Who ya got? Rookie of the Year
Posted: August 24, 2012 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, sportsTags: Anthony rizzo, Mike trout, sports time radio, yoesnis cespedes, Yu Darvish
It’s that time in the baseball season where everyone starts talking about who’s going to win what award. I thought I’d start with the Rookie of the Year for each league.
I think the American League is kind of a lock for Mike Trout. There’s a better than average chance that he’ll be a unanimous selection, but who’s next. I think if I had a ballot I’d put Yoenis Cespedes from Oakland 2nd. I know there are people out their that will ay he’s not a rookie since he played professionally in Cuba before this season. According to Major League Baseball he’s a rookie and 2nd on my ballot. Now if anyone had an issue with my 2nd place rookie then they’ll have the same issue with my 3rd place rookie Yu Darvish. Same deal as Cespedes; he played professionally in Japan before this season, but again he’s a rookie here. To fill out my top five I’d vote for Wei-Yin Chen from Baltimore and Jesus Montero from Seattle at four and five.
Now the National League is a tougher choice for myself. I know that everyone wants to give the award to Bryce Harper, but I’m no sold that he’s the Rookie of the Year. Harper is hitting right around .245, but he has played solid defense and his team is in 1st place. I think my 1st place vote would go to Wade Miley from Arizona. He was their only All-Star this season and they’re in contention for the wild card spot in the N.L. He leads all rookie pitchers in wins right now with 14 and his E.R.A. is 2.80. I even think I would lean to putting Yonder Alonso ahead of Harper on my ballot. I know Alonso only has 6 (six) home runs, but he plays his home games in San Diego. I think to fill out my ballot on the N.L. side I’d vote Todd Frazier from Cincinnati 4th; even though he’s making a late run and could move up by the end of the season. I’d give Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs my 5th place vote. He’s only had about half a season to put up his numbers, but he’s hitting in the .330’s and will end up well int double digits for home runs.
Who are your choices?
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The major league trading deadline passed on July 31st. They still have time to make deals, but now players have to go though waivers. It seems like a lot of the action happened out west; so will start their.
American League West:
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim picked up what was considered the best pitcher on the trade market getting Zack Greinke for three minor leaguers. This has to be considered a WIN.
The Texas Rangers answered getting Ryan Dempster and Geovany Soto in seperate deals from the Cubs. I was a little surprised that the Rangers traded for a catcher, but I think everyone tought they would be looking for a pitcher. Dempster was the best available pitcher at the time of the deal. WIN
Oakland A’s
I don’t think anyone thought the A’s would be contenders. but here they are. They went out and picked up George Kottaras from Milwaukee. They A’s had Kurt Suzuki on the roster, but traded for another catcher in Kottaras. I’m not sure what the difference will be except maybe money. LOSE
National League West
Los Angeles Dodgers: The Dodgers made a big move early getting Hanley Ramirez from Miami. They added Shane Victorino and a pitcher they where looking for in Joe Blanton. The report is that the Dodgers where the team that claimed Cliff Lee on waivers; so they might be adding another pitcher. WIN
The San Fransico Giants added Hunter Pence who I believe is a better player than Victorino. The Giants didn’t add any other players at the dealine and will see if they should’ve. DRAW
American League Central
Detroit Tigers: The Tigers filled their biggest need getting a 2nd baseman in Omar Infante along with pitcher Anabal Sanchez from Miami. Infante hasn’t had the best of years and as of right no the trade hasn’t helped the Tigers gain any type of momentum. Right now LOSE
Chicago White Sox: The White Sox made their biggest move earlier in the season getting Kevin Youkilis from Boston. They did add Francisco Liriano to bolster the pitching staff. Liriano can be hot and cold on the mound; so this rating could change depending on what type of production they get out of him. The White Sox also picked up Brett Myers to help out the bullpen. DRAW
National League Central
The Pittsburgh Pirates: The Pirates pick up Wandy Rodriquez a move that I seem to like a lot more than most of the people I’ve spoken to about it. The Pirates also added a bit piece in outfielder Travis Snider. I’d like to call this a win, but right now I’m going with DRAW
The Cinicinnati Reds: The Reds only added a bullpen pitcher going out and getting Jonathan Broxton from the Royals. I thought with some of the injuries the Reds have had they’d try to fill some bigger needs. Broxton is a solid pitcher with closing experience; so he’ll help in the bullpen. I thought they’d do more. LOSE
American League East
New York Yankees: The Yankees went out and fill a need they really need to fill getting Ichiro Suzki to replace Brett Gardner in te outfield. While Suzuki is an aging veteran he can still play great defense and is a good enough hitter to help New York out. WIN
National League East
Washington Nationals: The Nationals added the catcher they need getting Kurt Suzuki from Oakland. Suzuki is a solid if not spetacular catcher who’ll do what the Nationals need him too do. DRAW
If I missed someone or some team jump in and tell me.
