The LVP Awards
Posted: November 19th, 2009 | Filed under: Baseball | 80 Comments »
The last of our awards … it’s Least Valuable Player Awards … and American League fans, it’s not who you think it is.
American League LVP: Vernon Wells, Toronto
Also considered: Yuniesky Betancourt, Kansas City; Jhonny Peralta, Cleveland; Alex Rios, Toronto/Chicago; Jose Guillen, Kansas City.
Comment: Yes, I know — it has to be Yuni. I mean it HAS to be Yuni. And, of course, I do believe that Yuniesky Betancourt is the worst player in the American League. To me, you have a hitter with a 65 OPS+, a shortstop with a -20.5 Ultimate Zone Rating and a player with a reputation as a slacker* … bang, you have a winner. Kansas City Royals GM Dayton Moore has made numerous moves that I thought were baffling — signing Jose Guillen, signing Kyle Farnsworth, trading for Mike Jacobs just as a starting point — but the Betancourt trade was the most infuriating because: (A) It made absolutely no sense but more importantly (B)** Dayton blatantly refused to see it, even using Betancourt as an opportunity to disparage defensive stats and talk about how to appreciate a player like Betancourt you need to use your eyes and your heart.
*To this day, Keith Law insists the worst time he ever got on a player running to first was Yuniesky Betancourt on a double play ground ball.
**I don’t know if you have noticed this, but if you do this (A), (B), (C) thing on your instant message or on your phone, the (B) comes out looking like a smiley face. I don’t like this at all. I am not opposed to the whole smiley face revolution — hey, people like smiley faces. But the computer should give me smiley face control. It’s sort of the way I feel about Microsoft Word always trying to turn my numbers into lists and my iPhone always trying to change my spellings. Let ME decide if I feel like transmitting a smiley face.
Still, I think Vernon Wells wins the 2009 LVP Award. You know, Wells was a good player in 2008 and he was a good player in 2006 so perhaps he’s going to have the even-odd think that Bret Saberhagen had going for a while.
But in 2009, he was brutal. He posted an 88 OPS+ which is bad enough but it was only that good because he had a good last three weeks. He was hitting .247/.300/.389 on Sept. 5. And he was entirely unplayable in center field the whole year. He was a remarkable minus-30 defender on the John Dewan plus/minus and an equally horrific minus-18.2 UZR. I don’t think it was quite as bad a year as Betancourt’s, but I do think it’s more or less a toss-up. I like Cocoa Pebbles more than Cocoa Krispies, but they are close enough.
But, if the MVP involves intangibles, well, the LVP must have them too. And what puts Wells over the top is that he is due to make $12.5 million next year, $23 million the next year, $21 million the next year, $21 million the year after that AND $21 million more the year after that. I mean you want to talk about looking into the abyss, well, here it is.
Sure, you might argue that the LVP should be a pure, “Worst player” award, but I don’t think so. The Royals could release Betancourt tomorrow or during spring training or mid-season or whenever and it would not kill them financially. They won’t release him because they think he’s good. But they could. The Blue Jays, meanwhile, are BURED under mounds and mounds of Wellsian Debt. You would have to think he’s done as a center fielder, but he certainly could become a viable hitter again (though he turns 31 in December and that’s older than most baseball people want to accept). But with about $100 million due in the next five years, whew …
National League LVP: Milton Bradley, Cubs
Also considered: Emilio Bonifacio, Florida, Jeff Francoeur, Braves/Mets; Jason Kendall, Brewers; Russell Martin, Dodgers; Edgar Renteria, San Francisco.
Comment: It is entirely unfair to put Francoeur in the also considered department … I know this. Francoeur was good for the Mets after he was traded. But I unfairly include him because:
1. He was so legendarily bad with the Atlanta Braves — .250/.282/.352 — that he was well on his way to winning the award before getting traded to the Mets.
2. He was so good with the Mets — .311/.338/.498 — that the Mets undoubtedly believe that he is back to being the guy who was on the cover of Sports Illustrated. They will now be inspired to spend considerable money and effort to keep him in New York. And, hey, they could be right. He could be the player he was in the second half … and from everything I know about Francoeur, I hope that is what happens. He seems to be a great guy.
