EVIL~! alkeiper

Honestly, I'd be stunned if the Cards win this series.

It's early, but Casey might be done for the postseason.

Big news today, as the Twins exercised the 2007 option on Torii Hunter.

Oh for god sakes (re:announcers). Even a team with lots of team speed is going NOWHERE with a five run deficit.

Neither. The Yankees were simply a better team, and it's silly to fault Bobby Cox for losing those series. The Braves were 2-8 in World Series games against the Yankees. It's hard to see how better managing would have changed that. Fact is, the Braves won more playoff series than they lost, at least until the last couple years. The new playoff format makes it nearly impossible to win a championship every year, or in any year. Every team is an 8:1 underdog right off the bat.

AL: Chien Ming Wang, Miguel Tejada, Jon Papelbon, Ivan Rodriguez, Jason Varitek, Roy Halladay, Jason Giambi NL: Mike Cameron, Barry Bonds, Carlos Delgado, Adam Dunn, Freddy Sanchez, Carlos Zambrano, Scott Rolen, Adrian Gonzalez

The award itself is named after its first winner, Jackie Robinson. Given that at least three established stars of the negro leagues won the award, I have no problem voting for the Japanese players.

I would seriously consider dealing Brandon Wood for A-Rod. If Wood turns out well, he might, MIGHT become as good someday as A-Rod is now. He strikes out a ton and is a risk as a prospect.

I could see an A-Rod for Joe Crede/Mark Buehrle deal myself. It would give the Yankees a reliable lefty starter and a third baseman in the Graig Nettles mold. The White Sox would then move A-Rod to short and promote Josh Fields from AAA to fill the gap at third base.

It doesn't matter if the Yankees are "sellers." What matters is if there are multiple teams whom truly desire his services. If there are, then the Yankees can enjoy a bidding war.

We had 22 voters for this project, just a few shy of the writers who actually get to vote for the real awards. So we have a decent represenative sampling. Overall, the posters here did a good job. Congratulations. Without further ado, here are your winners. AL MVP: .343/.417/.483, 34 steals, 118 runs scored Derek Jeter edged Joe Mauer by 38 points in the balloting, drawing half of the first place votes in the process. Jeter is worshipped by the sports press for things he doesn't do, but in some aspects he does not get credit for what he does. Jeter finished fourth in the league in OBP, and was a basestealing threat when he reached. He played average defense at a prime position. Rounding out the top ten were Mauer, Johan Santana, David Ortiz, Justin Morneau, Jermaine Dye, Travis Hafner, Frank Thomas, Grady Sizemore and Carlos Guillen. NL MVP: .331/.431/.671, 49 home runs, 137 RBIs There is a saying that a player with an out of context year will get more MVP support than a player who excels consistantly. Albert Pujols has produced similar statistics for six seasons now, establishing himself as the greatest player of the new millenium. Our voters looked past Ryan Howard's gaudy home run and RBI totals to give the nod to Pujols by a healthy margin. Pujols gathered 14 of 22 first place votes. Rounding out the top ten were Howard, Carlos Beltran, Lance Berkman, Miguel Cabrera, Alfonso Soriano, Jose Reyes, Chase Utley, David Wright, and Nomar Garciaparra. AL Cy Young: 19-6, 233.7 IP, 47 BB, 245 Ks, 2.77 ERA What more can you say? Johan Santana has led the American League in least hits allowed per nine, strikeouts, and adjusted ERA each of the last three seasons. There is no doubt as to who the best pitcher in baseball is right now, and to cement the honor, this vote was unanimous. Roy Halladay took second and Chien Ming Wang finished third. NL Cy Young: 16-8, 235 IP, 50 BB, 178 Ks, 3.10 ERA Brandon Webb leads the NL pack in an odd year where no pitcher truly excelled. Six pitchers tied for the NL lead with sixteen wins. Look at any category and chances are a different pitcher led. Aaron Harang led the league in strikeouts. Jake Peavy led in strikeouts per nine. Chris Young led in least hits allowed per nine. Chris Carpenter led in WHIP. Webb finished second in innings and first in adjusted ERA, making him a respectable choice. Roy Oswalt finished second and Carpenter third in the voting. AL Rookie of the Year: 17-9, 197.3 IP, 60 BBs, 124 Ks, 3.63 ERA Verlander led the pack by winning seventeen games, and lasting the year. Jonathan Papelbon and Francisco Liriano both lost steam by missing the end of the year, and Jered Weaver came up too late from AAA to make a serious run. If this balloting is any indication, Japanese import Kenji Johjima will not cause any controversy this year. He received just one vote, for third place, from myself. NL Rookie of the Year: .292/.350/.483, 17 HRs, 51 steals Before the season, I predicted the Marlins would lose 100 games. One of their weak spots had to be Hanley Ramirez, a much heralded shortstop prospect who had not shown any ability to hit above single A. The Marlins made him their starter. Now they look like geniuses and I look like a moron. Ramirez is just 22, and if he keeps his up he might become a HOF caliber player. Note that I said might. That's a fair sight better than what I thought last offseason. Rounding out the ballot were Ryan Zimmerman (another future star), and Dan Uggla. Uggla stunned everyone by hitting 27 home runs as a Rule V pick. This was a fantastic season for rookies in the NL. Besides the aforementioned three we witnessed Chris Duncan, Prince Fielder, Josh Johnson, Russell Martin, Scott Olsen, Andre Ethier, Cole Hamels, Anibal Sanchez, Conor Jackson and Matt Cain. AL Manager of the Year: Jim Leyland took 19 of 21 votes cast to win the balloting (one abstained). Leyland's Tigers lost the division on the final day of the season, but still stunned fans after not having finished even above .500 since 1993. Ron Gardenhire took second, and Ken Macha edged Joe Torre for third place. NL Manager of the Year: As I said earlier, I expected the Marlins to lose 100 games. They stayed in contention until mid-September, and Joe Girardi took a lot of credit for getting his young prospects to perform at a Major League level. Girardi has likely earned himself another managing job. Willie Randolph took second, and Grady Little and Bruce Bochy tied for third place.

