Kuzul

Six participants for the 2010 Home Run Derby were announced yesterday: David Ortiz (DH, Boston), Corey Hart (OF, Milwaukee), Matt Holliday (OF, St. Louis), Miguel Cabrera (1B, Detroit), Robinson Cano (2B, New York Yankees), and Vernon Wells (OF, Toronto).

All told, it’s not a terrible lineup.  There will be two more participants announced before the Derby, but you’ve already got old-school power hitters in Cabrera and Ortiz and some new blood in Cano and Hart.

Some people dislike the Derby, but I’ve always found it to be quite enjoyable.  I love watching the raw displays of power players put on but I could also do without Chris Berman in the broadcast booth, attempting to break all world records of the use of the word “back.”

Different stadiums play differently for home runs.  Some are known as hitter havens while other suppress home runs.  Over the past four years, the Home Run Derby has been hosted in stadiums that play well for home runs.

In 2006 and 2007, in Pittsburgh and San Francisco respectively, each stadium featured a body of water within striking distance for left-handed power hitters.  The Allegheny River in Pittsburgh and the McCovey Cove in San Fran. In Pittsburgh we got quite a show with Ryan Howard and David Ortiz peppering the river.

In San Francisco, with the water closer and more easily attainable, we were denied any splash hits when all three lefties exited quietly in the first round.  Howard, Prince Fielder and Justin Morneau all failed to advance or hit any into the water in the process.  A potential dream location suddenly became quite a boring contest, as the Giants home field does not play well for right-handed power.  Vladimir Guerrero won despite posting only three home runs in the final round.

When the Derby moved to the House That Ruth Built in 2008, for Yankee Stadium’s final season, the short right field porch, distant black batter’s eye and inviting upper decks called out to sluggers as targets for long home runs.  A gap in the back wall even inspired predictions that some powerful left-handed bat could potentially hit one out of Yankee Stadium.

Then MLB announced the participants and they included four elite lefty sluggers.  Chase Utley, Justin Morneau, Lance Berkman and Josh Hamilton all participated and a buzz preceded the 2008 HR Derby like none since Sammy Sosa, Ken Griffey Jr. and Mark McGuire knocked buildings over in the late 90s.

Josh Hamilton did not disappoint.  He went on to hit 28 home runs in the first round alone, easily a Derby record.  But more impressive than the amount of homers was the way in which Hamilton hit them.  He demolished each offering from his batting-practice pitcher, not clearing the stadium, but putting balls deep into the upper deck, far back into the bleachers and off the back wall of the stadium.

It’s the most fun I’ve had watching the Home Run Derby, and Hamilton’s first round performance seems to make people forget that Justin Morneau ended up winning the Derby over Hamilton in the final round.

The Derby moved from one of the oldest and most historic Stadiums in 2008 to one of the newer venues in 2009 as it came to St. Louis’ new Busch Stadium.  A beautiful facility, Busch Stadium also offered some attractive points for batters to take aim.  

Big Mac Land presented an alluring target for right-handed batters, situated way up in the fourth deck of left field.  Attainability would be difficult, but certainly not impossible and Texas’ Nelson Cruz reached it twice in an impressive first round.  Hometown hero Albert Pujols also managed to hit a ball over the left-field bleachers and into the outfield concourses.

In the second round and the finals, Prince Fielder proved Busch Stadium was just as entertaining for left-handed sluggers as it was for right-handed ones.  He launched home runs over the bullpen, deep into the bleachers and over the grassy knoll that serves as a batter’s eye.

This year, the host stadium is Angels Stadium out in Anaheim.  Or Los Angeles.  Or California.  Or wherever they’re from.  While I’ve never been to Angels Stadium I’ve seen it on TV plenty of times and from what I’ve seen, it doesn’t strike me as a place that will play host to epic moonshots.

There’s no upper deck in the outfield, so any home run that’s hit is going to land in the bleachers or bullpen.  Down both lines is a three foot wall an inviting distance away, meaning we’ll probably get a few cheap, pop-up home runs that carry.  There is a batters eye in dead center, but, unlike the grass in St. Louis or the bleachers in New York, it’s a flat surface so any homer hit there will just bounce right off.

