Season Preview: Atlanta Braves

Well we've got 29 days left until Opening Day, which means it's season preview time. We'll be running it down team by team, with an added new wrinkle this time around: the beer of choice for fans of the team to enjoy whilst watching their team take the field! Nothing like that to help get you through a baseball season, especially if you're from Pittsburgh. Up first: the Atlanta Braves.


Lineup: We're not really sure what to make of this lineup. 3B Chipper Jones, C Brian McCann and SS Yunel Escobar are the three studs here, but CF Nate McLouth and rookie phenom Jason Heyward (heretofore the Jay Hey Kid) should provide some decent hitting around them. Troy Glaus and Eric Hinske are expected to hold down the first base job, and Melky Cabrera should certainly be an upgrade in left. But beyond the outfield, where Jordan Schafer is pushing for the CF job and Matt Diaz can handle lefties, there is zero depth on this team. To wit: Diory Hernandez is the backup shortstop and Brooks Conrad will step in if Martin Prado can't handle the keystone. Yikes. For a team with plenty of injury issues, depth is not a question mark you can afford to have.


Rotation: The league's best pitching last year more or less singlehandedly kept the Braves afloat in the 2009 race, as Tommy Hanson was stellar down the stretch for a rotation that featured a Cy Young-caliber season from Javier Vazquez and another excellent year from Jair Jurrjens. Derek Lowe and Kenshin Kawakami were effective enough, but both are fairly serious question marks; if this group is to even approach last year's output, Tim Hudson is going to have to return strong from elbow surgery and Kris Medlen will need to be effective in spots to fill in the gaps. 


Bullpen: Not much promise here. Billy Wagner and Takashi Saito are both some old dudes, but they've been effective in their careers and give Bobby Cox that RHP/LHP combo that he's enjoyed in recent years. If they don't fall off the table, anyway. Peter Moylan, the sidearming Aussie, was effective in his return from surgery last season, and would presumably be next in line if/when Wagner and/or Saito get hurt. The rest is sort of a mishmash of young'ns and the occasional grizzled vet. Which we guess isn't all that dissimilar from most bullpens, but it's not exactly encouraging.


Overall: There's a lot to like here, and it's Bobby Cox's last season, so there's a strong Win Now mentality. But they look paper thin in most areas, and counting on good health as a baseball team is not an especially effective way to win. 


Predicted Record: 86-80, 2nd place


Beer: Yuengling. America's oldest brewery, meet America's oldest bullpen. But when the Jay Hey Kid comes up, put down the brewski and just watch and appreciate.

The All-Decade Team: Position Players (short version)

This post is the short version of the post we just wrote, so if you don't feel like reading our analysis (shame on you), you can just refer to this.

C Joe Mauer, Jorge Posada, Ivan Rodriguez, Mike Piazza

1B Albert Pujols, Todd Helton, Lance Berkman, Ryan Howard

2B Jeff Kent, Chase Utley, Ray Durham, Jose Vidro

SS Derek Jeter, Miguel Tejada, Michael Young, Jimmy Rollins

3B Alex Rodriguez, Chipper Jones, Scott Rolen, Adrian Beltre

LF Barry Bonds, Manny Ramirez, Gary Sheffield, Luis Gonzalez

CF Jim Edmonds, Carlos Beltran, Mike Cameron, Andruw Jones

RF Ichiro Suzuki, Vladimir Guerrero, Bobby Abreu, Magglio Ordonez

Batting Order

Ichiro Suzuki

Jim Edmonds

Albert Pujols

Barry Bonds

Alex Rodriguez

Joe Mauer

Jeff Kent

Derek Jeter

The All-Decade Team: Position Players

It's that time of...decade! Which is to say, it's the end of a ten-year period, which means it's the perfect time for retrospectives! And one of our personal favorite ways to do so is to create the all-decade team. It's going to be especially fun for us with the '00s since we weren't, you know, really making memories at the beginning of the last decade. But this time we've come prepared! So let's get to our choices for the best players of the decade at each position, which is the end-all be-all of teams and will in no way cause discussion or disagreement.

