Tag Archives: MLB
We’re still waiting for our first big free agent signing of the offseason out here in Oakland. Though the biggest move to date may be addition by subtraction, as another MLB club has finally taken Jack Cust of our hands. The A’s have been seemingly trying to get rid of Cust for a few seasons now, and today the Seattle Mariners took a chance on the slugger/walker/striker-outer. At the beginning of last season, the A’s designated Cust for assignment, hoping another team would claim him. After he cleared waivers, he reported to AAA-Sacramento until injuries on the big league roster would force him up. He played uninspired ball the rest of the season and helped the A’s to another underwhelming offensive campaign. Cust made popular the “three true outcome player.” Each of his at-bats would surely end in one of three outcomes: a home run, walk, or strikeout. Problem is, two out of every three ended in a strikeout. His homers never seem to come when they counted, and his walks were mostly the result of resting the bat on his shoulders for 6 or 7 pitches. Throw a breaking ball, and you’ll surely strike him out. I know what the Mariners were thinking, he’s a guaranteed 20 HRs a year, but does this mean they’ve been sitting there for the last three years thinking, “where can we find a left-handed Richie Sexson?” Seriously, Mariner fans, that’s what you should be thinking right now.
Cust has got to be my most loathed player on the A’s in the last decade. There aren’t many, since the A’s have a knack for having blue-collar hustle guys. Pitching, defense, and basically fundamentals reigned supreme. Cust is none of these. Instead, he occupied the fat, lazy designated hitter spot and led the league in strikeouts three consecutive years. His 197 in 2008 
were particularly impressive. I won’t even get into his defensive shortcomings. The good news is this opens up a spot for a power hitter the A’s so desperately need. I share Chappy’s sentiment in that I don’t want them to break the bank on an older player who’s best days are behind them, but that may be our only option. And, if you give me a choice, I’ll take anybody over Cust. Right now it’s looking like Hideki Matsui, but I’d be happy with Doris Matsui at this point. Alright, so Cust isn’t that bad; I’m just happy for a change.
“You want to go where you’re wanted,” Cust said. “In Oakland, even though I always did pretty well there…I’m sure they’d say I struggled in spring and what I did the three years before wasn’t good enough to make that team, I guess…..When I talk about Oakland last year especially, it’s definitely not a very positive experience for me. So I’m trying to block that out a little.”
Aren’t we all, Jack. Aren’t we all…..
12 Comments | tags: Baseball, free agent signing, hideki matsui, Jack Cust, MLB, Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners, winter meetings | posted in Sports
Probably the most exciting time of the MLB offseason is seeing the hundreds of millions of dollars flying around. The winter meetings always produce plenty of rumors, and usually end with at least a few big names traded or signed to new teams. I was especially excited about this year, since I wrote a while back that the A’s actually have some money to spend on some free agents this year. It has just made me follow the winter meetings all that much closer! Here’s a few thoughts on the things I thought that were interesting that have taken place so far.
Adrian Gonzalez to the Red Sox seems like a solid deal for both sides. The Padres lost their best player and fan favorite, but got prospects that they are very familiar with since Jed Hoyer (Padres GM) used to work in Boston’s front office. We won’t know if the trade was all that even until the prospects hit the majors for a couple of years, but if they somehow pulled a Hanley Ramierez type player out of the deal it might not be as lopsided as everyone thinks right now. The Padres knew they couldn’t afford him next year, and I thought that they would give it a run this year after last year’s solid season. I thought they’d wait and see where they were at the All-Star break, but it’s probably better to trade a healthy Gonzalez now, instead of risking that he’ll be injured with diminished value later. Adrian just shot up my draft board for fantasy baseball. Just look how good Beltre did last year moving from the unfriendly hitting confines of Seattle to the playing pepper with the Green Monster.
Jayson Werth’s megadeal of 7 years and $126M seems like a horrible signing to me. Boras gets money for his clients though, and his clients are always happy with the deal. Does Werth have Carlos Beltran written all over it? Don’t get me wrong, I love the way Jayson plays, but for this much money after only two productive years in a hitters park is a head scratcher to me. Why are the Nats bogging down their payroll when they suck? It feels like the same kind of deal Gary Matthews got with the Angels. Just ask them how much they like that guy! Doesn’t signing Adam Dunn seem like a more reasonable option? I’d rather keep Dunn with less years, and maybe struggle for a year or two. When Bryce Harper and Steven Strasburg are playing at the level we all think they will, then would be the time to figure out what you need most and spend all your money. Not now, when you aren’t positive of what your team needs really are. I guess they might have a real plan if they really do throw “huge” money at Cliff Lee, but I’ll believe it when I see it.