There is the sliver of decorative rock formations in left center field, but homers there won’t have the same allure as a homer into a river or bay.

Not every stadium is designed with exciting home run targets, that’s just the way it is. We got lucky to have four consecutive home run derbies take place in ballparks that are conducive to epic home run shots.  But with an intriguing field of players this year that features some impressive raw power, I’m sure one of the boys will come through with an impressive performance.  

Sometimes it comes from the most predictable of sources, such as Mark McGuire and Ken Griffey Jr’s displays at Fenway Park in 1999.  But other times, the most impressive man of the night is the guy you least expect, like when Bobby Abreu went off for 41 home runs at Comerica Park in 2005.

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The Yankees have been forced to shuffle around their roster due to injuries this season. Their bullpen and designated hitter spot in their lineup.  Players like Al Aceves, Sergio Mitre, Nick Johnson and Marcus Thames, who, while not bona fide stars, all do play a particular role on the 2010 Yankees.

The Yankees have had to make do with parts from other team’s scrap heap as well as from their own farm system. Players like Kevin Russo, Chad Huffman, Colin Curtis and Chad Gaudin have all come in some capacity to fill the voids.

But with most guys on the mend, the Yankees should look to make a few temporary changes before welcoming back all of their injured troops.

With the return of Marcus Thames and minor injuries to guys like Brett Gardner and Curtis Granderson, Kevin Russo has become expendable in New York. He’s had only one at-bat since June 20. It would be much more beneficial for the Yankees to option him back to Triple-A Scranton for regular at-bats and time at multiple positions to develop his skills as a utility player.

The Yankees could then call up Juan Miranda to take his place as the left-handed half of a DH platoon with Marcus Thames while they wait on Nick Johnson to recover from wrist surgery. Miranda has nothing left to prove at the Triple-A level and has demonstrated an ability to hit Major League pitching.

In regards to the bullpen, which apart from Mariano Rivera has been a glaring weakness for the Yankees, they now are carrying two longmen with the call-up of journeyman Dustin Moseley. His presence on the team enables the Yankees to part ways with Chad Gaudin for the second time this season and promote Jon Albaladejo from Scranton.

Gaudin has been underwhelming since his return to the Bronx, pitching to an ERA near 5.00 in 16 innings. While we’ve seen the Jon Albaladejo in the majors before, he seems to have transformed himself this past year, moving away from his traditional two-seamer and relying more on a mid-90s four seamer with more offspeed pitches.

With Mark Melancon hitting a rough patch in Scranton, Albaladejo is a good choice to replace Gaudin. Albaladejo might be sent down when Sergio Mitre (who began a rehab assignment a few days ago) returns. If her performs well, the Yankees could opt to keep Albaladejo and part ways with the free agent dud Chan Ho Park instead.

Albaladejo could even stick around after Aceves returns. If the Yankees feel they have enough length in the bullpen with Aceves and Mitre and cut Moseley instead.

For the most part, the Yankees have avoided major injuries to key players this season. These are a few minor roster moves the Yankees could make to further improve what has been baseball’s best team over the first half of the season.

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First off, let me preface the rest of this post by saying that I am vehemently opposed to requiring that each team have a representative in the MLB All-Star game. Especially if MLB insists on using the All-Star game to determine home-field advantage for the World Series, watering down each team for some bogus “everyone’s a winner” type of reason is insane.

But since I am hamstringed by this rule, I’ll work in a representative from each team, whether I agree with the practice or not.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Here’s a list of the National League starters, as voted on by fans.

C Yadier Molina, St. Louis
1B Albert Pujols, St. Louis
2B Chase Utley, Philadelphia (unable to play)
3B David Wright, NY Mets
SS Hanley Ramirez, Florida
OF Ryan Braun, Milwaukee
OF Jason Heyward, Atlanta
OF Andre Ethier, LA Dodgers

The infield is fine, but I’d make a few changes in the outfield. Ryan Braun and Jason Heyward have had solid seasons, but neither has sustained spectacular all-star play this season.

