Baseball Fan For Hire

MLB Season Predictions

2011-03-31T11:42:00.001-04:00

I was going to write this whole long post with a paragraph on each team with my thoughts and predictions for all of them. I actually started to. About 3 teams in I was already past a page in Microsoft Word and couldn't go on. So I decided to try something out. We're in the Twitter age. So I tried to fit all my thoughts on each team in a single tweet for each. After losing about 6 followers because I tweeted 5 times in about 3 hours I decided to just post the rest here. For those of you smart enough to not follow me on Twitter here are all of those thoughts:

Like the rotation even w/o Peavy. Beckham will be huge. Dunn addition could make for big time offense. Ozzie wont be fired. #WhiteSox

Wise to replace Hudson/Hardy with Nishioka/Casilla? Is Morneau all the way back from concussion? Capps setup man or trade chip? #Twins

Don't trust V-Mart to be a great hitter in Comerica. Like SP's. Don't expect a super human season from Cabrera with all his issues. #Tigers

Francouer will suck and annoy as usual. Gordon will be better than ever. Interesting pen full of rookies. Still a long way to go. #Royals

Sizemore & Hafner don't stay healthy or regain form. Carlos Santana enters top 5 catchers discussion. Carmona doesn't get traded. #Indians

Wells flops. Morales is still missed. Haren or Weaver could be traded. Is Scoscia really thinking of Kendrick over Trout at 1st? #LAAngels

The hitting is actually enough but the starting pitchers let them down. Could a loaded bullpen be poached for a big trade? #Athletics

Smoak starts to show potential. Bedard makes 25 starts. Big bounce back year for Figgins. Bad but not unitnteresting. 3rd place? #Mariners

Still the best in the division. Beltre keeps hitting. Breakthrough for Holland. Ogando flops as a SP. M Young is traded. #TexasRangers

Best team on paper. Lackey bounce back, Buchholz slips back. Is Beckett done? Drew,Ellsbury,Cameron-who sits most? A-Gonz 45 homers. #RedSox

Still lack pitching. Buck can't get them 75 wins. Many new additions disappoint. Still worst team in the division. Trade a hitter? #Orioles

4th & 5th starters don't hurt nearly as much as conventional wisdom says. A-Rod hits 40 homers. Lock down bullpen. Montero by May. #Yankees

Morrow forces himself into upper echelon of SP's. Bautista doesn't hit 40 but good season. Front office keeps showing smarts. #BlueJays.

Manny and Damon are huge in return to AL East. Bullpen is bad. Real bad. Hellickson rookie of the year. Can they take on payroll? #Rays

Offense is big time. Pitching isn't bad but 4th best staff in division. Will be close at trade deadline but can't add payroll. #Mets

If Johnson pitchers 200 innings he will win Cy Young. Big year for Ricky Nolasco. Ramirez and Stanton only great players on team. #Marlins

Rotation impossible, Hitting underwhelming. Utley needs to play or they need to make a trade. Werth loss is huge. #Phillies

How will J Zimmerman fare in a full season? Werth hitting second will work. Laroche will be ok. #Nationals

Hudson will take a step back, Hanson another step foward. Worried about what AGonz and Chipper will produce. Heyward will arrive for real. #Braves

If Johnson pitchers 200 innings he will win Cy Young. Big year for Ricky Nolasco. Ramirez and Stanton only great players on team. #Marlins

I'm on the bandwagon. Carlos Pena will hit 30 HR. The pitching is good and healthiest in division. Big years for Castro and Soto. #Cubs

Pitching injuries a big concern. Bruce could be top 5 in MVP. Disappointing season that can't live up to 2010. #Reds

Will the teams sale go through and how will it change things? Can they convince someone to take Carlos Lee. Lots of GM jokes. #Astros

Greinke, Marcum, Gallardo health crucial to competitiveness. If all hit the DL forget it. Buyers or sellers at deadline? Bye Prince?#Brewers

Still a bad team but at least theres some exciting players to watch like McCutchen, Tabata and Alvarez. Desperately need pitching. #Pirates

Pujols contract won't be a distraction. Berkman's offense and defense is key.Compete but ultimately can't replace Wainwright. #Cardinals

Bad pitching will get hammered. Gibson gets angry a lot. Justin Upton finally becomes one of the best players in baseball. #Diamondbacks

Might need a starter. Wigginton and Lopez benefit a ton from Coors field but not in getting on base. Is Todd Helton finished? #Rockies

Kershaw could compete for Cy Young. Mattingly makes some managing gaffes. Can they add payroll if close? Third place at best.#Dodgers

Pitching takes a big dip after last season. Bartlett, Hudson and Maybin make them respectable but can't get them over .500. #Padres

The defending champs are back and they can actually hit! Matt Cain could have a down season. They will be back in the playoffs. #Giants.

And now on to the Predictions:

AL East - Red Sox
AL Central - White Sox
AL West - Rangers
Wildcard - Yankees

NL East - Phillies
NL Central- Cubs
NL West - Giants
NL Wildcard - Braves

Until recently when the writers who vote on the awards actually started to get it right, I never understood predicting award winners. What you are really predicting is who you feel will be the best pitcher and position player in each league. So hypothetically you could get your prediction right because the guy you picked won the award but he could have won so over a more deserving player. Anywho enough of the rambling:

AL MVP - Adrian Gonzalez
AL CY Young - Francisco Liriano

NL MVP - Troy Tulowitzki
NL CY Young - Josh Johnson

Conventional wisdom says the World Series will be between the Red Sox and Phillies. So you know that’s not happening. I have zero confidence in this pick but why not take a stab in the dark?

World Series: Braves over White Sox

Improving the Mets for the 2nd Half

2010-07-14T22:37:00.000-04:00

The Mets stumbled into the All Star break losing 2 out of 3 to the Atlanta Braves and falling 4 games back. They start the second half with a very tough 11 game west coast road trip. They're probably too good to fall completely out of it quickly. To me the Mets biggest enemy is themselves. In terms of personnel that they actually already have, there are 3 different situations that could affect the team greatly.

First is the catching situation. Rod Barajas has 11 homeruns but hasn't hit one since May 31st. To go even further he has only had 3 extra base hits since June 1st. With Josh Thole on the roster, seemingly permanently he has got to start. He has reached base in 12 of his 20 plate appearances in the majors this season. His plate approach is so far and away better than Barajas it's not even funny. Just consider this: Barajas 244 Plate Appearances 8 Walks, Josh Thole 20 Plate Appearances 3 Walks. Thole has to start.

At second base Luis Castillo has been on the DL for a while now and 20 year old Ruben Tejada has filled in pretty capably with Alex Cora making one or two starts a week. None of them hits all that well. I would like to see Tejada get the bulk of the starts even after Castillo gets back. But if the Mets wan't to be real serious about the playoffs this year, this is the one position that they can improve via trade. And they can improve it greatly. It's time to finally admit the Luis Castillo contract was a mistake. The Mets are one of the only teams in the race with a bad offensive situation at second base. From what you hear there seems to be some guys available. The 3 names you hear are Kelly Johnson, Dan Uggla and Rickie Weeks. Who knows if they actually are but the Mets could really get better and seem to have the prospects to make a trade. Uggla is the guy i'd go for and do you really think the Marlins are against trading in the division? If the Mets can't afford in money or prospects to acquire a front line starting pitcher like Danny Haren or Roy Oswalt they will go for a middle of the road starter like Ted Lilly or Fausto Carmona. The big rumor in New York is that they will make a play for Ted Lilly. I like him especially in Citi Field, but if the Mets can only make one trade I think they would improve more by acquiring a power hitting second baseman.

With Carlos Beltran returning in the first game after the All Star Break someone is going to the bench. Jerry Manuel held a meeting with Jeff Francoeur a few days ago to tell him that Angel Pagan would get the bulk of the time in right field with Beltran back. Pagan just has to play every day. He has come into his own as a player. He has been the Mets best player this season besides David Wright. Manuel has already said Beltran will play center upon his return. Most people would agree especially with his knee problems that Pagan should play center and Beltran right. Despite Francoeur's good numbers and Pagan's bad numbers against lefty pitchers, I would not give Francoeur too many starts. Beltran is not going to play 7 days a week so if Francoeur has to play he should probably do so when Beltran is sitting. I would say more but I think it's all been said and the Mets seem to finally get that Pagan is a much better player than Francoeur.

Even without making a trade the Mets can put themselves in a much better position than they are right now. If Thole and Pagan are full time starters for the second half of the season the offense is much improved. They are 4th in the division in runs scored with 396 but not too far off from the Phillies who are 1st with 410. These minor tweaks can possibly put their offense at or near the top of the division, especially with Chase Utley still out for a while and the Braves untrustworthy (in my opinion) offense. They have the pieces to make a good run even without making a big splash at the trade deadline, it's all up to Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel to use them correctly.

Some Thoughts

2010-04-27T08:29:00.000-04:00

The Brewers offense is mashing, especially against the Pirates. Last week beat them 20-0, and last night 17-2. We knew they could score runs but the problem is behind Yovani Gallardo and Randy Wolf there isn't much pitching there at all.

The Rangers continue to baffle me with the way they lose games. Ron Washington is not a good game manager. He used Frank Francisco in another tie game last night and just because he didn't give up a run that doesn't mean it was the right move. Neftali Feliz has not been good, last night he gave up two homeruns with the score tied at 6. Besides CJ Wilson and sometimes Colby Lewis the pitching is really in a rut. I think over the course of the season the offense is going to carry them. And if they continue to lose head scratcher's Ron Washington won't be around very long.

Miguel Cabrera hit one of those homerun's off Feliz and he has been unbelievable here in April. He looks like a man on a mission. Looks like he want's to show everyone that he is not the immature guy he was made out to be last season.

Tyler Clippard has been just unbelievable for the Nationals and nobody notices because he is not a closer.

Roy Hallady gave up 5 runs and took the loss against the Giants last night, skyrocketing his ERA to 1.80. I wonder if Tim Lincecum was smiling in the dugout. I hope those two matchup at some point this season, that would be unbelievable to see.

Speaking of Hallady, a Mets rainout last night seemed to move along to possibility that he will square off against Johan Santana in Philly on sunday night. The Mets winning streak and the Phillies struggles make it very possible that it could be an important division game. Or at least as important as one can be in April. ESPN is drooling at the thought of it.

Josh Beckett was hammered again last night by the Blue Jays. Although the Red Sox won the game you can't be positive about it. Beckett, Lester and Lackey have not been good. And neither has the defense. That's what this whole team was built on. There may come a year where all 3 of them pitch to their potential and the Sox ride it to a World Series title. That doesn't mean it has to be this year. This may sound silly on April 26th but the way the Yankees and Rays have stormed out of the gate, Boston may never get back in the division picture in the AL East. I'm dead serious. By the way what is up with Jason Varitek? Who honestly saw this kind of offensive prowess coming from him?

I don't care how well the Padres are playing, I just don't buy it. They were great early last year too. Sorry I don't see them competing in this division.

Broadcasters throughout baseball pay very close attention: It's not Roy Holliday and it's not Matt Hallady.

Gotta acknowledge 3 hits for Brandon Wood last night. I don't think anyone wants him to be the next Andy Marte.

As far as the Ryan Howard extension goes, man that is a lot of money. The guy is good and very important the Phillies yes, but most sabermetric minded folks see him as overrated and a guy who can't hold up as he gets older. As it is his slash line numbers are not as good as you'd think and probably won't get any better. Add in the fact that he has played his whole career in a tiny stadium and that's another factor against him. Of course he is a good player. But he is nowhere near the best first baseman. I'd put him behind Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera. You could make a case for a few others as well. The point is that he is very comparable to a lot of first baseman and certainly should not be the second highest paid player. If you are using MVP votes and RBI's to defend him, you don't know what you're talking about.

10 Thoughts on a Thursday

2010-04-22T11:45:00.000-04:00

1. Anyone out there who still thinks Francisco Liriano should be the Twins closer? Over his last two starts he is 2-0 with 15 straight scoreless innings pitched. I thought the idea of it was ridiculous to begin with, now Liriano is proving it.

2. WELCOME BACK BRIAN FUENTES! The Angels closer came off the DL and showed himself to be in midseason form blowing a save and taking the loss in last nights game against the Tigers. Sure Miguel Cabrera hit the game tying homer and could do it off anybody. Still the way Fernando Rodney was going it looks bad. I hate the 9th inning closer, but the Angels always win close games and Fuentes blows a ton. Rodney for some reason seems to perform better as a closer than a set up man. Something to think about.

