Thursday, May 27, 2010

Mid-season peak at Ripken, JR

W/ the all-star game, home run derby, and futures game all played out the past couple of days, its time to hand out some mid-season hardware.

MVP

I'm not sure what's scarier, the season that Clarence Guiel has put up to date, or the thought hat even if he missed the rest of the season due to injury, he'd remain a front runner for MVP honors. A .344 average, 1.2 OPS, 44 homers, 120 rbi, 84 runs and 26 stolen bases. The Boise all star is on pace for roughly 78 homers, 213 rbi and 150 runs.

In the running:
Ted Wilson (KC) .361/30 hr/100 rbi/71 r/22 sb
Hic Hartley (Salem) .313/ 26 hr/82 rbi/ 84 r/18 sb (and gold glove caliber defense at 3rd)
Stewart Wells (Florida) .346/18 hr/71 rbi/64 r/12 sb
Steve Munson (Min) .328/24 hr/92 rbi/82 r/12 sb

CY Young:

A much tougher call for the mid-season Cy Young winner, but I'll throw my support behind the league leader in striketouts, era and wins, and 2nd in Whip amongst eligible canidates. Charlotte's Bruce Dougherty has been dominate so far. His lead leading 142 strikeouts, 1.59 era and 12 wins have helped pace Charlotte's quest to reclaim their division title. Although I guess when you look at those numbers, its really not that tough a call for this award.

In the running:
Oscar Baumann (SYR) 10-2/2.29 era/98 k/0.90 whip
Steve Standridge (LAA) 9-2/2.10 era/65 k/1.07 whip
Chad Lamb (LAA) 12-2/2.70 era/110 k/1.15 whip
Jesus Fernadez (Salem) 12-7/2.67 era/87 k//1.17 whip
Sandy Murphy (Salem & Pitt) 10-2/2.66 era/98 k/1.17 whip

GM of the year:

I'll call this one a tie b/w the 2 league leaders at the mid way point. Cobcommish has not only chased down the mighty Syracuse franchise, but he's managed to put some space b/w him at the all star break. His 65 wins leads the league and while he has made few moves of high significance this season (outside of retaining Kris Jackson) his cummulative efforts over the past several seasons have paved the way to serious W-S contender.

The owner that might have done the most to improve his odds of winning it all goes to tdvy. Not only has the move from Boise to LA sparked the already potent Clarence Guiel, but knowing he had Guiel's bat to lead the way, he went out and acquired two staff aces in Chad Lamb and Autin Durbin to pace the way to 59 wins at the moment.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Hartford makes Push in AL

It has been a few seasons since the Hartford Yellow Jackets were relevant when talking about AL Contenders. While they might not be in that discussion yet, they are quietly making a push to be in the playoff picture.

Last week the club made a bit move with the Pittsburgh Pranksters to acquire sp Ricardo Blasco and ss Douglas Roosevelt, both of whom will help bolster the teams playoff chances both this year and in the future.

To make this trade work the team had to give up top 3b prospect John Hayes, who should be very good once he reaches the majors, and back end starter Al Alvarado.

In the long run this trade may show that Pittsburgh got the better end. Today though Hartford did a great job of equipping their team with the ability to compete in the AL East, which boasts both the Wichita Black Lightning and the Kansas City Black and Blue Brachiosaurus.

Wichita Adds Bats While Salem Adds an Arm

Two Big trades went through this weekend for perennial AL contenders. The Salem Witch Doctors added Ace Sandy Murphy and his remaining $89.1 million salary while the Wichita Black Lightning added RF Bruce Gibbons and CF Peter Elster.

The Witch Doctors had to use some fancy trading and financial tactics to get everyone under budget but GM taz21 knew it was worth it all along, "We went into this season targeting the big Free Agency period that lies ahead and were all set to re-acquire former Ace Chad Lamb but when Murphy was available, at a cost we were more then willing to pay, we had to pull the trigger."

The Witch Doctors had to make two trades to pull off the big deal. Part one was clearing cap room for Murphy's albatross contract. The Houston texans received potential All-Star C Manny Norman and P Ronald Douglas and the $10.4 million left on his contract, along with $2 million in cash considerations. Salem got a very good 2b prospect in Terry Lewis and fringe ML reliever in Sean Lasker.

