Thoughts on All-Decade team

ESPN.com recently released an "All-Decade" team for the NFL, and it got me to thinking: who would fill out an All-Decade team for the MLB? So I decided to put together a full 25 man roster, 5 OF's, 2 Catchers, 6 IF's, as well as 5 Starters, one long reliever, and 2 lefty specialists, one righty specialists, a setup man and a closer. No DH, because I have a team of living legends, anyone of them could be a DH. This turned out to be much more difficult than I thought it would be. Some picks were easy, some were quite difficult, but here we go.

Starting Lineup
1.) CF - Carlos Beltran - In the 90's, this choice would be easy. It was Griffey. But he didn't carry his magical production that far into the 2000's, so he's out. The other two best possibilities? Andruw Jones and Jim Edmonds. They are all terrific defensively, so it comes down to base-running and hitting. Andruw Jones at one time was the best hitter, but that quickly changed with the last two dreadful years. Edmonds had a few great years with the bat, but had a steep decline as the decade wore on, and was on the slower side. Carlos Beltran has been consistently excellent in every facet of the game from 2001-2008, and the other two can't say that.

2.) 2B - Chase Utley - Alfonso Soriano got some consideration here, but Chase Utley is close to what Alfonso was during his prime, and is a far superior fielder. Roberto Alomar did as well, but he isn't quite the hitter Utely is.

3.) 1B - Albert Pujols - Not even fair how good he is. I could write an essay on why he's the best hitter in this century other than Bonds. This man will go down as the greatest first-baseman ever.

4.) SS - Alex Rodriguez - I'm putting him here because he's the best shortstop that's ever played. I don't care that he plays 3B for the Yankees, he could out-field Jeter every day of the week easily.

5.)LF - Barry Bonds - In any other decade, a player of Manny Ramirez's ability would get this spot. He just happens to play the same position as the man who put up what is the greatest hitter since maybe Ted Williams.

6.) C - Mike Piazza - This maybe biased, but he's the greatest hitting catcher ever, and was still a productive through 2006. Pudge Rodriguez and Joe Maurer both had consideration here, but Pudge was never quite as good defensively as many made him out to be, and Mike Piazza wasn't bad behind the plate as many made him out to be (he was actually quite good at blocking pitches, framing, and pitchers enjoyed pitching to him).

7.) RF - Vlad Guererro - One of the most dangerous hitters in the game in the last 25 years. Pitchers hated pitching to him because he would swing ay anything-- and still hit it hard wherever it was put. Ichiro also received consideration for this spot, but he's just not in the same league as what Vlad was. Although to be fair, Ichiro's best seasons are better than Vlad's. Vlad's was just more consistently amazing over a longer period of time.

8.) 3B - Miguel Cabrera. Scott Rolen and Chipper Jones were both options here. Both left off because of their inability to stay on the field. Rolen also knocked for the decline in the last few years, although he's the best at the position defensively by a long shot.

1.) SP - Pedro Martinez - I could have gone with Randy here, with a perfectly defensible argument. However, Pedro's first five years of this decade might be the greatest ever five year stretch for a pitcher, when you consider the era he's played in.
2.) SP - Randy Johnson - Randy was unhittable in the first half of the decade, and unlike Pedro, remained a productive pitcher into the latter years of the decade.
3.) SP - Johan Santana - Pedro might have been the best pitcher in the first five years of the decade, but Johan's dominated the 2nd half of it.
4.) SP - Roy Halladay - Roy is a pitcher from another era. In a time where 6 complete innings pitched is considered a good length, Halladay sets the bar for durable starters.
5.) SP - Jake Peavy - Jake has filthy stuff, and has been quite dominant throughout the decade.

Long Reliever - Scot Shields. Gotta be Shields. He was a setup man and sometimes spot-starter, but he worked multiple innings often, which many other relievers with his type of numbers can't say.