However, I would be remiss if I did not point out: They also could be wrong — after all, over his last 2,500 at-bats Francoeur has an 89 OPS+ and the defensive numbers seem to indicate that he has regressed into a below average outfielder. Francoeur could be a Riddler-like trap, and the Mets could be just about ready to fall in.
But he was not LVP. The worst hitter in the league was Emilio Bonifacio, who punched up a 61 OPS+ because he could not get on base (.303 OBP) but made up for this with his lack of power (.308 slugging, though he did hit his first big league homer). The worst fielder in the league was probably Ryan Braun, who managed a minus-31Dewan as a left-fielder, which is admittedly better than the minus-41 he had at third base in 2007. But man can Ryan Braun swat.
Anyway, put it all together, and including those all-important intangibles, the 2009 LVP is Milton Bradley. He was lousy on defense (minus-12 Dewan in right; minus-4.7 UZR) and not much on offense (99 OPS+ and missed 38 games with injuries). Plus, he was his usual pleasant self .. leaving Cubs GM Jim Hendry publicly babbling about how the team doesn’t HAVE to trade Bradley, they might WANT to keep Bradley, hey some of the best trades are the ones you DON’T make — while privately Hendry’s working the phones like Judy the Time Life Operator to get rid of this guy.*
*For a while, the hot talk was Bradley for Wells which would have been the first trade of LVPs in baseball history. Now, that’s a fascinating trade. On the one hand, the Cubs would be getting an enormously expensive player who just had a dismal season. On the other hand, the Blue Jays would be getting a less-expensive player coming off a dismal season who also has a knack for making people despise him. Break it down for us Mel Kiper.
Bradley did lead the American League in OPS+ in 2008. And to be fair, he was not the worst player in the National League, not really all that close. After a horrendous start in 2009, he hit pretty well for a good chunk of last season. From May 25-August 29, he hit .300/.431/.454. I suspect he’s got something left in the bat.
But he turns 32 in April. And he’s Milton Bradley. A scout once told me that Bradley is the only high school player he ever scouted who hit a home run and did not have a single teammate come out to congratulate him. He’s only signed for two more years — he’s due $9 million and $12 million. Think about all you get for the money.
* * *
Update: Several BRs have pointed out — rightfully so — that I have shortchanged Alfonso Soriano for LVP. That Soriano contract is brutal. And I did not realize just how much Soriano’s offense AND defense regressed in 2009 — I thought he was pretty good defensively in 2007 and 2008. He makes a compelling case. I think Bradley, because of his whole game, was the LVP though.
As for Willy Taveras … he was a very viable LVP candidate. But he’s actually pretty good defensively in center and he only played 102 games.
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Circle me Hasbro
Circle me Craig Grebeck
Hey, do you think there’ll be a rumour the Cubs and Jays would consider swapping those two guys?
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Willy Taveras?
Until he was hurt, Dusty kept running him out there day after day (leading off, mind you), with all the horrific OBP and lack of SLG you could ever want. Plus, he looked positively lost in CF. Admittedly, he doesn’t have the sweet personality of Mr. Bradley, but he should at least get an Honorable Mention!
“[T]he Mets undoubtedly believe that [Francoeur] is back to being the guy who was on the cover of Sports Illustrated. They will now be inspired to spend considerable money and effort to keep him in New York.”
*cries*
Emilio Bonifacio is the poster boy for not taking hot April starts by players too seriously. What a great first two weeks he had and then pfffft…..
Isn’t Alfonso Soriano the National League’s version of Wells? Terrible fielding, terrible hitting, huge contract that they’re saddled with for years to come?
Bradley was worth almost 2 Wins more than Soriano!
LuckyUte: It wasn’t even 2 weeks for Bonifacio. It was 8 games. After 8 games he was hitting .436/.450/.590. In Game 9 he went 0-5, and from that point on he hit .235/.291/.282 in 469 PAs! How the hell does a guy get almost 500 plate appearances when neither his OBP OR SLG are over .300
My goodness, I hadn’t realized how much Soriano had fallen off this past year. And I have to second the nomination as Taveras for the award. His OPS+ has dropped to embarrassing levels the last two years (55 and 48!).
