Pre-Season MLB Awards

[CoachChaz]

Make your predictions for the 2008 MLB season

AL MVP
AL Cy Young
AL ROY
AL Champ

NL MVP
NL Cy Young
NL ROY
NL Champ

WS Winner

[MOtorboat]

AL MVP - Grady Sizemore
AL Cy Young - Justin Verlander
AL ROY - Jacoby Elsbury
AL Champ - Detroit Tigers

NL MVP - Jose Reyes
NL Cy Young - Johan Santana
NL ROY - Geovany Soto
NL Champ - New York Mets

World Series Winner - Detroit Tigers

Division Winners:
AL
East - Boston Red Sox
Central - Detroit Tigers
West - Anaheim Angels
Wild Card - New York Yankees

NL
East - New York Mets
Central - Chicago Cubs
West - Colorado Rockies
Wild Card - Arizona Diamondbacks

[CoachChaz]

Ellsbury BARELY qualifies for ROY.

[MOtorboat]

I guess he played in a few more games than I thought, 33...he had 116 ABs, what's the cutoff?

[sneakers]

AL MVP - Barry Bonds
AL Cy Young - Roger Clemons
AL ROY - ???
AL Champ - Toronto Blue Jays

NL MVP - Prince Fielder :D
NL Ben Sheets :D
NL ROY - Ryan Braun (again) :D :D
NL Champ - Milwaukee Brewers :D

WS Winner - Brewers

[CoachChaz]

AL MVP - Alex Rodriguez
AL Cy Young - Erik Bedard
AL ROY - Evan Longoria
AL Champ - Detroit

NL MVP - Prince Fielder
NL Cy Young - Johan Santana
NL ROY - Jay Bruce
NL Champ - NY Mets

World Series winner - Detroit

[CoachChaz]

I guess he played in a few more games than I thought, 33...he had 116 ABs, what's the cutoff?

Less than 130 AB

[BOSSHOGG30]

AL East- Boston Red Sox (95-67)
AL Central- Detroit Tigers (94-68)
AL West- Los Angeles Angels of Anahiem (94-68)
AL Wild Card- New York Yankees (93- 69)
AL MVP- Manny Ramirez (sorry A-rod and Cabrera it's a contract year)
AL ROY- Clay Buchholz/Jacoby Ellsbury (I can't choose)
AL Cy Young- Josh Beckett

NL East- New York Mets (90- 72)
NL Central- St. Louis Cardinals (83- 79)
NL West- Colorado Rockies (87- 75)
NL Wild Card- Chicago Cubs (82- 80)
NL MVP- Ryan Braun
NL ROY- Justin Towles
NL Cy Young- Carlos Zambrano

AL
Red Sox over Yankees in 5
Tigers over Angels in 3
Red Sox over Tigers in 6

NL
Cubs over Mets in 6
Rockies over Cardinals in 4
Cubs over Rockies in 7 (by 1 run in the bottom of the ninth)

World Series
Red Sox over Cubs in 6

[MOtorboat]

Go Royals!

[MHCBill]

AL MVP - Alex Rodriguez
AL Cy Young - C.C. Sabathia
AL ROY - Ian Kennedy
AL Champ - Detroit Tigers

NL MVP - Chase Utley
NL Cy Young - Brett Myers
NL ROY - Colby Rasmus
NL Champ - Philadelphia Phillies

World Series Winner - Detroit Tigers

[BOSSHOGG30]

Bill you are going with Kennedy over Joba and Hughes? Bold pick.

[MHCBill]

Yep, I think Joba will end up shut down once or twice this year and with him starting off in the pen I don't think that bodes well for winning a ROY award.

I'm not a huge Hughes guy, but he may prove me wrong.

I think Kennedy has the least "stuff" of the three, but he knows how to pitch.

My prediction... 13-9 176 IP 3.79 ERA 109 K

[BOSSHOGG30]

Yep, I think Joba will end up shut down once or twice this year and with him starting off in the pen I don't think that bodes well for winning a ROY award.

I'm not a huge Hughes guy, but he may prove me wrong.

I think Kennedy has the least "stuff" of the three, but he knows how to pitch.

My prediction... 13-9 176 IP 3.79 ERA 109 K

I'm not sure if 13-9 and 109K's will be good enough for ROY
K-Dice went 15-12 with 201K's and he didn't win ROY last year.

[CoachChaz]

Chamberlain is going to be tough to beat out in that category. If I went with a pitcher for ROY, my list in order would be...