Lefty Specialist 1 - Billy Wagner - Maybe not a lefty specialist, but those years before he got to New York were amazing. And he's left handed, and in recent years, he's seen an increase in differential of his righty/lefty splits.

Lefty Specialist 2 - Hideki Okajima - Again, not necessarily a "specialist," but he's left-handed and amazing. And throws great pitches without even looking at his target. I don't know how he does that.

Righty Specialist - Trevor Hoffman - Look at his righty/lefty splits the last few years. He's killed them.

Setup Man - Francisco Rodriguez - If I hadn't used Sheilds as my long man, he'd go here. Alas, I will dip into the closer pool again. Nathan? Wasn't that special as a set-up man. Gagne? Relievers are so volatile in nature, and he was absolutely volatile, even if he did have maybe the best two year stretch of a closer ever. Lidge is in the same department. That leaves us with K-Rod, who was absolutely brilliant as a setup man for Troy Percival before turning into a closer.

Closer - Mariano Rivera. Arguments can be made for Gagne, K-Rod, Wagner, Lidge, Hoffman, Nathan, and many others. But Rivera's been too good for too long to be overlooked for this team.

Bench
Joe Mauer - Tough choice between him and Pudge. Actually, not really. He's a better defender, and a better hitter.
Ichiro Suzuki - This team is kind of slow. Ichiro helps that.
Manny Ramirez - Possibly the best pure hitter of this generation.
Alfonso Soriano - Team's still slow, and Soriano fixes that, and he can play Left and Second Base.
Miguel Tejada - Can play all three infield positions other than 1st. Not too bad with the stick either.

Thoughts on Crush Davis

Recently, Chris Davis became the fastest player to reach 100 strikeouts in a season or something along those lines.

The Texas Rangers are tied for 1st in the AL West.

The Texas Rangers have 4 OF's who are legitimate starters.

The Texas Rangers have the very capable Hank Blaylock to play first base.

The Texas Rangers have super-prospect Justin Smoak to play first base.

So why oh why is Crush Davis getting this much playing time?

Thoughts on the MLB Draft

I read a chat wrap on espn.com by Keith Law earlier today, and I found one question particularly enticing. It talked about freedom of employment, and how since the prospects aren't part of the MLBPA (the player's union), they shouldn't be bound to the that drafted them since they aren't under the same rules as players in the MLBPA. One hypothetical sitution involved one player who intended to go to college anyways sue the MLB to play for any team he wanted instead of the one that drafted him, and attend college while the lawsuit played out.

This is a very intriguing situation, and would throw the entire system askew because of how the system discriminates against U.S. born players, (almost all foreign-born players sign with any club they choose-which is why they tend to have larger contracts and sign younger).

This scenario would most likely end in a big mess, possibly even resulting in a players' strike. Terrible for baseball, but fun to talk about.

Also, I really enjoy Keith Law's work. He deals mostly in sabermetrics, but he uses them all logically, and he also scouts prospects in the classic style. He knows his stuff.

Thoughts on why it is impossible to be a Mets fan

About 2 minutes ago, Luis Castillo dropped what should have been the third out in the ninth to win a hard-fought game with their subway rivals. A game in which both sides showed continued grit, battling back and forth for the win.

And this wasn't surprising at all. As soon as Alex Rodriguez popped it up, and the camera shifted to Castillo, I had a bad feeling. I knew he wasn't going to catch it. Maybe it's because he looked like he couldn't find it. Maybe because he's a terrible player in general. Maybe because the Mets had two heart-wrenching defeats in a row to the Phillies. But I could tell.

The Mets can't advance any farther than what they are right now if they don't shed their dead weight. Trading Ramon Castro was a start. Luis Castillo needs to be next (followed by Ryan Church).

Getting healthy would also help.

Thoughts on young players not getting a fair shot

Nothing bugs me more than to see MLB talent sitting in the minors, or sitting on the bench in the majors while some washed up veteran takes away at-bats they deserve.