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So if you heard the show last night (Wednesday) you know I was bothered by a couple of sports issues and just kind of went off rambling. I’m going to see if I can clarify my thinking hear and see if it makes a little more sense.
Jeremy Lin goes to the Houston Rockets after the New York Knicks choose not to match his offer sheet. Help me out here; why where they acting like the Knicks had just lost a superstar to Houston? While Lin had some good games for the Knicks last season he also had one of if not the highest turnover ratio of any NBA point guard. While I think he’ll end up being a good, solid player for the Rockets I don’t think he’ll end up winning a championship there. Lin was an ESPN creation and they pushed him out their every chance they got. He was in New York and that made it a big deal for ESPN. If you’ve ever watched anything on the network you know that if it doesn’t happen in the east coast it didn’t happen. The Rockets did a nice job with their contract offer making it almost impossible for the Knicks to match it the way it was back loaded. I think the Knicks did the right thing in letting Lin go, but they’re far from innocent in all this. After they decided not to match the offer they leaked some info about Lin not playing when he was injured and I believe some other info, but I’m not sure about that. That’s very class less for a team to do. I still haven’t figured out why this was such huge sports news and was covered by ESPN like LeBron James switching teams. I’m not even sure Lin is a top 10 NBA point guard. I’d take Derrick Rose, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Steve Nash, Rajon Rondo, Eric Gordon and Brandon Jennings ahead of him and that’s just off the top of my head; I’m sure there’s some point guards I missed. I hope I was able to make this seem more organized for you and would love your feedback.
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Reggie Jackson gave an interview to Sports Illustrated (S.I.) a week or so ago. In the S.I. interview he mentioned that Alex Rodriquez’s (A-Rod) stats where in question since he admitted to using Performanve Enhancing Drugs (P.E.D.) to help him get some of those stats. Reggie Jackson still works for the New York Yankees as a special advisor. Since this interview has come out Jackson has been asked to stay away from the team. Why? All Jackson did was tell the truth and now he’s being punished for it. A-Rod cheated; he cheated himself and he cheated the game of baseball. I guess because A-Rod is still an active player and Jackson is just a guy behind the scenes that Jackson is the one they want to punish and try to shut him up. We all know A-Rod cheated; he admitted to using P.E.D’s; so what was the issue with what Jackson said. Jackson also mentioned Andy Pettitte in his interview saying he was a nice guy and will end up in te Hall of Fame. Now Pettitte is another guy who’s admitted to using P.E.D’s and was a witness at the Roger Clemons trial. I guess the thing that seems to be throwing me off here is why is telling the truth wrong?
So it’s time for the Dwight Howard saga to start again between him and the Orlando Magic. The reports came out last season that Howard wanted Stan Van Gundy out as coach; so the magic let Van Gundy go after last season. Just to be on the safe side and try to keep Howard happy they also let General manager Otis Smith go as well. Now reports are coming out that Howard had a face to face meeting with new General Manager Rob Hennigan on Friday, As it turns out Howard now doesn’t want to play for Orlando, but for the Brooklyn Nets. Am I the only one that’s tired of the Dwight Howard circus. He’s going to stay then he’s wants to leave then he wants to stay; come on. I understand why Howard wants out of Orlando now; if the team doesn’t do well next season there;s no one to blame any more. They got rid of the coach and General Manager for you how long before it tracks back too you. Maybe people will just have to realize that Dwight Howard is just a guy who fills up the stat sheet and will never be able to lead a team to a championship.