Heyward started hot, but the league eventually adjusted to him. He hit a paltry .181 in June. Braun has also cooled off after a hot start, but has avoided the huge slump that Heyward is enduring.

In place of Heyward and Braun, I’d take Josh Willingham, who has posted a 2.2 WAR and is second among all NL outfielders in OPS. I’d also hand the starting gig to Matt Holliday, who has posted the league’s highest WAR total for an outfielder.

Holliday was already among the NL’s reserves, but deserves to start the game. My only problem is that an outfield of Ethier, Holliday, and Willingham would have to utilize Holliday as the centerfielder, which would create a below-average defensive unit.

The other piece I’d change is Molina at catcher. He is fantastic defensively, but has been atrocious at the plate this season. He owns an OPS+ of 68 (terrible) and his .616 OPS ranks him 17th among 18 NL catchers with at least 100 at bats.

He doesn’t belong on the all-star team, let alone catching the first pitch the National League starter throws. My vote goes to Miguel Olivo, who has put up excellent numbers at the plate for Colorado, in addition to working well with the young Rockies staff.

Of the other starters, I have no qualms. So we’ll move onto the reserves.

C Brian McCann, Atlanta
1B Ryan Howard, Philadelphia
1B Adrian Gonzalez, San Diego
2B Martin Prado, Atlanta (will start in Utley’s place)
INF Omar Infante, Atlanta
SS Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado (unable to play)
SS Jose Reyes, NY Mets (will take Tulowitzki’s place)
2B Brandon Phillips, Cincinnati
3B Scott Rolen, Cincinnati
OF Michael Bourn, Houston
OF Marlon Byrd, Chi. Cubs
OF Corey Hart, Milwaukee
OF Matt Holliday, St. Louis
OF Chris Young, Arizona

I have more problems here. Brian McCann has been fairly pedestrian this year. But without an overwhelming alternative, his presence on the roster isn’t terrible. First base, however, is the big travesty. The league leader at first base in OPS, OPS+, and WAR isn’t there.

Adrian Gonzalez is a fine selection as the third first baseman, and I’m even okay with Pujols starting because his season is very comparable to the one that Joey Votto is putting up for Cincinnati. But leaving Votto off the team in favor of Ryan Howard is ludicrous.

Guys like Gaby Sanchez and Aubrey Huff have had better seasons than Howard. That’s not a knock on any of those guys, but Votto is perhaps the single most overlooked player in the National League. He’s not presently on the team, but could make it via the last man in vote.

It’s hard to put together an all-star roster, but here’s a hint: you start with Joey Votto and go from there.

Martin Prado has definitely earned his spot on the club, and will start due to Utley’s injury. But I could have found a dozen infielders more deserving of a spot on the team than Omar freaking Infante. Infante’s not even a full-time player and he’s managed to be a below-average hitter (96 OPS+) despite his .311 batting average.

Someone like Dan Uggla or Kelly Johnson would make more sense. Since I’m going to give Arizona’s only other representative the boot, I’ll take Johnson by a nose over Uggla. Scott Rolen and Brandon Phillips both are excellent selections, and I can even live with Troy Tulowitzki’s replacement being Jose Reyes, due to a lack of better options.

As for the outfield, there’s a lot I’d change. Michael Bourn is there as the Houston representative. But he 31st out of 34 qualified NL outfielders in OPS. So even with his 25 stolen bases, he’s gone. But I’ll replace him later with another Houston guy. In his place, I’d take Andrew McCutchen from Pittsburgh, both because he deserves it and because I can get rid of a middle reliever from Pittsburgh later on.

Marlon Byrd and Corey Hart are both fine choices, and because Matt Holliday moved into the starting rotation, I’ll replace him with his teammate Colby Rasmus, who’s had a more impressive year than Heyward. For the last outfield spot, I’ll keep Braun over Heyward. But I’m sure Heyward will be on many all-star teams in the coming decade.