Tiger, Frank, and Jaime can all get a good laugh about this divorce stuff!
McCourt Vs. McCourt in court. Jaime and Frank finished up their first trial as they were competing for the rights to own the Dodgers in what has been a very messy divorce. The court ruled that Frank’s document stating he was the sole owner of the team will be thrown out because it was illegally made after the original prenup, so the team is still 50% hers and 50% his. If one of the two can’t buy the team outright, it’s been assumed that they will sell the team, which would make a lot of Dodger fans happy. Unfortunately though that won’t happen soon, and there will be another trial trying to prove that Frank’s original company was the reason they were able to purchase the Dodgers, so he will try to prove that he should have sole ownership. Looks like the Dodgers are going to be battling with Arizona for last place in the division this year.
The A’s offseason started with a bang as they made a couple trades and pickups with David Dejesus and Edwin Encarnacion. They won the rights to talk to Japanese pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma as well. We already dumped Encarnacion, and never really came close to signing Iwakuma, so I guess all that was smoke and mirrors. We may have just been blocking the Rangers and Mariners from Iwakuma since they were the two teams we outbid to have the rights to negotiate with him. It never really felt like a deal was getting done for him, especially for the money he was asking for to be our 5th starter.
I do want the A’s to spend this year, and they have the money to do so, but I think I’m more encouraged on what they haven’t spent their money on! They were rumored to be talking to Lance Berkman, which sounded like bringing back Giambi, Sweeney, or Piazza type in. I’m not a fan of that method anymore, because we’ve only gotten one Frank Thomas, and the rest looked washed up like they were. Now Berkman’s the Cardinals problem, and I still don’t understand why they got him when he has to play in the outfield, unless they want to slot him in instead of Pujols. Another guy they were rumored going after was Adrian Beltre. I was just as happy to see that they withdrew their contract offer to him, because he only plays good in contract years. I hope the Angels end up with him, and he turns into Seattle Beltre that didn’t care. I’d much rather go for a guy like Josh Willingham at a highly discounted price…
10 Comments | tags: Adrian Gonzalez, Baseball, Jayson Werth, MLB, moves, off season, signings, trades, winter meetings | posted in Sports
This is a first for Doin Work as we have never really revisited our predictions. I was reading through them last night, and since we do them for pretty much every sport before the season gets too far along I wanted to check out how we did. We made our MLB predictions one day after the season started, and we made some good calls, and some funny ones that didn’t pan out that well. Now that the season is long over and all the hardware has been handed out it was a good time to look back in our first ever Reviewin Predictions! If you wanted to see all our predictions click here.
AL Central Winner
By: Minnesota Twins – Why? Because Joe Mauer went to Cabo with the Playstation guy!
Dyslecix: Minnesota Twins – Not sold on the White Sox or Detroit the Twins are always there.
AL West Winner
Chappy: Texas Rangers – I don’t want to jinx the A’s before the season even starts, so I’m taking the Rangers rallying behind their drug attic coach and best hitter. I hope Mceezy just picked the Angels to jinx them, but I’m scared he’s probably right…
Mceezy: Anaheim Angels – Because I want to see any other team win this division, the Angels will.
By: Anaheim Angels – For jinxing purposes. Why does the AL West have 4 teams & NL Central have 6?
AL Wild Card Winner Continue reading
7 Comments | tags: Baseball, MLB, predictions | posted in Sports
Thank You Giants
I was trying to put into words what I’ve been feeling for the greater part of the last twenty-four hours, but I can’t. As cliché as it sounds, there aren’t any words to describe this feeling.
So as I wait to gather myself from this high, I simply just want to thank the boys. I want to thank the loveable cast of misfits that is our San Francisco Giants. After the curse of the game ball that was handed out to Russ Ortiz by Dusty Baker in 2002, I honestly felt that I wouldn’t live to see the day San Francisco wins its first World Series pennant.
Last night, the short-lived curse was put to rest. But for the fans who’ve been waiting decades for this moment, it was more than that. History was made. Life is good. Thank you boys.