Some notes: Players considered for spots will be considered only on the body of their work this decade. They need not have played for the entirety of 2000-2009, but obviously, the more years the better. When we say MVP candidate, we mean that they placed in the top 20 of MVP voting. Other candidates are presented in order of finish. Also: due to some confusion, we'd like to point out that all stats that are referenced have been accumulated during the current decade. So e.g. Andruw Jones' 308 HRs are the HRs that he hit from 2000-present.

C: Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins. 2004-09 stats: .327/.408/.483, 136 OPS+, 3 batting titles, winner of '09 slash-stat triple crown.

Mauer played the least among the candidates here - accruing only 3000 PA - but his numbers have been so impressive that he wins anyway. Plus, if you cherry pick each candidate's best 5-year stretch, none of them are as good as Mauer. 2000-04 was the best such stretch for each catcher; Posada went .277/.391/.494, Rodriguez was .319/.366/.539 (132 OPS+), and Piazza tied Mauer's 136 OPS+ with a .292/.376/.539 line, but loses on the tiebreak due to Mauer's superior defensive ability. If you want to choose a candidate that played the full 10 years, that's fine with us, but for our money, Mauer's the best.

Other candidates:

Jorge Posada, New York Yankees. Decade stats: .283/.386/.492, 129 OPS+, 208 HR.

Ivan Rodriguez, Texas Rangers/Florida Marlins/Detroit Tigers/New York Yankees/Houston Astros. Decade stats: .298/.345/.477, 110 OPS+, 161 HR, 65 SB.

Mike Piazza, New York Mets/San Diego Padres (we'd forgotten!)/Oakland Athletics. Decade stats: .285/.360/.512, 127 OPS+, 3 Silver Slugger awards, 3rd-place '00 MVP voting.

1B: Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals. This is the easiest choice on the list. Allow us to remind you of his transcendent greatness: .334/.427/.628 career line. 172 OPS+, which is 6th all-time. Top-10 in MVP voting every year of his career, top-5 in 8 of 9 years, 3-time winner (including this season), and robbed of a 4th. Not counting his rookie year, he's never struck out more than 69 times in a season, and has walked more than he's struck out every season. And ohbytheway, he's done all this with an elbow that has probably needed Tommy John surgery for several years now. The guy's an all-timer.

Other candidates:

Todd Helton, Colorado Rockies. Decade stats: .331/.436/.569, 145 OPS+, 260 HR, 1.36 BB:K.

Lance Berkman, Houston Astros. Decade stats: .300/.413/.559, 148 OPS+, 309 HR, 74 SB, 6-time MVP candidate.

Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies. Decade stats: .279/.376/.586, 142 OPS+, 12.1 AB/HR (3rd all-time; 1st among actives)

And also Miguel Cabrera is really good. Didn't play enough to really qualify among the giants, but...he's really good.

2B: Jeff Kent, San Francisco Giants, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers. Decade stats: .300/.371/.518, 130 OPS+. MVP award, 4 Silver Sluggers. We're not considering his dubious clubhouse presence or Barry Bonds-alleged racism. We ARE considering, however, one of the best all-time seasons by a second baseman in 2000, and general excellence for the rest of the decade. His worst season was his last; as a 40-year old in 2008, he posted a 96 OPS+. Which, when you consider the fact that other candidates for this list are right around 100 OPS+ for their careers, is very impressive. That's ultimately what gives him the award over Chase Utley, who's been not quite as good with the bat but vastly superior with the glove. So we won't quibble if you choose Chutley.

Other candidates:

Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies. Decade stats: .295/.379/.523, 129 OPS+, 3x Silver Slugger (probably 4 with this year), 5-time MVP candidate, superb defender.

Ray Durham, Chicago White Sox/Oakland Athletics/San Francisco Giants/Milwaukee Brewers. Decade stats: .277/.354/.450, 107 OPS+, 132 HR, 122 SB.

Jose Vidro, Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals/Seattle Mariners. Decade stats: .303/.366/.452, 111 OPS+, '02 MVP candidate, Silver Slugger award, played for the Expos.

Yeah, second base is a weak group.

SS: David Eckstein just kidding

SS: Derek Jeter, New York Yankees. Decade stats: .317/.387/.456, 121 OPS+, 8-time MVP candidate, 3 Silver Sluggers, 219 SB. Yeah, yeah, yeah, intangibles, the Captain, calm eyes, whatever. That counts for nothing. What does count is that the dude can hit and run, and as of this past season, apparently learned how to use his glove. There's not really much more you could ask for from your shortstop.

