Bored

ESPN is already doing the "Chasing Bonds" treatment for Albert Pujols but it really should be "Chasing Wagner." According to HardballTimes.com Pujols is on pace to tie Honus Wagner's single season record of 59 Win Shares set back in 1908. I am outraged the media is ignoring this potential historic event. Come on the homerun record has been broken twice in the last eight years, the Win Shares record hasn't been broken in 98 years! Don't you remember as a kid always wondering if someone would reach that magical #59? Anyways no shock at all who's #1 in the N.L. still and I might as well give the entire Top 10 to Pujols. Not much else of note, two drop out and one of the "Most Overrated Players in Baseball" cracks to the Top 10. Drop Outs: Carlos Delgado, Carlos Lee #10 Bobby Abreu, Phillies .276/.447/.503, 36 RC, .316 EQA, 13.8 VORP, 10 Win Shares #9 Chase Utley, Phillies .328/.406/.554, 35 RC, .298 EQA, 18.9 VORP, 10 Win Shares #8 Bronson Arroyo, Reds 195 ERA+, 3.79 K/BB, 1.06 WHIP, 26.7 VORP, 8 Win Shares #7 Carlos Beltran, Mets .259/.382/.600, 32 RC, .324 EQA, 20.6 VORP, 9 Win Shares #6 Morgan Ensberg, Astros .272/.403/.627, 36 RC, .322 EQA, 20.8 VORP, 9 Win Shares #5 Miguel Cabrera, Marlins .335/.432/.599, 41 RC, .338 EQA, 25.4 VORP, 8 Win Shares #4 Tom Glavine Mets 167 ERA+, 2.32 K/BB, 1.13 WHIP, 23.0 VORP, 9 Win Shares #3 Lance Berkman, Astros .296/.375/.605, 40 RC, .307 EQA, 17.1 VORP, 11 Win Shares #2 Brandon Webb, Diamondbacks 191 ERA+, 6.00 K/BB, 1.10 WHIP, 28.1 VORP, 9 Win Shares #1 .323/.450/.804, 58 RC, .365 EQA, 37.8 VORP, 17 Win Shares On the A.L. side there's a lot of change with five players dropping out from last week with a couple of familiar faces jumping in including Baseball Jesus himself. But the #1 spot stays the same and even though Thome isn't blowing away the rest of the league like Pujols he definently has a comfortable edge right now. Of course a name you will not see anywhere on this list is the WORST PLAYER EVER, MR. UNCLUTCH A-FRAUD!!!!! God damn how is he not playing in Single-A now? How do the Yankees win any games with him dragging down the club? Drop Outs: Jonny Gomes, Vernon Wells, Alexis Rios, Nick Swisher, Ramon Hernandez #10 Jose Lopez, Mariners .292/.322/.497, 40 RC, .284 EQA, 15.8 VORP, 10 Win Shares #9 Jose Contreras, White Sox 250 ERA+, 2.73 K/BB, 0.87 WHIP, 25.9 VORP, 8 Win Shares #8 Kevin Youkilis, Red Sox .319/.432/.503, 36 RC, .318 EQA, 15.7 VORP, 9 Win Shares #7 Miguel Tejada, Orioles .333/.391/.587, 35 RC, .325 EQA, 27.6 VORP, 8 Win Shares #6 Jason Giambi, Yankees .260/.464/.583, 40 RC, .348 EQA, 19.6 VORP, 9 Win Shares #5 Manny Ramirez, Red Sox .314/.441/.577, 36 RC, .337 EQA, 20.5 VORP, 9 Win Shares #4 Derek Jeter, Yankees .348/.433/.519, 41 RC, .325 EQA, 27.6 VORP, 9 Win Shares #3 Travis Hafner, Indians .311/.443/.627, 46 RC, .353 EQA, 26.6 VORP, 9 Win Shares #2 Scott Kazmir, Devil Rays 199 ERA+, 3.19 K/BB, 1.28 WHIP, 26.2 VORP, 11 Win Shares #1 .304/.440/.684, 51 RC, .351 EQA, 28.7 VORP, 12 Win Shares

Josh, Jonathan, Justin, too many J names. There's never been any other player with the last name Papelbon, so yes that's who I meant.

Yes but MLB hasn't really had any serious talks with other networks so odds are FOX will retain the rights.

