Paint the Corner

Braun Delivers Another Crushing Blow to Baseball

2011-12-12T19:12:00.000-08:00

We have a new culprit to add to the ranks of the steroid-guilty. Yeah, it's that guy that won the NL MVP this year.

Here we go again.

Baseball seriously just can't catch a break. I don't even blame the commissioner anymore - ample rules and testing are in place to make sure those who use get caught. Unfortunately, those who use, at least as far as we casual fans know, are always the iconic players, the superstars, the athletes who we're supposed to be looking up to. Of course, as time has told over the past several years, we're looking up at phonies. And now Brewer fans get to share in that misery.

It's a real shame that it had to be Braun. He was so good already. He didn't need the juice, just like A-Rod didn't. Just like McGwire and Sosa didn't. And yet, he used anyway, presumably driven by greed and a thirst for further prominence. Are those qualities to look up to?

The reality is, baseball doesn't have any model athletes anymore. Our favorite players are probably the ones who would be first to be implicated in steroid usage if further users were discovered. For Braun, it doesn't even matter that he's appealing. It doesn't even matter if he's guilty or innocent. He has been forever linked to steroids, and personally, I won't forgive him for it. A lot of baseball fans feel the same way. It's a deep-rooted betrayal that takes place when a professional athlete cheats, because now the fan has had the wool pulled over his eyes. He's followed the moves, sprung for the jerseys, and screamed the loudest for the fake, the fake that everyone wants to believe is real with all their baseball hearts, but that none can anymore. Baseball has been tainted an eerie black, courtesy of not only performance-enhancing drugs, but of hypocrisy, inner corruption, and poor judgment.

And so we bury Ryan Braun with the rest of the suspended, as all the while baseball's authenticity continues to take brutal body shots. The sport knows exactly what's hitting them - yet attempts to stop it are still in vain. Is there a knockout on the horizon? Time has told, and will tell again.

Pujols' Christmas List: A Halo and $254 Million

2011-12-08T19:05:00.000-08:00

Albert Pujols to the...Angels?

Wait, that can't be right, let's try it again.

Albert Pujols to the...Angels?

Hold on, hold on, third time's the charm.

Albert Pujols to the...Angels.

Seriously?

And so it is, during this angelic time of year, that Albert Pujols adorns a halo over his head. Not like he's a saint or anything, mind you. Greedy superstars who chase the green stuff and neglect loyalty entirely should end up on Santa's naughty list. Except this year Arte Moreno donned the red hat and the white beard.

Pujols now has 254 million reasons to be joyful this Christmas season, while bewilderment continues to set in everywhere else. How does an owner who never bites on big free agent contracts in the winter all of a sudden pull a rabbit out of his hat and give it #5? You can't explain it without using words like bizarre, random, strange, puzzling. This kind of spending has never been the Angels' MO...maybe they were in an especially generous mood this holiday season. Come on. No player is worth $254 million, are you kidding me? And that's not even the biggest contract Pujols saw! The crazy Marlins were offering him $275 million! A team changes their name and in a flash they're throwing New York Yankee-sized contracts out on the table. Baffling.

No one can argue Pujols' accomplishments to this point in his career, but this deal is ludicrous. Not to mention he's leaving the best baseball city with the best fans in the country for more cash. The sad truth in sports these days is that, for players of Pujols' caliber, home is where the money is. Whatever happened to loyalty and traditionalism? The Cardinals were offering Pujols $198 million over nine years. But that was an old toy. Like any kid opening presents on Christmas morning, Pujols wanted the best and newest, and he got it, from perhaps the most unlikely of sources.

And so it is, that with the signing of Pujols and former Texas Rangers ace C.J. Wilson, that the Angels appear to be on the rise to prominence once again. It might be the greatest exhibition of Santa Claus going broke that anyone has ever seen.

I don't think Pujols really cares much. After all, he's wearing the halo.

Topsy Turvy

2011-05-15T22:19:00.000-07:00

It might have taken me a month to post anything simply because I've been attempting to recover from the shock of witnessing two upside-down division races early in 2011.

I'm speaking of the American League East and Central, where two teams I felt had great chances to finish last in their respective divisions are currently leading the pack instead. I'm speaking of the Cleveland Indians and the Tampa Bay Rays, neither threatening on paper, neither holding high expectations, neither projected to reach glory this season. Yet here they are, a month and a half in, one with the best record in baseball, the other at the top of the best division in baseball. Who would have thought?

The same is true for the cellars of these divisions. Minnesota, a perpetual contender in the AL Central, finds themselves on an eight game losing streak and, in fact, the worst team in baseball to this point, believe it or not. Boston was like that for a while too, but now is coming off a weekend sweep of the Yankees in New York and looks well on their way to changing things around in the AL East. Still, they are currently fourth, just half a game ahead of Baltimore and the dungeon.

You might still say its too early to tell, and you might be right. But Cleveland and Tampa have to be the most intriguing stories in baseball so far this season. I mean, seriously, neither of these teams was supposed to do ANYTHING this year, but they both have firm holds on division leads forty games in?? To say that is surprising would be a gross understatement. I can't wait to see where Cleveland and Tampa are at the All-Star Break. Can they seriously keep this up?

Manny Being Manny: The Final Act

2011-04-10T11:17:00.000-07:00

When I heard Manny Ramirez was retiring this weekend, I didn't quite believe my ears. It's midseason, after all. For all I knew, this was just another of his infamous stunts to garner attention.

Then I heard he was retiring to avoid a 100-game suspension after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs yet again. And the picture became crystal clear.

Because why should we expect anything else from Ramirez? What reason has he given us to believe he wouldn't call it quits after getting caught pulling a fast one on Major League Baseball for a second time? The answers are, we shouldn't, and, none. This is purely another decision that results from Manny Being Manny.

The overwhelming sentiment that I'm gathering from reactions to Ramirez's retirement is disappointment, and I think this is spot-on. Ramirez was an incredible baseball talent, who, towards the end of his career at least, let his personality trump his game. Pretty soon, it wasn't about baseball for Ramirez anymore - it was about his image. He was furious in Boston because they weren't feeding that image. They weren't appreciating him the way he felt they should. So he took bathroom breaks in left field. He stopped running to first base. He demanded a trade and took out his frustrations on a team secretary, all in an attempt to overcompensate for the lack of attention. Then he came to L.A., Hollywood, where the spotlight was. The spotlight he had been craving in Boston. And did he ever get it. Hollywood became Mannywood. He hit .396 in the second half of 2008 following the trade, and maybe this was because his image was satisfied. Better yet, maybe it was the estrogen, taken in an attempt to endear Los Angeles to both his antics and his game.

Whatever the case, the antics got old after a while, and here in 2011, Manny has turned to drugs once again in a desperate attempt to regain former baseball glory. Not Manny glory - baseball glory. But because he did it the Manny Being Manny way, he Manny Being Mannyed his way out of baseball, with the events of previous seasons plaguing him just as much as his decision to use again this offseason. An unceremonious end to an otherwise brilliant career, which, as mentioned earlier, is just plain disappointing. Manny Being Manny. So long.

No Reason to Panic in Boston

2011-04-07T21:49:00.000-07:00

The Red Sox are 0-6, in case you hadn't noticed, and now the Sox faithful are in panic mode.

My question is...why?

Many people have labeled the Red Sox a serious World Series contender in the American League this year, and rightfully so. Getting swept in two series to open the season doesn't change that. The panic would not be stirring as much if this six-game losing streak happened midseason. The fact that it's happening to start the season magnifies it and causes overreactions like what we're seeing now. Both of these series were on the road. The first was against the best team in baseball so far. No need to panic.

The Red Sox will be fine. They have too much talent to be this bad the rest of the way. Now they finally get a chance to play at home, against their hated rival, and they're angry at starting the season this way. I'm betting Boston takes the series over the Yankees this weekend. Remember the rocky start the Miami Heat got off to at the beginning of the NBA season, with all the superstars they brought in during the offseason? Now look where they are. Expect the Red Sox to bounce back in similar fashion.

This is just a classic example of putting too much emphasis on the opening moments of a baseball season. We have six months and 156 more games to go. It doesn't make sense for anyone to be panicking this early. The same message goes out to the Tampa Bay fans and the Houston fans. You can't measure a season by a six-game stretch. Especially not a six-game stretch in April. Come on, people. Have some faith.

And it works both ways. The Rangers are not going to go 162-0. The Baltimore Orioles will not finish the season in first place in the AL East. The season does not end today, so why make such a big deal about your team's start? And don't start throwing historical numbers at me. Those stats are kept specifically for instances like this where they can finally be put to rest or disproved. As far as I'm concerned, it will just add to the Red Sox legacy. This is a winning team, and pretty soon, we're all going to see it for ourselves. So what if we haven't just yet?

Rangers Still Doing Their Thing

2011-04-03T17:28:00.000-07:00

There are many things that one learns when taking in the opening weekend of the Major League Baseball season, but if there is one thing we should take away from Opening Weekend, its this:

The road to the World Series in the American League still runs through Texas.

Despite all the offseason talk about the Boston Red Sox and their free agent signings, the Texas Rangers are still the team to beat, and they showed it in their opening series against the Red Sox. Earning a sweep of the series, the Rangers hit 11 home runs on their way to early AL dominance.

Here's the thing about the Rangers: we've always known they can hit. Dating back to the A-Rod days, scoring runs was never the problem. It was always a lack of pitching that plagued the Rangers. So now that they have just a little bit of pitching (which is arguably more than a little bit with the young arms they have), they become a very dangerous team. They went to the World Series last year for a reason, and that reason seems to be holding true so far in 2011.

Make no mistake - Boston will be fine. In fact, they'll be more than fine. But for now, it's Texas that holds the reins, and this weekend's confirmation was a marvelous thing to behold.

Dodgers Open 2011 Aggressively

2011-03-31T21:48:00.000-07:00

3:15 p.m., and I'm about to set foot once again on hallowed baseball ground: the venerable Dodger Stadium. In two hours, the Dodgers and Giants would be underway in the inaugural game of the 2011 season. Academy Road is lined with parked cars, tailgaters fill the parks, and alcohol abounds. The shadows from the late evening sun creep onto the freshly cut stadium grass, to be broken in for the first time in honor of a new season.

4:40 p.m., and we meet the rosters for both teams. The most massive American flag you will ever see is unveiled as a singing legend belts the notes of the National Anthem. Cheers erupt as a stealth bomber passes by overhead, and as a sell-out crowd hears the infamous pregame words of an infamous broadcaster, perhaps for the last time on an Opening Day.

And Opening Day this was, featuring the dreamy pitching matchup of Tim Lincecum and Clayton Kershaw, adding a new chapter into the book chronicling the Dodgers/Giants storied rivalry, casting the game of baseball in a glorious spectacle for all to see on national television. After all, isn't this how we're supposed to celebrate our beloved sport?

Tonight, it was the hometown Dodgers who were doing the celebrating, following a gritty 2-1 victory over the hated Giants. The game lived up to all expectations, and then some, with both starters turning in tremendous performances and every pitch mattering until the last fastball from Jonathan Broxton at 7:55 p.m. The Dodgers, with first-year manager Don Mattingly at the helm, showed a different side to themselves tonight, a side that brings hope and promise to what many believe will be another average season. It was an aggressive side that lifted the Dodgers to victory tonight, from the batters box to the basepaths. Good pitches from Lincecum early in the count were hacked at. Errors on singles were taken advantage of. An important base was stolen in the 8th. And Kershaw wasn't doing his usual dance around hitters. This was the most aggressive the Dodgers have looked in a long time, and they are a better team just because of that alone.

Still, there were some carry-overs from last season. An abysmal 1-11 with runners in scoring position prevented the Dodgers from breaking the game open. Rafael Furcal looked sluggish at the plate. Jonathan Broxton surrendered another home run to a right-handed hitter. Certainly, these are trends that have plagued the Dodgers in seasons past, and will hold them back again in 2011 if tonight is not an anomaly. I suppose with any Opening Day, one finds good and bad in a team's performance, but I was encouraged by what I saw tonight at Dodger Stadium. I saw a team with fight and resolve, and with confidence. Intangibles such as these are what will carry this team this year. That and Matt Kemp stepping up the way he did tonight. So far, so good.

Loss of Wainwright Leaves Cardinals in Mediocrity

2011-02-27T10:46:00.000-08:00

A lot of times, when people make predictions in sports, they dismiss health as a contributing factor to a team's season or chances to win.

I was guilty of this just last week with the St. Louis Cardinals.

A once promising season for the Cards, at least in my mind, now looks very bleak, as ace Adam Wainwright will require season-ending surgery on his throwing elbow. This is a huge blow to the Cards, who lose a player that has been the anchor of their rotation for the last three years. It also impacts the Cardinals' chances to win the division significantly. I would argue that the loss of Wainwright is almost as devastating as the hypothetical loss of Albert Pujols for the season. He's simply that good.

It's truly amazing to reflect on the significance one major injury can have on the entire scheme of a baseball season. Now, the NL Central is wide open. Cincinnati will come back strong again in 2011. The Cubs and Brewers are both much improved. And the Cardinals should still put together a winning season, even without Wainwright. They can thank the division they play in for that. I don't see the winner of the NL Central this year getting any more than 88 wins, but I feel like all the teams mentioned above are capable of reaching that mark. If a team like Milwaukee can sneak in to the playoffs, with an offense like theirs and a rotation that now includes Zach Greinke and Shaun Marcum, it would make for a very interesting playoff dynamic, even if only because there would be fresh blood in the mix. Cincinnati did this last year and got outright mauled by the Phillies, but I really believe the 2011 Brewers would put up more of a fight. I think they're a team to keep your eye on now that the Cardinals no longer hold the high ground.

With all NL Central teams now mired in mediocrity, who knows? We may actually see some halfway-exciting baseball out of that division this season. Just not from the Pirates, of course.

Young's Relationship with Rangers not Symbiotic

2011-02-20T13:30:00.000-08:00

I really don't think the Texas Rangers know what they have in Michael Young.

For ten major league seasons, Young has quietly built an impressive career with the Rangers. He's never been an overpowering personality, never craved the spotlight, never allowed his ego to drown his on-field performance. He's simply gone about his business, the business of playing professional baseball, and he's done so with remarkable class and dignity.

Too bad the Rangers are not reciprocating here in 2011.

After all Michael Young has done for the franchise, and what he means to it, you would think the Rangers would extend Young the same professionalism they have been beneficiaries of the last ten years. Apparently not. Instead, they take advantage of his accommodating personality and team-player attitude and switch his position three times in eight years. Then they sign Adrian Beltre this offseason, surely a slap in the face to Young and his talents, and mislead him about the team's intentions. And finally, when Young rightfully requests a trade following these managerial decisions, they vilify him and refuse to comply with his wishes. Michael Young doesn't deserve this treatment. A man of his character and stature commands much more respect than what the Rangers are giving him. Defending American League Champions or not, the Rangers have no rights to entitlement here. I'm not sure what general manager Jon Daniels is up to over there in Texas, but whatever he's doing, it's classless and just plain irrational, at least when it comes to Young.

But have you noticed the way Young is reacting? Where some would throw hissy fits and have public arguments with management and cause a huge distraction for the team, Young has quietly slid back into his baseball routine, and done his duty. He's shown up for training camp on time. He's made it clear he won't be a distraction. He's focused on winning again in 2011. Key word? Quietly. And that is what makes Young the professional he is, the kind of player that nowadays is as rare as a winning lottery ticket. No games. No whining. No cowering behind the media. Just business. Just baseball. Just further evidence that the Rangers have lost sight of what they have. Young deserves to play every day, and not be platooned as a DH or demoted to a utility man. He's earned it, and if the Rangers can't pony up the role, the least they could do is move him to a team who can. Simple symbiosis. The Ranger organization has leeched Young long enough. It's time they gave something back.

Cards, Pujols Digging In

2011-02-17T21:28:00.000-08:00

Today, Albert Pujols walked into training camp without a contract extension. Do I have a problem with this? Absolutely not.

The Cardinals are smart not to give in to the little voice of the fan in their heads, telling them to pay Pujols what he wants. Pujols is smart not to settle for what the Cardinals may be offering as a result of them not giving in. Obviously, whatever offer has been made is not what Pujols is looking for, but both sides are playing this as they should.

There is no question that Albert Pujols has been the greatest player in baseball for the past decade. The numbers and the production are irrefutable. This is exactly why Pujols needs to test the market. If the Cardinals are not willing to pony up the cash to sign Pujols to a huge deal, then somebody else will be. There are teams that are that desperate, teams that would jump at grabbing the best player in the game no matter what the cost. Pujols has done his job, and in fact, has gone above and beyond in doing it, so it's safe to say the man has earned his paycheck, as well as a significant raise.

But how much of a raise? Enough to make him the highest paid player in baseball? I believe not. Dollar values on contracts should not be indicative of a player's performance. A contract that size would be based solely on what Pujols has done to this point, without taking into consideration what he will do. It's careless and impulsive. This is exactly why the Cardinals need to be patient. No player is worth $30 million. In fact, if you ask me, no player is even worth $20 million. I think the contracts for players like Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, Joe Mauer, Cliff Lee, and others are outrageous. Pujols should not be looped into this category, but he undoubtedly will be. No matter what is decided between the two sides, Pujols will be overpaid when he gets his new contract, just like the aforementioned players were overpaid. It's just a matter of how much. And that's why I don't have a problem with him not having an extension right now. If teams are smart and wait him out, the price will come down. It's simple. The Cardinals realize this, and have acted accordingly.

I don't take sides here because I think both sides are handling this as they need to, given the arguments and the circumstances. But you know who really benefits from all this? The St. Louis Cardinals, on the field. Why? Because in 2011, Albert Pujols may have his best season yet. That's a scary thought, considering what he's already shown us he can do. If you're skeptical, just think about Pujols' motivations: a championship-caliber team; a chip on his shoulder from getting shunned by the Cards before this latest deadline; a burden to prove yet again what he thinks he's worth, both during the regular season and in the playoffs; a potential huge contract in free agency. Are you kidding me? If you're any other team in the NL Central right now, you can't be liking the fact that Pujols isn't signing on the dotted line yet. He will continue to dazzle in 2011, and will bring the Cards another division championship. But the price tag.....

Baseball Makes for a Complete Valentine

2011-02-14T21:15:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day is generally perceived as an occasion where we let loved ones know just how we feel about them and how much they mean to us. While many have romantic dates and dozens of roses and delicious chocolates planned for tonight, I spend this Valentine's night offering tribute to one of the first loves of my life - the game of baseball.

