biggentleben

Absolutely horrible news. Just when you would think life is on an upswing, a tragedy happens. Definitely praying for his wife and the rest of their family.

I am fairly certain Span and Parmelee would not net you James Shields. It would take more than that.

Ding, ding, ding! The more and more I read about Yunel Escobar the less I want him. He's an awful clubhouse guy and some of his teammate's have gone as far to say, "What will he screw up this game?" Yunel isn't a Ray, he's a Jay, but he's also a pretty trashy human being as well.

Shame for him. He came back so strong this year, but he was leaned on too hard by the Braves because they just didnt have anyone else at the time after losing Beachy. I'd love to see him try again in 2013 as his stuff was still strong, but it just wasn't the 2004 Ben Sheets we saw anymore

The Nationals don't belong in the top 3...they were expected to finish first in the NL East in many national papers with a wild card prediction by pretty much everywhere that I read.

We posted this just a bit ago, but my answer is obvious - just look at my sig.

6 of the last 10 Triple Crown winners have not won the MVP.

He's having the greatest 60 innings ever for a reliever. Sixty. understandable, which is why he won't win, but just saying that if other relievers have won it on similar usage, he should certainly have a shot.

I posted mine in the awards thread in the "more baseball" board, but I've changed my thinking a bit (and may again before the end of the season Wednesday): AL MVP: Trout NL MVP: Braun AL CY: Justin Verlander NL CY: RA Dickey (I really, really would like to see Craig Kimbrel get votes as he is having arguably the greatest season ever for a reliever, but I think there's too many storylines with Dickey and Gio to get him over the hill, and I like RA better in that argument as he could possibly win the NL pitching triple crown - wins, K's, ERA) AL ROY: Mike Trout, should be easily unanimous NL ROY: Harper (been impressed with his late season resurgence while Frazier sat the bench and Miley has just been okay) AL MOY: Buck NL MOY: Johnson AL CBPY: Edwin Encarnacion (barely ahead of Fernando Rodney) NL CBPY: Martin Prado (though I get anyone voting Posey)

I still am humored that less than a week of intense workouts is too tough for professional athletes to endure. I think if I were one of the Pirates who complained about this, I would be ashamed that it has been a national news story as it sure knocks off my ability to claim superiority for my athletic abilities when 40+ states feature Navy-certified trainers who provide SEALS-type training to the average person and typically have to turn people away from each session for excess demand.

Hmmm...I have some arguments on these... The Rollie Fingers award - Brian Wilson hasn't pitched all year and Sergio Romo has as good or better a beard in the same exact bullpen, so I'd go Romo The Mickey Hatcher Award should be known as the Shane Victorino award just because he's so universally hated by his teammates and opponents that he was allowed to run out a home run on a foul ball as no one told him different, including his own coaches as he rounded the bases. He's also the one who famously stepped into a catcher's throw back to the pitcher, creating one of the greatest gif's of all time. The Rick Reuschel award not going to Bartolo Colon or CC Sabathia is an upset.

That's an old push on him, not the truth since he's been with the Angels. His 2011 was skewed by an oblique injury issue, but in second halfs that he's been somewhat healthy as an Angel, it's fairly significantly opposite...: 2012: 1.37 lower ERA, 0.29 lower WHIP in second half than first 2010: 1.02 lower ERA, 0.13 lower WHIP in second half than first:

I hate this logic. A team does not have to make the playoffs for a player to have been the most valuable to his team in the league. The Angels, Tigers, and Yankees could all miss the playoffs or could all make it going into the last four games of the season. So, each of them was the integral piece of a contender. That's what an MVP is. If they don't make the playoffs, that doesn't fall on any of those three players. Different strokes for different folks. If the Twins did not have Willingham for example they would have probably lost 115 games. Should he be the MVP? No. He is valuable, but not the MOST valuable (same thing with McCutchen and Wright in the NL.) It is not the "best" player, it is the most valuable player. And unless a team goes to the postseason any value any player gives to his team is bettered by another one. That's my opinion. Let's agree to disagree. And pitchers have won this award as well. I think that the game needs something analogous to the Cy Young award for the best hitter. Call it the "Babe Ruth". (in that case, my votes for the Babe Ruth award winners would have been Trout and David Wright.) The difference being that I'm not advocating for David Wright or Andrew McCutchen for MVP. We're talking about 3 guys all on teams contending until the last week. Not one guy on a team that won 110 games whose team was clearly pushed beyond all others by his stellar season. The Yankees could miss the entire playoffs...does that make Cano less valuable? Likewise with the Tigers and Cabrera. I can understand those who say that a guy can't win it when his team is nowhere near contention, but these three are all on legit contenders. The way they're playing right now, I'd much rather play the Yankees than the Angels, yet the Angels have a better chance to be watching after next Wednesday. It's a bit like the World Series. The World Series winner is not the best team in baseball. It's the team that won a tournament at the end of the season. Heck, the Rays might be playing the best of any team in baseball in the last 3 weeks into the season. The Cardinals took that momentum and won the tournament last year. Who's to say one of the teams playing in the BSOGPIE (Bud Selig One Game Play In Extravaganza) won't win it all? Does that mean the Braves are better than the Nationals this year? Or the A's are better than the Rangers? The best player in the playoffs gets awards, so we shouldn't base the MVP on playoff teams only. I agree that the team should be a bona fide contender, but playoffs aren't a requirement in my book.

