5 Reasons Why King Felix Should Win The AL CY Young

It’s interesting that the CY Young is often decided by something a pitcher has no control over. The AL CY Young race is coming down to the Yankees C.C Sabathia, the Rays David Price, and the Seattle Mariners Felix Hernandez. The season ends for Hernandez on Sunday while Price and Sabathia will play for at least a week or two longer. To those voting for the CY Young it seems like Hernandez might be penalized for pitching on clearly the worst team in the Al West. But should he? Point blank Felix Hernandez deserves the CY Young and his lack of wins shouldn’t factor into the decision for a second. Here are 5 reasons King Felix Should win the CY Young.

1. Winning Isn’t His Job – In order to clearly understand why Hernandez deserves the honor we must first understand that while a pitcher has wins and losses counted, it’s not his job to win games. It’s his job to go out and pitch as well as he can and to put his team in position to win games. Win’s and losses don’t matter. Felix Hernandez has often put his team in the best position to win. Sometimes there is more to it than that. A team must help their pitcher out too. Surely a 1-0 loss(like Hernandez suffered at the hands of the Blue Jays this year) shouldn’t count against the starting pitcher.
It’s not too much to ask that your offense score you two runs in a game. ESPN’s Jayson Stark made mention that in 7 of 14 games this year Hernandez went into the 8th inning or later with his team having scored no runs for him. If the Mariners had put runs on the board in those games, Hernandez would be a 20 game winner in all likelihood and we wouldn’t be having this discussion.

2. His ERA is 2.27 – A pitcher lives and dies by the runs he allows. He can’t control how his team will bat that night. He can’t control how the other pitcher will pitch or what the weather will be. The only thing he can control is how he pitches and that’s evident by how many runs he allows across home plate. King Felix has been better this year than his competitors. His 2.27 ERA is 0.40 lower than his next rival, David Price (2.73). Sabathia and Lester both have ERA’s under 3.00 but it’s not as good as Felix. The point is to keep the other team to as few runs as possible. Hernandez has been the best at it this year.

3. Forget The Pressure – A lot of people will point to the fact that Price, Sabathia, and even Jon Lester(a long shot for the award) pitch in a tougher division and in the heat of a pennant race. I will say that it doesn’t matter as much as people make it out to matter. Let’s talk about pressure for a minute. Isn’t pressure going out every fifth day knowing you have to be near perfect if your team even has a remote chance of winning? Not easy. For those that say winning is important, then we assume it matters to the pitchers all the same. Felix wants to win as bad as Sabathia and Price and he knows he has to be flawless to do it. Sometimes that isn’t even good enough.

4. Lowest WHIP – When we mention that a pitcher shouldn’t allow runs it’s assumed the best way to do this is to not put runners on base. Avoiding hits and walks are two of the easiest ways to do this. A pitchers Whip is his Walks and Hit per Inning Pitched. All of the CY Young Candidates have great Whips, but none great than Hernandez. His WHIP is a freakish 1.06. Meaning he’s only allowing about 1 base runner every inning. He’s keeping guys off base. You combine that with his 200 plus strikeouts and it’s clear that no one is doing their job better than Felix Hernandez.

5. 30 Quality Starts – This stat is used to define quality. When a pitcher goes six innings or more and gives up less than 3 runs it’s considered a quality start. No pitcher in baseball this year has had more quality starts than King Felix. He clocks in with 30. Only 3 pitchers in the last two decades have had that many quality starts in a season. Every time King Felix takes the mound he is giving his team the best chance to win. There isn’t a pitcher in baseball who has been that consistent that many times over the course of the season. It’s the reason why you should throw his win total out the window and give Felix Hernandez the AL CY Young Award.

Down to The Wire in the NL West

Three teams. One crown.

Less than 1 week remains for the San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres and Colorado Rockies to decide the National League West title. Currently (as of September 21), the Giants hold a half-game lead over San Diego, and a one and a half game lead over Colorado. This time last month, however, the Padres lead the Giants and Rockies by five and eleven games, respectively. Losing ten consecutive games will (surprise!) often let your division rivals back into a race.

By mid-September, when the Padres realized how badly they were playing and decided maybe losing wasn’t the best strategy for making the postseason, they were no longer in first. On September 16, the Giants seized control of the division lead and haven’t relinquished it since.

As the Giants maneuvered into first, the Rockies won ten in a row from September 3-12. Remember when Colorado won 21 of 22 games down the stretch in 2007? Well they’re trying to recapture that magic this year. They’re 13-5 in September, the third best record in the majors this month. The Giants are a game and a half behind that pace at 11-6. The Padres are a middling 7-11.

So in the next two weeks, who separates themselves from the pack, or, who survives long enough to outlast their opponents? All signs point to San Francisco right now, though they’re not without a few problems. Unlike Colorado, San Francisco doesn’t have a Carlos Gonzalez or Troy Tulowitzki type hitter terrorizing opposing pitching staffs. Unlike San Diego, San Francisco is an old, slow and poor defensive team.

