MLB MVP races

By Dan Rodgers

They haven't announced awards yet, but I'm going to offer my soon-to-be-considered expert opinion.

So, in my soon-to-be-considered expert opinion, pitchers should not be eligible for the Most Valuable Player award. The MVP award goes to the most outstanding, or valuable, player in each league. The Cy Young award is to honor the best pitcher in each league. Why should pitchers be eligible for both awards when there is no MVP-type award specifically for position players.

NOTE: The Hank Aaron Award is given to the player with the best offensive season, but was initially introduced in 1999 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Hank Aaron surpassing Babe Ruth and becoming the home run king. I don't think of this award on the same level as the MVP or Cy Young Award.

Because of my feelings on this, I will not be including pitchers in the decision for MVP.

The National League MVP is really only between two players: Matt Kemp, OF Los Angeles Dodgers and Ryan Braun, OF Milwaukee Brewers.

Braun: .332 BA 33 HR 111 RBI 33 SB .397 OBP .597 SLG 58 BB 93 SO - 1 E
Kemp: .324 BA 39 HR 126 RBI 40 SB .399 OBP .586 SLG 74 BB 159 SO - 5 E

As you can see, they have very similar statistics. A few things stand out to me, Braun has a higher average, less strikeouts and less errors. Clearly the differences aren't much, but that combined with Braun leading his team to the playoffs for the first time since 2008 and their first division title in over a decade makes me lean in his direction. Don't get me wrong, Kemp is a great player, but I think the Dodgers finishing in third in one of baseball's less competitive divisions is going to hurt his chances.

NOTE: Given that Matt Kemp has now won the 2011 Hank Aaron Award, chances are he will not win the MVP.

NL MVP: Ryan Braun, OF Milwaukee Brewers

The American League MVP is a bit more competitive. The Yankees have two candidates (Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson), the Red Sox have two more (Jacoby Ellsbury and Adrian Gonzalez), and the Blue Jays have one more (Jose Bautista). That's five alone in the AL East. The last candidate is Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers.

Granderson: .262 BA 41 HR 119 RBI 25 SB .364 OBP .552 SLG 85 BB 169 SO - 3 E
Cano: .302 BA 28 HR 118 RBI 8 SB .349 OBP .533 SLG 38 BB 96 SO - 10 E
Ellsbury: .321 BA 32 HR 105 RBI 39 SB .376 OBP .552 SLG 52 BB 98 SO - 0 E
Gonzalez: .338 BA 27 HR 117 RBI 1 SB .410 OBP .548 SLG 74 BB 119 SO - 4 E
Bautista: .302 BA 43 HR 103 RBI 9 SB .447 OBP .608 SLG 132 BB 111 SO - 6 E
Cabrera: .344 BA 30 HR 105 RBI 2 SB .448 OBP .586 SLG 108 BB 89 SO - 13 E

As you can see, all of the candidates had phenomenal seasons. Most voters take into consideration whether or not the player's team made the playoffs and how they did. The Red Sox and Blue Jays did not make the playoffs, and Boston's historic collapse might hinder the chances of Ellsbury and Gonzalez. Cabrera and Cano both had respectable postseasons, offensively, and Granderson made a few game-saving catches that kept the Yanks in it.

NOTE: Jose Bautista won the Hank Aaron Award for the AL, and Jacoby Ellsbury was named the Comeback Player of the Year so neither of them will probably win MVP.

AL MVP: Miguel Cabrera, 1B Detroit Tigers

@dhrodgers

Rodgers That

MLB Season Surprises

By Dan Rodgers

We are almost an entire month into the MLB season. There have been a few surprises so let's talk about 'em.

Records

• The Indians (12-5) lead the Royals (11-6) by one game in the AL Central
• The Indians (12-5) and Rockies (12-5) are tied for the best record in the Bigs
  
• The Yankees (9-6) are the only AL East team over .500
• The Red Sox (5-10) have the second worst record in the Majors
• The Pirates (8-9) are one game back of the division lead

Stats

• Athletics pitcher Gio Gonzalez is 2-0 with a 0.47 ERA. He has given up one run in 19 innings of work
• Matt Kemp, Starlin Castro, and Joey Votto are the only qualifying players with averages over .400
• Three Yankees have five or more homers
• Colorado's Troy Tulowitzki leads the majors with seven home runs
• Two Royals are top five in the AL in batting average, Alex Gordon and Billy Butler
• Even though the Red Sox suck, they lead the Majors in fewest errors thus far (6)
• A fun one: Oakland's Daric Barton leads the MLB with 4.96 pitches per at bat

Fantasy

• Dan Haren and Jered Weaver, both Angels, are 4-0 and are the second and third best fantasy players, respectively
• Now on the Cardinals, Lance Berkman is the sixth best fantasy player with six home runs and an over .300 average
• The Pirates have two players, Jose Tabata and Neil Walker, in the top 20 best fantasy players

^Fantasy ranks based on Yahoo! rankings.