There are chats when interest warrents. These Cardinals/Padres games don't usually draw much attention. If posters want to start a chat on their own however, they are certainly welcome to.

It's going to be awful, considering the newspapers don't even have the correct time for the game.

On another note, here are the top ten expected Free Agents, as seen by Win Shares... 1. Alfonso Soriano (LF) 2. Barry Bonds (LF) 3. Carlos Lee (LF) 4. Aramis Ramirez (3B) 5. Frank Thomas (DH) 6. Gary Matthews Jr. (CF) 7. Ray Durham (2B) 8. Dave Roberts (LF) 9. Barry Zito (SP) 10. Nomar Garciaparra (1B) Dave Roberts is a tremendously underrated player. I'd love to see him leading off for the Phils. Move Burrell to right field where his arm would remain an asset. This is a good year to be in the market for outfielders, but a terrible year to look for pitching and infielders.

Like I've said before, I'd difficult to assign blame. First off, blame for what? Not winning the World Series? Almost all the teams that have won lately were one year phenomenons. Yes, this team has been a disappointment, but what other team can claim better results over the last five seasons? The Red Sox won a series, and their front office has been bashed for this season's failures. The Marlins did a good job, but finished sub-.500 and suck at the business end. The White Sox finished third and were considered a disappointment. You just can't EXPECT to win a World Series in this age. It's too difficult.

Until 2002, Kendall's top comp was Mickey Cochrane, who was nearly killed by a pitch in 1937. What strikes me about Kendall's list though is that it contains only three catchers. There's a positional bonus put into these things. Kendall is one of the most unique players in baseball today.

I don't think the problem with superstar-laden teams is chemestry. There are three issues that do matter, however. 1. When you're building your team with free agents, you are limited to the position you have open and the specific crop available that year. When you sign a top tier free agent, you must sign him to a long term deal that extends beyond his prime years. So while you get a premium player now, you get a less than optimum player as he ages. As a bonus, most players reach free agency about the time they turn 30, as they exit their prime seasons. So you are almost always buying a player on the decline. Of the Yankees' regulars, only Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera can be expected to improve next season. 2. Superstars tend to be offensive players. Teams built with superstars create a great deal of offense, but their defense stinks (I think this is the biggest problem with Team USA). You can't win on offense alone, and defense may be more important than we all thought. Is it a coincidence that the Yankees' pitching has been awful the last several years? 3. I have not studied this at all, but I suspect there is a law of diminishing returns at work. The Yankees had seven players in their lineup post OPS+ figures above 120. The Indians had four such players. The Yankees had 8/9 above average hitters, while the Indians had five. The net benefit of those three extra bashers? A mere 60 runs. A big bat in the middle of your lineup will produce runs. But I suspect when you add big bats to your 7,8 spots, you are just getting minimal added results then you would if you just threw in a few average players who could produce in other aspects of the game. Simply put, you don't need every player in your lineup to smash the ball to produce runs.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the idea that the Yankees have a problem. They won 97 games this year. They haven't missed the Playoffs since 1993. The last five teams that won World Championships didn't make the playoffs this season. The simple fact is that you can not guarantee postseason success unless you make your team so far above the competition that it defies logic. A team that has a 75% chance to win any given series still isn't better than a 50/50 shot to win the whole thing. What it comes down to is that you CAN'T buy a team. Superstars in our generation are not that much better than the average player. You gain a little extra in the margins, but teams with many superstars tend to have worse players outside of the starting slots. So the Yankees' opponents have better rotations, better bullpens, and better benches. Having that edge, it is only a matter of solving the starting lineup. And all of those guys, with the exception of Cano, are worse now than when the Yankees acquired them.

At least DePodesta won a playoff game.

So your team's been eliminated. Big deal! These guys will be Yankees soon enough!

I guess the Marlins really need a third baseman. Who's playing there now?

THIS is how you do a celebration!

Nice to see the Tigers carry Leyland on their shoulders.

The nice thing about XM Radio is that I can listen to the Tigers' feed.

2nd No Hitter Cano's broken up in two weeks.