Other candidates:

Miguel Tejada, Oakland Athletics/Baltimore Orioles/Houston Astros. Decade stats: .297/.347/.481, 116 OPS+, 7-time MVP candidate (1 win), 2x Silver Sluggers.

Michael Young, Texas Rangers. Decade stats: .302/.349/.449, 105 OPS+. 3-time MVP candidate, used to be a great, great fielder. Probably underrated, and yet that's all we can think to say about him.

Jimmy Rollins, Philadelphia Phillies. Decade stats: .274/.329/.439, 97 OPS+, 326 SB (83% success), 5-time MVP candidate (1 win), Silver Slugger award. Is almost certainly overrated, but, well, there's little offense to be had at shortstop, and Rollins' speed and somewhat valuable defense pushes him above the pack.

3B: Alex Rodriguez, Seattle Mariners/Texas Rangers/New York Yankees. Decade stats: .304/.401/.587, 154 OPS+, 9-time MVP candidate (3-time winner), 7x Silver Sluggers, 434 HR, 179 SB (83% success). Another all-timer here, even if he did take steroids. In this decade, he's never posted less than a 130 OPS+, has hit 30+ HR each year, and done all of that while switching positions. Had he been a shortstop, he's probably the best shortstop to ever play; as a third basegentleman, he's merely one of the best ever.

Other candidates:

Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves. .311/.415/.545, 148 OPS+, 6-time MVP candidate, 1.12 BB:K, our favorite player. If he stayed healthy, he'd be number one here.

Scott Rolen, Philadelphia Phillies/St. Louis Cardinals/Toronto Blue Jays/Cincinnati Reds. Decade stats: .285/.368/.497, 124 OPS+, averages 15.5 UZR/150, 1-time MVP candidate.

Adrian Beltre, Los Angeles Dodgers/Seattle Mariners. Decade stats: .272/.324/.459, 106 OPS+, great fielder, very durable (valuable considering the rest of the list), 1-time MVP candidate/Silver Slugger winner.

LF: Barry Bonds, San francisco Giants. Decade stats: .322/.517/.724, 221 OPS+. We're going to repeat those, because they are positively cartoonish. .322/.517/.724, 221 OPS+. That 221 OPS+ from 2000-2007 would be the 17th-best single season of all-time. His 2002, 2004, and 2001 seasons are the three-best of all-time, respectively. He set the single season record for home runs, with 73. His walk:strikeout ratio was a ridiculous 2.64. He set single season and career records for walks, both intentional and unintentional. After his 73-homer 2001, in which he struck out 93 times, he never again struck out more than 58 times. Discount it for steroids all you want, and he still dwarfs any challengers. But he did stop stealing bases, so, you know, there's that. The funny thing is, he'd be the starting LF for the 1990's team as well.

Other candidates, inasmuch as there are any:

Manny Ramirez, Boston Red Sox/Los Angeles Dodgers. Decade stats: .317/.419/.599, 160 OPS+, 7-time MVP candidate and Silver Slugger.

Gary Sheffield, Los Angeles Dodgers/Atlanta Braves/New York Yankees/Detroit Tigers/New York Mets. Decade stats: .294/.394/.527, 140 OPS+, 273 HR, 97 SB, 1.16 BB:K, 5-time MVP candidate, 3x Silver Slugger.

Luis Gonzalez, Arizona Diamondbacks/Los Angeles Dodgers/Florida Marlins. Decade stats: .288/.382/.508, 124 OPS+, 2-time MVP candidate, Silver Slugger, 1.1 BB:K.

CF: Jim Edmonds, St. Louis Cardinals/San Diego Padres/Chicago Cubs. Decade stats: .280/.389/.548, 140 OPS+, 5-time MVP candidate, Silver Slugger, 261 HR. Edmonds is a guy who would've had a backup role on the '9os team, but he shines here. He had more power than most players in the game, which is remarkable for a center fielder. He shone defensively, and could work a walk. Like Jeter at short, there's nothing else you could ask for from a center fielder.

