Braves 2, Blue Jays 0

Moving the Needle: Tim Hudson picks himself up with a homer, +.336 WPA. The Braves managed just six hits in this game, including two doubles, but they just couldn’t cash in their runners. They were 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position when Hudson came to bat in the seventh, with a runner on third and two outs. That’s when he took complete control of the game. On the first pitch he lined a shot out to left, giving his team a 2-0 lead.

Notables

Tim Hudson: 8 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K, 16 GB. The Braves came up a little short with just six hits, but the Blue Jays managed only two all game. The only reason Hudson ran into any trouble at all was because of an error to lead off the second. In the third he retired the side on four pitches, inducing three ground balls. After the second, the Blue Jays didn’t put a single ball in the air. Even without the complete game it ranks among Hudson’s best starts of the year, and that doesn’t even factor in his offensive contribution.

Ricky Romero: 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 4 K. It wasn’t his best start, but Romero did nearly all he could to hold down the Braves. Unfortunately for him, it was Hudson’s night.

Also in this issue: Red Sox 14, Padres 5 | Cubs 6, White Sox 3 | Yankees 5, Reds 3 | Rockies 8, Indians 7 | Angels 2, Marlins 1 | Rangers 8, Astros 3 | Dodgers 4, Tigers 0 | Rays 8, Brewers 4 | Orioles 8, Pirates 3

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Just ten days ago, FanGraphs borrowed an idea from ESPN and held a Franchise Player Draft. When all was said and done, I think all of the FanGraphs contributors were ultimately happy with their picks. Though we felt good about our franchise players, many of the readers were quick to point out players they felt were snubbed. Of all the names mentioned, Jose Reyes has become the one player I’m surprised wasn’t selected during the draft. Still only 28, Reyes appears to have put his injuries behind him and he’s well on his way to his best season as a pro. Despite that, we decided he wasn’t worthy of a selection in the Franchise Player Draft. Is Jose Reyes making us look like fools?
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Today, Bud Selig issued this statement:

“Mr. McCourt has been provided with an expansive analysis of my reasons for rejecting this proposed transaction. Critically, the transaction is structured to facilitate the further diversion of Dodgers assets for the personal needs of Mr. McCourt. Given the magnitude of the transaction, such a diversion of assets would have the effect of mortgaging the future of the franchise to the long-term detriment of the club and its fans. As I have said before, we owe it to the legion of loyal Dodger fans to ensure that this club is being operated properly now and will be guided appropriately in the future. This transaction would not accomplish these goals.”

If you’ve read this link, you probably understand why I’m applauding Selig’s decision. If you haven’t read that link, go do so now. I can’t vouch for the accuracy of everything contained within, but it doesn’t have to be 100% correct for the general point to remain – the McCourts have been and are still attempting to actively devalue a Major League franchise for their own personal gain.

I’m sure McCourt will sue, and we’ll get months of legal haggling over the rights of the commissioner’s office versus the rights of a team owner. I’m also pretty sure, however, that this will all end in Frank McCourt losing control of the Los Angeles Dodgers – a team he should have never owned in the first place – and Major League Baseball will be better off with him and his family out of the sport.

The commissioner’s office is notoriously picky about what kinds of people they allow to own Major League Baseball teams. This is why. No owner should be allowed to drag down an entire franchise without recourse, and in this instance, the only way to keep the Dodgers from being further devalued is to eliminate the McCourt family from the decision making process.

Pay them off, throw them out, fight them in court – I don’t really care how it happens. I just want to never have to think about Frank or Jamie McCourt ever again. Kudos to Bud Selig for taking one more step towards ridding us of them once and for all.

This past week was all about positivity, as more teams than ever — 13 — moved up in the rankings. The most notable of those teams was the Detroit Tigers, who cracked the top ten for the first time. This is a bigger deal than it would seem to be on its face. Before this week, the eighth, ninth and tenth spots in the rankings have been occupied by eight different teams, but they have more or less been the same eight teams each week. The Tigers are the first new team to crack the top 10 since Cincinnati did so back in the fourth week. Alex Avila and Jhonny Peralta are among the top players at their respective positions, Brennan Boesch has played well, and Al Alburquerque and his 1.74 FIP has been a big surprise, making the Tigers more than just a three-man show. And that’s to say nothing of the below-expectations-but-still-positive contribution from Max Scherzer. In other words, it took Detroit eight weeks to crack the top ten, but they may make themselves comfortable.

