Being a renegade is one thing. But Gage just went rogue!

Did he explain why Rodriguez was more valuable than Mariano Rivera and Cliff Lee?

I believed that when I sent in my ballot. I believe it now.

Well that's all that matters. Stay classy.

I don't think he mentioned it anywhere in the article, but K-Rod had 62 saves this year. Sixty. Two.

Maybe the problem here is with the word "save". Jesus "saves". We all want some form of redemption. Anyone offering to "save" us is exalted to an irrational degree, it seems. The game was lost, but now it's saved...let's all gather at the river....

I don't think he mentioned it anywhere in the article, but K-Rod had 62 saves this year. Sixty. Two.

And he had not a single appearance of more than 1 inning in 2008. Not one. None. Zip. Zilch. Nada.

Rivera had 11 such appearances. Nathan had 4. Papelbon had 13.

Did he explain why Rodriguez was more valuable than Mariano Rivera and Cliff Lee?

And Halladay and Soria and Jenks and E. Santana and Danks and Mussina...

I feel like trolling a bit. Frankie Rodriguez was barely more valuable than Brad Ziegler. Ziegler would have been more valuable if he had been with the A's the entire year. Brad Ziegler. I'm kinda serious about this.

"let's all gather at the river...."

I propose PNC Park. Three rivers, and plenty of good seats available.

I feel like trolling a bit. Frankie Rodriguez was barely more valuable than Brad Ziegler. Ziegler would have been more valuable if he had been with the A's the entire year. Brad Ziegler. I'm kinda serious about this.

The time to complain about Ziegler's lack of recognition was when Jacoby Ellsbury got 26 times as many ROY points as Ziggy.

Hooray, Phineas Gage reference!

The time to complain about Ziegler's lack of recognition was when Jacoby Ellsbury got 26 times as many ROY points as Ziggy.

I'm not complaining, I'm just making a half-assed point about the relative value of Frankie. Ziegler, in 2/3 of a season, pitched damn near as many innings as K-Rod and had to come into a game with runners on base a lot more making his groundball artistry extra valuable. Still, Brad Ziegler received exactly the number of MVP votes as he deserved.

I'm not complaining

I know, but I wanted to.

I know, but I wanted to.

C'mon Danny, it's best for us if Ziegler remains under the radar. Let the babies have their bottles!

I know; I know. It's just that regression is going to be a cold-hearted ##### for Ziggy Devine in 2009.

I know; I know. It's just that regression is going to be a cold-hearted ##### for Ziggy Devine in 2009.

Yeah, I'm thinking Ziggy is more like Bradford 2.0 than the second coming of Christ.

Yeah, I'm thinking Ziggy is more like Bradford 2.0 than the second coming of Christ

Nothing wrong with that. Nine straight years with an ERA+ over 100, I'd bet there aren't too many relievers in the game who can make that claim.

Nothing wrong with that. Nine straight years with an ERA+ over 100, I'd bet there aren't too many relievers in the game who can make that claim.

I'm not knocking Bradford at all. I'm ecstatic we found a replacement for him. There's nothing like bringing in a groundball guy like Bradford or Ziggy and watching him induce a groundball to Mark Ellis to get the team out of a jam. It's beautiful. And since I was a huge Quisenberry fan as a kid, I love the formal aesthetics, too.

Maybe the problem here is with the word "save". Jesus "saves". We all want some form of redemption. Anyone offering to "save" us is exalted to an irrational degree, it seems. The game was lost, but now it's saved...let's all gather at the river....

You're on to something here. Change the term from "saves" to "bailouts" and perhaps the shine will come off just a bit.

If Gage can argue his case from a relatively meaningless stat like saves, any of us can do the same. Just focus on some simple minded stat, let's say holds, and then find the player who leads his league in it.

For example, I do not know how many holds J.P. Howell had, but using Gage's approach, it is very easy to plead his case against Rodriguez. He threw 21 more innings with a lower ERA (barely). He was 6-1(with 3 saves) to K-Rod's 2-3 in wins and losses and in every "clutch" situation had a better record than Rodriguez. For example, in high leverage situations, batters hit .121/.256/.141 against Howell but .193/.293/.253 against Rodriguez. With 2 outs and runners in scoring position, Howell held batters to a .071/.250/.119 line while Rodriguez allowed one of .208/.309/.292. The same difference goes for late and close games, tie games and games in which there was a 1 run differential. In fact, Howell's worst line (.096/.288/.299) came in games with a 4 run differential. Why was Rodriguez more valuable? Because his outs were the last 3? It takes a lot of unsubstantiated assumptions to make the claim that that should make a difference.

I do not know how many holds J.P. Howell had

14, 24th most in the AL.


For example, in high leverage situations, batters hit .121/.256/.141 against Howell but .193/.293/.253 against Rodriguez.

Under 1/3 of Howell's batters faced were in high-leverage situations. Over 2/3 of K-Rod's were.

To me, if they’re in uniform, they’re players.

Well, then I vote Mike Scioscia for MVP! He knew just the right times to bring in the mighty K-Rod.

You all are haters. K-Rod is the clear MVP because he is the only athlete who, after every pitch, fist pumps to God, points up, kneels down, cries, soils himself, and whines for more money. And I am ok with crying for more money. Go Frankie... God and Gage are with you.. they hear you.

To me, if they’re in uniform, they’re players.

I watch all games in uniform, but only my wife thinks I am a player.

One of these players is the most valuable player in the American League. The other one nobody in the MSM has ever heard of.

Ah, the save statistic. Bless you.

Is he renegade or a maverick? Or has enough time now elapsed that the term has become a dated form of mockery?

re: Phineas Gage, you can go to the little museum on the fourth floor of the library at Harvard's Medical School on Longwood Avenue in Boston and see Gage's skull and the tamping iron that went through. It's a pretty big piece of metal to go through such a small head. There's also a phrenological cast of Coleridge's head, a skeleton of a girl who had rickets so bad that her leg bones go around in spirals, and the usual assortment of tattoos on bits of skin taken from sailors and natives of the South Seas. It's well worth 20 minutes of your time.

There's nothing like bringing in a groundball guy like Bradford or Ziggy and watching him induce a groundball to Mark Ellis to get the team out of a jam. It's beautiful. And since I was a huge Quisenberry fan as a kid, I love the formal aesthetics, too.

Hear, hear.

Ziegler induced 23 GDPs in 60 innings. That just boggles my mind.

Your use of "WPA/LI" fascinates me, because I'm already highly skeptical of both elements of it.

For relievers, it makes a lot of sense. It shows how much a player was able to add to his team with the leverage he was given.

#s 23 and 24 are gold. May you live forever, AG.

This guy could use some spelling lessons.

The travesty in the under-recognition of Ziegler lies with the media - look at the Joba press of '07 and tell me Ziegler got one-tenth his due in ink?

The travesty in the under-recognition of Ziegler lies with the media - look at the Joba press of '07 and tell me Ziegler got one-tenth his due in ink?

It really doesn't bother me. He got a fair amount of press when he broke the scoreless inning record. Other than that, he's a rookie middle reliever for a losing team. Only hard core fans care about Brad Ziegler.

I have a hard time believing that more than a very small percentage of Angels fans thought KRod was the MVP.

Sixty. Two.