Other candidates:

Carlos Beltran, Kansas City Royals/Houston Astros/New York Mets. Decade stats: .282/.363/.502, 121 OPS+, 5-time MVP candidate, 2x Silver Sluggers, excellent fielder.

Mike Cameron, Seattle Mariners/New York Mets/San Diego Padres/Milwaukee Brewers. Decade stats: .253/.342/.457, 111 OPS+, 221 HR, 208 SB (79% success), 2-time MVP candidate.

Andruw Jones, Atlanta Braves/Los Angeles Dodgers/Texas Rangers. Decade stats: .257/.339/.492, 112 OPS+, 5-time MVP candidate (2nd place in '06), Silver Slugger, 308 HR.

I know that leaving out Torii Hunter will be an unpopular choice, but he's just not as good as Cameron or Jones. Hunter doesn't get on base nearly as well as Cameron, doesn't approach Jones in power, has a lower OPS+ than both Cameron and Jones, and has gotten by on a defensive reputation that focuses on his SportsCenter highlights and not his actual negative defensive value since 2002 (-15 UZR).

RF: Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners. Decade stats: .333/.378/434, 118 OPS+, '01 Rookie of the Year/MVP, 7-time MVP candidate, 2x Silver Sluggers, best defensive right fielder in MLB. This was a surprisingly difficult field. In terms of Wins Above Replacement, Ichiro is the clear leader, with 38.8 to Vlad's 32.2, mostly because of Ichiro's vast defensive advantage. It's still hard to give the honor to a guy with a 118 OPS+, But he's stolen 341 bases with an incredible 90% success rate. He's got the single season record for hits, and has led the league in hits 6 times, including 4 straight years. He may yet get 3,000 in America, which is shocking considering that he came here at age 27. His OBP and SLG don't shine, but everything else is as good as it gets - and you get the feeling that if he wanted to draw more walks or hit more dongers, he could.

Other candidates:

Vladimir Guerrero, Montreal Expos/Los Angeles Angels. Decade stats: .323/.392/.569, 147 OPS+, 9-time MVP candidate (1 win), 6x Silver Slugger, 315 HR, 147 SB.

Bobby Abreu, Philadelphia Phillies/New York Yankees/Los Angeles Angels. Decade stats: .297/.402/.497, 132 OPS+, 216 HR, 295 SB, 5-time MVP candidate, 1-time Silver Slugger.

Magglio Ordonez, Chicago White Sox/Detroit Tigers. Decade stats: .316/.379/.523, 132 OPS+, 5-time MVP candidate, 3x Silver Slugger.

Seasn in Haiku: Atlanta Braves

B-Mac got glasses

Bow before Tommy Hanson

Chipper killed a guy.

Chipper Jones is a Stone Cold Killer

http://www.rotoworld.com/content/Headlines.aspx?sport=MLB&hl=273620

We recommend clicking that link because it tells the tale of how a dead body was found on Chipper Jones' Double Dime ranch in Texas.  Now, admittedly, this is a side of our hero with which we've not been able to reconcile ourselves; we come from Indiana, and get just about enough of the country music/NASCAR/hunting/camo gear scene, thank you very much.  So we've always sort of ignored the existence of this ranch.  But no longer - not ever since it has become a warning to those who would undermine the Braves' hopes and dreams.  

Now, we suppose it's worth mentioning that the dead body was that of an illegal Mexican immigrant, and as such, he probably wished the Braves no harm.  BUT STILL!  Watch your backs, uh...whoever you youngsters are who play for the Rockies, Giants, and Marlins.   You'd best groove pitches for Chipper...or else.  Everyone knew Chipper was important to the Braves' playoff hopes...but we don't think everyone realized that this incident is a great example of why.

Soliloquizing on the Slammin' Sammy Sosa Steroid "Shocker"

Since we run a baseball blog, we figure it's a rite of passage that we write a steroids-related post.  It kills us to do so, because we think the entire issue's been way, way overblown.  And yet, here we are, fanning the flames in our own small way.

The recent news, of course, is that Sammy Sosa is reportedly among the list of names of players who tested positive in 2003's round of "anonymous" testing - the same list of 104 players that saw A-Rod dragged into this mess.  Basically, if you don't remember, there's a list of names that correspond with the sample numbers on the test results.  This list was supposed to be destroyed, but never was, and though it was kept separate from the results list, some people saw the two together.  This then prompts the question of why the second name they chose to reveal was Sammy Sosa.  If the person knows all the names on the list, you'd have to imagine there's a more provocative name on there than Sammy, right?  Or perhaps the remaining 102 players are all...mediocre.  Who knows.