I hate this logic. A team does not have to make the playoffs for a player to have been the most valuable to his team in the league. The Angels, Tigers, and Yankees could all miss the playoffs or could all make it going into the last four games of the season. So, each of them was the integral piece of a contender. That's what an MVP is. If they don't make the playoffs, that doesn't fall on any of those three players.

Let me put it this way: I've seen plenty of Kendrick in the minors and majors around here. And there is a very good Twins comparable: Anthony Swarzak. Matter of fact, I think Swarzak has better stuff. Kendrick would be a huge huge mistake. Interesting, as I've seen a number of Cloyd's starts on milb.tv this year (great investment, btw), and I compare him strongly to a minor league version of Kevin Slowey.

Batting average is not overrated. The issue is that the Sids of the world will tell you that batting average alone will tell you something. Along with Chief's mention of OBP/SLG, it is important to note a BABIP for a guy. Someone like Mike Napoli who runs about as well as Fridge Perry sporting a .320 average looks like a great season until you note that his BABIP was 44 points higher than his career number. Lo and behold, he's back to the .250-.270 hitter he's been most of his career this season.

I could see Boston throwing way too much money at him for him to ignore, but the last guy they signed for big money from the Angels exploded on them, so there could be a worry. If I'm Haren's agent, and he is let go by the Angels, I find the NL team who would give him a one year, $10-15M deal to regain his value, then hit the market for one last "big" contract at 33.

Tom Gorzelanny, come on down!

Really? You had to google Carroll and Marquis?!

I actually just wrote up Wade Davis as a possiblity in the Handbook last night. Good catch. If you're looking for a write up on Tommy Hanson, let me know. I can fairly easily diagram what is right and wrong about him in Atlanta right now, and why he (to me) is a huge buy-low guy. At his true performance level, he's worth Span plus a big time prospect, but I honestly feel that right now, he and Span would be a fairly even trade, with the Braves possibly even mixing and matching prospects in the deal to balance it out.

BJ Upton is a free agent. The Rays cannot trade him this offseason.

Braves are pitching-heavy and if they don't outbid others for Bourn, Span would be a smart choice in their current roster construction focus. They probably have 3-4 guys who could be starting pitchers right now in many places but won't be such for them in 2013, nevermind guys like Brandon Beachy coming back from surgery midseason.

I'm obviously biased, but after the umps took away Bobby Cox's opportunity to go out on top, so I would love to see Chipper (Bobby's last draft pick as GM) go out on top. The thing that separates for me in the playoffs are the bullpens. Last year, the Cardinals entire bullpen seemed to be clicking as they entered the playoffs along with their rotation going fairly deep into games, even if they weren't throwing shutouts each game. The Braves 4 playoff starters (Medlen, Hudson, Minor, Maholm) are all getting deep into games, the bullpen is going very well, and they're putting Tommy Hanson into the bullpen as a strong arm that could go more than an inning if needed.

zero Thanks. I know it's not definitive -- and not the only reason for thinking Miggy should be the MVP -- but it does look like that combination of high average and HR's has become somewhat magical. Not exactly. In the last 20 years, 27 times a player has led his league in either BA or HR and finished in the top 10 of the other stat: Matt Kemp 2011 - 3rd BA, 1st HR Miguel Cabrera 2011 - 1st BA, 10th HR Josh Hamilton 2010 - 1st BA, 5th HR Carlos Gonzalez 2010 - 1st BA, 4th HR Albert Pujols 2010 - 6th BA, 1st HR Albert Pujols 2009 - 3rd BA, 1st HR Magglio Ordonez 2007 - 1st BA, 7th HR Matt Holliday 2007 - 1st BA, 4th HR Ryan Howard 2006 - 9th BA, 1st HR Alex Rodriguez 2005 - 2nd BA, 1st HR Derrek Lee 2005 - 1st BA, 2nd HR Barry Bonds 2004 - 1st BA, 2nd HR Adrian Beltre 2004 - 4th BA, 1st HR Albert Pujols 2003 - 1st BA, 4th HR Barry Bonds 2002 - 1st BA, 4th HR Manny Ramirez 2002 - 1st BA, 9th HR Barry Bonds 2001 - 7th BA, 1st HR Alex Rodriguez 2001 - 7th BA, 1st HR Larry Walker 2001 - 1st BA, 9th HR Larry Walker 1999 - 1st BA, 10th HR Larry Walker 1997 - 2nd BA, 1st HR Frank Thomas 1997 - 1st BA, 7th HR Dante Bichette 1995 - 3rd BA, 1st HR Albert Belle 1995 - 8th BA, 1st HR Ken Griffey, Jr. 1994 - 9th BA, 1st HR Barry Bonds 1993 - 4th BA, 1st HR Gary Sheffield 1992 - 1st Ba, 3rd HR

Thorough, well thought, deeply intriguing, and underlined argument. Nice work. https://www.google.com/search?q=Absolutely+nothing.+Say+it+again%2C+y%27all. In case that was needed. Oh, I knew the reference quite well.