And what a game it is. Baseball doesn't get enough love anymore, with the NFL growing as it is and our society steadily shifting pastimes towards the pigskin. People often question my love for baseball, as they would my love for a stripper if such a feeling existed. It's nonsensical to them, and why? Baseball is boring, they say. It is intolerable to watch on TV. There are too many games in a season. There isn't enough action.

These people are in love with the hot and flashy NFL, equivalent to a woman gorgeous on the outside but with no substance. Baseball may not have the looks the NFL does, but it has ten times the personality, and its inner beauty is what rings true when you come to know it as I have. To me, this is what matters, both metaphorically and in actuality. In baseball terms, its the mental wars waged in a 60-foot space between the pitcher and catcher; the chess game occurring between managers as runners reach base and bullpens are employed; the strategy present in each at-bat, which is so critical with only 27 outs to work with; the hundreds of statistics generated to evaluate a player's performance. These facets of baseball's inner beauty, hidden from those judging only the cover, are what lend the sport its radiance. Depth is the road to appreciation for this wonderful sport which, just today, rekindled its flames with pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training. Today, I celebrate my love for baseball, in all of its grandeur, inner or otherwise, and I implore you to do the same if you too are looking for the complete package this Valentine's Day. I wouldn't settle for anything less, and with baseball, I don't have to.

Lee Avoids Boredom by Joining Phillies

2010-12-14T22:56:00.000-08:00

I'm so sick of hearing about Cliff Lee, that I'm going to make this post short just so I don't add to the incessant conversations about his destination for next season. The thing is, his decision regarding that destination is so noteworthy that I would be remiss in leaving it out of this blog.

Lee to Philadelphia is a huge story because it's a head-turner. We as fans and consumers of baseball were blindsided by this move, and our reaction to it would be much different if Cliff Lee had been boring and signed with the Yankees. But Cliff Lee is not boring. In fact, nothing about him is. He's been arguably the best postseason pitcher over the last two seasons, has been constantly coveted by numerous teams, and helped take a franchise who had never won a playoff series prior to this year to a World Series. We've grown accustomed to seeing players like Lee don the pinstripes as soon as they put up accomplishments like Lee's. But Cliff Lee is not boring. And now he's a Phillie.

Lee makes the Philadelphia Phillies' starting rotation the best in baseball, period. Anyone who disputes that ought to make their way to a sauna and sweat those thoughts out of their head. And all because Cliff Lee is not boring. Something interesting to note here - we would have been saying the same thing about the Yankees' rotation had they gotten Lee, but not the Texas Rangers....and Lee went with the familiar territory in Philly over New York.

So now the three elite teams in baseball are housed in the northeast. Philadelphia may be all that's relevant in the National League. And Cliff Lee is set to be part of a team that will be very good for a very long time - not too bad for someone who settled for less money, eh? Certainly, that's not boring either.

Winter Meetings End in Usual Fashion for Dodgers

2010-12-11T14:25:00.000-08:00

Now that the winter meetings have reached their conclusion, it would be silly of me not to review my favorite team's moves to this point in the offseason.

As usual, the Dodgers have neglected to spend big money on the top free agents available this winter. Maybe this has to do with the McCourt situation. Maybe this has to do with the economy. Maybe this has to do with the fact that when the Dodgers do spend big money, the results are Andruw Jones, Jason Schmidt, and Manny Ramirez (post 2008). Whatever you choose to believe, the Dodgers have turned themselves into a small market team in a big market city. Their MO is bargain-hunting and living in subsistence. The leaves on Ned Colletti's tree are constantly being swayed by the winds of caution. The result: Hiroki Kuroda, John Garland, Tony Gwynn, Jr., Rod Barajas, and Vicente Padilla, all signed for one year. Ted Lilly, signed for three years, presumably and perhaps foolishly based on what he did for LA in August. A starting rotation that is deep but not entirely strong overall. A bullpen that is still searching for answers. A lineup that remains incomplete. A new second baseman that was signed based on one good year, and who will not produce again like he did in 2010. You know, the usual.

Still, to the Dodgers' credit, they have been aggressive. This was not the case last offseason, if you remember, and look where it got the team. This year, the Dodgers have been much more active, which is probably the biggest positive I can take away from their 2010 offseason so far. And I don't mean this just in regards to who the Dodgers have brought in - but more so, who they have said goodbye to:

Goodbye, George Sherrill. You really stunk last season. There are just no ifs ands or buts about it. An ERA over 6 in limited appearances? Good luck in Atlanta. Maybe the new skipper over there will kick some sense into you.

Goodbye, Scott Podsednik. You don't really belong in this lineup anyway, especially when Rafael Furcal is healthy and perfectly capable of handling leadoff duties. After we let Juan Pierre go last year, did you really think we were gonna keep YOU around?

Goodbye, Reed Johnson. You were great against left-handers last year, but then again, you always are. Too bad you couldn't stay healthy long enough to make a bigger impact. I'm not sure you'll ever be more than a spot starter at this point in your career, and I'm happy to let you pursue that elsewhere.

Now, on a more somber note:

Goodbye, Jeff Weaver. I really liked you out of the bullpen the past couple of seasons. You gave us innings that we desperately needed when Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley couldn't keep their pitch counts down. And that happened a lot. I can't imagine you were entirely happy with your role on this team, but as far as I'm concerned, you fulfilled it well. Best of luck to you moving forward.

Goodbye, Ryan Theriot. You beat Juan Uribe every day of the week and twice on Sunday. I don't care that you only hit two home runs this season. St. Louis is very lucky to have you. Enjoy your NL Central division championship in 2011.

Goodbye, Russell Martin. I am truly sad to see you go. While your production has steadily declined over the past few seasons, and while your power at this point is incomparable even to that of Rod Barajas, you orchestrated one of the best pitching staffs in baseball during your time as catcher. Your defensive abilities will be sorely missed. I hope the Dodgers wake up tomorrow, smell the coffee, and resign you before another team realizes your true value.

Such is the Dodger offseason in 2010. There has to be more to it though, right? I mean, the Dodgers can't be content to go into April with Jay Gibbons as their left fielder, can they? Come on, Colletti. Convince me that I should renew my season tickets this year, even though you know I probably will anyway. Don't tell me LA is destined for another sub-.500 finish, and that we as fans have to suffer through another NL West title captured by the San Francisco Giants!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. You, a conformist in a land of cheap traders, are going to convince me with bargains. Theo Epstein is convincing his fans with Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford. What do you got?

I Am Back, and So Are the Red Sox

2010-12-09T20:23:00.000-08:00

It has been two months since my last post, but in the spirit of the winter meetings, and the holiday season, where generosity seems to flow much more freely than normal, I feel its time to offer some new contributions to you fine readers.

The monetary generosity of major players in the free agent market is certainly abundant. Carl Crawford's new deal may be the best indicator of this. At $20 million a year for seven years, the Red Sox have locked up the most dynamic hitter in this year's free agent pool. This after acquiring slugger Adrian Gonzalez (who, by the way, will absolutely have more of an impact than Crawford will this year) just two days earlier while managing to keep their 25-man roster intact. The Red Sox, with these moves, now have the targets on their backs. Never mind that they didn't make the playoffs last year. You can't put a better lineup on the field than what Boston has right now.

And if you're the Yankees, how much pressure must you be feeling right now? Yeah, maybe you extend your own generosity to Cliff Lee and give him $160-165 million over 7 years, but to me, that's not going to be enough to temper the Red Sox. When healthy, the Red Sox still have better pitching than the Yankees do as a whole. While the Yankees' frontline starters may be better, especially if they sign Lee, the Red Sox can round out their rotation with John Lackey and Clay Buchholz. I shudder to think about how good the Red Sox are going to be this year. They might win 120 games, if they weren't playing in the best division in baseball.

Which brings me to another point. Why is the AL East the best division in baseball? Their overwhelming generosity is the answer. No other division spends money like the AL East, because no other division features the Yankees and Red Sox. These two teams always land the top free agents, year in and year out, and free agents want to play for them because they pay. They pay big. They try and outbid the other, and drive the price up on the Carl Crawfords and Cliff Lees in the process, not only to put the other at a disadvantage, but to put the rest of Major League Baseball at a disadvantage. Any other teams interested in these high-profile players simply aren't willing to shell out the dough, which grants the Yankees and Red Sox a monopoly on them. The result: star-studded lineups like the one the Red Sox have put together this offseason. A complete, well-rounded club that would easily dominate any other division in baseball. This year, the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry might be the most exciting its been since the ALCS in 2004.

Because the Red Sox are back.

Final Playoff Predictions

2010-10-05T19:47:00.000-07:00

With the MLB playoffs imminent, its time to make some more predictions. The following constitutes my revised predictions for the 2010 postseason, although I will say that a few of my original predictions have remained intact:

American League

Rangers vs. Rays: Rays in 4
The Rangers are potentially a very dangerous team, especially with the glorious Josh Hamilton back in the lineup. If Cliff Lee or CJ Wilson can steal one of the first two games in Tampa, I think the Rangers take this series in five. The thing is, that's not going to happen.

Yankees vs. Twins: Yankees in 3
The Twins haven't proven that they can win a playoff series in what seems like an eternity. Why should 2010 be any different? Especially against a Yankee team who, despite their pitching concerns, is much stronger. The Yankees win this one easily, particularly with no Justin Morneau to deal with.

Yankees vs. Rays: Rays in 7
I've been a walking advertisement for the ALCS between these two teams for months. It will be epic, I promise. Winner takes all, because no NL team can play with either squad.

National League

Reds vs. Phillies: Phillies in 3
The Reds don't stand a chance in this series. They've accomplished a lot this year, but all their late-inning heroics won't save them from Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, and Cole Hamels. Cincinnati will get but a taste of playoff baseball before their beloved Reds will be swept away.

Braves vs. Giants: Giants in 4
As I said in my last post, I really hope I'm wrong about this call. The Giants just have too much pitching, and they drew a great matchup in Atlanta, who has not played well for a good six weeks. Home field advantage is on their side as well.

Giants vs. Phillies: Phillies in 5
As good as the Giants' pitching is, the Phillies' pitching is better. And in the playoffs, it's all about pitching. Oh yeah, and the Phillies happen to have a killer lineup. The Giants do not. That's the difference. If the Giants had the Phillies' lineup, this would be an amazing series. But they don't. Enough said.

World Series

Rays vs. Phillies: Rays in 6
Two of the most balanced teams in baseball square off in this year's Fall Classic. I will be glued to my TV watching these two teams going at it, because we're going to see some great baseball here at the end of October. Ultimately, the Rays will beat the Phillies at their own game, and will prevail. They are the most complete team in baseball, and they've shown it all year long. I just hope people actually show up at the Trop to see it happen.

The Homestretch, Days 30-32: Finale

2010-10-03T16:56:00.000-07:00

I thought that if I didn't post anything this weekend, the Padres would come back and sweep the Giants to force a one-game playoff tomorrow night for the NL West title.

That superstition almost worked.

Unfortunately for the Padres, my willpower was not enough to save them from a 3-0 shutout in San Francisco this afternoon which gave the Giants the division. Leading by 6 1/2 games in late August, the Padres stumbled their way through September, and hung by a thread today as they faced a team who never let them run away with it. Now, they'll be sitting at home this October, while the Giants have a date with the wild-card winning Atlanta Braves starting Thursday.

The scary part of it is, the Giants actually have a very reasonable chance of winning that series. I've said all along that they won't get anywhere in the playoffs, but I didn't anticipate them meeting up with Atlanta in the NLDS. Atlanta is a favorable matchup for the Giants, especially with home field advantage. I like the Giants to win this series and advance to the NLCS, as much as it kills me to say it. Their pitching is better and they have a huge amount of momentum coming in. Meanwhile, the Braves have limped their way in after a sub par September. I really hope I'm wrong, and the Giants fade quickly into the autumn breeze, but I pick them to beat the Braves in four.

My other playoff picks will be coming in the next couple of days, but for now, this post concludes the Homestretch series. This definitely was not as exciting a homestretch as we have had in years past, but the NL West and wild card chases made it worthwhile. This week, the real tests begin. The dominant storylines unfold. Baseball's best team will commence their run at glory in its final act of 2010.

The Homestretch, Day 29: October Time

2010-09-30T22:37:00.000-07:00

The clinching of the last two playoff spots is imminent after tonight's results, with the Giants winning and the Padres losing. One Giant win over the Padres this weekend in San Francisco, and the NL West will finally be wrapped up. This will be the biggest series baseball has seen in 2010.

How appropriate that it begins on October 1.

The next three posts will chronicle the final weekend of the regular season in San Francisco, unless the Giants make quick work of the Padres and erase the remaining playoff uncertainty. Matt Cain starts for the Giants tomorrow night in Game 1, and it doesn't get much easier after that, as Barry Zito and Jonathan Sanchez follow. Clayton Richard goes for the Padres Friday in the biggest start of his career. Make no mistake - the Padres are not out of this yet. Yes, they need a sweep of this series and then a win in the one-game playoff that would follow, but that is not impossible. Not for a team that has come so far. Not for a team that got considerably better at the deadline. Not for a team with the #2 ERA in the majors. Even if the Giants are #1. Stranger things have happened, remember?

It's October.

The Homestretch, Day 28: The Return of the King

2010-09-29T21:09:00.000-07:00

Deep in the heart of Texas, a savior may yet rise from the ashes.

Possibly returning to the Texas Rangers' lineup this weekend: Josh Hamilton, reborn and resurrected, leaving Ranger fans rejoicing at the runs they may be scoring. It's a perfect feel-good story. Hamilton rising from the dead to lead the Rangers into the playoffs and a possible World Series appearance. The majors' leading hitter guiding his flock, perhaps to a place where no Ranger flock has gone before.

If he plays this October, Hamilton will be making quite a sacrifice. Two broken ribs is not an easy injury to overcome. Yet his presence will give the Rangers hope as they enter unfamiliar territory. With Hamilton, the Rangers are a real threat. Without him, they're a quasi-real threat. Regardless, the Yankees and Rays need to be wary of what Hamilton can do. He is a force to be reckoned with, and a godsend for the Rangers right now. His .361 average to go along with his power numbers is ungodly. His defensive ability in the outfield is inhuman. And now, he eyes a return to the baseball world. Note to other American League playoff teams: a shepherd is among you.

And he just might perform a miracle.

The Homestretch, Day 27: Strangers to Playoffs Not So Strange

2010-09-28T22:20:00.000-07:00

The latest October development occurred tonight, with the Cincinnati Reds clinching the NL Central. I'm not sure many people expected this development at the beginning of the season, but it's a welcome change of pace.

Unfortunately, in baseball, the teams with the money are usually the teams that are successful. There are exceptions, of course. The 2003 Florida Marlins immediately come to mind. But generally, we see the same teams in the playoffs every year. The Yankees. The Red Sox. The Cardinals. The Braves. Now the Phillies. The Angels. Playoff matchups between these teams make for great baseball, but they can take away from the excitement of the postseason, if you ask me. Part of what makes baseball, and sports in general, thrilling is the presence of an underdog, a Cinderella team, a team that no one expects to do anything but surprises you. Why do you think March Madness is so popular? The chance for an unknown, underrated castaway to upset top-ranked opponents on their NCAA championship run. We saw a lot of it this past March. And how exciting was that?

The same goes for baseball. It's especially important with fewer teams in the playoff pool. That's why the Reds' presence in the 2010 postseason is great for the game, and for its fans. The same could be said for the Texas Rangers, which makes it even better, because both leagues have that underdog presence. But the Reds weren't a winning team last year, like the Rangers were. In fact, they were a fourth place team. And now they're in the postseason. Imagine if the Padres also made it in? Then we'd have Cinderella mayhem in the NL. And it's good that we have that. It keeps the game from becoming monotonous. It gives fans from different parts of the country reason to cheer. It makes for great stories like the 2003 Marlins, or the 2002 Angels, or the 2001 Diamondbacks. Ideally, the Reds and Padres won't be matched up in the first round, so that one of those teams will have a chance to continue that legacy of sports which we hold so dear:

Stranger things have happened.

The Homestretch, Day 26: It Pays to Play

2010-09-27T20:55:00.000-07:00

The NL bullies finally sealed the deal tonight in Washington. Surprise, surprise, right?

You could see it in the celebration near the mound following the game. The Phillies knew this moment was coming. It was never a doubt in their minds. A fourth consecutive NL East title, captured mainly by a man whom many sought but only one team landed.

Roy Halladay.

And that was the Phillies MO this season: to buy themselves a division title. The Yankees and Red Sox operate that way every year, so it was only fair that an NL team got in on the action. That team was the Phillies, who gave up a very very good pitcher to get....someone even better. Halladay is undoubtedly one of the best pitchers of the decade, and the Phillies snatched him from the jaws of the AL giants this winter. Then they went out and got the best free agent pitcher available at this year's deadline - Roy Oswalt. Combine that with the Phillies' potent lineup and the resurrection of Cole Hamels in the second half, and the Phillies look like geniuses. But they're really not. They played it safe. They went for proven talent, and paid a big price for it. I said the same thing when the Twins gave Joe Mauer that huge extension back in April. The Twins played it safe too. And now they're division winners as well.

I've said before that in free agency, there are no guarantees. Roy Halladay might be the closest thing to it. He's been spectacular for the Phillies this season, and 21 wins later, he fittingly delivered the Phillies another division title. The Phillies paid to play, and playing they are, right into October. So are the Yankees, who always shell out the dough in the winter. And the Rays, who splurged for a closer. And maybe the Giants, who went for quantity, not necessarily quality. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, remember? These teams won. And they're still winning. They bought their wins, and that's one way to do it. Or you can do it like the Padres and live in subsistence the entire season, scraping by on Chris Denorfia and Aaron Cunningham. But that's not the Phillies' way.

And it's paying off.

The Homestretch, Day 25: Rockies Blink First

2010-09-26T18:00:00.000-07:00

After their usual late-season push, the Colorado Rockies are finally starting to fall off the playoff map.

We've all been wondering over the last couple of weeks which NL West team would blink first, and it seems the Rockies aren't as seasoned when it comes to staring contests. Losing two out of three to the Giants this weekend basically puts the Rockies out of it, barring a collapse in this last week by either San Francisco or San Diego. And if you notice, Troy Tulowitzki has been a big reason why the Rockies have stumbled as of late. Just as Tulowitzki powered the Rockies back into the NL West title chase, he is slumping the Rockies right back out of it. Before Saturday's win, Tulowitzki had been 2 for his last 21 over a five-game span, and naturally, the Rockies lost all five of those games. Tulowitzki's line in today's loss to the Giants? 0-4, one strikeout. Of course, Tulowitzki can't do it all himself, but at the same time, he has to do something if the Rockies are going to have any success offensively. He hasn't this week, and the result was a sweep in Arizona before the Giants series this weekend, and the Rockies essentially being eliminated from playoff contention.

