Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - June 28, 2013

Today on the Sully Baseball Daily Podcast, I take a good hard long look at the Arizona Diamondbacks and wonder why we always underestimate those sneaky snakes from the desert.
By the way, this was recorded in a car wash. No I'm serious. It was.
Derek Holland, Patrick Corbin, Mike Trout and Marlon Byrd all owned baseball on June 27, 2013.


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

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - June 28, 2013

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - June 12, 2013

What should the Giants do with Tim Lincecum? They need to do SOMETHING.

Meanwhile the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks had a brawl. Who cares? Brawls stink.

This and more on today's Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.

Tyler Colvin, Corey Kluber, Desmond Jennings and Andrew Cashner  all owned baseball on June 11, 2013.

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

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - June 12, 2013

The Dodgers could clean up on Off Season Awards

It's funny, everything about the Dodgers this year seems like a catastrophe.
The Brian Stowe incident at the beginning of the year helped lead to the unraveling of the ownership.

Are they bankrupt?
Does MLB control them?
Will the Chinese Government assume control of the Dodgers?

The only thing for certain is that Dodger Stadium is all but empty and their season is lost.

And despite all of that, the Dodgers could find themselves bringing in some hardware when the season is wrapped up.

They have one major award all but in the bag and a few more wins in the final week of the season could net some more.

CLAYTON KERSHAW...
Cy Young Award Winner

Both Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee deserve a lot of votes, especially for putting up stellar numbers in a pitchers ballpark.

And Ian Kennedy's emergence in Phoenix will get some voters attention.

But Kershaw is in line to win the unofficial Triple Crown (Wins, ERA and Strikeouts.) He has let up the fewest hits over 9 innings of any National League pitcher. His 0.99 WHIP is second only to Cole Hamel's 0.98 WHIP. And while I STILL don't understand WAR, he is tied with Cliff Lee with this highest WAR among National League pitchers.

Throw in his 5-0 record against the World Champion Giants (including winning 3 head to head match ups against Tim Lincecum) and he is all but a lock to win the Cy Young at age 23.


MATT KEMP...
National League Most Valuable Player

It's a taller mountain to climb for Kemp, but not because of his numbers.

His 9.0 WAR is the best in baseball.
He has the most total bases and run scored in the National League.
He is in the top 3 of Average, Home Runs, RBI and in the top 4 in OPS.

Only 5 sluggers in all of baseball have homered more than he has, and Chavez Ravine isn't the easiest place to crank them out.

While Ryan Braun might be the front runner, Kemp doesn't exactly have Prince Fielder in his lineup with him.

Plus he plays a Gold Glove caliber Centerfield. The Dodgers' non contending season could keep the MVP trophy off of his mantle, but I think he deserves is.


DON MATTINGLY...
National League Manager of the Year

OK, this one will be a stretch. Kirk Gibson has this all but locked up by sending a Diamondbacks team that NOBODY picked to the post season (assuming they don't fall apart.)

But give Mattingly tons of credit. This team had every reason to fold up tent and Donnie Baseball could have phoned this season in and NOBODY would have blamed him.

Instead, here they are with 9 games left and they are above .500!

Can you imagine if this team has a winning season? This was supposed to be the worst year in Dodger history and in terms of off the field stuff, it was. But in terms of the product on the field, it's not even the worst team of the last 2 years!

Mattingly deserves a ton of credit of focusing on the field and if he comes away with a winner, then the Dodgers have a bright future!

And by the looks of the potential hardware, their present was a lot better than anyone could have expected!

10 Reasons why the Arizona Diamondbacks winning the 2011 World Series would be good for baseball

Today we continue the Why Each Team's Potential World Championship Would Be Good For The Game series by taking a look at the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Who predicted the Diamondbacks winning the 2011 NL West?
Not CNN, who had them dead last.
Not one of their 12 experts had Arizona winning the West.
Not one of ESPN's 45 experts had Arizona winning the West.
All of Yahoo's experts had the Diamondbacks in dead last.
And I picked them to be dead last as well.