3. The Padres are in 1st place! They have had some great wins lately including walkoffs and comebacks. Anybody care? Not really. We all know its just a matter of time before they show themselves to be a last place team and Adrian Gonzalez is a goner.

4. Cliff Lee's return is coming sooner than expected. He will make his Mariners debut next Friday April 30th at Safeco. They are now 9-7 "tied for 1st" with the Athletics. I was down on them before the season started but the offense is rolling, and the pitching has been very good. With Lee and Erik Bedard on the way, the rest of AL West should be very very scared.

5. Roy Hallady laughs at Tim Lincecum and Mike Pelfrey. The Phillies ace is 4-0, with 2 complete games and has only allowed 3 earned runs in 33 innings. As you've probably seen millions of times by now his numbers in his first 4 starts as a Phillie are almost identical to those of Cliff Lee last season. Roy Hallady also laughs at the NL. No competiton now as I thought was possible just yesterday. Just send him the CY Young now.

6. Phil Hughes had the best start of his career for the Yankees in a win over the Athletics last night. He took a no hitter into the 8th when Eric Chavez hit a ball that rocketed off the heel of his glove. Hughes couldn't find it and that ended up being the only hit he allowed in 7.1 innings. Hughes looks like he has put it together as a starter. He was dominant. With the Yankees rotation pitching the way it is, and an offense that hasn't even really broke out yet, the team is still 11-3. But still people who hate the Yankees are convinced they will miss the playoffs.

7. The Texas Rangers may not have the worst record in the league but in my opinion they are officially baseball's biggest disaster. They blew another 4 run lead in Fenway last night (although it was starter Matt Harrison not the bullpen). They are making Darnell Mcdonald look like Jim Rice. At least manager Ron Washington figured out that Neftali Feliz can be used in tie games for multiple innings. In one possibly good sign for them, Josh Hamilton hit his first homerun of the year, a 3 run shot off Josh Beckett in the 7th. It only delayed the inevitable loss.

8. People are killing the Cubs move of Carlos Zambrano from the rotation to the bullpen. To me it's not completely crazy. He was an overrated headcase as a starter to begin with and his stuff and psyche may be more suited to the bullpen. Moving Ryan Dempster there would have been much worse. In other news Carlos Silva looks like a good pitcher again after being a disaster for a few years in the American League. It is amazing how garbage AL starters can be very good in the NL.

9. Tyler Clippard of the Washington Nationals has been the best reliever in baseball so far. No you didn't read that wrong. He is tied for the league lead in K's (14) and leads all relievers with 11.2 IP. He has allowed only 1 ER (besides inherited runners). He has pitched over 1 inning in 5 of his 7 appearances and won 3 games two of which he came into when the score was tied (one game he entered while the Nats were trailing). No closer faces this many high leverage situations.

10. Colby Rasmus had a huge game in the Cardinals win over the Diamonbacks last night with 2 homeruns and a triple. He has 1 more homerun than Matt Holliday and one less then Albert Pujols. There was a perception out there (and I felt the same) that the Cardinals offense was going to be all up to HPujols and Holliday. That is just simply not the case with Rasmus breaking out and Ryan Ludwick hitting the way he is.

Wednesday Morning Thoughts

2010-04-21T10:38:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure who should be more embarassed after last night's game betweeen the Rangers and Red Sox. Rangers stole 9 bases off Victor Martinez (and I guess Tim Wakefield). Vlad Guerrero had 2 of them! I'm not a big fan of stealing bases as a philosophy but why would any team with middle of the road speed not just run all over the Sox? They have allowed 31 steals in 32 attempts so far.

The Rangers bullpen blew another one and they have lost 5 straight. Aside from being outclassed by the Yankees the Rangers have had some just awful losses in games they should have won. Darren Oliver blew the game giving up a game tying homerun to Darnell McDonald a 32 year old journeyman outfielder who has spent most of his career in the minors. He was called up after the Sox put Mike Cameron and Jacoby Ellsbury on the DL. McDonald also got the game winning hit in the 9th off Frank Francisco. Saving Neftali Feliz for the 9th inning is killing the Rangers. This guy is not as valuable as a closer! He should not just be pitching with a lead! The dumbest thing manager Ron Washington did was use Francisco in a tie game in the 9th inning on the road. The guy who wasn't good enough to pitch with a lead is good enough to pitch in tie games to get to the guy who replaced him? At 5-8 the Rangers are in just as bad shape as the Red Sox are. Nelson Cruz left the game with a hamstring injury giving the Rangers a scare but it seems like he is ok. To make things worse for the Rangers the Mariners and Angels are really rolling now.

Last night the Phillies finally got a really good start out of Kyle Kendrick. He shut out the Braves over 8 innings. With Kendrick at 106 pitches manager Charlie Manuel decided to bring in Ryan Madson to close. Madson did his best Brad Lidge impression and blew the game giving up a 2 run homerun to Troy Glaus and a game tying homerun to messiah Jason Heyward. Nate McClouth hit a walkoff homerun off Jose Contreras and the Braves had one of the coolest homerun celebrations I have ever seen, as everyone in the dugout ran into the clubhouse instead of meeting McClouth at home plate. He touched home and ran to meet them there and celebrate. In other news the Phillies bullpen is in shambles.

The Mets got a third straight great start from Mike Pelfrey and clinched their first series win of the season over the Cubs last night. Only Tim Lincecum has equaled Pelfrey's performance among starting pitchers in the NL. Lincecum has pitched one less inning but remember Pelfrey closed the 20 inning game on Saturday. Lincecum has walked less and struck out more hitters than Big Pelf but in ER's and hits allowed they are dead even. Roy Hallady has pitched more innings than both so far.

In another great sign for the Mets Jose Reyes had 4 hits in the game and may be heating up.

Javier Vazquez had his best start so far (5 2/3 IP 3 ER 6K)but still not great. His fastball was still around 89 mph and he wasn't fantastic, but it was a definite improvement on his first two starts. In better news for the Yankees A-Rod and Mark Teixeria seem to be getting hot and that is a scary thought for their opponents since the team went 9-3 before yesterday without getting much from them.

Tuesday Morning Thoughts

2010-04-20T10:33:00.002-04:00

The Rays completed the four game sweep of the Red Sox winning 8-2 in Fenway early yesterday afternoon. John Lackey was hammered for all 8 runs and couldn't get out of the 4th inning. Pat Burrell continued his assault on the Sox with 3 hits. If he actually hits like he's capable where is the hole on this team? The Rays are now 10-3.

As for the Red Sox David Ortiz struggles continued and man does Bill Hall look lost in centerfield. Not that Mike Cameron was distinguishing himself but at least he knows the position. Next up for the Sox is a very interesting series with the Texas Rangers as both teams are slipping behind the pack (as much as you can slip in April) in their division. The bad times are going to continue for somebody.

So far both Joel Pineiro and Fernando Rodney have been great for the Angels. I thought both would really hurt the Angels over the course of the season. Right now just over two weeks into the season, I look very stupid. Pineiro has not allowed a run or walked a batter over 14.1 innings in his last two starts (including last night against the Tigers) since his opening day start. He has allowed some hits but induced a lot of ground balls. Rodney has had only one blow up so far in the first week of the season in a game against the Twins which the Angels were already down by 5 runs before he entered. Since that game on April 8th he has been perfect in 5 appearances and saved 4 games and won the other.

Dontrelle Willis of the Tigers took the loss in that same game last night but actually had his best start in my opinion. In his first two starts he allowed 21 baserunners in 11 innings combined. Last night he went 6 innings and allowed 6 baserunners. That's a big time improvement.

Before last nights game against the Orioles in Seattle the Mariners got some very encouraging news on the two injured members of their starting rotation. Cliff Lee is very close to returning, as he will pitch a simulated game today and then make one rehab start. With a suspension still possible for his Spring Training head hunting incident, he will probably be back closer to mid May. Manager Don Wakamatsu said yesterday that Erik Bedard could also return by the end of May.

When it comes to Mariners starting pitchers who are currently not on the disabled list, Doug Fister had his second straight outstanding start. He no hit the Orioles through the first 6 innings before allowing a hit in the 7th. In his last two starts he has gone 15 innings allowing only one run and only putting 7 runners on base. Imagine if the Mariners had a rotation of King Felix, Cliff Lee, Erik Bedard and Fister from late May on? As far as the offense goes they have had a couple of breakout games lately and seem to be finding their legs. Kasey Kotchman and Franklin Gutierrez have been great so far. Man is the AL West just going to be loaded and close all season long.

Ike Davis made his debut for the Mets last night and for once they had an all around positive night beating the Cubs 6-1. Davis went 2 for 4 with an RBI against the Cubs. I loved his plate approach. I actually think the Mets offense is going to heat up. Jason Bay and Jose Reyes are due and even though he's a rookie with one game under his belt Davis will lengthen the lineup a lot better than Mike Jacobs or Fernando Tatis could.

Only the Cubs could bring about such positivity for the Mets. If I was the Cubs GM I would scream in Alfonso Soriano's face every time he hopped to catch a fly ball.

The Nationals continued their strong start beating the Rockies 5-2 yesterday on the strentgh of an 8 inning start by Craig Stammen. The Nats are getting some good performances by guys turning back the clock. Pudge Rodriguez is 18 for 40 with 7 extra base hits and Livan Hernandez hasn't allowed a run over 16 innings in his first two starts including a complete game. They probably won't be able to keep it up for long. But I think the Nats are going to have a very competitive season. Remember Chien Ming Wang and Steven Strasburg will arrive at some point during the summer.

The Rockies are struggling a little and Aaron Cook has not started the season well.

Another day another loss for the Diamondbacks bullpen. At least they didn't blow the lead this time.

I've seen most of Albert Pujols at bats in the last 5 days or so. To me it looked like he's been struggling. Then I looked at the game logs and realized he's still getting his hits just not 2 homeruns everyone game like we expect. Another good start for new Cardinals starter Brad Penny. That makes 3 in a row. If he is the Brad Penny of old and Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright stay healthy this pitching staff could be better than the Giants.

The Crazy Baseball Weekend that was

2010-04-19T10:42:00.000-04:00

The second weekend of the baseball season indeed was a crazy. We saw a no hitter, a 20 inning game where two position players pitched and the Pirates are 6-5. The Pirates! Here are my thoughts on everything that went down.

YANKEES VS RANGERS

The Rangers headed into Yankee stadium after a terrible loss to the Indians. Things got worse. They were completely outclassed by the defending champs. Even though I’m a Yankee fan I was really disappointed in the way the Rangers played. They managed only 3 runs in 21 innings against CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett and Andy Pettitte. It's become increasingly clear to me that the Rangers just do not take enough pitches. They swing at everything! For a lineup with so much power, they have to be getting on base more. The rotation was great until they ran in the patient Yankees lineup. Scott Feldman couldn't get out of the 3rd inning on Saturday and Rich Harden couldn't get out of the 4th on Sunday.

From the Yankees perspective the starting pitching looks great, the offense hasn't even really started hitting but their unbelievable patience is really taking their opponents out of games. Mark Teixeria and A-Rod both hit their first homeruns of the season in the series.

On a side note I was at the game on Saturday and more disgusted than I have ever been at my fellow Yankee fans for their behavior. I'll have a post on that later.

ROCKIES VS BRAVES

This series provided two of the best moments of the weekend. Ubaldo Jimenez threw the first no hitter in Rockies history on Saturday. He is now 3-0 and possibly inching his way into the Cy Young race with Tim Lincecum and Roy Hallady. Either way his march toward being one of the best starting pitching pitchers in baseball looks like it is going to continue.

On Sunday Jesus Christ err Jason Heyward hit a game winning two run single off Rockies closer Franklin Morales. Heyward has been very good in the first two weeks of his rookie season. As far as Morales goes he may not be the right guy to be closing in close games for the Rockies while Huston Street is out. He has blown his last two save opportunities and two of four overall.