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To DH or not to DH?
Posted: June 30, 2012 by Sports Time Radio in sportsTags: AL, DH, MLB, NL, World Series
A great debate in the world of major league baseball; the DH. One of my favorite things about baseball is the fact that each league is different and we the fans tend to take sides. I like to think of myself as a NL guy. I grew a Cubs fan but also was able to catch Braves and Mets games before the Networks took over. Its the tradition of having everyone on the field step up to the plate that many of us hold onto.
It’s almost time for the all star break and I know not many are thinking about next season but in the 2013 season the Houston Astros will have moved to the American League West, making each division even with five teams. It Is believed that with this change Inter-league play could happen any time of the year.
Recently Carlos Zambrano was taken out of the game on June 9th complaining of lower back stiffness that may have been caused by swinging for the fences in BP (1) Ozzie Guillen spent his career in the AL and with situations like this I can see Ozzie and many other managers and the owners in the NL favoring the DH, so that their star pitcher with the multi year, multi million dollar contract isn’t hurt or injured in the batters box or running the bases.
As much as I love the tradition of the MLB and the two leagues possessing different set of rules, I’m beginning to think the benefits of having a DH could carry over greatly for the NL. The Cubs for instance might not be trying to trade Soriano, he could be their DH for the next 3 years of his contract. It could bring on the possibility of guys staying with one team for the life of their career. Perhaps, Pujols & Fielder would have stayed in the NL.
In the end, we’ll just have to wait and see how this plays out but either way I’m excited about 2013 and very interested in what changes will be made to the schedule.
Dan the Man
@mantime8
I’m hearing all of these reports that college football is headed to a four team playoff to crown a national champion. It’s an interesting idea, but I don’t think it gets college football any closer to deciding a true national champion. Are there ways to qualify to be one of the four teams? Do you have to win your conference? I’m doubting that will be one of the qualifers for making it; since you know they’ll be dying to put two S.E.C. teams in among the four. So you lock in two spots for the S.E.C. teams a Big Ten team and then there’s one spot for who. I’m under the impression we won’t be seeing teams like Boise State or T.C.U. in this tournament. I’m not sure there’s a fair way to work this out because the bottom line here os $ money. Smaller schools don’t draw money; so they’ll be kept out of this tournament, but hey maybe I’m wrong will see. Already you have to bid to host the games. What do you think it’s going to cost a Jerry Jones type to get this game in Cowboy stadium? To quote Randy Moss “straight cash homie”
If you’ve listen to the show you know that Dan the Man and I live in the Chicago area. The big news for he terrible Cubs right now is that their top prospect Anthony Rizzo is being called up tomorrow (Tuesday). Now there’s not a lot of news to cover with the Cubs sadly; except for how many games over 100 they’ll lose this season. You have to wonder how much pressure Rizzo is going to feel with all the talk about him. He came up towards the end of the season last year with San Diego and didn’t fair to well. I’ve heard that the Cubs hitting coaches have made a change to Rizzo swing and he has put up fantastic numbers at Iowa this season. My hope is that the Cubs will put him out their to play everyday no matter who’s on the mound for the other team, but I’m a little afraid we’re going to see the platoon with Jeff Baker. Rizzo has to understand that he’s not here to save the team; since there’s no saving this team this season. Hopefully the Cubs will keep him in the majors for the rest of the season; what do they have to lose. I think if you’re a Cub fan you’d have to be happy if Rizzo hits close to .300 and ends up with double-digit home runs. At least he’s in the majors now and the Cubs can see what they have in Anthony Rizzo.
On a side note I saw ex-Cub Marlon Byrd was suspended for 50 games today. I’ll have to look for some more information.
