SportsNation Blog Archives
Kansas City Royals
- Vote: Which skippers should win AL and NL Manager of the Year?
- Your Rankings: Is Zack Greinke one of baseball's 10 best players?
- Tracking Greinke: SN's pick at All-Star break | SN's pick entering playoffs
- Chat: Baseball America's Jim Callis on future award candidates, 2 ET.
It's a dark day for baseball fans in Kansas City. Their worst fears realized, they must now confront a bleak future. That's right; ace Zack Greinke won the American League Cy Young.
So who wants to help him pack?
Greinke's win, the first for an AL starting pitcher with as few as 16 wins (thanks, Royals offense!) since Kansas City's David Cone won in the abbreviated 1994 season, might seem like good news for fans who haven't had much to celebrate. But a quick look at history suggests Greinke may not be long for the Midwest. Three years ago, Johan Santana won with the Twins and soon thereafter departed for greener pastures in New York. Ditto CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee, the 2007 and 2008 AL Cy Young winners, respectively, who now play in big markets.
So how long until Greinke is in pinstripes?
Jay ((AZ))
Greinke was a 9.4 WAR players this year! (Imagine how bad the Royals would have been without him...) What are the chances he'll duplicate this season next year or in following seasons?
Rob Neyer
I think it's unlikely that he'll have another season like this one, because even the best pitchers rarely do. I do think he'll have other great, Cy Young-type seasons. Full transcript
We're referencing a question from a SportsNation chatter who referenced a SportsNation poll in asking a question of Joe Morgan. How meta narcissistic of us.
In Tuesday's chat, Morgan brought up the example of Steve Carlton in talking about a pitcher from a losing team (i.e. Zack Greinke) winning the Cy Young. But how about the award's namesake? Young didn't play for a pennant winner until 1903, 13 years after he broke in.
Richard (MO)
Sportsnation says they'd vote Zack Greinke for the A.L. Cy Young. What are your thoughts on this considering his 13-8 record?
Joe Morgan
I definitely think Greinke should be considered because he has pitched well. When you're looking at these awards, it doesn't say the Cy Young should be the best pitcher on a winning team, it's the best pitcher. It simply says that, the best pitcher in the league. Zack Greinke is definitely in that category. We still have a month to go to decide if he's No. 1, 2, whatever. If CC Sabathia wins four more starts, pitching for the Yankees and that pressure, he'll probably win it. But remember Greinke doesn't have as good a team behind him. Steve Carlton won it, and his team only won 50 games or something. It's happened before. Full transcript
James (NY)
What does CC have to do to lock up the CY? 20 wins and a little lower ERA?
Rob Neyer
He might not even need 20, but if he gets there he'll be tough to beat unless one of the guys with significantly lower ERA's wins 18. Full transcript
We should be careful what we wish for. Running through National League reviews and predictions, we lamented the lack of sports on the day after the All-Star Game. But how could we be so foolish as to think Brett Favre wouldn't sniff out the opportunity and announce that he is definitely, positively, beyond a shadow of a doubt ... going to tell the Vikings whether or not he's coming back ... at some point between now and the start of the team's training camp. Whew, glad we've got that on the record.
Games not involving Favre's mind resume on baseball diamonds Thursday, but we're taking a look back at the American League before we get there. And compared to the projected runaways in the NL, the division races on this side of the ledger look like they could keep us entertained well into the fall.
American League Team MVP
Red Sox: Jason Bay
Yankees: Mark Teixeira
Angels: Torii Hunter
Tigers: Miguel Cabrera
Rangers: Ian Kinsler
Rays: Evan Longoria
Mariners: Ichiro
White Sox: Jermaine Dye
Twins: Joe Mauer
Blue Jays: Roy Halladay
Orioles: Adam Jones
Athletics: Matt Holliday
Royals: Mark Teahan (Offensive MVP)
Indians: Grady Sizemore (Least Valuable Player)
As the saying goes, the more things change, the more the Cubs struggle to find .500. At least, that's how we learned it. And by "we," we mean anyone born since 1909.
With the baseball season pausing for its official midpoint at the All-Star Game and its less official one in the firing of the Nationals manager, consider how SportsNation sized up the field after the first week of the season.