I guess Taveras truly is a player that Dusty Baker can love– one way or another, he doesn’t clog the bases.
How impressive is it that the Brewers won 80 games with the worst pitcher in the NL (Manny Parra), the worst fielder (Ryan Braun), and an honorable mention for LVP (Jason Kendall), not to mention 2 additional pitchers making a run at the Sweetland Award (Jeff Suppan and Braden Looper)?
Joe,
I think you put 4 or 5 lists out this year that had Willy Taveres on the bottom. . . perhaps we could combine Cory Patterson’s year last year and Willy’s this year for some kind of “also condiered” mention. After all he contributed heavily to Hochevar’s 80 pitch complete game when they played the royals.
Agreed with Elkboy; as a Cubs fan, I’d gladly take the PR hit on Bradley to get rid of Soriano. Worse fielder, worse hitter, WAY worse contract. At least Bradley will help your team win.
That Wells contract is simply mind boggling. Truly astounding. For playing a game.
And then I think of the tens of BILLIONS Wall St. firms are handing out to their top employees THIS YEAR. And the money numbers stop meaning anything.
At least what Vernon Wells does to “make” his money is fully transparent. Can you imagine if we had a camera on these top executives ‘games’, how we’d feel about their salaries?
Thanks Joe Blow for making me feel better about Vernon Well’s contract!
I demand a recount!!!
Soriano: .241/.303/.423 – $17mm
That’s $147,826 per HIT. Good work if you can get it.
Russell Martin was considered for the LVP? I’d absolutely take a catcher with a .350 OBP on my team. I realize that he wasn’t as good as he has been, but was he even the least valuable catcher in his division?
I know its a ludicrously small sample size, but I love that Zack Greinke has a better career OPS+ (85) than Betancourt (82). Thats LVP material.
I assume Bill Hall was left out only because he spread his 58 OPS+ over both leagues.
Have we already forgotten about Tony Pena, Jr.?
Want to add my 2 cents that Wily Taveras should have at least be considered…along with Dusty’s other favorite — 2 spot hitter (and I use that term loosely) Alex Gonzalez…realize that Alex switched leagues so that makes it harder to win either league, but would have thought he’d get some votes, at least in the NL…assuming that LVP means that the not only perform poorly but also drag their teams down, one needs to look at the Reds record while they both were playing and after they were finally removed from the lineup…I believe the Reds challanged the Yankees for ‘best record’ without these 2 … that has to count for something!!!
Just curious how Wells’s salary is an “intangible.”
After his idiotic NL Cy Young ballot, I’m not sure today’s the day to be referring to Keith Law . . .
I’m not sure I like the precedent that a player needs to find a stupid GM in order to become a league LVP who will give them a ridiculous contract. It’s downright unAmerican–yeah, I went there–that Wells can ride Ricciardi’s coattails right into the 2009 AL LVP when Yuni was digging deep (far lower than any other AL player) for every inch entirely on his own merits. In a land of equal opportunity, I say we give every player a shot at LVP–even those less fortunate players that hail from towns with GM’s that, you know, are financially responsible.
“After his idiotic NL Cy Young ballot, I’m not sure today’s the day to be referring to Keith Law . . .”
On Keith’s Twitter today: “Do the Cardinals sell a pacifier with the team logo on it?”
Genius. How can you really call his ballot “idiotic”? It was SUCH a close race this year. It’d be one thing if CC had beaten Greinke, but really Lincecum and Cardinals-squared were so equally good any of them was a good pick….and Vasquez was amazing.
Law put Vasquez above both Carpenter AND Wainright. Do you really think THAT was a good pick? His pacifier comment just demonstrates that he doesn’t like the Cardinals and/or their fans so he used this ballot as a tool against them. Idiotic, I repeat.
If only Casilla had played more games….
It does not demonstrate anything about how he feels about the Cardinals as a team. btw, Neyer loved that someone voted him 2nd. Maybe it’s all “stat’s heads” you think are haters….