🙂
8 Comments | tags: Baseball, end of curse, MLB, party, san francisco giants, winners, world series champions | posted in Sports
It was a bittersweet victory for me tonight. Although I rep Northern California like nobody’s business, I’m still an A’s fan, so it’s tough to see the other team win it all. The way I looked at it, there were four World Series trophies in Oakland, why do we need any on the other side of the Bay? But the fact remains, San Francisco is my home. I spent 7 of the greatest years of my life there, but I’ll admit I’m a little bitter they did it now, but couldn’t come through back in 2002 when I resided there. Nonetheless, I love this group of players they put together over there in the City. How can you not be happy they won?
Despite all the NorCal love on Doin Work, there’s only one true Giants fan on board here. Congrats to By on seeing his team win the hardware. And even though Chappy and I bleed Green and Gold, it’s GREAT to see Northern California bring home its first major pro sports championship since 1994.
8 Comments | tags: Baseball, MLB, Northern California, san francisco, san francisco giants, world champions, World Series | posted in Sports
Rangers and Giants World Series
Did you seriously think I couldn't out coach Girardi!?! What planet are you on?
Is it really going to happen? The two teams I wanted to win could be squaring off in the World Series. I’m always a fan of the underdog, so usually my teams get knocked out just after I decide to root for them. Naturally, it makes me not care much who wins the championship when the teams I don’t care about are in the final series. This year has been different though, and the teams that I’m rooting for, for some reason, are actually winning. It’s like when I get excited seeing one of my bets at halftime correct, only to see said team fail to cover. Maybe, because neither series is over, especially the Giants and Phillies because it’s only a 2-1 series lead, and the Phillies have the pitching and hitting to come back. Plus the Giants seem to have a hard time closing out their opponent, (see the regular season against the Padres). The only reason I feel like that series is a done deal is because my 80 year old grandpa said to me over the phone last night that the Giants would win the WS. Sure, he’s been a big Giants fan his whole life, but MCeezy will vouch for him that if he says it, it will come true! It’s one heart attack win after another for the Giants all season long, so I hope grandpa didn’t jinx them. In the other league, my ALCS prediction was spot on. It’s been awhile since I was able to gloat about a prediction, so here it goes with the things I was right about! The Rangers made the Yankees look old, check. They scored every way imaginable while running all over Posada, check. Ron Washington out coached Joe Girardi by not over managing and getting his players motivated, check. The only thing I didn’t predict was how good the Rangers pitchers would be, and honestly aside from the bullpen meltdown in game 1, they dominated the best hitting lineup in the league. Now that the Rangers are up 3-1 I feel comfortable saying they will be in the World Series. Even if the Yankees somehow shake it off, and win the next two games they will have to face Cliff Lee in game 7. I’d say that means series over anyway you look at it.
Kirk Gibson Still Grinds My Gears
It’s been 22 years since Kirk broke my heart as a young baseball fan with his gimp pinch hit home run off the A’s unstoppable Eckersly. At seven years old, I didn’t think I’d hate his name still 22 years later, but reading about him selling off that historic pinch hit bat making me relive that experience yet again filled me with that same hatred. It’s bad enough they show his fist pumps around the bases every month or two during the season, but having to read about the intricacies of the bat and jersey made me throw up in my mouth a little. Here’s what Gibson said that made me relive one of my worst childhood sports moments,
If you look at the handle on the end of that bat, there’s an ‘x’ because it was a reject. I really only got it because it was so light, I was hurt, so I started to get that ready,” he said. “The cleat marks at the head of the bat where I hit my shoes, there’s indentations at the beginning of the bat. At the end of the bat, it was so deep, there’s really deep indentations, the red ink from the foul balls I hit is on it. You can actually see the spot where I made contact with the ball. It’s preserved very well.”
I can take a little solace in the fact that he is a dick, and many people don’t like him, but it just reminds me that some things you never really get over. I guess holding grudges is part of being a fan. Devastating moment #2 was probably the “Tuck Rule.”