In any event, the first thing we said upon seeing the BREAKING NEWS alert was: "Well, yeah.  Of course."  We get the sense that this was the general reaction; Sosa and McGwire "saved" baseball with their 1998 home run duel, and in doing so, put themselves front and center in the media-driven witch hunt that followed.  As such, when steroid talk started rumbling, they were some of the first to be implicated.  And, really: was there any doubt?  Those guys were enormous.  If you need to be refreshed, take a gander at Sosa and McGwire in their playing days.  It's fun.

We're also going to mention that our indifferent reaction is not due only to the fact that we were fairly sure that Sosa had juiced, but also because, well, we don't care about steroids in general.  We made it through 49 posts without mentioning steroids in any significant way, but we feel compelled to cave since one of our heroes growing up tested positive.  If anything, Sosa's test should make us feel outraged and indignant and all these things that the media loves to say we should feel.  But...we don't.  Even when it hits close to home like this.  We're not disappointed in Sosa.  We're not angry with him.  We don't think he tainted the game.  Because here's the thing: we suspect that everyone did it.  And that's fine by us.  It made games more entertaining, it made us want to watch.  

And furthermore, we sort of feel like we'd be more outraged if Sosa - or, say, Chipper Jones - didn't juice.  Because if it was as widespread as we believe, or as Jose Canseco wants us to believe, then we would like to think that our heroes were willing to do whatever it took to stay competitive, to stay on top.  If that's what the game demanded, then so be it.  Is that unfair?  Absolutely.  But we don't think there's any moral high ground in being able to look back and say "yeah, I batted .250 in the majors, but I did it without steroids!"  If you're good enough and competitive enough to get to the very top level of baseball, not only are you more disposed to take drugs that'll help you compete, but if you get that far and don't take the extra step that so many of your peers are taking, at the cost of your own career...well, we have to wonder why.

We understand the health effects of steroids.  We understand that they were illegal by law, if not by the rules of the game.  We understand that not everyone has access to the same kind of drugs.  But if baseball wasn't interested in testing, and steroid use became widespread, and the media was just as willing as the rest of us to turn a blind eye while we all became enthralled by 100-mph fastballs and 500-foot bombs...then who's to look back now, after the fact, and say "It's Wrong!  They didn't do it The Right Way!"  We certainly don't feel that holier-than-thou compunction.

Oh, and one more thing.  ESPN ran a reaction on Sosa's positive test from Fergie Jenkins.  In it, Jenkins said that he was surprised, because he'd always thought that Sosa had accomplished what he did "through his own hard work."  We feel like a lot of people believe that if you take steroids, they're just some magic substance that makes your muscles huge and lets you drop dongers with the best of 'em.  But, of course, they aren't.  The amount of work that guys like Sosa, McGwire, Bonds, Clemens, etc. had to put in to get where they did is incredible.  Yes, steroids can make it easier to put on muscle and shorten recovery times.  But you still have to put in the work in the weight room to make it happen.  And just because you get big doesn't mean that you can all of a sudden hit home runs whenever you please.  The degree of hand-eye coordination and pitch recognition skills that is required to hit like they did, the amount of cage work and pitching drills people were doing...it's insane.  It's harder to be a pro athlete than just about anything else in the world, and all anyone who juiced was doing was trying to better their career in possibly the most physically and mentally demanding field in the world.  And it's naive of us to say that we wouldn't do the same in their situation.  

So, there: hopefully that's our last word on steroids.  Kids: they're bad.  Unless you're a professional athlete, and everyone's doing them, and the sport isn't testing for them, and you stand to make millions upon millions of dollars if you do them.  In that case, go nuts.  

The Sporting News's "MLB's 50 Best" Is a Joke

We've read The Sporting News since we were young - well, younger - and are generally excited to read it.  We never cared for the feature pieces, really, but the individual analysis of all the teams in the leagues really grabbed us.  

