Puckett's Pond » Colorado Rockies

MLB Realignment

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 11:30:12 +0000

The Houston Astros are heading to the American League in 2013 and will compete in the West Division. The people in Oakland, Anaheim (Los Angeles), Seattle and Texas won’t be blamed if they’re overjoyed at picking up an automatic 10-12 wins every year against an Astros team that probably won’t contend for a division crown for at least the next five years.

While he’s at it, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig should take this opportunity to realign all six divisions and allow National League teams to use the DH (allowing for traditionalists, at a competitive disadvantage, to continue allowing pitchers to hit). The discrepancy between the AL and the NL would essentially disappear and bouncing a few teams from league to league would not be such a big deal.

Geographically, the MLB is heavily weighted by teams on the East Coast and in the MidWest. There is another nice cluster of teams out on the West Coast, but Between Kansas City and California there is pretty much a baseball wasteland.* I know there are a lot of reasons why there are no teams out there, but it seems like a missed opportunity to add two more teams and have two 16 team Super Conferences, but I digress.

*If a metro area of at least 1.5 million people is what’s needed to support a MLB franchise (That’s what they have in the Milwaukee area, the smallest metro area that is home to a team), then you should add a team in Portland, Oregon and Las Vegas, Nevada; maybe even stretch to get a team in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Salt Lake City, Utah; if you were really trying to expand to “western markets.”

In the unlikely event that Bud Selig and the owners adopt such a strategy, here are the 6 new divisions they should adopt. (more…)

38-27: Who Needs Cliff Lee Anyway?

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 04:53:59 +0000

(via Fangraphs)

I am one of Scott Baker’s biggest defenders, yet even I admit that sometimes he is extraordinarily frustrating to watch. You never really know which Scott Baker is going to show up on any given night. You might get the one who 2-hit the Rockies tonight, or you might get the one who was pounded for five runs on nine hits in just four innings against the Tigers. Sometimes you even get a combination of both: he’ll cruise along through seven innings, then just completely fall apart with little warning. Still, Baker has been a solid starter worth 3.5 fWAR every year since 2008, so it isn’t as though he’s terrible or anything. He’s also 29 years old and has been pitching in the major leagues since 2005, so those who keep expecting him to become an ace are just going to continue to be disappointed; this is as good as Baker is going to get.

Best hitter:

Daniel Valencia, .066 WPA. Danny Boy went 2-3 and drove in a run. He collected his first extra-base hit, too, a double off of Belisle in the seventh. He didn’t strike out for a change, which is great, though he didn’t draw any walks, either.

Worst hitter:

Justin Morneau, -.114. The Mountie is coming back down to earth a bit, batting just .200/.293/.314 in the past 14 days. Of course his overall .344/.455/.624 line is still pretty good.

Best pitcher:

Scott Baker, .430 WPA. In what has been the finest performance by a Twins’ starter all year, T. Scott gave up just two hits in seven innings, while striking out 12 and walking just one.

Worst pitcher:

Matt Guerrier, -.155 WPA. The Mayor did his best to give the lead back, giving up a double to the leadoff batter and then hitting the next guy he faced. The only out he recorded was on a sacrifice bunt.

Most important play of the game:

Joe Mauer’s failure to block Mijares’ slider in the dirt, which scored Seth Smith and cut the Twins’ lead in half, .078 WPA.

37-27: Holy Crap Matt Tolbert Hit a Home Run

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 05:52:41 +0000

(via Fangraphs)

Yeah, that really happened. Matt Tolbert’s only hit of the game was a solo shot that put the game on ice. Actually, the offense had little trouble scoring runs tonight, which is a nice change from, oh, every game over the past month or so. The worst hitters in the American League were a combined 5-9 with three walks between them. Unfortunately, pretty much everyone else in the division won today (except the Indians, of course) so the Twins couldn’t actually take advantage of this rare display of offensive competence by the infield.

Best hitter:

Michael Cuddyer, .208 WPA. Cuddles went 2-4 with a walk, and it was his run-scoring double that got the run-scoring started.

Worst hitter:

Nobody. There are no losers on a night when Matt Tolbert hits a home run. Except the Rockies.

Best pitcher:

Carl Pavano, .069 WPA. Pavano had a pretty decent outing: surrendering just three runs (albeit a couple of home runs) on five hits over seven innings, while walking one and striking out five.

Most important play of the game:

Cuddles’ double in the fourth, which plated a run and cut the Rockies’ lead in half, .171 WPA.