Felix

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 19, 2008 -> 09:23 AM) I'll take overrated .300 hitters with power who drive in 130 runs any day of the week. If Swisher put up the exact same numbers many on this board would be on suicide watch if he wasn't the unanimous MVP pick. He led the majors in at bats with runners on.. there is no reason he shouldn't have gotten as many RBI as he did. Fact of the matter is that he choked down the stretch when his team needed him the most. Whether you look at it from a statistical viewpoint (12th in the AL in VORP, 15th in OPS) or from the opinion that the MVP should have been the most valuable to his team (again, not Morneau given his choke job down the stretch), Morneau simple wasn't the caliber of player that an MVP should be. Simply put, if you aren't the best (or most valuable) player on your own team, there is absolutely no way you should be considered for MVP of the league.

QUOTE (sircaffey @ Nov 18, 2008 -> 07:47 PM) Morneau carried that offense. To be able to put up .300-23-129 on a bad offensive team is ridiculous, and shows you exactly just how great Morneau was last season. Yes, that's why Justin Morneau led the American League with 558 at-bats with runners on (Ibanez was second in the AL with 484). I mean, seriously. He was hitting behind Joe Mauer and his .413 OBP for the entirety of the season. Imagine what Q's numbers would have been if he had someone with a .400 OBP in front of him. Also ignore the fact that Morneau killed the Twins for the last month of the season, when they needed him the most.

QUOTE (pcullotta @ Nov 18, 2008 -> 03:33 PM) Pedroia Avg - .326 Kinsler Avg - .319 Pedroia HR - 17 Kinsler HR - 18 Pedroia RBI - 83 Kinsler RBI - 71 Pedroia SB - 20 Kinsler SB - 26 Pedroia OPS - .869 Kinsler OPS - .892 Pedroia - 317 MVP Points Kinsler - 1 10th Place Vote The biggest difference may have been games played, 157 for Pedroia and 121 for Kinsler Was Pedroia even the Best Second Baseman in the AL? Pedroia was also third in the AL in VORP behind A-Rod and Sizemore. Kinsler was no slouch himself, ending the season eighth. Meanwhile, Justin Morneau was 12th, finishing behind teammate (and more valuable player) Joe Mauer and Carlos Quentin, who missed the last month of the season. Morneau is a joke of an MVP candidate and its an embarrassment that he was 2nd in voting, almost as much as him winning in 2006 was.

Justin Morneau is the most overrated player in baseball. Period. Congrats to CQ, hopefully he tops it next year.

Utley is way too low on that list.

The Gophers fell apart in the second half against Georgia State today, but still ended up winning. 3-0 to start the season, although it'd be really nice to see some consistent offense out of these guys.

Easy win today for the Gophers, playing Concordia. Al Nolen is a stud, as is Lawrence Westbrook. Damien Johnson needs to get healthy soon though. Also: thanks again for Tubby, Kentucky. Seems to be working out great for you.

QUOTE (santo=dorf @ Nov 13, 2008 -> 09:40 PM) Are you really trying to compare a utility man who lost his starting job to a guy who was shoved into CF most of the year? VORP doesn't mean much for players at defensive position because it only takes in account OPS at that position. That's why guys like Swisher and Mack in CF don't look so bad on paper. It's also the same argument people try to make how Pedroia is a better hitter than some first basemen or DH's. You're right. I was wrong to use VORP, which factors in playing time. However, the fact that Swisher has a higher OBP and SLG despite having a significantly lower AVG (largely in part to his terrible BABIP) is a very telling fact that he had a better offensive season than Uribe, and it isn't particularly close. Say what you want about how bad Swisher did, but despite being incredibly unlucky he was still a much better player than Uribe (whose BABIP was much closer the league norm). I'm talking offense here, not defense. That was the whole premise here with Dick Allen asking if I thought Uribe had a better year offensively. Feel free to mention defense if you want, but that brings up a whole other worm.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 13, 2008 -> 08:36 PM) Swisher's .595 road OPS was stellar. I can't understand why the White Sox would want to get out of the $22 million he's owed the next 3 years. What part of abnormally bad year don't you understand? It's very, very unlikely that he would be as bad as he was last year again, and considering the fact he has a good track record, is still young, and isn't making a ridiculous amount of money, it would make sense to take a risk on him again. Sure, have an insurance plan, but to completely trade him for a bunch of average players is a joke considering the package KW gave up to get him last offseason. QUOTE (Wanne @ Nov 13, 2008 -> 08:39 PM) As a whole....no...he wasn't. You're right. Swisher's higher OPS and VORP mean nothing. Juan was grittier!