1. Joba Chamberlain
2. Clay Buchholz
3. Homer Bailey
4. David Price
5. Gio Gonzalez
6. Adam Miller
7. Johnny Cueto
8. Jair Jurrjens
9. Nick Blackburn
10. Luke Hochevar

[BOSSHOGG30]

I'm surprised no on has Shelly Duncan for ROY... Doesn't he qualify?

[CoachChaz]

He does, but he's 28 and just now getting his shot. I don't think he'll be anything great. JMO.

[BOSSHOGG30]

He does, but he's 28 and just now getting his shot. I don't think he'll be anything great. JMO.

How old was Ryan Howard when he first got his shot? Also, No Cameron Maybin fans?

[CoachChaz]

How old was Ryan Howard when he first got his shot? Also, No Cameron Maybin fans?

Maybin is a possibility. It's all speculation, but he's in the top 5 or 6 with Longoria, Bruce, Rasmus, Chamberlain and Buchholz, IMO

Howard was 25 when he was a rookie. he's only 28 right now.

[BOSSHOGG30]

Maybin is a possibility. It's all speculation, but he's in the top 5 or 6 with Longoria, Bruce, Rasmus, Chamberlain and Buchholz, IMO

Howard was 25 when he was a rookie. he's only 28 right now.

wow.... I figured Howard was older. It seems like he was with the Red Barons for quite a while. We were spoiled with the Red Baron teamed they had up here thanks to Mike Arbuckle. Too bad they had to move them and they brought in the crappy yankees.

[In-com-plete]

AL East - Boston
AL Central - Detroit
AL West - Anahiem
AL Wild Card - Cleveland
AL MVP - Miguel Cabrera
AL ROY - Daric Barton
AL Cy Young - Justin Verlander

NL East - New York
NL Central - Chicago
NL West - Los Angeles
NL Wild Card - A Whales Vagina (SD)
NL MVP - David Wright
NL ROY - Joey Votto
NL Cy Young - Johan Santana

AL
Boston over Cleveland
Detroit over Anahiem
Detroit over Boston

NL
New York over A Whales Vagina (SD)
Chicago over Los Angeles
New York over Chicago

World Series
Detroit over New York

[MHCBill]

1. Joba Chamberlain - starting the year in the pen will hurt his chances
2. Clay Buchholz - love him, after Kennedy he would be my next pick
3. Homer Bailey - too cocky, and being sent back down... unimpressive spring
4. David Price - uh-oh, forearm problem... shut down for at least six weeks
5. Gio Gonzalez - sleeper
6. Adam Miller - blister problems, but another sleeper
7. Johnny Cueto - best chance in the NL as ROY pitcher
8. Jair Jurrjens - jury is still out, has a chance to make an impact
9. Nick Blackburn - not sold on 26 year old rookies
10. Luke Hochevar - he plays for the Royals, so at best maybe 6 win season

[CoachChaz]

My AL ROY pick just took a hit as TB sent Longoria back to AAA. Not sure why.

[MHCBill]

Saving money down the road...

(service time)

[CoachChaz]

Saving money down the road...

(service time)

That's a bit premature

[MHCBill]

Not really, service time begins accumulating as soon as they begin playing in the majors. I'm not sure of all the technicalities of it, but many times young players stay in the minors until a certain point in the season so that they do not gain a year of service time.

Obvioulsy the sooner they accumulate the sooner they can get to arbitration and ultimately free agency.

Why not save yourself an extra year of the huge money he will get when you're not going to compete this season anyway?

He'll get some more seasoning in AAA and be up later this year, but after the Rays have saved themselves some time for Longoria's big pay-day.

I really think the Rays could be competing with the Sox and Yanks in a couple years. Their talented youth is no joke. Just need to stay healthy. i.e. Kazmir and Price for starters...

[MHCBill]

Longoria Optioned To Triple-A Durham

Posted Mar. 25, 2008 1:55 pm by Matt Eddy
Filed under: Daily Dish

The Rays on Monday formally optioned 22-year-old third baseman Evan Longoria back to Triple-A Durham, where he finished 2007 by hitting .269/.398/.490 in 104 at-bats. The long-anticipated move could save Tampa Bay a few dollars down the road by delaying the point in time at which Longoria will qualify for arbitration and, then, free agency.

For their part, the Rays state that the move was purely a baseball decision aimed at getting their top prospect more developmental time. Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon told Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times:

"We believe it’s best for Evan to put him in this situation right now, and then we believe that as he goes through this process it will turn out to be the best for him and the best for us. So we’re looking at it to being win-win in our regard when he comes back."

Willy Aybar, who came over in a January trade with the Braves for lefty Jeff Ridgway and who missed all of last season while dealing with substance-abuse issues, stands to hold down third base while Longoria’s away. Joel Guzman and Elliot Johnson could make the team as backups.

