NL West Update

Takashi Saito (#08) celebrates after getting the save against the Cincinnati Reds, June 19th.

Hey everyone, it's been relatively slow in the NL West lately so I will use this post to recap what has gone down.

The Dodgers have been unable to gain any ground on the D-Backs who still seem to be riding out their tremendous April. The Dodgers called up their much-hyped (and deservedly so) prospect Clayton Kershaw a month ago. Kershaw is winless through his first 5 starts and has delivered a mixed performance. On the one hand his ERA is at a respectable 3.75 but his WHIP is currently at a rather ugly 1.58. He has also reached the 6th inning once (his first start). He's averaging about 3 walks per start which is why his WHIP is rather high and his innings are rather low. He'll be decent for the Dodgers as a #4 or #5 going forward but you should avoid him for fantasy purposes. Another reason he'll be decent for the Dodgers is because their rotation is running on fumes. Brad Penny has been pretty terrible all year and now finds himself on the DL after admitting he shouldn't have even made his last start. Poor Jason Schmidt is still recovering and doesn't really look like he'd be able to contribute until maybe mid-August. Recently Hiroki Kuroda injured his right shoulder and has landed on the DL. On the plus side, Chad Billingsly looked really good in his last start!

This pic basically sums up the NL West. Diamondback's first basemen Connor Jackson naps on the field because no one in the West is really interested in challenging the Diamondbacks for the division (Shane Victorino of the mighty Phillies can be seen crying wishing his division was more like the NL West - cheer up Shane, it basically is).

The Diamondbacks sent down prospect Max Scherzer after a cup of coffee in the bigs where he displayed the potential that warranted the hype surrounding his callup. He was sent down to get regular work as a starter. He probably won't be down for long with Micah Owings not looking so hot lately and Randy Johnson still maintaining his status as an injury risk. Everyone's favorite gritty player Eric Byrnes is expected back by Monday. Fantastic.

At one point it looked as though Dinger (the Purple Triceratops who is the official mascot of the Rockies - that's what happens when your team name is tough to personify, I personally would have liked to see Geodude as the official mascot), anyway, it looked as though Dinger was going to have to pick up a glove and play the field for the much maligned Rockies. For the first time, I'm forced to use a list to display the various injuries:

Matt Holliday
Brad Hawpe
Troy Tulowitzki
Clint Barmes
Kip Wells
Luis Vizcaino

along with Jason Hirsh who was recently activated and then optioned to Triple A fills out the list of concurrently injured Rockies. The Rockies as a benefit got to check out their minor leaguers in a major league setting. Ian Stewart has been up and playing (although irregularly) and the Rockies also called up their 2006 first round pick (#2 overall) Greg Reynolds. I've been following his starts and they seem to follow the same pattern where he's pretty effective until one inning where he gives up 3 or 4 runs. At any rate, Troy Tulowitzki is expected back for today's game and Clint Barmes is expected back shortly. The Rockies have been on a roll lately as they've slowly convalesced and have actually escaped last place in the NL West.

More interesting is as the summer trading scene develops, talks of shipping Holliday emerge. As a Rockies fan I can honestly say I don't know what to do and am glad I'm not Dan O'Dowd (their general manager). The Billy Beane in me says deal him, get a bunch of prospects and let Ian Stewart (who really has nothing left to prove in the minors) or Seth Smith man left. However, Holliday is such a valuable piece of their offense and I really feel that next season will be a good one for the Rockies in terms of having their hitting and pitching come together. Also, if anyone wants to get a Brian Fuentes jersey, do it now because he's probably not going to stick around in Colorado much longer.

Next up are the Giants. There hasn't been much to say about them. They were never mentioned in contention for the West and they've surprised everyone this year by not being dead last. Barry Zito is back in the rotation and is working on a 20 loss season. Tim Lincecum is nothing short of an absolute beast and Bengie Molina is a secret good catcher to own in fantasy leagues. Other than that there isn't much going for them and maybe 3 or 4 years from now they'll be competitive again.