But unlike San Francisco, the Rockies starting rotation is a mess. Ubaldo Jimenez is starting to again look like the Ubaldo Jimenez that gave up seven earned runs over his first 81 innings pitched this season. Fortunate timing, because a line-drive fractured veteran Aaron Cook’s leg, and his return this season is unlikely. Jason Hammel pitched well much of the year, but his September ERA is 6.23 and he hasn’t made it past four innings in his last two starts. Worse still, recently, the Denver Post reported he is suffering from “extreme shoulder fatigue.” Maybe Jorge De La Rosa (six-plus innings in each of his last six starts) or Jhoulys Chacin (1.88 ERA in his last seven starts) steps up, but that could be asking too much.

The rotation isn’t great in San Diego, but at least it’s better. From June 10 to September 7, Mat Latos, one of 2010′s emergent stars, had 15 consecutive outings in which he allowed two or fewer earned runs in five-plus innings of work (if you remove the three ER he gave up to Philadelphia on June 4, that streak runs from May 1 to September 7. Seriously.). But since then, he has allowed 13 ER in 5.1 innings. After Latos, the remainder of the rotation is made up of Jon Garland, Clayton Richard, Tim Stauffer and Corey Luebke. Both Stauffer and Luebke replaced Kevin Correia and Wade LeBlanc in early September, and while they’re an improvement over their predecessors, who the heck are Tim Stauffer and Corey Luebke? Keep your eye on Chris Young though, fresh just off the 60-day DL. How quickly he regains his form could have a big impact on the Padres.

In contrast, the Giants feature four excellent starting pitchers. Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain, aside from a few hiccups this year, are one of the league’s best one-two punches, with a combined 3.29 ERA and 376 strikeouts. For Jonathan Sanchez, developing a changeup has lead to career highs in innings pitched (176.2), strikeouts (188), wins (11), and a career low ERA (3.21). Even Barry Zito managed to post his best statistical season with the Giants this year. Perhaps this group’s most impressive statistic? In 17 September games, Giants starters have a 2.14 ERA.

And it’s not just the Giant’s starters. Their bullpen has been lights out the last month and a half, and it’s only just getting back to full health. Jeremy Affeldt, Guillermo Mota and Chris Ray have made full recoveries from their myriad ailments. That said, the guys holding down the fort in their absence have pitched out of their minds this month. Sergio Romo, Santiago Casilla, Ramon Martinez and Javier Lopez have a combined 1.22 ERA in 80.2 September innings pitched. Brian Wilson, the Giants’ ace closer, is 13 of 14 in save opportunities since August with a miniscule 0.85 ERA in that same span. These are dominating numbers, folks. The kinds of numbers you see from playoff-bound teams.

But what about the hitters?!? You’ve said nothing about the hitters!

Well, that’s because after Gonzalez and Tulowitzki in Colorado, and Adrian Gonzalez in San Diego, the Giant’s competitors really aren’t great hitters either. So you can look at San Fran’s lineup, see Buster Posey and a bunch of players that were a lot better half a decade ago and think there’s no way they can score enough runs to win consistently. But more than the Rockies, the Giants and Padres don’t need to score a lot of runs to win because their pitching staff is stacked.

Somehow, San Diego hitters have managed to eke out enough runs for their starters to work with all season long. They rank in the bottom third of the Majors in batting average, home runs, runs scored and OPS, but the pitching staff ranks second in ERA and strikeouts, first in WHIP and has surrendered the fewest earned runs in MLB. If the names on the San Diego pitching staff don’t wow you, the numbers should.

Basically it boils down to this: If either Gonzalez or Tulowitzki suddenly struggle, there’s very little offensive talent around those two capable of filling in. Ian Stewart is on the DL right now, and erratic when off it. Seth Smith, Clint Barmes and Miguel Olivo aren’t hitting. Dexter Fowler isn’t running, and when Eric Young Jr. does he usually gets caught (five of nine successful steal attempts in September).

Pitching dictates just about everything this time of year, and the Giants and Padres have the stats to back their playoff credentials. The Rockies have one elite pitcher and a hot offense.

There are two weeks left for everything to shake out, but the advantage goes to San Francisco because nobody controls their own destiny like the Giants. They are in first place today, have six games left with the Chicago Cubs and Arizona Diamondbacks, and face both the Rockies and Padres once more this season. It’s theirs to lose right now, and both San Diego and Colorado know it.

The Best Clean Players of Baseball’s Steroids Era

Now that we are in the wake of the Steriods Era we have to ask ourselves who was clean? We don’t know that and we probably never will. But we can’t just convict everyone who was around during that time. So let’s take the baseball from 1995 to 2005 and rank the best of baseball’s clean players.

In order to do this we have to do a few things:

1. If they have been accused of doing steroids they are discounted from the list. Even if it seems flimsy we must assume that if they are whispering there was reason.
2. We must not count pitchers once again.
3. We are going to assume the Steroid ERA began after the 94 Strike and ended after 2005. This means the steroid era was 95 to 05.
4. You had to have played in 6 of the 11 steroids seasons and your number are cool if you were coming into those years. If their career started before ’89 or after ’00 then they don’t make the list. We only looked at guys who played the majority of their career in the juiced era.

We have to temper our want to convict without evidence and we have to try and honor the guys who seemed to have played their career in the clean. Admittedly it was difficult finding many players who weren’t under the suspicion of steroids. But we found 11 worthy candidates.