METS VS CARDINALS

On Saturday the Mets and Cardinals played 20 innings before a winner could be decided. However the game was no classic. After I got home from the Yankees I saw most of the game from the 7th inning on. I saw something of the dumbest baseball I have ever seen. The Cardinals brought in two position players Felipe Lopez and Joe Mather to pitch. Even though the Mets scored two runs off Mather to win the game they drove me nuts by going to the plate hacking against him. They could have made the win much easier by just taking pitches. The first batter Mather faced in the top of the 19th was Jose Reyes. He threw him 3 balls nowhere near the strike zone. Reyes walked on 5 pitches. Right there they should have known he couldn't find the plate and just taken their walks until Cardinals manager Tony Larussa was forced to make a move or deal with it. After Reyes, Mets second baseman Luis Castillo bunted on the first pitch he saw! The guy can't throw strikes! Why are you playing for one run against a guy who is not a pitcher? After Castillo's bunt Mather intentionally walked David Wright, Jeff Francoeur then swung early in the count and hit a sac fly, Mather then hit Jason Bay and intentionally walked Henry Blanco. The Mets didn't score another run in that inning. They were facing a catcher posing as a pitcher, walked 3 times (2 intentionally) and had a batter hit. And still they only scored one run. It was just a terrible approach by the Mets and it shows you why an offense that looks good on paper has not been very good so far. Someone on the bench be it the manager or hitting coach should have told the Mets to take their pitches against the guy! After the Cardinals tied the game in the bottom of the 19th, the Mets took the lead in the top of the 20th by still hacking against Mather.

From the Cardinals perspective they had an unbelievably stupid move as well and that’s besides using two position players to pitch and a starting pitcher (Kyle Loshe) to play left field. The Mets brought in K-Rod to close the game and he promptly walked Ryan Ludwick the leadoff hitter. Albert Pujols the best hitter on the planet was up next and amazingly Ludwick tried to steal second and was caught! Albert Pujols was up! Why are you stealing? There were no outs and you had not scored a run in 18 innings! It was just idiotic. It was magnified when Pujols hit a double. Ludwick may have scored or at least been on given the Cards runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs. Yadier Molina tied the game with a two out single. Had Ludwick not made the boneheaded decision to try to steal the Cards probably would have won the game.

The Cardinals are 8-4 winning each of the first 4 series. The Mets are in a bad way losing each of their first 4 series, and are 4-8. Changes are coming as they designated first baseman Mike Jacobs for assignment. They will be calling up Ike Davis possibly as soon as today. It took all of 2 weeks to do what myself and many Mets fans thought they should have done from the beginning. Maybe Jerry Manuel can now figure out how to construct a lineup that doesn't have Alex Cora hitting second and Frank Cattalanato fourth.

RED SOX VS RAYS

Well I told you the Sox were in a bad way. Lucky for them Mike Cameron's injury only turned out to be a kidney stone and he passed it on Friday and was able to play this weekend. In two of their 3 losses this weekend the Sox managed only one run.

Friday's game bothered me from a fairness perspective. The game was tied 1-1 after the top of the 9th and in the pouring rain the umpiring crew decided to delay the game right there. They ended up resuming the game on Saturday night. If you are going to delay a time game in the 9th inning you have to do it before the inning starts or after it ends. It does not look right that the visiting team has to hit in the pouring rain while the home team gets to hit the next day in better conditions. I'm not saying the umps were trying to give the Sox an advantage; it was just the wrong thing to do. The Rays won anyway.

Pat Burrell got two hits in the series but had a big hand in two wins. In the conclusion of the game that started on Friday he hit the game winning two run homerun in the 12th inning. In the first inning of game two, which started not too long after that he hit a 3 run double after a Mike Cameron error extended the inning. On Sunday Matt Garza continued the best start to the season of any starting pitching as he pitched 8 innings for the 3rd straight game and shut out the Sox, as the Rays won 7-1. In 24 innings over 3 starts Garza is 3-0 and has allowed only 2 earned runs in total.

The Red Sox are now 4-8 and like said in Friday's post it looks like they will be the ones playing from behind here early in 2010. The way the Yankees and Rays are playing (both 9-3) they can't afford a prolonged slump. Jacoby Ellsbury still has not played since his collision with Adrian Beltre. John Lester struggled again on Sunday and surrendering 7 runs in 6 innings. That’s 15 earned runs in 16 innings for him so far. David Ortiz has had one hit in each of his last 4 games, all doubles. Jason Varitek is 5 for 12 in 3 games with 3 homeruns. I would not be shocked the see the Sox ride Varitek while he's hot and sit Ortiz keeping Victor Martinez in the lineup. They probably should. But still in today's 11am ET Patriots Day game they will try to salvage one from the Rays. They play the Rangers in a 3 game series starting on Tuesday. It should be interesting to see who comes out on top with both teams reeling.

Some other quick thoughts from the weekend:

Both the Mariners and Angels seem to have gotten on track in the AL West while the A's are rolling along at 9-4. I think I underestimated how much of an effect Chone Figgins would have on the M's offense. Seattle has a chance to get on a real roll as their next 3 series are against the White Sox, Royals and Orioles. This is a big week for the Angels as well who play both the Tigers and Yankees.

The Dodgers took 2 of 3 from the Giants and got a pinch hit 2 run game winning homerun from Manny Ramirez yesterday. He looks like the Manny of old and I honestly didn't expect that after last year. The one game the Giants did win they of course got a great pitching (and offensive) performance out of Tim Lincecum.

Not to get too crazy yet but the Pirates (6-5) and Nationals (6-6) both look much better early on then they have in the last few seasons. I'm higher on the Nats than the Bucs.

The Diamondbacks have had the worst bullpen in baseball already blowing 6 saves (or leads). That could end up killing their playoff chances for sure. Meanwhile Brandon Webb was transferred to the 60 day DL and can't return until late May at the earliest.

5 Interesting Series to watch this Weekend

2010-04-16T14:26:00.002-04:00

Tigers vs. Mariners

It's a battle of power vs. speedy slash hitters. The Tigers have started real hot and the Mariners seemed to be getting it together offensively winning two games against the Athletics. It should be fun to watch.

Yankees vs. Rangers

One of the series i'm really looking foward to, not just because i'll be at the game on Saturday. It's power against power as Vlad, Cruz and Hamilton invade Yankee Stadium and the homerless A-Rod and Tex. The Rangers starting pitching has been great and there are some great matchups all weekend long. Should be fun to see.

Giants vs Dodgers

Always one of the best rivalries in baseball it begins again tonight. Sadly the pitching matchups aren't great despite the young star starters. The Giants sit in 1st place after 9 games and the only way the Dodgers can pull even with them in the early going is with a sweep.

Rockies vs. Braves

Two 5-4 "3rd place" teams meet in a matchup expected contenders. Should be a very competitive series. Nothing of note really going on with either team besides Heyward watch. But it's a nice way for both teams to see where they stand early in the season.

SPOLIGHT
Red Sox vs. Rays

What else but another epic early season AL East showdown? The Red Sox are in a bad way right now losing 2 of their first 3 series, dealing with the struggles of David Ortiz and now the injuries of Mike Cameron and Jacoby Ellsbury. The Rays are clicking on all cylinders, after dominating the lowly Orioles in 2 series. The offense looks good for them. Sunday afternoon may be the pitching matchup of the weekend when Matt Garza squares off against Jon Lester. And then of course there's the great tradition of the 11:30 AM ET Patriots Day game on Monday. I just don't like the way things are going for the Sox and I think it will continue with a series loss to Tampa. It's early and in this loaded 3 team division race I think the Sox will be the team playing from behind in the early part of the 2010 season.

Friday Morning Notes and Thoughts

2010-04-16T10:41:00.001-04:00

RED SOX/TWINS

Remember when people were saying the Twins should make Francisco Liriano the closer? The hysteria over the loss of Joe Nathan didn't cause the Twins to panic and do that and yesterday the decision paid off. Liriano shutout the Red Sox dominating them with 8 strikeouts in an 8-0 Twins win. Anyone who wanted to make him the closer is nuts!

The Red Sox offense has not struggled but so far it just doesn't scare other teams like it used to. They are no longer above being dominated by a great starter. The Sox could get some terrible news on the injury front in the next few days. Jacoby Ellsbury is still sitting with the rib injury he suffered in his collision with Adrian Beltre and Mike Cameron could not play yesterday with lower abdominal pain. From what I read both will be examined today and we should find out if they need to go on the DL in the next few days. I assume if DL trips are needed they will be of the 15 day variety and Ellsbury's would be retroactive. The loss of Ellsbury at the top of lineup is huge and outfield defense is now a big hole rather than a huge strength. Anyone who saw Bill Hall in centerfield yesterday knows that.

GOING STREAKING

Another boring game with a hit and an RBI for Jorge Cantu of the Marlins, breaking his own record of 9 straight games to start the season set the previous day. You'd think this couldn't go much longer but every time you look up he extends the streak. Just imagine how many runners on base he has had to have when he has come to the plate in the first ten games. He's needs to get the opportunity for this to even be possible. The Marlins are 4th in baseball with 55 runs scored. By the way they crushed the Reds 10-2.

GOING THE DISTANCE

The Indians beat the Rangers 3-2 yesterday afternoon on the strength of a 3 run homerun by Shin Soo Choo and a complete game by 25 year old starter David Huff. Trailing most of the game Huff had made only one mistake, giving up a 2 run homerun to Michael Young in the 4th inning. In the 9th the Rangers made two consecutive errors in the field allowing Choo to come up and put the Indians in the lead for good. Huff threw only 104 pitches in the game and I love that manager Manny Acta let him stay in after they took the lead and even after the tying run got on base in the 9th. The formula most managers use is get to the closer but Acta liked his chances with Huff. These days you almost have to pitch a no hitter for most managers to allow you to go the distance.

For my thoughts on this disastrous loss from a Texas Rangers perspective check my previous post.

CHEER UP METS FANS!

Mike Pelfrey won his second game yesterday, giving the Mets their best starting pitching performance of the young season. He shut out the powerful Rockies lineup to avoid the sweep. If Pelfrey is becoming the pitcher they thought he was, the rotation is not as much of a disaster as we thought.

Other things that will makes Mets fans smile today:
Aaron Heilman is still blowing games! The former Met and current Diamondback reliever came into the 7th inning of yesterday's game against the Dodgers with a 3-1 lead and a runner on first base. He promptly surrendered a game tying homerun to Matt Kemp. It was actually a crazy game. After that the DBacks retook the lead but closer Chad Qualls blew the save in the 9th and Andre Either won the game for LA in extra innings with an RBI single.

Scott Kazmir so far has not turned out to be the pitcher everyone thought he would be. Mets fans are still angry that Kazmir was traded for nothing (or Victor Zambrano). But the 26 year old in the last few years has become an injury prone 5 or 6 inning pitcher. Last night was a Kazmir special in Yankee Stadium, 4 innings - 87 pitches 3 walks 6 earned runs.

PHILLIES/NATS

Yesterday the Phillies bullpen did what it has been prone to do the last couple of years: blow a lead. With a 4-1 lead going into the top of the 7th inning Antonio Bastardo, Danys Baez and Ryan Madson combined to allow 6 runs over the final 3 innings. Baez took the loss. There is no reason to believe the bullpen will derail their chances, the offense (even with Jimmy Rollins on the DL)and the rotation look better than ever.

From the Nationals side they got a very good sign yesterday as Adam Dunn and Ryan Zimmerman each hit their first homeruns of the season. They could be heating up and hopefully Zimmerman will return to the starting lineup this weekend. At 4-5 after 2 series with the Phillies and one with the Mets the Nats can't be too disappointed.

If I told you Tyler Clippard has been the one of the best relievers in baseball over the first 10 games of the season you'd call me crazy. I might have some stuff on that later today on the blog.

ATHLETICS ROTATION ROLLING

In his third start of the season Ben Sheets had his best game yet. He shut out the Orioles over 6 innings. He still put 8 runners on base but looked more like the Sheets of old than he had in his first two starts. This A's rotation looks stellar with Sheets, Justin Duchsherer, Brett Anderson and Gio Gonzalez. That will keep them in the pennant race for the long haul
but I doubt they'd make a move to acquire a hitter to try to make the playoffs. In 2008 they had the best run differential in the AL West by far and were 5 games out in July and yet they still traded their best starter Rich Harden and starter Joe Blanton. They gave up even when they looked like they could win it and I wouldn't be shocked if they did it again. I could see them trading both Sheets and Duchsherer.

Speaking of the Orioles the terrible start continues and they are now 1-9. dManager Dave Trembly is losing his patience and he flipped out on an umpire last night when he thought starter David Hernandez had picked off A's outfielder Rajai Davis at first base but he was called safe. Replays showed Davis got his hand on the bag just before the tag by first baseman Garrett Atkins. Something else Trembly could be losing soon besides his mind? His job.

WELCOME TO THE CLUB

Brad Mills spent over 30 years in baseball as a player, scout, bench coach and minor league manager (for a whopping 11 years)before he finally got his first chance to manage in the major leagues this season. Then the Astros skipper had to wait until April 15th, 9 games into the season to get his first win. The problem? Bud Norris and Jeff Keppinger were the stars of the game. That is not going to happen very often. It's going to be a long season for Mills and hopefully Astros ownership realizes he wasn't given anything close to a playoff caliber roster and keeps him aboard.

