to be named later. Houston is clearly heading in the right direction in trying to collect as many young talented players as possible. This deal works for Philly as well, as they now have catapulted themselves past the Boston Red Sox as the front-runner for the World Series Championship. Is Pence that good? He may not seem like it to some, but lately everyone gets better when they get to Philadelphia. Pence will be no exception. The crowd already loves him, and when you are loved, good things happen.
The Houston Astros weren't done dealing big name players though. They shipped the speedy Michael Bourn off to the Atlanta Braves for the also speedy outfielder Jordan Schafer, lefty pitcher Brett Oberholtzer, and righties Paul Clemens and Juan Abreu. "None of the three pitchers are top 50 prospects, but they did rank ninth, 26th, and 27th respectively for the Braves on Baseball America's preseason rankings, and the team has a highly-regarded farm system," as reported by Tim Dierkes of MLBTradeRumors.com. Bourn has immense speed, as he has stolen at least 40 bases for the 'Stros three years running (pun!), and would have done so again this year. He will be a tremendous lead-off option for Atlanta, who has struggled to find someone to start the offense early. If Bourn can set the tone, the Braves will challenge the aforementioned Phillies for the NL East title, but most likely will still have to settle for the Wild Card.
Of course, the Astros weren't the only team moving people around. The Colorado Rockies surprisingly sold on their ace pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez. And stranger still, the buying team isn't used to buying. The Cleveland Indians, the organization that sold C.C. Sabathia and Cliff Lee in successive recent years, is seeing this year as something of a turnaround. They led the AL Central for most of the first half of the year, but have been playing mediocre ball since the All-Star break, and are struggling to keep up with the Detroit Tigers. As a sign to the fans that this team is ready to compete now and in the near future, the front-office trading for the 27 year old Jimenez, hoping that the second half of his 2011 campaign will not mirror his first. Jimenez is under very affordable team control until 2013, but in order to get him the Tribe had to part with lefty prospect Drew Pomeranz, who Baseball America ranked as the 14th best prospect in all of baseball last month. The Rockies also received minor league pitcher Alex White, Joe Gardner and position player Matt McBride. This move may help The Indians next year, but I think this rally cry may be short-lived for the Tribe this year.
Another surprise buying team was the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Bucs have been playing far above expectations this year, and are still kind of in the hunt for the NL Central title, despite having lost 8 in a row, and having gone 1-9 in their last 10. The additions of 1B Derrek Lee from the Orioles, and OF Ryan Ludwick from the Padres apparently have done nothing but harm to the team dynamic. I loved Derrek Lee for years, but his offensive contributions have been sub-par for the past two years, as injuries and four different teams have messed with his rhythm. Ludwick is a nice piece to a competitive team, but I think the Pirates were expecting him to come in and add a significant amount of offense, when Ludwick has always been a streaky player at best. Too bad the Pirates didn't keep the receipt on these purchases.
Another San Diego Padre, Mike Adams, was very sought after by several teams. The outstanding setup man to closer Heath Bell had a 1.13 ERA with the Friars, and had a swell 5.44 K/BB ratio. He was traded for by the Texas Rangers who wanted to sure-up their bullpen, as closer Neftali Feliz has been an enigma for much of the 2011 season. Feliz's walks are up and his strikeouts are down, as is the velocity on that fastball of his. Feliz has battled some injuries and probably some over-hyped expectations, so the Rangers hope that Mike Adams will step in and assume the setup role. The Rangers didn't stop there, though. They also acquired Koji Uehara from the Baltimore Orioles just one day prior to getting Adams. The 36 year old Uehara has been ridiculously good for the past three years and his 7.75 K/BB ratio is actually well below what his a capable of. Uehara may even share time as setup man, or even close out some games to give Feliz some rest. However the bullpen rotation works, one thing is for sure, the Rangers sure fixed whatever problem they might have had.