I allowed Biggio because he didn’t play his first full season until 1989. Biggio would clearly have been forgotten about but when you search out clean players of the era his name continues to pop up. 3,000 career hits and a .280 average makes Biggio highly underrated. There are no flashy stats but there was consistency. He had 7 seasons of 150 hits. He also was hit by a pitch 285 times. 4 gold gloves and 5 silver sluggers. Not a bad career and one that will debating in cooperstown.

If you’re going to have one, you must have the other. Jeff Bagwell has to be on this list because he was a staple at first base for years and a dangerous hitter in the National League. I will say that I couldn’t find any evidence that Bagwell was ever accused of taking steroids but his numbers do seem to jump in his third year in the league. Still, if he hasn’t been accused we will assume he’s clean. Bagwell finished his career with 449 homeruns and a .297 career average. He’s got an MVP, a Gold Glove, and 4 Silver Slugger awards. In a era where few clean players played, Bagwell was one of the better ones.

Here’s a guy who often gets lost in the shuffle and that could be because his stats aren’t flashy but what you got from Torii Hunter was consistent production and the best glove in the business and maybe one of the 5 best center fielders(fielding) of all time. He’s got 9 Gold Gloves and a Silver Slugger Award. The real question to determine Hunter’s greatness is to ask yourself: Is there another center fielder you would have taken instead of Hunter during these years? Chances are you wouldn’t give him up for anyone.

There is a stigma that players will hit better at Colorado’s Coors Field. I’m not sure that’s the case so we’ll just assume it isn’t and put Todd Helton on this list. Anyone with a lifetime .325 average should be on the list. 11 times he’s batted over .300 with 4 seasons of over 100 RBI’s. 9 seasons he’s had an OBP over .400. The fact is that Helton doesn’t play every game at Coors Field. He’s a good hitter and in the steroid era he looks even better.

Chipper didn’t know what losing was in the regular season until recently. He’s the consummate winner and someone who only knows how to play the game at a high level. 10 times he has hit over .300. There were 14 seasons of 20 homeruns. 10 years of a .400 OBP. He has an MVP and 2 Silver Sluggers. He’s the heart and soul of the Braves and should be a lock for Cooperstown.

Boy does Thome get lost in the shuffle of the Steroids era. This is a guy who has been nothing more than country strong during his career. He’s had 9 seasons with over 100 walks. 8 seasons of 100 runs scored. 9 seasons with over 100 runs driven in. 9 seasons of 35 home runs or more. If he plays another year he’ll have 600 for his career. This is a guy who is one of the better hitters and run producers in baseball history. Guys took roids to be able to do what Thome did at the plate clean. That’s worthy of mentioning.

It’s really something to be one of the most feared hitters in baseball in a time where you were clean but the sport was far from it. Vlad was just that. Only 1 time in his major league career has he hit below .300. 8 seasons of 30 plus homers and 9 seasons of 100 RBI’s. The fact is that Vladimir has a .320 lifetime average and can hit the ball anywhere it’s thrown. He has an MVP and 7 silver sluggers. He was never going to win a gold glove but he is the definition of natural born hitter.

Mr. Big Moment. I spoke too soon when I said that Chipper was the consummate winner. That title belongs to Jeter. The thing about Jeter is he flew right under the radar with his numbers because in an era of inflated numbers. Jeter quietly has hit .315 for a career and with 11 seasons over .300. His career OBP is .385 and he’s had no less than 25 doubles for his career. He’s had 6 seasons of 200 hits. He has 4 Silver Sluggers and 4 Gold Gloves and he also has 5 World Series Rings. Jeter plays big in big moments but his regular moments aren’t that shabby either.

2700 plus career hits. 500 doubles. .300 lifetime average. Without question the best second baseman of his time and maybe the best second baseman of all time. He had 10 Gold Gloves and 4 Silver Slugger awards. He also has World Series rings to boot. Robbie Alomar getting denied as a first ballot Hall of Famer was absolutely laughable. He’ll have to make it this time around.

One of the biggest travesties in baseball is when fans or media members doubt the Hall of Fame Credentials of Frank Thomas.

Let’s be clear on a few things:

A. Most people agree that Thomas never did steroids, HGH, or anything else. Thomas has been out in front of that and there has never been a whisper to that effect. This is important because it makes his numbers all the more amazing.

B. Yes, he was a sub standard first baseman which prompted the White Sox to use him as a DH but the DH is a real position that people get paid a lot of money to play. So it should count and would it have been better had he played the position but sucked at it? If Mickey Mantle had been a butcher in the outfield, would he be deserving because at least he played the position poorly everyday? It’s a weak argument and it ends here.