And then, there were two. The Giants and Padres, seesawing possession of first place in the NL West, knowing the finish line is in sight with an enormous series looming in San Francisco next weekend. The Giants get Arizona to start the week, while the Padres get the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley. And then the division title will be decided in San Francisco October 1-3. It doesn't get any better than this, folks. What a way to start October baseball!

The Homestretch, Day 24: Ranger Danger

2010-09-25T16:30:00.000-07:00

Two AL teams have now clinched division titles.

The Texas Rangers, for the first time in eleven years, are playoff-bound after a thrilling 4-3 victory over division rival Oakland gave them the AL West title. Unlikely hero Jorge Cantu homered in the top of the eighth to break a 3-3 tie, and let me tell you, the Rangers are going to need a lot more of those clutch performances from roleplayers if they hope to do any damage in the postseason. With Josh Hamilton sidelined, Nelson Cruz, Vladimir Guerrero, and Michael Young are going to need some support. The Rangers are not going to be able to get by on 2-3 runs a game against either the Rays or Yankees. Their offense will need to come alive in two weeks, or any thoughts of a fairytale run at the World Series will quickly be eradicated.

That said, the Rangers' pitching is their x-factor. Cliff Lee and C.J. Wilson could push the Rangers into the ALCS, if they can win on the road. The way the playoffs are set up, with the division series being five games, the Rangers could conceivably start Cliff Lee in Game 1, C.J. Wilson in Game 2, and then Lee again in Game 5, if the series gets that far. That's a scary thought for any opponent of the Rangers in the ALDS. If the Rangers can win one of those first two games, they have a great chance to upset the AL East winner and begin their fairytale.

The chances of that happening, however, are slim. If you're the Rangers, you pick your poison - either CC Sabathia and Burnett/Pettite in Game 1 and 2, or David Price and Matt Garza. Of course, the Rangers don't get to pick, but in either scenario they have an uphill battle on their hands. And again, they're playing on the road, where they are five games under .500 this season.

I don't see the Rangers getting anywhere in October. They have accomplished a lot this year, and it's great to see a new face at the top of the AL West. They are a very good team, but they're not a great team. They're not a playoff team. Some teams are built for October, as I've discussed before. The Rangers are not. The absence of Josh Hamilton, even though he is just one guy, will affect them greatly in the ALDS. Is it possible they could surprise everyone and advance? Absolutely. Is it likely? No. There are just too many question marks, too many variables working against Texas here. Inexperience will be a factor. Only two games in the series will be in Arlington. Getting to Neftali Feliz will be an issue. The MVP candidate will be on the bench.

But then again, it's October, and we've been surprised before in that month. It's a time for a fresh start, where all previous numbers, stats, records, and fortunes go out the window. And that's what makes a team like Texas just as capable as anyone of making history.

The Homestretch, Day 23: Tough Luck Toronto

2010-09-24T22:03:00.000-07:00

Most, if not all, of the topics explored in this Homestretch series have dealt directly with playoff teams or potential playoff teams. Tonight, I mix it up a bit, to talk about a would-be playoff team.

The Toronto Blue Jays, with 78 wins to their credit in 2010, are a would-be playoff team. Would-be if they played in any division besides the AL East, that is. Would-be if they weren't playing the Rays, Yankees, and Red Sox almost 60 times combined per season. It's easy to make this remark about a team like Boston, because they're supposed to be in playoff contention every year. It's expected of them. No one has any expectations for the Blue Jays. Yet, you put them anywhere else in baseball and they are at least in the running for a division title.

This year's Blue Jay team has gotten it done with the long ball. Their 234 home runs as a team leads all of Major League Baseball, and by far. Guess which teams are #2 and #3? Yep. The Red Sox, then the Yankees. Take those teams away, and who knows where they Jays would be? Leading the charge is Jose Bautista, who hit his 50th last night and then two more today. Pretty remarkable for a guy whose career high in home runs before this season was 16. 16! Unfortunately, we can't look at Jose Bautista's numbers without speculating about steroid use. This is the era we live in. Bautista's accomplishments have been incredible this season, but they will always be stained with doubt. It doesn't matter if he used or not. We can't be sure of anything anymore thanks to the A-Rods (A-Roids) of the world. I feel for the guy, he probably has to put up with media speculation and questions every day. But he still goes out and produces. And he's a big reason why the Jays would be the Rays of any other division in baseball.

Toronto, unfortunately, is always a team that gets overlooked in the American League. Baltimore from the East does as well, but they haven't given us any reason to believe they belong in any discussion involving winning teams. Toronto has proven this year that they can play, and that they can play with anyone. 78 wins as a fourth place ball club is both fantastic and infuriating at the same time. I wonder what would have been if Roy Halladay had stayed a Jay. Regardless, it seems nowadays Toronto is destined for a finish no higher than fourth in the best division in baseball, which is a real shame. I'd love to see what kind of damage the Jay lineup could do in the playoffs. I mean, we haven't had a 50-home run guy in the majors since...Ryan Howard in 2006? That's the first guy that comes to mind. Howard didn't get a shot at the playoffs in '06 either. Hopefully he's not on the 'roids. What a season that was in 2006.

And what a season Bautista has put together here in 2010. Same goes for the Jays. Tough luck I suppose, that we won't be seeing them in October. Maybe we'll see Bautista on an MVP ballot. After all, someone should recognize the resilience and true power of this team, stained or not.

The Homestretch, Day 22: Pick 'Em

2010-09-23T21:02:00.000-07:00

Four games, two very good teams, one series split. The Rays and the Yankees, the two best teams in baseball, drawing even once again. The majors' first 20-game winner this season looking like he should have 20 losses. What more could you ask for from an AL East showdown?

With tonight's win the Rays captured the season series against the Yankees, giving them the first tiebreaker in case of a tie for the division lead. This is huge for the Rays, given the events that have transpired outside of their series with the Yankees this week. As quietly as they've been winning, no one wants to play Minnesota right now. Whoever wins the AL East will draw Texas in the first round, and if I'm the Rays or Yankees, I'm doing everything I can to get that division title because a series with Texas puts me in the ALCS, guaranteed. Minnesota represents a much tougher path, and the Rays took one more step tonight towards not having to travel it.

Meanwhile, the final Rays-Yankees series of the year was busy teasing us, dangling real October baseball right before our eyes. When these two teams meet in this year's ALCS (and I do mean when), we will witness the ultimate stalemate, where victory is only awarded out of necessity. It will just be a question of who is playing better at that time. The Rays and Yankees are as evenly matched as it gets, and even though my contention is that the Rays will win the day, I might have just as much luck picking the winner of the ALCS if I flipped a coin.

Both these teams, however, make their own luck. They play good defense. They get consistent performance from their starting rotations. They capitalize on mistakes. They finish games. Most importantly, they demonstrate balance. If you look at each playoff-bound team here in 2010, you'll find balance is their common element. Minnesota has featured it here in the second half. Texas has just enough of it to get by. Philadelphia owns a monopoly on it in the National League. Cincinnati's in the same boat as Texas. San Francisco/San Diego/Colorado don't have it, but that's because NL West teams are incapable of achieving it. The Rays and Yankees are the two best teams in baseball because they are the most balanced. That's why they split this week's series. Any other outcome would have upset the standard of balance and thus the very core of both clubs.

Now, just 9-10 games remain. The picture is getting clearer. The pressure is getting heavier.

But the balance remains intact.

The Homestretch, Day 21: Dodgers' First Love

2010-09-22T21:06:00.000-07:00

I couldn't write about this on a day where the first playoff berth of 2010 was clinched, but no team is clinching today, so it looks like I'm in the clear. While September 21 was a joyous day for the Twins, it was an ugly and likely an embarrassing one for the Dodgers. L.A. was eliminated from playoff contention last night after being shut out by San Diego (again), and it really seemed as if the Dodgers bowed out just as quietly as the Twins got in.

The 2010 Dodger campaign was one riddled with inconsistency. The offense was potent in the first half, nonexistent in the second half. The pitching was splendid in the second half, abysmal in the first half. Nowhere over the course of the season, except for maybe a little 9-game winning streak back in May, did the two simultaneously click into place and elevate the team's performance. What's remarkable, if you think about it, is that the Dodgers managed to hang around for this long; they pieced together 73 victories prior to being eliminated, even with all of that inconsistency. Imagine what would have happened if the team was firing on all cylinders.

It would certainly be easy to point fingers and assess blame to individual players for the outcome of the Dodgers' 2010 season. Maybe some players are even deserving of it. Chad Billingsley got off to an awful start before turning things around in the second half. Matt Kemp couldn't seem to make contact all year. Jonathan Broxton's mental fortitude disappeared after the Yankees left town in June. Rafael Furcal didn't stay on the field. Russell Martin still couldn't hit. So many potential reasons why this season will be forgettable for the Dodgers, but none of the above reasons tell the whole story. There is no umbrella to squeeze all of the Dodgers' issues under, not even the McCourt situation. This was a team that was not vastly improved in the offseason, a team that got a lot of help at this year's deadline but paid large amounts of chemistry for it, a team that lost its swagger from a year ago. More importantly, the Dodgers were a team that lost more games than they won prior to today, and collectively, they are responsible. This is true of any team, in any sport, at any level. Individual players, managers, owners, and executives don't lose games by themselves. Teams lose games. The Dodgers lost enough to eliminate themselves two weeks early.

If inconsistency is the word of choice when characterizing the Dodgers' regular season in 2010, then uncertainty has to be the word characterizing the Dodgers' future. We all know what's going on with the McCourts, and that's a huge part of the equation, but do we know if we can get the old Broxton back? Do we know if we'll have a fifth starter that isn't a rookie next season? Do we know if Matt Kemp was a one-season wonder? As always, there are many personnel questions facing the Dodgers this winter, and because personnel take the field and play 162 games over six months, personnel have to be the primary concern for Dodger fans going forward. Is this linked to the McCourts, and to Ned Colletti? Undoubtedly. But Dodger fans know we can win with this club. We proved it in 2009. The same team came back in 2010 and underachieved, despite periodic upgrades to the bench, rotation, and bullpen. Other teams in the division got better. The Padres surprised everyone after not getting better. And now the Dodgers are a fourth place team, reminiscing about where they were this time last year, reliving in their minds all the champagne-soaked moments the Twins got to experience last night. Now, they fade quietly into the night, the distant melody of "We Love L.A." faintly ringing in their ears, one question clinging to their minds: more uncertainty in 2011?

We love it.

The Homestretch, Day 20: Twins First to Clinch, Quietly

2010-09-21T21:21:00.000-07:00

Barring a miracle ninth-inning comeback by Chicago tonight in Oakland, the Minnesota Twins will be the first team to clinch a division title and a postseason berth. And why not? The Twins have demonstrated all season that they are one of the premier clubs in baseball.

They've also done so very quietly.

Every year it seems, the Twins are in the discussion for the postseason. Every year they manage to put together solid teams that consistently compete for the AL Central crown, but do we really take as much notice as we should? Sadly, the Twins are easily overlooked because they are dwarfed by other AL giants like the Yankees, Red Sox, and Angels. It also doesn't help that they haven't been to a World Series in almost twenty years, but that doesn't take away from what Ron Gardenhire and the Twins' management have been able to achieve in their tenure with the club. Gardenhire has led the Twins to five playoff appearances in his eight seasons as manager, and now will be headed for a sixth. He has had success because he's one of the best at optimizing the personnel at his disposal. He knows how to use his players in order to get the most out of them, and as a result he puts winning teams on the field. That's what the Twins do. They win. You might not notice it, but they win, and they win frequently. In 2010 they're headed for at least 95 wins, if not more, which would be the most they've had in a season since 2006. And under Gardenhire, they've averaged 89 wins a season.

And there it is. It's official. The Twins are the first team to clinch. Congratulations to Minnesota on a fantastic season. Quietly, they go about their business of winning, and now we'll be seeing them in October once again.

The Homestretch, Day 19: Bully on the Loose

2010-09-20T21:29:00.001-07:00

It's scary how good the Phillies are right now. Just ask the Atlanta Braves, who dropped another game in the NL East standings tonight and are falling in that division faster than a sack of potatoes. Is it the fault of the Braves that this is true? They haven't been playing particularly well of late, but all the responsibility can't fall on them in this scenario. It isn't the Braves fault the Phillies have won eight straight, or that they've won 43 games since the All-Star break. It isn't the Braves fault that Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt are back to form. Oh yeah, and Roy Halladay is in that rotation too.

In the National League, the Phillies are the equivalent of the bully in your second grade class who was bigger, stronger, and more intimidating than anyone else you knew. Fear coursed through your body upon any confrontation with him; it rendered you speechless, awestruck, and made you look downright silly. You would make all efforts to avoid him, but somehow he would always find you. And when he did find you, he was all business. So go the Phillies. Posing as the menacing, unforgiving, unavoidable NL bully, the Phillies are having their way with kids like the Braves, and the baseball diamond, their school yard, is their arena. Other NL opponents have been powerless to stop them in the second half, quietly cowering in awe at the brute force and strength displayed by the power bats of the Philly lineup and the power arms of their rotation. Hard to believe that just two months ago, this team was seven games out of first place and looking at a very disappointing 2010 campaign. Now, they rule the school, and what they say goes. Bring on the filthy Giants or any other NL Pest team in Round 1. It might be the fastest knockout we've ever seen.

I love talking about the Phillies, because they're good and they play like it. They know they're better than you when they're at their best, and they're at their best a lot of the time. That's why they're the best team in the National League. They bully you, but they earn your respect. They knock you down, and they make sure you stay down. This is the way of the Phillies, their manifesto if you will, and it's gotten them two World Series berths in three seasons. I expect a third in 2010, and you should too, because bullies only respond to strength, and there's no team in the National League that boasts the strength of the Phillies.

The Homestretch, Day 18: Giant Outcasts

2010-09-19T22:35:00.000-07:00

The Giants are still very fortunate to be in first place in the NL West. Today they avoided a weekend sweep with a 9-2 victory over Milwaukee, but what business do they have losing a series to Milwaukee to begin with? And at home nonetheless? See, this is exactly what I'm talking about when I say that teams like the Giants have no business being in the playoffs. They lose series late in the year to teams they shouldn't be losing series to. It's one thing if you're the Padres and you lose three out of four on the road to a St. Louis team that still has a mathematical chance of making the postseason. It's another thing entirely to get shut out by Randy Wolf, not score enough runs for Tim Lincecum, and then take all of it out on Chris Narveson. Playoff teams don't have series like the Giants had this weekend. At least Troy Tulowitzki and the Rockies took two out of three from the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium, where historically they can never seem to muster up any success.

Performances like this weekend's by the Giants lend credence to the idea that their status as a first-place team is a joke. If you can't score against Randy Wolf and Yovani Gallardo, how do you expect to score against Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels? Or Mat Latos and Clayton Richard? Despite all the minor additions to their lineup, the Giants remain impotent offensively. Their pitching hasn't been enough to get them to the playoffs in the past couple of seasons, so why should 2010 be any different? Who's really a threat if you're taking the hill against the Giants in the playoffs, from a pitcher's perspective? Aubrey Huff? Maybe. Pablo Sandoval? Not this season. Jose Guillen? Today only. Buster Posey? Doubtful. Juan Uribe? Only in the late innings. The Giants don't scare you, they excite you if you're the Phillies, Reds, or Braves, because you know you'll sweep them right out of the postseason and punch an easy ticket into the NLCS. Phillies fans have to be on their knees right now, praying for the Padres to keep losing so they get the Giants in the first round. I know I would be.

Teams like the Giants don't belong in October. They're outcasts, dirty as a diaper, contaminating the pristine nature of the matchups October baseball seeks to create. The Brewers were 11 games under .500 coming into the weekend. The Giants were 19 games over. Give me a break. Bring some sock next time you decide you want to contend for a division title.

Or at least freshen up a bit.

The Homestretch, Day 17: The Catalyst

2010-09-18T20:39:00.000-07:00

I may have an answer to why the Colorado Rockies continue to put together amazing second-half runs.

The answer comes in the form of one man, with one mission: get the Rockies to the playoffs.

His name is Troy Tulowitzki.

Ever the second-half player, Tulowitzki is the catalyst in the Colorado lineup. Yes, Carlos Gonzalez has been phenomenal this year, but he hasn't tied a major league record by hitting 14 home runs in 15 games here in September. Are you kidding me? I don't know about you, but I'm dying to hear Dick Vitale offer commentary on this guy. I can just hear him now: "He's unbelievable, baby!"

And he really is. The production Tulowitzki has put up in August and September since his rookie year in 2007 is mind-blowing. Wrap your brain around these numbers: in 2007, Tulowitzki came into August with twelve home runs on the season. He proceeded to hit twelve more in August and September, while hitting a cool .333 in August. In 2009, he hit .344 in the second half to push the Rockies into the wild card. This year, he's hit .351 in August and .354 in September, driving in 45 runs over that span. And let's not forget all those home runs. In 2010 he entered September with twelve and has already hit twelve this month.

Remember, in August the Rockies were down by as many as ten games in the division to San Diego. Now, they are just one game behind the Padres for the division lead after the Giants lost again to the Brewers, even with their ace Lincecum on the mound. They can thank Tulowitzki for that. They are 13-4 so far in September, and can thank Tulowitzki for that. Or for the Rockies' two playoff appearances and one World Series appearance in the last three years. All this started with Troy Tulowitzki. Here in 2010, he continues to build his legacy.

But he is just one man.

The Homestretch, Day 16: Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Lose

2010-09-17T21:42:00.000-07:00

Harold Reynolds on MLB Network just claimed Aubrey Huff to be the best offseason acquisition in the majors in 2010. That didn't do the Giants much good tonight as they were shut out by the Milwaukee Brewers at home.

#3 was Jim Thome to the Minnesota Twins. He didn't help them out much either tonight, as the Twins only managed one run against Oakland at home.

But that's not to say that at certain junctions, some more important than others, offseason acquisitions like Huff and Thome haven't made a profound impact on their teams or divisions. Other players to be filed here include Rafael Soriano of Tampa Bay, Billy Wagner of Atlanta, Roy Halladay of Philadelphia, and Vladimir Guerrero of Texas (all were mentioned by the MLB tonight crew).