Other big name players were traded around baseball. The St. Louis Cardinals, still desperate to find an everyday shortstop, got one in Raphael Furcal. Furcal waived his 10-and-5 rights to be traded from the Dodgers. For those of you not familiar, 10-and-5 rights means that a player who has been in the league for ten years, the last five of which have been spend with his current team, cannot be traded without his consent. Furcal has been dreadful this season, and injury-plagued most of the past five years, but he adds speed and high contact to any lineup. Meanwhile Erik Bedard was traded from the Seattle Mariners to the Boston Red Sox. Bedard is having something of a comeback year as he is healthy and effective as a starter. Boston is desperate for both as Daisuke Matsuzaka is out for the season, Clay Buchholz is extremely slow to recover from back spasms, and Jon Lester has spent stints on the DL. This trade was complicated as it transpired between the Sox, M's and Dodgers, but really only Bedard was the big name in this deal.
Utility fielder Mike Aviles was also acquired by Boston from Kansas City. Meanwhile the Mariners traded Doug Fister and David Pauley to the Detroit Tigers who were looking for more pitching. The Indians sold in addition to buying as they moved Orlando Cabrera to the San Francisco Giants. NL West rival to the Giants, the Arizona Diamondbacks, tried to stay in the playoff hunt by acquiring sidearm pitcher Brad Ziegler from the Athletics to bolster the bullpen, and grabbing Jason Marquis from the Washington Nationals to add depth to the already surprising sturdy rotation.
All in all it was a very exciting trading deadline. It's always fun to see new players in new uniforms. Sometimes it fits, and sometimes the move turns out to be a bust. As with most things, time will tell. Once again I must say that my postings may become infrequent as I'm in another theater show, I'm moving, and I'm looking for a new job. If you know anyone who wants to pay me to write inane baseball articles, you sent them over here! So until next time folks, watch some baseball for me.
As my good friend, The Big Man-Tuna says, "Go Big." Go Big we shall by starting with possibly the biggest and most impactful trade of the deadline: Hunter Pence to the Philadelphia Phillies. Hunter Pence has been one of the most consistent outfielders of the past five years in terms of offensive output and defensive gumption. While sabermetric analyzers may say he's not the greatest glove in rightfield, he surely gives 110% on every play, as I've seen numerous occasions where he is diving, sliding and jumping to save an inning or game. He has put up 25 homers each of the past three years and could surpass those numbers while hitting in the friendly Citizen's Bank Park. While not a tremendous on-base guy, he puts the ball in play, and that is precisely what he'll be doing in the fifth spot in the lineup.
The Houston Astros received for Pence, young pitching prospect Jarred Cosart, the 19 year old phenom Jonathan Singleton, whom the Phillies really didn't want to give up, a righty reliever Josh Zeid, and a player to be named later. Houston is clearly heading in the right direction in trying to collect as many young talented players as possible. This deal works for Philly as well, as they now have catapulted themselves past the Boston Red Sox as the front-runner for the World Series Championship. Is Pence that good? He may not seem like it to some, but lately everyone gets better when they get to Philadelphia. Pence will be no exception. The crowd already loves him, and when you are loved, good things happen.
The Houston Astros weren't done dealing big name players though. They shipped the speedy Michael Bourn off to the Atlanta Braves for the also speedy outfielder Jordan Schafer, lefty pitcher Brett Oberholtzer, and righties Paul Clemens and Juan Abreu. "None of the three pitchers are top 50 prospects, but they did rank ninth, 26th, and 27th respectively for the Braves on Baseball America's preseason rankings, and the team has a highly-regarded farm system," as reported by Tim Dierkes of MLBTradeRumors.com. Bourn has immense speed, as he has stolen at least 40 bases for the 'Stros three years running (pun!), and would have done so again this year. He will be a tremendous lead-off option for Atlanta, who has struggled to find someone to start the offense early. If Bourn can set the tone, the Braves will challenge the aforementioned Phillies for the NL East title, but most likely will still have to settle for the Wild Card.
