BaseballHappenings.com

We are 20% through the season, and this is how I see it stacking up if the the writers voted today on who the best players are in the award categories ranked 1 - 3.

MVP: Utley, Jones, Berkman

CY: Webb, Volquez, Peavy

ROY: Soto, Fukudome, Votto

Is it just me, despite how I love Howard Johnson as a player, the Mets batting coach is not really getting much out of the players not named Ryan Church.   I also wonder why  Wagner was thrown into a non save mop up condition last night.  I know there is a push for Fire Willie Randolph, but alot of what I see around the diamond can be attributed to going with alot of older players in Pedro Martinez, Carlos Delgado, Luis Castillo,  Moises Alou.  The trades of Santana and Church/Schnedier has been a blessing that has kept Mets out of the cellar. If its not clear already, Jose Reyes regression continues and Hanlet Ramirez is now obviously is the better player. It was nice hearing on the broadcast last night that Keith and Gary check out MetsBlog.com every morning. I know they are affiliated with the SNY now, but it shows what is possible out of the good independent blogs.

On the Rays, its been noted by Rays Index that Friday nights near perfect game by Jamie Shields might of been the best Rays game ever.  Well, Kazmir and the bullpens outing yesterday kept the pitching awesomeness streak continue as the Rays blanked the Angels again 2-0.

What is going on in South Florida? They are performing the magic again with their third roster makeover . I was wrong about HRam:

The loss of protection in the lieneup with Miguel Cabrera now in the American League. With less good pitches thrown his way, he likely will see his power number decrease, as you might see his OBP as good or better.

You can say that Hanley is really missing Miggy with his .336/.421/.569 production including 8 home runs and 13 stolen bases. We have seen no drop off and Hanley has now transitioned to the three hole in the lineup.

How he responds to offseason surgery will be an issue. He is not expected to be available at beginning of spring training. How he is able to prepare and be ready will not be the same.

He was available for the first game of the season and shows no real effects from the surgery. At the beginning of the year, his stolen bases were limited. It seems he is no longer being restricted on the stolen bases. His arm in throwing shows no problems best I can tell.

His defense is the middle of the pack according to PMR . With the Marlins lacking a 3B, its not out of the question down the road the team performs some defensive rel-alignment. If that means, a move to the outfield or possibly at the hot corner, we’ll have to see how this plays out. At the moment, the Marlins are choosing between a couple of second baseman for 3B

I am not sure if the hot corner transition will occur. With Ramirez slugging away and playing adequate defense, it will be hard to move him off the position. With Hanley providing the monster offense at a position not normally known for big numbers, they would have to justify if it was worth getting better defense out of the position with the apparent offense reduction.

With the loss of Willis and Cabrera over money concerns, how long is Hanley in the Marlins future? Sure, the team holds the upper hand in the cost containment of Hanley over the next few years. But, you don’t see the Marlins locking him up like the Rockies are doing with Troy Tulowitski

The Marlins have addressed this issue load and clear with and David Wright like contract. With the Marlins being a cost conscious franchise, this was their only chance at keeping him past next season. Its a great sign for the franchise and a win for the small market teams.

The MLB Blog Poll votes on the MVP, Cy Young, and Rookie of Year candidates in each league throughout the regular baseball season. The Blog Poll Voters is a group of some of the best writers the baseball blogosphere.

American League Most Valuable Player Vote Week #5

1. Manny Ramirez - 270 points
2. Casey Kotchman - 114 points
3. Josh Hamilton, Carlos Quentin (Tie) - 113 points

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.

American League Cy Young Vote Week #5

1. Cliff Lee - 116 points
2. Zack Greinke - 40 points
3. Ervin Santana, Chien-Ming Wang (Tie) - 18 points

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.

American League Rookie of the Year Vote Week #5

1. Jacoby Ellsbury - 83 points
2. Greg Smith - 58 points
3. Evan Longoria - 25 points

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.

The following blogs contributed to the Blog Poll results::

• Baseball Happenings
• Baseball Musings
• Seth Speaks
• Fire Brand of American League
• Brock For Broglio
• Brew Crew Ball
• Beyond The Boxscore
• Greener On Other Side
• Fake Teams
• RotoRob
• No Bias Baseball
• Outs Per Swing
• Bugs & Cranks
• Talking Chop
• Roto Junkie
• Baseball Time In Arlington
• Statistically Speaking
• Tiger Tales
• Kranepool Society
• Cubs F/X
• Roto Advice
• Chicago Cubs Online
• Baseball Legends
• Roto Professor

The MLB Blog Poll votes on the MVP, Cy Young, and Rookie of Year candidates in each league throughout the regular baseball season. The Blog Poll Voters is a group of some of the best writers the baseball blogosphere. This week we vote on the National League. This week I am making an individual post per award where I show each voters selections.

Please keep in mind for Rookie of the year voting, they must be of Rookie status
as defined by Major League Baseball.
http://www.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/about_mlb/rules_regulations.jsp

The stats section on ESPN allows you to droll down on stats by Rookie

• batters
• pitchers

Thus, Edinson Volquez (like Carlos Gomez in the American League) is not eligible for the Rookie of Year award. They collect 0 points in anyone who selects them for the Rookie of the Year.