Maybe later in the year. With the Cy Young you may always see who I'd have #1 in th MVP voting. Right now in the ROY in the N.L. it'd be between Prince Fielder and Hanley Ramirez, in the A.L. either Justin Verlander or Josh Papelbon.

Lopez is on there because of his Win Shares total as I couldn't leave off someone who is 3rd in Win Shares in the league. His offensive numbers are a little better than they look when you factor playing in a pitcher's park. Soriano is on my radar, would have been Top 15.

Still gonnna have to deal with Mike Patrick doing the primetime SEC games on ESPN. It's such a cliche' to say this about people who have no right to have the job they have but really Paul Maguire has to have photos of someone high up at ABC/ESPN sodomizing a goat. Actually more likely pictures of Chris Berman tea bagging Brett Favre. Also ABC has decided to replace Keith Jackson with...Dan Fouts. So they are going to basically have a two man analyst booth for Pac-10 games. Here's the complete list of broadcast teams per CollegeFootballNews.com. The combo of Reece Davis, Mark May, and Lou Holtz doing the occasional Tuesday/Wednesday ESPN game should, um, interesting. ESPN College Football Thursday Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Erin Andrews ESPN and ESPN 2 College Football Friday Dave Pasch, Rod Gilmore, Trevor Matich and Alex Flanagan ABC Saturday Afternoon College Football (Noon or 3:30 p.m./EST) Brad Nessler, Bob Griese, Paul Maguire and Stacey Dales Dan Fouts, Tim Brant and Jack Arute Mark Jones, David Norrie and Samantha Ryan Gary Thorne, Andre Ware and Todd Harris ESPN Saturday Afternoon College Football (Noon EST) Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman and Rob Stone ESPN 2 Sat. Afternoon College Football (Noon EST) Pam Ward, Mike Gottfried and Jimmy Dykes ABC Saturday Night College Football (8 p.m./EST) Brent Musberger, Bob Davie, Kirk Herbstreit and Lisa Salters ESPN Saturday Night College Football (7:45 p.m./EST) Mike Patrick, Todd Blackledge and Holly Rowe ESPN 2 Sat. Night College Football (7:45 p.m./EST) Ron Franklin, Ed Cunningham and Jerry Punch ESPN and ESPN 2 Midweek Games John Saunders, Craig James and Todd Harris ESPN and ESPN 2 Midweek Games Rece Davis, Mark May, Lou Holtz and Rob Stone ESPN College Football Gameday Studio Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso Desmond Howard, Contributor ABC College Football Studio John Saunders, Doug Flutie and Craig James CBS College Football Studio Tim Brando and Spencer Tillman ESPN Day-long Studio and Midnight / EST Studio Rece Davis, Mark May and Lou Holtz CBS College Football Sat. (Noon and 3:30 p.m. / EST) Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson Craig Bolerjack and Steve Beurlien

Oh ya, but I'd resigned myself to the fact that the only way that game could end is a walkoff homerun by the Rangers and it happened. Two knee jerk reactions to a soul crushing defeat. 1) Huston Street is a one-year wonder. 2) Bobby Crosby is a bust.

Annnnnd the A's have blow it and it only took them a little over two innings to lose a seven run lead. This is pathetic.

This A's are very, very close to blowing a 7-0 lead and Phil Nevin just missed tying it by inches as Steve Karsay is out there throwing batting practice.