I'll pop up with more stuff like this later in the season. Also, later this week I'll have some predictions for this season.

Rodgers That

NL West

By Dr. Jekyll,

NL West

The most exciting division in baseball, as opposed to a few years back when they toiled in mediocrity, now all teams are equally viable as top tier clubs. Top to bottom this is a good division, with only the bottom team really missing any truly noticeable pieces.

San Diego Padres: If anyone you know says they had the Padres making the playoffs, they lied. Really, no one saw this coming. As I write this I’m waiting for them to fall out of the top spot. And I still think they will by the end of the year. But that’s how you get the “us against the world” mentality that breeds Cinderella stories like this. Adrian Gonzalez deserves this team. This rotation of journeymen and young guns deserves the success. But the feel good story can’t go on, right?

San Francisco Giants: Matt Cain. Tim Lincecum. Barry Zito being a respectable number three. Aubrey Huff turning it on back like he used to with the Rays. And all this success with Kung Fu Panda slumping. The Giants are doing all they can to keep in this race, and they’ll probably be able to grab a playoff spot, be it in a wildcard showdown with their own division and the folks out east or a final over the hump push to the division crown.

Los Angeles Dodgers: This was a power hitting lineup that short circuited. Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsly need to stay strong to make the necessary run at the playoffs. This powerful outfield has been struggling a tremendous amount, and injuries to Manny Ramirez certainly don’t help that cause. Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, and James Loney are as solid a middle as anywhere in the league. If the pitching can stay strong til Manny gets back, they’ll make a nice playoff run.

Colorado Rockies: Ubaldo Jimenez was all-time good. Like, absolute incredible for-the-ages good. And then the all-star break happened. The early year Dark Horse Cy Young emerged as one of the best pitchers in baseball. But that sort of dominance, with modern day players and scouting reports, isn’t going to last a season. The Rockies are a slightly above average team with a great foundation to remain competitive over many seasons. But with the Dodgers doing so well while struggling and the unbelievable year in San Diego, Colorado looks like tough luck losers. Carlos Gonzalez and Ian Stewart are both young foundation players who will be the envy of the league a few years from now, but just not this season.

Arizona Diamondbacks: This pitching staff has the worst ERA in the bigs, and nowhere near the offense to make up for that. Dontrelle Willis proved he’s still a bust after that one year in Florida, the bullpen blows leads like they’re paid by the earned run, and Dan Haren has had a year to forget. Apart from using for former member of Oakland's "big 3" as trade bait, the desert is out of good story lines until football season.

Rounding the bases

By Dr. Jekyll

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

Single: Good for you Barry Zito. You get a single. Do you deserve this single after your past three years? No, you don’t “deserve it”. You were paid to do it, and for the first time in a long time you’re producing. But now that you are, it’s at an elite level again: 5-0, 1.49 ERA, curveball once again one of the strongest in the bigs. This is the Barry Zito we knew and loved. And while that $126 mill will forever be regretted by the Giants, you and Timmy have put together another set of absolutely vicious top of the order starters in the division.

Double: As in the ones coming off the bat of the middle of the Tigers order. If Verlander can get his act together and Dontrelle Willis or anyone else in that mess of a pitching staff get their act together, this is a potent lineup. Between Miguel Cabrerra, Austin Jackson, and Brandon Inge, this team has enough solid pieces to be able to give the Twins a run if they can get the help on top of the rotation. Until then, the middle of this tiger lineup will find itself clawing to stay in contention as the season wears on.

Triple: To the lead leader in the category, and a pleasantly not-awful team this season, Nyjer Morgan. The Nat’s have a winning record after the first month, a solid man in the leadoff order, and Stephen Strasburg is inching closer and closer to the rotation. With Livan Hernandez throwing like a 50 year old with a record of a man still in his prime, all’s unexpectedly well in the nation’s capital.