CUBS/BREWERS

It was the battle of fragile head vs fragile body in Wrigley yesterday as Carlos Zambrano squared off against Jeff Suppan. Neither delivered and both bullpens took over after 5 innings. Ryan Braun hit a solo homerun and had an RBI single off the Cubs pen to lead the Brewers to an 8-6 win. Ok i'll be honest I find both of these teams really boring so far this season and I just thought I had a good line with "fragile head vs fragile body" and wanted to squeeze it in.

Another Disaster for Texas

2010-04-15T15:19:00.001-04:00

Early on in the 2010 the Texas Rangers have shown 3 things:

1. They have scary power hitters even with Ian Kinsler on the DL
2. Their starting pitching is a lot better than people think
3. They have an uncanny ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory

In the first week of the season Frank Francisco blew two saves and turned two wins into losses. He was replaced as closer by Neftali Feliz. I disagreed with the move because Feliz is a dominant reliever who showed last year that he can go multiple innings. I think he should be pitching in close games and higher pressure situations than coming into the 9th inning with a lead.

Today the Rangers got another outstanding starting pitching performance out of Matt Harrison. Through 7 innings Harrison shut out the Indians allowing only 4 hits and walking one hitter. In the 8th inning with a 2-0 lead, the defense blew up the game. Asdrubal Cabrera led off the 8th and hit a ground ball to Rangers 3rd baseman Michael Young. Young made a bad throwing error and the ball got past first baseman Chris Davis. With Cabrera on 1st, Grady Sizemore hit a possible double play ball that to shortstop Elvis Andrus bobbled and both runners were safe. It was Andrus second error of the game and already his third of the season. He is supposed to be a great defensive shortstop.

Harrison had to be tired and frustrated at that point. He had thrown 114 pitches and there should have been 2 outs and nobody on base. The Rangers philosophy of no pitch counts worked against them as manager Ron Washingon left Harrison in the game and two pitches later he gave up the eventual game winning 3 run homerun to Shin Soo Choo. Harrison deserved better. He took the loss and gave up one earned run while his team scored two runs. Could things have been different if Neftali Feliz were available? Washington may have trusted him to come and shut the Indians chances down right there.

The Rangers could be 8-1 and instead they are 5-4 with 3 terrible losses. Lucky for them the Mariners and Angels have stumbled out of the gate. What does it all mean? Who knows? Probably nothing. It's probably just a fluky circumstance. All I know is if I were a Rangers fan i'd already have 3 sleepless nights under my belt early in the 2010 season.

Thursday Morning Notes and Thoughts

2010-04-15T10:31:00.003-04:00

Here's some other quick notes from yesterday:

THE PITCHING -

Joel Pineiro of the Angels completely shut down the Yankees yesterday for his first win of the year. He took the loss in a standard quality start against the Twins in his first start. I predicted he wouldn't be able to cut it back in the American League and so far i'm dead wrong. Yesterday he had great control and induced a ton of ground balls in shutting down the Yankees powerful offense.

Brad Penny had his second straight outstanding start to open the season for the Cardinals. He shut down the punchless Astros, and so far in 2 starts has gone 14 innings allowing only 9 hits, 2 walks and one earned run. I wouldn't call this a complete Dave Duncan reclamation project. Remember he was good with the Giants at the end of last season and he was always a good NL pitcher. If Penny can regain his Marlins and Dodgers form, nobody can compete with the Cardinals in the NL Central.

Colby Lewis stepped in for CJ Wilson who was scheduled to start for the Rangers yesterday but came down with food poisoning. Hopefully Vlad Guerrero's mom's cooking had nothing to do with it. Lewis was still pitching on 4 days rest. He impressed again, although only made it through 5.1 innings. He struck out 10 and allowed 2 ER, runners that he put on base who scored after his exit. His control has not been great so far 8 BB in 12 IP) but he is showing very good signs that he can carry over some of the success he had in Japan the last two seasons.

Jonathan Sanchez of the Giants shut out the Pirates over 8 innings and struck out 11 yesterday afternoon. Last season's no hitter showed just how good he can be. If he takes another step towards consistency this season it's hard to see where the Giants are giving up any runs. The Giants are going to once again test my theory that you can't get to the playoffs with great pitching and bad offense.

BIG TIME OFFENSE -

Jorge Cantu set a major league record last night becoming the first player ever to have at least one hit and one RBI in each of the first 9 games of a season.

Chase Utley hit 2 homeruns for the Phillies in a 14-7 win over the Nationals in a game where the score was 7-6 in the second inning. The defending two time NL Champs are 7-1 and lead baseball in runs scored with 50 in 7 games.

Down 6-3 in the bottom of the 8th the Cubs rallied for 4 runs to take the lead, capped by a 2 run single by Mr. April Kosuke Fukudome. They won 7-6 and scored all 4 runs off Latroy Hawkins who had been very good in his first 4 outings for the Brewers.

It may not be big time offense but the Mariners rallied for a second straight night to beat the Athletics. In the 5th, they showed what can be so exciting about the top of the lineup. With the Mariners down 2-0 in the 5th, Ichiro reached on a bunt single, followed by walks for Chone Figgins and Franklin Gutierrez. Jose Lopez then tied the game with a single. In the bottom of the inning Figgins walked again and was driven in again by a Jose Lopez single. Figgins is really starting to become a big time part of this lineup. I still contend that they would be better served with his patience batting leadoff and Ichiro's 200 hit ability to bat second and move Figgins along for the 3-4-5 hitters.

THE SLUMPS -

The Astros scored 1 run in their 8th straight loss to start the season. Now they have only scored 14 runs in 8 games.

Mark Teixeira has been a non-entity for the Yankees so far, not odd for him in April. After going 0 for 4 yesterday he is now only 3 for 31. His April struggles are not troubling since its his reputation but they have hurt the Yanks because he has had some chances to drive in game tying runs.

David Ortiz had one hit for the Red Sox against the Twins yesterday and is now 4 for 26. The panic in Boston is growing and people are starting to ask how long the Red Sox can deal with getting nothing from him. I'd say at least give him 2 or 3 more weeks and if he's still an easy out then it's time to address it.

The Orioles were pounded by the Rays again losing 9-1. They are now 1-8. Changes could be coming soon if they don't turn it around. They expected to be better than this.

Crisis in Queens

2010-04-15T08:52:00.001-04:00

When can you officially say a team is off to a bad start? At 2-6 Mets fans have had it. After last night's 10 inning loss to the Colorado Rockies, New York has lost its first 3 series. If you listen to New York sports talk radio, you may be confused. No it’s not September. No the Mets aren't on the verge of being eliminated from the playoff race. But Mets fans are so sick and tired of being let down that they aren't going to wait for the season to take shape. They have seen this movie before. This is just another sequel in a disappointing series.

In 2006 the Mets lost the NLCS in game 7 to an 83 win Cardinals team, even after going into the 8th inning with a lead. The following two years they were eliminated from the playoff race on the season's final day, after monumental collapses. Going into the 2009 season the Mets and their fans probably had higher hopes than the previous 4. But an unbelievable amount of devastating injuries derailed their season and they only won 70 games.

So forgive Mets fans if they are a little impatient. What people don't understand from a national baseball perspective if just how hardcore Mets fans are. Living in New York I can almost point out the Met fans out in the street from their facial expressions after a bad loss. After a lackluster winter in terms of additions, the fans were waiting to pounce. They wanted to be positive. But they are seeing the same thing in mid April that they have for the last 3 seasons. And they knew like most people did that the plan for 2010 wasn't good enough. They kept Luis Castillo, handed John Maine and Oliver Perez rotation spots, and refused to bring up some young players who you'd think could give you more than veterans who probably aren't starters anyway. If you turn on sports talk radio in New York you might as well just hear a voice continuously shout IKE DAVIS! IKE DAVIS! IKE DAVIS! for hours at a time. I was shouting that from the rooftops in mid March. But I would go even further than that. For me the way Fernando Martinez hit in spring training was enough for me to give him a roster spot. You know Gary Matthews is not going to produce for long. And Angel Pagan at his best is not better than Martinez if he has arrived. I didn't even think it was completely crazy to give 20 year old Ruben Tejada a shot at second base and catcher Josh Thole a roster spot.

It's not just about playing the kids for experience and making the fans happy. It's about realizing that Luis Castillo, Mike Jacobs and Fernando Tatis aren't going to get the job done. And there is an element of mystery to what you can get out of the kids. It couldn't be much worse than what you are getting now. If they all came up and failed, the fans and the organization would live. Their careers wouldn't be ruined. Plenty of star players struggled early.

The pitching should have been addressed in the offseason. After bad and injury riddled seasons in 2009 the Mets for some reason expected John Maine and Olive Perez to return and get right back in the groove. They might have nothing left. You deal with Jon Niese's struggles because he is young and still learning. You expect Johan Santana to do what he always does and you hope that Mike Pelfrey can pitch more like the guy you thought he was. But with so much uncertainty there is no excuse for not signing any other viable rotation options in the offseason. Jarrod Washburn is still out there, and I don't think it's completely crazy to consider him. Trades are so far down the road that is not even worth speculating on them.

So just how bad is 2-6? The sky is not falling. There are 154 games left to figure it all out. But when you lose 4 of 6 at home to two division rivals who are clearly not in the same league as the Phillies before hitting the road and seeing a Rockies team that is better than you in every area possible, it looks real bad. Yesterday on my Facebook page I asked my friends who are angry Mets fans to give me a thought on how they are feeling about the season so far. Here are the responses I got:

"It stinks and I don't like it"

"Meet the mess! step right up and greet the mess"

“John Maine doesn’t deserve to even pitch in the minors let alone the majors. Bring up Davis he’s hitting .400 with 2 hrs while our "platoon" Jacobs and Tatis are batting a whooping .167 combined." - Followed by something I'd rather not print. It did have something to do with someone being hit by a bus.

And this last one is from Casey Stern host of Inside pitch on Sirius XM’s MLB Network Radio (2-6 ET Mon-Fri, Sirius 210, XM 175)who returned the favor for my serial commenting on his station's page during his show:

"The Mets organization has evaluated its own talent like Big Ben evaluates the age of the women he talks to. By being naive and not paying attention"

The Mets problems will not just automatically be solved by firing manager Jerry Manuel and general manager Omar Minaya. I think you have to at least give Manuel a little more time and respect. Better fundamentals aren't going to bring about many more wins. It's a matter of talent evaluation and not spending money well.

So how good can the Mets actually be? They aren't a 70 win team like last year. There is too much more talent here now than there was in 2009 to be that bad again. When the offense really gets going it should be capable of scoring a lot of runs. I see the Mets as a 78 to 83 win team. 83 on the higher side if some things go right. Is that good enough for Mets fans? It all depends on how you get there. If they bring Ike Davis up from AAA fairly early and address the problems in the rotation in some form, the fans will be happy with any improvement over last year.

O-Dog's Race Confusion

2010-04-14T11:54:00.001-04:00

A few weeks ago Torii Hunter of the Angels created a controversy when he called Latin ballplayers "Imposters" baseball is posing as African Americans. I hammered him here: http://www.baseballfanforhire.com/2010/03/torii-hunter-doesnt-get-it.html

In this Yahoo article by Jeff Passan, Twins second baseman Orlando Hudson isn't saying racism is the reason Jermaine Dye hasn't been signed yet. He's just saying. Here are some loaded quotes from the article by O-Dog:

You see guys like Jermaine Dye without a job,”
“Guy with [27 home runs and 81 RBIs] and can’t get a job. Pretty much sums it up right there, no? You’ve got some guys who miss a year who can come back and get $5, $6 million, and a guy like Jermaine Dye can’t get a job. A guy like Gary Sheffield(notes), a first-ballot Hall of Famer, can’t get a job. …

Jim Edmonds a white player had a great season with the Cubs in 2008. Nobody signed him and he sat out 2009. He signed with the Brewers for less than 1 million this winter. Who sits out a full year and then makes 5 or 6 million? I think he may be referring to a guy like Ben Sheets. Sheets is a great pitcher when healthy and missed 2009 because of Tommy John surgery. Another white player is in almost the exact same situation as Dye. Jarrod Washburn was great for the Mariners in the first half of 09 but terrible the last two months of the season after being traded to the Tigers. Now Washburn is jobless as well. He's 35, a year younger than Dye. Sheffield is 41 and just can't be a great player or start anymore.