8 Comments | tags: ALCS, Baseball, Joe Girardi, Kirk Gibson, MLB, Playoffs, Ron Washington, san francisco giants, selling bat, Texas Rangers, World Series | posted in Sports
Even though I had my doubts when the Rangers drew the Rays in the first round, they still came through. For some reason I like the Rangers chances even more against the all mighty Yankees than I did against the Rays. Back in September when the Rangers swept the Yankees, I started to believe in them, and wrote a little about why. In that series they were without Josh Hamilton, and the Yankees were without A-Rod, so I figure those two injuries evened each other out lineup wise. What they got from that series more than anything was some extra confidence that they belong with the best. The Rangers have a swagger to them, there’s no way around it, and they’ve been that way all year. I know I brought this up in an older post, but I remember one game back in June when Ian Kinsler was yelling at the Angels players after the game in Arlington to get off their field. I thought it was kind of stupid since they played each other the next day, but it speaks volumes about this team’s mentality, and how together they are. I mean, how many teams would do a separate ginger ale celebration because one of their players is an addict? How many teams survive a manager’s dirty drug test? How many teams would have survived a bankruptcy during a season seeing guys that played in Texas eight years ago, still not being paid what was owed to them? Not many can go through that much turmoil in the workplace, but I think all those outside distractions just made them closer. They don’t roll over like the Twins did when things went wrong, they just move on to the next pitch. Continue reading
11 Comments | tags: A-Rod, ALCS, Baseball, beat, Cliff Lee, hitting, josh hamilton, MLB, New York Yankees, pitching, Playoffs, Prediction, preview, Ron Washington, Texas Rangers, winning | posted in Sports
Chappy brought up a good point the other day. The Minnesota Twins are the new Atlanta Braves. The Braves gained notoriety for not just winning 14 division titles in 15 years, but only winning ONE World Series during their run of domination. The Twins aren’t quite on that level, but they are starting to put together quite a streak of postseason futility. Being an A’s fan, I can’t say I don’t know what it feels like, but with today’s ALDS series loss to the Yankees, that makes 5 LDS losses in the last 8 years. What’s worse is they only have TWO wins to their name during that stretch. This is their third consecutive time being swept in the LDS, including one at the hands of the Oakland Athletics in 2006. They seem to have their nucleus locked up for a few years to come, but will they ever taste postseason success? Much like the A’s, their defeats seem to come often at the hands of the Yankees. You can’t help but feel like they’re destined to reach the playoffs year after year, only to be tossed aside by whichever team draws them in the opening round. But hey, most can only hope for a taste of the postseason. I can appreciate the Twins’ low-budget success. But really, I can’t help but think they’re the Braves of this era.
6 Comments | tags: Baseball, minnesota twins, MLB, mlb playoffs | posted in Sports
We haven’t put up any power rankings up for a long time, and don’t really need to anymore now that the regular season is over. Today we were debating about playoff teams, and some of us thought certain teams were stronger than others, and decided to rank them. No explanations for the rankings, just how we feel about each of these teams going into the October classic. Cincy and Atlanta seem to have the least support. Can you blame us though?!?
Chappy:
- Phillies
- Tampa Bay
- New York
- SF
- Texas
- Cincy
- Minnesota
- Atlanta
Cali4dre:
- Phillies
- New York
- Tampa Bay
- Minnesota
- Texas
- Atlanta
- SF
- Cincy
MCeezy:
1. Yankees
2. Phillies
3. Twins
4. Rangers
5. Giants
6. Braves
7. Rays (yeah, 7th)
8. Reds (although, I’ll be rooting for them)
Dyslecix:
1. Tampa Bay
2. Phillies
3. NY
4. Texas
5. Minnesota
6. SF
7. Cincy
8. Atlanta
10 Comments | tags: Baseball, MLB, Playoff rankings | posted in Sports
It’s usually not a smart idea to post about a team returning to the playoffs when they haven’t clinched yet, but I’m an A’s fan, so if the Giants meltdown and fail to make the playoffs, I won’t shed any tears. At any rate, I’ve got to admit I’m a little excited about the black and orange returning to the postseason for the first time since they blew the 2003 World Series to the Anaheim Angels. Now, they’d have to get swept this weekend by the Padres to force a one game playoff for the division, but the way the two teams are playing right now, that doesn’t seem likely. So let’s assume the “G-men,” as the much maligned announcing duo of Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow call them, hold off the Pads to win the NL West. Contrary to Chappy’s sentiments, I’m pretty excited for the MLB Playoffs this year – on the NL side at least. The Phillies are pretty much a perennial postseason favorite at this point, but if things hold the way they are, we’ll see the return of the Giants, the Atlanta Braves, and most refreshingly, the Cincinnati Reds.
