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Rob Neyer

  (12:03 PM)

Hey! Sorry about yesterday, but I'll try to be twice as good today.

Bubba Brown (Roy, UT)

With his stellar performance of late, has Tommy Hanson taken the lead in the Rookie of the Year race?

Rob Neyer

  (12:04 PM)

He's in the conversation, but he'll probably need to tack on another couple of wins, as it's exceptionally rare for a starting pitcher to win the award with fewer than 12 wins. Isn't it?

Steve (Fleming Island, FL)

RIP ROTR. I'll miss Rany's writing, but was genuinely surprised by the venomous comments to his last article. Did you receive that kind of venom when you left Rob and Rany on the Royals?

Rob Neyer

  (12:07 PM)

There was a bit of that, but really I don't pay much attention to people who hate me. It's not useful or productive, and writers without thick skins spend of a lot of time being miserable.

Pat (Philadelphia)

What are Felix Hernandez's chances of winning the AL Cy Young?

Rob Neyer

  (12:07 PM)

He might get some real support from voters looking to split the difference between Greinke and Sabathia. My guess, though, is that he finishes third.

Matt (Chicago)

Who is the AL Rookie of the Year? I'm hoping Beckham wins it.

Rob Neyer

  (12:09 PM)

You're probably going to be disappointed, as I would consider Elvis Andrus and Andrew Bailey the top candidates. And Nolan Reimold's making a push, too.

Andrew (Indianapolis)

Rob, reports out of Chicago says the cubs are going to shop Big Z. Is this a good idea? If yes, what would you condiser a reasonable return? Thanks.

Rob Neyer

  (12:12 PM)

Hey, I think every team should shop every player every winter. Well, maybe not. Because these things do tend to cause a bit of a stir. But, Zambrano? Sure. If only because he causes a bit of a stir sometimes, himself. As for what constitutes a reasonable return, a decent starting pitcher and a great deal of salary relief might do the trick.

Mike (Akron)

Hey Rob, do you think Brantley will be in the Indians line-up next year? Does he lead off? If he is where does he play in the out-field? (can't be center right?) Or do the Indians finally get rid of any talent that has been there since 2002? (sizemore)

Rob Neyer

  (12:16 PM)

It's hard to see a great fit, unless the Indians move LaPorta to first base to make a space for Brantley. I don't know that he's good enough right now to play every day -- his Triple-A starts aren't particularly impressive -- but he's young and figures to deserve a spot before long.

Hardy (Jacksonville, IL)

Your favorite to win the NL Pennant? I could see any of those teams mowing down their opponents in the playoffs....but which one does it?

Rob Neyer

  (12:17 PM)

I like the cut of the Cardinals' jib at the moment, as they seem to be firing on all cylinders while the other clubs do have their issues here and there.

Bobby Cox (Atlanta)

How bad of move was if for Frank Wren to give Chipper and Lowe $90m for the next 3 years when in fact they are 2 of the worst players on the roster right now? Will they shop Kawakami over the winter?

Rob Neyer

  (12:21 PM)

Chipper got a Lifetime Achievement contract, and Lowe's deal was right in line with the market (would you rather have Oliver Perez right now?).

kyle (Carlisle, Pa)

Do you see Jason Heyward starting in right field next year for the bravos?

Rob Neyer

  (12:21 PM)

I do. He might need to play well in March to win the Opening Day job, but it's just a matter of time.

Jeff (Ann Arbor)

Chipper says if he has another year in 2010 like he has in 2009 he will retire. Do you believe it?

Rob Neyer

  (12:24 PM)

I'll take him at his word, except I don't know what all the fuss is about. He's been one of the Braves' better hitters this season, though I suppose it's tough when your batting average drops nearly 100 points in the space of a year.

Steven (Middletown, CT)

What are the chances Pujols comes from behind in the NL Batting race and ends up winning the first triple crown in forever? If he stays hot and finishes around .340 could Ramirez fall back to him?

Rob Neyer

  (12:26 PM)

They're 27 points apart on the 16th of September, Steven. What do you think?

james (sf)

how bout them giants?

Rob Neyer

  (12:27 PM)

How's about 'em? I'll be at the game tonight, blogging and Tweeting and whatnot.

Karl (Fargo, ND)

Delmon Young just drew his 10th walk of the season. Will he ever be good?

Rob Neyer

  (12:27 PM)

My Magic 8-Ball says ... PROBABLY NOT.

Morris (Columbus, OH)

Look out for Robinson Tejeda! Any reason to think this guy can be a quality starter in the Royals rotation next season? When he throws stikes, he can be pretty good. Granted, any optimism is based on a very small sample size as a starter.

Rob Neyer

  (12:29 PM)

He's not this good because he just doesn't have the control and probably never will. But he might be Jorge de la Rosa on an accelerated timetable. Which would be a boon for the Royals.

Arash (Anaheim Hills)

It would be a travesty if Scioscia doesn't win MOY

Rob Neyer

  (12:31 PM)

That's an extreme position, don't you think? Scioscia's a fine candidate, but so is Ron Washington. And Dan Wakamatsu has turned a 101-loss team into a .500 team (granted, he had some help).