MLB Draft is a couple of weeks away so might as well do some Draftbacks, plus I'm having to wait to do 2006 MVP Watch #2 as Hardball Times doesn't have update Win Shares yet. I picked the 1990 draft because it is an infamous draft for the Oakland A's. They had 4 of the first 36 picks and took four pitchers who would were dubbed the "Four Aces." Those four pitchers were Todd Van Poppel, Don Peters, Dave Zancanaro, and Kirk Dressendorfer. Um ya, they didn't quite live up the hype. 1. Braves - Chipper Jones, Shorstop, High School Braves certainly can't complain about how this worked out. Has put up a .303/.401/.538 line thru 2005 and won an MVP in 1999. If he can manage to put up a few more good years he may have a case for the Hall of Fame. 2. Tigers - Tony Clark, Outfield, High School Of course converted to first base has to put together an okay career that peaked early from the ages of 25 to 27. Seemed finished a couple of years ago until having a great year out of no where last season. 3. Phillies - Mike Lieberthal, Catcher, High School Decent career and any franchise has to be happy if they get over 12 years in the Majors out of a catching prospect. 4. White Sox - Alex Fernandez, Pitcher, High School Pretty good pitcher who's career was cut short by shoulder problems. 5. Pirates - Kurt Miller, Pitcher, High School Our first bust and it's baseball so there will be plenty more. Was never effective above Double-A but still some how made it to the Majors as a member of the Marlins. 7.48 ERA in 80 2/3 innings in the Majors. 6. Mariners - Marc Newfield, First Base, High School Outside of a decent 1996 season was never a factor in the Majors. Twice traded with Ron Villone. 7. Reds - Dan Wilson, Catcher, Minnesota Another decent career out of a catcher here although it came with the Mariners as the Reds traded him after the 1993 season with Bobby Ayala for Bret Boone and Erik Hanson. 8. Indians - Tim Costo, Shortstop, Iowa Traded to the Reds in 1991, only played 43 games in the Majors. 9. Dodgers - Ron Walden, Pitcher, High School First player on the board who never made it to the Majors. 10. Yankees - Carl Everett, Outfield, High School Put together a pretty good career filled temper tantrums and disbelief of dinosaurs. Never played for the Yankees as the Marlins picked him up in the '92 expansion draft. 11. Expos - Darrell Andrews, Shortstop/Pitcher, High School Could go both ways apparantly but not to the Majors. 12. Twins - Todd Ritchie, Pitcher, High School Oddly enough his best year in professional baseball came in the Majors with the Pirates in 1999 when he went 15-9 with a 3.49 ERA. Lousy at pretty much any other point. 13. Cardinals - Donovan Osborne, Pitcher, UNLV Moderatley effective pitcher early in his career but injuries pretty much shut him down by age 28 although has made a couple of comebacks including with the Yankees last season. 14. A's - Todd Van Poppel, Pitcher, High School Ahhhhhhhhhh nooooooooooooooooooooo. Would have gone much higher in the draft but teams were worried he'd enroll at Texas but ended up signing with the A's which ended up being the wrong choice for both parties. 15. Giants - Adam Hyzdu, Outfield, High School 254 career homeruns in the minors, 14 in the majors. 16. Rangers - Daniel Smith, Pitcher, Creighton Just 29 innings pitched in the Majors. 17. Mets - Jeromy Burnitz, Outfield, Oklahoma State I suppose he's a journeyman power hitter? Over 300 career homeruns with seven teams. 18. Cardinals - Aaron Holbert, Shortstop, High School Career minor leaguer who had only three at bats in the Majors until last season when he appeared in 22 games for the Reds. 19. Giants - Eric Christopherson, Catcher, San Diego State Probably wished they drafted the next guy. 20. Orioles - Mike Mussina, Pitcher, Stanford Very consistent, good pitcher through most of his career and some would argue he may have a case for the Hall of Fame, although I wouldn't be one of them. 21. Astros - Tom Nevers, Shortstop, High School Whole career spent in the minors, mostly at Double-A. 22. Blue Jays - Steve Karsay, Pitcher, High School Once traded for Rickey Henderson, injuries prevented from ever making it as a starter but resurrected his career in 1998 as a reliever after the A's traded him to the Indians for Mike Fetters. D'oh. 23. Cubs - Lance Dickson, Pitcher, Arizona Debuted just two months after he was drafted making three starts and then never returned to the Majors. 24. Expos - Rondell White, Outfield, High School Never lived up to the hype but has put together a pretty good career. 25. Padres - Robbie Beckett, Pitcher, High School 6.09 career ERA in the minors yet he still got a couple of cups of coffee with the Rockies. 26. A's - Don Peters, Pitcher, St. Francis Not even close. FOUR ACES! Other Picks of Note 2nd Round, White Sox - Bob Wickman 4th Round, Angels - Garret Anderson 5th Round, Mariners - Bret Boone 6th Round, Mariners - Mike Hampton 6th Round, Angels - Troy Percival 7th Round, Indians - David Bell 9th Round, Mets - Fernando Vina 10th Round, Rangers - Rusty Greer 11th Round, Mets - Darren Dreifort (did not sign) 21st Round, Twins - Eddie Guardado 22nd Round, Yankees - Andy Pettitte 24th Round, Yankees - Jorge Posada

