I’m sure it’s really just a Louisville Slugger.
NL MVP to Joey Votto, the third Canadian player to win an MVP Award.
A good choice.
Yep, can’t really argue with that. He had an awesome season.
I agree, I am also glad for an easy choice like Doc’s.
The Yankees will not offer Derek Jeter arbitration.
WRT arbitration, how does that work? They’re saying Jeter could have gotten a 1yr $25M deal through arbitration.
How does a guy making $21M in 2010 go out and have a down year, far below his average, possibly the worst season of his career, and get through arbitration with a 20% raise?
Good question, that makes no sense to me at all.
Well, they’re saying he could have.
The way it works is that the team presents a salary figure to the arbitrator and the player’s representation does the same. The arbitrator then has to pick one of the numbers. So if for whatever reason the arbitrator thought the Yankees’ number was grossly unfair, and Jeter was asking for a raise, he could get it.
And Josh Hamilton wins the AL MVP to no one’s surprise.
Tigers signed Martinez and refused arbitration for Ordonez and 4 others.
I thought the Tigers were trying to cut payroll. I like V-Mart, but this signing doesn’t make much sense.
And if the Tigers are trying to become the Indians, could they please take Travis Hafner off their hands?
It’s a risky move by the Tigers, but one that could pay off. They’re gambling that Victor’s knees will hold up, allowing them to play him at catcher for the duration of the deal. Martinez is a helluva bat for that position. If Martinez can’t stick at catcher, though, he’ll have to be played at 1st (where he’s a mediocre defender, at best) or DH. In either of those scenarios, the Tigers would be overpaying significantly for a relatively poor bat for those positions.
Still, Martinez shouldn’t be a weakness overall. At worst, he ends up being Detroit’s David Ortiz - overpaid given his production, but not horrendously so. No chance he ends up a Barry Zito unless he gets badly injured.
Won’t a lot of Victor’s power disappear in Detroit? His bat is good but he is not really a good catcher and Detroit seems like one of the worst parks for him.
He’s hit .225/.321/.349 at Comerica Park over his career. But to be fair, that’s based on a relatively small sample size (196 plate appearances) and includes all the variance of an eight year major league career.
Victor’s spray charts suggest that he has reasonable power from both sides of the plate, and in fact has hit slightly more home runs to right field than left in Fenway - something that could bode well given Comerica Park’s shorter right field. His Cleveland spray charts look remarkably even as well.
Ultimately, I think V-Mart will probably hit just fine in Detroit. That is, he’ll hit extremely well for a catcher and moderate-to-poorly for a first baseman or DH. How well Detroit’s investment will pan out depends which of those roles he fills over the life of his contract.
Cabrera plays first. He plays a solid defense too. I suppose both he and Martinez could share DH sometimes.
Ordonez wants a big contract. He has good numbers but his age and games missed are going to hurt him.
The Jays have offered arbitration to Olivo, Downs, Frasor and Gregg, but not Overbay.
Hernandez’s Cy Young is a victory for the statisticians. Bill James has won. A few years ago ,he would have been summarily dismissed . Won 13 games and wants a Cy Young? No way. Now he wins.
It is a new world .
Do you know what his K to Walk ratio is? Yes, do you know how many games he won? Sure, but what about his WHIP? Do you know how many games he lost? Do you know how much closer to a winning team he made them? One game.
What about his ERA?. Well having a good team defense does matter in that you know?
It is a team game, how much did he help the team? One game? That is a stat too you know?
Sorry, but there is an argument against his award.
Compared to what?
His wins and losses of course. 13-12
No, you asked by how much did he make his team better. I’m asking, better than what? Better than .500?
Because the Mariners were a far below .500 team, you know. So the answer to your question is “a fucking ton” if you meant how much did he make them better relative to .500. But maybe you meant something else.
Without Felix: .350 winning percentage
With Felix: .520 winning percentage
How much close to a winning team he made them: .170 points