Yet here we are with a little bit more than 2 weeks to go and the Diamondbacks have the division all but sewn up. And, like the 2002 Angels and the 2003 Marlins, they are that most dangerous of playoff teams: One without lots of star power and too young to realize that they don't belong.

The idea of a World Championship being won in the desert might not be pleasurable to Fox executives, but there are many reasons why a casual fan should become Diamondback fans this October.

10 Reasons why the
Arizona Diamondbacks
winning the 2011 World Series
would be good for baseball

1. A championship would be a celebration of Kirk Gibson, which is always a good thing.

Kirk Gibson is everything you wanted in a player. He had talent, played hard, played hurt and came up big in the big game. He was a Michigan boy who became a star for the Tigers, helping them win the World Series by launching a dramatic home run off of a Hall of Fame closer, Rich Gossage, in the 1984 World Series.

And that wasn't even the most dramatic World Series homer off of a Hall of Fame closer in his career. (I think you know which one I am talking about.) Like a championship Johnny Appleseed, he took over a rudderless Diamondbacks team and after half a season is stunningly putting them in the post season. More clips of the 1984 and 1988 World Series? More tough minded players playing above their abilities?

Yes please!

2. Baseball needs new stars like Justin Upton to shine on the biggest stage.

As baseball turns the page from the Steroid Era, they need new superstars to bring style AND substance to the field. Justin Upton, who was already fine if inconsistent player before 2010 has become an MVP candidate under Gibson. He's exciting, talented and thankfully doesn't have a Lou Ferrigno physique.

Baseball needs to market players like Upton to the fans as the new generation of hitting heroes to go against the Tim Lincecums, Felix Hernandezes and Justin Verlanders on the mound. Having him win a World Series would help matters.




3. Kevin Towers and Jerry DiPoto would show everyone how to rebuild a team into a champion.

Previous GM Josh Byrnes netted Ian Kennedy in a massive three team trade but the bulk of the teams upheaval is the result of front office men Kevin Towers (GM) and Jerry DiPoto (VP of player development.) DiPoto got Daniel Hudson from the White Sox while Towers rebuilt the bullpen and both put their confidence in Kirk Gibson. In less than a year since the A. J. Hinch experiment failed, the Diamondbacks went from 97 losses and being the second worst team in the National League to coasting to the playoffs.


4. Yankee haters would relish seeing Ian Kennedy as a World Champion ace.

Remember when Brian Cashman went into the 2008 season trumpeting pitching development? They were going to build a new pitching staff around Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain and Ian Kennedy.

That turned out to be a disaster as the Yankees finished in third place, missing the playoffs for the first time since the Wild Card era began. The next year they went back to buying free agents which is what Cashman does best. But Kennedy DID develop into a front line starter for a playoff team. Just not the Yankees as he came over in the multi team deal that sent Curtis Granderson to the Yankees.

Both sides did well in the trade, but the Yankees could use a young arm like Kennedy in their rotation.



5. Lyle Overbay winning a title would be a cool link to 2001.

As the 2001 World Champion Diamondbacks celebrate their 10th anniversary, one player links that team and current Division leaders: Lyle Overbay. He played a handful of games as a call up with the 2001 squad and wasn't on the playoff roster. Now he came over as a late season pick up and has contributed with some big hits.

Having him be part of TWO World Championship Diamondback teams, no matter how tangential, would be a cool legacy.


6. Joe Garigiola could join the broadcaster booth for the World Series

I'll say it. Joe Garigiola is my favorite ever baseball voice. He is funny. He is knowledgeable. He is unique. And he is sincere. Listen to him call the 1975 World Series... or his insights in the 1986 World Series... or when he called the Phillies first ever title in 1980 he had the restraint to say "The crowd will tell you what happens" and let the moment speak for itself.

His son has been one of the big wigs at the Diamondbacks from the beginning and Joe does some announcing for them. Why not have him call a game or two? At least an inning? Or is it illegal to have someone other than Joe Buck and Tim McCarver in the announcer booth now?