But I don't wish to merely recount someone else's analysis tonight. Offseason acquisitions are a big deal, and tonight's post is devoted to them. There's really no way to tell whether a player will be a good fit for a team until we see them in action. We knew Aubrey Huff and Jim Thome could hit, but they hadn't been hitting lately up until this season. They were good fits for their teams, and it helped that they were used well. We suspected that Roy Halladay would be dominant for the Phillies, but could we have guessed that Billy Wagner would have this much left in the tank? Or that Rafael Soriano would solve the Rays' bullpen issues? Or that Vladimir Guerrero would be rejuvenated in Texas? I'm not sure the majority of us would have guessed that these players would be producing the way they have this season.

Still, there are two sides to every coin. Some offseason acquisitions have not worked out, also something the majority of us would not come to expect. Joel Pineiro hasn't helped the Angels' pitching staff much. Cliff Lee isn't even a Seattle Mariner anymore. Jason Bay was a complete bust for the Mets. In today's MLB, there really are no guarantees, no matter which player a team signs. Free agency has become a crap shoot, not to mention a bidding war, especially with pitchers. Starting pitchers at that. Barry Zito is just now starting to show some semblance of an arm in his fourth year with the Giants. Oliver Perez has fallen off the map as a Met. Then again, CC Sabathia has been his usual potential-Cy-Young self since becoming a Yankee.

This year, the Rays, Braves, and Phillies got lucky. And here they are, right in the playoff hunt. In the case of the Phillies, the rich were getting richer, and that's why they're headed to the World Series. The Giants, Rangers, and Twins benefited from some luck too, with players past their primes managing above average seasons, and they're all currently first-place teams. Sometimes you gamble and you win, sometimes you lose. The Mets, Mariners, and Angels were losers this season, even though they've been winners in the past. They're now towards the bottom of their respective divisions. Is this the fault of the acquired players? Hardly. But they certainly have something to do with it. Perhaps, in this time of over-valuing professional baseball players (and athletes in general), the moves that are made when no games are being played become more critical than those that are made in-season. For teams have to pick and choose their battles, and when they choose correctly, it can be an incredible thing to witness.

The Homestretch, Day 15: Scheduling Conflicts

2010-09-16T21:37:00.000-07:00

Not much happening today, unless you want to count yet another division lead change. The thing is, this division lead hasn't changed in almost four months.

Pending the Giants' throttling of the Dodgers (they're ahead 8-2 in the 8th right now), the Giants will overtake first place in the NL West, not too long after the Padres dropped the first of a four-game series in St. Louis tonight.

While the Padres are a better team than both of their NL West competitors, the Giants and Rockies, they may indeed get shafted by what is turning out to be an extremely difficult schedule here in September. After sweeping the Dodgers back on September 5-7, the Padres played four against the Giants and three against the Rockies before traveling to St. Louis. After the weekend, the Padres return home to the Dodgers again but then play Cincinnati, Chicago, and San Francisco to close the season (what an epic series that Giants one could be in October, eh?).

Then you have the Giants, who draw Milwaukee this weekend and then Chicago, Colorado, Arizona, and San Diego to close the season. Or the Rockies, who have two more series against the Dodgers and one against Arizona left. Here's your difference between all three teams: the Giants and Rockies each have three series remaining against losing teams. The Padres? One. One! In a tight division race, those six extra gimme games the Rockies and Giants get are huge. In fact, they will probably determine the outcome of the division.

That means this weekend features enormous NL West implications. While San Diego is in St. Louis, the Giants get the Brewers at home and the Rockies travel to Dodger Stadium. Gimme games for the Rockies and Giants. If they lose those series, it's going to be huge for the Padres. If they take care of business, San Diego needs to watch out.

All I know right now is that if I was a Padres fan, I'd find myself asking, "Where's the BCS strength of schedule ranking when you need it?"

The Homestretch, Day 14: And Then There Were Two

2010-09-15T22:40:00.000-07:00

Two races. After tonight, they are all that's left to be decided in the 2010 MLB season.

No, the AL East chase is not one of them. Both the Yankees and Rays are going to the playoffs, so it doesn't matter who wins the division. You can forget the NL East too. I don't care that the Phillies are only up by three games after tonight. They'll be looking down on the Braves the rest of the season.

The AL Central, West, and NL Central are jokes at this point. Leads of at least eight games exist in each, so why should any of us care about second-place, sub-par teams who played their way out of contention? Yeah, St. Louis, Chicago White Sox, and Oakland, I'm talking about you. Are your ears burning yet? Because your playoff hopes certainly have been.

Two races. One, the only division that's left, the NL West, full of NL Pests that won't go away (see Giants, Rockies). Two, the NL wild card, as much of a grab bag as your Secret Santa gift on Christmas. Both tight. Both intense. Both relevant.

Relevance is now something the other divisions are lacking as far as October discussions are concerned. Six teams are in, two are left to be determined. Just two. Atlanta, don't even bother appealing. There aren't any spots for teams who lose series to last-place clubs at home. Besides, look at Yahoo! Sports' three hottest fantasy baseball hitters: Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, and Shane Victorino. You don't need to look hard, because you'll have the next three weeks to gaze up in wonder and amazement (and possibly some befuddlement) at your division superiors.

Two races, initiated by the pesky and innovating the pathetic. Two admissions left for October baseball. Just two.

The Homestretch, Day 13: Winning When They Need to Win

2010-09-14T22:02:00.000-07:00

Earlier posts of mine in this Homestretch series have detailed the efforts of teams who are winning when they are supposed to win, and when they need to win. You should look no further than Tuesday's results to find continued evidence of this phenomenon.

I'll start in the American League, where the Twins and White Sox started a monstrous series tonight. John Kruk's little circus act of sweeping the floor under Karl Ravech's feet on Baseball Tonight to make his point that the Sox needed a sweep of this series, however, may have actually hurt the Sox more then helped them. A 9-3 loss tonight (including three big strikeouts by Manny) probably puts the White Sox out of it. The Twins' magic number is down to 12, and could be as low as eight by the time this series ends; they have simply outplayed the rest of the AL Central here in the second half. They're winning when they need to win.

The Texas Rangers also won tonight, convincingly, and Oakland's loss to lowly Kansas City lowers the Ranger magic number to ten in the AL West. The Rangers had a little losing streak haunting them for a while, but since then they have played very well (especially in sweeping the Yankees this past weekend) and are clearly the kings of the division. They're winning when they need to win.

In the East, Tampa Bay and New York clashed again tonight, and the Yankees took Game 2 in another extra-inning affair. Once again, the division lead flip-flopped as a result, but both teams are doing what they have to in order to stay in contention for the division title. Neither team is falling off. They are both playing at such a high level that they can't shake one another. We can all see why the Rays and Yankees are the two best teams in baseball as we watch this race for the AL East. They're winning when they need to win.

Over in the National League, it's more of the same story. The San Diego Padres dealt the Colorado Rockies another loss tonight, and as I mentioned last night, are really flexing their muscles in the division. They're starting to score runs (even if it is Coors Field they're playing at), and Heath Bell spells doom for any opposing team in the ninth. With the Giants losing to my Dodgers tonight, despite just one hit from L.A. and a brilliant performance from Barry Zito, the Padres' division lead is a game and a half. Expect that lead to grow by the weekend. The Padres have superiority in the NL West, and it is their division to lose. They haven't lost it yet because...??? They're winning when they need to win.

As are the Phillies. Another Braves loss tonight puts the Phillies two up in the NL East. They have fought through so much adversity this season - multiple and simultaneous injuries, offensive dry spells, large late-inning deficits. And yet here they are, owners of the best record in the National League. This is a World Series team, battle-tested and red-hot as we approach October. They've made it this far because they're winning when they need to win.

The Cincinnati Reds are skating by, getting a lot of help from St. Louis losing so much, but they're not undergoing a monumental collapse. By my standards, this qualifies as winning when they need to win.

So where does that leave everyone else? In the National League, one team that is not winning when they need to is going to make the playoffs. I feel sorry for whoever that team is, whether it be the Giants, Braves, or Rockies, because they are going to get crushed in October. It doesn't even matter who they play. These teams, with all the losing they are doing in critical games, are proving they don't belong in the postseason. Other teams I'm talking about here are the Cardinals, White Sox, and A's. These teams are boys among men, lightweights, punchless and being knocked down against their will. As good as they have been at times this season, they aren't good enough right now.

Because they're not winning when they need to win.

The Homestretch, Day 12: Rays and Padres Flex Muscles

2010-09-13T22:22:00.000-07:00

In my mind, there were two defining games in Major League Baseball today, one in each league, and I'm not surprised by the result of either.

The first, in the National League, where the San Diego Padres snapped a 10-game winning streak by the Colorado Rockies by winning 6-4 in Colorado. With the Giants idle today, the Padres moved back into sole possession of first place in the NL West with the win, while pushing their lead over the Rockies to 2.5 games. Undoubtedly, the race in the NL West is the best and most competitive this homestretch.

It's runner up....the race in the AL East, where the Yankees and Rays began a huge series today in Tampa. Reid Brignac's extra-inning home run was the difference as the Rays regained first place as well tonight. The Rays' 87-56 record is the best in baseball, and they have really owned that honor for most of the season. Games like tonight's are what we can come to expect in the playoffs when these two teams meet in October.

The Padres and Rays were supposed to win these games, because they are the better teams. They have proven so by their body of work throughout the season. As anemic as the Padre offense is, their pitching staff is the best in baseball collectively. And as many $20 million dollar men as the Yankees have, the Rays are still the more balanced club. You can bet these advantages will bear great fruit as the season comes to an end.

The Homestretch, Day 11: So Goes Lee, So Go the Rangers

2010-09-12T22:02:00.000-07:00

Watch out, American League:

Cliff Lee is back.

And he's back to his usual dominant self. This time, the Yankees were the victims, managing just two hits off Lee in 8+ innings and being swept right out of Texas. If this is the Cliff Lee that we can expect to see in October, then the Rangers may make some noise in the playoffs after all.

They certainly made noise this weekend. Sweeping the Yankees is no small feat, considering this was the first time any team has done that in three games this season. When the Rangers first acquired Lee, these were the starts we all were expecting from him, and the starts that I felt would take the Rangers deep into the playoffs. With three weeks left in the season, we will see if Lee can build on his performance this afternoon and carry some positive momentum into the postseason. He is really the Rangers' only hope of making a run at a World Series title. Starts like this have to be there to anchor the pitching staff. Otherwise, the Rangers will be packing up early.

The Homestretch, Day 10: Put Up or Shut Up

2010-09-12T00:27:00.000-07:00

The National League has been the focus of much of my Homestretch series, and there's a simple reason for it - that league is where the races are. The American League has been all but decided: New York, Tampa Bay, Minnesota, and Texas are almost certainly playoff-bound. Tonight's results help solidify that, with both the Twins and Rays extending their leads and the Rangers keeping the A's at bay thanks to another dramatic walk-off win. You can bet Nelson Cruz was involved in it.

Yet there is still a great deal of uncertainty surrounding the National League and the four teams it will send to the postseason. The Reds seem to be in pretty good shape in the Central, but the East and West are far from decided. San Diego came up with a huge win today, setting up a colossal matchup tomorrow between Mat Latos and Tim Lincecum. Atlanta also came up big at the expense of the Cardinals, who are fading fast. And Colorado won for the ninth straight time behind Ubaldo Jimenez. What's really remarkable is that the top six teams in the National League, as of tonight, are only separated by 3.5 games. All of them deserve to be in the playoffs, but two of them will not be come season's end. One of those teams will be from the West, and we'll see about the other one. For now, none of those teams are going away, and with three weeks left in the schedule, any baseball fan cannot help but be excited to witness the outcomes of these tight races.

If the NL division races were set in Zombieland, then it would truly be time to "put up or shut up." We'll see who does the talking as September continues to fade.

The Homestretch, Day 9: The Way the West Will Be Won

2010-09-11T00:37:00.000-07:00

In recent years, the MO of the NL West has been to score little and allow little. Tonight, in the second of a critical four-game set, the two clubs that have done this best squared off at Petco Park in San Diego.

The San Diego Padres, the Little Friars That Could, an embattled, grisly bunch who couldn't buy a win for almost two weeks, scratching and clawing their way to a slim division lead.

The San Francisco Giants, impotent offensively without steroid users, praying for aged veterans to revisit their primes, riding the waves of a potential rookie of the year and marginal deadline acquisitions, surging ahead in a furious attempt to grasp glory.

These are the two teams that best embody NL West baseball.

Leave it to them to decide a game without hitting a ball out of the infield.

That's what the Giants did at least, and the result was the lone run in a game that saw the Padres finally have some company atop the division.

After six innings of shutout baseball from both sides, southpaw Clayton Richard hit the Giants' Aubrey Huff to open the seventh. Richard was quickly lifted by Bud Black for Luke Gregerson, who, on a busted hit-and-run play, struck out Pat Burrell but allowed Huff to steal second base. Newly acquired Jose Guillen then came up and hit a grounder in the hole to shortstop, a play in which Huff stupidly decided to try for third, but by the time Miguel Tejada came up with the ball and threw to the bag, Huff had time to slide in under the tag. If Tejada goes to first on the play, there are two outs, and Juan Uribe's RBI groundout that followed would have indeed been the third out. Instead, the Giants scored without the benefit of a base hit. A hit batsmen and two weak ground balls were all the offense they would need to pull off a victory. If that's not small ball, then I don't know what is.

And yet, games like this continue to be the story in the National League West. Games where the home Padres had almost three times as many walks (8) as hits (3). Games where pitchers consistently strand runners from inning to inning (17 total stranded tonight). Games where runs are scored on fluke plays that should never happen. Well, almost never. And we wonder why an NL West team has not won a World Series in nine years. The baseball they play is ugly. It's gritty. It's a war of attrition. Tonight, the Giants held out longer, and their spoils include a share of first place.

But as much as we want to talk about and focus on the Giants and Padres and the battle they waged tonight, there is a far more potent offensive force closing fast which bleeds a deep purple. Yes, the Colorado Rockies, an aberration with a Goliath lineup among division Davids, winners of eight straight, seemingly indefatigable, are approaching the high ground. It's a three-team free-for-all in the NL West, a battle royale of sorts, slowly and painfully being executed through a series of grueling individual skirmishes like tonight's at Petco. It would be impossible for the division to be decided any other way, for this is its history, and its triumph.

With the ball never leaving the infield.

The Homestretch, Day 8: Twin Killing

2010-09-09T22:10:00.000-07:00

In case you hadn't noticed, the Minnesota Twins are the third best team in baseball, by record. Just four games behind the Yankees for the best record in the majors, the Twins have dominated opponents since the All-Star break on their way to notching 83 wins here at September 9. Winners of six in a row, the Twins have jumped to a six-game division lead over the White Sox, who simply cannot keep up.

The pitching of Francisco Liriano is a big reason why the Twins have had so much success in the second half. Liriano has not lost a decision since July 9, posting a 7-0 record since then, with two of those wins coming against the White Sox and one against the Texas Rangers. Liriano's ERA has not been above 3.9 since his first start back in April - undoubtedly, he is the Twins ace and will be expected to take on the likes of CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee, and David Price in the playoffs.

Notice how, in the American League at least, all aces of pitching staffs that belong to playoff teams are southpaws. This is very interesting to think about. Over in the NL, you have left-handed starters like Jaime Garcia of the Cardinals, Clayton Richard of the Padres, Cole Hamels of the Phillies. But none of these guys have the same sort of impact on their teams that the AL lefty aces do, and these are guys pitching for possible playoff teams. From this standpoint, it seems the NL has the dominant right-handed starters (Roy Halladay, Ubaldo Jimenez, Josh Johnson, Tim Lincecum, Mat Latos), while the AL features dominance from the left side of the rubber.

And speaking of lefties, I get to see two of the better ones in the National League tomorrow when I take a trip down to San Diego for Game 2 of the crucial series between the Padres and Giants at Petco Park. Jonathan Sanchez takes the hill and faces Clayton Richard, which should make for a great pitching matchup. You can be sure that tomorrow's post will chronicle the events of that game, especially after the Giants took Game 1 tonight. Another win by the Giants tomorrow puts them in a tie for first with San Diego, and would be the first time in a few months that San Diego is not alone in first place.

The Homestretch, Day 7: Rockies at it Again

2010-09-09T00:08:00.000-07:00

Several expert analysts have very recently picked the Colorado Rockies to win the NL West. I have disagreed with them through and through, but the body of work the Rockies are putting together here in September makes for a pretty compelling case against me.

Today, the Rockies completed a sweep of the first-place Cincinnati Reds to extend their winning streak to six games. The Padres were too busy sweeping the Dodgers for the Rockies to gain any ground in the division, but they did pick up a game on the Giants. Currently, the Rockies trail San Diego and Atlanta by 4.5 games. Surpassing either of those teams would earn the Rockies a playoff spot.

How is it that the Rockies manage to be in the playoff discussion every September? There is something to be said about the Rockies' magic in the second half of the season. They always seem to make a big run down the stretch. This year, it's due in large part to the contributions of Carlos Gonzalez, who is threatening for a triple crown and making waves as one of the best hitters in the game. In fact, CarGo needs just four home runs to leap Albert Pujols for the NL lead and capture the triple crown. I've said for a while now that Joey Votto is the MVP of the National League this year, but Gonzalez is certainly giving him a run for his money in my book.

The thing is, if the Rockies do win the NL West or even the wild card, that will be all they really have to celebrate, because they're not going anywhere in the playoffs. That's what makes it even more remarkable that they are able to string together so many wins in such a short period of time. You just can't count the Rockies out anymore. Year in and year out, they're in the hunt, and after being the NL West favorite in many people's minds at the start of the season, they may just meet expectations after all.

The Homestretch, Day 6: Philling the Love

2010-09-07T22:27:00.000-07:00

Needless to say, the Philadelphia Phillies are making me look good.

Today, the fightin' Phils snatched first place away from the Atlanta Braves with an 8-7 victory over Florida, putting them in the top spot in the NL East for the first time since late May. No one who really follows baseball should be surprised at this development. The Phillies have always been the best team in the National League on paper in 2010, and now that they are finally healthy, they are playing like the NL's best. They're coming around at the right time, too, because now the division chase can serve as a nice tune-up to their 2010 playoff run. I've said since the beginning of the season that the Phillies are a World Series team, and at this point, it certainly seems I might be right.