TJ (NYC)

FYI, in my Wii Mlb 2009 baseball game, when Yuniesky Bentancourt comes to bat the game says " you have to throw strikes to this hitter because he's not afaid to take a walk" This made me fall off my chair!

Rob Neyer

  (12:32 PM)

And I thought video games had been perfected...

Ben (San Jose, CA)

Rob...Looking at the remaining schedules for both teams, how do you like the Giants chances if they win tonight? What if they lose tonight? Thanks

Rob Neyer

  (12:35 PM)

There's no such thing as a "must-win game" in mid-September, but there would seem to be a big difference between a 1.5- and a 3.5-games gap. Particularly considering that the Giants have nine road games left, and the Rockies nine *home* games. So, yeah: they *almost* must win tonight.

randy (muskegon,mi)

What are the Twins chances of catching the Tigers without Morneau or Crede? Even though the Tigers only have 3 starters

Rob Neyer

  (12:36 PM)

It's almost over, Randy. Of course I'm rooting for a wonderful story, but...

Jon (Moscow, ID)

If fan attandance is not that important for generating revenue, then how come there are not more scheduled double headers? If each team had a few a year then maybe the playoffs would not have to go into November.

Rob Neyer

  (12:38 PM)

First of all, who said attendance isn't important? And second, the players hate doubleheaders.

Steve (Baltimore, MD)

Who do you think will be the third starter for the Red Sox if/when they make the playoffs?

Rob Neyer

  (12:39 PM)

My guess is Buchholz, though that'll pretty obviously be an early-October decision. Even with the Wild Card almost wrapped up, all the starters after Beckett and Lester still have a lot to pitch for.

James (Detroit)

Don't you think Jim Leyland deserves some MOY votes? Not many people picked the Tigers to win the division and no one would have if you told them that would get no contributions from Bonderman, Willis, Robertson, Sheffield and sub par years from Ordonez and Guillen.

Rob Neyer

  (12:40 PM)

I don't know that the Tigers have particularly overachieved; I think I had them winning 82 or 83 games, and they're not going to do much better than that. But your point about *how* they've won is a good one.

Jeffe (Dallas)

Do you think the AL West will ever add another team to its division? I mean, think about it... three teams on the west coast, and then the Rangers, thousands of miles away from their rivals.. its no wonder that team has never done anything, they are playing teams two time zones away all year.. the NL central has so many teams, why dont they just slide one of them over to the AL West to kind of balance things out?

Rob Neyer

  (12:45 PM)

Two reasons we've not seen a more sensible setup: 1) MLB doesn't want interleague games every day, and 2) very few teams have been willing to switch leagues. Yes, the Diamondbacks should be in the AL West. But they wouldn't switch and MLB didn't have the juice to make them.

Ryan (North Dakota)

Tell James the Tigers havent won the division yet... in fact - tell him to look in his rear-view mirror. Truth is - they have seven games left with the Twins. If the Tigers win the Central, they'll HAVE to beat the Twins!

Rob Neyer

  (12:46 PM)

So all the Twins have to do is, what? Win six of those seven games, probably? Good luck with that.

Matt (Farmington,CT)

Who gets your vote for NL Cy Young? I still gotta go with Lincecum. Leading in ERA, K's and CG between the 3.

Rob Neyer

  (12:47 PM)

Well, sure: I would vote for him. But what's more interesting to me is who the *voters* will vote for.

Ben (Lincoln, NE)

So it's pretty obvious that you aren't ready to admit you were wrong about Scott Podsednik, so I guess I'll be back next week to give you the opportunity again.

Rob Neyer

  (12:49 PM)

Well, he's a left fielder with below-average hitting stats for an American Leaguer. But yeah, he's been better than I expected. If the White Sox count on it happening again next year, they will be bitterly disappointed. Will you be back next May to check?

Justin (New York)

Is there anything worse than when a reader / chatter tries to take you to task for actually being kind of sort of wrong about something? do these people have anything better going on???

Rob Neyer

  (12:50 PM)

I don't mind. Keeps me humble, of sorts.

Dave Pierce (eSellOut.com)

Break down Garrett Jones for us...PLEASE... Seriously one word about the Pirates would make this fan VERY VERY HAPPY. We need lov'n!

Rob Neyer

  (12:52 PM)

I don't believe that Jones' skills will support this performance, down the line. I'd be more excited about Andrew McCutchen, were I you.

Bryan (Los Angeles)

Is Mauer still your AL MVP? He's heating up again... still leading in BA, OBP, OPS, and Sideburn Length.

Rob Neyer

  (12:56 PM)

Of course he is. But if someone simply refuses to vote for a player on a .500 team, Jeter's a great candidate, too.

Mark (Toronto)

Hey Rob,Why do you think the Jays continue to underperform their pythag? This year they should be 74-71 (or better than the first place Tigers). In the past they've been much better than their record indicates.Is it because of the division? Even if you don't believe in pythag, logically scoring more runs than you allow should lead to a 500 record - and yet they're 13 games under 500.

Rob Neyer

  (1:00 PM)

When smart people study these things, just about all they ever come up with is lousy luck, plain and simple. Sure, you can talk about lousy clutch pitching and lousy clutch hitting all you want. But a massive difference like this? That's just incredibly $%@#