So with that being said you have to look at Frank’s first 10 full seasons:

Yr	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	GS	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	SH	SF	HBP	GIDP	AVG	OBP	SLG
1991	W Sox	158	559	104	178	31	2	32	1	109	138	13	112	0	2	1	20	.318	.453	.553
1992	W Sox	160	573	108	185	46	2	24	0	115	122	6	88	0	11	5	19	.323	.439	.536
1993	W Sox	153	549	106	174	36	0	41	1	128	112	23	54	0	13	2	10	.317	.426	.607
1994	W Sox	113	399	106	141	34	1	38	1	101	109	12	61	0	7	2	15	.353	.487	.729
1995	W Sox	145	493	102	152	27	0	40	0	111	136	29	74	0	12	6	14	.308	.454	.606
1996	W Sox	141	527	110	184	26	0	40	1	134	109	26	70	0	8	5	25	.349	.459	.626
1997	W Sox	146	530	110	184	35	0	35	0	125	109	9	69	0	7	3	15	.347	.456	.611
1998	W Sox	160	585	109	155	35	2	29	1	109	110	2	93	0	11	6	14	.265	.381	.480
1999	W Sox	135	486	74	148	36	0	15	0	77	87	13	66	0	8	9	14	.305	.414	.471
2000	W Sox	159	582	115	191	44	0	43	2	143	112	18	94	0	8	5	13	.328	.436	.625

These are as good as you will ever see in baseball. Only 2 seasons with less than 30 homeruns during that time. Minus the 1998 season where he hit .265 and the 1999 season where he had only 77 RBI, Thomas was a lock to hit well above .300 with 100 runs, 100 RBI, 30 Home runs, 100 walks and less than 100 strikeouts. 4 Silver Sluggers, 2 MVP’s and a 3rd MVP that was taken away from him due to Jason Giambi who was admittedly juicing. His numbers were among the best of all time and if you take away players that we juicing, he’s top 2 during that time.

I think had Bonds not juiced, even before the amazing years post 98, Bonds would be considered the very best player of the last 3 decades(until Pujols retires) but Bonds screwed himself. And Griffey walks up and takes the top spot. His numbers were amazing until he went to Cincinnati and became an aging injury prone star. He hit over 600 homeruns and over 20 home runs 16 times. 8 seasons of over 100 RBI’s. 6 years of over 100 runs scored. But his numbers don’t do him the justice of having watched him play in person. His 10 Gold Gloves don’t even tell the story of just how good he really was. He made the extraordinary look rather ordinary. He was the quintessential 5 tool player and if he’s not a lock for a first ballot Hall of Fame induction then they should just ban the whole 15 year period of steroid because no one deserves to get in if that’s the case.

MLB Power Rankings: September 27th, 2010

The last week of the season is upon us and there is nothing left to prove. Teams that are playoff bound and heading there, teams that are not are making vacation plans for early October. As often with the Dugout Doctors Power Rankings we will attempt to give you the best and the worst of the MLB teams. We will show you who is good and who isn’t. The first 15 will be ranked with some thought, while the last 15 will be ranked with little thought. The reason being is this: if you are at home debating with your friend if that the Houston Astros should have been 27 instead of 28 then you are probably not capable of a rational thought. Here you go.

1. Phillies- They are going to have more wins this season than they have had in the last 3 seasons. Not bad for a team that was “struggling.”

2. Tampa Bay Rays – David Price should get a lot more consideration for the Cy Young than he is getting.

3. Minnesota Twins – This team has been so hot the second half, it was foolish to believe they were ever going to lose the Central to the White Sox.

4. San Francisco – It’s hard to think they’ll lose the West and they might be the best team to de-throne the Phillies.

5. New York Yankees- A questionable pitching staff puts them a step down in these power rankings. Still a good bet to go to the World Series.

6. Texas Rangers – Kudos to Josh Hamilton for putting the team on his back and putting the division away.

7. Atlanta Braves – A fierce pitching staff could be enough to get these guys the Wild Card spot.

8. Cincinnati Reds – Votto could be the difference in a playoff series. They won’t have enough juice to make it all the way though.

9. San Diego Padres – It’s been a valiant effort that could come up just a little bit short.

10. Colorado Rockies – Troy has been the best part of the Rockies season. Too bad it’s going to end earlier.

11. Chicago White Sox – There record is deserving of this spot, not the way that they finished the season.

12. St. Louis Cardinals – Albert might need surgery. La Russa might be gone. Should make for an interesting offseason for the Cardinals.

13. Boston Red Sox – Good enough to not be good enough.

14. Detroit – Too much payroll, not enough pitching. Injuries hurt them so much this year.

15. Oakland Athletics – They were killed by a very weak and sluggish offense. It’s too bad because there pitching wasn’t bad at all.

16. Florida Marlins – It doesn’t matter how good they are, their management will break apart whatever is being built.
And for the Bottom 15 which no one should care about….

17. Los Angeles Dodgers – Because Donnie Baseball will fail as manager. Just because he was a beloved player should mean nothing.

18. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim – Because they were so disappointing.

19. Seattle Mariners – Speaking of disappointing….

20. Cleveland Indians – One of their sports teams needs to finish in the Top 20 this year.

21. Milwaukee Brewers – Things will go down hill for this franchise when Prince gets traded in the offseason.

22. Toronto Bluejays – I firmly believe Bautista is clean. I might be crazy but I think he’s clean. We need to move into
trust again.

23. Baltimore Orioles – Buck will get them into respectable, but respectable isn’t a playoff spot.

24. New York Mets – They are a terrible team. Just terrible.

25. Houston Astros – Speaking of terrible….

26. Washington Nationals – Welcome to a team that will struggle for years to come.

27. Kansas City Royals – This is a team that will never be relevant until there is some sort of money structure in the MLB.