“We both know what it is. You’ll get it right. You’ll figure it out. I’m not gonna say it because then I’ll be in [trouble].”

"Call it what you want to,” Hudson said. “I ain’t fit to say it. After I retire I’ll say it. I’ve got a whole bunch of stuff to say after I retire.”

"We don’t even get into it,” Hudson said. “We both know what it is.”

“There are some things that go on in the game that shouldn’t be going on,” Hudson said. “But it’s part of baseball. It’s part of life. Deal with it.”

I love O-Dog, he's one of the more likeable guys you'll find in baseball. But this is weak. If you are going to say something then say it, don't use this double secret talk. Don't say I wanna say this but can't. Say something or say nothing at all.

The thing that Dye, Hudson, Hunter and anyone else who thinks this is racism refuses to understand is this: he has not been signed because he has not taken any offers he has received. From everything you hear team's have made offers to him, but he wanted more money. We are in an era of young cheap stars in baseball. Dye's second half performance just like Washburn's scared teams enough to not guarantee either huge money. It's not like he has not been contacted. He did not like the options he has given so far so he has not signed with a team. Message to O-Dog: Not offering a guy the money he want's is not racism. It's silly. It's a business.

If people haven't realized baseball is absolutely begging for young african american's to turn to it rather than basketball and football. The RBI program stands for REVIVING BASEBALL IN INNER CITIES.
Baseball wants and needs young black americans. Why do you never hear anything like this from Curtis Granderson, Ryan Howard or CC Sabathia?

I just don't get where guys like Hudson and Hunter are coming from. I'm not black so i've never felt the kind of racism these guys probably have. But to me race is a total non factor in this whole thing. Realize what you can currently offer a team and lower your financial expectations. This is about respect in the form of money, not race.

Wednesday Morning Notes and Thoughts

2010-04-14T10:02:00.001-04:00

The Yankees had their home opener yesterday and received their World Series rings. They saved the best presentation for last: Hideki Matsui. What a way to come back to your old stomping grounds. Derek Jeter handed him what we found out was a fake ring, before his former teammates rushed over to give him a big hug. Joe Girardi later gave him the real ring during the opening day introductions.

As for the actual game, the Yankees won and it wasn't nearly as close as the 7-5 score indicated. Their patientice at the plate looks like it could be even better than last year. The Yankees walked 9 times in the game but left 12 runners on base. In the 9th they were up 7-1 before David Robertson surrendered a grand slam to another former Yankee Bobby Abreu. Mark Teixeira's slump continues and he is now 3 for 27. He had some just terrible at bats yesterday. We all know he'll round into form like he always does, but if you only saw him hit in April you'd think he wasn't good enough to play in the majors.

From the Angels perspective, their slow start continues and their record is now 2-6. Ervin Santana had another terrible start and in his first two games he has barely been able to throw more strikes than balls. In some possibly positive signs both Bobby Abreu and Kendry Morales homered in the game, which could get the offense going. The schedule doesn't get any easier as they play 2 more with the Yankees before playing 2 more teams off to hot starts heading to Toronto and then home for Detroit and the then the Yankees again. They need to get it going now or it could get even worse. In a possiby bad omen, a man committed suicide jumping off the roof of the team's hotel. Apparently starter Jered Weaver saw it and was shaken up. I also read Torii Hunter saw the body as he was leaving the hotel.

The Marlins lost in extra innings to the Reds last night in Florida, more interestingly infielder Jorge Cantu became the first player since 1921 to have at least one hit and one RBI in each of the first 8 games of the season. I actually pegged Cantu as a guy I thought would have an off year in 2010. I didn't think he could keep up the kind of production he's provided over the last few seasons. So far i'm wrong.

Still no offical announcement but everyone is assuming Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins is headed to the DL.

The Mariners got a much needed win and some very encouraging signs in Seattle last night. After being shut down offensively over 6 innings by Brett Anderson of the Oakland Athletics for the second time this young season, the game was in a scoreless tie. In the 7th inning Milton Bradley hit a 3 run homerun off A's reliever Brad Ziegler. In a cool moment former Mariners great Jay Buhner was in the booth in Seattle and called the homerun right before the exact pitch. Bradley badly needed it as he has already struggled on the field and been way too much of a distraction off of it. Yesterday I said the Mariners needed Chone Figgins to get going fast and I guess he listened as he had 3 hits in the game. Starter Doug Fister dominated Oakland, shutting them out over 8 innings and allowing only 3 hits. If the M's are going to tread water they need the guys behind King Felix in the rotation to be outstanding. I say that because even though last night was a very positive win, they still only scored 3 runs. And so far they have not shown the ability to score a ton of runs. Most days they aren't going to get the kind of pitching they got from Fister last night.

Yesterday I was looking foward the the Diamondbacks v Dodgers game because of the Ian Kennedy vs Clayton Kershaw pitching matchup. That turned out to be a dud. Kennedy was rocked for 6 runs and Kershaw although he got the win walked 5 and went only 5.1 innings. The Dodgers won 9-5.

In his first start Dontrelle Willis worked into and out of trouble putting a ton of men on base but allowing only 2 runs in 6 innings. Yesterday he was not as lucky. He threw 104 pitches in 5 innings, walked 3 and allowed 9 hits. He got lucky again as he allowed only 4 runs (it could have been much worse) and didn't even take the loss. The Tigers came back again, down 5-0 in the 6th and rallied to score 6 runs off starter Brian Bannister and the Royals bullpen and win the game. Their offense has suprised me so far scoring 46 runs, 2nd only to the Phillies (50). They have gotten very good performances out of rookies Austin Jackson and Scott Sizemore besides the usual suspects.

Blue Jays sophomore starter Ricky Romero nearly no hit the White Sox yesterday. The no hitter was broken up in the 8th inning by former Jay, Alex Rios who hit a 2 run homerun. Rios is actually off to a decent start for Chicago after a disastrous 2009. So far looks like there is no sophomore jinx in store for Romero.

Another young AL East starter Brian Matusz of the Orioles was having a pretty brilliant start of his own at the same time last night. Through his first 7 innings last night Matusz struck out 7 and shut out the Rays. In the 7th he allowed a run and left with the bases loaded. After the bullpen couldn't get out of a jam, his final line (4 er) looked a lot worse than his performance.

The Blue Jays are now 5-2 while the Orioles are 1-7. Many people expected that the O's would take a big step foward this season, myself included. Let's be honest: in the AL East these two teams are competing for 4th place. With that in mind, the Jays pitching is better than the O's and the O's offense was supposed to be better than the Jays. So far its not due to the fast starts of Vernon Wells and Alex Gonzalez. We'll see how it plays out.

As far as the Rays go they are quietly rolling along at 5-3, showing some very nice come back ability here in the early going.

Some things to watch for today

2010-04-13T10:19:00.000-04:00

If you are a nut and watch a lot of baseball daily like me, today has a very nice symmetry. It's hard to keep track nightly when there are usually 7 or 8 games going on at once. Today there's two games that start at 1 ET, one a 4 ET, 3 at 7 ET, one at 8:40 ET and finally 2 at 10:10 ET. I wonder if i'm the only one who cares.

The new Yankee Stadium has it's second opening day as the Yankees receive their championship rings. I always wonder how the new players on a team (in the Yankees case Javier Vazquez, Curtis Granderson, and Nick Johnson) feel seeing their teammates get rings when they aren't. It must make them feel hungry to one for themselves.

After putting a ton of baserunners on but constantly escaping trouble in his first start, Dontrelle Willis takes the mound in Detroit hoping to continue his improvement.

One game I am going to be paying very close attention to is the Dodgers and Diamondbacks this afternoon at 4:00 ET and 1:00 Pacific. I love the pitching matchup as Ian Kennedy makes his second start for the Diamondbacks facing off with Clayton Kershaw.

Jeff Niemann is expected to make his second start for the Rays today after leaving his season debut last week after he was hit on the shoulder by a line drive.

Tuesday Morning Notes and Thoughts

2010-04-13T09:53:00.001-04:00

Before the season started I picked the Phillies to win the World Series. I also predicted that both Jimmy Rollins and Cole Hammels would have huge bounce back seasons. It's only week 2 but so far I am way off on that one. Hammels first two starts of the season both came against the Nationals. Yesterday in his second, he again could not make it out of the 6th inning. So for Hammels in 2010 in 2 starts, 10.2 innings, 6 earned runs. Despite his performance Hammels is 2-0. Rollins was 9 for 23 with 7 walks in the first 7 games of the season, a great start after his .296 on base percentage last year. But he was scratched from the Phillies lineup yesterday with what turned out to be a calf strain, apparently serious enough according to reports to land him on the DL. He will have an MRI today. Neither of these have hurt the Phillies yet as they are off to a 6-1 start.

Albert Pujols, Vernon Wells and Nelson Cruz are tied for the league lead with 5 homeruns a piece. Guess which one I think can't keep it up. Hint: his team isn't going to contend.

The Astros lost again yesterday this time to the Cardinals. With Lance Berkman on the DL Houston has managed to score only 13 runs in their first 7 games, by far the least in baseball. The pitching staff has allowed the 3rd most earned runs and the 4th most runs overall in baseball. And thats how you get to 0-7 and have a terrible season.

On Sunday the Rangers announced they were removing Frank Francisco from the closer's role and replacing him with Neftali Feliz. At that time manager Ron Washington said they would use Francisco in non-pressure situations until he regains his form. One day later Francisco came into a tie game on the road, in the bottom of the 9th on opening day for the Indians in Cleveland. He actually got the job done pitching a scoreless inning. After Nelson Cruz hit a two run homerun in the top of the 10th, Feliz came in to "close out" the victory for the Rangers. I hope Ron Washington just needed a pitcher in the 9th and had to go back on his word. Because if he thinks that Neftali Feliz coming into the 10th with a two run lead was more of a pressure situation than Francisco coming into the 9th in a tie game then the Rangers have major problems. Feliz is going to be wasted if he only comes into the game with a lead. He could win the Rangers games they aren't supposed to more often than Francisco could.

Matt Garza of the Tampa Rays has had the best start to the season of any starter in the American League. In each of his first two starts, both against the Baltimore Orioles he has gone 8 innings. He has allowed only 2 earned runs overall. That length is important given the Rays bullpen questions.

The Minnesota Twins opened their new outdoor home Targert Field yesterday by defeating the Red Sox 5-2 to run their record to 6-2. Jason Kubel hit the stadium's first homerun off Sox reliever Scott Atchison. Carl Pavano had his second straight good start to open the season going 6 innings and allowing only one run. Closer Jon Rauch earned his 5th save of the year in 5 chances. Ho hum for him at this point. Forget Rauch, the Twins bullpen has only allowed 3 ER in 21.2 innings pitched so far this season. Without looking it up I can tell you it probably doesn't get better than that. Soon we may have to consider that the Twins pitching is a lot better than we thought.

On the Red Sox side of things it was a second straight bad start to open the season for John Lester. In each game against two very good offensive teams (Yankees and Twins) he lasted only 5 innings and allowed 4 earned runs.

The San Diego Padres had a rare offensive outburst destroying the Braves 17-2. Star slugger Adrian Gonzalez had only one hit in the game. Whatever I don't even really care, I just feel like I have to mention the bad teams more often.

The San Francisco Giants continued their early April roll riding another quality start (6 ip 3 er) by Barry Zito. The offense is going real good for them so far (40 runs scored). I need to see a lot more than this to be a believer though.

After a sub par first start, Jake Peavy's second start for the White Sox was even worse. The Blue Jays rocked him for 7 runs in a game that Toronto won in extra innings. I think people that expect the White Sox to have a good season are putting a lot of stock in Jake Peavy and although I think he'll be better than this (10 er in 10.2 ip), I don't think his health or peformance will be what White Sox fans are hoping for.

The Mariners bad start continued in their home opener yesterday when they were shut out by the Athletics to fall to 2-6. They have now scored 2 runs or less in 5 of 8 games and lost every single one of them. Only the Orioles and Astros have scored less runs so far. It looks like they have the worst offense in the division and without Cliff Lee they have the worst pitching. Even when Ichiro and Figgins get going who exactly are they setting the table for? I know its early but i'm starting to think it could be a long season in Seattle.

From the Athletics perspective it's all positive. In his second start after missing all of 2009 Justin Duchsherer dominated the Mariners over 7.1 innings only allowing 4 baserunners. The Oakland pitching staff is on a roll and I wouldn't be shocked at all if it turned out to be the best in the division.