But the biggest thing they got in return was the cap room to pull the trigger with the Pittsburgh Pranksters

Murphy didn't come cheap for Salem.

Pittsburgh GM idigapygmy was reluctant to send away his marquee Free Agent Signee and new face of the Franchise but Salem was willing to pay more then enough for Pittsburgh Management to decide a trade was worth while.

Pittsburgh received future frontline starter in Barry Vickers and solid middle of the rotation starter Clay Wigginton along with the expiring contract of likely summer Type A Free Agent in 2b Roland Rivers.

Quite a price to pay for Murphy but most of all Salem knows they have their Ace and doesn't have to wait til next year. How does this affect next years Free Agent period?

But before we answer that all important question let's move back and take a look at what Wichita had to give up to plan for the future.

First Wichita spoke with the St. Louis senators about CF Peter Elster, who GM zhawks thought fit very well into the teams offensive strategy. So much so that he went out and got Elster to ink a 5 year $30 million extension to stay with the franchise.

"We were really happy to hear that Elster was avilable. Not only does he ad the speed and base stealing that we were looking for but he also improved our overall team defense, allowing us to remove Alex Arnold from RF."

Wichita had to give up RF Emilio Martin, who appears to be a solid hitter for the future in Saint Louis and should hit for .280+ for years and future utility player Trevor Milliard.

This deal allowed for some defensive movement that Wichita desperately needed. The team was able to move Arnold to the bench and move former CF Charles Tamura to right, which will make the outfield defensive much better.

The second trade, which was much bigger for Lightning fans, was dealing Ace Ted Phillips to the Charlotte Big Red.

Wichita sent Phillips, Big League Setup man Ebenezer Ewing and utility prospect Lyle Lankford to Charlotte, along with $400k in cash considerations, for All-Star RF Gibbons, 2b prospect Fred Hutch (who GM zhawks raves about) and a solid Long Relief prospect Henry Ratliff who will get a shot as a fillin in the rotation this year.

This trade was big for Charlotte as they acquired another frontline starter to couple with Bruce Dougherty and Fausto James for possibly one of the best rotations in the Majors. Charlotte also has RF David Walker who can step in in Gibbons absence.

"We are really excited to bring in another Ace to our rotation," Charlotte GM zedonk said in the post trade press conference, "We have one of the best one, two, three punch at the front of our rotation in the Majors now."

As for Wichita, GM zhawks was thrilled to finally be able to re-work his defense.

"We have never had this good of a defensive team," said zhawks at yesterday's press conference," or this much depth. We are very dangerous at the plate this year."

The trade allowed zhawks to make another switch in his line-up, by moving former DH Jolbert Mieses back to catcher and use Tom Harper to give him rest. That allowed for sub-par defensive 1b Lyle Wise to move his bat to DH and insert Bruce Gibbons at first. This allows the club to use Arnold at 1b/lf/dh for rest and opens up a lot of room for Enrique Pescado to mix and match his lineup.

"We're on all cylinders offensively. Pitching might be a bit of hit and miss, we have 3 very good starters and a former Ace on the downside of his career. But that should change next year."

Monday, May 10, 2010

Lamb, we don't need no stinkin' Lamb

Time to scrap those stocked up Lamb Jerseys in the back of the Witch Doctor's team shop, we've got a new Ace in town. When Lamb was originally dealt, there was no doubt Salem was heading into the offseason with 30 mil in tow to lure Lamb back to town. However, a funny thing happened on the way to the opera, err....next offseason. A combination of injuries, and young IFA signings had Pittsburgh rethinking their 'window' and this season's key offseason acquisition, Sandy Murphy was quitely put on the Trade List. When the inquiry was made, much to Salem's suprise, Murphy was indeed on the market and available at a price Salem was willing to pay (ie two young pitchers). However, Sandy's big contract left little room in Salem's buget. Thankfully we had a contract to move, that Pittsburgh was willing to take w/ the bonus that the contract (Roland Rivers) was likely to be a type A free agent, netting the rebuilding Pranksters 2 extra draft picks next season.