28. Chicago Cubs – Mike Quade might be their best bet as manager.

29. Arizona Diamondbacks – They are in need of a serious overhaul and some serious direction if they hope to be relevant any time soon.

30. Pittsburgh Pirates – Who would have thought that the Pirates wouldn’t be relevant? Every one did.

Joe Torre: To Retire or Not to Retire

Well with less than two weeks left in the regular season Joe Torre’s whereabouts next season are yet to be determined. With that in mind it makes me ponder what I would do if I was Mr.Torre. I mean I am sure there are teams out there willing to shell out a boat load of cash for a chance at the post season glory he has enjoyed in his career. As a Dodger fan I will say he did a fair job with what he had to work with which this year was little more than an average team. Actually if not for the dread lock monster coming and making such a huge impact when he wanted to get a big payday, the first year would have been a bust also. With that said I think change is good for Dodgers as long as the divorce gets figured out and for Joe a new town might be the final stop that will neither make nor break his career.

Let’s see so far the media has had him going to the Cubs and the Mets and I am sure by the time it is all over they will put him in any city that has an opening. However I would take my time, I mean why go to a city like Chicago and know every day that this franchise is much like the one you are leaving. By this I mean what have you done for me lately? You can only do so much with mediocre players and talent. He needs to go to an all ready loaded up team like that of the Yankees past, where owners are not afraid to open the purse strings and go on a spending spree. Truly who in their right minds would want to go to the Mets, Cubs or any other team where losing is likely and sometimes seems like the only option they have.

For me Retirement would definitely be a logical choice, I mean at seventy years old what if anything is left to do. Four World Series, six American league pennants and over 2300 wins he has seen and done allot as a player in 18 seasons and manager in 29 seasons. With that said I think retirement is the answer I mean unless say Tony Larussa retires and he could take over the Cards or something crazy like that. If not stay in California, work on your tan and golf game and heck while you’re at it take up surfing or something. Before you know it we will see you on Fox or MLB TV analyzing the game you love and I bet you will be good at it too. So Long Joe!!!!!!

Ozzie Shouldn’t Make Demands

As the sun sets on the White Sox failed 2010 campaign it’s left Ozzie Guillen wondering where he stands. It’s an interesting question from an interesting man and not one I’m sure I’d be asking at this stage of the game. Then again has Ozzie always says he’s “the f—king manager” so I guess that gives him the right.

If you’ve been following the White Sox soap opera this season then you have come to one conclusion: the town might not be big enough for both Ozzie Guillen and Kenny Williams. Someone may have to go and it might come down to Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf to make the call. If it’s left to Williams we all know how that will go.

But Ozzie isn’t thinking about being canned. Ozzie wants to know about the future. He’s thinking beyond next year, which is the last remaining year on his contract. He’s gone so far as to publicly demand to know. An interesting play from a guy who just lost the division title for the fourth time in six years to the Minnesota Twins.

If you must know, I personally don’t think Ozzie Guillen should be fired. I don’t think in the world of baseball managers that you make moves just to make them. You need to wait until the time is right and the situation is right. Or you wait until someone forces your hand and you are left with no options. Firing Ozzie Guillen doesn’t make baseball sense. He doesn’t seem(at least from my vantage point) to have lost his players. Firing Guillen to hire LaRussa or Torre wouldn’t make good sense at their advanced ages(provided they would even want the job). Hiring Joey Cora, Ozzie’s good friend, might make things uncomfortable.

Besides, Ozzie can’t be blamed for Andruw Jones and his dismal season. He can’t be blamed for Peavy blowing out his bicep. He can’t be blamed for Teahan and his miserable play in an injury plagued year. He can’t be blamed for Carlos Quinten proving once again that he is more of a flash in the pan than he is a legit star.

Still, Ozzie isn’t stupid. He comes off like a loose cannon but he’s a calculated individual and his comments about his future are perplexing to say the least. Look, I like the job I have here at Dugout Doctors. It’s fun and I have a great staff, but currently do not drive in the numbers that some other sites do. It would be a little foolish of me to go to my boss, Adam, and demand he lock me up to a salary and long term contract. Even if I felt I was the best guy for this job, the bottom line is results. I don’t have them yet, and neither does Guillen.

Say what you want about injuries and guys not playing up to par; the bottom line is winning. The Twins win. The White Sox do not. Sure, Guillen has a World Series ring, but the Twins otherwise beat him at every turn. The Twins were 13-5 against the South Siders this season. They beat the team they had to. The Sox couldn’t, and what’s worse, is they didn’t seem like they ever could.

It’s not like the Twins didn’t have their own issues as a team. They lose one of baseball’s best closers when they lost Joe Nathan in Spring Training. They lose their MVP Justin Morneau to a concussion. They played through it and won. And they won convincingly.

Ozzie shouldn’t share the failures of the White Sox alone. Kenny Williams assembled this team and is just as responsible for its failures, and perhaps more so. Kenny, however, isn’t crying to the media about wanting to know his future. Kenny, just like Ozzie, knows how this business works. You are never safe. All you can do is stay where you are until they tell you to go home.