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 13, 2008 -> 08:23 PM) Uribe hit the ball better than Swisher. Do you not agree? Not really, unless you are saying Uribe had a higher batting average than Swisher which is a fact, not an opinion. As a whole, Swisher was a more effective player than Uribe last year.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 13, 2008 -> 08:12 PM) I love the unlucky argument. The guy struck out how many times? So unlucky. I watched most of the games. I didn't find anything unusual about his luck. Guys that aren't good hitters have low BABIP. That explains why his BABIP was significantly lower than it ever was in his career, right? Also: Juan Uribe had a .287 BABIP last year.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 13, 2008 -> 08:05 PM) The Swisher apologists don't care. They blame the White Sox for his struggles. Why did the play him in CF that's what screwed him up some say? Well, in 2007 he played more games in CF than any other position. Or they'll blame the abnormally low .249 BABIP he had last year which still resulted in a .743 OPS. That's okay though, keep thinking what you want.

Stupid, stupid deal.

Lou was deserving.

QUOTE (striker62704 @ Nov 11, 2008 -> 05:59 PM) The Twins traded the best pitcher in baseball for players that didn't even impact their team and they were 1 game from making the playoffs. Anything is possible. Besides, dumping Dye and Jenks could free up money for some big move. Griffey??? I seriesly, seriesly, SERIESLY hope you aren't being series at all.

One week until the season begins. Woo!

Sigh. The T'Wolves had tonights game won a few different times, but still managed to lose. Oh well.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Nov 4, 2008 -> 02:16 PM) Just fun being back at the arena yesterday. I missed that. Agreed. I'm glad it's college basketball season again

QUOTE (scenario @ Nov 4, 2008 -> 10:42 AM) (Besides, guys who have 97+mph fastballs don't need much more than a good changeup to get people out.) I strongly, strongly disagree, and that's a lot easier said than done.

This isn't shocking news, and has been true for awhile now. It's absolutely embarrassing that the Yankees didn't give SS to A-Rod when he first came to town.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 2, 2008 -> 03:19 PM) I'm hoping BA is our 3rd OF, 1st CF. This.

QUOTE (BobDylan @ Nov 2, 2008 -> 01:25 PM) I've been playing around with the sidequests before I go into the main quest. Pretty fun game, love the gore. I did most of the sidequests to start, but then I decided I was just going to finish the main quest line and start another character once I finished. It's such an enjoyable game that I don't mind playing it a few times, although the second time through I don't plan on doing anything related to the main quest besides possibly the first few parts of it. One of the golden touches that Fallout 3 had as opposed to 1 and 2 is that bloody mess is now a worthwhile perk. Before it just added the gore, but the addition of 5% extra damage makes it totally worth the investment.

Fallout 3 was awesome. Just finished it, will probably start back up with another character in a few days or so. Very, very enjoyable after having played the others so much back in the day.

QUOTE (Jimbo's Drinker @ Oct 31, 2008 -> 03:01 AM) You guys will be a good test for Kansas to see how the young kids have matured by mid season. I recommend you try to see the game live on Jan 3rd and visit the greatest college basketball stadium in the nation. It's being played in Williams Arena?

Today is a great day. I will not miss either of them.