The Wild AL West

2010-04-12T11:03:00.002-04:00

I find the AL West to be the most fascinating division in baseball. With only 4 teams, it could be the best division or the worst. This season the Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners and Anaheim Angels all believe they can win it. The Athletics probably don’t and probably can’t. But nobody sees them as a pushover with their pitching. The first weekend of the baseball season provided a great opportunity to see just how competitive the division is. Let’s take a look at the first week of the season from the perspective of each team.

Oakland Athletics 5-2

The team everyone picked to finish last has come out of week one with the best record in the division. I can’t say first place after only 7 games. But the great thing about their week was that they took 3 of 4 from the Mariners and 2 of 3 from the Angels. They have gotten nice offensive starts out of 1 baseman Daric Barton, shortstop Cliff Pennington and second baseman Mark Ellis. Something possibly even more encouraging is how their starting pitching fared in week one. Justin Duchsherer returned after missing all of 2009, and did not pitch well. The Athletics won anyway. New ace Ben Sheets, who also missed all of 2009 put 21 runners on base in 11 innings over his first two starts but only allowed 5 runs to score. These two guys clearly need to get back their groove after missing last season. But they are too good not to. The other 3 starters Brett Anderson, Gio Gonzalez and Dallas Braden all pitched well in week one. The offense probably can’t keep it up but the pitching looks like it can be very good. Some nice walk off wins and outstanding pitching have given this team hope that they can play with the rest of the division. If the offense can keep it up they are in this thing for the long haul.

Texas Rangers 3-3

The Rangers started the season losing 2 of 3 to the Blue Jays and taking 2 of 3 from the Mariners. Many people feel they have the worst starting pitching in the division but gave it the doubters a nice surprise in the season’s first week. The starters have given up only 7 earned runs over 37 innings in the first 6 games. The most impressive of the bunch were CJ Wilson who pitched 7 shutout innings in his attempt to move back to rotation after spending the last 4 seasons in the bullpen and Colby Lewis who surrendered only 1 ER in his debut after spending the last 2 seasons in the Japanese league. Closer Frank Francisco turned two wins into losses this week after being given a one run lead against the Blue Jays and a 2 run lead against the Mariners and giving up 3 runs to both teams to take the loss in both games. The Rangers decided to move stud setup man Neftali Feliz into the closers role and veteran lefty Darren Oliver into the 8^th inning. I disagree with the move because I think Feliz has more value as a multi inning setup man. He is better than any reliever on the team no matter what innings he pitches. He shouldn’t only be pitching with a lead. Francisco will only pitch in games that are not close for the time being, until he regains his stuff. I actually love that idea, after all the team would be 5-1 if not for his blown saves. Manager Ron Washington said he probably would return to the closers role at some point. On the offensive side new DH Vladimir Guerrero is showing he still has something left going 12 for 24 in week one and outfielder Nelson Cruz is 9 for 20 with 4 homeruns and has reached base at least twice in 5 of the first 6 games. Power hitting second baseman Ian Kinsler will be back from the DL soon to add more pop. Josh Hamilton is only 4 for 17 but had 6 walks in week one. Just wait until this offense really gets going

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 2-5

The team that has won the division 5 out of the last 6 years has struggled out of the gate losing 3 out of 4 to the Twins and 2 out of 3 to the Athletics. Scott Kazmir missed his first start due to concerns that he wasn’t stretched out enough but should take his next turn. Besides Jared Weaver the rotation struggled in the first week of the season as Joel Pineiro, Joe Saunders and Ervin Santana each lost their first starts. Of those 3 only Pineiro had a quality start (6 IP 3 ER). Many analysts believe the Angels have the deepest rotation but I am very skeptical. I think Saunders and Santana have been overrated in their young careers so far and I am not high on Scott Kazmir’s ability to stay healthy and effective and Joel Pineiro returning to the American League. On the offensive side new Angel Hideki Matsui has made an immediate impact hitting 2 homeruns in week one and having a walk off single in Saturday night’s win over the A’s. I love hearing about Bobby Abreu’s impact on the offense. He has brought a patience that this team did not have before his arrival last season. Shortstop Erick Aybar’s career high in walks is 30 (last season) but he already has 5 walks in the first 6 games of the season. Obviously the Angels are the team in this division most equipped to shake off a slow start if this keeps going on. I actually trust the offense a lot more than the pitching. They are the team to beat until proven otherwise and they probably have enough depth to not have a disastrous season even if things go bad.

Seattle Mariners 2-5

The Mariners are the dolls of baseball because of their suprising 85 win season in 2009 and the addition of some big time players in the offseason. But the concerns of the skeptics reared their ugly head in week one. With Cliff Lee on the DL until May, the rotation struggled behind ace Felix Hernandez. Ian Snell was the only starter besides King Felix to pitch 6 innings in a game. But he lasted only 3 innings in his second start. The offense scored 2 runs or less in 4 of their first 7 games, all losses. The team’s bad performance in week one hurts a little more for Mariners fans because they lost 5 of 7 division games, 3 out of 4 to the Athletics and 2 out of 3 to Rangers. The one win they had against the Rangers wouldn’t have happened if not for the second blown save of Frank Francisco. There is a potential for the bad times to keep rolling as they play the Athletics and Tigers in the next two series, teams that are both off to fast starts. The Mariners offense has sputter potential and it is showing it early. I thought the pitching staff was questionable behind King Felix and Cliff Lee before Lee’s injury. Now that Lee is out until May (so we’re told) it’s even worse. The amount of starts they get from Cliff Lee and Erik Bedard could be the fate of their season. But even if they get a lot from them they could still need to make a trade for a hitter.

I know it’s week one and the old baseball adage is don’t believe anything you see in April or September. But that doesn’t mean you can’t see where things are heading. Fast starts may not be big factors in the grand scheme of a season, we have seen plenty of bad teams start out fast over the last few years, only to have losing seasons. But slow starts can be season killers. If I were a Mariners fan I would be worried already. If I were an Angels fan I’d think nothing of it. And if I were a fan of the A’s and Rangers I’d have plenty of hope. As I baseball fan in general, I can’t wait to watch it all play out over the next 6 months.

Your non AL West Weekend Recap and Thoughts

2010-04-12T10:08:00.003-04:00

The Lance Berkman-less Houston Astros are the only winless team in baseball left after week one. They were swept and outclassed by both the Giants and the Phillies. They were shut out twice and in two other games managed only 1 and 2 runs without their best hitter. Even with Berkman there isn’t a whole lot to get excited about there. Wandy Rodriguez and Roy Oswalt cannot carry this team and I think they have the potential to be the worst team in baseball, especially in the deep NL Central. That’s right after only 6 games! Happy April Astros fans!

Trevor Hoffman blew 2 saves in 3 days for the Brewers. On Sunday night with a 3 run lead he gave up back to back homers to Albert Pujols (with a runner on) and Matt Holliday. In fairness that could happen to anybody, but remember who we are talking about here. This guy is supposed to be a hall of famer and the second best closer in history. But his propensity to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory never shocks anyone who pays attention.

As a Yankee fan I would have been fine with a 3-3 road trip against the top 2 division rivals to start the season. Ok let me be honest, I would have gotten worked up if they had losing road trip but it still wouldn’t have worried me. But to take 2 of 3 from the Red Sox in Fenway and 2 of 3 from the Rays in Tropicana Field is a very big deal despite how early it is. With 3 stacked teams division games are huge. And despite what big time media outlets will tell you, games in April count as much as games in September. They don’t mean any less. CC Sabathia nearly no hit the Rays on Saturday. Mark Teixeira, A-Rod and Nick Johnson didn’t even hit much on the road trip. If you remember last season the Yanks started off slow with A-Rod on the DL and the new guys finding their grooves. I can’t see a bad April at this rate.

The Minnesota Twins had a terrific start to the season going 5-2 on a road trip before heading home for the grand opening of Target Field on Monday afternoon. Closer Jon Rauch incredibly has yet to ruin their playoff chances (sarcasm) saving all 4 games he had an opportunity in. Stack that up against all the so called "proven" closers that have already blown games (there have been a ton of blown saves already)and multiple games and Rauch looks real good. He is showing you that the panic at the loss of Joe Nathan was nonsense. On Sunday I saw a putrid display of execution. Down to their final out the Twins had JJ Hardy on first base when Jim Thome hit a double off the left field wall in US Cellular field. When White Sox outfielder Juan Pierre threw the ball to 3rd base Hardy was only a few steps off 3rd and yet Twins 3rd base coach Scott Ullger waived Hardy home anyway. Hardy was thrown out at home after a weak “attempt” to run over catcher AJ Pierzynski. This is a game tying run! Either take the catcher out or go back to third!

One thing I will be paying attention to all season long is the NL Cy Young race. You can pretend there are other contenders if you wish, but the winner will be either Roy Hallady or Tim Lincecum. No question about it. On opening day Roy Hallady allowed one run to the Nationals over 7 innings. In a later game that same day Lincecum shut out the Astros over 7. On sunday both starters took the mound for the second time. Hallady pitch 9 innings and allowed only 1 unearned run to the hapless Astros (the same team Lincecum shut out on opening day). But in all fairness the run that did score, came due to two terrible throws on the bases by Hallady. Only one of them was called an error. After an almost 4 hour rain delay Lincecum took the mound on Sunday night. After giving up a 2 run homerun to Brian McCann of the Braves, he shut the Braves down the rest of the game going 7 innings in total. The Giants face the Phillies in a 3 game series starting April 26th. Hopefull we get to see these two square off then or some time this season.

After an offseason full of hype Jason Heyward delivered in the first week of the season. The Braves rookie went 7 for 24 with 3 homeruns. Yesterday the Giants scored the go head run in the bottom of the 6th inning on a throwing error by Heyward that got by catcher Brian McCann. I guess you can't be a prodigy at everything. I kid.

In 2010 a rookie starter completely skipped the minor leagues after last year's draft and sunday made his first professional start in the majors. His name was not Stephen Strasburg. Mike Leake wen't 6.2 innings against the Cubs allowing only a run but had major control issues walking 7. We'll see how it plays out this season. You'd probably have to think he could be sent down to the minors if he struggles. He also singled in each of his 2 at bats.

The Detroit Tigers are off to a nice 5-1 start and this won a few games they probably shouldn't have. They swept the Indians in Comerica Park this weekend. On Friday afternoon they won the game due to a horrific errant throw by Indians 3rd baseman Jhonny Peralta. On Sunday the Tigers trailed 9-4 in the 8th inning and scored 5 runs over the final two innings winning on a wild pitch by Indians closer Chris Perez. Slugger Miguel Cabrera led them offensively in week one, mashing his way to 12 hits in 23 at bats, with 2 homeruns and 6 walks.

The Arizona Diamonbacks picked on the cellar of the National League in week one, winning series against the Padres and Pirates. They scored 41 runs, second only to the Phillies in the first week of the season. That total was helped by yesterday's 13 run 4th inning against the Pirates. As they showed yesterday the DBacks have a potentially big time offense. Outfielder Chris Young had a nice opening week hitting 3 homeruns. If he bounces back after being one of the worst every day players in baseball last season, the offense is going to be even better than I thought. The pitching isn't outstanding especially with Brandon Webb out but it is not going to keep them from contending. On a sour note catcher Miguel Montero who had breakout season last year, needs knee surgery for a torn meniscus and was put on the DL. Who knows how long he'll be out. Backup Chris Snyder will start in his absence.

Speaking of Chris Young and the DL, Padres starting pitcher Chris Young was placed on the DL due to shoulder tightness after making only one start. Last year he did not make a start after June 14th also due to a shoulder injury which required surgery.

The Red Sox got a scare in yesterday's 8-6 win over the Royals when left fielder Jacoby Ellsbury collided with with 3rd baseman Adrian Beltre when they both went for the same ball that was sliced down the line. Ellsbury got a knee to the ribs and from what I read let out a scream so loud that both Beltre and centerfielder Mike Cameron could hear it. X-Rays were negative and he was diagnosed with bruised ribs. I would venture to guess he'll be given a day or two, especially with the presence of Jeremy Hermida on the bench. They need Ellsbury to stay healthy at the top of a lineup that is weaker than it has been in recent years.

The Met fans are angry and losing hope. That didn't take long. New York lost 4 of its first 6 games at home to two teams that most people don't expect to make the playoffs, the Marlins and Nationals. Yesterday was particularly discouraging as they were shut down by old timer Livan Hernandez. Being here in New York, knowing plenty of Met fans personally and hearing them flood talk radio with angry calls,and being in the stadium Saturday, you would think it was September and they were falling out of the race. Although i'm not expecting them to contend this season, I don't think this is the time to panic. There will be peaks and valleys. You can't give up after 6 games.

