Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - July 25, 2013

The names of the Joe Mauer Twins, why the Giants lousy month was a blessing in disguise and a salute to Tim Hudson.

Those topics and more on today's episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.

Eric Hosmer, Nate Schierholtz, David Price and Tim Hudson  all owned baseball on July 24, 2013.


To see the up to date tally of "Who Owns Baseball?," click HERE Subscribe on iTunes HERE.

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - July 25, 2013

  

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - April 16, 2013

 Today on The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast, I ask Is Mike Scioscia's job safe? Are the Angels making a stupid lineup decision? It sure looks that way.

Also, Bronson Arroyo, Ryan Zimmerman, Kevin Correia and Joe Mauer owned baseball on April 15, 2013.


 Subscribe on iTunes HERE.

Players who owned baseball for a Day

Clay Buchholz – 2
Prince Fielder - 2
Bryce Harper – 2
Clayton Kershaw – 2
Cliff Lee - 2
Justin Maxwell - 2
Adam Wainwright - 2

Bronson Arroyo - 1
Madison Bumgarner – 1 
Miguel Cabrera - 1
Robinson Cano - 1
Shin-Soo Cho - 1
Alex Cobb - 1 
Kevin Correia - 1
Zack Cozart - 1 
Yu Darvish - 1 
Chris Davis - 1 
Jacoby Ellsbury – 1 
Adrian Gonzalez - 1
Carlos Gonzalez – 1 
Gio Gonzalez – 1 
A. J. Griffin - 1
Matt Harvey - 1
Felix Hernandez – 1
Derek Holland - 1
Austin Jackson - 1
 Adam Jones - 1 
Jon Lester - 1
Jed Lowrie – 1 
Manny Machado - 1
Paul Maholm - 1
Justin Masterson - 1
Joe Mauer - 1
Andrew McCutchen - 1
Michael McKenry - 1
Will Middlebrooks - 1
Shelby Miller - 1
Brandon Moss - 1
Bud Norris – 1
Gerardo Parra – 1 
Andy Pettitte - 1 
Brandon Phillips - 1
Buster Posey - 1
Albert Pujols - 1
Sergio Romo - 1
Wilin Rosario - 1
CC Sabathia - 1
Ervin Santana - 1
Drew Smyly - 1 
Nick Tepesch - 1
Justin Upton - 1
Will Venable - 1
Jake Westbrook - 1
Ryan Zimmerman - 1
Barry Zito - 1

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - April 16, 2013
 

Red Sox give middle finger to their fans

The Red Sox lost a game to the Minnesota Twins where they were one strike from winning.
I guess there is no shame to letting up a home run to Joe Mauer.

Do you know what there IS shame in?
Losing the first three games at home to the Minnesota Twins.

There are not many teams left in the American League that are worse than the Red Sox, so they can't afford to lose to teams that actually suck.

But then again, the Red Sox suck.
And not the kind of suck that someone would say to a team that blew a playoff series or a big lead like last year.

They are a losing team in August.
They lost a four game series to the Minnesota Twins.

If EVERYTHING goes right tomorrow and Franklin Morales throws a perfect game and the entire team hits for the cycle, the only thing that would accomplish is they would not be swept in a four game series at home to an awful Twins team.

The next announcer who lists the Red Sox among Wild Card contenders should be fired immediately.


I was going to say the Red Sox should give free tickets to everyone in attendance for today's game, but those people have suffered enough.

 

How happy are the Twins they signed Joe Mauer when they did?

Not that Joe Mauer came cheap. He is paid like a unique superstar which he is.
But holy cow, compare Carl Crawford and Jayson Werth's contract and their worth to Mauer... an MVP batting champion home town hero catcher?

And if he was on the open market can you imagine the Yankees desperate to make a splash and with a huge hole at catcher and an inviting right field porch doing the bidding?

Can you also imagine the Angels wanting more firepower and star power on the team?

Can you also picture the Red Sox, having let Victor Martinez walk, looking to fill his shoes with the best in the game?

And how about the Cubs wanting to win some fans back? Or the Rangers looking for a long term solution behind the plate?

Could you imagine the bidding war for a player like Mauer?

The bids would START at $200 over 8 years!