1. Florida Marlins
2. St. Louis Cardinals
3. Chicago Cubs
4. Atlanta Braves
5. Toronto Blue Jays
At least the Nationals were properly slotted at No. 30. Congrats on getting that gig, Jim Riggleman. Now the Cubs, Marlins and Braves are fighting for wild-card relevancy, hoping a division leader stumbles, and the Blue Jays are listening to offers for Roy Halladay.
- A Mariners fan, blogger Dawgman0387 gets a little excited about the team's winning record at the break and starts throwing out terms like "World Series run." But hey, with a top three like Felix Hernandez, Erik Bedard and Jarrod Washburn, maybe he's on to something.
- Things aren't quite as rosy for the Reds. SportsNation blogger xubugg pleads for more "patients" at the plate. We're guessing that's supposed to be "patience," but when it comes to Dusty Baker's lineup experiments, you never know.
- We're all a little worse off having an All-Star Game without "Kung Fu Panda," but a Giants blogger upset that the so-nicknamed Pablo Sandoval won't be in St. Louis takes out his frutrations on the frauds that he feels are the Philadelphia Phillies.
“Love the Mariners, Wakamatsu, Fedex, Ichiro, Branyan, Griffey Jr., Aardsma, Branyan, "Gutierez", and everyone who has helped turn this year's team into an entertaining winning club.
” -- J.Bertelli
“[Jim Tracy] took the Rockies from double-digit games under .500 to Wild Card contenders. Not to mention the fact that the Rockies have the best record in baseball over the span that Tracy has been manager. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, expected the Rockies to be in the position they are now. Thus, Tracy definitely deserves to be National League Manager Of The Year, so far, and it's not really that close.
” -- JTRMS45
That Joe Mauer cuts such a dashing figure that we had to get to the AL Central after yesterday's AL West incursion. Bonus points if you can guess what comes tomorrow.
Anyway, few questions have divided the 'Nation quite like the fate of the AL Central. All right, so people outside Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Kansas City and Minneapolis-St. Paul aren't necessarily passionately divided on the question, but they are divided nonetheless.
As a division, it's sort of like picking a checkout aisle at the grocery store on the night before Thanksgiving.
In the days before the season began, the Indians, Tigers, Twins and White Sox were all getting roughly the same amount of support to win the division. And by April 20, Royals supporters were flying high, so to speak, to make it a five-way race.
- Mauer and Morneau rank at the top of SportsNation's MVP ballot | Your ballot?
- Cast your votes on each AL Central team at the midway point.
- More midseason reviews: AL East | AL West | NL West | NL Central | NL East
- Groups: American League Central | Cleveland Indians Fans worldwide | Tiger Den
“I agree that the sox need another arm, not just to compete for the division, but for the playoffs also. Id cut contreras out of the rotation entirely in the post season. 4 man w/ whoever KW can find to plug that 4th hole.
” -- weinertime
“Do you think the Tribe would take the same deal for Lee that SD wanted to take for Peavy? Richard and Poreda plus 2 pitching prospects to be named later? Richard has some good stuff (as is evident by how good he is the first time through the order, he just needs some fine tuning and I don't think he'll solve it this season) and Poreda has a lot of potential. Plus, Cleveland could use all the young talented arms they could get.
” -- morganator316
“I tried to keep the faith in Ordonez as long as possible but he just cont. to look bad......... real bad! I wonder how long Leyland is going to rotate Kelly and Thomas in and out of AAA Toledo before settling on one to head down the stretch. I guess anything can happen IF and or WHEN they make a more final decision on Mags.
” -- KaneBowman
“I've tried to remain positive, but I can't hold back anymore. It's time for Dayton Moore to go. Schoddy trades, head scratcher draft strategy, horrible free agent contracts (this off season), and now the cream of the crop TPJ still on the team. Hernandez is no great shakes, but he is a completely better ball player then TPJ. Fire DM now.
” -- BairdHater1
“I am thrilled with Joe Crede. The teams of the past would strand 7 or 8 singles per game but this guy every 15 or so at bats hits a canon shot over the fence and that puts runs on the board. Plus just the routine plays he makes is such an upgrade over Brian Buscher. He is not our problem. Our problem is getting Nick Punto out of the starting lineup. Freddy Sanchez would be great. Punto still has great value as a utility player as his defense is superb at multiple positions. And give him credit he does draw some walks but his bat is horrible.