By starting in Triple-A, Longoria stands to miss out on the opportunity to accrue big league service time at the outset of his career, service time that will be used to determine his arbitration eligibility after Year Two and his right to free agency after Year Six. While it’s true that most players do not become arbitration eligible until after Year Three, many of the most experienced can become Super Twos. The process is a little complicated, but the Players Association offers a fine explanation:

A player with three or more years of service, but less than six years, may file for salary arbitration. In addition, a player can be classified as a "Super Two" and be eligible for arbitration with less than three years of service. A player with at least two but less than three years of Major League service shall be eligible for salary arbitration if he has accumulated at least 86 days of service during the immediately preceding season and he ranks in the top 17 percent in total service in the class of Players who have at least two but less than three years of Major League service, however accumulated, but with at least 86 days of service accumulated during the immediately preceding season.

Longoria’s Opening-Day assignment is a boon for the Bulls and their fans, but several Rays players weren’t sure of the move’s expediency. Outfielder Jonny Gomes said it most forcefully:

"If I say I commit to winning, he’s on my team for sure. I think everybody wearing a Tampa Bay hat and uniform wants that guy here. I don’t think it’s a good day on the players’ end and for everybody in a uniform."

Longoria batted .262/.407/.595 in 42 spring at-bats, with three homers, three doubles and 10 RBIs.

[CoachChaz]

They aren't convincing anyone that this move wasn't for financial purposes. The kid belongs up there. They can say what they want about competing with Boston and NY down the road, but if they have to make a financial decision 3 years before it happens, then they don't have the money to ever bother competing with them anyway. Put your best players on the field and get the fans out to the games.

[BOSSHOGG30]

Is Yovani Gallardo still considered a rookie?

[CoachChaz]

130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in any previous year. Or...accumulate more than 45 days on the active roster during the period of 25-player limit.

Gallardo pitched 110.1 innings in '07 and is starting '08 on the DL

[MOtorboat]

I'm just happy that Coach put Hochevar on that list :elefant:

Now, let's see how the Royals can screw him up. :confused:

[CoachChaz]

I don't know, I think McClure is a decent coach. He got the most out of Meche and Hochevar had a nice spring. So did John Bale. If those 3 are solid and one more guy steps up, the rotation could be decent. Tomko is a waste, so they'll be relying on Greinke and bannister

[MOtorboat]

I don't know, I think McClure is a decent coach. He got the most out of Meche and Hochevar had a nice spring. So did John Bale. If those 3 are solid and one more guy steps up, the rotation could be decent. Tomko is a waste, so they'll be relying on Greinke and bannister

Well, they said they were working on almost the same mechanical thing with Hochevar that they were with Meche. Supposedly Hochevar is fixed. Both were landing on the heel of their foot instead of the ball of their foot, and it was pointing at a side angle instead of straight forward, and they found Meche's control was a ton better. Supposedly the same thing happened with Hochevar last year, but it took him longer to make the change consistent, and I guess his arm angle wasn't consistent at all. Supposedly, all those things are fixed, but they sent him down because so many of the 40-man roster are completely out of options. Most baseball people in town think he'll be up here by June when we figure out which pitchers really do suck, and we get past all this fake hope of Spring Training.

His K/BB ratio (2.93) was pretty good last year, but his ERA (4.86, 5.12 at Omaha) stunk up the joint. He had 138 Ks in 152 innings. He's not going to go overpower major league hitters, but he seems to have pretty good control.

[CoachChaz]

He's a guy that is going to beat people by being smart. The Greg Maddux type. I still think KC was crazy taking him over Lincecum and Miller, but he can still be a solid top of the rotation guy. Most likely never a 20 game winner, but more wins than losses is always good.

[BOSSHOGG30]

Is milledge a rookie still?

[CoachChaz]

Is milledge a rookie still?

No. Too many AB's in both of the last 2 years. 2006 was "technically" his rookie year.

It is nice to see he'll finally get some good playing time, now that he's in Washington.

[BOSSHOGG30]

Reds optioned RHP Homer Bailey to Triple-A Louisville.

Johnny Cueto, Josh Fogg and Edinson Volquez all outpitched Bailey this spring and will get rotation spots. Bailey had a 5.21 ERA and an 11/16 K/BB ratio in 19 innings.

[CoachChaz]

Yeah, Bailey is one of those guys that will either be a boom or bust type. He's the one the Reds kept trying to put in a deal for Bedard, but Baltimore wanted Bruce or Votto with him.

[MHCBill]

Bailey will be a bust... imo

[CoachChaz]

I think he'll be better than Cueto and Volquez. I've seen Volquez get lit up WAY too much in AA to begin to think he has anything special.