Thats a picture of Chris Young, not of the San Diego Padres but of country music fame. He's presumably not on the disabled list with a broken face. The Padres regained their turf at the bottom of the NL West last night and have various problems. As alluded to, Chris Young is on the DL for who knows how long after Albert Pujols ruined him with a shot back to the face. Jake Peavy was shelved but recently came back and is looking healthy and should return to his old dominant self soon. But right before they got Peavy back, first round pick (in 1991...and by the Mariners) Shawn Estes went down with a broken thumb. Sigh.

The biggest Padres news comes from their callup of top prospect Chase Headley. After putting up some solid numbers in the minors, Padres GM Kevin Towers realized that his offense, aside from Adrian Gonzalez (and maybe Kevin Kouzmanoff) pretty much sucks. Through his first three games Chase Headley is batting .333 with a homer. He should finish the season with decent numbers but don't expect anything amazing as he strikes out a lot and is only 24.

In conclusion, look for the NL West to be present in baseball for the 2009 season.

Randolph Sent Off

Oi! I am back, after a 5 thousand year absence (or what seems to be that long). Sorry, I am not writing about the NL Central in my triumphant return. No, instead, I am writing about my favorite team, which I hate with a passion at the moment. It sucks that the Mets keep losing but I could sort of handle that since, historically, the Mets suck. But honestly, do they really think that firing Willie Randolph is going to help?

First of all, that's a horrible way to handle business; firing the guy a little after midnight, when he's hundreds of miles away from home (I'm assuming he lives in NY; makes sense, right?) And they won the game too! At least fire him after a loss if you're gonna do it at midnight on the west coast! And not only that, but like 2 or 3 weeks ago when Randolph sat down with Minaya and whoever else, Minaya said that Randolph's job was secure. I find it hard to believe that it went from secure to nonexistent in just a few weeks time; what a liar! And they also fired Rick Peterson!! Why!? I think Peterson is an excellent pitching coach. He's done a pretty good job with John Maine, and just look at how far Oliver Perez has come since that abysmal season in Pittsburgh when he was 3-13.

So I really don't think Willie deserved to get fired. Yeah, that collapse at the end of last season sucked major ass, but can you place the blame squarely on him? The Mets were in first for pretty much the entire season and then they fall apart at the last minute; to me obviously it's not something that the manager is doing wrong, otherwise they'd been losing from the start. And now you have this season and the team isn't performing up to expectations but they're only 1 game under .500; it's not like a team can't come back from that. Even if they don't, I'd have liked to see him have the opportunity to finish out the season and then get fired if thats what they want to do.

I guess living in NY I should come to expect things like this, since you're supposed to be amazing all the time, just like last season when the yankees were sucking everyone was talking about firing Torre. I'll leave you guys with just one name to say.....Bobby Valentine!

Man Crush Time!

Lance Berkman, how do i love thee? Let me count the ways:

Projected 2008 stats:
in 66 games, the big puma has batted .366 with 19 home runs and 57 rbi's, so to put that in perspective his projected stats read something along this line.
~ 50 HR 150 rbis and a .366 BA
that doesnt even count in the 10 steals and 62 runs hes scored up to this point.

Berkman is notorious for his every other year dominance:(2007 stats

2006 stats
)
and you would be right to think that this year can be historic, and is a Chipper Jones quad tear away from being a legit candidate for the triple crown.
Of course it cant hurt that i own him in my big money yahoo league this year, right?

Recommendation:
TRADE HIM! If your a puma owner like myself, there is no reason to not pursue a deal. During the height of his power streak i was offered berkman and dice k for james shields tim hudson carlos lee and derrek lee.

the only reason why the deal didnt go thru was because the other owner took back the offer for fear of giving me too much value.

If your one of the owners who decides to keep the number one player in the game, enjoy the ride because this will be a magical ride.


look out for the flashing the leather midseason invitational. details coming soon!

Focker out

Griffey Launches Number 600

Ken Griffey Jr. hits number 600 in the first inning
against the Florida Marlins in the first inning yesterday.