Forget a hometown discount. The Twins would have to have him be the owner of the team!

Instead he is stuck with a measly $184 million.

Man, he got lowballed.

Jimenez vs. Mauer ... YOU WOULDN'T WANT THAT Interleague Foes?

JUST as I finished typing my last entry about Jimenez pitching against the Twins, Joe Mauer came up to the plate.

The front runner of the 2010 National League Cy Young Award faced off against the defending American League MVP.

The crowd loved it... taking pictures of the match up.

It is PRECISELY the unorthodox head to head match ups that Interleague Play has in mind.

Mauer lined out in a bang bang play where the runner at first was doubled up.

Jimenez goes 8 strong with 1 run... ups his record to 13-1 and has a 1.15 ERA now. And Twin fans got to see on a beautiful June day a match up they wouldn't normally see.

Ohhhh. So bad for baseball!

Joe Mauer better not be Vernon Wells

An unlikely team opened up their wallets and signed their All Star potential Free Agent to a long term deal.

And the deal is called great for baseball.
No doubt on the open market this All Star would sniff New York or Boston's offers.

And a home grown star, someone who is one of the good guys in the sport, would have been lost.

Instead competitive balance was restored... and a fan base who saw glory under the dome the 1980s and 1990s including a pair of World Series titles FINALLY got a sense of continuity with their favorite star.

Who am I talking about?
Joe Mauer?
Vernon Wells?

Wells signed the mongo 7 year $126 million contract after the 2006 season. The Blue Jays, who finished second that season, looked like they were getting ready to make a move on the AL East.

They did alright... they moved down.
And Vernon Wells has slumped and is a shell of his former self.

And you have to wonder if they didn't have such a backloaded albatross of a contract with Wells if the Blue Jays would have been able to keep Roy Halladay.

The only way to move Wells would be to take on another albatross, as I suggested earlier this year.

Remember how A-Rod's contract prevented the Rangers from getting better?
Remember how Ken Griffey Jr's contracted prevented the Reds from getting better?

What I am saying is... I hope Joe Mauer stays healthy and doesn't slump.

Catchers wear down faster than center fielders

I'd hate for this contract to be a burden 5, 6, 7 or 8 years from now

I think Joe Mauer just clinched the MVP

These two victories by the Twins has done more than produce awkward brown stains on the pants of Detroit players and fans...

It also essentially ended the MVP debate.

Mauer not only has the numbers but is also playing a big part of a most unlikely comeback.

Just think about the last day that Justin Morneau played this year before injuries shut him down.

The Twins just lost three in a row and on September 12th, his last game, the Twins had a losing record and were in third place, 5 1/2 games out.

They've won every game they've played since, and are sitting 2 games out. 

And since then Mauer has gone 11 for 18... which I don't have to tell you would make a good batting average. 

Throw in 6 walks in that time for you on base lovers.

And he has averaged a run batted in a game.

All this with the guy who was the MVP in 2006 and runner up last year out of the line up.

That coupled with the fact that he is going to win the batting and OPS title makes this an open and shut case.

Now before anyone accuses me of going with Mauer instead of Jeter because of my Red Sox fandom, remember that on September 11th of this year I basically wrote a love letter to Jeter.

And not only did Jeter deserve the MVP in 2006 over Morneau, but I believe Morneau was only the third most valuable player on his own TEAM that year. 

Johan Santana and Joe Mauer deserved it ahead of him. 

But 2006 is ancient history.

This year it is Mauer's if for no other reason than he is staring down a tiger!

Who the hell is the American League MVP this year?

Tomorrow it will be late August, and the NL MVP is all but sewn up.

Albert Pujols leads the league in homers, is second in RBI, 4th in batting average, has the leagues highest on base percentage and in slugging percentage. And you don't need to be a sabermatrician to know that means he leads the league in OPS. And he has done all of this without protection the first half of the season and has the Cardinals with the biggest lead in the NL.

No matter what your criteria is, Albert is the man.

Now the AL is a little trickier.

There is no cut and dry candidate running away with it like Albert... so with a little more than a month to go, let's figure out who the candidates are based on the different criteria.