But, as we've gotten older and learned to look at the game more intelligently, mainstream media has started to seem abhorrent to us.  Of course, everyone's favorite target is ESPN - and with good reason, considering how much of their airtime is filled with garbage analysis.  But hey, kudos for having 13 reporters covering a 1-hour slot dedicated to Michael Vick coming home.  Gripping stuff.

This, however, is not about ESPN.  This is about The Sporting News.  We got our issue today, and on the cover, a Herculean Albert Pujols gazed skyward: NO. 1, proclaimed the bold yellow font.  Alright, we thought, a good start.  But...our thoughts went sour quickly.  We'd post the rest of the list, but we don't want to waste any more of your time - though you can look through them here, if you'd like.  No, we're just going to highlight the egregiously bad parts.  Because this is a blog, you see, and all we're in this for is to criticize.  Oh, also this list was voted on by a collection of 99 baseball minds - 13 HOFers, 12 Cy Young winners, 12 MVPs, and 18 guys whose picture features them with a mustache included.  Oh, and Steve Phillips.  Steve Phillips is on there, too.  So 100 people were polled. This should be fun...let's get going.

4. Manny Ramirez: Yes, Manny's a great hitter.  But at this stage in his career, he's the fourth-best player in baseball?  Even with one of the worst gloves in the majors, at the easiest spot in the game?  For as much as defensive analysis has improved these days, putting an all-bat guy who can't be hidden in a DH slot at no. 4 in the lig is silliness. 

5. Hanley Ramirez: Basically, I'm just pushing for him to be in the 4th spot.  However, his manager did have this to say about him: "I think he can be in the top five, but I don't think he's there right now.  But surely he is in the upper third, the top 15."  Way to get your player's back, Fredi Gonzalez!  

8. Derek Jeter: Really, the pick that prompted this post.  We just want to be sure that we're on the same page as TSN here.  Let's even assume for a minute that we're talking about his entire career, rather than his value right now - when he's a barely average hitter (102 OPS+) and subpar defender.  We're still talking about a guy who's slugged .500 exactly once in his career.  A guy whose career OBP is under .400 - a lofty standard, sure, but not for a top-10 player in all of MLB.  A guy who's never once hit 30 home runs.  Great. Just making sure.  

Oh, and let's not forget this gem: in the writeup on why Jeter is no. 8 overall, the eminent Todd Jones explains why he'd vote for Jeter as no. 1.  Take it away, Todd!

"When I look at Derek Jeter, I see a champion. The captain.  A guy with the "it" factor."

Ok, well, yes, he is a champion.  But we're pretty sure there were 24 other guys on the Yankee teams that won titles.  Yes, he is the captain, but that doesn't have any bearing on whether or not he is skilled at playing the game of baseball right now.  And since "it" factor could mean literally anything, we'll give you that one...even though it's still incredibly stupid.

"A guy who handles whatever comes his way with so much savvy and cool we just shake our heads."

If we're talking about ground balls when we're talking about "whatever comes his way," then we think he sort of handles them with ineptitude.  Which, we guess, can leave us shaking our heads.  But savvy?  Cool?  Meh.  We'd rather have skill.

"During my career, I was giddy around a few players: Cal Ripken, Mark McGwire, Albert Pujols, and Jeter."

But we're really glad you were giddy around him!  Though...you were also giddy around Albert Pujols.  Who is better at everything having to do with the game of baseball.  Guess he just isn't savvy enough.

"Jeter always seems to be in the middle of big plays because he is involved in every pitch of every game....He isn't a guy who puts on his game face only when the red light comes on."

He's involved in every pitch of every game?  We guess so...in the sense that he's on the field.  It's sort of hard not be involved.  Even so, why does that make him great?  We're pretty sure that we'd be involved in every pitch of every game if we were in the majors, but it sure doesn't mean that we could make any plays.  And wait...what?  What red light?  We don't even know how to mock that, it's so bizarre.

MAN oh man we hate it when people praise Derek Jeter like that.

9. Mariano Rivera. We promise we're not Yankee haters.  This has more to do with the idea that a closer - which is a silly notion in and of itself - could be one of the best 50 players in baseball.  It's like putting a really good pinch hitter on the list.  Though we guess it's possible Mark Sweeney or Lenny Harris made this list a couple years ago.