So maybe Ozzie is forcing the issue because he wants to leave. There are a few jobs opening up, especially in Florida where Ozzie lives. Still, if I’m Ozzie I’d think long and hard about forcing the hand here. The grass isn’t always greener elsewhere. With Joe Torre and Tony LaRussa looming and looking for vacancies, Ozzie will be third on the wish list. If Joe Girardi decides to leave the Yankees then everything will be up for grabs. Ozzie might think the summers in Florida are nice, but a losing ball club for owners who don’t care won’t be a walk in the park.

Ozzie has every right to wonder about his future, but he shouldn’t demand it publicly. He might not like the answer he gets. He once said he knows he’ll be fired some day. Never finding a way to beat the Twins is a good start.

Donnie Baseball Takes Over The Dodgers

Future Hall-of-Famer Joe Torre announced last week that this season would be his last as skipper of the Los Angeles Dodgers. This was Torre’s third season managing the team, after spending the previous twelve seasons leading the New York Yankees. While the Dodgers won’t make it to the playoffs in 2010, they won the NL West in their first two seasons under Torre, and most people will agree he had a successful run with the team.

While announcing Torre’s “retirement” (many people around the league suspect he’ll come back…they always come back), the Dodgers also announced they would be giving the 2011 managerial duties to current hitting coach Don Mattingly. While this was somewhat expected, it’s surprising that they chose to make the decision before the current season ended. But no complaints here, as it gives us an early opportunity to look into Mattingly’s chances as a Manager.

How he could succeed:
He didn’t get the nickname “Donnie Baseball” for nothing. Don Mattingly knows the game, and played it hard throughout his 14-year career. Over much of that span (namely ’84-’89) he was one of the best in the game. Take a look at the First-Baseman’s mantle and you’ll see he was a winner of nine gold glove awards. He’s a six time All-Star. He holds the 1984 batting title, and his most impressive achievement, the 1985 AL MVP. In that season, Mattingly led the league with 145 RBI’s while posting an OPS of .939. He was on the path to a Hall-of-Fame career before back problems slowed him, and eventually caused him to retire after the 1995 season, when he was just 34.

While the Hall may not honor him, the Yankees certainly took note. Mattingly’s hard play and clubhouse demeanor earned him the title of Yankee captain, a title he held from 1991-1995. This is an honor held in high regard, as there have only been eleven captains in the history of the storied franchise; a list that includes Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Derek Jeter. Obviously, it’s not a title the Yankees just throw around, and this speaks great volumes about Mattingly’s ability to lead a clubhouse.

As we saw this year in Florida, a Manager’s history in the league can factor in to how he is treated by his players. In mid-May, after former Marlin Manager Fredi Gonzalez removed Hanley Ramirez from a game due to lack of hustle, Ramirez lashed back saying “He doesn’t understand that. He never played in the big leagues.” Well, there’s no doubt Mattingly’s resume will –if it hasn’t already– earn the respect of his players. And, perhaps being only 49 or, twenty-one years younger then Torre, will help him relate to the mid-twenty-somethings on the squad, especially Matt Kemp who has clashed with management all season.

Where he might fail:
Sure, he was a heck of a player and captain, but he’s never been the actual Manager of a team. Experience as a Manager is invaluable, and something most people in the league will tell you is necessary before you’re ready to be in charge of a big league club. For evidence, you don’t need to look any further than a July game between the Dodgers and Giants. Torre had been ejected, so it was Mattingly who went out to talk to his closer, Jonathan Broxton, in a tight spot. They had a brief chat and Mattingly headed back to the dugout, only to turn around and throw in one more piece of advice. Unfortunately, this counted as two trips to the mound, and Mattingly was forced to remove his closer. The Dodgers went on to lose the game. Sure, it was a fluke occurrence, but these are the types of intangibles a Manager deals with on a day-to-day basis.

Many new Managers have the luxury of taking over a team that has been struggling. Then, if the team improves, they look great. If it stays bad, hey it can’t be his fault completely. But Mattingly will be managing the Los Angeles Dodgers, a team rich with history and one that expects to compete next year. Add to that the fact that he won’t be replacing just any old Manager. He’s replacing a legend in Torre, who is arguably one of the top Skippers of the past half-century. You better believe there will be pressure to succeed.

Finally, let us not overlook the state of the Dodgers’ ownership. With the McCourts still battling it out in court (The McCourts in Court sounds like a bad title for a new TNT Drama), who knows who will own the team when the 2011 season kicks off. It could be Frank McCourt, it could be Jamie McCourt, heck, it could be somebody else entirely. Frank has given Mattingly his approval, but if there’s a new owner in town, who knows how they’ll deal with things. It’s possible that lack of stability could keep Mattingly uneasy for most of his tenure with the Dodgers.

Best case scenario, Donnie Baseball uses his playing experience and abilities as a natural leader to his advantage, and leads the Dodgers to the playoffs in 2011. Then, sometime down the road, they honor him just like the Yankees did, and retire his number before he rides off into the sunset. Worst case scenario? His lack of experience as a Manager and the various pressures surrounding him catch up, and he’s packing his bags before August rolls around. Regardless of the outcome, it’s going to be one of the many exciting story lines to follow in the coming season.

5 Reasons The Phillies Will Win The NL Pennant

How Many Guys Named Roy Does It Take To Win The NL Pennant?

