Thoughts on the First 2 Weeks

As the first two weeks have gone by, it's time to take a preliminary look at what I've been saying this offseason, and make dramatic, sweeping, hasty conclusions, concessions, and pats-on-the-back to myself. Or not, because my name isn't Jon Heyman. Zing.

But I'm going to make a couple of reactions, going division by division.

Al East: Many analysts said the Rays would need to get off to a hot start this year if they wanted to stay in it and avoid a mini-firesale later in the summer. Instead, they're just wondering if they can save money by dumping Pat Burrel. Reid Brignac has been the nicest surprise player in the division, with David Ortiz probably being the biggest disappointment, since he looked as if he was reclaiming some of the old Big Papi magic in the second half of last season. Mark Teixeira is off to another slow start, but no one's worried, he even hit a homer today.

AL Central: Francisco Liriano is off to a nice start, which is encouraging since he hasn't looked this good since he was a rookie. The Tigers can't ask for much more out of Austin Jackson, who's been superb (.340 AVG). Kansas City should be happy they aren't in last, Jason Kendall and Jose Guillen batting a combined .357 helps a lot.

AL West: Brandon Wood is struggling. I'm not feeling so good right now about his 18 HR's before the break. He'll figure it out, it might take him a little more time though. Oakland surprising a lot of people (not me) by jumping out hot out of the gate.

NL East: Heyward's making me look silly right now, but I still think he's going to struggle a lot later on in the year once pitchers have a game-plan for him. Marlins are essentially the same team as last year, Nate Robertson has been a nice surprise for them, but c'mon, it's Nate Robertson. Hamels tossed a great one today, but earlier he had done nothing to qualm the "what's wrong with Cole Hamels" talk. The answer is still that he doesn't have a good breaking ball anymore, but Philly lovers (cough cough ESPN) still think he's going to be a Cy Yong type guy. Mets have struggled out of the gate, but it's partially understandably, as they've played the Rockies (best NL team), Cardinals (going to win NL Central), Marlins (wild card contender), for 9 of their 12 games. They've seen Carpenter, Josh Johnson, Nolasco, and Wainwright, as well as Aaron Cook and Jorge De La Rosa. This is not a walk in the park, anyone who faces these guys for half their games should be struggling. NL's best bullpen is a nice surprise, and since they cut Jacobs, whispers of Ike Davis coming are everywhere.

NL Central: Last time Pittsburgh had a winning record 12 games into the season? Not in my lifetime. Garrett Jones already has 3 bombs. St. Louis is playing well, no surprise there. The Reds have gotten off to a slow start, mostly due to a surprisingly light hitting offense. Houston's been playing better, but that team is just ugly. Roy Oswalt pitching well though.

NL West: What a surprise, the league's most even division, is, well, even. Ubaldo Jimenez channeled his inner- AJ Burnett for a 6 BB no-hitter. However, this division is looking very much like how I and other s suspected. Arizona needs some starting pitching, LA looks a little old, Colorado is going to be a little inconsistent because they play in Coors, and San Diego can get lucky, but it can't happen too often.

Thoughts on David Ortiz

Let's get theoretical here. Hypothetically, let's say Big Papi is done. For the rest of this year, and probably next, plays as horribly as he is doing now, and then decides to retire, because, let's face it, Ortiz has too much pride to hang on by a thread. But he's batting .220 with a .650 OPS right now and zero home runs, and things aren't looking up.

Then the question comes: does David Ortiz belong in the Hall of Fame? He only has 289 home runs on his 13 year career, with a .285 career average, with around 1300-1400 career hits. Doesn't seem like a Hall-of-Famer by raw numbers, does he?

But sometimes you have to factor in other contributions to the game. In the postseason, he has 12 Home Runs and a .293 average in 63 games. He has 4 All-Star appearances, as well as 4 silver sluggers, and a 2nd place finish in 2005. Most impressively, he led the AL in extra base hits 3 times.

Certainly, his case must be put in context for his time. For a power hitter, his total numbers are dwarfed by every other hitter of this generation. But then again, he was arguably the most feared hitter (not the best, but it was hard to argue who pitchers wanted to face less in the ninth inning than Ortiz) in the game for an approximate stretch of 2002-2007. But on the other hand, he was a DH, meaning he only played half (two-thirds in the opinion of many new statisticians) of the game.

I can go back and forth on this for 1000 more words at least. In my opinion, as he stands at 34 years of age, that he belongs in those hallowed halls. His peak was just too narrow, like the pitcher Bret Saberhagen, or the hitter Howard Johnson. The best comparable I can place to him is Mo Vaughn, who's heavy build betrayed him, ruining his ability to hit at the end of his career. If Mo doesn't make, neither should Papi.

I wish there was a Hall of some-sorts for the players who were historically great, but didn't have the longevity needed for the Hall-of-Fame. A place where Saberhagen, HoJo, Roger Maris, Mo Vaughn, Keith Hernandez, Orel Hershiser, etc can be honored for their great careers.