7. A ring for unlucky Charles Nagy.

Charles Nagy was a member of the 1997 Cleveland Indians, a team that was a mere 2 outs from being most beloved team in Cleveland history. (Technically they were one out away because the game tying run in the 9th inning of Game 7 was on a 1 out sacrifice fly. Had Manny Ramirez thrown an Ichiro-esque laser to home plate, the Indians would have been champs.)

Poor Charles Nagy, who was part of the massive Indians rebuilding process in the early 1990s, was brought out from the bullpen to help clean up Jose Mesa's mess. He got out of the 10th but Tony Fernandez's error in the 11th kept the inning going. Eventually he let up Edgar Renteria's single that went off the tip of his glove.

He will always be labeled the losing pitcher of Game 7 of the World Series.
He retired ringless. It wasn't his fault.
He deserves a ring.


8. The first World Series title may have come too quickly. Not this one.

The Diamondback fans didn't really have to suffer for a World Championship, did they? They had one bad inaugural season. Then their second season they had a 100 win team. Their third season they had a contender. Their fourth season they won the World Series. For all the Cub fans transplanted to Arizona, it must have seemed a smidge unfair. How was a 4 year wait earning a title?

Besides, the team was almost entirely cobbled together from other organizations. The franchise was young but the tea, was an old veteran squad filled with players dying for their first ring. The team earned their championship. Not sure the fan base did.

Well it has been 10 seasons since then. They are a 14 year old team with many homegrown players and some roots in the community. A Diamondback championship this year would be a tip of the cap to the organization, not wreck less spending.


9. Maybe THIS World Championship would make Phoenix a big baseball city

I've written about this before, but Phoenix should be a baseball crazy city. The Diamondbacks are the only team to deliver a World Championship to the city. Lots of terrific baseball comes out of Arizona and Arizona State. And going to Chase Field should be a destination during the hot Arizona summers. And yet they don't have the reputation of being a great baseball first fan base.

I've heard all the reasons. The newness of the team. The transplanted fan bases who don't change their allegiance. The team being merely hired guns. The Suns being the number one team.

Well here's a tip, Cub fans and Indian fans living in Arizona. Your adopted city can give you some baseball joy. Not only did they make the playoffs 3 times in their first 5 seasons, but after they split the team up after the 2002 playoffs, it only took until 2007 to get back to the NLCS. And after falling from contention after the 2008 season, it took just 3 years to get back to the playoffs again. And native Arizonans! You have a winning team! Embrace that winning tradition.

Phoenix should be like St. Louis, Boston, New York and Cincinnati as baseball first cities. They don't have their tradition, but they are building it!



10. It's the EXACT kind of team that people claim could never win the World Series.

The Diamondbacks payroll is 25th out of 30.
They don't play near a traditional large media market.
They don't sign big priced free agents.
They are the kind of team that people wring their hands about at the beginning of the season saying "What chance do they have?"

Well it looks like they have quite a big chance now! They are going into the playoffs and have a shot to have home field advantage in the Division Series. And how would they fare against Philadelphia? Well what were the Giants chances last year?

Casual baseball fans should be cheering on the Diamondbacks. as the very underdog that supposedly has no shot in baseball. (Isn't it odd that EVERY year there is a low budget underdog that gets in but nobody ever notices that?)


So while at first glance the Diamondbacks might not capture the imagination of a baseball going public, look again.

There's a lot to root for and not a lot to root against.
And it could be the continuation of a winning tradition in the desert.




If you liked this then go ahead and read the entries for the other teams.

CHICAGO WHITE SOX

CLEVELAND INDIANS
DETROIT TIGERS
LOS ANGELES ANGELS OF ANAHEIM
MILWAUKEE BREWERS
NEW YORK YANKEES
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS

Did you see what happened in Arizona tonight?

Daniel Hudson was pitching for the Diamondbacks tonight against his old team, the White Sox.

He's a 24 year old pitcher going up against Edwin Jackson, the guy he was traded for.