The answer is two and the Philadelphia Phillies have two of the best in Cy Young candidate Roy Halladay and verteran ace Roy Oswalt. The name dropping doesn’t end there. The Phils also have a couple good Ryans (Howard and Madson), a Raul (Ibanez), a Ruiz (Carlos) and a Rollins (Jimmy), all of whom have contributed heavily to the success of the team. And we could go through 25 more letters of the alphabet but I think those names alone strike enough fear in the hearts of the opposition.

Fresh off of two straight World Series appearances in 2008 and 2009, the Phillies appear ready to make a statement in the playoffs, yet again. After falling to seven games out of first place in the NL East in late July, it appeared that the 2010 Phils were nothing more than a bunch of Tom, Dick and Harrys, ready to be written off. Then, they traded for Oswalt on July 29th and Chase Utley returned from the DL on August 17th and they have since climbed to the top of the NL ladder.

Let’s take a look at five reasons why the Phils will be the name atop the NL in 2010:

1. A OWL STORY – If you rearrange the letters of Roy Oswalt’s name, you get “A Owl Story”. And the Phillies had the owl-like vision to pull off a trade for Roy midway through the 2010 season. He swooped into Philadelphia this summer and has helped the team regain the magic they lacked early in the year. His 10 starts for the City of Brotherly Love has yielded a 7-1 record, 1.94 ERA, 61 K, 48 H and 0.95 WHIP in 69.1 IP. The Phils have also won the last 9 games he has started. Not bad for a guy taken in the 23rd round of the 1996 draft.

2. A HYDRA LAY LOW – Yep, you guessed it, Roy Halladay. His pitches seem mythical at times and he keeps getting better with age. His move to the NL this season has solidified his place among the all-time pitching elite. He began the season wading in mediocrity (10-8 record), but since July 23rd, the real monster has emerged (10-2). He is a top candidate for the NL Cy Young and he’s known for finishing what he starts. He has 8 CG this season to go along with a record of 20-10, 2.53 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 30 BB and 213 K in 241.2 IP. It’s going to take a Herculean effort to stop this nine headed monster.

3. A BRAZEN PINK STICK – The NL playoffs will be seeing a lot of Phillies pink as the road to the World Series most likely will be going through Citizens Bank Park. The Phils currently have the best record in the NL, with a five game lead over the slumping Atlanta Braves. They have won 29 of their last 39 home games and are 52-28 overall. The Phils love to hit at home and are second to only the Rockies with 401 R and 720 H. Jayson Werth has led the home field barrage with 23 2B, 18 HR, 51 RBI, 56 R and .326 AVG along with Ryan Howard with 15 HR, 58 RBI, 47 R and .291 AVG. Citizens Bank Park has been known as a hitter’s park since it opened in 2004 and any visiting team that comes to town will have a hard time keeping up with the powerful pink sticks throughout the Phils lineup.

4. BIG LADDER – The Phils climb into first place is due, in part, to the resurgence of closer Brad Lidge. He underwent elbow surgery in January and missed a month of the 2010 season. He stumbled out of the gates blowing three of eight save chances, while posting a 5.14 ERA. Then, he began his ascent. Since August, he has converted 15 saves in 16 chances. In that span, he has allowed only 2 ER in 20.2 IP while striking out 22. He has been dubbed “Lights Out” by many and when you team him up with starters like Roy #1, Roy #2 and Cole Hamels (5-0, 0.49 ERA in last 5 starts), the ladder to the top looks shorter every day.

5. There’s Only One Way To Spell EXPERIENCE – The Phils have been to two consecutive World Series, beating the Rays in ‘08 and losing to the Yankees in ‘09. 1B Ryan Howard, 2B Chase Utley, OF Shane Victorino, SS Jimmy Rollins, C Carlos Ruiz, OF Jayson Werth, SP Cole Hamels and RP Ryan Madson have been with this team through both World Series appearances and they are hungry for more. While their path has been a bumpy one, they have turned it on in the second half of the season. The Phils looked poised and ready for October baseball yet again, but we will have to wait and see if their efforts can spell an NL Pennant victory.

Baseball’s Manager of The Year Race

American League Manager of the Year

1. Ron Washington – Texas Rangers – 1st place AL West
Texas was picked to finish third by most people this year in the AL Central behind the LA Angels and Seattle Mariners. Despite having a patchwork pitching staff which included an oft-injured starter, a converted reliever and a player who just finished a stint in Japan the Rangers have rolled to one of the biggest division leads in all of baseball.

2. Ron Gardenhire – Minnesota Twins – 1st place AL Central
The Twins are currently in the running for the best record in baseball despite spending most of their season without former MVP Justin Morneau and losing lights out closer Joe Nathan before the season even began. What looks like an underwhelming rotation on paper has been solid all season and Carl Pavano is showing everyone why the Yankees once gave him a nice free agent payday.

3. Cito Gaston – Toronto Blue Jays – 4th place, AL East
I’m sure I’ll get some criticism for taking a manager whose team is currently in fourth place over a manager on one of the two best teams in baseball. I think Gaston deserves to get some credit for taking the Blue Jays, a perennial afterthought in the AL East and keeping them in the race for a good part of the season. The Jays are still over .500, which is difficult to do when you’re a fourth place team.