Ken Griffey Jr. ended the nine days of waiting and hit career home run number 600 off of Florida Marlins pitcher Mark Hendrickson today as Junior's Cincinnati Reds defeated the Marlins 9-4. He joins only Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Sammy Sosa, and Barry Bonds as the only players to ever reach the 600 home run plateau.

It's hard to wonder where Griffey, 39, would have ended up had his career not been deterred by injuries. It also makes you wonder that around now maybe Griffey would be challenging Barry Bonds' record and maybe steroids wouldn't be such a prevalent topic knowing that the player holding the record had done it legitimately.

Until Alex Rodriguez hit his prime, Griffey was the most complete baseball player I ever saw and probably ever will. In 1999, many fans thought so too as he was voted to the MasterCard Major League Baseball All-Century Team. At 29-years-old he was the youngest player on that list, today he remains the list's only active player.

How can I be so sure he was clean? Well I don't know about you but I'll always remember Griffey being that lanky kid on the Seattle Mariners with that effortless stride, perfect swing and keen baseball sense (and Junior's baseball game for the Nintendo 64, it wasn't great, but it wasn't "Mike Piazza's Strike Zone" either). He'll always be that 25-year-old kid with a smile on his face, his cap backward, and that awkward yet strangely smooth batting stance. He's a little heavier now but nothing questionable and still has that beautiful swing.

As a Met fan, I'll remember Edgar Martinez's double in the 9th inning against the Yankees in the 1995 ALDs when Griffey slid into home to score the winning run and completed the 0-2 series comeback. The Mariners were bounced in the ALCs that year and the Atlanta Braves won the World Series, but I still remember that moment like it was yesterday. Forget that Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire home run race of 1998, it was the complete talent of Griffey and the dominance of teammate Randy Johnson that revived the game from 1995-1998 after the strike.

Now why do most people not remember it this way? Outside of the commercials and the video games, he never desired the attention. In fact back in January of 1988 , only a few months after the Mariners took in in the first pick of the 1987 amateur draft, he attempted suicide by swallowing 277 aspirin. He struggled to cope with the overwhelming media attention, he was only 19 when he found himself on the 1989 Mariners opening day roster.

It would of been a great thing had the Mariners actually been a decent team this year as Junior had suggested finishing his career in Seattle. But the Mariners aren't close to making a run and remain one of the worst teams in baseball. But it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for him to rejoin the team as a first baseman with both his and Richie Sexson's contract ending.

Go on Griffey, enjoy the attention you deserve.

"Fly, Fly Away!"


Statistics and courtesy of baseball-reference.com, picture and other information courtesy of mlb.com

I went to sleep in Shreveport, Woke up in Abilene

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Just a quick AL West update to note a couple of great games last night. This will also be a good time for me to bring up the idea of Pure Quality Starts (PQS for short). PQS is a system of scoring a pitcher's starts, based on a number of factors (longevity, hit and homerun prevention and dominance of the strike zone) and is quantitatively scored between 0 and 5 for all starts. A score of 4 or 5 indicates a "dominance" start, whereas a score of 0 or 1 indicates a "disaster" start. For more information on how to score PQS, please go to http://baseballhq.com/tour/pqs.shtml.In my opinion, it is a much better way of looking at a pitcher's performance than the more traditional Quality Start stat (which measures simply how long he pitches and how many runs he has yielded).

In a marquee (sort of) matchup (first and second place teams with their #1 starters), John Lackey and the California Angels took on Joe Blanton and Connie Mack's Kansas City Athletics. Personally, I am not a huge fan of Blanton, but I do love Lackey, who has been brilliant since returning from the disabled list (1.70 ERA, 0.946 WHIP over 5 starts). The Angels took this one 3-1 in just over two hours.

Lackey (2-1) PQSed a 5 with a 7 inning gem (7 IP; 4 H; 5 K; 0 BB; 1 ER), yielding a homerun to Jack Cust and not much else.