He was throwing a shutout into the 7th, but a Paul Konerko homer made it a game and he let base runners on in the 8th and 9th.

Do you know what Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson did?
He let him pitch through it. He didn't baby him.

And now he got a complete game win and has the experience of working through his own jams.
Hudson is now 8-5 with a good 3.56 ERA and is averaging 6 2/3 innings a start.

The Diamondbacks now have a good young pitcher who they can count on to go deep into games. And they got that because THEY LET HIM PITCH!

It sounds so simple. And yet so few teams do that.

But I covered that in the last Sully Baseball video.

Arizona fans... You don't know how good you have it

It's Memorial Day and yes, the Arizona Diamondbacks are in first place all by themselves. I've been looking up pre season predictions for the past few minutes. I couldn't find one expert who picked the D'Backs to win the west.

But here they are about 1/3 of the way through.

Is there a stranger franchise than Arizona?
They were an expansion team who won 100 games in their second year.
By year 4 they won the best World Series of the past 20 years.
3 years later they were a 100 loss team.
3 years later they were hosting the NLCS.
3 years later they nearly lost 100 games.

And now they are in first place again.

When they were reckless in their spending, they created their signature moment (the 2001 Championship.)

When they built the team responsibly, they tore it down almost instantly.

They've had four unique managers in Buck Showalter, Bob Brenly, Bob Melvin and Kirk Gibson.

And in 14 seasons they seem to average 3 or 4 different uniform combinations per year.

I took Diamondback fans to task in 2007 for not selling out their games and in 2008 for not supporting their team.

Of course I am a raging hypocrite. I am a transplant who won't root for the local team, but I am asking the good people of Phoenix to do just that.

As I understand there are a ton of Cubs fans who have somehow landed in Arizona. There could be happiness for Cub fans if they root for the local team. In the last 103 years, the Cubs have won a grand total of one post season series (the 2003 Division Series.)

The Diamondbacks have won 4 post season series, including one against the Cubs.

Seriously, I understand how hard it can be to change loyalties. But in less than 15 seasons the Diamondbacks have given their fans thrills and enough valleys to weed out the bandwagon fans.

They are 1/3 of the way to ANOTHER Division winner.
That would be the team's 5th in 14 years.

That's a 35% success rate.
For the Cubs if they made the post season 35% of the time they would have 37 Octobers as opposed to 16.

I'm just saying.

The D'Backs are fun.
Just try and keep up with the correct up to date hat.

Sully Baseball's Fearless Predictions for 2011

I made my Division and World Series picks...
And now for a prediction for each team.


ANGELS – The most underrated team going into the season. Vernon Wells will rebound, the starting rotation will be the best in the American League. Scott Kazmir is as good as gone, but Matt Palmer steps in to win 13 games in the #4 spot. The Angels will win the Division.




ASTROS - The Astros will surprise a lot of experts by hovering around .500 all season. Wandy Rodriguez will win 14 games, J. A. Happ will win 13 and Jordan Lyles will be in the rotation for the second half of the season and play well. They won't compete in 2011 but will become a trendy pick for 2012.



ATHLETICS – The A’s will contend throughout the season, but the real news will be in where they play. As MLB wrings their hands trying to figure out what to do with the stadium, San Jose will approve financing for a new ballpark, forcing the issue. The A’s will work out a deal similar to the Nationals deal with the Orioles and the end of the 2011 will bring around the announcement that the A’s are heading to the South Bay.



BLUE JAYS – Jose Bautista’s home run total returns to Earth (22 tops.) And he becomes a strange test case of the post steroids era. He has hit 47% of his career homers last year, getting 54 after peaking at 16. That number will stick out, but unless proven otherwise, it has to be looked at as a fluke (unlike Brady Anderson.)



BRAVES – The Braves are good, but Tim Hudson and Derek Lowe come back down to Earth cutting their playoff run just short. Meanwhile Jayson Heyward continues to hit the ball well but Freddie Freeman isn’t ready yet.



