A Large Regular

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Over the years I've become less and less interested in the MLB Hot Stove off-season. Not sure if it's me getting older or the MLB product getting shittier... 15-years ago the New York Times actually had the headline,"Can Angelina Jolie Really Save the World?" And it was in the effing Business section (in case you were wondering if the NYT has always been trash)...  Speaking of the MLB Hot Stove - lots of rumors of the Red Sox looking to trade Andrew Benintendi who Baseball-Reference.com listed Hall of Famer Dave Winfield as the most similar player when Benny was age 22 but now lists below average career hitter Darin Erstad as his most similar age 25 comp... Fact that may only interest me - the letter "M" comes from a pre-Canaanite hieroglyph pronounced "mem" meaning water and shaped like waves...  Albert Pujols turned 41 on Saturday. He has one year left on his contract and will be paid $30 million for the 2021 season. After that he has a 10-year personal services contract that will pay him $10 million a year. America - what a country!... This is mean...  

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I don't care how awesome the Internet becomes - Zombo.com will still be the best site ever... Have you seen those pictures of Richard Branson dressing up as a stewardess because he lost a bet? Just saying but the Most Interesting Man in the World would never do something like that.... Interesting - 10 hotel secrets from behind the front desk... I have Albert Pujols in one of my fantasy baseball leagues so I don't have to be reminded that Lyle Overbay has more HR (6-5) and more RBI (23-21)... Franks Sinatra has been dead for 15 years now - here's 15 things you may not have known about him... This is genius - comedian Kurt Braunolher paid to have this written in the sky above Los Angeles... Now would be a really good time for President Obama to raise or lower the sea levels just to distract people from all these scandals...

Theo to the Cubs

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

OK - I'll say it! Watching the first game of the Stanley Cup Finals last night - the Canucks uniforms kept making me think the Bruins were playing the Hartford Whalers... The Weinergate situation keeps reminding me of a quote from the movie The American President where the character Leo Solomon says, "Amount of time it'll take you to go from being a hired gun to a cocktail party joke can be clocked with an egg timer." Anthony Weiner went from being the out-front pit bull of the DNC to being a national joke very fast but I'm not sure how fast since there's never an egg timer available when you need one... The Bruins may have lost the first game but the omens are good. Tim Thomas has shown he can play at this level of excellence for a full season whereas Roberto Luongo has not. Plus a tornado hit Western Mass last night. The last time a tornado touched down in Springfield Mass was 1972. That was the last time the Bruins won the Stanley cup... Chess-boxing... I missed this but supposedly Michael J. Fox was at the game as a guest of good friend Cam Neely... Flexing my lexicon muscles here - in regards to Weinergate - what started as perversion seems to be morphing into malversation... Wow - a stat so impressive that I had to recheck it! Since May 1, 2010, David Ortiz has the exact same number of HR's as Albert Pujols (44)... Nothing says white trash quite like a guy swimming at the beach or a lake in blue jeans

Albert Pujols

Tom Verducci makes some excellent points in discussing Albert Pujols.

The biggest obstacle between Albert Pujols and a contract extension with the Cardinals is age -- and more specifically, what clubs know about how players age in the Testing Era. Pujols will play next season at 32, so an Alex Rodriguez-styled 10-year deal would pay him boatloads of money through his age 41 season. Look around baseball: The days of the superstar player in his late 30s are over.

While I agree in general with Verducci's thinking I also think there's something fundamentally wrong with a comparison that in any way lumps Albert Pujols in with Raul Ibanez.

The real comparisons to Albert Pujols are some of the hitting greats of history. If you look at OPS+ (which is perhaps the best stat to use when comparing players from different points in time) you find that great hitters also pretty much also had great longevity. Babe Ruth played until he was 40; Ted Williams until he was 41, Barry Bonds until he was 42, Lou Gehrig until he was 36, Rogers Hornsby until he was 41, Mickey Mantle until he was 36 and Ty Cobb until he was 41.

I think you can toss out Barry Bonds for obvious reasons and I'm hoping that Albert Pujols doesn't develop Lou Gehrig's disease which cut down the Yankee great in his prime. That leaves Mickey Mantle among Pujols' compatibles in OPS+ who did not play until at least 40 years old. Obviously Mantle playing the outfield with bad knees pretty much ended his career but Pujols is a first baseman which is much less demanding. And I'm guessing that Pujols doesn't have some of Mantle's self-destructing tendencies.

What I'd suggest is a 10-year deal starting this season (rip up the 2011 agreement) which would pay Pujols $30 million per year. That gets Pujols to 40-years old still in a Cardinals uniform. The two sides could even work out a deferment schedule that makes the contract less onerous.