10. Chipper Jones. Woohoo! Top 10!

11. Ryan Howard. His window is closing rapidly.  And we'd really like it if he could hit better than .220 for most of the season.  So, no, he's not the 11th best player.

14. Justin Morneau.  The guy hits 30 HRs and he's Canadian.  So, of course, we love him...but he's not one of the best 15 players in the game.  He's probably not even one of the 15 best hitters in the game. 

15. Jimmy Rollins. His numbers this year have been horrendous, so we're taking issue with his spot at no. 15.  But we're mostly mentioning this because in the writeup about him, the only thing they use to justify his ranking is that he's scored more runs from 2001-2008 than anyone in the NL except Albert Pujols.  And he's scored more runs than Ryne Sandberg or Bobby Doerr had when they, too, were 29.  Uh...congrats, we suppose.  

16. Josh Beckett. Also terrible this year.  Guy's been studly in October, so of course he gets overrated.  Great pitcher, yes.  Better than every starter except Johan and Doc Halladay?  No.

20. Evan Longoria. Too low.  Do we really think he's worse than, say, Jimmy Rollins or Dustin Pedroia?  

21. Lance Berkman. As we said in our post about David Ortiz a couple days ago, Berkman's not likely to be a viable player much longer.  And he's been really, really bad this year.  

30. Ichiro Suzuki. So the voters are confident that the 30th best player in all of baseball is a guy who is good at slap hitting, running, and throwing?  A guy who's barely OPSing .800 for his career?  Well, alright, Hall of Famers! And Steve Phillips.

33. Dan Haren. Too low for such an elite talent.  But we really liked the blurb on this one: "In his first four full seasons as a starter, Haren went 59-42 with a 3.56 ERA and two All-Star appearances.  In his first four full seasons as a stare, Pedro Martinez went 63-35 with a 2.95 ERA and three All-Star apperances."  Um...great!  And in HIS first four full seasons as a starter, Jack McDowell was 56-39 with a 3.52 ERA and two All-Star apperances.  Which is weird, since we just picked a random pitcher to illustrate the odd choice of Pedro as a Haren comparison (like that?) and he happens to have almost the exact same numbers as the ones TSN  chose to represent Haren.

34. Francisco Rodriguez. Never mind that's been trending downward for several years now.  Never mind that he never throws more than an inning.  We'd like to point out two things: relievers shouldn't make this list, and the blurb on him is Goose Gossage calling him very unprofessional.  Ok, Goose.  Go back to intentionally throwing at batters and griping that you weren't voted into the Hall of Fame.  

39. Joe Mauer. We think this is very, very low.  A good defensive catcher who's won two batting titles and should grow into some more power?  We think we'll always remember Torii Hunter saying this about Mauer: "He's only 23.  Wait 'til he grows man muscles."  Indeed, Torii. Indeed.

43. Cliff Lee.  Here's a problem with TSNs list.  They seem to think a guy has to be great for more than one year to be strongly considered, hence Tim Lincecum (19) and Zack Grienke (25)'s relatively low showings.  Well...if we're supposed to consider a body of work, don't you think that a guy who got sent down to AAA JUST A SCANT TWO SEASONS AGO should maybe not be on the list of the best players in baseball? 

50. Brian McCann.  We don't think it's our Braves bias talking when we say that such a gifted offensive catcher as McCann should be higher than 50, especially considering some of the names on the list.  

How about some notable omissions?  Let's look at some players who didn't make the cut, and who plays their position on the list 

Nick Markakis  should replace Ichiro Suzuki. Markakis is putting up a tidy .327/.405/.533 line this year, which is much better than Ichiro's .319/.355/.438 and has a higher career OPS (.858 vs. .807).  

Adrian Gonzalez should replace...well, someone.  It's a crime that Gonzo has to toil in PETCO.  Not only because the Padres are awful, but also because he'd be recognized as one of the best hitters in baseball if he could play in a regular park.  To wit: at home, he hits .264/.339/.440.  On the road: .299/.363/.558.  If he keeps up his hot start this year, maybe he'll finally cement his name as an All-Star caliber talent.  Unfortunately, there're no first basemen that we would replace since he's worse than Pujols, Teixeira, Howard, Berkman (maybe), and Youkilis.  