With all of this in agreement, Salem still needed to wait until post draft in order to move some additional money into the major league buget from the prospect buget to make everything work financially. However, an interesting offer was made to Salem that spurred a quest to free up extra cash immediatly and make the move for Murphy now before anyone else could sneek in and take him off of Pittsburgh's hands. The trade request was looking to add one of the key players from my original deal w/ Pittsburgh (Clay Wigginton), but was willing to take an albatross of a contract off our hands in exchange for a very solid 2nd baseman. On its own merits, I never would have made the deal, but knowing it would lead to brining Murphy to town, it was time for exceptions. Unfortunately, Pittsburgh wasn't willing to come off its demands of Wigginton, a stance I couldn't really argue with as I would have held firm myself if I was them, so we were stuck at an impass until the draft could happen and money could be moved.

However, looking at Ron Douglas' future contract and limited role on my staff, added to the desire to get Murphy into the fold as quick as possible we went on a quest. Never have I made some many offers at once or combed thru the oppositions potential needs like I did with this deal, but using Manny Norman's future all-star catcher status as trade bait to get Douglas' contract off our hands (6 mil the next 2 seasons). At one point we had 6 offers out to 6 different teams. 1 was rejected, a dealt to KC was withdrawn, and the other 4 remained in limbo. Thankfully Houston's earlier interest in Norman proved true and they were willing to trade me a left handed batting (but right handed throwing) second baseman that I think will fill nicely on the bench over the next couple of seasons and a relief prospect who may (and I stress the word may) make the majors one day for a cup of coffee. W/ that deal accepted, the previous offer from Pittsburgh that had been sitting in my inbox for a week was accepted and all that waited was league approval.

So how did we do? Combine the Lamb deal into these 2 as my main acquisitions this season and here is what we got, and here's what we lost:

Murphy vs Lamb? Overall, these 2 area bout equal. Lamb is probably a touch better w/ his 80+ velocity compared to Muprhy's low 30's velocity, but both pitch deep into games, w/ a great array of pitches and effectiveness vs both lefties and righties w/ a lot of sink.

Chad_Lamb vs Sandy_Murphy

Pablo Bonilla v Yorvit Johnson. Pablo is one of the top, if not the best reliever in Ripken, Jr. Johnson has a great future and is obviously cheap, but Pablo comes out on top no matter how you slice this one.

Pablo_Bonilla vs Yorvitt_Johnson

Eugene Garcia v Esmailyn Nunez...I love Garcia as my future CF, but at the time I had some pause over these 2, thinking them about equal. Nunez should also be a solid CF, if he falls short of his SS potential, and honestly, their potential bats looked close to equal. However, as I look at 2 cycles of improvements, Garcia has improved a bit in several areas, while Nunez has remained stagnant. I would have assumed that Nunez would have kept improving at a solid pace in his 3rd season, but if he's going to stay where he's at, I'll definently take Garcia every day of the week.

Gene_Garcia vs Esmailyn_Nunez

Terry Lewis, Craig Bell, Sean Lasker v Manny Norman, Ron Douglas, Barry Vickers and Clay Wigginton.... Obviously the guys I gave away in this group blow away the guys I got in this group, but these are the guys I gave up to gain advantages in the groupings above. Terry Lewis should provide solid at bats from the left side for many years to come. I don't know if either Craig Bell or Lasker make the majors, but I think both get there, and I think Bell could give some solid setup innings. I love Manny Norman, but that is easily my deepest position in the minors, so giving him to someone that can use him won't hurt us long term too much. Lossing Vickers & Wigginton hurts, and leaves us w/ very little young starting pitchers in the minors. But w/ all 5 of my current starters locked up for several more seasons to come, there wasn't going to be much room in the rotation in a few years.

Terry_lewis Sean_Lasker Craig_Bell vs

Manny_Norman Ron_Douglas Clay_Wigginton Barry_Vickers Roland_Rivers

Douglas is solid, and while I made mention of his salary, it wasn't too far off what I think he's worth. Hopefully Houston can flip him for a couple of pitchers, I know he can help someone down the stretch run the next couple of years. Overall, as I look at these 3 trades as a group, I think things balance out pretty well. We gave up a ton, we got a ton. While I was optomistic that I could land Lamb on the open market next year, there was no garuntee that he wouldn't change his mind and resign w/ Anaheim at seasons end, or that my max offer would have been good enough for him, or for any of the other big 4 pitchers potentially on the market next season. Since I consider Murphy a rough equal to Lamb, a season older, but more likely to re-up at contracts end due to his high patience rating (Similar to Jesus Fernedez on my current staff) I'll be pretty happy no matter how much Lamb signs for next offseason.