Johan Santana gave up a grand slam to Josh Willingham in the first inning and the Nats never looked back. Originally the umpires thought the ball hit off the wall but reversed the call after replay. One cool thing you saw before the overturn of the call was big boy Adam Dunn bowl over fellow big boy (Mets catcher) Rod Barajas and knock the ball loose to score. The guy is killed for his defense and how much he strikes out. Besides his ability to hit 40 homeruns and walk 100 times every year, Dunn in my opinion has displayed a toughness and showed he is a very good teammate.

The Marlins came from behind to beat the Dodgers on back to days. Saturday night was more of a stunner as they were down 6-4 in the 9th and scored 3 runs to stun LA's bullpen. More telling than the Marlins heroics were the struggles of the Dogers pen which was a big time strength for them last season. The pen gave up 5 runs and blew leads in both losses to Florida. Also a bad sign for the Dodgers was something I expected long before the season began: Vincente Padilla struggled again. He allowed 11 ER in his first two starts combined and could not make it out of the 5th in either start. I don't think he'll last the season in the rotation.

I would give the Blue Jays a write up for their 5-1 start but I can't get into it besides the resurgence of Vernon Wells. The pitching will be good but the offense won't be there for long.

There are bunch more home openers today, most important of all Target Field the new home of the Minnesota Twins. They play the Red Sox in the first series there and in probably the most interesting series of the week.

My Trip to Citi

2010-04-11T12:32:00.002-04:00

There is nothing like attending your first baseball game of the season after a long winter of waiting. I headed out to Citi Field on Saturday morning kicking myself for not leaving earlier. I was unable to get there early enough to leave myself enough time to see the new Mets hall of fame. When I got to my seats I was thrilled, maybe a little to much to see that they had their own cup holders.

The people at the ballpark were just pleasant as could be. Like the guy who tapped me on the shoulder while I was on line for ice cream and asked “Are you rooting for the Nationals today?” to which I responded “no”. He then said “You better not”. To which I responded “Or else what?”. He then looked down, trailed off and pretended we never spoke. Then there was the lady in the same row of seats as me, who left her bag in the aisle and got mad when she had to move it for me to pass. When I returned she didn’t move for me to pass until I screamed “Excuse me!” a bunch of times.

As for the actual game itself, it was another Oliver Perez special. Good control early and plenty of strikeouts. But he gave up a 2 run triple and a 2 run single to Willy Taveras, probably the worst Nationals hitter besides the pitcher. One funny thing about the game was the offense of the two starting pitchers. Oliver Perez drove in 2 of the 3 Mets runs with a single in the second inning. John Lannan hit popped a bunt that turned into a double play.

To me the Mets lost the game way back in the 3rd inning. They loaded the bases with no outs for Jeff Francoeur. He was almost hit by Lannan twice in the at-bat and still swung at a 2-1 pitch that landed right in front of the plate, allowing Pudge to step on home and throw to first for the double play. I guess that whole having good at bats thing is a work in progress.

The one thing that annoyed me about this game besides the Nats horrendous defense was who was given the credit in a close win for the Nationals. Tyler Clippard pitched 3 scoreless innings in relief, allowed 1 hit, and struck out 7. Closer Matt Capps came on in the 9th and loaded the bases and if not for a Willie Harris diving catch to save the game, would have blown it. But every media outlet I heard report on the game would mention that Capps got the save but say nothing about Clippard’s outstanding performance.

Of course I didn’t forget this was the 2010 debut of Mets shortstop Jose Reyes who received huge ovations every time he came to the plate. He seemed anxious, swinging at the first pitch in his first two at bats. In the 9th inning he led off with his first hit of the season. Jerry Manuel instead of letting him try to steal a base instead had Alex Cora bunt him over. That didn’t make too much sense to me.

The final out of the game ripped out the heart of every Mets fan in attendance and watching at home. With the bases loaded Rod Barajas hit a low line drive to left and Willie Harris made a diving catch to save the game. The cheers of the crowd at that moment turned into shocked gasps and then boos. I cringed and said aloud that I was glad not to be a Met fan at that moment. That would be a tough one to deal with.

Saturday Morning Notes

2010-04-10T02:21:00.007-04:00

The Twins outlasted the White Sox last night in 11 to win their 4th game out of the first 5. Closer Jon Rauch incredibly has not knocked them out of the playoff race yet; earning a save in each of the 3 chances he has been given. Not a lot of talk from the people who thought the injury to Joe Nathan was the end of the world for Minnesota. No matter when Rauch blows his first save, it could be in September; these people will try to make a big deal out of it.

The Yankees and Rays faced off the first time this season last night in St. Petersburg with interesting results in the pitching department. David Price began his second major league season as a starter and looked great. He was blowing the fast ball by the Yanks early on consistently hitting 97. He ended up leaving with 2 outs in the 8th inning after throwing 117 pitches, probably a little too long of a leash from manager Joe Maddon, especially in a blowout. He was still hitting 95 on the gun but laboring in the 8th. One of the reasons I’m not sure the Rays can make the playoffs is that young starters Price and Wade Davis have made a combined 30 starts in their major league careers and I’m not sure they are ready to go over 30 starts and pitch over 200 innings quite yet. But Price is going to be one of the best starters in baseball some day. His stuff is just ridiculous.

On the Yankees side Javier Vazquez made his debut in his second go around with the team. He was hammered giving up 8 runs over 5.2 innings. There are some people out there who think Vazquez will repeat his disastrous 2004 performance as a Yankee. I don’t buy it at all and this start doesn’t worry me one bit. He is just a different pitcher now than he was back then.

Red Sox manager Terry Francona has used stud reliever Daniel Bard in all 4 games so far this season. He blew the lead in the last two, to the Yankees on Wednesday and the Royals last night. The blown leads don’t bother me as much as the usage. Save your bullets it’s April 10th! If the manager keeps this up we are going to have to start calling him Torre Francona.

Orioles closer Mike Gonzalez blew his second save of the young season, losing to the Blue Jays in Baltimore’s home opener. For a team that is expected to improve but not contend, you’d expect them to play a lot of close games. Gonzalez is not going to help the whole improvement concept.

All time saves leader and Brewers closer Trevor Hoffman blew his first save of the season in Milwaukee last night giving up a homerun to Cardinals bencher Nick Stavinoha. Hoffman has an uncanny ability to lose games from out of nowhere. How dare anyone call him the best closer ever. But hey I hate the 9th inning closer to begin with.

In other Brewers news they recently announced a 30 million dollar contract extension with starter Yovani Gallardo, just a day after owner Mark Attanasio complained about the team’s inability to spend big money and keep their players like the Yankees do. If you add up the contracts of Gallardo, Randy Wolf and injured starter Jeff Suppan they total just over 100 million dollars. Stop it.

On a pathetic Brewers note starter Jeff Suppan apparently (admittedly) exacerbated his neck injury during spring training by sleeping on rolled up towels, apparently because his hotel room had bad pillows. Amazing. 40 million dollars can’t buy you a brain I guess. For more on that check out this link: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Decent-pillows-might-have-shortened-Jeff-Suppan-?urn=mlb,233018

The Mets have plenty of issues, but many people think they are at least going to score some runs. I’m not so sure about that myself. In Friday night’s win over the Nationals they got reason to believe they could with 2 homeruns out of both right fielder Jeff Francoeur and catcher Rod Barajas. Everyone is expecting David Wright and Jason Bay to be great hitters like they always are. If they can get good seasons out of the secondary guys then they can hang around for a while.

On another Mets note Jose Reyes makes his 2010 debut on Saturday afternoon after missing time with his thyroid issue. I’ll be at Citi Field for the epic John Lannan vs. Oliver Perez pitcher’s duel and hopefully I’ll get to see the new Mets hall of fame. I’ll try to tweet some pictures and do a post on the day if necessary.

The Tigers beat the Indians in the Detroit opener on Friday afternoon due to a horrendous error. The Indians led 2-1 in the bottom of the 5th when the Tigers had the bases loaded and Magglio Ordonez grounded to third baseman Jhonny Peralta who promptly threw a bounce pass that got away from first baseman Andy Marte allowing all 3 runs to score. Just HORRENDOUS. It cost the Indians the game as they lost 5 to 2.

The San Francisco Giants look great early on this season. They have scored 25 runs in 4 games which is so unlike them that it can’t keep up. In their home opener today Edgar Renteria hit a 2 run homerun off Braves closer Billy Wagner in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game. Renteria is a ridiculous 11 for 16 in the first four games. Of course that won’t keep up but if you think he’ll have a big year, I doubt it. He has not been a good hitter for a few years now. The Giants are the only undefeated team left in the young season.

On the Braves front, Billy Wagner as I said blew the save. Man have there been a lot of blown saves early on this season. I just don’t trust that Wagner is the guy from 2 or 3 years ago. And the Braves are not the type of team that is going to blow teams out a lot in my opinion. Why do people make like he doesn’t have a tendency to blow a lot of saves? Because he’s not a Met anymore?

Rockies starter Franklin Morales had probably the best game of any starter yet this season on Friday afternoon against the Padres. Over 7 innings he struck out 9 and allowed only one hit and walked one. The Rockies are just stacked. Anyone who doubts their ability to make the playoffs is crazy. The rotation is stacked with Morales, Ubaldo Jimenez, Aaron Cook and Jeff Francis (when he returns from the DL). Add to that the deepest bench in baseball and the most patient offense (only 3 less walks than the league leading Yankees in 09, with a pitcher hitting!) and try to tell me how they don’t make it.

I have a TON of thoughts on what I see as the most interesting division in baseball the AL West. But i'll save them for Sunday night as the 4 teams are playing each other this weekend (Angels v A's, Rangers v Mariners). A lot more can happen between now and then.

Friday Morning Notes

2010-04-09T08:40:00.002-04:00

A few weeks ago all we wanted was opening day. Now we've had four days of baseball and we're thinking "Wow that moved fast". The first baseball weekend of the season features a few very interesting division matchups but before we take a look at those lets look back at what happened yesterday.

In Texas CJ Wilson made his first start in his switch over from the bullpen and he had a very nice debut. He tossed 7 shutout innings and struck out 9 in a close game. The Rangers scored their only run in the 7th. Neftali Feliz came on in the 8th and struck out the side on 13 pitches. It was almost everything the Rangers could have hoped for in the pitching department. Almost. Clinging to a 1-0 closer Frank Francisco blew the save, allowing a game tying homerun to Vernon Wells and two more runs taking the loss.

Speaking of Vernon Wells that was his fourth homerun of the series. He is off to the kind of start any player who struggled last year dreamed for. From what you hear he is finally healthy. I also wonder if Texas didn't make any adjustments pitching to him in the series, thinking he was the same guy who has struggled over the last few seasons. Now the league has to try to adjust to the new Vernon Wells.

Great Cardinals debut for Brad Penny, who went 7 innings giving up only one run. Many people wan't to already throw more boquets at St. Louis pitching coach Dave Duncan. But as Cardinals beat writer Matthew Leach pointed out on twitter (twitter.com/MatthewHLeach), Penny was always a very good starter in the National League when healthy. Still it couldn't hurt having Duncan there.

As the Mariners were in the process of losing their 3rd game of the series against the Athletics yesterday they finally brought up a 7th pitcher for the bullpen. They had been carrying only 6. They cut Ryan Langerhans in favor of keeping Mike Sweeny on the team, which according the internets angered Seattle fans who don't see Sweeny as someone who could help the team. By the way the pitcher they brought up in place of Langerhans was Jesus Colume. He surrendered 2 runs in 2 innings in his season debut yesterday.

Another note on the shaky closer front: Orioles closer Mike Gonzalez almost blew another save against the Tampa Rays yesterday but narrowly escaped after putting 3 runners on base (not loading the bases) in the 9th.

In that same game Rays starter Jeff Niemann was hit in the shoulder by by a line drive off the bat of Miguel Tejada and exited in the second inning. However it doesn't sound too serious. Even if it was could it hurt the Rays with their depth?

Great quotes by Mariano Rivera yesterday on umpire Joe West who, if you recall had called the length of Yankees Red Sox games "a disgrace to baseball". Rivera had this to say "It's incredible," ..."If he has places to go, let him do something else. What does he want us to do, swing at balls?".

