####

The playoffs this year are beginning to look like they'll be an NHL-style battle of attrition.

Definite bummer. I hate for pennants to be decided like this, if it does, in fact, make the difference.

Ouch, that sucks.

This could help him win the MVP.

This could help him win the MVP.

Ha ha, I get the reference to the odd thinking on Longoria.

Seriously, this makes the race for AL MVP that much weirder. Maybe Pedroia will win it...

The playoffs this year are beginning to look like they'll be an NHL-style battle of attrition.

The race to the MVP is beginning to look like an NHL-style battle of attrition.

I read he broke his wrist slamming his bat in anger?
Not cool, CQ, not cool. Really #### stupid, actually

Grady?

Him, Pedroia, or, if the Twins win the Central, Morneau. Who else could it even be? Youk?

DAGNABIT

Well at least we have the Bears and ND football to keep us going......oh brother.

Wow. That's awful news and I'm a Cubs fan. He was one of the true feel-good stories of this season.

Those dopey Josh Hamilton RIBS are looking better every day...

Here's where Griffey makes Kenny look like a genius.






I hope.

he gawn

Get Rev. Ike over to Chicago pronto.

HEAL

HEAL

HEAL

HEAL

I blame Nate Silver and PECOTA.

Grady?

Him, Pedroia, or, if the Twins win the Central, Morneau. Who else could it even be? Youk?

It's obviously K-Rod. Duh.

I'm repeatedly amazed and disappointed at how much people on this site care about the awards "races"

Pedroia and Youkilis are a bit of a stretch of the imagination for M.V.P. winners at this point, although either could make a run. I agree with Rodriguez and Morneau as the best bets as of today. Too bad for Quentin. Good season.

I agree with Rodriguez and Morneau as the best bets as of today.

There is no way A rod is winning the MVP. :)

I'm using my imaginary vote on Sizemore and that's that. Have a good weekend you monkeys.

Him, Pedroia, or, if the Twins win the Central, Morneau. Who else could it even be? Youk?

If you go by Dial's OPD rankings, Mauer is a far better choice than his teammate Morneau. Again.

I'm repeatedly amazed and disappointed at how much people on this site care about the awards "races"

We're rubberneckers. I am with you in terms of BBHOF discussions, but the award season is pure baseball entertainment.

Sizemore would be my pick at this point as well. But his relatively low BA and playing for a sub-.500 team will probably prevent him from winning it.

Rodriguez is probably the second-best choice, but he won't win it because his counting stats (namely HR and RBI) are down from last year, among other reasons.

If Boston catches Tampa, either Youklis or Pedroia could get there. I think that MSM will be looking for a Boston player to celebrate in the post-Manny era. If Ortiz weren't having an off-year, he'd be the favorite among the MSM.

If Chicago holds off Minnesota without Quentin and Dye has a strong finish to the season, I could see him winning it. He wouldn't be my pick, but I could see the MSM wanting to celebrate a veteran who led his team to a division championship in the wake of their best hitter going down with injury.

There's two "B"s in it, no neck.

but the award season is pure baseball entertainment.

the BASEBALL season is pure baseball entertainment. there are pennant races, people!

Pedroia and Youkilis are a bit of a stretch of the imagination for M.V.P. winners at this point

I think Pedroia's got a pretty good chance actually. Notice all the recent "Pedroia is the heart and soul of this team" articles we've seen lately. Years without a dominant player are years when closers and players with good all-around seasons on winning teams (Sandberg, Larkin, Keith Hernandez spring to mind) sneak in. Pedroia's got a 127 OPS+, plays 2B (good offense, is this his GG year?), leads in BA and hits, is slugging over 500, has 44 doubles (on pace for 50) and is 17-1 in SBs. He's already got 110 runs (leads the league) and is on pace for 90 RBI. Picking him as MVP would be nice validation for their picking him as ROY last year.

Hell, I might vote for him if I had a vote.

And before you saber-scoff, he's 4th in the AL in runs created (as a 2B! ... behind Sizemore, Huff(!!) and Hamilton), is 3rd in VORP (Sizemore, Huff) but well down in RARP somehow, and does nicely in Dial's OPD (though behind several).

By saber standards, the only guy in the AL who blows him away is Sizemore. By writer standards, Sizemore has a tough argument -- lousy team and his raw offensive numbers aren't that much better than Pedroia's and he's well-behind in BA and runs and a little behind in RBI. Sizemore's also having one of those good all-around but not dominant seasons and hard to see him winning it without at least a major push by the Indians to get above 500.

I'd say it's a Pedroia-KRod race right now. It's not quite Sandberg -- that was partly due to the Cubs not having won anything in ages -- but more like that 1979 race except Pedroia is both Hernandez and Stargell.

I think Peds is now a lock if the Red Sox catch the Rays. If not, it should be a tight race and I suspect that only a ridiculously hot last month by either Morneau or Hamilton would allow them to beat Peds.

Wow. You know, it's starting to look quite possible that we really may have the first sub-40 homerun leader since 1992 (Fred McGriff). In the American League, it hasn't happened since 1989 (also McGriff, interestingly).

I still wouldn't bet on it, though. A-Rod's on a hot streak as of late, and I imagine he'll end up leading with something like 40 or 41.

Huff(!!)

What the hell?!?!

I have to honestly say that this is the first time I've thought of Aubrey Huff in ages. In fact, I had to look it up to make sure it was him and not some hotshot prospect.

What the hell?!?!

I know what you mean. Apparently Huff was just waiting for all those pitchers to get off roids. :-)

He was an odd collapse to begin with ... so now he's an odd comeback (the numbers are nearly identical to his 2003).

Well this development really vindicates Josh Byrnes;)

My librarian's name is Audrey Huff. This is an endless source of amusement for me.

I still think Josh Hamilton gets it for the storybook ending.

Seriously, this makes the race for AL MVP that much weirder.

Shouldn't be. Whether you look at context neutral runs/runs saved over average, over replacement, or a context dependent stat like WPA, the answer is very simple: Cliff Lee. And it's not really close. He's been the best player in the league.

Unless you're the type of person who thinks the award should not go to a player on a non-contender, even though the award has gone to such players (Dawson, A-Rod) in the past.

Well this development really vindicates Josh Byrnes;)

While Byrnes takes a good ribbing for this, the guy they got for Quentin was part of the package for Haren and that trade took place less than two weeks later. Either Quentin would have been part of the Haren trade or Beane preferred Carter and that's why the DBacks made that trade. Anyway, I don't think Quentin would have been in DBack uniform no matter how that all worked out. Worst-case scenario seems to me to be that the A's would have preferred Quentin and maybe the DBacks could have held onto one of the other players in the deal.

I'm repeatedly amazed and disappointed at how much people on this site care about the awards "races"

We like baseball.

Sorry.

anything but the wrists!

####!

Walt, that's a common misconception that is completely off from what really happened. The Dbacks begun shopping Quentin before the July deadline, when a decision was made to sign Eric Byrnes long term. They almost traded him to the Nats in a three way trade involving Chad Cordero in July.

At the beginning of the offseason, the Dbacks offered Quentin to basically every single team in baseball, and the teams that showed interest were White Sox, Red Sox, and Indians. Gammons wrote recently the Indians thought long about trading Cliff Lee for Quentin. This was long before the Dbacks even came close to acquiring Haren; I have no doubt Quentin was offered for Haren and the A's didn't want him. One wonders what that says about the A's scouts and evaluators.

The A's were in fact a lot more interested in Chris Carter once the Dbacks acquired him; the original trade discussions didn't involve Carter but were centered around the usual suspects (CGonzalez, BAnderson, GSmith); guys like Eveland and Cunningham were throw-ins, and I suspect the Dbacks just threw in Carter for the hell of it, because he really fits poorly in the DBacks organization.

So in short, the A's didn't want Quentin; Carter was probably 4th or 5th most valuable guy in the package they got (I'm snubbing Cunningham here), and I have no doubts Chris Carter wasn't a deal breaker in any sense of the word. It just so happened that he went to Oakland. And more importantly, it's wrong to view the Quentin trade as "either Quentin or Haren". That was not the case.

The Quentin trade was a case of "either Quentin or Eric Byrnes". That's what it came down to. And Josh Byrnes and the Dbacks felt better about giving $30m to Eric Byrnes THAN keeping Quentin around for the major league minimum. It's really that simple.

#33 - I had a friend in Jr High named Mike Schimdt, and a co-worker years back named David Justice...

happens a lot. My friend Dick Jordan named his kid Michael (in 1970), and I go to church with Jim Jones. We don't let him serve kool-aid.

I work with a Jim Rice. I do not fear him - actually, he's a little bit of a boob.

levski

WHY did the dbax want to get rid of quentin at the start of the 07 season? it sure isn't his hitting - i looked at the stats and he was injured a lot of 07 - so was it his fielding? is he a lousy teammate?

is eric byrnes really a fan magnet like barry lamar/clemens in phoenix?