Now for the NL pitchers.

RHP Jonathan Broxton, LA Dodgers
RHP Chris Carpenter, St. Louis
RHP Matt Capps, Washington
RHP Yovani Gallardo, Milwaukee
RHP Roy Halladay, Philadelphia
RHP Tim Hudson, Atlanta
RHP Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado
RHP Josh Johnson, Florida
RHP Tim Lincecum, San Francisco
RHP Evan Meek, Pittsburgh
LHP Arthur Rhodes, Cincinnati
RHP Adam Wainwright, St. Louis
RHP Brian Wilson, San Francisco

First things first, I don’t like taking middle relievers to the all-star game, regardless of how good they’ve been. The best pitchers are starters, then closers, and then middle relievers. Middle relievers do what they do for a reason—they’re not good enough to be closers or starters. So they obviously don’t deserve to be recognized as one of the league’s best pitchers, because they’re not.

I’ve got little problem with any of the starters, as they have all had fantastic seasons. You could say that Tim Hudson’s gotten a bit lucky, but that’s baseball. He’s pitched very well and I’ll keep him on the team. But Matt Capps, Evan Meek and Arthur Rhodes all go.

Meek and Rhodes are middle relievers and there are better closers than Capps. Because I got rid of Michael Bourn earlier, Houston needs a new rep. So I’m putting Roy Oswalt on the team. Houston needs a representative and, more importantly, Oswalt’s been one of the NL’s top pitchers this season. He’s earned it.

Atlanta’s Billy Wagner takes Capps’s place. Despite not having the gaudy save total, Wagner’s had the best season of any NL closer. The last man on the NL club for me is Mat Latos, San Diego’s young ace.

The last pitcher out for me was Stephen Strasburg. Do I think he’s one of the best 13 pitchers in the National League? I am beginning to think so, but I also value body of work. I ultimately couldn’t take him after half a dozen starts, none against a truly good offense. But he, like Heyward will play in many a Summer Classic throughout his career.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Starters

C Joe Mauer, Minnesota
1B Justin Morneau, Minnesota
2B Robinson Cano, NY Yankees
3B Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay
SS Derek Jeter, NY Yankees
OF Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle
OF Josh Hamilton, Texas
OF Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay
DH Vladimir Guerrero, Texas

For once, the voters had a perfect season, as I can’t argue against any of the selections made to start this year’s game. This is an exceptionally rare accomplishment, given past elections.

Mauer, Morneau, and Longoria are clear choices to start at their respective positions, and Robinson Cano makes the choice for the American League second base all-star the easiest one in years. I suppose Elvis Andrus may have a case for being the starting shortstop, but Derek Jeter has an equally strong (weak?) one, so I don’t have a problem here.

Hamilton is by far the AL’s best option in the outfield so his selection is simple. I guess Crawford or Ichiro could be bumped by someone else, but there’s no AL outfielder who I’d definitively put there ahead of them.

Vlad Guerrero is easily the choice as the starting DH, and the fact that he left Anaheim just this past offseason gives the media another juicy narrative to write about.

Reserves

C Victor Martinez, Boston (unable to play)
C John Buck, Toronto (will replace Martinez)
1B Miguel Cabrera, Detroit
2B Dustin Pedroia, Boston (unable to play)
2B Ian Kinsler, Texas (will replace Pedroia)
SS Elvis Andrus, Texas
3B Alex Rodriguez, NY Yankees
3B Adrian Beltre, Boston
INF Ty Wigginton, Baltimore
OF Torii Hunter, LA Angels
OF Vernon Wells, Toronto
OF Jose Bautista, Toronto
DH David Ortiz, Boston

Here’s where things start to go downhill, which is strange because the people most responsible for the reserves are in fact, the players themselves. You’d think they’d know which players were most deserving of representing their league in the all-star game. But they don’t seem to pay attention to the details of most players, and buy into hot streaks and luck.

Victor Martinez is a clear second choice behind the plate for the American League, but due to his fractured thumb, he needs to be replaced. And not by John Buck. Buck has bought into Toronto’s new hitting philosophy of “Look Fastballs And Swing At Every One You See”.