” -- miraclemauer
When it comes to All-Star selections, Keith Law thinks fans failed like a 24-year-old in Rookie Ball with poor plate discipline (too early on a Monday for sabermetric humor?). Then again, SportsNation's occasionally cantankerous guru thinks managers and players didn't fare much better in picking the reserves and pitchers. But until Law is established as baseball's supreme overlord, we're stuck with the current system.
There are 23 first-time All-Stars this year, including Yadier Molina, the first of the Molina brothers to make an appearance (leaving them just 18 Grand Slam titles and two Super Bowl titles shy of the Williams sisters and Manning brothers). The rookies also run the gamut, from 42-year-old Tim Wakefield to 21-year-old Justin Upton, who was born the year before Wakefield was drafted by the Pirates.
And if that doesn't make you feel old, consider that Tim Wakefield debuted for the Pirates in 1992 on a team that also included pitcher Dennis Lamp, who was born six years before Kevin Bacon.
- SportsNation can't pick if it should be allowed to pick the All-Star starters
- No surprise that AL is the overwhelming early All-Star Game favorite
“pedroia is a great player but based on how he has played this season, he doesn't deserve to start in the all-star game. aaron hill should be starting and kinsler should be the reserve. josh hamilton shouldn't be up there either. adam lind has played phenomenal this season and should at least be a reserve in the outfield. i also think that jered weaver should be there over wakefield. i mean wake is up there in wins, but only because he the sox give him great run support. just look at his numbers, he's pitched mediocre this season.
” -- bkzwhitestrican
“It's an All-Star game, not a best first half stats game. The fans want to see Jeter becase he's the most famous shortstop and a sure Hall of Famer. Fine. They want to see Pedroia because he's the MVP, you silly people. What's wrong with that? They voted for Hamilton because he was THE story of last year's game. Makes sense. The game is for the fans, and they want to see who they want to see. You Fantasy guys just go play your imaginary All-Star game with your make-believe players...
” -- Captaincompliance
We get that it's nice for fans of the Nationals and Pirates to see their team's jersey at the All-Star Game. But instead of actually using a roster spot on someone from one of those teams, even with the addition of yet another roster spot, we have a simple suggestion
Let fans vote to see which actual All Star who would otherwise have been snubbed should wear that team's jersey during the game. Everyone wins. The best players make the game, and for at least one night every year, Pirates fans get to see what it's like to cheer for a real star in the second half of the season.
Not buying it? We're just ahead of our time. In the meantime, Freddy Sanchez or Zach Duke will probably represent the Pirates in St. Louis, but we're asking you to size up which players most deserve to start.
We can understand if you don't make a regular habit of checking out the highlights when the Royals and Indians are involved, but when they start channeling Alfred Hitchcock movies, it's worth your time. Thursday's game between the two was one of four on the day in baseball that featured walk-off hits, but none of them were quite like this.
Aptly-named commenter Hawk31Eye offered this take:
"Coco is a good player, don't get me wrong, but so much would have had to go right on that play for him to even have had a chance to throw out DeRosa. There was a chance that Coco would have been able to throw out the runner, but theres probably a better chance that Coco would have won the lottery that day."
The mess in Cleveland may eventually take top honors, but for now, how would you rank five other memorable moments of nature upstaging competition?
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Tuesday's Results:
- Will Kobe play in All-Star Game? Nope, skip it!
- Is Peyton Manning a sore sport? No way.
- Chambers' or LeBron's dunk? Chambers' slam!
SUPER BOWL CENTRAL
SAINTS BEAT COLTS
Now that the Super Bowl is over, what did SportsNation think of the proceedings?
PLACE IN HISTORY
Now that Super Bowl XLIV is in the books, where does it stand among its peers?
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VIDEO KOMBAT
THE NBA'S BEST DUNKS
We all know Vinsanity's dunk on Frederic Weis in the 2000 Olympic Summer Games is the best posterization dunk of all time. But which NBA posterization tops all the rest, SportsNation?