BaseballHappenings.com

In the  pre-season it was projection  time and we all had our “Picks to Click” . Likewise, we had our all bust team. Its that time of the year to take a look at the surprises and those who have lived up to their potential.

Those who are living up to their potential and letting us know they are the true star hitters of the game are Chipper Jones, Lance Berkman, and Albert Pujols all sporting an OPS above 1000.

Those players who are providing the all around solid, mind boggling,  and jaw dropping numbers for infielders are Chase Utley and Hanley Ramirez. Also, included in this group is Dan Uggla. But, the difference there is we expected these type of numbers for Utley and Hanley. But, in Uggla we are quite a surprised.

In the outfield mix, did anyone think that Pat Burrell would be putting up Matt Holliday type numbers.  Carlos Lee is doing what we all thought he would putting up Carlos Lee type numbers. Also, the Pirates entire Outfield has been a shocker. With The return of Jason Bay, the breakout of Nate McLouth, and the all around game of Xavier Nady, it looks as if Pirates have a foundation in place. They will be pushed by the minor leaguers who will force some trades to address other areas.

Before the season, people who were questioning if Iannetta was a MLB caliber player after a tough first season. Ryan Doumit was an after thought up until now. Who knew they would be putting up Brian McCann type numbers.

At the hot corner, Jorge Cantu has been the surprise and has been solid allowing the loss of Cabrera to go unnoticed.  Braun is showing he is no fluke. Wright is in his slow start fashion is heating up as we enter the second half.  Mark Reynolds has fought off the doubters. The Padres are showing that Kouzmanoff deal was a good one.

The Cubs showed off their array of high flier young players in Soto and Fukodome to compelement their veterams like Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez. We all thought Theriot would be headed to bench. We were all wrong.  That package that was floated in the pre-season was money as it turned out to be better returns than Roberts ever would have been, and its addressed a true need. As we all know, yeah-brian-roberts-but-you-win-with-mark-derosa .

Jay Bruce has lived up to the hype. Carlos Delgado has shown he has something left. Pedro has shown he doesn’t.

Aside from NL, the 2008 Rays have made us forget the Devil Rays ever existed. I guess thats what Billy Beane has in mind as hungry young players can be a force to reckon with.

Some of your favorite prospects are getting props on being named to their associated All-Star teams.

As well, the Futures Game Roster has been set.

In my deep keeper’s league, Iam banking on the following players in years to come.

Fernando Martinez

Jordan Schafer

Nick Evans

Matt Antonelli

James McDonald

Emilio Bonafacio

Jeremy Jeffress

Jose Ceda

There has been a lot of fallout after the Mets firing of Willie Randolph as their manager. I personally thought the relationship between Willie and Reyes had run its course. It seemed like Willie’s first project after taking the job 3 years ago was taking Jose under his wing.

I listened to Mike Silva’s podcast last night and he thinks Backman is the man for the job as his personality and moneyball approach would be a nice fit.

It seems Big Tony was overstepping his role as Omar’s right hand man. He was influential and divisive force in getting in the Wilpon’s ear to remove Randolph.

Instead of prolonging the inevitable, The Mets cut Bait with manager Willie Randolph, pitching coach Rick Peterson and first base coach Tom Nieto. So much for Willie suiting up in the Mets uniform coaching in this years All-star game.   This move certainly was all about Omar invoking the CYA rule of running a  ball club.  Had he kept the regime together much longer, Omar might have gone down with the sinking ship. This way, Omar concedes to what the Mets ownership really wanted to do.  Despite not being crazy with Randolph’s decision making in games, a lot of this years failure has to be in some of the personnel selections by Omar. In particular, the right side of the infield in Delgado and Castillo is giving me flashbacks of Jeff Torborg’s 1B Eddie Murray and 2B Willie Randolph.  Add that along to Alou who is doing his best Mike Hampton impression this year.  The aging team, along with a down farm system is core to this teams falures.

The Rays could of taken a high end catcher in this years draft , as they held the first overall pick and Gerald “Buster” Posey of Florida State was a name making the rounds. But, there is a new sheriff in Town. Dioner Navarro is his name. It is several years after the trade with the Dodgers, Navarro is finally looking like a talent both with his bat and his leadership skills behind the plate. I am not sure what has transpired with him, but the Rays are certainly well stocked at the catcher position with Shawn Riggins a young capable catcher baking him up.

The Rays also took a chance on Willy Aybar taking him from the bargain basement bin of the Braves. In Aybar, they have a valuable backup who can fill in all over the field. The Rays were patient with Aybar, and are now being rewarded. Seems like another score for the Andrew Friedman who also got infielder Chase Fontaine in the deal.