BREWERS - The Zack Grienke trade becomes the sequel to the Mariners acquiring Cliff Lee. It looked great in December and it will fall apart grotesquely in practice. The basketball game heard 'round the world will keep the Brewers out of contention. They finish barely above .500. Meanwhile Prince Fielder is dealt to Colorado.



CARDINALS – Colby Rasmus never gets out of the doghouse and is dealt. Rasmus seems to think he has already lined up his MVP cred when he called out Hall of Fame manager Tony LaRussa last year. I can’t imagine life is getting any easier in Cardinal land, especially with the Pujols contract and the Wainwright injury looming over the team. Rasmus will be dealt at the deadline for pitching help and an eye on 2012.


CUBS – Mike Quade is as good as gone. The Cubs are in transition mode and Quade’s job seems to be keep the seat warm. Once some of the bad contracts are shed and some sort of direction if found, Quade will be axed. If he is the manager at the July 31st trade deadline, I will be stunned. LaRussa is courted to be the new manager for 2012 and hopefully brings Pujols with him.



DIAMONDBACKS - Justin Upton and Kirk Gibson have a tense confrontation. The result? He goes on a tear the second half of the season and becomes a trendy pick for 2012 NL MVP. The Diamondbacks finish dead last but there is hope for the future.




DODGERS – Don Mattingly will be a rotten fit for the Dodgers. It is not his fault that the Dodgers don’t have the personnel, but a team in flux like this needs a veteran manager, not someone who will have growing pains. Oddly, this is a team Grady Little should manage, but he is no doubt persona non grata in Dodgertown.



GIANTS – Brandon Belt will be the Giants first baseman by June. With a slimmed down and motivated Pablo Sandoval and a focused Buster Posey, the Giants will have three homegrown stars in their lineup to go with their homegrown rotation and bullpen ace. The Giants pull away and win the Division with a week to spare.


INDIANS – In a lost season in Cleveland, one star will regain his luster. Grady Sizemore will be the Comeback Player of the Year, hitting .300 for the first time in his career, getting his OPS near .900 and stealing 30 bags.



MARINERS – Eric Wedge can’t turn the ship around in his only year in Seattle. Felix Hernandez and Ichiro Suzuki continue to be terrific but Chone Figgins will be shopped in a salary dump, Milton Bradley cut, Jack Cust benched and Jack Wilson will somehow get 400 at bats. Seattle fires Eric Wedge at the end of the year.



MARLINS – The final year in Joe Robbie Stadium (or whatever it is called now) will be amazing and with lots of empty orange seats. Mike Stanton becomes one of the truly exciting players in the game. Hanley Ramirez will have the best year of his career. Josh Johnson will pitch like an ace and the Fish will make the playoffs for their third time in their existence. Edwin Rodriguez keeps his job into the new ballpark.



METS – The July 31st trade deadline will be “Meet the Mets!” time for contenders. With the team facing an economic crisis and virtually no chance to contend, any healthy expensive body is being dealt. Carlos Beltran is good as gone if he can play. Jason Bay will be shipped off too. Maybe even Jose Reyes. David Wright too? It is possible.



NATIONALS - As all attention is placed on Hagerstown and the development of Bryce Harper, the big league club stumbles out of the gate and never recovers. To shake things up Jim Riggleman is let go right after Jim Leyland is fired from the Tigers. But when Leyland turns down the Washington job, interim manager John McLaren finishes the season as Washington looks to court Tony LaRussa in the off season.



ORIOLES – The Birds take a step forward, but Mark Reynolds swings and misses. Now of course Reynolds is going to strike out a lot. He already officially has 6 strikeouts and the season hasn’t started yet. But he will be exposed even more than he was before in Arizona and it just won’t work out in Baltimore. The team itself will start to make strides toward respectability, but Buck Showalter is going to get fed up at how many runners are left in scoring position after a Reynolds at bat.


PADRES - The Padres start the season off well but by June, reality sits in. Heath Bell is shopped around. The Phillies and Angels are interested and he heads north to Anaheim. Cameron Maybin flops and the middle infield of Orlando Hudson and Jason Bartlett are dealt at the trade deadline.