In all likelihood, the Giants will open the first round at home against the Braves, which should be an exciting series. Remember that the Giants knocked off the Braves in the first round in 2003 on their way to a World Series berth. But SF has the makings of a pretty dangerous playoff team. The pitching staff is unparalleled, led by Tim Lincecum of course. Throw in guys like 
Matt Cain, a revitalized Barry Zito, and quite possibly the hottest pitcher in the rotation, Jonathan Sanchez, and you can’t figure them to give up many runs. On the offensive side, though not the most dangerous lineup on paper, the Giants are ridiculously deep. It’s a huge collection of guys that can come through with the big hit at any given time. Buster Posey, Jose Guillen, Pat Burrell, Aubrey Huff, Edgar Renteria, Pablo Sandoval, Freddy Sanchez, Mike Fontenot, Cody Ross, Aaron Rowand….. I could go on for days. I guess I’ll put away all my green and gold and break out that one Giants shirt I have for the next few…. weeks, hopefully.
4 Comments | tags: Baseball, MLB, mlb playoffs, nlds, san francisco giants | posted in Sports
Bynum’s surgery
It’s lame that Bynum put off his surgery opting to go to the World Cup instead. Even if he thought it was going to be a less serious surgery, he knew he was going to have surgery. I don’t buy his story that he didn’t know what the recovery time would be, anytime you know you are going under the knife, you get all the details from the doctor on the major points like say, recovery time. It was a bonehead move to say the least. Maybe he just thought, if Favre can do it, why not me?!? In the end, Bynum has never played a full season (35, 50, and 65 games), so why start now?!? It really won’t matter if he’s in the lineup for the first month or two. The Lakers are going to be in the playoffs regardless of what Bynum does to start the year, which makes me question how meaningful the regular season is. The Sports Chump brought up a good point that it comes down to three teams that truly have a shot at winning the title (Lakers, Heat, and Celtics), so why all the fuss. There’s always hope of OKC, Orlando, and Chicago pulling out some miracles, but would you really bet on them? In basketball missing a month or two isn’t the worst thing in the world for a team. It hurts, but when we already know who the title contenders are before the season nearly every year, it’s really a non-story. Maybe it matters if you’re a small team, and want to see LA early in the season while Bynum is still out, but that’s beyond a team’s control.
Baseball’s dated playoff system
The MLB has seen an attendance dip for yet another season. Not too surprising in a season with very little drama, and we ended up hearing about Strasburg for four straight months. Alas, we really only have one interesting race to get in the playoffs in the NL West, and that race is all but over, unless the Padres pull out a miracle in SF. Baseball is in a down year because of its lack of star power, but with all the good looking rookies that broke onto the scene this year, I’d say the future is very bright. It’s been brought up in hundreds of articles that the MLB playoffs should be changed to make it more interesting at the end of the year. I agree with most of them. We have a great race between Tampa and New York, but since home field really doesn’t mean crap in baseball this isn’t, and shouldn’t be getting much attention. Baseball is by far the slowest evolving sport, and has batted around the idea of instant replay for what seems like a decade. We already debated about instant replay, and unless you hate Armando Gallaraga you’d agree that getting the calls right are more important than anything, but the MLB continues to stay behind on the technology curve, and has chosen to stay in the simpler times of cassette tapes and VHS’s. We could upgrade to at least DVD’s and CD’s if we aren’t ready for IPod’s and Blue Rays, but I don’t think Selig’s great grandkids have told him what those are yet. I’d like to see more teams in the playoffs like two more in each league with a total of three wild card teams. Does that diminish the regular season? A little, but there’s ways around that to reward the division winners with some perks. Have the wild card winners play each of the division winners, but start a best of seven series at 2-0 in the division champs favor. Maybe even make the all the games at the division winners home stadium, so they only have to win two of five games to advance. Would that give the Yankees and Rays some incentive to play out this final week? I would certainly think so…
4 Comments | tags: Andrew Bynum, Baseball, basketball, improve playoffs, injury, MLB, NBA | posted in Sports
I must really be fired up about this AL Cy Young race, because it’s the second post I’ve done on it, and I rarely go back to any subject I previously poured out my views on a post, but hearing people argue that CC should win it aggravated me enough to write a post on it again. It’s obviously a two man race for the AL Cy Young Award, and both Felix and CC made their final starts of the year last night. Like I said back in August, it was Felix’s award to lose. If anything Felix has strengthened his case over the last month and a half. Since I wrote in the original post (end of August) that it was Felix’s Cy Young to lose, they both have the same record (3-2), are within a few innings pitched of each other, have about the same K’s as each other, but CC’s ERA is two full points higher over that span. CC just happened to win his 21st game during that time span, which made more people jump on his bandwagon. Does that make him a better choice for the award? I don’t think so, because I don’t value wins and losses all that much. The award is supposed to be given to the best pitcher period, not the best pitcher on the best team. Greinke winning the award should show us that you don’t have to be on a good team, same with Cliff Lee on the Indians. Over the whole year it’s easy to see who should win the award. They both had the same amount of starts (34), but Felix threw 12 more innings, had nearly one less run on his ERA (0.91 lower), struck out 35 more hitters, and threw four more complete games (6 total) than CC. I will argue for King Felix on the points that I keep seeing light on why CC should be the winner. One last stat, 12 of 13 pitchers that held the lead in strikeouts and ERA won the award, so I’m hoping that it doesn’t go to 12 out of 14 this year.