Who is going to challenge the Phillies in the National League? There is no way any NL West team has the offense to slug with the Phillies, except for the Rockies, who don't have the pitching to keep up. The Cardinals and Reds can slug with the Phillies, but the Reds are more likely to make the postseason and pitching is their problem too. If Atlanta sneaks in as the wild card team, they might have enough balance to tip the Phillies, but that would require the Braves to beat the Phillies at their own game, and they would have to do it in Philadelphia. I just don't see any positive scenarios for other National League contenders. It's only a matter of time before Utley, Howard, Ibanez and Werth take you deep, or before Halladay, Oswalt, Hamels, and Blanton shut you down. For both pieces of that puzzle to fail in three or four games out of five or seven, respectively, is almost a mathematical uncertainty.

The Phillies are built to win postseason series, but they have so much balance that they can be successful during the long course of the regular season. That's what makes them so dangerous. And the only American League equivalents (as I've also been saying all season) are the Rays and Yankees, both of whom will make the postseason and one of whom will challenge the Phillies in the 2010 Fall Classic. That is a mathematical certainty, as far as I'm concerned. And when powerhouses clash in a championship game, we know it makes for a great spectacle - remember the Super Bowl earlier this year? No. 1 seeded Saints vs. No.1 seeded Colts. Brilliant teams, brilliant atmosphere, brilliant game. With the Phillies now atop the NL East, this year's World Series will be no different.

The Homestretch, Day 5: Men Among Boys

2010-09-06T21:53:00.000-07:00

The teams that need to win keep winning. It's been that way since I started my Homestretch series, and it continues to be that way into tonight. The exception: San Diego, losers of ten straight, prompting Yahoo! to ask if they are headed for an epic fall. Currently, the Padres lead the Dodgers 4-2 in the home half of the eighth, meaning they will finally snap that dreadful streak after Heath Bell closes the door in the ninth.

But in all seriousness - the Giants and Phillies, leaders in the wild card race and seekers of division leads, refuse to go down. The Rockies are now getting in on the act, closing to within four games of the Padres in the NL West. St. Louis is even trying to make a comeback. In the American League, the White Sox and Twins are in a deadlock, neither able to gain ground because neither team will lose. The Rangers keep losing, but they don't NEED to win. Neither do the Rays or Yankees, but they're going back and forth.

The point is, teams are showing their true colors at this point in the season. I'm fairly certain that the wild card in the National League will end up coming out of the West, because the Giants and Rockies are playing out of their minds right now. Atlanta and San Diego are stumbling, and it very well could be that neither team makes the playoffs after being in first place for so long. September baseball is what separates the boys from the men, and it's obvious from the results of the last week which teams have grown and matured.

Oh, and let's now include Heath Bell and the Padres in that discussion.

The Homestretch, Day 4: More Evidence for Replay

2010-09-05T23:47:00.000-07:00

The Texas Rangers can't buy a win against playoff-bound teams on the road. The last thing they need is to get snubbed by umpires when they do have a chance to win.

The latest umpire blunder in 2010 came at the expense of the Rangers today, when Michael Young was called out due to alleged contact with third base coach Dave Anderson after rounding the bag on a single by Vladimir Guerrero in the ninth inning. The Rangers were down a run at the time, and had Nelson Cruz in the on-deck circle. The call ended the game, and instant replays, of course, showed no contact with the coach. Still, the result was a victory for the AL Central-leading Twins and a sweep of the series over the Rangers.

Michael Young said it best when he remarked, "It's a shame the game had to end like that." He's absolutely right. It's a shame. I'm no proponent for instant replay becoming a part of baseball, but calls like this make me want to change my stance on the issue. We've seen a plethora of them in 2010, and when division titles or pennant races are at stake, these calls become magnified in a big way. Games should not end on bogus calls like this one. It makes me feel cheated, even though I'm not a Ranger fan or a Twins fan. As a baseball fan, I want to see Nelson Cruz come up in that situation. I want to see if Matt Capps can get him out to end the game. I don't want to see a call made that might only be made one more time in the next fifty years. The ridiculousness of it all is mind-boggling.

Fortunately for the Rangers, the Oakland A's lost as well today, so the Ranger eight-game division lead remains intact and the magic number comes down to 19. The Twins are doing themselves a favor by sweeping this series, because the White Sox are now winners of six in a row and are really on a roll. Is the perennial slacker Manny Ramirez really having that much of an impact in Chicago???

The Homestretch, Day 3: Broxton Blows Another

2010-09-05T01:27:00.000-07:00

Tonight's Dodgers-Giants contest at Dodger Stadium provided more evidence supporting Joe Torre's decision to remove Jonathan Broxton from the closer role in Los Angeles. After surrendering a two-run home run to Juan Uribe in the ninth inning, and thus blowing yet another save for the Dodgers, Broxton renewed his inability to get hitters out. He has been dreadful since the All-Star Break, and it has cost the Dodgers dearly. Tonight, it cost them a chance to gain another game in the standings on the San Diego Padres, who dropped their ninth consecutive game at the hands of the Colorado Rockies. Instead, it was the Giants who gained that ground, and are now just two back of the Padres for the division lead.

The Phillies also won again, and remain three games ahead of the Giants for the wild card.

The Homestretch, Day 2: Padres' Skid Continues

2010-09-04T01:07:00.001-07:00

The San Diego Padres are finally playing the type of baseball we all expected them to play at the start of this season.

Too bad they're not paying much of a price for it.

The Padres dropped their eighth straight game today, this time to the Colorado Rockies, and in the last two weeks, the NL West has become a division again. The second-place Giants failed to capitalize once again on the Padres' misfortunes, losing to the Dodgers tonight 4-2. Still, the Giants remain just three games back of the Padres, while the Rockies are now six-and-a-half back and the Dodgers eight back. Where was all this losing earlier in the season? The Padres have come way too far and exceeded too many expectations for them to phase out now. Then again, their stellar pitching couldn't last forever. Could it? It hasn't during this losing streak, and if this is indicative of what the Padre September will look like, the Friars are in big trouble.

Meanwhile, another streak was snapped today - the Cardinals' five game losing streak, as they beat the first-place Reds 3-2 behind rookie Jaime Garcia. Garcia has been spectacular for the Cardinals this season, posting a 13-6 record and an ERA just below 2.50. Certainly, he has to be one of the top candidates for Rookie of the Year in the National League.

Philadelphia won again today as well, extending their wild card lead and inching closer to the NL East division lead (that pick of mine is looking good!) All in all, the division races got a little tighter in the National League today, adding to the thrill of September baseball.

The Homestretch, Day 1: Rays Still Rule

2010-09-02T15:33:00.000-07:00

It's been exactly a month since my last post, since the trio of Dodger deals at this year's deadline, since the time the Dodgers were fighting the same fight they are still fighting today. But not every playoff contender is in the same position they were one month ago. Starting today, I will be making daily contributions to this blog as part of baseball's ultimate homestretch: the month of September. To begin, I take a look back at my midseason predictions to see how I am faring with a little less than a fifth of the 2010 season remaining:

American League

AL East Champion: Tampa Bay Rays
If the season ended today, this pick would be incorrect, but the Rays would still be a playoff team. It has been my stance all along that the Rays are the best team in baseball, and despite trailing the Yankees by 1 1/2 games in the East standings, I still believe they will hoist the Commissioner's Trophy in 2010.

AL Central Champion: Chicago White Sox
This, too, is still possible. If new acquisition Manny Ramirez (so glad he's not in Dodger blue anymore) can produce the way he did when he came to Los Angeles in 2008, and if the Sox pitching holds up, you can bet they will overtake the Twins in the Central this month and become a dangerous team for anyone in the AL to face in the playoffs.

AL West Champion: Texas Rangers
Basically a lock at this point. The Rangers haven't dominated anyone recently, but the rest of the division hasn't been winning behind them. Now with a ten-game lead, the Rangers can take their magic number of 20 into this homestretch, and hopefully get Cliff Lee straightened out in the process.

AL Wild Card: New York Yankees
Also a lock, provided they don't win the division. I can't wait for a Rays-Yankees ALCS...

Rays over White Sox in 4
Yankees over Rangers in 4
...which is what I predicted here. The Twins and White Sox are interchangeable, as they will both lose to the Rays in four.

Rays over Yankees in 7
This series could be the most epic we see in a long while. It will be better than this year's World Series, regardless of which National League team makes it in.

The AL playoff picture is a lot more clear cut than that of the NL. The only race still undecided is in the Central, where either the Twins or White Sox will represent the division. I still say the Sox pitching wins out and they'll be back in the playoffs for the first time since they won the Series in 2005.

National League

NL East Champion: Philadelphia Phillies
Three games out of the division lead right now, the Phillies are getting healthy quickly and are looking to make their move. Taking two out of three from the Dodgers this week puts them a game-and-a-half up on the Giants for the wild card. Playing well in September has been key for the Phillies in each of the last two seasons, particularly leading up to their World Series run in 2008. Expect them to follow suit once again this September.

NL Central Champion: St. Louis Cardinals
How bad have the Cardinals been recently? Since sweeping the division-leading Reds back in mid-August, the Cardinals have gone 5-13, while the Reds have gone 14-4, and the result is an eight-game deficit for the redbirds. This is virtually insurmountable with 31 games left, but don't count the Cardinals out of the wild card chase. They're only five back entering play today, and if things turn around quickly, they just might sneak into this year's postseason.

NL West Champion: Los Angeles Dodgers
After being just two games back of the Padres for the division lead at the All-Star break, the Dodgers are all but out of playoff contention. They have failed to find any offensive consistency, even with the additions of Scott Podsednik, Ryan Theriot, and Rod Barajas. The good news for the Dodgers - 24 of their 28 remaining games are against NL West opponents, who they are 30-18 against this season.

NL Wild Card: Atlanta Braves
Again, still a possibility if they lose the division to the Phillies. The Giants are in the hunt though as well, and they certainly cannot be ignored at this point. The second toughest division in baseball may once again get two teams into the playoffs, but don't count on it if the Phillies continue to play well.

Phillies over Dodgers in 4
Cardinals over Braves in 5
Presumably, I would substitute the Padres for the Dodgers and the Reds for the Cardinals here. The Phillies just impressively swept the Padres in San Diego this weekend, and I would still expect them to win that series. Reds-Braves, however, is a toss-up. Whoever has home-field advantage probably takes that series, but it will be very close.

Phillies over Cardinals in 6
To reiterate, I place the winner of Reds-Braves here instead of the Cardinals. Regardless, Philadelphia still represents the National League in the World Series this year. With Halladay, Oswalt, and Hamels as your top three starters, you're going to be very tough to beat in any playoff series. No other NL team can match the Phillies on either side of the ball when healthy.

There's still a lot to be decided in the NL, which will make September an exciting month if you're a Braves, Phillies, Reds, Cardinals, Padres, or Giants fan. And even if you're not, there are still plenty of opportunities for spoilers to rear their ugly heads and influence this pennant race.

World Series

Rays over Phillies in 6
The most complete team in baseball, the Rays win this year's World Series. We have seen it since April, and with 82 wins already in the bag, the strength and the depth of their team have made themselves known to the rest of the league. September belongs to the homestretch, but October will belong to the Rays.

Anything LA Can Do, SD Can Do Better

2010-08-02T19:26:00.001-07:00

As the Dodgers get three hits in the first inning of tonight's game against San Diego and fail to score, I can't help but be thoroughly disappointed, not because of yet another baserunning gaffe, but at the bleak future of the Dodgers' 2010 season. The trading deadline came and passed this weekend, and there's no question the Dodgers were active. I already commented on the Scott Podsednik trade, but the Dodgers made two more trades to acquire Ted Lilly and Ryan Theriot from Chicago, as well as Octavio Dotel from Pittsburgh. These were two great moves for the Dodgers, and as a fan, I'm happy with what Ned Colletti did to make the team better.

But when I saw that the Padres countered by acquiring Miguel Tejada and Ryan Ludwick, my heart sank. The Dodgers addressed everything they needed, but with those two deals, so did the Padres. In my mind, the trades are a wash. Neither team gained an advantage over the other, and because the Padres are now eight games ahead of the Dodgers in the NL West standings, following another big Dodger losing streak that's still going for now, they continue to have the upper hand. My hat goes off to Padres general manager Jed Hoyer. Well played.

As much as I don't want to face this fact, especially given my midseason predictions, I have to: the Dodgers are in trouble. Big trouble. Vin Scully was talking about 1951 in the first inning of tonight's game...when it comes to that kind of an attempt to inspire hope in the Dodger fan base, you know things are not going well. The Padres look extremely solid right now, and at this point, it would be downright foolish to think that they are going to fade. We kept waiting for it, and waiting for it, and waiting for it. And then waited for it some more. But it never came. And now the best team in the National League West on paper is in fourth place and floundering, with the worst team on paper ruling over the division as they have for most of the season. Go figure that.

So how do the 2010 Dodgers make me look good and come back to win the division? It starts with lighting a fire under the offense. We've been struggling to score runs so much that the Padres are playing the infield in here in the second inning with runners on second and third and one out. It's almost as if the Dodgers can't buy a run, even with a $100+ million payroll. Five hits in two innings and still no runs. The pitching will be there these last two months. But then again, it always is for the Dodgers. 95 victories last season came because the Dodgers were a strong offensive team in addition to their above average pitching. Somehow, the Dodgers need more of that mojo in August and September. That's really all it's going to take for a comeback.

But all it's going to take is still eight games away.

Deadline for Pitching, Not Podsednik

2010-07-28T22:19:00.000-07:00

Today, the Dodgers finally made a little noise in the trade deadline bustle by acquiring outfielder Scott Podsednik from Kansas City.

Keyword: little.

Podsednik has been very good for Kansas City this year, that's for sure. He's got a .309 AVG with 30 stolen bases so far. But he's not the bat the Dodgers needed at this year's deadline. Effectively, he's another Juan Pierre, with a little more power. He will help with Manny and Reed Johnson on the DL, but he can't be the sole solution for the Dodgers. He just can't.

As well as the team has been pitching lately, it is clear that the Dodgers still need bullpen help, and most certainly another starter. James McDonald or Carlos Monasterios will not get the Dodgers to the playoffs. Fortunately, Vicente Padilla has really started to pick it up over his last three starts (which needs to continue tomorrow in the series finale vs. San Diego), but another halfway decent starter puts the Dodgers over the top. It doesn't have to be Roy Oswalt, but perhaps Ted Lilly? Or Jake Westbrook?

Bottom line: Podsednik is a band-aid. Band-aids are only temporary. The Dodgers need a cure. Cures are permanent. Cures, as always, are pitchers.

Lee, Rangers Hardly a Whimper

2010-07-26T11:21:00.000-07:00

My father whom I love very much is a Texas Rangers fan. Ever the pessimist, he posted on here two weekends ago that the Cliff Lee trade, which I have already said will give the Rangers the AL West and a playoff birth, is a "mere whimper almost lost in the hot days of summer." Elegant words from a fan with a defeatist attitude. After this weekend's four game set against the Los Angeles Angels, I think all of baseball would disagree with my father's assessment of his beloved Rangers. Three wins, two outstanding pitching performances with a very good third one, and two games gained in the division standings later, the Texas Rangers are sitting pretty in the AL West. Just like they were when they acquired Cliff Lee. The Rangers are 17-8 against AL West teams this season, which is the best mark of any American League team against division opponents. Only my beloved Dodgers have a better division record overall (24-8 against the NL West). A continuation of that performance against the AL West will cement the division for the Rangers by mid-September.

Meanwhile, a big development directly related to this story is the Angels' move to acquire Dan Haren from Arizona. Haren was arguably the best pitcher left on the market during this approach to the trade deadline, but that's hardly saying much. Haren has had problems giving up home runs all year, which leads me to believe the Angels won't benefit much from his presence. I mean, who would you rather have at the top of your rotation, Cliff Lee or Dan Haren? The Rangers are just one step ahead of the Angels in almost every facet of the game imaginable right now, and that's a big deal. We've seen the Angels make the postseason year in and year out due to being in a weak division, but they can't make the World Series because they're not built for that. They're built to win the AL West. This year's Rangers are a different story. They have everything, from good young pitching (did you see CJ Wilson's eight-inning gem on Friday?) to a balanced and powerful lineup featuring do-it-all Josh Hamilton. I've said it once and I'll say it again...the Rangers are for real.

So here's a message for you, Dad: warriors may not win, but the Rangers do, and they are. They're taking care of business in the AL West. They're going to the playoffs this year. And hey, you might have to worry more about the A's than the Angels, because they're playing a heck of a lot better right now! Gear up for a memorable August and September, and then brace yourself for October, because the Rangers will be there, with Cliff Lee roaring - not whimpering.

2010 Midseason Predictions

2010-07-14T17:18:00.000-07:00

The following represent my midseason playoff picks for the 2010 MLB season. Now that the All-Star game has finished, and as teams look to improve themselves before the July 31 trade deadline (like the Braves did today by acquiring Alex Gonzalez from Toronto), the time is ripe for predictions. Here they are:

American League

1. AL East Champion: Tampa Bay Rays
2. AL West Champion: Texas Rangers
3. AL Central Champion: Chicago White Sox
4. Wild Card: New York Yankees

Rays over White Sox in 4
Yankees over Rangers in 4

Rays over Yankees in 7

National League

1. NL East Champion: Philadelphia Phillies
2. NL Central Champion: St. Louis Cardinals
3. NL West Champion: Los Angeles Dodgers
4. Wild Card: Atlanta Braves

Phillies over Dodgers in 4
Cardinals over Braves in 5

Phillies over Cardinals in 6

World Series: Rays over Phillies in 6

There you have it. A rematch of two years ago. We'll see how it plays out.

All-Star Pitching Fits in Just Right

2010-07-13T20:44:00.000-07:00

In the middle of the 2010 MLB All-Star Game, my brother texted me to ask how a 1-0 All-Star game was exciting. I immediately responded: "Pitching duels are always exciting."

Tonight's game was a magnificent clash of that aspect of the game which has come to dominate the 2010 MLB season: pitching. In this way, the All-Star game was essentially a microcosm of what we've been seeing across baseball for the past three months.

Tonight, it was the National League that wielded the pitching weapon to end thirteen years of All-Star futility. The big guy, Jonathan Broxton, picked up the save, culminating nine innings of spectacular baseball. And it really was spectacular. Exciting even. For this writer, pitching duels are a thrill, a greater expression of the game than any 9-8 shootout, which made this All-Star game one of the best I've seen.