Matt Kemp should replace Torii Hunter.  Hunter's been getting by on reputation with his defense for a couple years now, and though he's been hot this year, he's still on the downside of his career.  Kemp, on the other hand, is a 24-year old slugger who's already got a better career OPS (.815 to .800) than the declining Hunter. 

Another problem: here are the pitchers on the list.  Johan Santana, Roy Halladay, Mariano Rivera, Josh Beckett, Tim Lincecum, Zack Greinke, CC Sabathia, Brandon Webb, Dan Haren, Francisco Rodriguez, Jake Peavy, Chad Billingsley, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, Carlos Zambrano, and Cole Hamels.  That's 16 pitchers, which, to us, seems too high.  Yeah, they might be talented, but do they have the most value to a team?  Guys who take the field more than every 5th day are going to contribute more to a team.  So, when hitters like Markakis, Gonzalez, Kemp, and even guys like Brandon Phillips, Aramis Ramirez, Ryan Zimmerman and Adam Dunn are bumped off the list in favor of pitchers who aren't top-shelf aces, that should raise some eyebrows.  Pare that pitching list down to at most 10 and remove relievers, and you've got a better list.  Rivera, Beckett, Rodriguez, Lee, Oswalt, and Zambrano should easily be taken off.  You might also consider, depending how anti-pitcher you are, losing Billingsley and Hamels.  

Oh, and, TSN?  When you're talking about how great pitchers are, please, please, PLEASE stop using win-loss records.  It's probably the single worst way to measure pitching performances.  And yet...out of those 16 hurlers, pitching records are mentioned in: 11.  And two of those guys are relievers, so realistically, they use wins as a direct measure of how good a pitcher is in 11/14 cases.  How obnoxious.

Well, that list was practically longer than the entire article.  Sorry if we got carried away...but we think we made our point.  The people who voted on this don't know what they're doing.  There, we saved you about 2000 words of reading.  Where's the Tylenol?!

Yesterday's Players of Note

Every day we're going to mention 5 or so players (we're not much for hard and fast rules around here) whose performance in the day before warrants mention. They aren't listed in any particular order, and it could be for reasons good or bad; the only caveat is that it has to be on the field work. Players of Note will not, for example, cover dudes who get trashed and get arrested for peeing in the street (here's looking at you, Jake!). You know, unless it's a really fun story. Like we said: hard and fast...not so much.

Trevor Cahill: The highly touted Cahill made his major league debut yesterday against the Angels, and...well, he sorta disappointed.  He went 5, allowing 5 hits and surrendering 5 walks.  Someone get the man a footlong!  He did record his first ever K, though it was his only one of the game.  Only 2 ER, but 57 strikes in 103 pitches isn't gonna get the job done, kid. 

Ubaldo Jimenez: How about Ubaldo!  7 strong, allowing 4 H, 3 BB, and 0 ER, while fanning 8.  This is what we should be getting used to seeing from the kid with the electric arm; if he can harness the kind of talent that he displayed in the second half of '07 for an entire season...well, the Rockies still won't be very good, but he'll get plenty of attention.  Props to his counterpart as well; Dan Haren K'd 9 while allowing only 3 hits and 1 run over 7.

Tim Lincecum: Just when you think you know a guy, he goes and does something like this: 3 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 5 K.  78 pitches for Timmy in this go-round.  The reason why we're mentioning hin here is the fact that he only went 3.  Yeah, he was struggling, but why pull the best pitcher in the NL after 78 pitches?  Give him a chance to sort it out.  We're just hoping that it's not an injury concern; the Giants say that it wasn't, but giants are notoriously untrustworthy. Not that that has anything to do with Brian Sabean; we just felt it warranted mentioning.

Chipper Jones: Perhaps this is a bit of self-indulgence here, but we are the ones who write this blog.  The KCSD Hero was 2-4 with a flapjack and a double, putting him at a nifty .500/.500/1.125 line for the season.  MVP-caliber numbers?  We think so.  And we dare you to disagree.

Kyle Farnsworth: The Farns is at it again, serving up an 8th inning four-bagger to Big Jim Thome to secure the loss for the Royals.  Good thing they gave him $9.25 mil over 2 years; in no way will they regret feeling the need to justify that contract by giving him crucial 8th-inning appearances that could go to Juan Cruz and Joakim Soria.