Argument: CC won 21 games on the best team.
I know CC has won 21 games, but he’s on a team that scored the most runs in the league by nearly 50. Conversely, Felix is on a team that scored 70 less runs than anyone else in the league. You tell me which guy you’d put money on to win more games. Hell, I’d probably would’ve put money on AJ Burnett or Javier Vasquez to have more wins than Felix. If wins are so important, why aren’t Lester, Pavano, and Verlander in those Cy Young talks? They still could get 20 wins, and are comparable to CC in ERA and K’s.
Argument: CC is in a tougher division.
Continue reading
7 Comments | tags: 13 wins, 21 wins, AL Cy Young race, arguments for candidates, Baseball, cc sabathia, felix hernandez, MLB, who should win, winner | posted in Sports
That’s a rhetorical question. Bob Geren is still here because he’s Billy Beane’s BFF. I just really wish the A’s would try to find a good manager instead of apathetically letting the GM’s buddy run the show. Today, the Oakland Athletics exercised the option on Bob Geren’s contract for 2011, meaning he’ll be back for another year at the helm. It’ll be his 5th year as manager and he has yet to top 76 wins. Granted, he’ll most likely top that this year, but the guy hasn’t even managed a .500 season in his tenure. He has a career record of 302-334. What club actively brings back a manager after four consecutive losing seasons? It’s not like they’re a struggling franchise like the Royals where a 70 win season could be considered a success. This is a team that had EIGHT STRAIGHT WINNING SEASONS, capped by an ALCS berth. Then the Geren era began, and it’s been all losing ever since. Sometimes I feel like Lou Wolf and the A’s ownership are recreating the classic film, Major League – I probably allude to that every time I write about the A’s – except Lou Brown would probably do a better job.
I think it’s time for the A’s to do what the other Oakland teams did and bring back an old coach that had success. The Warriors brought back Don Nelson and before you knew it were back in the playoffs. The Raiders brought back Art Shell and they only gave up 332 points – their lowest in a season to date since the Super Bowl season in 2002. They went 2-14 but that’s neither here nor there. It’s time to bring back Art Howe. Maybe Ken Macha will be available after the Brewers finish the season. Shoot, Don Wakamatsu, former A’s bench coach, is available. Oh 
wait, we’re locked in on Geren for another sub-.500 year. I guess the A’s are just going to milk another revenue sharing season and let attendance dwindle even more so they can continue to build their case to leave Oakland. I’m fed up with this charade. The fanbase is there, but this ownership regime continues to alienate. I’m the biggest A’s fan I know, but it’s hard to support a group that simply can’t compete. Sure, there are some great young players, and the future is bright, yada yada yada. But Get Carter had a great cast and that doesn’t make it a good movie. Anyway, I’ll sit through one more year. It’s not like they signed Geren to an extension; they just exercised his option. That’s same thing as someone putting on Get Carter, so you sit through it, as opposed to going to the theater and buying a ticket. I’ll tell you this much though, if the A’s buy a ticket to Get Geren next year, I’m done. But by then they’ll probably have a deal in place to move somewhere so I won’t really care…..