What was really amazing about the pitchers this year was how hard they could throw. I can't remember ever seeing so many guys that could hit 95+ on the radar gun on the same field. David Price reaching 100 mph in the first inning set the tone for the fireballers that were to come in the later innings.

And a stat offered by Joe Buck during the game puts pitching dominance even further in the spotlight. Jose Bautista leads all major leaguers with 24 home runs at the break, but that's the lowest total in baseball since 1993. This year, it's a pitchers game, whether fans like my brother like it or not.

After the game, once my boy Broxton saved it, my brother sent me another text: "Padres get home field advantage in the Series!"

See my second-half predictions tomorrow to find out if I agree with him.

Big Papi Rules the Derby

2010-07-12T19:18:00.000-07:00

As I write this, David Ortiz and Hanley Ramirez are slugging it out in the 2010 Home Run Derby. Man, Ortiz looks good. He's been ripping home runs into right field all night. Four in the final round before his first out. He's the oldest guy in this year's group, and his experience is showing. What a performance in the final round. 11 home runs. Wow.

Now Hanley Ramirez, Bobby Valentine's man-crush. By the way, would you rather have anyone else calling home runs in this contest other than Chris Berman? I wouldn't. Back to Hanley. First ball falls just short. As another quick side note, what a shame about Corey Hart, huh? Great first round performance, and then no dingers in the second round. Is there really something to be said about long waiting periods between at-bats? Meanwhile, Hanley is in trouble. Three outs and only one home run. Big Papi's looking good right now. And what a season he's had after a horrid April. He's even giving Hanley some love mid-at-bat. Three outs left, and Hanley needs seven. Not looking good for him. And....it's over, and Big Papi has won it. Good for him. Look for my reaction to the All-Star Game tomorrow.

Lee is the Answer in Texas

2010-07-10T10:51:00.000-07:00

In an almost improbable turn of events, the Texas Rangers acquired Cliff Lee yesterday along with reliever Mark Lowe from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for first baseman Justin Smoak and three minor league prospects. What makes the trade so improbable is that the Rangers not only outbid the Yankees last minute, but that they are a team that's bankrupt and barely capable of pulling off a deal like this. I guess GM Jon Daniels wasn't interested in hearing that sob story anymore. Cliff Lee makes the Rangers a dangerous contender in the American League, as he slides into a rotation that already boasts the young talents of Tommy Hunter, CJ Wilson, Scott Feldman, Matt Harrison, and Derek Holland when he's healthy. Add to that the Rangers' dynamic offense with a resurgent Vladimir Guerrero and a nearly unstoppable Josh Hamilton and you've got yourself a potential World Series team.

Yet if the last two nights are going to be any indication of what the Rangers can expect in the last two-and-a-half months of the season, they're in trouble. Their bullpen blew late leads Thursday and Friday, against Baltimore of all teams, including All-Star closer Neftali Feliz's ninth inning meltdown last night in which he surrendered a game-tying grand slam to Corey Patterson. The Ranger bullpen is decent, but they have to pitch better if they're going to hold off the Angels in the West.

The addition of Cliff Lee by the Rangers sends a message to the rest of the American League, and perhaps all of baseball. The Rangers are easily dismissed this time of year, regardless of their place in the standings, because they have failed time and again to win in August and September. This trade shows the Rangers are ready to reverse that trend. We always hear about the Rangers, and the old "Oh, if they only had pitching" remarks. Well, now they do, and even better, they have an ace. A proven ace. An ace who will take the ball every five days and give you a great chance to win, and one who has proven his worth in the playoffs, in the big games where it really counts. That makes the Rangers beyond relevant in the American League. When you have someone like Cliff Lee in your rotation, you don't have long losing streaks. We've seen what he's done with the Indians, with the Phillies, and with the Mariners. His stint with the Rangers will only add to the legacy he's building. And maybe, just maybe, he'll bring the Rangers some much-needed wins in August and September and push the team into the playoffs.

In their history, the Rangers have never been to the World Series. They've never won a playoff series. In fact, as a franchise, they have just one playoff win to their name. Expect that to change in 2010. The Rangers are for real, and with Cliff Lee, they'll be eradicating the plague of late-season and postseason futility.

Furcal Providing Dodger Summer Heat

2010-07-09T14:17:00.000-07:00

There may not be anyone in baseball hotter than Dodger shortstop Rafael Furcal. Furcal has had a tremendous two weeks, and has been doing a little bit of everything in the process. Last night's game against the Cubs was a microcosm of Furcal's recent accomplishments, as he had three hits, a home run (which turned out to be the game-winner), and a stolen base. And of course we all know what he can do with the leather. It's too bad he's turning it on so late, he would have been a great replacement for Troy Tulowitzki in this year's All-Star Game.

Speaking of the All-Star Game, I'm glad Joey Votto got voted in as the last NL player. There's no question he deserved it. Nick Swisher...not so sure.

And speaking of last night's game, let's not overlook Clayton Kershaw's performance. After last night's 12-strikeout gem, Kershaw is now third in all of baseball in strikeouts, trailing only Tim Lincecum and Jered Weaver. There seems to be some question as to why Kershaw didn't finish the game...personally, I think it was absolutely the right move to go to Broxton in the ninth. Four right-handed batters were scheduled to hit. The matchups favored Broxton more than they did Kershaw. Broxton's an All-Star, he's got 18 saves this year (19 now), give him the ball. End of story.

Strasburg Not an All-Star Yet

2010-07-05T18:36:00.000-07:00

There is a debate raging right now in Major League Baseball over whether rookie sensation Stephen Strasburg should be in this year's All-Star Game. Personally, I'm not in favor of it.

Strasburg has been great since his debut with Washington several weeks ago. There's no arguing that. However, his six starts are just a sample from which to draw from - hardly the 17-18 starts most pitchers get by this time in the season. We don't know how Strasburg will be the rest of the way. We don't know if these six starts are merely an aberration. However unlikely that might be, we just don't know. You can't call a guy an All-Star just because he's flashy and strikes out a lot of hitters. Strasburg doesn't belong there yet. If he really is as good as he's been and as good as advertised, he'll be in plenty of All-Star games to come. For now, the pitchers who were chosen deserve to be there. Strasburg, as good as he's been, doesn't.

There were some question marks in my mind among the All-Star selections this year, but when you have fans voting for the players, that's always going to happen. People tend to vote for names, not accomplishments. Nevertheless, this year's game should be entertaining and eventful when the teams take the field next Tuesday.

2010 All-Star Ballot

2010-06-27T17:26:00.001-07:00

In the spirit of the All-Star game fast-approaching, and the July 1 deadline for ballots, here are my votes for both teams:

American League
C - Victor Martinez
1B - Miguel Cabrera
2B - Robinson Cano
SS - Derek Jeter
3B - Evan Longoria
OF - Josh Hamilton
OF - Magglio Ordonez
OF - Alex Rios
DH - Vladimir Guerrero

National League
C - Brian McCann
1B - Albert Pujols
2B - Martin Prado
SS - Hanley Ramirez
3B - Scott Rolen
OF - Andre Ethier
OF - Ryan Braun
OF - Matt Holliday

The National League was a lot more difficult to determine. I agonized over my decision to vote for Prado at second base over Chase Utley, and my vote for Matt Holliday in the outfield instead of Corey Hart. Otherwise, the picks were pretty obvious from a numbers/statistics standpoint. We'll see how close my votes resemble America's general consensus in the coming days.

Streaky and Slumping

2010-06-24T14:58:00.000-07:00

It's been two weeks since my last post, and the Dodgers are 4-9 in that span, including being losers of six straight. In fact, the club has only managed two wins since their sweep of St. Louis two weeks ago. Last night, they were embarrassed by poor fielding and baserunning, mistakes that have really plagued them all year long. They wrap up a "road" series with the Angels tonight before meeting the Yankees this weekend and traveling to San Francisco Monday. With an offense that's scuffling and a pitching staff that looks like it may not hold out much longer, the Dodgers will be hard-pressed to turn things around before the All-Star break. They find themselves four games behind the division-leading Padres, who refuse to lose, and are in danger of slipping further down in the division with the Rockies starting to heat up.

It's safe to say at this point that the Dodgers look aloof. It's like they couldn't handle the honor of being the National League's best team two weeks ago, and so they just decided they were going to start losing again. Streaky teams face very difficult challenges in getting to the postseason. Streaky is a label the Dodgers can't afford. It's June. Everyone else in the division means business, hence why the Dodgers are in fourth place right now. Consistency is the name of the game this time of year, and the Dodgers are anything but consistent. That has to change if the Dodgers' fortunes are to be reversed.

Simply Stras-some

2010-06-08T23:18:00.000-07:00

Stephen Strasburg struck out fourteen Pittsburgh Pirates en route to his first career major league victory in his overwhelmingly impressive debut tonight in Washington. You can officially consider him a phenom.

Bob Costas put it perfectly tonight when he said that it is rare for players to perform in a way that exceeds the hype surrounding them, and that Strasburg did that tonight. Boy, did he ever exceed the hype. And that's saying something, because the hype surrounding this guy prior to tonight was nearly unfathomable. Yet he had John Smoltz in awe, the sellout crowd at Nationals Park ooing and awwing, and baseball fans everywhere stunned. I could care less about the Nationals, but I will watch them just to see this guy pitch. Minus the two-run home run he surrendered to Delwyn Young, he was dominant, and if this is a sign of things to come, he is going to be one of the best pitchers the game of baseball has ever seen. You can make any argument you want against him - it was the Pirates, who don't have a strong lineup; he was pitching at home; he still gave up two runs...whatever the argument may be, it isn't strong enough to overcome all the positive and remarkable things Strasburg did on the hill tonight. He had command of all his pitches. He was aggressive in the strike zone. He got through seven innings and still stayed within his target pitch count. Oh, and he struck out 14 hitters. Certainly, a real masterpiece turned in by Strasburg tonight.

So where does that leave the Nationals? A day after they selected slugger Bryce Harper with the first overall pick in the amateur draft, their future looks bright in the wake of Strasburg's first major league start. Will they become relevant? Can they put enough pieces together to make a run at the surprisingly competitive NL East? The rest of the National League better watch out, because Strasburg's lurking, and after tonight, there's no doubt that he's relevant.

Selig Not Blowing This Call

2010-06-04T10:17:00.001-07:00

Jim Joyce had every right to be emotional yesterday as he took the field following his blown call the night before that cost Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galaragga a perfect game. It was great to see Galaragga and other Tigers players supporting Joyce and comforting him before yesterday's game in a perfect demonstration of class and sportsmanship. Umpires blow calls - it's part of the game. It's part of what makes baseball great. And that's why Bud Selig's decision to not overturn the call is the correct one.

The human element is a sacred aspect of the game of baseball, deeply rooted in the traditions of the sport. No other sport relies on the human element so heavily, which is what makes baseball unique among the many sports we enjoy watching and participating in. If Wednesday night's call is overturned, that decision would destroy the credibility of umpires, and thus the human element. It would be an act of rewriting history. Selig can't go back to every blown call and reverse them just because they were missed. Blown calls happen. They are part of the game. This one just happened to be at the most inopportune time possible. Nevertheless, Selig's decision should stand in the name of tradition and consistency.

I'll deploy the same argument to challenge the notion of further instant replay being brought into baseball. It would make me sick to see a day where calls like Joyce's were determined by technology. It's bad enough we have the technology in place for home run balls down the foul lines. But imagine if it gets to the point where we have technology ruling balls and strikes? I shudder to think about it. The game won't be human anymore if instant replay is allowed to pervade that deeply into the heart of baseball.

Even though Jim Joyce's call Wednesday was the wrong one, Bud Selig's call yesterday was the right one. A blown call by Selig would set an unwelcome precedent for future in-game calls to be reversed at the will of the Commissioner or whoever else is in charge of overseeing them, and would open the doors for instant replay to invade the game of baseball. If Selig hopes to retain his dignity and integrity as Commissioner, he will continue to uphold this decision, lest he ruin baseball's own dignity and integrity.

Willis to Arizona

2010-06-01T23:51:00.000-07:00

The Diamondbacks made a deal today to acquire left-handed starter Dontrelle Willis from Detroit in a move they hope will shore up some of their pitching woes.

Last place in the NL West, the Diamondbacks are hurting for pitching, particularly in their bullpen, which has been atrocious this season. Even ace Dan Haren has struggled through the first two months, although he looked very sharp tonight against the Dodgers. Willis gives them their only left-handed arm in the starting rotation, but expectations certainly should not be high. Since Willis' career year in 2003, he has been nothing to write home about. And he's making $12 million this year. The Tigers are picking up a lot of that salary, but there's no way Willis is worth that much. He's not even worth half that much. Still, it can't get much worse for the Diamondbacks, and the upside of Willis was probably enough to trigger a deal, especially when all the Tigers wanted was Billy Buckner. We'll see how he works out in the desert.

Tonight, any positive energy from that trade died with Matt Kemp's walk-off home run in the 10th to pull the Dodgers within one game of San Diego at the expense of the Diamondbacks. It's just a shame that the Dodgers couldn't score any runs for John Ely again though. That guy deserves to have five wins by now. An early game tomorrow wraps up the series before the Dodgers get the red-hot Atlanta Braves this weekend.

Memorial Madness

2010-06-01T01:06:00.000-07:00

We saw some crazy things happen over the weekend in the world of baseball, a few of which are worth mentioning here:

1. Roy Halladay's perfect game. Two perfect games in a month? Unheard of. And he only needed 105 pitches to do it. Florida then won 1-0 the next day.

2. Stellar pitching performances from Matt Cain, Ricky Romero, Carlos Silva, and Ubaldo Jimenez. Cain flirted with a perfect game on the same day Halladay threw his, and almost went the distance. Romero did go the distance, and was fabulous against the Orioles. Silva struck out 11 in seven innings, and Jimenez, who has already been the subject of this blog, now boasts an ERA of 0.78 after tonight. He threw a complete game shutout to beat Tim Lincecum, striking out nine and extending his scoreless inning streak to 26. At 10-1, he's Cy Young material, easy.

3. The Padres scored 18 runs in PETCO Park tonight. That's a record. And they're still in first place by two games, with the NL's best record.

4. Speaking of first place teams, we can now include the Atlanta Braves in that discussion. Besides the Dodgers, who won 20 games this month, the Braves have been baseball's hottest team. Now they are shocking the surprisingly competitive NL East going into June. That division is going to make headlines the rest of the way, guaranteed.

5. To include my Dodgers in the madness - they won on a balk tonight, following a major baserunning blunder by James Loney that almost cost them the game. How many games do you see end in balks? It was the fifth win the Dodgers have pulled out in their last at-bat. That magic from 2009 is still in the air.

Two months down, four to go!

The Answer is Ely

2010-05-27T14:59:00.000-07:00

The Dodgers have finally found a suitable fifth starter.

Despite a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to the Cubs earlier today, rookie John Ely has pitched his way into the Dodgers' starting rotation. Since his shaky debut against the Mets in New York, Ely has been brilliant for a team in desperate need of consistent starting pitching. He has arguably been the Dodgers' most consistent starter over the past three weeks - up until today's start, he had won three straight decisions and now has not allowed more than two runs in his last five starts. His ERA sits at a cool 3.00, and his presence has stabilized the starting rotation for the Dodgers. With Chad Billingsley and Clayton Kershaw (who also lost a heartbreaker Tuesday night) pitching at a high level as well, the Dodgers will be around to stay in the NL West. An important series with the Rockies takes place this weekend before the Dodgers return home for their longest homestand of the season.

But a few more observations on this series with the Cubs - sticking with pitching, Jeff Weaver has been very good out of the bullpen this year. He's certainly one of the more reliable arms in that pen. Hopefully the addition of Justin Miller today will give Joe Torre another viable option in the late innings (he is Ramon Ortiz's replacement, sianara!). Meanwhile, on the hitting side, Casey Blake has really been turning it up lately. It's nice to see him and James Loney contributing in the lineup. Blake has hit four home runs in the last two weeks, which is big for the Dodgers, especially with Manny not hitting them like he used to, Ethier out, and Kemp slouching a bit. But the Dodgers really miss Ethier's bat. Before this series, they were averaging about 4 runs a game without him, whereas with him they were averaging over 5. After the two shutouts courtesy of the Cubs, that first average surely decreased. A return on Monday is the hope at this point, and that's going to be huge for the Dodgers. They're still only two games behind San Diego, assuming San Diego loses tonight, which is certainly no guarantee, and probably not even likely. Still, the Dodgers have to think they're right where they want to be as we wrap up the first two months of this 2010 season.

Streaking Dodgers Finally Fall

2010-05-20T09:55:00.001-07:00

I didn't want to jinx the Dodgers' recent winning streak by writing about it in this blog. After a 10-5 loss to Adrian Gonzalez and the San Diego Padres last night, I can take up my keyboard once again.

In my last entry I wrote about the Padres and how they have survived on pitching thus far, using it as a means to climb to the top of the NL West and stay there for most of the season. The Dodgers' nine-game win streak further proves that winning baseball games is all about pitching. The Dodger ERA during the streak was a mere 1.72, certainly the best stretch of pitching the Dodgers have had all season. John Ely, in his best Padre imitation, has come out of nowhere to do his part, and has been spectacular in three starts since his major-league debut. I got to see him pitch on Monday against the Houston Astros, where he struck out a career-high eight batters in seven innings of work. The Dodgers can't send Ely down again after the numbers he's putting up - he's been their most consistent starter over the past two weeks. Hiroki Kuroda is still head of the pack with five wins. But when you have to resort to giving the ball to Ramon Ortiz to keep a win streak alive, you're in trouble, and Ortiz was awful again last night. The bullpen also struggled in last night's game, as they had been on a hot streak of their own but allowed five runs in the late innings Wednesday. George Sherrill continues to struggle, which would be a lot worse if Hong-Chih Kuo wasn't pitching so well. Still, the Dodgers have made up three games in the standings since my last post, which was a week ago. A win over the Padres tonight with Clayton Kershaw on the mound would put the Dodgers within one game of the division lead, and after the rough start the team experienced to open the season, including a few days in last place, that would be quite an accomplishment.

Padre Prowess

2010-05-13T15:15:00.001-07:00

I think its safe to say the San Diego Padres aren't going anywhere, at least for now.

After Matt Latos one-hit the San Francisco Giants today, the Padres moved 3 1/2 games ahead of the Giants in the NL West standings, completing their second sweep of the Giants this season and surpassing the Philadelphia Phillies for the best record in the National League.