It’s worked as well as it could, as Buck has 13 homers (only five off his career high) but also has drawn only nine walks against 64 strikeouts, leading to a measly .307 on-base percentage. Both Jorge Posada and Mike Napoli would have been better choices. Because Posada missed significant time due to injury, though, I’d take Napoli as Martinez’s replacement.

Miguel Cabrera would probably start the game most other years, but he’s relegated to the bench due to Morneau’s incredible season. The AL doesn’t have a whole lot of talent at shortstop or second base, and Dustin Pedroia’s injury just depletes the pool even further. Kinsler and Andrus are both fine selections to represent the AL, even with Kinsler missing some time.

Adrien Beltre has been more impressive than just about anyone expected this year, and has more than earned his way onto the team. A-Rod, however, probably got in based more on reputation than performance. He’s driven in 61 runs, but has underperformed by his usual standards. In lieu of a third third-baseman, I’d replace him on the team with Kevin Youkilis, as first base is a position of depth of talent for the American League, more so than third base.

Ty Wigginton’s presence on the team is based solely on the fact that every team needs a representative. Baltimore doesn’t field one player worthy of appearing in the game featuring MLB’s best talent, and I thought of cutting him. But the lack of middle infield talent in the American League led me to keep him on the team, rather than take someone like Nick Markakis.

The outfield does not represent the American League well at all. Torii Hunter is fine, but both Vernon Wells and Jose Bautista used short-lived hot streaks to make their way to the all-star game. Wells is terrible defensively and his OPS has dropped drastically each month.

Bautista, also below-average in the field, was awful at the plate in April, awesome in May and WTF? in June. Both players are in the Top five in OPS among AL outfielders, but neither particularly strikes me as an all-star caliber player.

I’d leave both of them in Canada for the game and take Chicago’s Alex Rios and New York’s Nick Swisher in their place. While David Ortiz has had a splendid season himself, I value a player’s defensive contributions as well, and would replace him with another outfielder, Magglio Ordonez.

While the reserves are questionable at best, it’s the pitchers for the American League that drive me crazy.

RHP Clay Buchholz, Boston
RHP Trevor Cahill, Oakland
RHP Fausto Carmona, Cleveland
RHP Neftali Feliz, Texas
RHP Phil Hughes, NY Yankees
LHP Cliff Lee, Seattle
LHP Jon Lester, Boston
LHP David Price, Tampa Bay
RHP Mariano Rivera, NY Yankees
LHP CC Sabathia, NY Yankees
RHP Joakim Soria, Kansas City
LHP Matt Thornton, Chi. White Sox
RHP Jose Valverde, Detroit

Of the ten pitchers in the American League with the highest WAR numbers, a grand total of two made the All-Star team. TWO! I understand that some of these pitchers will be replaced because of the new rules put in place to protect pitchers, but that will still leave some very questionable decisions on the team.

Sabathia is set to pitch Sunday, rendering him ineligible for the roster, but I bet Joe Girardi fills his spot with Andy Pettitte, rather than more deserving pitchers.

Shin Shoo Choo getting hurt hamstringed the American League into having to include Carmona, and he truly is Cleveland’s most deserving available player. But I’d get rid of Phil Hughes in a second and replace him with Felix Hernandez, and Neftali Feliz goes in favor of Jered Weaver. Matt Thornton is a middle reliever and Alex Rios fills my White Sox quota, so I’m able to easily replace him with Francisco Liriano.

In my opinion, the starters for each league are more accurate than the reserves and pitchers are. Seeing as the fans are responsible for the starters and the players, coaches, and managers pick the reserves and pitchers, I’d assume it would be the other way around.

Maybe fans are becoming more aware of the game as a whole and are paying more attention to stats and performances. Maybe the players are the ones that are caught up in names and headlines nowadays.  

Who knows? But with the all-star game determining home-field advantage, you’d think that the players in each league would put forth more of an effort to nominate the players that give them the best chance to win.

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