Yoenis Cespedes

The prospect from Cuba has proven what he could do. Yesterday he had a double in the extra inning loss againt The Mariners and today he had a two run home run in the 4-1 win against The Mariners.

Click Here to see Cespedes' first major league home run.

Cespedes' will be fun to watch as the season goes on. Maybe The Oakland Athletics won't finsh last, becasue of their secret weapon. I knew Billy Beane was up to something.

Besides Cespedes The Athletics were propelled by 3 home runs. The two run homer by Cespedes, a solo shot by Josh Reddick and a solo shot by Johnny Gomes. Bartolo Colon also pitched 8 innings of baseball only giving up 1 run.

Opening Day is Here

As i'm writing this The Seattle Mariners and The Oakland Athletics are playing their opening day game in Japan. Felix Hernandez is on the mound for The Mariners and Brandon McCarthy is pitching for The Athletics. The homecoming for Ichiro must be exciting for the fans in Japan and the debut of Yoennis Cespedes is exciting for all baseball fans.

So far McCarthy and Hernandez have matched each other for 7 innings and 1 run each. The Mariners have 6 hits and The Athletics have 5 hits. Hernandez picked up 6 strikeouts and McCarthy picked up 3. Cespedes is 1-2 and Ichiro is 3-3.

                  BASEBALL IS HERE! 

Derek Jeter

Derek Jeter is one of baseball's most respected players. In recent years he hasn't been performing as well as he used to do. Some say he is finally reached an age where his body cannot do as well as he did when he was younger, but I say there is more than that.

In 2010 Derek Jeter's on base percentage was only .340. That is unacceptable compared to his career on base percentage of .383. In 2011 Jeter raised his batting average 27 points and his on base percentage 15 points. Like most hitters as they get older their batting average goes down but the on base percentage becomes more respectable.

Again we are talking about BABIP. In 2002 Jeter hit .297 just like in 2011. His BABIP was equal by coincidence at .336. The difference between 2002 and 2011 was .373 and .355 respective on base percentages. In 2008 Jeter's BABIP was lower ( .333) but his batting average was higher ( .300.) He was getting hits without getting lucky, he was hitting very well.

Jeter made adjustments halfway through the 2011. He went to Tampa on a rehab assignment, but while he was there he also worked on his swing. It was a noticeable difference. Jeter was on fire for the second half and back to the Jeter we all know and love.

For 2012 I predict that Jeter will have a batting average over .300 with a respectable on base percentage of around .365. The only difference being he will hit the ball to left more often. As the old saying goes a hit is a hit.

What makes Roy Halladay so great?

Roy Halladay is ranked the best pitcher in Major League Baseball by almost every single analyst. He is without a doubt great, and his presence on the mound automatically gives your time a greater chance to win. In 2011 he had a 2.35 ERA over 233 innings, with 220 strikeouts and 19 wins. A season that great does not win the Cy Young due to Clayton Kershaw's win of the triple crown.

Well we all know Roy Halladay is a fantastic pitcher, but what exactly makes him so great? Well first of all he doesn't give up runs. The other team can't win if they don't score. Just 65 runs for the entire year were charged to Roy Halladay and only 61 of them were eared runs. Roy Halladay only allows a hitter to hit a fly ball 30.6% of the time and his home runs to fly ball percentage is 5%.

Halladay also gets plenty of ground balls; 50.9% to be exact. The abundance of ground balls allows Halladay to get batters to hit into double plays and keep his pitch count low. Halladay also throws many different pitches. The reason why that is important is because he throws them all for strikes and mixes his pitches effectively. When he pitches he thinks, he throws what the batter is not expecting.

Ichiro

Ichiro is one of baseball's hitting machines he recorded over 200 hits in his first 10 major league seasons. In 2011 baseball fans were shocked by Ichiro's sudden decline. his batting average dropped from his career average of .326 to .272. It was the first time the all-star hit below .300.

It turns out Ichiro hasn't lost any of talent, he just isn't lucky. In 2004 Ichiro had a batting average of .372 with a walk rate of 6.4%, a strikeout rate of 8.3% and a ground ball rate if 63.7%. His BABIP was .399 for that season. In 2011 Ichiro had a .272 batting average, he had a 5.4% walk rate, a 9.6% strikeout rate, and a 59.9% ground ball rate. His BABIP for 2011 was .295.

The difference between his best and worst seasons is only a 1.0% walk rate, a 1.3% strikeout rate, and 3.8% ground ball rate. He is doing the same thing he was doing in 2004. The only major difference is BABIP a .104 difference from 2004 and 2011. BABIP stands for batting average on balls in play. Ichiro simply was not getting lucky with his hits. Perhaps the defensive abilities of infielders have increased since 2004 or maybe Ichiro has become slightly slower with time and can't beat out infield singles.

In 2012 Ichiro has the same chance he always does to be amazing,  he just wasn't lucky in 2011. In 2004 he was extremely lucky. Baseball is one of those games where anything can happen so don't count him out yet.

David Wright

David Wright is the current face of The Mets' franchise. He has played third base for The Mets since 2004. His career peeked in 2007 and 2008 when he hit 30 and 33 home runs respectively. In 2007 he had a .416 on base percentage and in 2008 he had a .390 on base percentage. David Wright was a huge offensive threat, but he can't make the whole team.

In 2009 The Mets moved into their new ballpark Citi Field. It is a lot bigger than Shea Stadium, but personally I have to say it is a lot nicer too. I have visited Shea Stadium and Citi Field and Citi Field is a lot nicer for the fans and for the players.

In 2009 Wright played his first full season at Citi Field and only hit 5 home runs in 70 games at Citi Field. His strike out percentage rocketed up and his walk percentage dropped. This shows that he was trying to hit the ball further. The average distance of the wall in Shea Stadium was 367 feet in Citi Field it was 374 feet. 7 feet may not make much of a difference, but the odd dimensions of Citi Field can have a physical and physiological effect on a batter.