No, you did not read or hear that incorrectly.

By wins and losses, the Padres are the best team in the National League. Paper rosters tell a different story, but the scoreboard says all at the end of the day. And the Padres have been on the right end of it much more often than not this season, to the tune of a .647 winning percentage. Twelve of their 22 wins have come against division opponents. This was a team that started 3-6, only to turn around and win 12 out of 14, including eight in a row. Now they have won five out of six, and, if the season ended today, would be the #1 seed in the NL playoffs.

How is this possible for a team that has nobody? NOBODY? Adrian Gonzalez, sure. He's hitting .265. Chase Headley's batting .311 with nine stolen bases, out of nowhere. But this is a roster otherwise filled with no-names and rejects and journeymen. Somehow, the pitching staff has an MLB-best 2.69 team ERA through 34 games. With no one. Jon Garland must have remembered what he ate for breakfast during the 2005 season. Wade LeBlanc must feel like he's always pitching against the Dodgers in spring training. What is it with this team? Is this really going to last?

It just goes to show the importance of pitching in baseball, as it always has been and always will be. The Padres are the poster child for pitching's cause. They defy any preseason predictions that placed them in the cellar of the division with their young (and old) arms which have flat-out dealt so far. If you look at team ERA's across the league, you will see the top six in this order:

1. San Diego Padres - 2.69
2. St. Louis Cardinals - 2.70
3. Tampa Bay Rays - 2.78
4. San Francisco Giants - 3.10
5. New York Yankees - 3.46
6. Minnesota Twins - 3.51

Notice that each of these teams is a division leader at present, except for the Giants and Yankees, who are in second place in their respective divisions. The other two division leaders (Texas Rangers, #8 and Philadelphia Phillies, #9) are still in the top ten. Pitching is everything in a post-steroid dynamic that doesn't allow teams to rely on the 3-run homer any longer. You manufacture. You scrape by. You win wars of attrition. That's what the Padres have done, and that's why they've been so successful through the first fifth of the 2010 season - its the Padre prowess.

Perfection for Braden

2010-05-10T12:29:00.000-07:00

It was some kind of Mother's Day for Oakland A's pitcher Dallas Braden, who threw a perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays Sunday, only the 19th perfect game in baseball's long history. Appropriately, his grandmother was there to witness it, and the achievement made for a great story in that his mother was a cancer victim and baseball was taking Mother's Day as an opportunity to promote cancer awareness.

Stories like these are what make sports such an alluring part of our culture. Braden threw a perfect game, but he threw it under the perfect circumstances. The story would not be the same if Braden throws the perfect game two months from now. It happened Sunday, when he happened to be pitching on Mother's Day, at home, against the right opponent (the Rays were perfected last year too by White Sox hurler Mark Buehrle). It was not only a perfect game, but a perfect moment. The scene following the last out of the game will probably end up being more memorable than the game itself. And that's the beauty of baseball, or all sports for that matter - you have the physical accomplishments, the wins and losses, the statistics - and at the end of the day, people remember storylines like Braden's. There's more to baseball than just numbers, and moments like this one prove that it's also not just a game.

It's a perfect game.

Do You Believe in Ethier? Yes!

2010-05-07T09:57:00.000-07:00

Andre Ethier's walk-off grand slam last night to beat the pesky Milwaukee Brewers in the bottom of the ninth is merely an extension of his greatness in the late innings. It was his eleventh career walk-off hit, and his second this season, lending credence to the idea that Ethier defines "clutch." If there was ever such a thing as on offensive closer in baseball, Ethier would have to be considered the best in the league. He certainly picked up the slack for Jonathan Broxton last night.

In all fairness, Broxton just got unlucky. Those last two singles with two outs by Greg Zaun and Craig Counsell were very weakly hit, and lucky to be base hits. Zaun's was a little blooper (he did that earlier too against John Ely) and Counsell's ground ball found the only possible spot where it could avoid the glove of diving shortstop Jamey Carroll.

But back to Ethier. Los Angeles is very fortunate to have two top-notch closers in two major sports: Kobe Bryant and Andre Ethier in basketball and baseball, respectively. Andre Ethier is the Kobe Bryant of baseball. When Kobe gets the ball in the waning seconds, with the game on the line, he delivers, as consistently if not more so than anyone could expect or imagine in such a situation. Ethier is the same way. When he steps to the plate in a walk-off situation, his opponent might as well just start walking back to the dugout. As I watched Ethier step to the plate last night in the ninth from my seat behind first base, I knew the game was over. You just get that feeling when he bats under do-or-die circumstances.

The amazing difference between Kobe and Ethier, however, is that the Lakers can choose to give Kobe the ball when they need a big shot down the stretch. The Dodgers, due to the beautiful nature of baseball, cannot make the same choice for Ethier. They can hope, but they cannot choose. Imagine if they could choose. Given all we've seen from him in the past three seasons, imagine if they could choose. It's mind-blowing, and yet it might be even more mind-blowing that, despite the Dodgers' inability to force him to the plate late in games, he still gets his opportunities time and time again. And when he does, he gives you very little reason to believe he won't win the game right then. He's Andre Ethier, and his heroic magic continues to dazzle spectators with stunning frequency.

Ubaldo Jimenez = Goose Eggs

2010-04-28T00:44:00.000-07:00

Ubaldo Jimenez is on fire. He simply can't lose. If you translate his name, does it by chance mean lights out? Or maybe zeroes? Ah, I got it. Goose eggs.

Beginning with his no-hitter, the first in Rockies history, and continuing into Tuesday night's 12-1 rout of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Jimenez has now tossed 22 1/3 consecutive shutout innings, while running his record to an overly impressive 5-0 and lowering his ERA to a measly 0.79. He's the real deal, and certainly an early Cy Young candidate in a division where the likes of Tim Lincecum or Dan Haren might usually receive that honor.

The rest of the Rockies' roster, however, is riddled with injuries, especially on the pitching end. Jorge de la Rosa and Jason Hammel are now on the DL, and Jeff Francis along with Huston Street have been there for a while. It seems Jimenez is single-handedly keeping the Rockies in the division race.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers are officially in last place after dropping both games of a doubleheader to the Mets today. Johan Santana dominated in the first game; he definitely seems to be returning to form. Hiroki Kuroda pitched well, but was just outdueled. I still maintain that he's the ace of the staff, given the start that he's off to. On the other end of the spectrum, Charlie Haeger just isn't working out. In Milwaukee, Randy Wolf went eight strong innings for the Brewers today before their bullpen blew the game in the 9th...I'm just saying.

But back to Jimenez...as of right now, he might as well be considered baseball's best pitcher. He's got the most wins in the league, the second-lowest ERA in the league, and of course, he's got his streak. This shouldn't come as too much of a surprise, because Jimenez was great at the end of last year as well. You think he's carried that momentum over to this season? Just go feel his goose eggs. I know Atlanta felt them - nine of them. Washington felt them for sure. Arizona was all over them tonight. Next in line: San Diego, in Petco, a pitcher's park. A near guarantee the streak will continue. Have fun, Adrian Gonzalez, trying to add to your already impressive home run total. I'd fake an injury just so I didn't have to face this guy.

Oh, the Mediocrity!

2010-04-26T14:27:00.000-07:00

Three weeks into the 2010 baseball season, it seems we are in for a great deal of mediocrity around the league.

With the exception of the Rays, who were the subject of my last post, the Yankees, and perhaps the Twins (interestingly, all American League teams), I'm not impressed with the output from any team in baseball to this point. The National League is a borderline embarrassment, with the powerhouse Phillies just one-and-a-half games ahead of the Mets (the definition of mediocrity), the bargain Marlins, and the lowly Nationals, while the Padres rode an eight-game winning streak to the top of the NL West. The NL Central is a joke, and is completely St. Louis' division to lose. There just aren't any dominant teams in the NL, and I'm not sure any will emerge as the season wears on.

Surely, the likes of the Padres and Nationals will fade. Remember the start that the Padres got off to last year? And look where they ended up. There's no way they will be able to maintain their early success a year later either. Undoubtedly, the contenders will separate themselves from the pretenders, in time. My point is that the contenders don't look all that special. The Phillies were supposed to be this machine that steamrolled through everyone, but Roy Halladay's the only one that can pitch over there. The Cardinals are winning just because everyone else in their division can't. The Padres aren't for real. And there are your "contenders" through three weeks. Seriously?

Over in the American League, I won't even get into the AL West, because that division's a joke too. The Rays coming out of the East are a championship caliber team, as I've said before. David Price was masterful yesterday, and unlike the Phillies, he's not the only one producing starts like that. The Yankees finally lost a series this weekend to the Angels, but that doesn't say much because the Yankees historically have problems with the Angels and the Angels, at 10-10, are mediocre. I'm not worried about the Yankees at all. At this point, I'd say the ALCS championship game between the Rays and Yankees will decide who wins the World Series. But watch out for the Twins - they have some pitching of their own that has come through so far, and of course they have Joe Mauer. The Twins could be dangerous after they win a division they're already starting to run away with.

By the way, speaking of Joe Mauer, Ryan Howard got a contract extension today that will pay him $25 million a year for the next five years in Philadelphia. That extension surpassed the annual value of Joe Mauer's extension this April. When will the madness end?

I'm simply saying that 27 out of the 30 teams in Major League Baseball are not awe-inspiring. We don't have any 2009 Dodgers or 2006 Mets in the league this year. The Rays are the closest thing to it, but they have the Yankees right on their heels. The real question is, does this make baseball more exciting? To watch the season produce 27 bad-to-mediocre teams that all, somehow, have a greater chance of making the postseason than anyone would expect? It does if you're a Padres fan or a Nationals fan. Maybe baseball's turning into a communist faction, at least for this season. I don't know about you, but I'm not excited about mediocrity. I want to see true powerhouses clash all season long for division superiority, not a bunch of middle-of-the-road squads wage a war of attrition and then limp into the playoffs. So I'll go watch the Rays and Yankees this year and get my fix. I'll watch my Dodgers revert to near-.500 form. I'll watch the NL get crushed in the All-Star Game. I'll wait and hope for deals at the trade deadline that alter the dynamics of division races. And then I'll wrap up a rather pedestrian MLB season watching either the Rays or Yankees dominate their World Series opponent.

Mediocre indeed.

These Rays Pack Some Sting

2010-04-19T23:52:00.000-07:00

It may or may not come as a surprise to you, but the Tampa Bay Rays, as of tonight, are the best team in baseball.

At least, they're the hottest team right now.

After completing an impressive four-game sweep of the Red Sox in Boston over the weekend, the Rays hold baseball's best record at 10-3. Two of their losses have come at the hands of the Yankees, who happen to hold baseball's second best record at 9-3. Newcomer Rafael Soriano has been a big part of the Rays' success early on, already posting a win and four saves. Starter Matt Garza has been spectacular in three starts, going 3-0 with a 0.75 ERA in wins over the Orioles and Red Sox. And with young stars Evan Longoria, Carl Crawford, and B.J. Upton pacing the Rays' lineup, their balance makes them one of the most complete teams in the league.

The Rays' hot start can hardly be perceived as illegitimate. Competing in what many note to be the toughest division in baseball, the Rays have taken five out of six from Baltimore, and, of course, just finished sweeping the Red Sox in Fenway. Despite losing two out of three to the Yankees during the first weekend of the season, the Rays have left no doubt that they are for real. They rank 6th in baseball with a 3.62 team ERA through thirteen games, and I would not expect that number to fluctuate much over the course of the season.

With all the talent and balance this team has, it baffles me that more people don't talk about them. The Rays are merely an afterthought to most because they reside in the same division as the Yankees and Red Sox. And even though the Yankees are off to a good start as well, the Red Sox are now 4-9 after the sweep and have lost five in a row. All of the Rays wins have come within this well-heralded division...so where's all their publicity? I get it, they are a small-market team. But they might be the most exciting small-market team this era of baseball has seen. Props to the Rays for their accomplishments thus far.

Two other surprises, briefly: the openness of the AL West is staggering. Anyone can win that division this year. I don't see the champion of it being decided until the last week of the season. The Angels' dominance is no more.

And who would have thought both the Nationals and Padres would be over .500 going into Week 3? The Padres find themselves in second place in the NL West, one game back of the Giants, while the Nationals are locked in a tight and competitive NL East race. The standings indicate that the NL East is the best division in baseball at the moment, with four teams (including the Nationals) within a game-and-a-half of each other. We'll see if this holds up until the end of the month, but for now it makes for some interesting and exciting baseball. With no overly dominant teams emerging just yet in either league, there's no need for fans to abandon their teams this early on (is there ever a need for that?). Unless you're a fan of the 2-12 Baltimore Orioles. Then you might be justified. It'll be a quiet summer at Camden Yards.

But not in Tampa Bay.

It's Time for Dodger...Offense?

2010-04-17T22:46:00.000-07:00

7:10 pm, the start time of the Dodgers' tenth game of the 2010 season, of which I happen to be in attendance. Vicente Padilla takes the mound, two ugly starts behind him, and he's dealing. He deals four innings of no-hit baseball until Mark DeRosa leads off the fifth with a single. The crack of Matt Kemp's bat echoes through Dodger Stadium once again in the first inning as he homers for the fourth straight game. Andre Ethier immediately impersonates him, then delivers a slam of an encore in the second that even Denny's would appreciate. James Loney picks up three more hits as he watches his batting average continue to rise. The Dodgers lead 10-3 going into the bottom of the ninth, on their way to an easy win over the hated rival San Francisco Giants.

But the bullpen didn't get the memo.

Russ Ortiz has no command of his pitches. He can't get anyone out in the ninth. Joe Torre looks extremely annoyed as he walks out to the mound to remove Ortiz, needing only one out to finish the game. He looks even more annoyed as Ramon Troncoso thanks him by surrendering a three-run blast to paper-thin Eugenio Velez. Now its 10-8. Troncoso snaps into focus, as if woken from a dream, and he gets the next batter to hit a comebacker to end the game.

Apparently, Troncoso and his fellow bullpen comrades are all stuck in the same dream. You know, the kind of dream where you can't get anyone out or hold a late-inning lead? Dodger fans are not familiar with this dream. We've had the strongest bullpen in the National League each of the last two years. Now Jonathan Broxton seems to be the only one sleeping peacefully.

Today, Charlie Haeger got in on the act. He might as well be in the bullpen. As of today, the Dodger ERA rests at an abysmal 5.56. That is not Dodger baseball. Meanwhile, their team batting average is tops in the league at .320. That is not Dodger baseball either. If the Phillies didn't exist, the Dodgers would be the top offensive team in baseball. We're not used to having potent offenses in Chavez Ravine. We're used to having anemic ones that scrape by while the pitching dominates.

My friends, this will not be the case over the course of the 2010 season. You can see it in Clayton Kershaw's wildness, or Chad Billingsley's inability to hit his spots, or George Sherill's failure to be reliable. You can see it in Kemp and Ethier's smooth strokes, each of which will produce 30 HR, 100 RBI seasons by October. You can see it in Rafael Furcal's rejuvenation, in Ronnie Belliard's slugging percentage, and in Russell Martin's on-base percentage. This is an offensive team, whether we like it or not.

And I don't like it.

Offensive teams don't win World Series. And why should Dodger fans want anything less after the last two seasons? Don't argue for the Yankees last year being an offensive team. CC and A.J. Burnett and Andy Pettite in the playoffs don't equal an offensive team. Offensive teams don't win World Series. Period. The Dodgers are no different. They might have enough firepower to win the NL West, but that's the peak for this season as far as I'm concerned. If that peak is even reached. At 5-6, prospects of winning the division for a third straight season hardly look promising.

Keep in mind, this pitching staff is essentially the same one that posted the National League's best ERA last year. Differences? Ramon Ortiz: awful. Russ Ortiz: even more awful. Carlos Monasterios: unimpressive. Charlie Haeger can hardly be considered a difference because he made three starts last year. Everything else is the same. There is no excuse for the pitching to be this bad. None. 5.56 is atrocious. It's embarrassing.

Eric Karros said today he thinks the Dodgers will right the ship and get better. I don't share his optimism. Pitching isn't something that can just be fixed on the spot. Guys don't just reverse their fortunes overnight. It takes time. Half a season. Ten games in the division standings. That's unrecoverable in August and September.

I don't blame Ned Colletti for trying to win with the same guys that were so effective a year ago. A frontline starter would have put us in the World Series. That hasn't happened yet, but it may not matter at this point. Those same guys aren't getting it done. We're three games back of the Giants already. Their offense looks much improved, and their pitching has remained consistent. They are the real deal, but I already knew that going in. I just didn't expect offense to be reigning Dodgertown in 2010. I had no reason to. It's not Dodger baseball.

Week 1: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

2010-04-12T11:13:00.000-07:00

If the first week of Dodger baseball in 2010 is any indication of the way this year's team will perform, then we as fans are in for a big surprise, and perhaps even a big let-down. After wrapping up their first road trip 2-4 (as I predicted they might), the Dodgers open their home season tomorrow afternoon with a roster full of unlikely heroes and major disappointments. With this post, I will highlight the good, the bad, and the ugly through the Dodgers' first six games:

The Good

Hiroki Kuroda: People laughed at me when I said this guy could win 15 games or more this year. After Friday night's performance, that looks more like a definite possibility. No one expects Kuroda to anchor the Dodgers' rotation, but he has looked great the last two times I've seen him and I'm taking a flyer.

Charlie Haeger: It's been a while since any Dodger pitcher struck out 12 batters in a game. Haeger did enough to give the team a chance to win, and that's all you can ask of a fifth starter. He got burned by one tough pitch yesterday. The back end of the Dodgers' rotation is exceeding expectations to this point.

The Bench: As deep and as good as the Dodger bench was last season, it may be even better this season. Ronnie Belliard knocked the cover off the ball this week, while Reed Johnson and Garret Anderson looked solid filling in for the injured Andre Ethier. As a whole, the bench slugged .566 for the week. Look for this trend to continue as guys take full advantage of their spot starts.

Russell Martin: It's good to see Russ hitting again. And he's getting on base. Having already drawn six walks, his OBP rests at an astounding .611, tops on the team thus far. Any consistency with his bat would be a huge plus for the Dodger lineup as the season progresses.

The Bad

The Bullpen: All the pitching concerns for the Dodgers were centered on the starting rotation prior to the start of the season. I find myself more concerned with the performance of the bullpen after this week. Dodger relievers took three of the four losses, including two consecutive in which they blew leads late in the game. That's not Dodger baseball. The longing for the return of Hong-Chih Kuo and Ronald Belisario intensifies.