5 Comments | tags: Baseball, Bob Geren, fire bob geren, major league, MLB, Oakland Athletics | posted in Sports
With about three weeks left there are a TON of good looking rookies in the NL. For awhile I thought it was Jaime Garcia, then Buster Posey took a slight lead, then Gaby Sanchez, and now Jason Heyward is remaking his case for the ROY award with a hot streak. What I’ve found most interesting about the NL ROY race is that guys like Mike Stanton have 20 homers, Tyler Colvin has 19 homers, Ike Davis has 18 homers, Neil Walker has a .306 average, John Axeford has 21 saves, Stephen Strasberg was insanely good for a bit, and none of these guys are going to be considered for the award. It’s has been an insane year for the youth in the NL, and will probably be just like the NL West race coming down to who has the best final weeks of the season. I’m going to take a look at the top five candidates, and try to figure out which one is the best choice. I’m already leaning towards Heyward during his resurgence, and being in the big leagues all year helps his case. Gaby Sanchez is so underrated that I feel like I should almost just pick him for shock value, but I just can’t do it. Here’s my thoughts on the top five candidates in no particular order. I heavily weighted one thing in my list, and that was the word YEAR, as in playing a complete season. Continue reading
18 Comments | tags: 2010, Atlanta Braves, Baseball, buster posey, Chicago Cubs, Florida Marlins, Gaby Sanchez, hitters, Jaime Garcia, Jason Heyward, MLB, NL, pitchers, race, rookie of the year, ROY, san francisco giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Starlin Castro | posted in Sports
The Rangers have gotten a ton of play on the MLB network over the past month or so. I can’t remember seeing more of their games on TV at any point in my life. They’ve earned those televised games, as they are the clearly the class of the AL West, and playing as good as any team in the league right now. They usually fade during July and August when their home field turns into a launching pad, but not this year. I was hoping for an implosion from them, so maybe the A’s would be able to sneak into the playoffs, but that’s like hoping for the Raiders to show up in back to back games. Once again, I’m starting to wonder if the A’s are cursed. Not because of the numerous injuries they suffered for a third straight year, but because we let Ron Washington go. I’d much rather have Washington as the manger over Geren, but Beane was very pro Geren, so we’re stuck with the schlep. Until A’s fortunes change, I think we are still under The Curse of the Wash. Normally I’d root against the AL West winner if it wasn’t the A’s, but I found myself pulling for the Rangers to succeed this postseason.
The Rangers sweep over the Yankees showed us exactly what they’ve been doing well all year long. Come from behind to win. They came back to win two of the three games, and even made one of those comebacks while Rivera was on the mound. That kind of win can’t be understated when it comes playoff time, and just knowing that they have already beaten up the most dominant closer of all time is a feather in the cap. They also had their ace (Cliff Lee) back on the hill to close out the sweep. It was his first start in two weeks. He showed how healthy he was shutting the Yankees down for 8 innings giving up only one run. It’s only the second time all season the Yankees got swept! What made this even more impressive was that they didn’t need their MVP candidate Josh Hamilton, who is still out with a bruised up ribcage.
There’s no rush to get Hamilton back, since they do have a commanding lead in the West (8 ½ games). Now that the Yankees and Rays starting to come back to earth a little, does this give the Twins and Rangers an edge? I’d probably put both of them above the TB and NY on power rankings if I made them right this moment. I’m already envisioning an ALCS matchup between Minnesota and Texas. Maybe that’s a little presumptuous, but if Morneau and Hamilton come back healthy, who’s to say that these two teams are the favorites to make it to the ALCS?
Another thing I’ve noticed about this Rangers team is their swagger factor. It’s crazy how together these guys are. Early in the season after they took out the Angels in the opener of a series in June, right after the final out of the game was recorded Ian Kinsler was out there yelling for them to “get off our field”, as the Angels were heading to the showers. At the time I thought Kinsler was just being the dickhead he is, but now months later I think it was a statement of things to come. It was like they finally believed in themselves before anyone else did, and knew they weren’t going to have a collapse when the weather got hot. They were no longer going to be a pushover and would play every game hard, just the way Wash would’ve played. They were paying attention to more details than they used to, even doing the small ball stuff that wins games utilizing their speed in Bobon and Andrus. We will see if they can continue their good play through the last 19 games. I don’t see any reason for them to slow down since they don’t have the division locked up yet, but they are in as good of a position possible for a solid postseason run, and can let guys like Josh Hamilton and Cliff Lee take some extra rest if it’s needed. I’m glad my prediction of who would win the AL West is working out thus far!
9 Comments | tags: AL West, Baseball, Cliff Lee, contenders, josh hamilton, MLB, Playoffs, pretenders, Ron Washington, team to beat, Texas Rangers | posted in Sports
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