With the acquistion of Murphy we no longer need to go after a staff ace next offseason. However a big bat is needed for an offense that has been stuck in mediocrity for a season + now, and by moving Douglas, combined w/ some other buget moves should enable us to free up 30 mil to add that big bat to the lineup. I hear Phillip Cashman likes purple and black. Hope he likes the great northwest.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Future of the Ripken Jr. Hall of Fame

With no top candidates being eligible for the Hall of Fame, who should we expect to grace the glorious halls in the future?


Oscar Baumann: The 31 Year Old Strike out king currently leads the league in career strikeouts. Baumann has made the All-star team in each of his ML years and has won 4 Cy Young’s and even pitched a Perfect Game in Season 7. The only obstacle between this pitching phenom and the Hall is the Elbow Surgery that derailed his campaign for a 5th straight Cy Young. If he can bounce back and return to form we will certainly see his bust in the Hall.
Career Numbers to Date: 152-54, 1888 K, 1.01 WHIP, 2.31 ERA
Chances of making the Hall of Fame: 97%

Julio Santiago: Nearly on the level of Baumann but not quite there. Santiago has some outstanding numbers and could see the Hall Of Fame if he has 3 more great years. He made the All-Star Team in 5 of his 7 seasons (Didn’t make it Season 6 due to injury). Also in his impressive resume is 2 NL Cy Young Awards.
Career Numbers to Date: 119-38, 1443 K, 1.08 WHIP, 2.56 ERA
Chances of making the Hall of Fame: 75%

Thurman Wright: The career Saves leader is eying up the Hall of Fame but are his numbers good enough? A career 1.24 WHIP and 3.32 ERA are good but not eye popping. This 30 year old will need to continue on his 40 save a year pace and possibly improve his numbers slightly to get in but its doable for this 30 year old.
Career Numbers to Date: 279 Saves of 320 Save Opportunities, 1.24 WHIP, 3.32 ERA
Chances of making the Hall of Fame: 55%

Harold Blake: The second pitcher on the career Saves list is Harold Blake. He is only two saves behind Thurman Wright and had designs on passing him this season. Although neither Wright nor Blake is their team’s primary closer, Blake certainly has a resume that mirrors Wright’s very closely. Should Wright get in then so should Blake.
Career Numbers to Date: 278 Saves of 219 Opportunities, 1.19 WHIP, 3.20 ERA
Chances of making the Hall of Fame: 55%

Achilles Cohen: The Home Run King is only 27 but he is the epitome of a masher. He is expected to cruise past 500 HR at the young age of 31 and could hit 1000 RBI this season. Although his amazing power numbers are tarnished by his low career average and penchant for striking out, his astronomical totals cannot be overlooked. Should he make the 500/1000 club expect him to be a quick inductee to the Hall.Career Numbers to Date: 1121 H, 340 HR, 896 RBI, .266 Avg, .546 Slugging %
Chances of making the Hall of Fame: 70%

Andy Clayton: What do you do with Power, Contact and Speed? Knock a ton of HRs, Triples and hit for an amazing average. Clayton is one of those amazing players that is #2 on the Career HR list and #3 on the career Batting Average List. Don’t expect him to decline anytime soon, Clayton will have another 4-5 good years of hitting ahead of him. This 3 Time MVP will add to his resume in years to come and should make the Hall as a very popular pick.
Career Numbers to Date: 1216 Hits, 336 HR, 942 RBI, .331 Avg, .688 Slugging %
Chances of making the Hall of Fame: 85%

Mikey Robbins: Everything you could want in a player. The Hit King, Mikey Robbins, is the only player to break .400 in the history of the league. The two time MVP hit for an astronomical .411 in Season 1, a record that still stands ,and a staggering .512 OBP. Look for Robbins to be a first ballot selection shortly.
Career Numbers to Date: 1418 H, 291 HR, 896 RBI, .346 Avg, .633 Slugging %
Chances of making the Hall of Fame: 97%

There are more players currently playing that stand out and have very good chances of making the Hall of Fame but look for these names as they will likely be legends of the league.