The Ugly

Vicente Padilla: The Dodgers' opening day starter closes the week with an 11.42 ERA through two starts. And he was supposed to replace Randy Wolf? Wolf is 1-0 with a 4.04 ERA in Milwaukee through two starts. You tell me which pitcher you'd rather have.

George Sherrill: What on Earth has happened to Sherrill? All of a sudden he can't get anyone out. He single-handedly lost the game for the Dodgers on Saturday. The Dodgers have no shot at the postseason if Sherrill can't set up Jonathan Broxton. No shot. Right now he's the only left-handed arm in the bullpen. Too much responsibility rests on that arm for him to perform this poorly and get away with it.

Certainly, this is not the start, both individually and as a team, that most people pictured for the 2010 Dodger squad. Still, we're only a week into the season. There's a lot more baseball to be played, and I've seen enough positive output during this first week of games to keep me confident in the Dodgers' chances of making another World Series run this year. Now let's take a look at some other notables from around the league this week:

Division leaders in the American League are all surprises after Week 1. Toronto, Detroit, and Oakland round out the list. Then again, Toronto played Texas and Baltimore this week. Detroit played Kansas City and Cleveland. Oakland, however, took three out of four from Seattle at home and then two out of three from the Angels in Anaheim. Impressive start for the A's. How do they always manage to be competitive despite consistently dumping their top players year in and year out?

On the other side of the coin, there are no surprises in the National League standings on this Monday (unless you anticipated the Dodgers being atop the NL West). The Giants look like the real deal, the Cardinals are solid as usual, and the Phillies continue to dominate teams. I still stand by my preseason prediction of the Brewers being a darkhorse in the NL Central.

Does 2010 mark the resurgence of Arizona D'Backs outfielder Chris Young? What a week for Young, driving in eleven runs and smashing three roundtrippers. Watch out for the D'Backs if Young stays hot. And in Texas, Nelson Cruz leads the AL in home runs and RBI after one week of play. If the Rangers get their bullpen situation straightened out, they'll be a dangerous team this summer as well.

Pitching Pessimists Prospering

2010-04-05T13:53:00.000-07:00

Is it too late to take back what I said about Chad Billingsley?

As I watch the conclusion of the Dodgers' embarassing opener in Pittsburgh, and as I took in the team's final spring training game at Dodger Stadium on Saturday against the Angels, I sense(d) some disturbing trends in the Dodger pitching staff. Billingsley was awful on Saturday, allowing six runs over 2 2/3 innings, including a grand slam to Kendry Morales. No wonder he didn't get the starting nod on Opening Day. That honor went to Vicente Padilla, and what did he do? How about surrendering seven runs over 4 1/3 innings? Is this a sign of things to come for Dodger starting pitching?

It could be for relief pitching too. The bullpen gave up four runs of its own today, including a three-run homer by Ryan Doumit in the 8th off George Sherrill. Sherrill has had a terrible spring, and that seems to be carrying over into the regular season, at least to this point. Hong-Chih Kuo is now on the DL. Ramon Troncoso is now a father. Ronald Belisario is now...wherever he is. And an eleven-run outburst by the Pirates leaves the Dodgers on the wrong side of the scoreboard to start the season.

The biggest complaint I hear from fellow Dodger fans about this season is that the pitching isn't there. All winter I have been resisting this notion, holding on to the belief that the rotation will be effective and the bullpen will continue to dominate as it did last year. Perhaps it is time to dismiss this belief. I've watched three Dodger spring games in person and now the first regular season game on TV, and none of those games have provided evidence for the argument that Dodger pitching is solid. In fact, the pitching has been a tremendous disappointment to someone like me who feels it is capable of far more than it has produced.

Clayton Kershaw will look to reverse this trend on Wednesday. Yet the way things are looking right now, the Dodgers will lose this series to the Pirates with Billingsley on the mound on Thursday and could very well drop the weekend series in Florida if Padilla has another horrible outing. Coming home 2-4 will hardly thrill anyone who will be in the crowd on Opening Day at Dodger Stadium, let alone the rest of the fans at home who undoubtedly expect another division title and playoff appearance this season.

DeWitt: Torre Wit?

2010-04-02T16:21:00.000-07:00

Joe Torre announced yesterday that Blake DeWitt will be the starting second baseman for the Dodgers this season.

Not Jamey Carroll, who was brought in during the offseason to stabilize the position, and who hit .345 this spring.

Not Ronnie Belliard, last season's biggest surprise and playoff hero, not to mention the frontrunner for the job going into camp.

Blake Dewitt.

Yes, the kid needs to play. Yes, the kid has major league experience. Yes, the kid hit .339 in 22 spring games and boasted a .542 slugging percentage. But now the guys Ned Colletti paid to come to Los Angeles (or to stay here) will get spot starts in lieu of the kid who spent most of last season in the minors refining his game. Is this Joe Torre's attempt to be witty?

He certainly made an attempt to be humorous, telling DeWitt he was going back to Albequerque when the kid first sat down to a meeting with him and Colletti last night. One "April Fool's" and sigh of relief later, DeWitt was formally given his spot on the team. A starting spot. Hard to imagine for a kid who was reduced to pinch hitting last season as a September call-up.

Which all begs the question...what happened to Orlando Hudson? Aside from releasing Randy Wolf, saying goodbye to Hudson might have been the most foolish thing the Dodgers did this offseason. The guy was an All-Star. He batted over .300 for most of the season. He hit for the cycle on Opening Day. Why dump a guy like Hudson, when he was a sure bet to surpass other bidders for the second-base job in 2010? Instead, the Dodgers passed on the sure thing, and now have another hopeful prospect to show for it. Can I have the $4.7 million back that was granted to Belliard and Carroll this winter and give it to Hudson?

Meanwhile, Torre named knuckleballer Charlie Haeger the team's fifth starter. This is a move that is much more agreeable than the DeWitt decision, after Haeger posted a 2.20 ERA over the spring to accompany two wins and 15 strikeouts in 16 innings. I saw Haeger pitch towards the end of last summer, and he had two good starts before getting whacked in his third and being sent back to the minors. In his first start he almost out-dueled Cy Young candidate Adam Wainwright over seven grueling innings. Haeger should serve as a reasonably effective fifth starter and complete the Dodgers' rotation for now.

Which brings me to my final point of this post. Vicente Padilla starting Opening Day in Pittsburgh? Not thrilling in the least. The only reason this is occurring is so Clayton Kershaw can start the Dodgers' home opener on April 13. But Kershaw is going to start Wednesday regardless of who pitches Opening Day, so why not throw Chad Billingsley out there? Being tasked with starting the first game of the season would do wonders for Billingsley's confidence. The team would be sending him the message that he is their guy and will be trusted to pitch in big games. That's what Billingsley needs. Not a No. 3 spot in the rotation. That's like a slap in the face. The Dodgers have to do or die with Billingsley this year, whether they like it or not, and it needs to begin immediately. He might be the key to their entire season.

Or it might be that kid at second base.

Mauer Money

2010-03-24T11:21:00.000-07:00

While I was in Arizona, I heard about the Joe Mauer deal. He gets an extension of eight years, worth $184 million, making him the third highest-paid player in baseball behind Alex Rodriguez and CC Sabathia. Minnesota fans gave him a standing ovation in a spring training game yesterday - clearly they're thrilled, especially now that he will stay a Twin and not defect to the Yankees or Red Sox like many other superstars.

So is this the going rate for a three-time batting champion and reigning MVP? What a scary thought. No catcher has ever been paid this much money. Imagine what Albert Pujols is going to get when he is eligible for free agency. Mauer's new contract speaks to what I believe is a greater issue in baseball: inflated player salaries. Do professional baseball players really deserve to be making upwards of $20 million a year? $10 million? $5 million? I think not. They go out, and they play baseball 162 days out of the year, more if they're lucky. They do nothing that benefits society directly, unless you want to count entertainment value. And then they just throw their money away when they're done. Yes, MLB players are paid far too much money to do what they do. Mauer is just another instance of this.

Don't get me wrong - Joe Mauer is a great talent, and is probably the best catcher in the game today. But can you really put a price tag that high on one individual? It's baffling to me how teams are willing to sign contracts like these. We're in a national economic crisis. We've got people living on the street, a shortage of jobs, home values going down the toilet, and GM's are throwing millions at guys without breaking a sweat. Does anyone else think there is something wrong with this picture?

Major League Baseball somehow needs to get this situation under control. A salary cap might do it, although I'm sure that would be difficult to implement. What I would like to see, in the event that player salaries remain this astronomical, is a requirement that mandates players to contribute a percentage of their earnings to charity, say 10%. Joe Mauer doesn't need $23 million dollars a year until 2018. That's more money than he knows what to do with. Make him give some of it to a noble cause, and now his athletic talent does indeed benefit society. I would say this should go for all athletes, but also high-paid executives, business owners, celebrities, and others who are so rich they sneeze dollar bills. As long as the system remains intact, and professional baseball players continue to earn Mauer money, those dollars will be going to waste.

Spring Training 2010 Recap

2010-03-22T21:06:00.000-07:00

I had originally intended to post daily updates from my trip to Arizona this weekend, but Internet services were not free in our hotel. Ridiculous. Anyways, here are some observations from the weekend, where I attended four games:

Game 1: Padres 9, Dodgers 4
In a game I have come to call the McDonald Meltdown, the Dodgers were embarrassed by the Padres in the late innings of Friday night's game. Neither starting pitcher looked sharp, with Chris Young and Hiroki Kuroda both surrendering three earned runs in just four innings of work. The bullpen was the difference in the game - the Padres were putting up mostly zeroes, while James McDonald decided to retreat into his minor league shell as he was being walloped for six runs in a little over an inning to take the loss. Hong Chih Kuo pitched a perfect inning of relief, which is good news after his slow start last season, and Matt Kemp was hitting the ball hard. Casey Blake looked lost at the plate, making me wonder if his age is starting to catch up with him. Will Venable hit a monster home run off of Kuroda that must have traveled close to 450 feet. But an interesting thought here: the Dodgers had three sacrifice hits in this game, including a suicide squeeze in the 7th inning that temporarily put them ahead. Are we to see more small ball from the Boys in Blue this year? Only one of those sacrifices came from a pitcher...

Game 2: Padres 4, White Sox 1
Padres' starter Matt Latos was brilliant in this one, allowing just a run on two hits in five innings. The bullpen proceeded to shut the door, as the White Sox offense struggled to find a rhythm, even with most of their starters in the lineup. I like the White Sox in the AL Central this year, but their offense will have to click better than it did Saturday for them to win the division. Mark Buehrle worked fast and looked solid, but took the loss after giving up two runs in six innings.

Game 3: Padres 5, Dodgers 1
The Dodgers' embarrassment in this game came in the form of committing as many errors (3) as they had hits and runs combined (one run, two hits). Again, Padre starting pitching was stellar, as Wade LeBlanc (didn't we shell this kid in the regular season?) allowed only a solo home run to Ronnie Belliard. The Dodger offense was anemic, but the Padres' lineup featured some young players that looked pretty good. Outfielder Kyle Blanks went 4-4 in this game and outfielder Chris Denorfia was flying all over the place, both in the field and on the basepaths. Adrian Gonzalez was Adrian Gonzalez, although no power surge for him this weekend.

Game 4: Padres 14, Rangers 5
The Padres' minor leaguers continued to step up in this one. Denorfia brought the house down with his near-cycle, and the bench put together an eight-run seventh inning to seal the deal. Of course, this means Ranger pitching doesn't seem to be making the progress necessary to win the AL West, but that's nothing new. It's a shame too, because their lineup can score with anybody. Michael Young is a great hitter, and Nelson Cruz hit a towering home run in this game that left no doubt he can fill the cleanup role in the Texas batting order. The Rangers scored five runs in the third to open the scoring, but didn't score again as the Padres piled up the runs on both Rich Harden and the bullpen. Journeyman Jerry Hairston Jr. hit a three-run blast that sent Harden packing in the fourth - needless to say, I was not impressed with Harden's performance. He needs to be far better than what he was on Sunday if this Ranger team is to compete for the division this season.

So how 'bout them Padres? 4-0 over the weekend, which greatly surprised me. Yes, it's spring training, but they won all four games with their opponents playing most of their regulars. If their pitching holds up, they may actually surprise in the NL West. But with trade rumors swirling around Adrian Gonzalez, the future may not look as bright as the weekend suggested.

With two weeks to go before opening day, there are a lot of questions that remain unanswered with respect to the Dodgers - who will be their fifth starter? Can Manny get back to being Manny (he wasn't much of himself this weekend)? Can the bullpen flex its muscles and be effective in the late innings? Can Rafael Furcal be the catalyst at the top of the lineup? These are questions that, in my opinion, should have already been answered by now. But hey, it's the Dodgers, and they're in Hollywood. Who wouldn't expect a little preseason drama?

Fantasy Baseball 2010

2010-03-09T20:28:00.000-08:00

To all you fantasy baseball fanatics out there...I just had my draft last week and fielded a halfway decent team in an ESPN points league. My roster is as follows:

C - Ryan Doumit
1B - Lance Berkman
2B - Chase Utley
3B - Mark Reynolds
SS - Alexei Ramirez
OF - Matt Kemp
OF - Matt Holliday
OF - Curtis Granderson
UTIL - B.J. Upton
UTIL - Michael Bourn
Bench - Corey Hart

SP - Johan Santana
SP - John Lackey
SP - James Shields
SP - Carlos Zambrano
SP - Edwin Jackson
SP - Kevin Slowey
RP - Mariano Rivera
RP - Joe Nathan
RP - Jonathan Broxton

I'm glad I drafted three closers, with the news this week that Joe Nathan may be out for the season with an elbow injury. My offense is pretty balanced...there were a couple of questionable picks in there, but pitchers were going extremely early so I was able to stock up on some hitting in the early rounds. Steals included Kemp in the second round, and Upton in the tenth. Obviously, the glaring weakness with this team is starting pitching, especially now that Santana had a horrible outing the other day. I was planning to move a closer or an outfielder to pick up another starter, but Nathan's injury is going to hurt that possibility. I feel like my offense will have to carry me if I'm going to have success this fantasy season.

Gagne = Game Over?

2010-02-22T11:02:00.000-08:00

This past week, the Dodgers announced they will be signing former closer Eric Gagne to a minor league contract worth $500,000 and inviting him to compete for a spot on the major league roster during spring training. But can Gagne still pitch? He certainly hasn't made a very good case for himself over the past five seasons, following his remarkable run with the Dodgers from 2002-2004. He joins the rather lengthy list of players whose careers have taken a turn for the worse in the wake of steroid implications, including fellow Dodger Manny Ramirez. The real question becomes, then, will Gagne return to form, or is his time in baseball finished?

If the Dodgers can get even half of the Eric Gagne of old, he will become a profitable investment. $500,000 is a small risk for a guy who, after a year of reviving his arm in the Canadian leagues, may still have some gas left in the tank. Then again, he may not. But the Dodgers are willing to throw him a bone on the off chance his bite helps solidify their mediocre bullpen. Certainly, the days of the fake beards and the thundersticks and the Guns N' Roses coursing through the stadium's veins are over. Dodger fans should not be overcome by nostalgia, nor should they hold high expectations for the once indefatigable Gagne. Expect little, and hope to be pleasantly surprised. More importantly, give the guy a chance. If he's going to be written off, let him do it to himself, for he still commands enough respect to trigger Ramon Troncoso giving up his jersey number so Gagne can don No. 38 once again.

Only time will tell whose game will really be over.

Dodgers 2010 Preview

2010-02-17T11:51:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my blog! With the 2010 season approaching, I thought I would put together some thoughts on various topics around baseball. Being the avid Dodgers fan that I am, I figured I'd begin with a look at this year's team and its offseason.

Fortunately, Ned Colletti was able to avoid arbitration with the young core of the team, locking up Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp, and Jonathon Broxton for another two years. As a result, the Dodgers are basically bringing back the same team they had last year, with a couple of minor additions.

You could look at the lack of activity during this offseason in a few different ways. You might argue that it's not such a bad thing, because last year's team made it all the way to the NLCS before bowing out to the Phillies; therefore, the team should compete in the playoffs again this year. Or you might argue that the 2010 Dodgers will be awful because they failed to upgrade anywhere and other teams will have figured them out come April. I happen to argue that it's a combination of both mindsets that captures my feelings on the subject. Certainly, the Dodgers will not be in the cellar of the NL West this year - they have too much talent and are too balanced for that to be the case. In fact, they are probably the favorites to win the division, and I foresee another playoff run in 2010.

Still, there are a couple problems I have with the team Colletti is bringing to the table this season. To begin with, why release Randy Wolf? This had to be the worst move the Dodgers made during the offseason. Wolf was the Dodgers' most consistent starter last year, and played a big role during the playoffs. With the starting pitching market being so thin this offseason, you had to figure the Dodgers would hang on to Wolf to stabilize their rotation. Instead, they are promoting a battle royale of sorts, a free-for-all during spring training for the fifth spot in the rotation. To me, this was unnecessary when bringing Wolf back for a reasonable cost would have been the prudent alternative.

Staying with the subject of starting pitching, the Dodgers failed to upgrade their rotation at all in hopes that Chad Billingsley and Clayton Kershaw will compete with the best of the NL. The problem with that is, the best of the NL got better. Just within the division: Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain for the Giants, Jeff Francis and Ubaldo Jimenez for the Rockies, and of course, Brandon Webb and Dan Haren for the Diamondbacks. And then outside the division, the Phillies, the Dodgers' nemesis for the last two seasons, acquired Roy Halladay to go along with Cole Hamels, while the Cardinals maintained their one-two punch of Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. Can Billingsley and Kershaw compete with those tandems? I'll believe it when I see it. A big name starter, a true ace, has been the only missing piece preventing the Dodgers from getting to the World Series the past two seasons, and it will plague them once again this year. Neither Billingsley nor Kershaw is there yet.

Barring a major acquisition between now and April, the Dodgers will likely escape with the division in 2010. The Giants will be their primary competition, but I don't see any of the other NL West teams having all that much success. The best division in the National League last year will suffer a little bit this year, given the unwillingness of their GM's to make any killer moves. It's like there's a chess game going on, and no one is comfortable initiating the attack. If the Dodgers wish to put themselves over the top, they will fulfill this role. A failure to do so will cast the 2010 campaign into further uncertainty.