Yanks Get Ichiro: NY Sports Nut

By Dan Rodgers

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm a contributing writer on an up-and-coming sports media site, and the one I'm with is NYSportsNut.com.

I finally contributed another piece now that I've actually moved to Pennsylvania and the craziness is starting to subside a bit.

The Yankees made a move to get Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki. They didn't give up much and here's the link to my article.

Yankees Acquire 10-time All-Star Ichiro

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AL West

By Dr. Jekyll

AL West

Texas Rangers: Behind Josh Hamilton and Michael Young, this team was always going to score runs. The offensive addition of Vlad Guerrero has been a surprise, as he’s absolutely lit it up in Arlington this year. But what no one expected was the pitching to help out. Cliff Lee makes this team an instant World Series contender, with much thanks to the Angels for selling away the core of their team this past year and making way for a new face to emerge from the west. Welcome to the foray, Rangers.

Los Angeles Angels: Speaking of those Angels, Jered Weaver has given this club a chance to remain competitive for a lot longer than some (me) expected them to be this season. Mike Napoli is a stud behind the plate and with him leading up future young pitchers this will be a club that can still make threats even when in a rebuilding year. The loss of core players has definitely made an impact on the season, but this is a gritty club that has a bright future. Just not this season.

Oakland Athletics: At the start of the season I wrote that a healthy Ben Sheets made this an average team. Well, at their current record, I’d like to toot my own horn and say this is one of the few predictions I got right. They have a top order pitching staff, not that anyone who knows Billy Beane would expect any different. The team is still well of being strong, and the constant revolving door of characters that seem to take over this lineup makes it hard to get a feel for the direction of the club. This lineup needs pop, but with a few bats in the lineup they could make noise and play the spoiler role in this division.

Seattle Mariners: I hoped in this bandwagon and jumped off almost immediately. The Ken Griffey show was an awkward farewell, and was probably the most memorable part of the season for Seattle as well. The Cliff Lee trade was meant for a club looking to break through. All the Mariners did was break down. They couldn’t get Lee the run support, let alone any of their other starters, and have one of the worst records in the league because of it. King Felix and Ichiro haven’t gotten much mention this season, and this isn’t a fault of their own. Ichiro is still the best pure hitter of our generation, and will break 200 hits yet again this season. The lone bright spot in what’s otherwise a wash of a season.

Rounding the bases

By Dr. Jekyll,

A weekly feature on the good, the bad, and the ugly happening around the diamond.

Single: Ichiro Suzuki is the most overlooked future hall of famer in major league baseball. The most consistent hitter of our generation is once again doing just fine, thank you for noticing. He currently sports the 4^th highest batting average in baseball and leads the league in hits. Just another day at the ballpark for Ichiro.

Double: A double is what you expect off the bat of a power hitter. Consistent, nothing special, but you’re just where you thought you would be. Your 2010 Philadelphia Phillies, baseballs most average great team. They give you nothing special, and they’re a no-nonsense club that just comes in every day and delivers. No glaring holes, just great talent. This team has nothing to write about, other than run of the mill dominance. Like the late ‘90’s Yankees, this is a phenomenal club.

Triple: As in triple play. Like the one started by the New York Mets Angel Pagan (take a minute and soak in how great a name that is) against the Nationals and Livan Hernandez. Not only did he start the triple play, he also homered in the game. But his unconventional inside the park round-tripper made him the first big leaguer since 1955 to accomplish both feats in the same game. It’s nice to see someone on that team still showing up.

Home Run: The San Diego Padres were no ones pick to do well this year. With a lineup with no feared hitter besides Adrian Gonzalez, they looked like they’d be lucky to finish any higher than 3^rd in the NL West. But behind their absolute dominance of the Giants, the Pads are just a half game shy of the best record in the entire league. They’re doing all of this despite hitting an abysmal .240 as a team, thanks to their out-of-this-world 2.74 team ERA. The chances of keeping up that kind of a stat line are slim, but for now, the Padres are putting together an impressive run heading into the summer.