1. Boston: Last week – 1, WAR% – .656 (2), FAN% – .605 (1), TOTAL% – .627
Josh Beckett may not be better than he was last season, but Jacoby Ellsbury and David Ortiz certainly are, and that’s just fine with the Nation.
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Coming into this year, things were looking up for the Baltimore Orioles. With a young pitching staff that had shown signs of maturing over the second half of the 2010 season and a lineup boosted by free agent veterans like Vladimir Guerrero and Derrek Lee, it wasn’t inconceivable that the Orioles could shoot to break .500 for the first time since 1997. While they were still stuck in the challenge AL East, the O’s made it clear this off season that they’re no longer a team to gloss over — competing for the playoffs was still a few years away, but they could still serve as spoilers and make other teams fight for the wins.

Well, things haven’t exactly gone according to plan. The Orioles entered today with a 32-37 record and a -42 run differential, sitting 2.5 games behind the fourth-place Blue Jays — who, by the way, are currently at .500. While that’s far from a horrible place to be, just about everything that could go wrong for the O’s this year has gone wrong.

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Over the past week there has been a lot of discussion about the report that MLB is considering moving a National League team to the American League, doing away with divisions, and adding a fifth playoff team from each league. While most of the discussion has focused on how such a move would free the Jays, Rays, and Orioles from the Hurculean task of going head-to-head with the Yankees and Red Sox, realignment may be needed to avoid a similar situation in the National League East.

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The Toronto Blue Jays signed shortstop Yunel Escobar (28) to an extension over the weekend. The contract reportedly includes two guaranteed years at $5 million each buying out his last two years of arbitration (2012 and 2013) as well as club options for 2014 and 2015, also at $5 million each. After impressing both at the plate and in the field with the Atlanta Braves during his first three seasons, Escobar had a rough 2010 and was traded to the Blue Jays. He’s recovered quite nicely this season, and it is hard to see how the Blue Jays could lose out in this deal. The only question is why Escobar agreed to it.

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News came out about an hour ago that Albert Pujols has a fracture in his left forearm and will miss four to six weeks while recovering. Any time you lose the best player in baseball, it’s a pretty big blow, but given the short timeframe and the Cardinals options, this shouldn’t end up affecting the standings too much.

The obvious answer for St. Louis is to shift Lance Berkman back to first base during Pujols’ absence. While Berkman has been a revelation offensively, he’s been as lousy as expected in the outfield, posting a -4.8 UZR in just 463 innings out there. Historically, he’s been an average to above-average defensive first baseman, and it might be nice for the 35-year-old to get a rest from chasing down balls in the outfield for a while anyway.

Moving Berkman to first base opens up right field for Jon Jay, who has been producing enough to get a larger role on the team anyway. Jay is hitting .313/.364/.436 in limited duty, and while UZR hasn’t liked his glove so far, it’s hard to imagine that he won’t be at least a small upgrade over Berkman in right field.

The drop-off from Pujols to Jay in the line-up (and from Jay to whomever replaces him as the team’s fourth outfielder until Allen Craig gets healthy) is still significant (probably about half a win per month), but over just one month’s worth of games, the difference shouldn’t be so large as to really swing the NL Central race one way or another. Every game in the standings is precious to the Cardinals in their bid to hold off the Brewers and Reds for the NL Central title, but a going from Pujols to Jay for 100 or 150 at-bats won’t be the end of the world, especially with the benefit of getting Berkman back to first base for a little while.

If Pujols ends up missing two months and Jay is unable to sustain his BABIP-fueled batting line, this could cost the Cardinals a full win. That’s certainly a loss, but it’s one they are equipped to deal with.

This morning, Eric wrote-up a list of surprising offensive heros, and at the head of the pack was Shane Victorino. The Phillies center fielder has picked up the slack for the disabled Chase Utley and struggling Jimmy Rollins, giving Philadelphia a dynamic top-of-the-order hitter, even though it’s not the same one they’re accustomed to having. And, certainly, it qualifies as a surprise that Victorino has been the best hitter on a team with Ryan Howard; the Phillies first baseman might be overrated, but he’s still a good hitter, and he has outhit Victorino by a good margin for most of their careers.

But in looking at the two side by side, it’s interesting to note that Victorino has probably had a better career with the Phillies than Howard up to this point. In fact, the data suggests that not only has Victorino kept up with his more famous teammate, he’s been the better player for quite some time now.

Let’s start with the career numbers. Victorino was grabbed by the Phillies in the 2004 Rule 5 draft, but at the end of spring training he was offered back to the Dodgers for $25,000. LA decided to keep the cash (whoops!), so the Phillies sent Victorino to Triple-A for the season. He hit well enough to earn a roster spot in 2006, and he’s been a regular in Philadelphia’s lineup ever since. Two-thousand-and-six was also the year that Howard, after getting part-time play in 2004 and 2005, became a full-time regular- so we’ll start our comparison there.

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