National League Manager of the Year

1. Dusty Baker – Cincinnati Reds – 1st place NL Central
The Reds are beating out the favored Cardinals by a pretty big margin (largest NL division lead) in the NL Central. Young players on the Reds have finally lived up to their potential and Joey Votto was contending for the Triple Crown throughout the majority of the season. The Reds got solid pitching from rookies Mike Leake (in the first half) and Travis Wood (in the second half) to back up a strong offense.

2. Bud Black – San Diego Padres – 2nd place NL West
The Padres were picked by many to finish fourth or fifth in the NL West this season, yet are in second place now after leading the division the majority of the year. Pitching has been the key to the Padres success, and Mat Latos has developed much faster than expected and could gain some Cy Young consideration. While the team needs to play well down the stretch to make the playoffs, Black has done a terrific job getting the team into contention.

3. Jim Tracy – Colorado Rockies – 3rd place NL West
With a recent hot streak, the Rockies are trying to get back to “Rocktober” with a strong finish. Troy Tulowitski has been on fire so far in September, and the Rockies have charged to only a game and a half behind division leading San Francisco. Carlos Gonzalez is still has an outside shot at winning the triple crown (though he will need a HR binge to get it) and solid pitching from Jimenez and Chacin has made the Rockies contenders once again.

Who’s Hot? Who’s Not? September 20, 2010

Who says that September only matters to teams fighting for the playoffs? Every team has to play out their schedule and often times the non-playoff bound teams play the role of spoiler. The Angels just took two out of three from the Rays to drop them into second place behind the Yankees in the AL East. In the NL, the Cardinals won three of four from the Padres, knocking them down to second in the NL West. And then we have teams who have been beating up on everyone, like the Cubs, who just swept the Cardinals and Marlins. So make no mistake, no one has given up yet. Okay, so maybe the Pirates, Orioles and Mariners are less exciting than Little League baseball, but they still have to play the games, even if no one shows up to watch.

Here’s a look at which teams have been playing some solid baseball this past week and which ones have splintered apart.

Who’s Hot?

NL Batting
1. Philadelphia Phillies – 6 G, .326 AVG, .420 OBP, 11 HR, 44 R, 9 SB, 115 TB
2. Colorado Rockies – 6 G, .311 AVG, .378 OBP, 7 HR, 44 R, 111 TB
3. San Diego Padres – 7 G, .289 AVG, .466 SLG, 10 HR, 32 R, 23 XBH

AL Batting
1. Boston Red Sox – 6 G, .271 AVG, .491 SLG, 9 HR, 37 R, 27 XBH
2. Minnesota Twins – 6 G, .277 AVG, .356 OBP, 7 HR, 33 R, 4 SF
3. Kansas City Royals – 6 G, .281 AVG, .482 SLG, 10 HR, 32 R, 5 SB

NL Pitching
1. Chicago Cubs – 6-0, 1.83 ERA, 46 K, 3 SV, 38 H, 9 HLD
2. Philadelphia Phillies – 6-0, 3.17 ERA, 62 K, 3 SV, 17 BB
3. San Franciso Giants – 3-3, 1.33 ERA, 44 K, 32 H, 10 BB

AL Pitching
1. Boston Red Sox – 4-2, 3.50 ERA, 44 K, 19 BB, 1 PK
2. Texas Rangers – 3-2, 2.09 ERA, 29 K, 34 H, 11 BB
3. New York Yankees – 3-3, 3.54 ERA, 48 K, 2 SV, 43 H, 13 BB

Who’s Not?

NL Batting
1. Florida Marlins – 6 G, .205 AVG, .330 SLG, 5 HR, 16 R, 64 K
2. Los Angeles Dodgers – 6 G, .220 AVG, .269 OBP, 5 HR, 18 R, 53 K
3. Arizona Diamondbacks – 7 G, .234 AVG, .293 OBP, 6 HR, 25 R, 71 K

AL Batting
1. Seattle Mariners – 6 G, .225 AVG, .302 SLG, 2 HR, 13 R, 9 XBH
2. Tampa Bay Rays – 6 G, .208 AVG, .289 OBP, 8 HR, 22 R, 56 K
3. Oakland Athletics – 6 G, .222 AVG, .343 SLG, 5 HR, 20 R, 4 CS

NL Pitching
1. Florida Marlins – 0-6, 6.17 ERA, 56 H, 6 HR, 46 BB, 43 R
2. San Diego Padres – 3-4, 6.71 ERA, 78 H, 5 HR, 28 BB, 45 R, 1 BK, 3 WP
3. Arizona Diamondbacks – 2-5, 4.47 ERA, 62 H, 12 HR, 19 BB, 33 R, 2 BSV

AL Pitching
1. Chicago White Sox – 0-6, 8.04 ERA, 68 H, 7 HR, 24 BB, 50 R, 4 WP
2. Toronto Blue Jays – 2-4, 5.85 ERA, 70 H, 7 HR, 22 BB, 36 R, 3 WP
3. Seattle Mariners – 2-4, 4.33 ERA, 51 H, 7 HR, 14 BB, 27 R, 1 BK, 1 WP, 1 BSV

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