Almost a Wrap
This figures to be my last post before Monday, which makes it my last of this regular season. That within itself is mind-blowing because it feels like April began last week. I remember opening day, watching Johan and the Mets take on the Reds while it poured outside. Fittingly the weather in Florida this week has been anything but dreary.
Some incredible things have happened in between then and now. A catcher by the name of Joe Mauer produced one of the finest offensive seasons we’ll see in between ruining his knees. Zack Greinke went from problems that extended beyond baseball to being the most difficult problem for opposing lineups to solve. Several players went to the disabled list for reasons similar to Grienke; depression and anxiety being amongst them in what seems to be a pioneer season for such stated DL trips.
The Yankees are American League East champions once more and the Boston Red Sox will join them in the playoffs. As a fan of the Rays this disappoints me, but did you realize we haven’t had a Boston/New York ALCS since 2004? Heck, if someone told you in late March those same Rays would A) have the longest losing streak of the season, B) have Ben Zobrist lead them in WAR, and C) be without Scott Kazmir for most of the year would you have believed them?
Pittsburgh shuffled what seemed like their entire roster in the span of six months, San Diego was the baseball version of a dumpster diver and still finished with a better record than Cleveland, and Washington successfully drafted and signed Stephen Strasburg. Kansas City made some moves that none of us agreed with while every time the Mets moved one of their stars went down with an injury. We saw the makings of a Seattle turnaround and the collapse of a run by the A’s. The Texas Rangers came up just shy while the Arizona Diamondbacks were never in the race.
This might not be the greatest season of all-time or the most dramatic, but it was certainly an entertaining one, and I’d like to thank everyone for enjoying it alongside us.
actually, my orioles have just finished the longest losing streak of the season, 13 games. please give credit where credit is due
Right, so when Adam Jones, Brad Bergesen, Nolan Reimold, Felix Pie go on the DL, Brian Matusz gets shut down for the season, the 1B/DH and the closer get traded, the remaining AAAA offense is scoring 3R/G and the wasteland of a bullpen is pitching 4+ innings/game, it’s the manager’s fault?
I’m going to throw my halfassed guesses at the 2010 Standings
AL East: 1) Yankees, 2) Red Sox (WC), 3) Rays, 4) Blue Jays, 5) O’s
AL Central: 1) Tigers, 2) Twins, 3) White Sox, 4) Indians, 5) Royals
AL West: 1) Mariners, 2) Angels, 3) A’s, 4) Rangers
NL East: 1) Phillies, 2) Mets, 3) Braves, 4) Marlins, 5) Nats
NL Central: 1) Cubs, 2) Cardinals (WC), 3) Brewers, 4) Pirates, 5) Astros, 6) Reds
NL West: 1) Rockies, 2) Dodgers, 3) Giants, 4) D-backs, 5) Padres
Mariners just need to make a DH splash (Bay?) and I think they can surprise everyone in the AL West in 2010. A’s finished up strong and should be better, but I think they’re a 2011 project.
I really think they land Matsui.
It does make a bunch of sense, but Bay (if willing to DH) is a far better bet to stay healthy. Then again, that park kills RHH, doesn’t it? Matsui, if they think they can keep him healthy, seems like the better (and likely cheaper) fit.
Whatever works; Bay could sign for less per year if it means a guaranteed 4-5 years of a DHing job, something that according to recent fielding data is what he’s more suited for. Kind of weird to theorize where guys on my favorite team may go in 2010, but I’m in the “Matt Holliday please” camp right now.
Of course, Matusi would probably be cheaper, and given the large fanbase in Japan for the Mariners, could make a ton of sense to put the arguably 2nd most popular player on the same team as the most popular. He’s no doubt being helped by the short porch at Yankee Stadium, but since 2007 his OPS+ is 122. That’s at least an average DH, right?
I would tend to think so. I tend to think it’s important to not lock that slot down longterm, especially if you have position players elsewhere getting older. Matsui’s stayed pretty healthy this year by avoiding the outfield. Given the premium Seattle’s placed on outfield defense in particular, I think there’s no worry that Matsui buys a glove in the Northwest.
The park kills RHH, but you still need RHH. Assuming they bring Branyan back, I think Bay makes more sense. 3B is also a big question mark, with Beltre a free agent.
“in between ruining his knees”?
The Mariners dont need a right handed FA DH that will cost ~15+MM, especially when they already have players that can fit that role. Matsui makes perfect sense in Safeco, a left handed pull hitter in a lefty friendly park.
Why would the Mariners need an expensive right handed DH when they can resign Sweeney or use Bill Hall and Chris Shelton that can fill the role just as well.
“The collapse of a run by the A’s”–I like the rest of the post but this statement is not really grounded in the actual baseball played in Oakland this season. It was more the anticipated run that did not get off of the ground as Holliday and Giambi never brought it for the club, Duscherer and Devine were gone for the season, and Braden was injured. The second half was actually fairly encouraging for those of us on the sunny side of the bay with the continued emergence of Brett Anderson and Andrew Bailey (I love to see games that go BA for 8 IP, AB for the save, just a nice palindrome-esque, tidy A’s win) as well as some promising play by Rajai Davis, Cliff Pennington, and Ryan Sweeney. The last A’s “run” ended with the last winning season-in 2006, but the team seems primed for another with the loaded farm system, young starting pitching that will only get better, and the successor to Eric Chavez finally acquired in Brett Wallace.
Also Rocktober II: The Rockening
Isn’t that “The ReRockening”? The third time will be the “The Rockingest” and then the fourth in the increasingly inaccurately named trilogy will be “The ReRockingest”