There's a new Sports Illustrated poll of 470 Major League players asking who are the most overrated and most underrated players in baseball. Stuff like this is incredibly subjective as someone may consider one player underrated while the other considers that same player overrated. My assumption is that the player's perspective would be how they feel the media and fans view the player and that will influence their opinion on whether or not they consider someone overrated or underrated. So here's the Top 10 for both lists with my comments on what I think of each player and I throw in a name at the end of who I considered the most overrated and most underrated players of last season. Most Overrated 1. Derek Jeter - Too obvious but facts are he is overrated by New York media/fans and major media outlets like ESPN. I have said in the past though that I feel Jeter is almost slightly underrated by non-Yankee fans at this point. You can tell Jeter is overrated just by how the New York media and ESPN are all up in arms (well from what people are saying on the board) over him topping the list as some how it is inexcusible that Baseball Jesus is on the list at all. 2. Carlos Beltran - This seems a bit odd to me, I suppose probably because of the contract he signed and he had a bit of an off year last season. Coming into this season though I'd consider him underrated by how much criticism he was getting. 3. Alex Rodriguez - Truly laughable for him to be this high. One of the true elite players in the game yet he typically doesn't get the credit he deserves and any failure he has in the "clutch" his magnified ten fold. Sure no player deserves the contract he got but not his fault the Rangers were stupid enough to give it to him. 4. J.D. Drew - Again no reason for him to be on the list and he is almost certainly underrated. He's a great hitter but is always hurt and many discard anything good he has done due to his injury problems. He showed in 2004 the type of numbers he can put up in a full season. 5. Nomar Garciaparra - How can he be underrated when he's be the subject of ridicule due to his injury problems? What because he was once great and now isn't that makes him overrated? Really makes no sense. 6. A.J. Burnett - Have to agree on this one but he's a "victim" of starting pitchers being overrated in general. 7. Jason Kendall - A common theme seems to be obscene contracts and Kendall certainly isn't worth what he makes. I doubt many still view Kendall as a good player anymore so my guess is the general view of him currently is probably neither overrated or underrated. Trust me though A's fans know he sucks. 8. Kerry Wood - Man players are just cruel as at least according this poll any player with a history of injuries is overrated. 9. Josh Beckett - Interesting. Maybe a tad overrated because of the 2003 postseason which tends to happen to any player who has a strong postseason. 10. Johnny Damon - I'd agree to a certain extent though his last two years he really was good but this also comes from the contract he signed. Probably more overrated circa 2003 than he is now. My 2005 Most Overrated Player: Scott Podsednik - Remember he tought the White Sox how to bunt so they won the World Series. We don't need those meaningless homeruns! Most Underrated 1. Michael Young - See now this is a player who I could see being overrated a couple of years from now. Players who everyone says is underrated eventually go the other way. 2. Bobby Abreu - Certainly not nearly as underrated as he was two or three years ago. I'd say he's probably fits into neither category. 3. Garret Anderson - Now this what I was talking in term of Young as personally I view Garret Anderson as overrated now. A few years back I considered him underrated. He gets on base at a poor rate and he has below average power for a corner outfielder. 4. Mark Loretta - Probably true to a certain extent. His great 2004 season went largely unnoticed. He's on the Red Sox now so he'll probably be overrated by the end of the year. 5. David Eckstein - Okay very good 2005 season no doubt by the "scrappy" Eckstein is probably a bit overrated because he's "scrappy." 6. Bill Mueller - I'd say he doesn't fit either category. 7. Chone Figgins - I'd say neither tilting towards slightly overrated. 8. Vernon Wells - You know he really hasn't done a whole lot at the plate the last two seasons, although off to a great start this year. He does get his just due when it comes to his defense. 9. Raul Ibanez - What? He's had a couple of good years by far from a star. I don't know do most view him as a scrub or something? Very odd he's on the list. 10. Melvin Mora - I'd agree with this one although his numbers were down last year, still were pretty good and his name doesn't really come up often when talking about the better 3rd basemen in the league. My 2005 Most Underrated Player: Brian Giles - I ranked him as the best right fielder in baseball last season but because he plays in a park that is death to hitters his counting numbers just didn't look impressive.

splits vs. right handed pitchers Jason Kendall: .236/.355/.258 Bobby Kielty: .238/.304/.286 If you don't think you should pinch hit for these two against a right handed pitcher in a one run ballgame YOU could manage the Oakland A's. I don't know why the bother bringing Macha back, he's useless. A's drop five straight, now 22-24...and they are still only one game out of first place. The Angels, who have been absolute dogshit, are only four and a half games out.