National League Rookie of the Year Vote Week #4

1. Geovany Soto - 79 points
2. Kosuke Fukudome - 78 points
3. Joey Votto - 18 points

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 points.

With the Chicago Cubs in need of OBP, the arrival of RF Kosuke Fukudome’s .444 OBP is just what the doctor ordered. Add-in a rookie catcher with a .415 OBP, and the Cubs look like they could run away with the NL Central. Helping these teammates rank 1st and 2nd in the NL ROY voting are OPS greater than .900 for each.” — Eric, FakeTeams

National League Rookie of the Year Vote Week #4

We already knew that George W. Bush as owner of the Texas Rangers was questionable in his decision making. He was the one who traded away future Hall of Fame slugging outfielder Sammy Sosa to the White Sox. But, another George W. Bush baseball nugget is that he was the only owner to vote against implementing the now highly successful baseball wildcard.

In making those baseball trades in your fantasy league, there are a lot of variables to consider. This exchange does bring up a lot of good points on what to avoid, especially:

A lot of times owners fail to look at what the other team needs and solely looks at what they need to improve on. There’s someone on the other side that needs to improve as well. For example, if you’re trying to improve your pitching and offer Mark Teixeira for Brandon Webb, it seems like a fair deal. But if the trade partner is set at 1B, CI and U, how does this help his team? He might be looking for a second baseman. Many owners just throw out trade offers. If you’re in a competitive league, you need to dig deeper into the stats.

It;s good seeing Pat Burrell putting it together again.  For almost the entire 2006 season, through the first half of last year, it looked like his career was in meltdown mode.  But, a strong second half that went unnoticed with Jimmy Rollins career year, and a good start to this year makes it look like the Phillies will have to find a way to keep him as he enters free agency at seasons end.

The MLB Blog Poll votes on the MVP, Cy Young, and Rookie of Year candidates in each league throughout the regular baseball season. The Blog Poll Voters is a group of some of the best writers the baseball blogosphere. This week we vote on the National League. This week I am making an individual post per award where I show each voters selections.

National League Cy Young Vote Week #4

1. Brandon Webb - 72 points
2. Tim Lincecum - 52 points
3. Ben Sheets - 35 points

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 points.

Edinson Volquez - Raise your hand if you saw this one coming. Can you say unsustainable?” — Rob Blackstien, RotoRob

No Johan Santana? Not with the way these three have been pitching” — Steve Keane, Kranepool Society

Tim Lincecum - He’s on pace to finish with a 26-0 record and 233 K’s…which probably won’t happen; no matter, he’s been one of the best this season & has found ways to get wins with a limited offense behind him (it helps only have allowed 4 ER all season)” — Ken, Roto Advice

Brandon Webb - I challenge anyone to defend to me not picking a 6-0, 1.98 ERA, 41.0 IP.” — Evan, Fire Brand of American League

National League Cy Young Vote Week #4

The MLB Blog Poll votes on the MVP, Cy Young, and Rookie of Year candidates in each league throughout the regular baseball season. The Blog Poll Voters is a group of some of the best writers the baseball blogosphere. This week we vote on the National League. This week I am making an individual post per award where I show each voters selections.

National League Most Valuable Player Vote Week #4

1. Chase Utley - 322 points
2. Chipper Jones - 159 points
3. Albert Pujols - 101 points

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.

Chase Utley, Twenty extra base hits from a middle infielder. Albert Pujols, Love the walks. Rafael Furcal, Keeps on Hitting” — David Pinto, Baseball Musings

National League Most Valuable Player Vote Week #4

In a fitting tribute to the QS, Brandon Webb continues the Quality start steak going six innings with 0 ER and picks up the win to make it 6-0 on the season. Lets not forget who he was facing in Jake Peavy who also pitched a good game, but takes the loss.

I told you about James Shields brilliant first year numbers from last year, he backs it up yesterday to complete the sweep against the Red Sox. Lets me say that again, The Rays have swept the Red Sox, and welcome to first place! Let I say, help is also on the way.

In case you missed it, Edwin Volquez who the Reds traded for one of my favorite player Josh Hamilton is fooling many NL batters so far this season. He is an emerging Ace. Talk about a trade that really helps both teams. Too bad John Daniels has made some mistakes along the way. The biggest probably being trading Chris Young for Adam Eaton.

The Pirates fan base seems like another club who thinks their GM is doing no favors for them in releasing Matt Morris. I personally would blame the last GM for acquiring that bad contract, more so than not getting value for Morris when he had some.

To me, the surprise team the first four weeks is the St. Louis Cardinals. This is a team that the experts were saying had a good chance of shutting down Pujols down by mid season. They are in the thick of it in the NL Central. They are doing it with solid role players like Skip Schumaker and Aaron Miles. Tony LaRussa is working some magic. They do have some concerns such as at closer where Isringhausen has blown some games. But, overall its Pujols in his MVP form, along with some surprising good pitching especially from the two Kyles - Lohse and McClellan. They have Mulder and Colby Rasmus who could help later on in the year. By September, maybe Chris Carpenter is there in the mix too.