Of course, the Astros weren't the only team moving people around. The Colorado Rockies surprisingly sold on their ace pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez. And stranger still, the buying team isn't used to buying. The Cleveland Indians, the organization that sold C.C. Sabathia and Cliff Lee in successive recent years, is seeing this year as something of a turnaround. They led the AL Central for most of the first half of the year, but have been playing mediocre ball since the All-Star break, and are struggling to keep up with the Detroit Tigers. As a sign to the fans that this team is ready to compete now and in the near future, the front-office trading for the 27 year old Jimenez, hoping that the second half of his 2011 campaign will not mirror his first. Jimenez is under very affordable team control until 2013, but in order to get him the Tribe had to part with lefty prospect Drew Pomeranz, who Baseball America ranked as the 14th best prospect in all of baseball last month. The Rockies also received minor league pitcher Alex White, Joe Gardner and position player Matt McBride. This move may help The Indians next year, but I think this rally cry may be short-lived for the Tribe this year.
Another surprise buying team was the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Bucs have been playing far above expectations this year, and are still kind of in the hunt for the NL Central title, despite having lost 8 in a row, and having gone 1-9 in their last 10. The additions of 1B Derrek Lee from the Orioles, and OF Ryan Ludwick from the Padres apparently have done nothing but harm to the team dynamic. I loved Derrek Lee for years, but his offensive contributions have been sub-par for the past two years, as injuries and four different teams have messed with his rhythm. Ludwick is a nice piece to a competitive team, but I think the Pirates were expecting him to come in and add a significant amount of offense, when Ludwick has always been a streaky player at best. Too bad the Pirates didn't keep the receipt on these purchases.
Another San Diego Padre, Mike Adams, was very sought after by several teams. The outstanding setup man to closer Heath Bell had a 1.13 ERA with the Friars, and had a swell 5.44 K/BB ratio. He was traded for by the Texas Rangers who wanted to sure-up their bullpen, as closer Neftali Feliz has been an enigma for much of the 2011 season. Feliz's walks are up and his strikeouts are down, as is the velocity on that fastball of his. Feliz has battled some injuries and probably some over-hyped expectations, so the Rangers hope that Mike Adams will step in and assume the setup role. The Rangers didn't stop there, though. They also acquired Koji Uehara from the Baltimore Orioles just one day prior to getting Adams. The 36 year old Uehara has been ridiculously good for the past three years and his 7.75 K/BB ratio is actually well below what his a capable of. Uehara may even share time as setup man, or even close out some games to give Feliz some rest. However the bullpen rotation works, one thing is for sure, the Rangers sure fixed whatever problem they might have had.
Other big name players were traded around baseball. The St. Louis Cardinals, still desperate to find an everyday shortstop, got one in Raphael Furcal. Furcal waived his 10-and-5 rights to be traded from the Dodgers. For those of you not familiar, 10-and-5 rights means that a player who has been in the league for ten years, the last five of which have been spend with his current team, cannot be traded without his consent. Furcal has been dreadful this season, and injury-plagued most of the past five years, but he adds speed and high contact to any lineup. Meanwhile Erik Bedard was traded from the Seattle Mariners to the Boston Red Sox. Bedard is having something of a comeback year as he is healthy and effective as a starter. Boston is desperate for both as Daisuke Matsuzaka is out for the season, Clay Buchholz is extremely slow to recover from back spasms, and Jon Lester has spent stints on the DL. This trade was complicated as it transpired between the Sox, M's and Dodgers, but really only Bedard was the big name in this deal.
Utility fielder Mike Aviles was also acquired by Boston from Kansas City. Meanwhile the Mariners traded Doug Fister and David Pauley to the Detroit Tigers who were looking for more pitching. The Indians sold in addition to buying as they moved Orlando Cabrera to the San Francisco Giants. NL West rival to the Giants, the Arizona Diamondbacks, tried to stay in the playoff hunt by acquiring sidearm pitcher Brad Ziegler from the Athletics to bolster the bullpen, and grabbing Jason Marquis from the Washington Nationals to add depth to the already surprising sturdy rotation.
All in all it was a very exciting trading deadline. It's always fun to see new players in new uniforms. Sometimes it fits, and sometimes the move turns out to be a bust. As with most things, time will tell. Once again I must say that my postings may become infrequent as I'm in another theater show, I'm moving, and I'm looking for a new job. If you know anyone who wants to pay me to write inane baseball articles, you sent them over here! So until next time folks, watch some baseball for me.
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