Good point. One great thing that can be said about Tito: he's not abusing Papelbon. The guy's lights-out (early pick for rookie of the year? is he eligible?), so the temptation to use him 2 innings per game must be huge.
Papelbon is eligible. Amazing point - Huston Street won the ROY last year and he had 23 saves (one more than Papelbon has and its only June 17.
Street was not the closer for the whole year - funny thing is Dotel was the A's closer early and, I believe, his last games as closer were the back to back games he gave up walk off hits to Ortiz and Millar.
There was not much competition last year for ROY. A few guys with less than full seasons (Cano and Gomes) and some average guys (Iguchi, Cano (again), Blanton and Swisher). Kazmir was great in the second half and, frankly, should have won - in my opinion.
Of course I don't think Papelbon will finish the year with a 0.26 ERA - but if he keeps the ERA low, the comparison to Eck in 92 will be inevitable. Granted one bad inning could easily push the ERA over 1.00 and one bad week could make it 2.00.
For comparison purposes, the lowest ERA for other closers:
Rivera 1.38 K-Rod 1.82 Izzy 2.14 Nathan 1.62 Wagner 1.82 Eck 0.61, interestingly not the year he won the MVP when he was at 1.90 Gagne - 1.20 (Cy)
But back to ROY point. This year seems to be much stronger than last year, so far. You have Papelbon as the early leader and in my opinion would be the hands down pick right now. Other contenders would include the following :
Verlander 7-4 3.32 Liraino 6-1 2.16 67K in 58 innings Ian Kinsler - missed some time with injury, but pretty damn solid Kenji Jojima - Not out front, but could make a push Jason Kubel - bastard for that GS Jared Weaver - still a long way to go, but a good start.
Hell if he keeps up the current pace he would be a favorite for the Cy Young. Then again, as mentioned abover, one bad inning and BJ Ryan is the rolaids winner this year.
And not to start another discussion, but who is the MVP right now?
Thome and Konerko split the CHI vote. Tejada is on a loser. Papi. Well after last year, we know the voters won't give it to him. Hafner. See Ortiz. 2005. Glaus. Wells. Halladay. And even Alex rios all split the TOR vote. Ichiro? Same as Tejada. A-Rod. Please.
And before we even get to that, we will soon have the mayhem I predicted concerning Ozzie stuffing the AS roster with White Sox.
Oh yeah. And one other thing. About a month ago, Larry Bowa was barking at Cory Patterson for stealing a base while the O's were up by 6.
Well maybe the Yanks should have been a bit more aggressive on the bases today. Up by 7. and lost. And that is not even the biggest deficit overcome in Yankee game this year. Tex was ahead of them by (I think) 9 runs (or it was 9-1) and ended up losing.
So the point is, Bowa is an ass. Still.
The Sox need a starter. Small is available.... I know. Not likely. But wouldn't it be nice to have the pendulum swing on deals and dealing just once. Of course it is Aaron Small. And he does suck.
And what if Schilling wins 20? Although my guess is that Thome wins. I mean not only did he come back from a disaster of a year, but he is being mentioned as an MVP.
Wow, you're right, lots of choices this year. Interesting that there are so many this year, and just one, a former (and possibly current) roider, in 2005.
Back to the title of this post, I think Mike Remlinger's return is way more impressive than Nomar's.
And back to the original post. The AL versus the NL so far this year 41-29. Which would equate to 95 wins. So basically, the NL turns every AL team into the Red Sox. And, I'm too lazy to look it up, but it seems that more of the interleague games to date have been in the NL parks.
Also, Aaron Small is available.
ReplyDelete(One day after an article on him and his family on yankees.com) Classy!
Well the NL does not suck enough that Rivera was invincible.
ReplyDeleteAs bad as the Sox pen is, Torre goes to Mo for 2 innings in back to back games. Ouch.
Good point. One great thing that can be said about Tito: he's not abusing Papelbon. The guy's lights-out (early pick for rookie of the year? is he eligible?), so the temptation to use him 2 innings per game must be huge.