Blanton (3-8) also pitched very well through 7 innings (7 IP; 7 H; 1 BB; 3 K; 3 R - 2 ER), PQSing 4, but took a hard-luck loss.

K-Rod also notched his 25th save.


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Felix Hernandez (4-5) PQSed a 4 with a 6 inning performance (6 IP; 6 H; 3 BB; 5 K; 0 R) and Sean Green and Ryan Rowland-Smith relieved him to finish the shutout of the Red Sox 8-0.

Finally, Scott Kazmir (6-1) dominated the Rangers for 8 innings (8 IP; 6 H; 0 BB; 6 K; 2 R), PQSing a 5 in the process as well. He's been brilliant since beginning the season on the disabled list as well (7 starts, 1.40 ERA, 0.911 WHIP).

All in all, a pretty exciting night for pitching fans in the AL West.

On another note, what are anyone else's thoughts on the Quality Start vs. Pure Quality Start topic?

1-http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/03KN64GaYN8Oc/610x.jpg
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The Book of Joba

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AL East Update:

If you've been in a cave for the last two weeks or so, you might not know that Yankees phenom (and True Yankee?) Joba Chamberlain is finally scheduled to start a game tomorrow at Yankee Stadium against Roy Halladay the Toronto Blue Jays.

Chamberlain (1-2; 2.28 ERA; 1.14 WHIP), who I dislike enough to mispronounce his name "Joe Ba" or call simply "#62," has dazzled opponents so far this season over 23 2/3 innings and 20 appearances. His K-rate (11.4/9-IP) is roughly the same as last season (12.75), but his BB rate, (4.2/9-IP), is much higher than last year's (2.25). Even still, at just 22 years old, his 30/11 K/BB ratio suggest that he'll be a top-flight pitcher for years to come.

Halladay (6-5), for his part, is relatively quietly putting together what should be considered a Cy Young Award candidate type of year (2.93 ERA; 0.99 WHIP; 89 IP; 5 CG; 71/11 K/BB).

On a related note, I'll be in attendance at this one.




1-http://www.beatricebaseball.com/Pages/Pictures_2005_files/Chamberlain_cropped.JPG

Former Big Leaguer Geremi Gonzalez Killed by Lightning Strike

Former Major League Geremi Gonzalez passed away last Sunday when the boat he was sailing in his native Zulia, Venezuela, was tragically struck by lightning.

Gonzalez, 33, began his career with the Chicago Cubs (2007-2008) and has also had stints with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2003-2004), Boston Red Sox (2005), New York Mets (2006) and Milwaukee Brewers (2006). In 2007, he was signed to play for the Yomiuri Giants of Japan's Central League.

His best year was his rookie season with the Cubs when he went 11-9 with a 4.25 ERA and 93 strikeouts in 144 innings pitched. That year he finished ninth in the Rookie of the Year voting. For Geremi's career he is 30-35 with a 4.93 ERA and 354 strikeouts in 573.1 innings pitched.

I know him best as being one of the Met's circle of fifth starters in 2006, a group that included Oliver Perez, John Maine, Gonzalez, Brian Bannister, and Jose Lima. He never pitched that well for the Mets but he wasn't Jose Lima so that gets some points in my book.

Gonzalez went by the spelling of his first name as "Jeremi" early in his career as a more Americanized spelling. He decided to go by the traditional "Geremi" starting in 2006.

Cubs GM Jim Hendry expressed his sadness in an article for espn.com:

"The Chicago Cubs are very saddened today to learn of Geremi Gonzalez's sudden passing. Geremi began his career as a Cub, leading our pitching staff with 11 wins as a rookie in 1997 and, despite an arm injury, helping the club early in the season a year later to an eventual postseason appearance. The organization sends its heartfelt condolences to his family."

"He was so much fun to be around. He was always happy, always smiling," Brewers manager Ned Yost said, in an article for The Capital Times based out of Madison, Wisconsin. "He was a guy that could scare real easy and then horse laugh. He was just one of those guys that when he saw you, he always had a smile on his face."


Rest in Peace.