You overlooked something about Yuni – he was the worst SS in all of baseball at taking extra bases.
On the bright side, you don’t have to worry about his bad baserunning all that often… but to accumulate that honor with his OBP, and in that lineup, is truly amazing.
Russell Martin wasn’t one of the 40 worst players in the league and his salary was dirt cheap. He had a poor year by Russell Martin standards, sure, but he doesn’t belong within ten miles of the “also considered” category.
So you’re saying the Indians have hired the NL McCloskey award winner and are trying to trade (back!!) for the NL LVP?
Well, at least the Browns …
But the Cavs last night, they were …
*cries*
Cocoa Pebbles over Cocoa Krispies? The entire Pebbles line tastes like what would happen if Union Carbide made breakfast cereal. What have your taste buds done to you to deserve such torture?
The cubs are one of those teams, that is a matter of perspective. On one hand you read about playing them in the paper, and they say Milton Bradely and you think “Oh he can hit.” You read about Soriano and think, “well he’ll be good for two home runs this series” and then you actually watch an inning and see them chase fly balls. Then you know you have a chance…
I gotta say, I’m pretty disappointed that you just called these the LVPs. With such great names and backstories for the worst manager and worst pitcher awards, couldn’t you give us something here? Call them The Neifi Awards or something?
Jhonny Peralta is less of a compelling case because he got moved to third base. His Pillar of Salt act at shortstop made him a serious LVP contender. His lack of power at third base is bad, but nothing like watching seven-hoppers reach center field.
BTW, has Joe ever addressed the spelling of Jhonny? Could we get a posting on strangely spelled names in baseball history?
I think the AL LVP has to be Jose Guillen. While Betancourt was worst in the majors in WAR (-2.1!), Guillen was right behind him, at 2.0… but in just 81 games! Using Fangraph’s dollar-to-win numbers and incorporating Guillen’s salary, he would have been worth a ridiculous -$30 million (!!!) over a full season. As bad as Wells’ contract is, he was merely replacement level this season.
The problem w/Keith Law’s ballot was his omission of Chris Carpenter in the top three. Wait… I guess Keith Law is that much smarter than the rest of the world. %*@#&**@
Watching the Tribe this year was painful, but I can’t believe Jhonny would get mentioned here. Sure, he sucks at fielding and he permanently has that Manny Ramirez “I’m missing half a brain” expression on his face, but his hitting wasn’t THAT bad.
I watched them play the Twins a number of times this year, and I watched the playoffs…How about Nick Punto? Fine, he’s a decent fielder and plays a number of positions, but he hit .228/.337/.284 in over 120 games (as a utility player!!!!) AND he pretty much cost the Twins a playoff win in one of the dumbest base running decisions I have ever seen. Ever.
From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s David O’Brien’s Braves beat blog:
November 19th, 2009
7:20 pm
“This year is a rare case where one vote — Keith Law’s — earned $70,000 for Vazquez, who got that bonus for his fourth-place Cy Young finish.
“I was just thinking how that might have looked if, say, I had been the only one who voted for Vazquez….
“(For those not aware, reporters at the AJC aren’t permitted to vote for such awards.)”
What’s funny about all of the Cardinal whining is that K Law almost certainly put in a LOT more thought and calculation to his ballot than the typical voter.
The truth is this: I’m a Cub fan, and even I admit that both Wainwright and Carpenter were outstanding this year. But the problem is that there were 5 guys with serious claims to the award, and the ballot only lets you list three. Vasquez and Haren were both freaking outstanding too, and deserved the recognition they got.
Plus, the right guy won. As much as I have to tip my cap to the two dominant Card pitchers (and will also do so when Pujols wins the MVP this week), there is little doubt that Lincecum was the best pitcher in the NL in 2009. So are Card fans crying over coming in 2nd and 3rd place in the Cy voting?
It’s absurd.
I am heartend to see that Yuni’s failure to get Kansas City to an outright last place finish in the AL Central has cost him the LVP. It is a disgrace to tie with Cleveland, we truly were the worst and Yunis non suckage for a few games in late August cost us the exclusive title of worst team in the AL Central. Damn you Uni…Why can’t you get your OBP down to .200?