Keep in mind that Stan Musial played for St. Louis until he was 42. I think Albert Pujols has much more in common with Stan the Man than Raul Ibanez.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Joe Montana couldn't have handled this any better... Albert Pujols is on pace for a MLB leading 373 total bases - makes you appreciate the amazing 406 total bases Jim Rice had in 1978... Selection of strange signs and bizarre translations from around the world... Besides Angels fans and fantasy baseball geeks - who knew? Kendry Morales of the Angels has a better OPS than Yankees Mark Teixeira (.931 to .927) and despite Teixeira having more HR Morales is out-slugging him by 33 points (.581 to .548)... Right now I would have to give the AL ROY to Toronto's Ricky Romero (10-4 and 3.53 ERA). Weiters and Price? Not so much... Cool technology - How to Transcribe a Whiteboard with Your Cameraphone... How close is the AL East race? The RedSox and Yankees have played almost the same number of games and have almost identical records home (both 35-17) and road (Y 28-25 and RS 27-25) and vs lefty (both 22-13) and righties (Y 41-29 and RS 40-29)... I think if you had to give out the NL ROY right now - then it would have to go to JA Happ (7-2 / 2.93 ERA) of the Phillies although an excellent case could be made for the Cubs Randy Wells... Heh Heh - Tiger Woods Farts His Way To Yet Another Win

Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

One of the most impressive facts about Albert Pujols this season is the fact that he's leading MLB in both runs scored and RBI. You usually lead the league in one or the other category but to lead all of baseball in both is incredible... Mike Lowell's hip makes him run like someone's athletic grandmother but he still leads all Red Sox hitters in doubles with 18. Go figure... If the season ended today a very good argument could be made that Matt Cain should be the NL Cy Young winner. Cain is 9-1 with a 2.28 ERA. His 9 wins are tied for first in the NL and his ERA is second only to Dan Haren's 2.23. Tim Lincecum gets all the attention but Cain has 3 more wins and his ERA is almost a half run lower than his reigning Cy Young teammate... Interesting - Matt Clement has been named the head basketball coach at his high school alma mater. Good for him. I'm also sure this won't get in the way of him making a try at a comeback. JP Riccardi was a very successful basketball coach in the offseason at Holy Name HS in Worcester while working for the Oakland A's and Matt Stairs still coaches high school hockey in Maine in the offseason. I'm rooting for Clement. He always seemed like a nice guy...

Tom Brady and Albert Pujols

Maybe I'm a New England Patriots fan whistling past the graveyard but I can't help but think of how the pre-season talk about Tom Brady's foot injury seems so similar to the talk this baseball pre-season about Albert Pujols' wrist injury.

If you recall - there were all sorts of speculation about Pujols' wrist. That it would cause him to miss significant parts of the season or rob him of his power. Pujols fell in almost every fantasy baseball draft to the point that almost everyone on autodraft ended up with him.

The talk of Tom Brady's foot seems similar to me. I'm hoping that the resultant performance is just as similar.

NL All-Star Team

Here's my picks for who is most deserving to be named to the NL All-Star Team:

C - Brian McCann Braves - narrowly over Russell Martin
1st - Lance Berkman Astros - complete player
2nd - Chase Utley Phillies - any questions?
SS - Hanley Ramirez Marlins
3rd - Chipper Jones Braves
OF - Nate McLouth Pirates
OF - Ryan Braun Brewers
OF - Ryan Ludwick Cardinals
DH - Albert Pujols Cardinals
SP - Edinson Volquez Reds

Reserves - Russell Martin Dodgers; Geovany Soto Cubs; Adrian Gonzalez Padres; Dan Uggla Marlins; Jose Reyes Mets; David Wright Mets; Carlos Beltran Mets; Jason Bay Pirates; Pat Burrell Phillies; Ben Sheets Brewers; Ryan Dempster Cubs; Brandon Webb Diamondbacks; Tim Lincecum Giants; Kerry Wood Cubs; Jon Rauch Nationals;

Notes - Derrek Lee probably would start for the AL team but there's a good chance to might not even make the NL team... It is very possible that the middle infield combination of Chase Utley and Hanley Ramirez may be the best middle infield pairing to appear together in the history of baseball... Aramis Ramirez may not make the team. I bet that would go over well in Chicago.... There is a good chance that all three outfielders voted in by the fans will be players who will be undeserving based upon this season's performance. Ken Griffey, Jr., Alfonso Soriano and Kosuke Fukudome both of the Cubs are the leading vote getters but none of the three really should even be on the team... Matt Holliday will most likely be the representative from the Rockies. Holliday making the team could cost Pat Burrell or Ryan Ludwick a spot on the team...