In other news. Here in North Carolina where are regional teams are “supposed” to be the O’s and the Nats, we are blacked out seeing their games by a cable dispute. So unless we drive over 250 miles, we can not see a game from either of those teams. Gone are the Braves on TBS for the most part. Thus, unless you buy some games over the air in media packages like Extra Innings, or MLB.TV, our only avenue for watching games is Fox’s game of the week, or games on ESPN.

The Rays are off to their breakout season and a lot of their success can be credited to the defense, especially up the middle. In Jason Bartlett, who the Rays obtained along with Matt Garza for Delmon Young , the Rays have the defender they have lacked for a long while. He is helping the Rays pitchers numbers making the key plays, while at the same time not really hurting them that much with his bat. Though his VORP is low, I believe Joe Maddon is correct that baseball needs a plus/minus on how many runs a player saved, to go laong with how many he has given up. In my mind, this SS Bartlett should be kept around for a long while. But, In the same time, in AAA Durham Reid Brignac continues to develop at SS. Its a tough decsion on what to do in years to come. In Brignac, you are talking about 20 HR potential, while at the same time he plays solid defense. After years of underachieving and bad decision making, the Rays are the toast of baseball. Do you mess with success or do you start making use of your future chips in years to come

Chase Utley of the Phillies is showing he is the real deal in 2008. Well, we have known that a while now. Utley’s 2007 campaign and possible MVP were derailed by a HBP that had him on the DL which reduced his overall counting statistics. If you are counting now, Utley’s sweet stroke has him on 20 HRs which leads all Major League players . This all from a position not usually known for its hitting power. Its quite clear he is the better version of Jeff Kent’s reign of the 1990s, and looks almost certain to pass Davey Johnson’s single season record for a second baseman. His minor league career attempted to make him a 3B at one point, but in the end he was to be second baseman. Although, he was blocked at the position for several years by Tigers Placido Polanco. He arrived on the scene later than expected for a mashing second baseman. The thing i remember most about Utley is in his brief debut several years before getting the full time gig is he stroked a grand slam. Before the season Brett at Fantasy Phenoms asked me this question:

Just like all the other professional sports who have claimed they owned the events taking place on the field, you lose.

In this PDF, it tells of how the Supreme Court rejects fantasy baseball dispute. Good day for the world of collaboration and sharing information.

In other news, I heard a few items today on the topic of Josh Hamilton. First off, Jim Rome was to have him as a guest in the third hour of the broadcast. His wife and Josh held a Q&A about how support from his family was vital to his comeback. Josh was voted the player of the month for May in the American League. Lastly, there was an item on how the Hamilton’s have switched to an agent that closely resembles their faith. I could care less. If I were Josh, I’d sign on the dotted line before they change their mind on a long term contract. I say that only because Hamilton has a track record with the injuries. Long term money in baseball is guaranteed.

Today my pal dog Ellie lost her battle. She fought like heck.

It was last Spring Training (2007) that we thought her time was up.  I was out of town this weekend and the kidney failure finally ran its unfortunate course. I’ll miss her.

This is the fourth AL voting period after six seven in the books. The MLB Blog Poll votes on the MVP, Cy Young, and Rookie of Year candidates in each league throughout the regular baseball season. In doing so, you get a cumulative snapshot of the award winners, instead of the single vote. That way we get constant feedback as the year goes on.

American League Most Valuable Player Vote Week #7

The player ranked first on a ballot is assigned 14 points, the player ranked second is assigned 9 points, and the player ranked third is assigned 8 points. Click to see the actual votes.

American League Cy Young Vote Week #7

The player ranked first on a ballot is assigned 5 points, the player ranked second is assigned 3 points, and the player ranked third is assigned 1 point. Click to see the actual votes.

American League Rookie of the Year Vote Week #7

The player ranked first on a ballot is assigned 5 points, the player ranked second is assigned 3 points, and the player ranked third is assigned 1 point. Click to see the actual votes.

The following blogs contributed to the Blog Poll results:

Baseball Digest Daily
Baseball Happenings
Baseball Musings
Seth Speaks
Fire Brand of American League
Brock For Broglio
Brew Crew Ball
Beyond The Boxscore
Fake Teams
RotoRob
Over the Monster
No Bias Baseball
Outs Per Swing
Bugs & Cranks
Talking Chop
Roto Junkie
Baseball Time In Arlington
CardinalsDiaspora
Tiger Tales
Kranepool Society
Cubs F/X
Roto Advice
Chicago Cubs Online
Baseball Legends
Roto Professor
DRays Bay
DisabledListInformer