Strikin’ them out: Looks like Justin Verlander has gotten himself back on track in a hurry, putting together back to back wins against the Yankees and A’s, including 4-hitting the Athletics in a complete game against last week’s talk of the down Dallas Braden. The Tigers will need Verlander to keep this up if they’re going to stick with the Twins again in the AL Central.

Popping Up: Closers everywhere. Specifically, three of the biggest names in the game with Jonathan Papelbon, Mariano Rivera, and Trevor Hoffman all struggling tremendously. First an uncharacteristic grand slam given up by the Sandman himself, then Papelbon giving up four runs of his own to the tune of two two-run homers. Then Mo coming back the next night and blowing it. Meanwhile, the formerly ageless wonder Trevor Hoffman has now allowed more runs this season than he did all of last year. Yikes.

Caught Looking: Me. At Theo Epstein at a Pearl Jam show. Why worry about your .500 ballclub when you can rock out? I kid. Only a little.

AL Gold Glove Awards

By Dan Rodgers

2009 AL Rawlings Gold Glove Awards Review:

C: Joe Mauer (MIN) - This guy is unreal. He just won the award in back-to-back seasons with a .996 fielding percentage this year. Mauer has had no less than a .991 fielding percentage in his career. Just in case you didn't know how insane he is, not to mention he is an MVP candidate.

1B: Mark Teixeira (NYY) - Not only is this guy a great hitter, but he only committed four errors all season long to acheive a .997 fielding percentage. Some of you might wonder where Kevin Youkilis is in this conversation; well Youk played just shy of 80 games at first due to the need for him to also spend time at third. So no need to doubt Teix's crediblity, not to mention he is also an MVP candidate.

2B: Placido Polanco (DET) - This might be a surprise to most people considering reigning AL MVP Dustin Pedroia received this award last year, but this season Polanco had only two errors to Pedroia's six. Polanco's fielding percentage was also .997 to Pedroia's .991 so obviously the voters know what they're doing.

3B: Evan Longoria (TB) - This kid is going to be a staple for this award for the next 10+ years, so you best get used to seeing his name here. While he did commit 13 errors this season, one more from last year, he played in 30 more games in 2009. Also, it must be taken into consideration that while his fielding percentage might only be .970, he plays arguably the toughest fielding position in the game.

SS: Derek Jeter (NYY) - One of the best shortstops of all-time, Jeter adds to his Hall-of-Fame resume with his fourth career Gold Glove. Not typically known for fielding, Jeter had a career-low eight errors and tied his career high with a .986 fielding percentage.

OF: Torii Hunter (LAA) - Winning his ninth consecutive Gold Glove, Hunter has continually proved himself to be a stellar defensive outfielder. Only committing one error this season, Hunter had an impressive .997 fielding percentage.

OF: Ichiro Suzuki (SEA) - Like Hunter, it was also Ichiro's ninth consecutive time winning the award. These two have continued to impress and don't show signs of slowing down anytime soon. Not quite up to Hunter's level, Ichiro still posted an impressive .988 fielding percentage having only committed four errors.

OF: Adam Jones (BAL) - Orioles rising star, Jones is on the fast path towards long term success in the majors. This kid can do it all, but most impressively won his first Gold Glove in only his second full season in the majors. He had five errors and posted a respectable .986 fielding percentage to go along with his nine outfield assists.

P: Mark Buehrle (CWS) - Not one of the biggest names in the AL, Buehrle continues to show his name belongs up towards the top. He had only one error this season to go along with a perfect game and tying the record for most consecutive batters retired at 45.

Just to clarify, the Rawlings Gold Glove Award is voted on by the Managers and Coaches of each team. However, one important thing to remember is that the coach a team can't vote for a player on their own team.

Don't forget to check back tomorrow night to catch a review of the NL winners.

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