The worst culprit of this is the Angels. I don't know whether this is an issue with Mike Scioscia or the front office telling him to keep playing the veterans, but over the last five years, they've wasted what's consistently one of the best crops of young players in the MLB. Brandon Wood has been ready for about 2 years for the MLB spotlight, but they insist on manning Macair Izturis and Erick Aybar at short, and Figgins at third. Really? Figgins is a good, not great player, that Wood would easily outproduce, and by now it's very apparent that the other two are nothing but light hitting defenders.

The Rockies were horrible too. But that's been covered in the blog about how bad Clint Hurdle was as manager.

Why is Emil Brown taking away 2 AB's from Fernando Martinez? That's ridiculous.

Travis Snider was hitting great in April, but couldn't get consistent playing time because the Blue Jays insisted on playing Jose Bautista. Jose Bautista.

Why is Alcides Escobar spending time down in the minors while the Brew Crew give Craig Counsell AB's at seecond?

I will never understand why teams leave their best players in the minors. Give the young guy a shot, the old guy already has proved he can't play.

Thoughts on today's trade

Today Nate McLouth was traded for a package of prospects, headlined by Gorkys Hernandez, the #62 prospect in baseball. Some wonder where the Braves dynasty failed, and it's becoming fairly obvious that the keystone in the stone fence was Jon Schuerholz. What's changed since the 90's dominance other than him? Bobby Cox is still there, Chipper still mans 3rd, they have great pitching, a strong farm system,etc.

The only major difference in how this team is run is the man choosing which personnel to employ. Jon Schuerholz had an eye for talent. Frank Wren does not. Today, Wren traded a centerfielder who could be a legit starter for the next five to ten years for a .255 hitter. .255! Could Gorkys Hernandez right now be much worse than what Mclouth has been his whole career?

Popular media will say that the Braves traded for an impact bat and glove. Smart media will tell you they added an average bat and glove. Nate Mclouth is merely Eric Byrnes 2.0. A streaky player who makes exciting plays who put enough hot streaks together in one season to masquerade as an elite player, who's then signed to an expensive contract that's priced far beyond his talent level. Pittsburgh will get hammered for this deal by the media, but they've actually made out like bandits.

Thoughts on preseason predictions

It's really difficult to predict the future. Especially in baseball. Assumptions have to be made when guessing who'll win the division. Such as Chipper Jones missing at least 20 games, Ryan Howard striking out almost 200 times and Alex Rodriguez kicking ass, steroids or no steroids.

However, by May, many of the predictions start to crumble. B.J. Upton hitting around the mendoza line, Raul Ibanez leading the league in home runs, and decent pitching from the Rangers all contribute to surprises that skew these predictions.

Naturally, it was really easy to pick the NL East based on very reasonable assumptions. The Mets were an easy pick to win, if not run away with the division. This was a team who was undermined by a crippled bullpen at the end of September. They fielded fine, hit fine, ran fine, and their starters were good (Santana was amazing).

So they added J.J. Putz, K-Rod, and Sean Green, and subtracted Schoenweiss, Ayala, Heilman, etc. Easy fix, this is now a team without a real big weakness as every other contender in the NL has.

And then the Mets became a perfect example of why predicting the future is impossible. For a stretch of nearly 2 weeks, they've regularly been missing starters at Catcher, First, Shortstop, and Center, as well as a few games at Third. Also missing are troubled starter Oliver Perez and sometimes Rightfielder Ryan Church. And while the Mets seemed to have enough depth, when they lost the backup Shortstop Alex Cora to the DL, it was clear that the Mets had been bit by the injury bug and got AIDS.

So what we have is a Mets team that's barely staying afloat, one that was getting hot, until half the team hit the DL. Maybe the Mets get everyone together again, and still win the division, but it certainly won't be the cakewalk it should have been. But right now, they're proving how hard it is to predict a 162 game season.

Maybe I should stop making a preseason prediction. I'd have a better chance of winning the lottery.