EVIL~! alkeiper

My next pick: Charlie "I won't bore you with the details of our miraculous escape. But we desperately need a REAL Emergency exit!"

Maybe if the team is terrible. But we're talking about a team that only missed the playoffs by four games. Pujols led the league in OPS with a 100 point gap between him and second place. If anyone else wins the award, the voters are thinking too hard.

No you won't. If his internet is broke, how the hell is he going to post here?

In 34 innings at the age of 22, and he struck out a batter an inning in the process. That's not exactly something I give up on.

The same match just appeared on the Eddie Guerrero dvd.

The Rangers was actually the nickname of the minor league baseball team before the Senators' moved. Swisher is a good buy-low pickup for the Yankees. He retained the power and plate discipline, and just had a low batting average. At his age, a player should recover from that. The Yankees gave up little of consequence. You are not going to sweat your utility infielder on a team with Rodriguez and Jeter. Marquez sucks, IMO. That leaves Jhonny Nunez as the one player of real consequence. The Yankees are well stocked for their bullpen though, so they trade an area of strength to fill a void. This is a good deal for the Sox too. They have Quentin and Dye in the corners, Konerko at first base. Might as well deal Swisher for a half-decent package. They have some instability in the infield, so Betemit will help. I think Nunez can make a contribution in the bullpen by the end of the year.

Why St. Louis? The Cardinals have sported the same road uniform design more or less since the 1920s. It works. I took a look at the Phillies. There were brief times when they put PHILA on their uniforms. The Athletics never put anything more than an "A" or the elephant logo on their's. Unless a team did it in the 19th century, no MLB team has actually put "Philadelphia" on their uniforms.

Raheem was my original pick, so no worries. I didn't know he was cut out of syndication. 98% of my Simpsons viewing nowadays comes from the dvds.

On the subject of the Holliday trade, I would add that Carlos Gonzalez is really not an impressive prospect. Three years ago he lit up the Midwest League. He posted superficially great numbers in 2006, but that was an extreme hitters' environment. Two hitters on that team had higher slugging percentages (one was Mark Reynolds*), and Emilio Bonafacio was actually a better hitter on the club. Since then Gonzalez has posted merely decent numbers at AA and AAA. He'll play in the majors, but stardom? I also doubt he can play center in Coors. In that ballpark, you want to be absolutely sure the guy can handle the position defensively. I see him playing a corner slot. *When looking at Mark Reynolds, I got a look at his comps. Number one is Mike Schmidt, an impressive comparison. That one is really not valid though. Schmidt played in a much tougher era and was a gold glover. The OPS+ bears that out. Number two is Cory Snyder, and THAT is an apt comparison for Reynolds.

I don't understand why the Braves are so gung-ho on acquiring Jake Peavy. If the trade goes through, they will then need a good shortstop to replace Yunel Escobar. Their right fielder sucks, their center field options are not ready, and they only have four acceptable starters under contract. This is the first time I have ever felt comfortable in saying the Braves have no realistic chance of contending next season.

I wasn't aware my pick was up. Sideshow Raheem!

A few of ESPN's experts picked Joe Torre to win manager of the year. For what? I know he's respected and all, but this is a team that underachieved before Manny Ramirez arrived and drove them all the way to 84 wins. Award winners are Lou Piniella and Joe Maddon. No complaints. Charlie Manuel looks like a better pick given the World Series win, but these are compiled before the Playoffs.

Snowball should be two cats, I & II. The idea that the Simpsons had a previous cat was established in episode one. The 3-5th ones were just one really stupid episode which I absolutely hated.

Twins' legend Tony Oliva plays his grandson at Wii Baseball.

An undercard wrestler from Calgary who briefly wrestled in ECW.

Except that you had him #1 on your ballot. You're confusing my MVP and Cy Young ballots.

Yeah, looking at gamelogs Santana earned his last loss on June 28. Since that point he went 9-0 in 17 starts with a 2.09 ERA. That's a big reason why I placed him #2 on my MVP ballot.

So it looks like the Holliday deal involves Greg Smith, Carlos Gonzalez and Huston Street to Oakland. Greg Smith had poor peripherals, nearly as many walks as strikeouts pitching in the spacious confines of the Oakland Coliseum. I can't see him surviving in Colorado.

Summerslam would work if they hype it right. I'd love to see a Northern venus that would not otherwise have the opportunity. Say the Meadowlands' new stadium, or Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

No complaints there. I picked Santana, but it was close and Lincecum is absolutely a deserving winner.

Fair point on the home runs. I only trust scouting reports so far, too often I hear them used to prop up analysis that turns out to be false (i.e. Carlos Delgado, Jim Edmonds). Funny enough though, Olsen really had a fine season for a 24 year old pitcher. 201 innings, league average ERA. Sad note today. Longtime Indians' announcer and former pitcher Herb Score passed away at the age of 75. Score is most famous for having his career altered by Gil McDougald's line drive. Score's 245 strikeouts in his debut season stood as a rookie record until Dwight Gooden in 1984. Score led the league in strikeouts his first two seasons, and led the league in K's per nine all three of his eligible seasons.

On a whim, I'm working on something I'm referring to as the "Homegrown Talent Index." Basically, what percentage of a team's production came from drafted and developed players. The 2008 Phillies got nearly 52% of their win shares from home grown talent. Compared to 25% for the '07 Red Sox, 27% for the '06 Cardinals, and 14% from the 2001 Diamondbacks. Is there a team in recent memory that got as much from organizational players as the Phillies?

I should add that Larry Beinfest is perhaps the most under appreciated GM in baseball. How he consistently builds contenders with the arse ownership in Miami defies logic.

I'm not terribly impressed with the trade myself. Willingham is a nice part, but any team should be able to replace a left fielder who hit 15 home runs. Olsen is a bit of a head case. I don't see this trade hurting the Marlins even in the short term. The interesting impact here may be on the Nats' defense. Willie Harris is one of the best defensive left fielders in baseball. Willingham is a converted catcher. I always surmised that Olsen's struggles were due to absolutely brutal defense on that side of the diamond. The Nats are foolish if they make a push. Willingham, Olsen and even Teixeira will not merit a division winner. And Teixeira will cost a valuable second round pick, and this is a team who couldn't even afford to sign this year's first rounder.

Nine points. That could be three second place votes, or another such combination. The voters simply made a mistake. I know Lance Berkman received votes several years ago. I imagine if Volquez placed he would be disqualified. Since he finished out of the top three though, little point to it.