PHILLIES – Forget Jose Contreras, Ryan Madson or Kyle Kendrick as Brad Lidge's replacement. The Phillies will make a deal for a closer. Detroit's Jose Valverde will be available when the Tigers fall apart and he will be logging saves in Philadelphia by July. The Phillies will go on to win the World Series.



PIRATES - There will be lots of talk about how the Pirates are trying to turn the corner with Pedro Alvarez and Andrew McCutchen as the corner stones. But the team can't get out of its own way and Paul Maholm becomes trade bait. Jameson Taillon is on the big league club for good in July.



RANGERS – The good fortune that befell the AL Champion Rangers in 2010 goes away for the defense. They will hit well but will miss Vlad Guerrero more than they expected. The Michael Young controversy sorts itself out as an injury to Ian Kinsler puts Young at second base.



RAYS – Jeremy Hellickson and Reid Brignac will make everyone forget about Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett. Hellickson will win 15 games and the Rookie of the Year while Brignac will bring a steady glove up the middle. Meanwhile Manny Ramirez will get a few big hits, but Johnny Damon will contribute next to nothing.


REDS - Aroldis Chapman takes over the bullpen closer role as the Reds role and never look back. Jay Bruce challenges Joey Votto for MVP of the team and Edinson Volquez wins 18 games. The Reds win the Division by 8 games.



RED SOX – The Red Sox will have a solid year, but Josh Beckett will be the 800 pound gorilla of the season. He won’t get it on track and will resemble Jack Morris in 1993. That year Cito Gaston dutifully put him on the mound every 5 days out of respect until an injury mercifully pushed him off the playoff roster. In 2011, the Red Sox will look for any excuse to keep him off the roster 15 days at a time. The Red Sox make the playoffs but fall short in the ALCS.


ROCKIES - Todd Helton will finally run out of gas. And the Rockies will play half heartedly through June. At the trade deadline, hoping to give the team and the lineup a jolt, they part with a prospect and some other farm hands to bring in Prince Fielder. It pays dividends with some big homers in the thin air but he doesn't fit in with the straight laced Rockies clubhouse and is perceived as a mercenary by Colorado fans who prefer Helton. He bolts via free agency.


ROYALS – Alex Gordon will run out of chances but the Royals will surprise everyone by posting a winning season. Billy Butler will be dealt to a contender but never mind that Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas will be in Kansas City by June and give the team a major spark. They will finish the season 84-78.



TIGERS – The Jim Leyland era, which began so wonderfully with the 2006 Tigers, crashes and burns in the first half of the season. Miguel Cabrera and Justin Verlander will both be solid, but the team will stumble out of the gate and never recover. Leyland will be fired in June and a veteran manage is brought in to pick up the pieces. (Perhaps Ken Macha.)


TWINS – They will fight tooth and nail with the White Sox for the Division with Kansas City breathing down their necks. Delmon Young’s All Star season last year will prove to be a fluke and Justin Morneau just can’t stay healthy. And the good fortune of Carl Pavano will fall off the table and he will be removed from the rotation by July. As the Twins fall short, there will be whispering about replacing Ron Gardenhire.


WHITE SOX – The most fun team to follow this year will be on the South Side of Chicago. I didn’t say the best. I said the most fun. Guillen and Williams will be at each others throat and the Twitters updates will fly. But so will the balls off the bats of Dunn and Konerko. And Jake Peavy will return to make 20 starts, almost all of them in the second half and help pitch the White Sox back into the playoffs.


YANKEES – The “reclamation project” plan for the #5 starter will go about as well as the Red Sox taking a chance with John Smoltz and Brad Penny in 2009. In other words, Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia, Mark Prior, Kevin Millwood and any other washed up pitcher will flop. Look for kids like Dellin Betances and Andrew Brackman getting starts after the All Star break.



So let's take a look at these at the end of the year and see what I got right and what looks just damn foolish!