The A's can't catch any breaks with injuries as now their top prospect Daric Barton left last night's game in Sacramento with a badly hyper extended elbow. He'll have x-rays today and if he needs surgery his season would likely be over.

"People can come up with a statistics to prove anything, 40% of people know that."

Not everyone who was/is on steroids was hitting 40+ homeruns. Pitchers and minor leaguers who will never make it to the Majors have tested positive. Not that David Wells has any clue what he's talking about.

Obviously there's only one man to save the Cubs.

Bleh, well all the good feelings from early in the night go out the window. Street blows another save, A's lose in extra innings. This team is just in shambles due to injuries and they really do nothing well. Now Chavez and Swisher are slumping and they were basically carrying this team the first five weeks of the season. Thank god they play in the A.L. West as I guarentee no one in that division gets to 90 wins this year.

Frank Thomas homers again in Chicago! Now 3 for 3 with two homeruns.

He's had a shitty year but Frank Thomas homers in his first at bat back in Chicago. Awesome moment. Edit: Ozzie Guillen so upset over it he gets ejected.

That's what I always found funny about how according to Canseco's book he introduced McGwire to steroids in 1988. McGwire hit 49 homeruns in 1987. He hit 32 homeruns in 1988. Must have been using the wrong stuff.

Dammit and I was really thinking of doing a Tribue to Alex Gonzalez thread for my next blog entry but I would talk about the other Alex Gonzalez and not realize it until the end of the entry. Hilarity would have ensued.

In place of the actual starting pitchers I pick out random names from the past. Yes I know this will only amuse me. Monday White Sox (LaMarr Hoyt) at Twins (Pat Mahomes) Marlins (Pat Rapp) at Braves (Rick Mahler) Red Sox (Oil Can Boyd) at Orioles (Jeff Ballard) ESPN - No drunk Sutcliffe Royals (Mark Gubicza) at Indians (Scott Bailes) Rangers (Roger Pavlik) at Yankees (Andy Hawkins) Giants (Mike LaCoss) at Astros (Bob Knepper) Dodgers (Burt Hooten) at Rockies (Marvin Freeman) Padres (Eric Show) at Diamondbacks (Omar Daal) Tuesday Reds (Tom Browning) at Pirates (Neal Heaton) Red Sox (Al Nipper) at Orioles (Storm Davis) Rangers (Jose Guzman) at Yankees (Dennis Rasmussen) Royals (Charlie Liebrandt) at Indians (Ken Schrom) Twins (Les Straker) at Tigers (Jeff Robinson) White Sox (Melido Perez) at Devil Rays (Rolando Arrojo) Marlins (Jack Armstrong) at Braves (Pete Smith) Phillies (Tommy Greene) at Brewres (Pete Vukovich) Nationals (Steve Rogers) at Cubs (Steve Trout) Giants (Atlee Hammaker) at Astros (Jim Deshaies) Mets (Anthony Young) at Cardinals (Danny Cox) Dodgers (Tim Leary) at Rockies (Kevin Ritz) Padres (Ed Whitson) at Diamondbacks (Amaury Telemaco) Blue Jays (Jim Clancy) at Angels (Ron Romanick) Mariners (Scott Bankhead) at A's (Kirk Dressendorfer) Interleague, Friday-Sunday Cubs/White Sox Pirates/Indians Orioles/Nationals Reds/Tigers Red Sox/Phillies Yankees/Mets Marlins/Devil Rays Twins/Brewers Rangers/Astros Cardinals/Royals Baby Killers/A's Padres/Mariners Angels/Dodgers Blue Jays/Rockies

You can't clone Jeter's heart!

Pujols is chasing... Homerun #224 and he ties Grich for 215th all-time. Feel the excitement!

Yankee fans are adorable.