ReplyDeletePapelbon is eligible. Amazing point - Huston Street won the ROY last year and he had 23 saves (one more than Papelbon has and its only June 17.
ReplyDeleteStreet was not the closer for the whole year - funny thing is Dotel was the A's closer early and, I believe, his last games as closer were the back to back games he gave up walk off hits to Ortiz and Millar.
There was not much competition last year for ROY. A few guys with less than full seasons (Cano and Gomes) and some average guys (Iguchi, Cano (again), Blanton and Swisher). Kazmir was great in the second half and, frankly, should have won - in my opinion.
Of course I don't think Papelbon will finish the year with a 0.26 ERA - but if he keeps the ERA low, the comparison to Eck in 92 will be inevitable. Granted one bad inning could easily push the ERA over 1.00 and one bad week could make it 2.00.
For comparison purposes, the lowest ERA for other closers:
Rivera 1.38
K-Rod 1.82
Izzy 2.14
Nathan 1.62
Wagner 1.82
Eck 0.61, interestingly not the year he won the MVP when he was at 1.90
Gagne - 1.20 (Cy)
But back to ROY point. This year seems to be much stronger than last year, so far. You have Papelbon as the early leader and in my opinion would be the hands down pick right now. Other contenders would include the following :
Verlander 7-4 3.32
Liraino 6-1 2.16 67K in 58 innings
Ian Kinsler - missed some time with injury, but pretty damn solid
Kenji Jojima - Not out front, but could make a push
Jason Kubel - bastard for that GS
Jared Weaver - still a long way to go, but a good start.
Hell if he keeps up the current pace he would be a favorite for the Cy Young. Then again, as mentioned abover, one bad inning and BJ Ryan is the rolaids winner this year.
And not to start another discussion, but who is the MVP right now?
Thome and Konerko split the CHI vote.
Tejada is on a loser.
Papi. Well after last year, we know the voters won't give it to him.
Hafner. See Ortiz. 2005.
Glaus. Wells. Halladay. And even Alex rios all split the TOR vote.
Ichiro? Same as Tejada.
A-Rod. Please.
And before we even get to that, we will soon have the mayhem I predicted concerning Ozzie stuffing the AS roster with White Sox.
Oh yeah. And one other thing. About a month ago, Larry Bowa was barking at Cory Patterson for stealing a base while the O's were up by 6.
ReplyDeleteWell maybe the Yanks should have been a bit more aggressive on the bases today. Up by 7. and lost. And that is not even the biggest deficit overcome in Yankee game this year. Tex was ahead of them by (I think) 9 runs (or it was 9-1) and ended up losing.
So the point is, Bowa is an ass. Still.
The Sox need a starter. Small is available.... I know. Not likely. But wouldn't it be nice to have the pendulum swing on deals and dealing just once. Of course it is Aaron Small. And he does suck.
Normally a dumb category, but interesting this year: Comeback Player of the Year. Lowell or Thome?
ReplyDeleteTalk about anticlimactic...Dodgers-A's game, bottom of the 17th...and Seo walks in the winning run.
ReplyDeleteAnd what if Schilling wins 20? Although my guess is that Thome wins. I mean not only did he come back from a disaster of a year, but he is being mentioned as an MVP.
ReplyDeleteSo that would be a walk-off walk.
ReplyDeleteIn the NL, is there a better comeback candidate than Nomar? Maybe Bonds? And don't forget Clemens. He is, after all, coming back.
You be able to throw Magglio in the mix in the AL.
Wow, you're right, lots of choices this year. Interesting that there are so many this year, and just one, a former (and possibly current) roider, in 2005.
ReplyDeleteBack to the title of this post, I think Mike Remlinger's return is way more impressive than Nomar's.
So there it is. remlinger. Viagra comeback player of the yera.
ReplyDeleteAnd back to the original post. The AL versus the NL so far this year 41-29. Which would equate to 95 wins. So basically, the NL turns every AL team into the Red Sox. And, I'm too lazy to look it up, but it seems that more of the interleague games to date have been in the NL parks.
ReplyDelete