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Archive for the 'Cal Ripken Jr.' Tag

The curious case of Jason Bartlett for MVP

June 29th, 2009, 8:00 am by Earl Bloom, staff writer

Rays Twins Baseball

Jason Bartlett for American League MVP?

my-mug4The opinion here is, folks in Florida can make a case for it, just as legitimately as Angels fans can nominate Torii Hunter for the award.

When the shortstop was voted the Rays’  MVP last season by Tampa baseball writers, folks all over the blogosphere who didn’t watch him play every day ridiculed the selection, citing a hodge-podge of new-wave defensive charts. Forget about the fact he gave the Rays, in their greatest season by far, vastly Athletics Rays Baseballbetter shortstop defense than had ever been seen in the franchise’s history. Forget that Manager Joe Maddon endorsed Bartlett, as much for his intagibles as anything else.

I usually agree with Joe Posnanski on most of his observations, but this one ticks me off. Now all I need is someone to go back and tell me Brooks Robinson and Ozzie Smith weren’t all that good with the leather.

I watched a 39-year-old Luis Aparicio play a beautiful shortstop after his legs had gone,  just by positioning, knowing the hitters and what pitches were being thrown. And heaven forbid anyone looks at Cal Ripken Jr.’s Range Factor vs. the league average. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Angels • Torii Hunter • • • • • • • | 3 Comments »

Back off, Orioles and Nationals

December 15th, 2008, 10:32 am by Earl Bloom, staff writer

Over at ESPN.com, Buster Olney gives us a look at what a Boston Red Sox lineup would look like with Mark Teixeira in it. It’s scary, Angels fans.
He also writes he expects the bidding to fall in the $160 million to $200 million range.
Olney then presents a very strong case that the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals should get out of the Teixeira bidding since their franchises can’t be turned around by one player. Nor can one player bring fans into the ballpark by his presence, unless it’s Cal Ripken Jr. or Barry Bonds.
Using his Baltimore writing background, Olney makes the point that even with Teixeira, fans won’t flock to Camden Yards until the Orioles start winning again.
Those are compelling arguments.
But because it’s an eight-year deal (at least) we’re talking about here, and Teixeira figures to be an impact player at least four or five years into it, why wouldn’t his presence provide a base to build a team around?  Perhaps he would attract top free agents, like Kobe Bryant has done for the Lak … never mind.
Baltimore does have Nick Markakis and Brian Roberts, so with Teixeira one-third of its 2009 lineup would be as good as anybody’s. Pitching is another matter entirely, for both the Orioles and Nationals. They have almost none.
Roberts is No. 1 and Markakis is No. 21 in the photo above with Juan Castro.
But my thought on Olney’s article is this: If he is not Ripken or Bonds, why are we talking $200 million? And who by the way were the $200 million players in the Phillies’ or Rays’ lineups in October?

Posted in: Angels • Mark Teixeira • • • • • • | 2 Comments »

The Shortstop Era appears over … except for NL East

December 3rd, 2008, 10:08 am by Earl Bloom, staff writer

Remember the big-time, two-way shortstops supposed to be the next wave of baseball domination? SI’s Tom Verducci takes a very good look at the era of Alex Rodriguez, Nomar Garciaparra, Derek Jeter, Edgar Renteria and Miguel Tejada, and why it didn’t seem to have a lasting effect.
Verducci notes the obvious exception of the NL East, where the world champion Phillies have Jimmy Rollins, the Mets have Jose Reyes and the Marlins have Hanley Ramirez — making the division the last bastion of star-power shortstops.
There is also an accompanying chart that lists OPS+ for World Series-winning shortstops since 2001. Rollins’ 103 this season tops that list, followed by … drumroll, Angels fans …. 101 by David Eckstein (pictured, as a Blue Jay) for the 2002 champions from Anaheim.
Many Angels fans would probably rather have anyone but Erick Aybar at shortstop for their team in 2009. His OPS+ last year was 83. That’s better than three of the eight champion shortstops on the SI list.
Jason Bartlett, whose Rays got into the World Series, was 82.
But how relative are these numbers, when it really comes to shortstops? Plenty, if you’re picking a Fantasy League team, where defense usually counts for zilch.
The big plus from A-Rod, Nomar, Jeter, Tejeda and Renteria was they could not only pick it, they  were offensive weapons too, at a position where that combo only came along once in awhile, i.e., Honus Wagner, Ernie Banks, Cal Ripken Jr.
After the Big Five’s brief splash, the position seems to be reverting to normalcy. Even the three NL East exceptions noted are more speed merchants than powerhouses, although they do exhibit much sock.

Posted in: Uncategorized • • • • • • • • • • • • | 3 Comments »