Home Run: On a team with Matt Kemp and Man-Ram patrolling the outfield, you’d think it would be easy to overlook Andre Ethier. But he’s making that quite difficult. In addition to leading the Dodgers in all three triple crown categories, he’s also either tied for the league lead or leading in the same for the entire National League. Ethier had a very respectable sluggers year last time around, but with 32 RBI’s through 31 games, the kid is playing out of his mind.

Strikin’ them out: With no offense to Will Ferrell, Francisco Liriano is on an absolute tear in the American League. An afterthought in the Twins organization after releasing Johan Santana, Liriano is having a bounce back year so far in an incredibly winnable division. As though the 4-1 record and 1.19 WHIP aren’t impressive enough on their own, Liriano also treated us to a dazzling 23 straight scoreless innings for a three week span to chop in with a sub 2.50 ERA. If Liriano keeps this pace up the Twins can be a real threat with him starting a series come playoff time. Johan who?

Popping Up: The Seattle Mariners went from being a trendy pick to take the division to the makings of another disappointing season. Cliff Lee is looking at a Zack Greinke scenario, all the stats but no W’s. King Felix and Lee are being absolutely robbed. As the Red Sox have demonstrated this season as well, the pitching and defense is swell, but not at the cost of no offensive production. There is no pop in that lineup, and in a year where the division looks to be one of the worst in baseball, there is no excuse for them not to turn this around soon.

Caught Looking: It was going to be the Rays, as they’ve absolutely torn through the first month of the season so far. But now they’re the ones looking, at a spot in the record books and at a whole bunch o’ pitches. Just a few months short of a year after being shown perfection by Mark Buehrle, they replicated the feat with a far less renown pitches, Dallas Braden of the Oakland A’s. His season split isn’t that fantastic, but you have to take a note of perfection when the opportunity arises. The A’s have plenty of pitchers capable in the future of putting together these sorts of records, and it’s always a nice reminder to watch Moneyball at its best. Congrats Braden.

NL Gold Glove Awards

By Dan Rodgers

2009 NL Rawlings Gold Glove Awards Review:

C: Yadier Molina (STL) - One of the famous Molina brothers, Yadier is the most heralded for his ability behind the plate. He only made five errors behind the plate this year and recorded an impressive .995 fielding percentage. I don't see who else might deserve this award more than him.

1B: Adrian Gonzalez (SD) - Like Molina, it was also Gonzalez's second time winning the award. Sticking with the similarities to Molina, Gonzalez also recorded a .995 fielding percentage but with seven errors. This guy has a bright future on a below average -- at best -- team.

2B: Orlando Hudson (LAD) - Unlike the AL, the NL has a bit younger list with Hudson winning the award for the fourth time, more than any other of this year's NL winners.

3B: Ryan Zimmerman (WAS) - A bright young star, it was only Zim's first time winning this defensive award. Zim did commit 17 errors but similar to Longoria, his fielding percentage was a close second at .963. This guy, also like Longoria, will be a staple for this award for years to come as he only gets better at every aspect of his game.

SS: Jimmy Rollins (PHI) - Going to the World Series in consecutive seasons, Rollins was a large part of why that happened. His impecible defense, only six errors, is just one reason why he is an elite shortstop in the majors.

OF: Shane Victorino (PHI) - The only "veteran" in this extremely young outfield group, Victorino brings this award home for the second time and is showing everyone why he deserves to be a starter in this league.

OF: Michael Bourn (HOU) - The Phillies may have pulled a rabbit out of their hat with Victorino, but the Astros showed the Phillies they missed out on someone with Bourn. This kid can play some defense, a .992 fielding percentage. Oh and by the way, he can also steal bases at an alarming rate (61 steals - 2nd in MLB). He is quickly becoming an all-around player.

OF: Matt Kemp (LAD) - Kemp is a rising star for L.A. and had only two errors spending time in both center and right field. Not the best mentor in left field, Kemp will hopefully admire Manny's stats and not his attitude. Look for this kid to shine for years to come.

P: Adam Wainwright (STL) - Not only did he win 19 games this season, a career high, but he also did not commit a single error all year. He is one of the main reasons the Cards made it as far as they did and deserves this award just as much as the next the eight players above him.

Keep an eye out for other awards (MVP, Cy Young) to awarded later in the year.

Rodgers That