So Vernon Wells was the least valuable player in 2009 because he’s going to make a ton of money in 2010-2014. That makes sense.
I would just like to say, if I could, that not all of us Cardinals fans are “crying” over Lincecum winning the Cy Young. I think he deserved it, and most intelligent, rational Cardinals fans feel the same. The rest…well, you can’t really worry about the rest. Every team has those fans, and if you want to poke fun at the raving, idiot Cardinals fans, I’ll simply point back at the inevitably huge portion of your team’s fans that would be acting exactly the same way.
I enjoyed this article immensely, but the Bradley article is pretty unconvincing and seems to base more or less the entirety of his award on the fact that he’s a jerk.
Come on, Joe–you don’t believe in chemistry THAT much that a guy who was more or less a league average hitter and only has 2 years left on his contract is the least valuable player in the NL
And the more I look at it your addendum is even more maddening. You acknolwedge Soriano but still go to Bradley as the LVP overall? Come on. Soriano’s OPS+ was 84–15% worse than league average than Bradley’s. Soriano’s UZR was -10.8 which is worse than Bradley’s. Soriano is getting paid more than Bradley over a longer period of time.
So it’s all about how Bradley missed a few games and was a jerk in the clubhouse and (rightfully) upset about Wrigley field fans calling him the N-word in his own home park?
I was at the game this year where Milton got confused and chucked the second out into the bleachers. A real LVP caliber moment.
Joe,
Taveras was terrible in center field. Don’t believe the “he’s fast so he must have been good” argument. He gave up on so many balls, it was pitiful. Just embarrassing.
What cracks me up is Bryan Burwell’s column in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch today titled, “Why Don’t wins count anymore?”
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/columnists.nsf/bryanburwell/story/3C87D5BC1B0134E8862576740017024D?OpenDocument
I know Poz likes the guy, but come on, get a clue.
Joe,
Sorry, but 46 above me is right … Taveras is a terrible outfielder. He takes poor routes to balls and 90% of the time breaks the wrong way initially and has to use his speed to make up for it.
Being fast doesn’t make you a good outfielder … just ask Lonnie Smith or Lou Brock.
Jose Guillen got robbed!
For these guys, missing a few games adds to their value. If a guy is indeed a candidate for LVP, the fewer games he plays, the better his team is. So, I vote for the guys who did the most damage over the most games…..day-in day-out consistency.
I used to teach in an inner city high school, and one year had 2 dismal nitwits in my last class of the day. I would often see them earlier in the day, so if they were absent, I usually knew, and it made my whole day better. These two were so LVP that my world (and the world of their classmates, who despised their antics) was a better place without them.
And #31, Llewellyn Sinclair, today, November 20th, is my son’s 31st birthday. His name: Llywelyn. (The proper spelling!) Nice coincidence!
Wells has some weird splits last year. His OPS against righties was .748, not too far below his career average, but he hit an inexplicable .206/.279/.323 against lefties. His numbers on the road and on natural grass are much better than his home/turf splits, so maybe Wells’ problem is that he just hates Rogers Centre. Maybe the Jays can use this in a campaign to get a new park built.
If I’m Toronto, I take a Wells-for-Bradley deal in a heartbeat. Bradley is only under contract for two more seasons, and as shown with BJ Ryan or Frank Thomas, the Jays have shown a willingness to eat a contract if a player becomes a problem in the clubhouse. Bradley-for-Wells means the Jays suddenly have a lot more money to spend after 2011.
And the Toronto Maple Leafs absolutely need to be included in your ‘most overexposed team’ ballot. I’m a Leafs fan and even I’m sick of how every little thing about this horrible team is analyzed to death.
I know it’s been said before, but I still don’t understand how the Yankees can be considered THAT overexposed. When a team makes the postseason 14 out of 15 years, always has the highest payroll, and is always in the mix to sign a big name, how can you not expect them to be talked about as often as they are?
Llewellyn Sinclair , you, sir, have no idea what you’re talking about. I have a box of Fruity Pebbles in my room so nobody else in my house ever touches it. They are amazing. When I bought them, the girl bagging the groceries got all excited and said she, too, wanted them. (I also think she wanted me, but that’s another conversation)
Now, onto the point at hand. Here’s a great story that came out about Bradley. On the day Hendry announced to the team that he had suspended Bradley for the rest of the year, when Henry left the room, a number of Cubs players gave a standing ovation.
I REALLY hope nobody takes Bradley. I would love to see the Cubs have to explain to the fans and the team why he’s joining them in spring training.
“His pacifier comment just demonstrates that he doesn’t like the Cardinals and/or their fans so he used this ballot as a tool against them. Idiotic, I repeat.”
No, his pacifier comment was a retort to all the Cards fans moaning about how he voted for Vasquez.
“Law put Vasquez above both Carpenter AND Wainright. Do you really think THAT was a good pick?”
Yup. This was a REALLY close race, with a lot of good pitchers. If you look at stats that only the pitcher can control, Vasquez and Carpenter were almost the exact same pitcher, only Vasquez did it for more starts due to Carpenter’s injury. If you have 2 identical starters, and one of them pitches 4 more games, who had the better season? The ONLY thing Carpenter had on Vasquez was ERA, but as we know ERA is a little flawed. It’s a good stat (team’s defense can affect it). FIP, on the other hand, is a great stat (defense taken out of the equation, so it’s only on the pitcher). And they were .01 off.
I’ve been seeing a LOT of people lately saying something to the effect of “Law is out of his mind/hates the Cardinals/wants attention for wasting a vote on Vasquez”. I haven’t seen ANY of these people detail what made Carpenter so much better than Vasquez. I’ve already quashed the ERA argument, so please give me some more.
JD, did you ever think there was a reason why no one else in your house touches your Fruity Pebbles? They’re poison!
I love how the Intarwebs today are full of people saying that all that matters are wins and losses, and that all the fancy new stats are meaningless. So then, why are they arguing about an award given to a player who didn’t win the the World Series? I mean clearly none of the candidates deserved the award because in the end they were all losers … right?
As you probably know, voting for the awards are done immediately after the regular season (before the playoffs).
Also, what type of weirdo keeps Fruity Pepples in his room & what does he do with them after dark?
First off, Vasquez had a very strong year that was underrated all the way through. He had 238 ks and only 44 walks compared to Carpenter’s 144 to 38, which I find really deflating for the Carpenter side of the argument. He had an awesome comeback year and if he pitches like that next year I’m sure he’ll be in the running again. Please no more tears.
As for the Poz awards, due to Joe’s penchant for polls I humbly suggest that next year each of the awards could be voted on by the BRs. Joe can accept nominations and then write a little piece about each nominees gross shortcomings and then everyone can decide democratically who are the worst of the best.
p.s. What ever happened to the really awesome prize? I thought that the writing contest was winning in the poll but I never saw the final result. Did I just miss it?
[...] Milton Bradley finally won something. (HT: [...]
On the most overexposed list, there is one glaring omission – Brett Favre.
So if you’re the Mets, do you trade a bag of balls for Roy Halladay and agree to take Wells back in the process? Because I think you can have Halladay for essentially no prospects at all if you take Wells off their hands.
And the Mets do need a LF anyway. And Maybe wells bounces back with the bat and maybe his defense in LF is not as bad as it was in CF.
So do you make that trade, and run out the best 1-2 combination in MLB (which Johan and Doc would absolutely be) if it means taking on the worst contract in baseball history (and really, it’s pretty clear that Wells’ contract is the worst….he’s going to be making Jeter-money at the age of 32,33,34 and 35 and he’s not nearly that type of player).
I think if you’re the Mets maybe you do. You get Halladay without depleting your farm system, you plug Wells into LF and hope for the best. Find yourself a 1B and suddenly you’re positioned to go toe-toe with the Phillies again.
But it is a big albatross to willingly put around your neck.
This should be called the Angel Salazar award.
For the Blue Jays to trade Halladay without getting any players in return would be extremely foolish. Yes, Wells’s contract is insanely bad…but for Halladay the Jays should reasonably expect to get at least the best prospect any team has to offer (who would presumably be very cheap for a few years, helping to offset Wells’s cost). Dumping one of the best, most consistent pitchers in baseball just to clear up a bad contract would be insane.
Not to mention, I can’t see the Mets (or any team) going for that, because part of trading for Halladay will include having to sign him long-term. So your talking about $40 million per year for TWO players, only one of whom is any good, for 5 years. That’s just not happening.
One of the things that bothers me is the emphasis on strikeouts. Primarily because I think Chris Carpenter could get more strikeouts if he chose too, but he has bought into Duncan’s pitch to contact strategy and has been incredibly effective with it. FIP (as I understand it) penalizes a pitcher like Carpenter, who’s executing a different game plan. Far from a great stat, I think it’s terribly flawed.
FIP only penalizes a pitcher if he gives up runs. The worst thing to do FIP-wise is give up HRs, then walks, THEN hits (because hits are partly dependent on team defense). So I may be wrong, but I kind of think that would help Carpenter, because if a hit ball isn’t fielded because the position player is below-average then it won’t count against Carp.
[...] that in mind, it can’t be good for Hendry’s “leverage” that Joe Posnanski has named Milton Bradley as the NL’s Least Valuable Player. Posnanski says: “Anyway, put it all together, and including those all-important [...]
Yup–Willy Tavares, not that good. He’s actually a pretty bad defensive outfielder. He is fast, though. So there’s that…
I watch about 75% of the Reds games, and Willy looks lost out there. He takes horrible lines to the ball. He’s like Ryan Freel–he makes a few great diving plays and everyone thinks he’s great, but if he knew what he was doing in the first place he wouldn’t have to dive for most of them.
Your iPhone would not have let you print anything about Blue Jays being “BURED” under mounds of anything.
Mmmm, Mounds.
“I know it’s been said before, but I still don’t understand how the Yankees can be considered THAT overexposed. When a team makes the postseason 14 out of 15 years, always has the highest payroll, and is always in the mix to sign a big name, how can you not expect them to be talked about as often as they are?”
Compare how much publicity the Yankees get to the amount that the Braves got when they won 14 straight division titles.
I’m disappointed and confused that _elm_n Y_ung did not even make the short list in the A.L. Fangraphs had him “worth” -$5.9 million this season (-6.8 UZR, 92Ks to only 12 — TWELVE BBs in 416 PAs, -5.9 wRAA).
Vazquez had a 2.87 ERA, over 9 K/9 IP, less than 2 BB/9 IP, a WHIP of 1.03, a FIP of 2.77, an opponents BA of .226, and you’re COMPLAINING that he received a 2nd place vote?
Also, I do agree that Delmon Young deserves some consideration, but Vernon Wells rightfully deserves the award.
On the Yuni trade I still haven’t figured out if Jack Z is the smartest GM in baseball or if Moore is the dumbest. Sometimes a very dumb person can make you look very smart.
[...] While we’re waiting to find out who are baseball’s most valuable players, let’s look at the Least Valuable Players in the MLB. (Joe Posnanski) [...]
Even Bonifacio’s one home run gives a false impression of his power–it was an inside-the-parker on opening day vs. the Nationals, hit to straightaway center maybe ten feet short of the warning track. Lastings Milledge was playing him super shallow; otherwise it would have been a routine out.
Yuni needs to get credit for ending a Mariner’s season. He put Chavez on the DL. That should give him extra credit points: eliminating your own players.
Soriano will bounce back a bit in 2010, he was hurt most of 2009. He needs to take some advice from J.D. Drew on chilling the hell out when you’re hurt instead of gutting your way to minor leaguer level performance.
I still say Bonifacio was worse. The Marlins were in a playoff hunt and his presense in the lineup was a killer. That being said, he should be immediately traded to Cincinnati to become the new leadoff hitter.
[...] seasons, either via trades for prospects or draft picks or just releasing them (this means you, AL Least Valuable Player Vernon Wells!). They could then give that playing time to minor-leaguers and prospects in the hopes that some of [...]