Dontrelle Willis had a fairly nice season debut for the Tigers against the Royals yesterday afternoon. In 6 innings he put 9 runners on but only let 2 score. Our sabermetric friends would call that a lucky outing. I would tend to agree but, for Willis any outing in which he can find the strike zone and get a quality start can only help his attempt to regain his old form.

In Anaheim last night the Twins took their 3rd of 4 games against the Angels. This was the first time manager Ron Gardenhire penciled in Jim Thome at DH, Jason Kubel in left field and Delmon Young sat out. Kubel had sat out one of the other games. Thome hit a 3 run homerun in the 8th inning to make the Twins lead 6-1, it was his first of the season. Delmon
Young entered in the bottom of the 8th inning as a defensive replacement for Kubel. Not to be out done he hit a 3 run homer of his own in the top of the 9th(his second of the season). Competition between these 3 is only a good thing for the Twins and their offense. You'd have to think Kubel will be in the lineup on most days.

In the "boy do I love to see that" category: Marlins reliever Burke Badenhop tossed 3 scoreless innings of relief in Citi Field against the Mets. The Marlins had a 3-1 lead when he came on in the 6th and won by the same score. I love when managers use their bullpen more than just inning to inning and batter to batter. I salute you Fredi Gonzalez.

We have some great division matchups to look foward to this weekend: Ranger vs Mariners, Yankees vs Rays, White Sox vs Twins, Brewers vs Cardinals and heck lets throw in Athletics vs Angels.

Pace of Games Nonsense

2010-04-08T11:37:00.000-04:00

This whole Yankees and Red Sox take too long thing has gone too far. Umpire Joe West called it "disgrace to baseball". What boggles my mind is that nobody involved in Major League Baseball can figure out the reason why. First and foremost these are two of the most patient teams in baseball. They take more pitches and walk more then almost every other team. Secondly there are a ton of pitching changes and a lot of extra inning games every year in this series. But lastly the most important thing to realize is this: I guarantee you the ad revenue for Yankees Red Sox games exceeds that of any other in baseball. The games are on national networks like ESPN and MLB Network all the time. I can almost guarantee you that the commercial breaks for Yankees and Red Sox games last longer than those of the average game. Sorry thats the way it is. Athletics Royals just isn't bringing in that kind of advertising money. Why doesn't baseball do a little internal audit and check that out? I bet they'll be suprised.

Major League Baseball wants Yankees vs Red Sox on their network just faster? I bet they don't mind the ratings and the ads they can sell when its on their network. You think they get the same ad money for whatever show that follows these games?

They actually established a 14 person panel to look into pace of games. To me that is just ridiculous. 14 people can't figure out that all star lineups will always make games longer? If baseball thinks that making Jonathan Papelbon come to the mound quicker between pitches and making Jorge Posada stay in the box at the plate between pitches is going to significantly reduce the amount of time it takes to play these games they are dreaming.

Thursday Morning Notes

2010-04-08T09:33:00.000-04:00

11 Games on tap today including 6 before 7PM eastern and two of the ever popular 12:35 ET business mens specials. On get away day the Dodgers play at 9:30 west coast time. Two things to watch for today are the season debuts of CJ Wilson in his attempt to start for the Texas Rangers and the first start for Dontrelle Willis for the Tigers in his attempt to come back from all of his issues. Those will be interesting to see. But before we get to all that here are some thoughts on last nights action.

Man does that Florida Marlins defense look bad. One opening day they made 3 errors in one inning. Last night Dan Uggla made a key error on a double play attempt that extended an inning and allowed the Mets to get back in the game, which they eventually tied. I watched a lot of their 2 games and the funny thing is that shortstop Hanley Ramirez who has often been criticized has really seemed to improve his defense so far. The bullpen also walked 6 in 3.1 innings. Not very promising signs.

The San Francisco Giants completed the 3 game sweep of the Astros in their opening day series finale yesterday afternoon. The Giants scored 20 runs in the series while the rotation allowed only 3 earned runs (all by Matt Cain) in 19.2 innings. That left me wondering: are the Giants this good or are the Astros that bad? Both seem very possible.

It's nice to see that Vernon Wells still has something left in the tank after his struggles the last few seasons. He hit a homerun on opening day in Texas and two more yesterday in the Blue Jays first win of the season. If he is back to his old form the Blue Jays will feel a whole lot better about his giant contract. Maybe they could even explore trading him.

Another player bouncing back early is new Twins shortstop JJ Hardy who hit his second homer of the season yesterday. Looks like the change of scenery is actually working for him so far.

On another Twins note closer Jon Rauch gave up a run but saved his second game of the season. 3 games in and the loss of Joe Nathan shockingly has not knocked the Twins of the playoff race. Mark my words: no matter when Rauch blows his first save, a big deal will be made of it.

From the another late 20's Pirates outfielder proving he is not a flash in the pan catergory: Garret Jones followed up his 2 homerun opening day performance with a homerun last night. The Pirates beat the Dodgers again and Clayton Kershaw walked 6 in 4.2 innings. Kershaw is the ace but maybe he isn't quite there yet like we all thought. This Dodgers rotation is just not what it was last year.

Thursday Morning Pitching Notes -

I noticed an abnormal amount of interesting starting pitching happenings last night. So here they are:

Royals (prospect still?) Luke Hochevar gave them the kind of performance they have been looking for last night tossing 7.2 shutout innings against the Tigers. If he has finally figured it out the Royals could be a lot better than we thought. The Royals usually reliable closer Joakim Soria blew the save in the 9th stopping Hochevar from getting the win and the Royals won it in extra innings.

Phillies starter Cole Hammels made his long anticipated debut last night against the Nationals. A lot of people are expecting big things from Hammels last year and in start 1 he looked a lot like he did last year,allowing 5 hits and walking 4 over 5 innings. The Nats scored 3 runs off of him, 2 earned. I guess it's a work in progress.

Rich Harden made his debut for the Rangers last night and looked great early. In the first 2 innings he stuck out 5 and allowed no runs. After that he struggled. His outing ending after 3.2 innings and 3 runs 1 earned. He struck out 8 and walked 5. He looks to be in midseason form. Over the last few years he has really been a 5 or 6 inning pitcher. Last night I found myself wondering if he would be better off as a reliever.

Ian Kennedy made his Diamondbacks debut last night, going 5 innings and allowing 3 earned runs. On the promising side he struck out 8 and walked none, but allowed 6 hits. In the minors he had great control and strikeout numbers and I think he can be a much better starter in the NL then he was in the AL.

Carl Pavano continued his never ending quest to annoy Yankee fans by managing to stay healthy enough to pitch 7 innings and give up only one run in Anaheim last night. Mark my words again: The Twins rotation is better than people think.

Justin Duchsherer pitched for the first time since 2008 last night starting in Seattle. The numbers weren't good but thats not important. He will be fine performance wise. Whats important is that he is back and finally physically and mentally healthy.

Jake Peavy made his first start in what the White Sox hope will be an injury free 2010. He had a 3-0 lead but allowed the Indians to tie the game in the 4th before exiting after 5 innings. Its only one game but it's hard to see him being the dominant NL version of himself after his injuries and being in a much better offensive league and home park.

Just another epic Yankees Red Sox series

2010-04-08T08:00:00.001-04:00

Remember opening day when the Red Sox scored 9 runs and Chan Ho Park blew the lead and Joba Chamberlain looked lost? Now it seems like that was weeks ago. On Tuesday Joba looked like he he regained his old stuff and yesterday Chan Ho Park led the Yankees to victory by pitching 3 shutout innings in relief.And those Red Sox bats quieted just a little. If the Yankees are going to use Chan Ho Park in the same way they use Alfredo Aceves, and he is successful, hello best bullpen in baseball. Joe Girardi takes a lot of verbal beatings for his bullpen use. But I can't think of another manager who lets relievers go 2 or 3 innings at a time this often in close games.

Here's some other thoughts from the Yanks-Sox Opening Series:

I was suprised the Red Sox used Daniel Bard in the game last night after he had already pitched in the first two games of the season. He didn't get pounded, but he is a young hard thrower and you would think Terry Francona would be more careful with him.

Great Red Sox debut for starter John Lackey last night. He shut out the Yankees over 6 innings. The only issue was his control was not stellar and he threw 100 pitchers and was out by the 6th. But with the Yankees patience so far, it looks like a lot of startes will be out before the 6th.

Speaking of the Yankees offense: so far so good for Curtis Granderson and Nick Johnson. Johnson is hitless but had 5 walks in the series. Granderson had two homeruns including the game winner of Jonathan Papelbon last night.

Last season the Red Sox were clearly the better team until August when the Yankees finally beat them for the first time. In this series the Yankees clearly looked like the better team. They could have swept had Chan Ho Park not surrendered that homerun to Dustin Pedroia on opening day.

Wednesday Morning Thoughts

2010-04-07T08:38:00.000-04:00

I noticed that a lot of MLB TV ad's are being run on local games. I have MLB TV and besides some quality issues at times it is very cool. But these ads bug me because they are very dishonest. The announcer for a team will read a description of MLB TV while a graphic of it pops up on the screen. The read says " (Team name) fans, watch every (team name) game when you are traveling on your computer." But then goes on to say " Yes watch every (team name) game live and on demand. For details go to the website..." - I find this very misleading because they don't mention the blackout restrictions you get in your local market. Besides saying "when you are traveling" they give you no further explanation of which games you can watch. Sure the ad says to go online for details, but I think they are clearly trying to mislead you so you buy a subscription. Telling fans of a team that they can watch every game of their local team on MLB TV is a lie. MLB TV really is for the hardcore baseball fan who wants to watch other teams besides their own or for fans who don't live in this market as their favorite team.

Jon Rauch got his first save opportunity as Twins closer last night in Anaheim against the Angels. Apparently the sky is not falling and Joe Nathan is not the only guy who can save a game for Minnesota. Ho hum 1-2-3 9th for Rauch.

Joba Chamberlain returned to form in his appearance in last night's Yankees Red Sox game. With a 1 run lead and 1 out in the 8th inning Joba struck out Adrian Beltre and JD Drew. After his bad performance on opening night that had to calm down the Yankees. His velocity was up and his slider looked great. That's all well and good but to me the real impressive thing bullpen wise about this game was Alfredo Aceves. The Yanks long reliever tossed two hitless and walkless innings, the only runner that reached base did so on an error. He shut down the Red Sox in the 6th and 7th innings when the game was tied and got the win.

Nick Johnson walked with the bases load in that same game in the 8th inning to give the Yankees the eventual winning run. He has no hits in the first 2 games of the season but already has 4 walks. A lot of people didn't understand the Yankees signing of Johnson from a performance standpoint let alone an injury standpoint. The great thing about guys like Johnson is that patience doesn't slump. Even when he isn't hitting he is still contributing in a big way.

The Rays opened up their season against the Orioles in walk off fashion last night as Carl Crawford won the game with a 2 run double in the 9th. I'm coming at this one from two different angles: from the Rays side catcher Kelly Shoppach hit a double off the top of the wall that just missed leaving the park, to set up Crawford for the game winning hit. I think having a catcher with power is going to be huge for the Rays this season after the little pop Dioner Navarro has provided as the starter the last few years.

From the Orioles perspective closer Mike Gonzalez blew his first save opportunity with the team. That is not what they wanted to see. The Orioles could be playing a lot of close games this season and they need Gonzalez to return to his old form if he is going to hold leads and improve the team.

The San Francisco Giants rotation is off to a running start again this season. Tim Lincecum tossed 7 shutout innings against the Astros on opening day and yesterday Barry Zito shut them out over 6. I was suprised when I looked at the box score and saw he threw only 90 pitches. All along I have thought that no matter how good the Giants pitching is they would not score enough runs. But I will say this: if Barry Zito improves on his 4.03 ERA from last season then the Giants chances improve ten fold. They may still need to get offense from somewhere they don't expect and have Lincecum and Matt Cain repeat their 2009 performances, as well as Zito improve to win the division. That is a hell of a lot to ask for. Zito seemed to have figured out a lot last season. This season if he can continue to take steps to justify his bloated contract, the Giants may amazingly be able to improve on their 2009 pitching numbers.

Last night's pitching matchup in Arizona was interesting. It was Edwin Jackson's first game as a Diamondback and Chris Young's first game back after missing the final 3 and a half months of the 2009 season with a shoulder injury. Jackson didn't get rocked but certainly didn't impress allowing 3 runs over 5 innings. Young however was great. He also went 6 innings allowing only 1 hit and 3 walks. Very impressive and for me unexpected.

Two day games coming up and every team in action for the first time this season later today.