Statistics and information courtesy of espn.com, wikipedia.com, and madison.com. Picture courtesy of graphics.jsonline.com.

Mike Piazza Retires after 19 Seasons

Statement courtesy of Adam Rubin and the Daily News

Mike Piazza officially retired from baseball today. Here’s a statement, released through his agent Dan Lozano:

After 19 wonderful years, I have come to the decision to officially retire from Major League Baseball. At this point in my career and after discussing my options with my wife, family and agent, I felt it is time to start a new chapter in my life. It has been an amazing journey and everything I have, I owe to God, for without His help, none of this would be possible. He blessed me with the ability to play the greatest game in the world and it has been a dream come true.

In June of this year, it will be 20 years ago when the Los Angeles Dodgers organization selected me in the 62nd round of the amateur draft and I’m sure neither of us saw this coming.

I would like to start off by thanking Peter O’Malley and the Dodger organization for giving me the opportunity 20 years ago…you gave me birth to a life that never in my wildest dreams did I think was possible.

I’d like to thank Fred Wilpon, Nelson Doubleday and the New York Mets organization for giving me an opportunity to fulfill yet another dream, playing in a World Series. Steve Phillips, for not just bringing me to New York, but for having the confidence and vision to keep me in a Met uniform long-term. Within the eight years I spent in New York, I was able to take a different look at the game of baseball…I wasn’t just a young kid that was wet behind the ears anymore - I was learning from other veteran guys like Johnny Franco, who taught me how to deal with the pressures of playing in New York and Al Leiter who knew what it took to win a World Championship. That knowledge is what helped me play for as long as I have and enjoy the career that I had. I’d like to thank New York Mets clubhouse manager, Charlie Samuels for always being on the same page and one step ahead of me.

Kevin Towers and Mr. Wolff are two gentlemen that I wish to thank for allowing me to keep the sun from setting just a little while longer. To all of my teammates with whom I shared the field of battle, thanks for the countless memories.

To the managers along the way that brought out the best in me - Tommy Lasorda, Bobby Valentine, Art Howe…and in limited time together, Jim Leyland, Willie Randolph, Bruce Bochy and Bob Geren - it was a pleasure playing for all of you. I’d also like to thank all of the major and minor league staffs that played a part in the development of my career - I couldn’t have done it without all of you.

To the media - I thank you for the overall fairness of your reporting throughout my career, although erroneous at times, I think we had a pretty good relationship over the years and some of you I’ll never forget.

I’d like to thank my agent, Dan Lozano and everyone else behind the scenes at the Beverly Hills Sports Council for taking care of me my entire career. Danny is like a brother to me and without his guidance and patience, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

To my family who I love so much…mom and dad, you always believed in me, sometimes more than I believed in myself…you were always there with love and support. To my brothers, for always being in my corner, no matter what. Being able to share the joys of being a big leaguer with you guys over all of these years made my career, our career…and I don’t think it would have been the same any other way.

My beautiful wife Alicia. These last few years were as new for you as they were for me. Through the different cities and the birth of our amazing daughter, Nicoletta, I am eternally grateful to have you by my side. The thought of what the future has in store for us, brings a smile to my face because I can’t wait to start the newest chapter of both our lives, together. You truly are an angel and I am blessed to have you as my wife. I love you.

Last but certainly not least, I can’t say goodbye without thanking the fans. I can’t recall a time in my career where I didn’t feel embraced by all of you. Los Angeles, San Diego, Oakland and Miami - whether it was at home or on the road, you were all so supportive over the years. But I have to say that my time with the Mets wouldn’t have been the same without the greatest fans in the world. One of the hardest moments of my career, was walking off the field at Shea Stadium and saying goodbye. My relationship with you made my time in New York the happiest of my career and for that, I will always be grateful.

So today, I walk away with no regrets. I knew this day was coming and over the last two years, I started to make my peace with it. For 19 years, I gave it my all and left everything on the field.

God bless and thanks for a wonderful ride.

Here's a fan-recorded view of the video tribute to Mike Piazza at Shea, his final day as a Met: