Jimmy Rollins officially retires as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies

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JRoll officially retires as a member of the Phillies

Prior to Saturday night’s big division rivalry game with the Washington Nationals, the host Philadelphia Phillies will hold a ceremony to honor long time shortstop Jimmy Rollins on the occasion of his official retirement from Major League Baseball.

Rollins, who turned 40 years of age back in November, played with the Phillies for the first 15 of his 17-year career in the big-leagues.

Born in Oakland, California, Rollins was the Phillies 2nd round pick in the 1996 MLB Draft out of Encinal High School in Alameda, California.

After getting his feet wet with the Rookie-level Martinsville club in the Appalachian League during that first pro summer of 1996, Rollins developed into an all-around offensive threat who could field the shortstop position brilliantly.

Over the 1997-99 seasons, he collected 110 extra-base hits and stole 94 bases. Spending most of the 2000 season with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Rollins hit .274 with 51 extra-base hits and 24 steals, earning his first big-league promotion for a 14-game cup of coffee with the Phillies that September.

His first appearance in a Phillies uniform in an official MLB game came on Sunday afternoon September 17, 2000 at Veteran’s Stadium. That day he hit second in manager Terry Francona‘s lineup and provided an immediate spark. Rollins delivered two hits including a triple, drew a walk, stole his first base, and scored twice to contribute towards a 6-5 win.

Rollins started in the leadoff spot for the first time the very next day at The Vet against the Pittsburgh Pirates. he again delivered two hits and also recorded the first RBI of his career with a base hit in the bottom of the 6th inning to score Tom Prince.

He would play in 14 games that first month, 11 of those as the starter at shortstop. Seven times he produced a multi-hit game, setting himself up as the starter at the position to open the 2001 season.

Under new manager Larry Bowa, the Phillies began emerging for the first time in years as a contender, and Rollins was a primary reason. On May 2, 2001 at Veteran’s Stadium, Rollins led off the bottom of the 4th inning against Colorado Rockies starter Brian Bohanon and blasted the first home run of his career.

These were just the first milestone moments of what would become one of the most storied careers in the history of the franchise. By the time it was all over, Rollins had become the franchise all-time Hit King with 2,306 hits for the Phillies.

Phillies fans are going to have to wait on Mike Trout

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Phillies fans have never been shy about their affection for local guy Mike Trout

If you follow discussions among the Philadelphia Phillies fan base on social media you know that it is difficult to go more than a couple of days without someone admonishing the team to “bring home” the best player in baseball, Mike Trout.

It takes just a glance at the career of the “Millville Rocket” to understand the desire of fans to see the native of that South Jersey town play his home games in the Phillies red pinstripes.

While the Phillies were setting a franchise record with 102 wins during their last winning season back in 2011, Trout was breaking into Major League Baseball with an extended 40-game cup of coffee with the Los Angeles Angels.

During his official rookie campaign a year later, Trout captured the American League Rookie of the Year honors. He slashed .326/.399/.564 that year with 30 home runs, 65 extra-base hits, 49 stolen bases, and 129 runs scored.

Trout has now played in eight big-league seasons. He has been the AL Most Valuable Player twice and finished runner-up for the honors on three occasions. During his seven full seasons the lowest that he has finished in AL MVP voting has been fourth.

Now 27-years-old, Trout has 240 career homers, 648 RBI, 793 runs scored, and 189 stolen bases with a .307/.416/.573 career slash line. The OPS mark of .990 that he has put together during that period is the best in all of baseball. He is also a seven-time American League All-Star and six-time Silver Slugger Award winner.

Trout now has a 64.3 career WAR mark, tied with Roy Halladay for 144th in baseball all-time. With a typical season in 2019 he would move past a couple of dozen Hall of Famers including Halladay, Willie McCovey, Andre Dawson, Craig Biggio, Ernie Banks, Duke Snider, and Roberto Alomar.

Trout has never won a Gold Glove Award and yet is widely considered among the best center fielders in the game. Early in his career, television highlight shows featured him frequently. His everyday excellence in this area of the game simply seems to now be taken for granted.

Trout did not commit a single error last year, the only center fielder in Major League Baseball who can make that claim. In fact, he has not committed an error since April of 2017.

But the affection for Trout extends beyond his phenomenal on-field performance for Philly sports fans. Trout is one of us. He grew up as a fan of Philadelphia sports teams. Trout tailgated at the 2008 World Series. He is one of the biggest fans of the Philadelphia Eagles that you are going to find.

USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports that when responding to questions about the Phillies current free agent search, Trout showed that he fully understands the passion and interest of the fan base by referencing his own situation.

Manny Machado close to a decision, with Phillies a strong finalist

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Machado would immediately make the Phillies an NL East contender

The Philadelphia Phillies have been linked to superstar infielder Manny Machado for some time now. Going back to the approach of the 2018 non-waiver trade deadline and on through the early months of this current off-season, Phillies fans have waited to see if the young superstar might choose to make Philadelphia his long-term baseball home.

Based on numerous reports across the baseball landscape over the past 24 hours that wait may soon be over. The Phillies are reportedly one of three finalists for his services, joined by the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees.

For the past few weeks it appeared as if the Yankees were emerging as favorites. However, New York just agreed to a deal with free agent Troy Tulowitzki. While that deal doesn’t necessarily knock the Yanks out of the Machado sweepstakes, it does appear to mitigate their need on the left side of the infield.

Jim Salisbury of NBC Philadelphia wrote today that the Yankees signing of Tulo absolutely has some bearing on their interest in Machado: “The signing is seen as inexpensive insurance should the team fail to sign Machado. It also could be a negotiating signal to Machado that the Yankees won’t wait forever.”

The Yanks would use Machado at shortstop, the position he has publicly stated as a preference, for at least the first few months of the 2019 season. Incumbent Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius needed Tommy John surgery on his right throwing elbow back in October, and could miss at least the first half of the upcoming season.

But longer term, New York would have to work out that shortstop situation. That positional usage could also be an issue with the Phillies, who obtained shortstop Jean Segura in a trade with the Seattle Mariners earlier this off-season.

In the Phillies case, they could either overpay to get Machado to play third base, which would make incumbent Maikel Franco trade bait, or they could flip Segura over to second base. Segura received NL MVP votes during the 2016 season when he spent the entire year as the Arizona Diamondbacks starting second baseman.

Salisbury commented on the possibility of the Phillies possibly needing to overpay Machado to keep him out of the Bronx:

“The Phillies like the idea of using Machado at third base and would probably have to significantly outbid the Yankees to land him. The Phillies have been gearing for this offseason for years and have the resources to do just that — if Machado would say yes to their offer.” ~ Jim Salisbury

It is still believed that the Phillies have offered up to a 10-year deal valued at between $300-350 million to Machado. The White Sox had previously been rumored to be willing to go the same 10 years. However, Bruce Levine at 670 The Score, one of Chicago’s leading sports talk stations, reported this afternoon that the Chisox are falling short of that level offer:

Angels Again Surround Mike Trout With Little Help

The Los Angeles Angels are off to a 7-10 start to the 2017 season. Those uneven first three weeks have the team tied with the Seattle Mariners for third place in the AL West Division standings. Those two clubs are just a half-game ahead of the last place Oakland Athletics.

One of the main reasons that the Halos remain closer to the bottom of the division than the top is the continuing struggle to find support for the lineup’s lone true superstar.

Mike Trout appears set to add yet another strong season to what might already be a Hall of Fame career. Turning 26 years of age just before the MLB All-Star Game this coming July, Trout is hitting for a .339/.424/.625 slash line over the season’s first three weeks.

Trout has thus far produced three home runs, 11 RBI, and seven runs scored while stealing three bases. Those numbers put him on pace for the second ’30-30′ season of his career, which is now in its seventh year.

But even with a player of this caliber in their lineup, the Angels still struggle. A two-time AL MVP who has been the runner-up for the award in each of his other three full seasons. Five straight Silver Sluggers and AL All-Star nods. And still the team cannot win consistently.

MLB 2014: American League West

Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels has played just two full Major League Baseball seasons. But in that short amount of time one thing has become clear: Mike Trout is the best all-around player in the game.

The local (Millville, NJ) kid hit .326 with a .399 on-base percentage and .564 slugging percentage, stole 49 bases, scored 129 runs, clubbed 30 homers and knocked in 83 runs as a 20-year old in 2012 to win the A.L. Rookie of the Year Award. Were it not for Miguel Cabrera's historic 'Triple Crown' season, Trout would also have been the league MVP.

Most felt that there was no way that he could replicate those incredible numbers as a sophomore in 2013. And he didn't. But what he did do was hit .323 with a .432 on-base percentage and .557 slugging percentage, stole 33 bases, scored 109 runs, hit 27 homers while driving in 97 runs. Is that a little worse? A little better?

The scary thing for MLB pitchers is that Trout is only 22 years old. He won't reach his peak performance for a couple of years still. It is likely that he is only going to get better, if you can imagine that. Given health, we are looking at the beginning of one of the great careers in the history of the game. We're talking Mickey Mantle and Ken Griffey Jr. stuff here.

But for all his individual early career success, Trout's outstanding hitting, base-running and defense have not been enough to elevate the Angels to contender status. In 2012, the team won 89 games, a nice total but 5 shy of both AL West-winning Oakland and of the Wildcard. Last year, they slipped to 78 wins, finishing 18 games behind Oakland, 13 1/2 back of the Wildcard.

It's clear that Mike Trout is the player to watch and talk about in this division. But he is going to need help if his LA-Anaheim based team wants to move back up into contending status. They are not far off, and if their key players stay healthy most of the season, they just might have what it takes.

Here are my predictions for the American League West in 2014:

1) Texas Rangers
Based in Arlington, Texas as part of the Dallas-Forth Worth Metroplex, the franchise actually began as the expansion Washington Senators in 1961. In 1971, they moved to Texas. In their 53 seasons, the club has never won a World Series, making them one of 8 MLB teams to retain that dubious distinction. But they did reach the Series in back-to-back years recently. Can this group return to that 2010-11 status, and perhaps even take that first crown? To that end, ownership reached into their pocketbooks and brought in a pair of high-priced, high-talent hitters in 1st baseman Prince Fielder and outfielder Shin-Soo Choo. They join an offense that already included all-star 3rd baseman Adrian Beltre, the dynamic young middle infield combo of Elvis Andrus and Jurickson Profar, and solid supporting hitters such as Alex Rios, J.P. Arencibia, Mitch Moreland, Leonys Martin, and Geovany Soto. They will give every pitcher they face a rough go, but as we all know, hitting is only part of the game. What happens when the Rangers take the field? Thanks to injuries, the rotation has a few question marks. Particularly with Derek Holland and Matt Harrison. The former won't likely be ready until summer while recovering from knee surgery, while the latter may be a month behind in his spring development. There is no question at the front of their rotation, as Japanese import Yu Darvish has proven to be a major star. Youngsters Alexi Ogando, Nick Tepesch, and Martin Perez will be asked to take on major roles while the others try to get healthy. The bullpen looks like a strength, especially if Neftali Feliz comes all the way back from his own injuries. He will join Joakim Soria, Tanner Scheppers, Neal Cotts, Jason Frasor, and Robbie Ross to give the Rangers an excellent mix. Guys like Tommy Hanson and Michael Kirkman could also lengthen both the rotation and the pen. This is a team with a lot of talent. Even with some injury questions, they appear to be the team in the division with the most answers to such questions. I see no reason that the Texas Rangers won't not only win the A.L. West, but also be a scary team come the fall.

2) Los Angeles Angels
In what has suddenly broken out as a major financial war with the N.L.'s Dodgers for the hearts and minds of the LA baseball fan base over the last couple of seasons, owner Artie Moreno has opened his wallet to bring in superstars Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton, and lefty pitcher C.J. Wilson. It hasn't resulted yet in any concrete results in the standings, but 2014 has a chance to be different. The biggest factor will be Pujols and Hamilton both staying healthy and returning to form as the MVP-caliber players at which level they are being paid. Pujols just turned 34, and is coming off by far the worst season of his career. Hamilton turns 33 in-season, and a bunch of those were tough years battling substance abuse. Pujols has struggled this spring, and Hamilton just got on the field after battling calf injuries. This 2nd place prediction is wholly dependant on those two being 30-homer, 100-rbi threats in the middle of the Halos lineup for most of the season. If they struggle again, the team could sink as low as 4th. Staying optimistic, I'll put them together with the game's best all-around talent in centerfielder Mike Trout to give the Angels as dynamic a potential combo as their is in all of baseball. There are solid supporting players in the lineup with middle infielders Howie Kendrick and Erick Aybar, 3rd base newcomer David Freese, catcher Chris Iannetta, and outfielder Kole Calhoun. Eternal veteran Raul Ibanez was brought in to take DH at-bats. He is likely to rotate with some leftfield play while both Pujols and Hamilton also get DH turns. This team has as much experienced depth as any to rotate those players, and if injuries strike, with Carlos Pena, Brennan Boesch, Hank Conger, Ian Stewart, Grant Green, Chad Tracy, and John McDonald on hand. On the mound, the 1-2 veteran combo at the top in Jered Weaver and C.J. Wilson can compete with anyone. Weaver is one of baseball's best starters, and together their health is vital to the team contending. The guys vying for the 3rd-5th rotation spots from among a group including Hector Santiago, Garrett Richards, Tyler Skaggs, Joe Blanton, and Wade LeBlanc need to produce a couple more solid options for manager Mike Scioscia. The bullpen has great depth with the likes of Brandon Lyon, Kevin Jepsen, Fernando Salas, Joe Smith, and Sean Burnett supporting closer Ernesto Frieri. For the team from Disney World, it's all about health. They and their fans deserve a break in that area, and a chance to see this group click on all cylinders. This 2nd place and Wildcard opportunity prediction is based on them getting that chance in 2014.

3) Oakland Athletics
The two-time defending A.L. West champs just suffered what no team wants to face, the loss of their projected Opening Day starter and young staff ace just weeks before the season even begins. Jarrod Parker will need Tommy John surgery, and will be out for all of 2014. He's still plenty young enough for a full bounce-back in 2015, and to have a long, productive career ahead. But that doesn't help the A's this year. For a team run on a tight budget, they cannot afford many of these types of losses. In fact, this one alone might prove too much. However, it's not the only one. Another projected rotation stalwart, A.J. Griffin, will be out for weeks, perhaps a couple months, with his own elbow worries. The rest of the rotation will need to step up a couple of notches. Newcomer Scott Kazmir will likely have to take on the lead role, proving that his 2013 comeback season was not a fluke. Young Sonny Gray has all the talent in the world, and the rookie will need to put it all on display right away. The injuries put Dan Straily and Tommy Milone into the spotlight, with Drew Pomeranz hoping to take the 5th starter role. Straily and Milone have proven their worth before, and must now show they are ready to be rotation stalwarts. The bullpen is anchored by new closer Jim Johnson, one of the game's best over the last couple of seasons in Baltimore. Sean Doolittle, Luke Gregerson, and Ryan Cook give the A's a strength supporting him at the end of games. The hitting should be another strength, as the club has underrated batters throughout the lineup. Leading the way is the outfield of speedy veteran Coco Crisp in center, Cuban star Yoenis Cespedes in left, and the bearded wonder Josh Reddick in right. 3rd baseman Josh Donaldson and 1st baseman Brandon Moss developed into productive sluggers a year ago, and both need to show that 2013 was no fluke. Their middle infield of Jed Lowrie and the bespectacled near-miss 'Face of MLB', 2nd baseman Eric Sogard, gives them a nice doubleplay combo. They have a pair of catchers in Derek Norris and John Jaso who can both be regulars, and particularly in Jaso will get some DH at-bats. The losses in their starting rotation are extremely tough. Whether they prove devastating in the end is the challenge ahead for this team. It's hard to see the A's spending for the pieces needed to keep up with the Rangers and Angels, especially if they should lose any more. Can they find them some other way? It's hard to count out this perennial underdog franchise, but making it a division-winning three-peat will be very tough.

4) Seattle Mariners
This will be the 38th season for the 1979 expansion franchise, and 26 of those previous campaigns have been losing ones. The winning seasons came in a stretch of glory from the mid-90's through the very beginning of the 21st century, capped by the glorious 2001 season in which they set an American League record with 116 regular season victories. Remaining contenders for a couple more years, the team then pretty much collapsed over the last decade, enjoying just two winning seasons in that time. They have finished in 4th place in the division in 7 of the last 9 years, including the last 3 straight. To try and end that stretch of futility the owners surprised many when they opened their wallets this winter and brought in one of the best hitters on the planet in 2nd baseman Robinson Cano. He immediately injects much-needed talent and respect to the middle of the M's batting order. However, the supporting cast remains a group of kids and suspects, and until that changes the struggles are likely to continue. A pair of youngsters, 3rd baseman Kyle Seager and catcher Mike Zunino, are being counted on heavily into the future. Kid shortstop Brad Miller is also a key piece in the middle infield. Dustin Ackley was never able to hold down 2nd base, and now moves to the outfield. He has a long way to go in order to ever justify his selection as the 2nd overall pick in the 2009 MLB Draft, as does 1st baseman Justin Smoak, who was the 11th overall pick in the 2008 Draft and came as a key piece in the 2010 Cliff Lee trade with Texas. The outfield has a pair of solid if unspectacular players in Michael Brantley and Abraham Almonte. Both Corey Hart and Logan Morrison were brought in as free agents to lengthen the lineup. Hart has recent injury questions to overcome, and Morrision is another formerly high-rated prospect who has never really panned out as a truly productive MLB hitter. John Buck is a decent supporting bat if Zunino proves to still be not quite ready at catcher, and Willie Bloomquist provides reliable talent as an infield backup. While there are a ton of questions in the Mariners lineup, their pitching seems to be developing some answers. It's rotation is led by one of the best in the game in 'King Felix' Hernandez. Hisashi Iwakuma is a solid 2nd option as well. This team needs the trio of 25-year old James Paxton, 23-year old Erasmo Ramirez, and perhaps most especially 21-year old rookie Taijuan Walker to quickly emerge to lengthen that rotation. In the bullpen there is nice talent and depth. Fernando Rodney was signed as a free agent, and gives them one of the game's top closers. He is supported by arms such as Danny Farquhar, Tom Wilhelmsen, and Charlie Furbush. They have Blake Beavan, Scott Baker, and Hector Noesi among others around as potential middle relievers or rotation depth arms. Despite the pivotal additions of Cano and Rodney, there simply remain too many questions to pick Seattle for anything other than another 4th place finish. Can they get the right answers finally from a number of their underachievers at the plate? That's the only way that they can rise.

5) Houston Astros
This is going to be the best team in the A.L. West - in 2018. At least that is the hope of those at the top of the organization, as well as their fan base. But it has been a struggle in recent years, and probably will stay so for a couple more. The franchise was formed as the expansion Houston Colt .45's back in 1962, and became the Astros in 1965 as a nod to the emerging space age. They have bounced around in their history as well, becoming members of the NL West when divisional play begin in 1969 and remaining there through the 1993 season. They were moved to the NL Central from 1994 through 2012, and then last year completely switched leagues, moving to what is hoped will be their permanent home in the AL West. It is hoped that eventually they will emerge as a regional and divisional rival to the Texas Rangers. For now, the Astros are trying to emerge from a string of horrendous seasons. One of 3 teams in the division (Rangers, Mariners) who are among the 8 in all of baseball to have never won a World Series, the Astros reached the Fall Classic for their first and only time as recently as 2005. But since that version of the club was swept by the White Sox nearly a decade ago, they have collapsed. The last three years, Houston has finished with the worst record in baseball in successively worse seasons of 106, 107 and 111 losses. However, those horrid years have resulted in terrific MLB Draft positions, including the upcoming 1st overall pick this coming June, and the team has made the most. Now rated as having one of the best and deepest pools of prospects in the game, they are positioned to begin having success in the coming years. It's the wait until those highly-rated kids arrive that will be continue to be tough. There is some excitement in the infield where speedy Jose Altuve gives them an all-star caliber player at 2nd base. The two kids on the left side of the infield in shortstop Jonathan Villar and 3rd baseman Matt Dominguez may be long term keepers. Catcher Jason Castro is emerging as one of the best in the game behind the plate. The team brought in speedy centerfielder Dexter Fowler in hopes that the longtime Rockies outfielder can bring impact to the lineup. If any from among the trio of 1st base/DH/left field types in Jonathan Singleton, Chris Carter, and Jesus Guzman can emerge as a reliable threat, this offense should begin to produce more runs. But the pitching staff remains light years away from contending. The rotation is fronted by veteran Scott Feldman, a 4th starter at best for a contending team. The rest of the rotation will be likely filled by some combo of Brett Oberholtzer, Jared Cosart, Brad Peacock, Jerome Williams, Alex White, Dallas Kuechel, and Luke Harrell. In the bullpen, Josh Fields will try to nail down the closer slot with arms like Jesse Crain and Matt Albers in support. The Astros don't have a prayer of finishing out of the AL West basement again in 2014, and may again be contenders for the top MLB Draft pick in 2015. But there is so much talent in their minor leagues that it is not hard to envision things beginning to turn around as those kids continue to arrive in the next 2-3 years. Hang on, Houston, better days are coming...some day.

To me, right now, the Texas Rangers are clearly the class of this division. They do have a couple of injury concerns in their rotation. But they also appear to have solid options to fill any voids and still win among this group of rivals. The Angels need their stars to stay healthy and produce. If they do, they can contend for a Wildcard, maybe even push Texas for the division crown, but those are big "if" questions that will require the right answers. Oakland's early rotation injuries may prove too much for the "little engine that could" to keep winning. Both Seattle and Houston just don't look to have enough.

MLB 2012: American League

The married man laying on this bar about to have the whipped cream and his body devoured, and his ability to overcome the problems involved on the night pictured, is the key to the entire 2012 American League season


My predictions for the American League a year ago proved to be a bit of a mixed bag. I had the Red Sox, White Sox, and Rangers as division winners, and called the Wildcard race a battle between the Yanks, Angels and Twins. I called the Tigers my "dark horse contender" club. Boston was the best team in baseball for 5 months, but we all know what happened in September. The Chisox never got untracked, beaten to the Central crown by those darkhorse Tigers. Thank you, Texas, for making my western pick the right one. For the Wildcard, I thought the Rays had lost too much talent, only to learn to never count out a club with Joe Maddon at the helm and tons of strong, young pitching.

So let's get to my 2012 predictions in the junior circuit where the two biggest bats available in the off-season, Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder, moved from the N.L. to the A.L., further widening the gap between the overall offense available in the two leagues. But the fact is that with or without the DH, and no matter how many big bats you have in your lineup, it will almost always be pitching that gets you through a long 6-month season of ups and downs, and through a multi-round playoff format. With all the slugging lineups, I believe the teams in the A.L. who can stay healthiest and most effective on the mound will rise to the top.

The power in the league has generally been in the East Division, with the Yankees and Red Sox usually as the favorites, and with the Rays emerging over the last four years to become regular contenders as well. It should be no surprise that I am picking those three at the top of the division once again. But none of the three is now the best team in the league. The top teams from the other two divisions: Texas and the LA Angels in the west and Detroit in the central, will be even stronger contenders for the American League pennant.

I'm going to believe in one more solid enough season from the Yankees' veterans that the franchise will bring home the eastern crown before they simply get too old. Derek Jeter is now 37-years old, Alex Rodriguez is now 36, while C.C. Sabathia, Mark Teixeira, Nick Swisher and Curtis Granderson are all 31. Mariano Rivera, the greatest closer in the history of the game, is now the same age as his uniform number of 42. It says here that all of these big names will be contributing players, and the real star will be 2nd baseman Robinson Cano, who should emerge as a full-fledged MVP candidate.

Sabathia is certainly not over-the-hill, and given health should again be a Cy Young contender. The Yanks acquired Hiroki Kuroda via free agency, and 23-year old phenom Michael Pineda from the Mariners via trade. They join Phil Hughes and Hector Noesi in a talented rotation, and veteran Freddy Garcia is still around should anyone falter. Rivera will give it one last shot with a tremendous supporting bullpen cast that includes David Robertson and Rafael Soriano. The Yanks appear to have enough to win the division.

Change came in Boston, with Bobby Valentine replacing 2-time World Series-winning manager Terry Francona. The perception was that the Red Sox needed more discipline and toughness after their September collapse. What the club really needs is health, and a little more pitching. But they have enough overall talent in a lineup that includes legit MVP candidates Adrian Gonzalez, Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia and big time leadership in Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz. The key may be a return to health and production from left fielder Carl Crawford, last season's big free agent signing bust.

On the mound, the Bosox combo of Jon Lester and Josh Beckett is as good as any, and young Clay Buchholz is a major breakout all-star candidate. But what will they get from the rest of the rotation? How will the Daniel Bard experiment work out? No one inside or outside that organization can answer those questions right now. The bullpen is good even without Bard's tremendous setup work. Newly acquired closer Andrew Bailey has Mark Melancon, Alfredo Aceves and more to support him. If Boston gets the right answers on the mound and from the bat of Crawford, they may overtake the Yanks.

So why am I once again picking the Rays to fall short of the two divisional big spenders? Consistent prejudice against their small market, just-win-baby approach, in all likelihood. There is much to like in Tampa, starting with possibly the best manager in the game today in Joe Maddon. The lineup has Evan Longoria, an MVP candidate, at the hot corner, and an emerging all-star caliber outfielder in Desmond Jennings. It will be up to Maddon to mix and match the rest of the lineup that includes versatile players such as Sean Rodriguez, Matt Joyce and Ben Zobrist enough to stay with Boston and New York.

On the mound, the Rays can pitch with anyone in baseball, and they are young. 'Big Game' James Shields had an all-star year last season, and David Price, my Cy Young pick a year ago, is a contender for that award again this time around. They are joined by last year's big rookie, Jeremy Hellickson, and this year's Rookie of the Year contender, Matt Moore in a rotation where Jeff Niemann and Wade Davis, two arms that could start for most any team in the Majors, have a hard time finding a place. Kyle Farnsworth harnessed his potential and stayed healthy, finally becoming a legit closer, and his bullpen mates are deep and talented. If Maddon pushes the right lineup buttons, the Rays are right there again.

The Toronto Blue Jays have some interesting talent with all-star slugger Jose Bautista, future 3rd base star Brett Lawrie, talented catcher J.P. Arencibia, and enigmatic center fielder Colby Rasmus. On the mound they have a pair of strong arms leading the rotation in Ricky Romero and Brandon Morrow, and they stole closer Sergio Santos from the White Sox. But manager John Farrell's team is simply in the wrong division, and does not have enough depth or talent yet to challenge the first three. The Baltimore Orioles have even more holes, though Matt Wieters may prove to be the best catcher in the game this season, and it looks like another long summer for Buck Showalter and the fans down in Camden Yards.

In the Central Division, manager Jim Leyland guided the Detroit Tigers back to the top led by MVP and Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander. While Verlander's season of winning the pitching Triple Crown of Wins, ERA, and Strikeouts was phenomenal, strong supporting work was turned in by Max Scherzer, trade deadline revelation Doug Fister, and 22-year old Rick Porcello. The team remained aggressive after the potentially devastating loss of Victor Martinez, and perhaps even got better, by spending big bucks to bring Prince Fielder home to the Motor City. He and Miguel Cabrera give the Tigers a pair of MVP candidates, two of the most dangerous bats in the game today.

The supporting cast in Detroit is an interesting mix of emerging players such as Alex Avila, Ryan Raburn, and Brennan Boesch and the occasionally frustrating underachieving talents of outfielders Delmon Young and Austin Jackson. The bullpen features one of the top closers in the game today in Jose Valverde, and some of the best late inning matchup guys around in Octavio Dotel, Joaquin Benoit, Phil Coke, and young Daniel Schlereth. There does not appear to be another team in this division capable of challenge the Tigers - yet.

The word "yet" was highlighted above because there is one other very interesting team in this division. It has been a quarter of a century since George Brett led the Royals to the franchise' lone World Series title, and they have not been back to the post-season since. But Kansas City has quietly been amassing one of the best young farm systems in the game over the last few years, and those players will be emerging soon. Already here are Eric Hosmer, who will blossom into one of the best hitters in the game, and Mike Moustakas, who should become a legit slugging sensation. When the pitching catches up over the next couple of seasons, the Royals will again emerge as true contenders.

For now, Kansas City will have to be happy to battle for 2nd place behind the Motown behemoths. It says here that they can do it, beating out Cleveland, Minnesota, and the White Sox. Yup, I am predicting Chicago for the division basement just a year after picking them to win it. The Tribe is an interesting club that could make some noise if they can stay healthy and a couple of players overachieve. The Twins and the 'M&M' boys, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, may never return to their division-winning glory years. I think the fans in the Twin Cities should be happy to just get those two players healthy and productive at some point in 2012, and look to the future. Chicago still has some talent, and if it all works out they could finish as high as 2nd. But it rarely all works out.

Out in the Western Division is where the two best teams in the league will battle things out. Between them the Texas Rangers and the Los Angeles Angels have won 7 of the last 8 division titles, and that dominance will continue before the entire division gets some new company in 2013. Next year, the Houston Astros will move from the N.L. Central into the A.L. West, making it a 5-team division for the first time ever, and evening out the overall number of teams in each league. But this is 2012, and I am going to pick the Rangers to hang on, barely, for their 3rd straight division title.

The key for Texas will be Josh Hamilton and a pair of new members to the starting rotation. Hamilton had a relapse with substance abuse issues, this time apparently alcohol-related, back in the off-season. His drunken January night of debauchery, pictured above, is something especially troubling considering his past drug and alcohol problems and the fact that his faith and his relationship with his wife were major factors in his overcoming those issues and staying clean the last few seasons. They allowed him to finally emerge from the pit of despair to the heights of the game, and of life.

Hamilton is, in my opinion, the single biggest key player in the entire league. He must be 100% healthy, clean, and focused in what is his free agent season. If he is, the Rangers will be the beneficiaries of a big salary-drive season for the MVP-caliber talent. With a lineup that also includes stalwarts Nelson Cruz, Michael Young, Ian Kinsler, Elvis Andrus, David Murphy, Mike Napoli and Adrian Beltre, not even the Angels can swing bats like the Rangers. In fact, no other team in baseball can.

Of course, as I mentioned at the top of this article, division titles are usually won with arms, and Texas has those as well. Mentored by a new attitude instilled by legendary team owner Nolan Ryan, the Rangers got strong efforts last year from Colby Lewis, Derek Holland, Matt Harrison, and Alexi Ogando. Now added to that group they have converted closer Neftali Feliz and star Japanese import Yu Darvish. Both Feliz and Darvish have top-of-the-rotation stuff. How quickly Feliz adopts to his new role, and Darvish to his new country, may tell the tale of the division as much as Hamilton's head and body. Another key will be how newly signed closer Joe Nathan holds up. They need him to be healthy as well.

The Angels went out and scored the biggest free agent coup this off-season, possibly the biggest in the history of the sport, when they lured all-time great 1st baseman Albert Pujols away from world champion Saint Louis. Pujols joins an offense that includes veteran outfielders Torii Hunter and Vernon Wells, emerging star Howie Kendrick, and returning DH Kendry Morales, who looks fully recovered from a horrible leg injury that kept him out all last season. Add in young centerfielder Peter Bourjos and a new catcher in Chris Iannetta, and the lineup is so strong that it cannot find a place for one of the game's best prospects in outfielder Mike Trout. A key may be exactly what this club can get out of the left side of it's infield, shortstop Erick Aybar and the 3rd base combo of Mark Trumbo and Alberto Callaspo.

On the mound, Los Angeles may have the deepest starting four rotation in the game with Cy Young contenders Jered Weaver, Dan Haren, and C.J. Wilson in front of Ervin Santana. Youngsters Jerome Williams and Garrett Richards have talent and battle for the #5 slot. The bullpen features a kid closer in Jordan Walden, but it says here that this may be an Achilles heel. The Angels owner Artie Moreno has deep pockets and a strong desire to win, so he may open the pocketbook if need be to improve the depth here as the season goes along.

The Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics just cannot match up over the long haul with the two front-running big spenders. The Mariners will be trying to get another strong season from future Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki, will enjoy the days when ace Felix Hernandez takes the hill as a Cy Young contender, and will thrill to a pair of legitimate young hitters in Jesus Montero and Dustin Ackley. It should be enough to finish ahead of the A's, who dismantled in hopes of moving and contending again in a few years. Oakland did sign Cuban athletic internet phenom Yoenis Cespedes, but was it to build around him or to trade him at mid-season?

So the call here for 2012 is for the New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, and Texas Rangers to win their respective divisions, with the Tigers doing it fairly easily. There are now a pair of Wildcard berths up for grabs, and they should go to someone from among the Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Angels, or Tampa Bay Rays. I see no other team in the league capable of reaching the post-season. If anyone except these 6 clubs reaches the post-season, it will be an amazing feat to me. But that is why they play the games. Doesn't some club seem to contend from out of nowhere every year? If there is such a club this time around, it could be those Toronto Blue Jays.

I will go with Robinson Cano as the American League Most Valuable Player, and will pick Justin Verlander to take home his 2nd straight A.L. Cy Young Award. For the Rookie of the Year, all the experts are going with impressive lefty Matt Moore of the Rays. I should too, but I won't. I watched Cespedes double and homer in his first two games. I'll drink the YouTube fed Kool Aid, and go with Yoenis Cespedes of the A's as the top newcomer. The best manager in the A.L. is Maddon, and if somehow the Rays make the post-season, I will call him the Manager of the Year. At the end, I'll call it the Tigers and the Rangers battling for the A.L. pennant, and send Texas back for a 3rd straight trip to the Fall Classic, where they finally give their fans the franchise' first title.

A Decade of Parity and History

In western historical terms, there was no year '0', so most people realize that an official decade truly runs from the year ending in '1' through the 10th year.

This means that 2001 opened the true first year, and the recent 2010 season ended the final year of the first decade of the 21st century.

For all of the talk about payrolls in baseball and a fear of competitive imbalance, here is the bottom line fact as it relates to that recently completed first decade: 9 different teams won the World Series.

The only franchise that was able to win multiple World Series titles was the one that opened the decade with a supposed jinx or curse, one that hadn't won in 90 years. That franchise was the Boston Red Sox, who won in 2004 and then again took the crown in 2007.

League or Divisional assignments didn't matter this past decade either. The two leagues evenly split the World Series victories at 5 apiece, and teams from every division won titles. The Phillies ('08) and Marlins ('03) from the N.L. East, the Cardinals ('06) from the N.L. Central, the Diamondbacks ('01) and Giants ('10) from the N.L. West gave the National League 5 titles. In addition to Boston's two titles, the Yankees ('09) joined from the A.L. East, the White Sox ('05) won from the A.L. Central, and the Angels ('02) from the A.L. West to give the American League 5 titles as well.

In Cincy, 'V' is for 'Votto', and 'Victory'

It has been 73 years since St. Louis Cardinals' Hall of Famer Joe 'Ducky' Medwick hit .374 with 31 homers and 154 rbi to lead the National League in all three categories, in the process becoming the last man to win the 'Triple Crown' in the senior circuit.

It has been 15 years since the Cincinnati Reds won their only NL Central Division crown, and 20 since their last National League pennant and World Series titles in 1990. In fact, it has been a decade now since their last winning season, when the 2000 club led by returning-hometown hero Ken Griffey Jr led the club to a 2nd place finish.

In short, it's been a mostly long, hard ride for the fans of the Redlegs out in western Ohio since the days when Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Pete Rose, Tony Perez and the rest of the 'Big Red Machine' under manager Sparky Anderson were dominating the National League during the 1970's.

But in 2010, the winning is back in the Midwest. Victories have piled on top of victories, and the team woke up this morning in first place, 20 games over the .500 mark, 4 games in front of the previously favored St. Louis Cardinals. But the letter 'V' does not only stand for those 'victory' totals this summer in Cincy. The letter also stands for 'Votto', as in Joey Votto, the team's 1st baseman and leader whose performances are MVP caliber, and also have him challenging to win the Triple Crown.

Votto woke up on Saturday morning with a .327 average, 31 homeruns and 91 rbi. He has also scored 90 runs and even stolen 11 bases. Votto's average has him 7 percentage points ahead of fellow Triple Crown contender Albert Pujols and Colorado Rockies' phenom Carlos Gonzalez at the top of the NL leader boards. The 31 homers have him tied for 2nd in the league with Adam Dunn, 4 behind Pujols. The rbi total leaves him 3 behind Pujols.

The fact that both Votto and Pujols are legitimate Triple Crown and Most Valuable Player contenders in the NL is, in fact, being bolstered by the competition to get their respective teams to the top of the NL Central standings at the finish.

MLB 2010: National League

In nearly every major publication and from most every prognosticator you will find that the 3-time defending NL East winning, 2-time defending National League champion, and back-to-back World Series participant Philadelphia Phillies are considered the odds-on favorites to repeat at least where that eastern crown is concerned.

In fact, many have them again winning the NL pennant and advancing back to the Series, some predicting they will win.

An admitted lifelong Phillies fan, this absolutely prejudiced observer is calling it that way. Phillies to win their 4th straight NL East crown, 3rd straight National League pennant, and then a 2nd World Series title in 3 years.

Did you expect anything else from me under the current circumstances? However, it will be a struggle, there will be highs and lows, they will be pushed. I will cover the Phillies specifically in detail in my next article here in the coming days.

In that NL East race, the team that will push the Phillies the most this year will be...the Atlanta Braves. In fact, some might even find a reason to pick Atlanta to Tomahawk Chop their way back to the top of the division and unseat the Fightin's from their lofty perch.

Atlanta's rotation of Tim Hudson, Jair Jurrjens, Derek Lowe, Tommy Hanson & Kenshin Kawakami is talented and deep. The lineup is led by declining veteran and future Hall of Famer Chipper Jones and perhaps the best offensive catcher in the NL in Brian McCann.

However, the biggest reason that the Braves will challenge the Phils will be the play of tremendous rookie right fielder Jason Heyward. If you haven't heard of him yet, you will, and soon. Bobby Cox has a strong bullpen as well, and in his final season as manager he should push for a playoff spot.

MLB 2009: National League

Unlike the American League, which I covered in yesterday's entry and which is dominated by three teams, the National League pennant race in MLB is wide open. This is both good news and bad for our own Phillies. The bad news is that there are a lot of pretty good teams in the NL that the Phils will have to battle if they want to repeat as National League champions. The good news is that the Phils are one of them, and there is no team that is clearly superior to our defending World Series champs. Tomorrow will be devoted specifically to covering those Phils, but in starting out with the NL East race, let's just say that the Phils match up well with every team, and are better than most. They and the Mets are fairly even, though I still like the Phillies top-to-bottom lineup, their bench, and the depth in their bullpen better than New York. Those Mets will be a strong contender with a lineup that features one of the best young players and leaders in the game in 3rd baseman David Wright and one of the game's most exciting players in speedy shortstop Jose Reyes. Veteran bats like the two Carlos', Delgado and Beltran, provide run-producing pop as well. The rotation is headed by all-world lefty Johan Santana, but has a bunch of question marks after him. The Mets arguably would have won the division the past two years, and possibly a World Series of their own, if they just were able to finish out close games with their bullpen. They finally met that need this off-season by signing record-setting closer Francisco 'KRod' Rodriguez, and yet another closer to back him up in J.J. Putz. If they stay healthy, the Mets will not blow many 9th inning leads this time around. But this time the race will not stop at just the Phils and Mets. It seems like every 5-6 years or so the Florida Marlins accumulate enough strong young talent to become serious contenders, and this is possibly one of those years. Their middle infield of 2nd baseman Dan Uggla and shortstop Hanley Ramirez rivals the Phils' own middle of Utley-Rollins as the best in baseball. They have a future all-star in Cameron Maybin about to burst on the scene in their outfield. And their young pitching has depth and talent that is the envy of every team outside of Tampa. The Fish are a couple bats short, and their bullpen is not good enough to overtake the Phils and Mets. But they will make it interesting much of the year, as will the Atlanta Braves. Perhaps no team but the Yankees improved their starting pitching rotation more than the Bravos this off-season. Atlanta added four solid veterans in Derek Lowe, Javier Vazquez, Japanese import Kenshin Kawakami, and future Hall of Famer Tom Glavine. They team with youngster Jair Jurrjens to give the Braves the best rotation in the east, assuming these guys stay healthy. The Braves lineup has good young parts led by catcher Brian McCann, but the key to contending will be the health of veteran leader Chipper Jones (pictured). If the Braves get a full season out of him, and if both outfielders Jeff Francoeur and Garret Anderson produce, the Braves could seriously challenge the top two teams. I am going to call it in this order: Phils, Mets, Braves, Marlins, Nationals. In the NL Central, most prognosticators are picking the Chicago Cubs, as well as installing the Cubbies as favorites for the NL pennant and a trip to the World Series. There are plenty of reasons to like them starting with a talented and varied offense that includes Alfonso Soriano, Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, and Geovanny Soto. In the off-season the Cubs signed mercurial outfielder Milton Bradley. I am going to install him as a dark-horse MVP candidate, because if he can stay healthy he has the talent to be a difference-maker for this team. The Cubs have depth and talent in both their rotation and bullpen, but that rotation could easily be set back by injuries. If Rich Harden and Carlos Zambrano hold up, the Cubs should win the NL Central. But hot on their heels could well be either or both of the Milwaukee Brewers, whose offense led by Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun matches up with anyone, or the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cards have the mighty Albert Pujols back and at full strength, and that is truly scary since he won the NL MVP a year ago during a season in which he was injured. They also get back from injury a pair of arms in Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright, and these guys staying healthy all year will be the key to the Cards staying with the Cubbies. Out in the NL West we can just refer to this as 'Manny Land', because the Dodgers' superstar and future Hall of Famer will be the key to this race. If his head is on straight and he is at full health, Manny will be Manny, and he will lead Joe Torre's troops to another division title. With a vastly improved middle infield of Orlando Hudson and Rafael Furcal, and with returning young bats in Russ Martin, James Loney, Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier, this lineup could contend even without Ramirez. Beyond young ace Chad Billingsley, who still has to prove he can carry that mantle, and strong closer Jonathan Broxton, the Dodgers pitching staff is uncharacteristically full of question marks. Right on their heels will be the Arizona Diamondbacks led by the pitching troika of Brandon Webb-Dan Haren-Randy Johnson. With strong young bats like Justin Upton, Stephen Drew, and Conor Jackson, and a deep pitching staff, this team could very well unseat the Dodgers. The pick here is for those Dodgers bats to hold off the DBacks pitching edge, but it could be very close. Behind the division-winning Phillies, Cubs, and Dodgers the other contenders in New York, Atlanta, Milwaukee, and Arizona should lead the Wildcard charge, and I like the DBacks to take that race. The playoff battles are going to come down to the same keys as they do every year: who is healthy and who is pitching well come October. This is just too close to call right now, but since I went this far already I'll call it a rematch of Phillies-Dodgers for the pennant, and why not pick our Phils to win it again and advance to a World Series rematch with the Rays? They have just as good a shot as anyone else, better than most. Tomorrow's article will be devoted entirely to our World Series champions.

Ryan Howard is Underrated

Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard may be the single most feared slugger in Major League Baseball over the past few seasons, and yet somehow the guy remains underrated. How else can you explain that the man who will be the National League leader in both homeruns and rbi will likely be left off the N.L. All-Star team when next Tuesday's mid-summer classic takes place? Should he not make the squad, Howard would be the first player in 60 years to be leading his league in both categories and still not make the team. The problem for some who make the selections, and who evaluate ballplayers, is that Howard strikes out at an even more prolific rate than he homers, and that his batting average of .234 is too low. However, there are a number of problems with criticizing Howard for these perceived shortcomings. First, as pointed out in today's Philadelphia Inquirer by writer Todd Zolecki, the folks at baseball think-tank Baseball Prospectus did research on the relationship between teams' strikeout rates and run production for a period covering over a half-century, from the 1950-2002 seasons, and found no correlation whatsoever. In 2005, after taking another look at the strikeout-runs correlation, they noted that each strikeout only costs a team about 3/100's of a run. Ryan Howard strikes out a lot, but that is highly overrated. If he struck out 50 fewer times, but instead 30 of those were groundouts and 20 were decent-length flyouts, would he be viewed any better? His average certainly would be just the same, and just as poor. However, again average is another deceptive statistic. A batting average determines roughly how many times out of every ten at-bats a player will get a hit. If one player will get 23 hits for every 100 at-bats, and another player will get 27 hits for every 100 at-bats, does that make the latter player much more effective? In fact, does it make that player more effective at all? Fact is that so far this season, Howard is the former player, while Kevin Kouzmanoff of San Diego would be a prime example of the latter. Howard is hitting .234 while Kouzmanoff is hitting .274 with 11 homers and 37 rib. Kouzmanoff is hitting 40 points higher. Who would you rather have on your team, now or in the future? Another factor to consider is that Howard has fallen into a pattern of starting slow and finishing big over the course of a season. Two months ago, he was hitting just .163, but has hit a solid .272 since that time. The fact is that Ryan Howard is one of the best run-producers in all of baseball, and scoring runs is the name of the game. He leads the majors in homers and is 2nd in RBI. Health allowing, he is going to smack close to 50 homeruns again this year, and drive in close to 140 runs. The final argument on Howard's all-star worthiness should be the production of others at the position so far in 2008. The other leading contenders would perhaps be N.L. starter Lance Berkman (.348/22/70), Derek Lee/Cubs (.304/15/55), Adrian Gonzalez/Padres (.279/22/70), and Albert Pujols/Cardinals (.348/18/49). Both Gonzalez & Pujols have been named as reserves for the N.L. squad, and are deserving for consideration. But Howard's 27 homers and 83 rbi lead both of them, even factoring in that Pujols spent some time injured. This time of year, every team can look around and find a couple of players on their roster who they believe should have been all-stars but who fail to make the final cut. On the Phils' roster most would probably try to make the case for Pat Burrell & Cole Hamels. But I think that an even more compelling case can be made for Ryan Howard, who because of an over-emphasis on his strikeouts and low average has somehow reached the status of underrated ballplayer. If the Phillies were to actually lose his 50 homeruns and 140 rbi, they would not replace them, perhaps ever again.