OLD FASHIONED NUMBERS CRITERIA
The "I like Average, Homers, RBI" candidate is

MIGUEL CABRERA

He's batting .334 with 24 homers and 72 RBI for the first place Tigers. And Cabrera is doing it all with Magglio Ordonez struggling.

I originally had Justin Morneau here, but he might be missing some time with that ear infection thingee and no doubt Cabrera will pass his power numbers.

STAT HEAD CRITERIA
The "OPS and VORP make it a scientific process" candidate is

JOE MAUER

He could set the highest batting average ever for a big league catcher. But forget batting average. He has the highest OPS in the league as well. And according to Baseball Prospectus, he is the only American Leaguer in the top 6 of VORP.

Now I still have no clue how VORP is or how it is calculated... but it sounds impressive.

Granted Mauer missed the first month of the season and the Twins are fading fast... but that evidently isn't calculated into VORP. Or maybe it is. I am confused.

CAREER ACHIEVEMENT CRITERIA
The "Hey, he's never won it before and this is as good a chance as any" candidate is

DEREK JETER

For all the talk of New York bias in the press, it is amazing to think that Jeter has never won it. He was robbed in 2006 by Twins first baseman Justin Morneau (who after Joe Mauer and Johan Santana was only the 3rd most valuable player on his own team.)

Jeter's average is up, he is a lock to hit 20 homers for the first time since 2004 and the Yankees are the best team in baseball.

That has to reflect well on the Captain!

TRUE MEANING OF VALUE CRITERIA
The "When he heated up the team heated up" candidate is
MARK TEIXEIRA

On May 12, Teixeira was hitting .191 with an OPS of .747.
The Yankees had a losing record and were 6 1/2 game behind Toronto.

Since then his batting average is up to .283. His OPS is .934. He is among the leaders in homers and RBI.
And oh yeah... the Yankees are 60-28 since then.

Granted that was also around the time A-Rod came back, but there is no way A-Rod is winning it this year.

PLAYING ON A TEAM WITH LOW EXPECTATIONS CRITERIA
The "Who would have guessed this team would be contending" candidate is

MICHAEL YOUNG

He moved to third to make room for Elvis Andrus. And along the way is batting .320 with a .900 OPS. And the 5 time All Star has the Rangers as of this writing tied for a playoff spot in mid August. I bet you didn't see THAT coming!

THE "PITCHERS ARE PLAYERS TOO!" CRITERIA
The "I don't care if they aren't every day players" candidate is

MARIANO RIVERA

Yeah I'll say it... Rivera is having an MVP caliber season as a closer.

He should have won the Cy Young AND the MVP in 2005. But there are still nitwits out there who believe the following three things:

1. A Pitcher can not be more important than an every day player.

NONSENSE

2. The Closer position is easy and can be filled by anyone

NONSENSE

3. Mariano Rivera is overrated

ADMIT THIS PERSON TO BELLEVUE

The Yankees have put Rivera into 36 save opportunities and save for the Jason Bay homer, he has converted them all. His ERA is sub 2.00. His WHIP is sub 1.00 and his BAA is around .200.

And he has 57 strikeouts in 51 innings and have walked only 8 all year.

I think Papelbon walked 8 YESTERDAY!

So chances are the MVP will come from this crop of players.

And before anyone can accuse me of being such a Red Sox homer that I can never tip my cap to the Yankees, please note... I have 3, count em, THREE Yankees as MVP candidates and zero Red Sox.

I don't have a vote. But I should.

The best .500 team in baseball

No, not the Cubs.

Yeah I know the Cubs had a big comeback win today. I just don't trust that team.

But the Twins... they seem like they should OVER .500, don't they?

With Blackburn, Baker, Perkis and Slowey in the rotation and Nathan anchoring the bullpen, shouldn't they be a little bit better than .500?

With Mauer putting together an MVP type season and Morneau, Kubel et al in their lineup, shouldn't they be giving that pitching some run support?

But it took today's 5-1 win to get them to .500.

Either way, they are 2 games behind the Tigers and despite my post the other day, I don't give the Tigers a prayer.

I think the Twins are a borderline lock to overtake Detroit and win the division.

How often does someone call a .500 team in mid June a lock to win a playoff spot?

That's how good I find the Twins (or how mediocre I find the Tigers.)