The walls in Citi Field have been moved closer for the 2012 season. The average distance of the wall will now be 369 feet. The most significant change is the left center gap which is going from 371 feet to 358 feet. This is important because a large portion of Wright's home runs are hit to left field and left-center field.

The whole thing may just be a physiological trick, but the walls are technically closer. The dimensions of Citi Field are similar to those of Shea Stadium and that means when David Wright is healthy he will be playing gold glove caliber third base and hitting 20-30 home runs again.

A Change In Pitching

The New York Yankees had a completely different pitching rotation every year since 2008. Every year its different and 2012 is the same story. On Friday the news broke that Andy Pettitte is coming out of retirement for a $2.5 million 1 year minor league deal. He will definitely make it to the major leagues and probably the rotation if he pitches effectively, but now the Yankees have seven starters again.

In 2008 The Yankees' rotation consisted of Andy Pettitte, Chien-Ming Wang, Phil Hughes/ Joba Chamberlain, Mike Mussina, and Ian Kennedy. Pettitte would win 14 game with an ERA around 4.5, thanks to the Yankees' offense. Wang would suffer an injury in 2008 and wouldn't complete a full season, he would never be the dominant 19 game winner he was the previous two season and wouldn't be the same pitcher again. Chamberlain and Hughes would split time, Hughes didn't do very well, but Joba held a 2.60 ERA over 100 innings. Mike Mussina would win 20 games for the first time in his career and Ian Kennedy would just do terrible and pitch only 39 innings.

2009 was a significant change for The Yankees. CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett joined Andy Pettite, Chamberlain/Hughes, and Wang after Mussina retired. Sabathia won 19 games with a 3.37 ERA, Burnett won 13 games with a 4.04 ERA, Pettitte would win 14 with a 4.16 ERA, Chamberlain and Hughes would be ineffective. Wang would prove to be done with being a decent starter and be replaced by Aceves, Mitre, and Gaudin.  The Yankees would still win the World Series that year.

In 2010 CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, Andy Pettitte and Phil Hughes would take control of the first 4 spots. Sabthia would win 21 games and finish 3rd in Cy Young voting. Burnett would pitch to terrible 5.26 ERA. Pettitte would bounce back and have a 3.28 ERA although being injured for a portion of the year. Hughes would finally emerge and win 18 games for The Yankees.

2011 was when the abundance of pitching struck. Joba Chamberlain had officially become a reliever, but The Yankees still had their usual pitchers. CC Sabtahia, AJ Burnett, and Phil Hughes. Andy Pettite "retired" and didn't pitch in 2011. Hughes would be out most of the season due to an injury. The veterans Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon would come to the rescue along with rookie Ivan Nova. Sabathia would win 19 games again and pitch to a 3.00 ERA. AJ Burnett would prove he isn't as great as said to be and have a 5.15 ERA. Colon would have a 4.00 ERA, Garica would have a 3.62 ERA and Nova would have a 3.70 ERA.

Finally looking at the 2012 season The Yankees had 7 starting pitchers, then they traded AJ Burnett, so then they had 6. Now with the addition of Andy Pettitte they have 7 again. CC Sabathia, Michael Pineda, Hiroki Kuroda, Ivan Nova, Freddy Garcia, Phil Hughes, and Andy Pettite have to compete for 5 spots. It is pretty much a given that Sabathia, Kuroda and Pineda will have a spot in the rotation, but the remaining pitchers have to work hard to start ball games.

You can see how much the pitching rotation has changed since 2008. Andy Pettitte, Chien-Ming Wang, Phil Hughes/ Joba Chamberlain, Mike Mussina, and Ian Kennedy has become CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda, Micheal Pineda, Andy Pettitte, and Hughes/Garcia/Nova. Pettitte can't pitch from the bullpen, because the Yankee Fans wouldn't be happy about that; so you can expect him to start the baseball games when he returns in mid-May.

Mariano Rivera and Jim Thome

In 2011 Mariano Rivera and Jim Thome both reached career milestones. The number 600 will both be unique to Jim Thome and Mariano Rivera because Thome hit his 600th home run in 2011 and Rivera recorded his 600th save. In yesterday's article I discussed two young players making their debut season. Today i'll discuss two of the game's most established veterans of which 2012 may be their last season.

Thome played with The Indians, White Sox, Phillies, Twins and The Dodgers in his 21 year career. Thome hit 604 home runs in his career and had 12 seasons in which he hit 30 or more home runs. People often forget about Thome's 2287 career hits and a .403 on base percentage. Thome has a career 147 OPS+. Although Jim Thome lacks a victory in the World Series he is still ticketed for the Hall of Fame.

Mariano Rivera has played his entire 17 year career with The Yankees. He is respected in New York and everywhere he goes. He is without a doubt the greatest reliever ever. In 2011 he recorded his 600th save and has 603 for his career. He also has a 2.21 career ERA and 5 World Series victories. A career 206 OPS+ also shows Rivera's dominance among the other pitchers in his era.

Rivera and Thome may be embarking on their last season in The MLB. Thome will play with The Phillies and Rivera will play with The Yankees in 2012. Not only are they great baseball players they are great people. Ask anyone who has met one of them and they will say Jim Thome or Mariano Rivera is the nicest guy you can meet. If 2012 is their last season seeing these two legends stand next to each other in Cooperstown in the future will be a great sight.

Matt Moore and Bryce Harper

Matt Moore and Bryce Harper are set to take the field on their first full season in the MLB this year. They are the two most hyped up prospects in baseball and some say Harper is the most talked about all time.

Matt Moore was born on June 18, 1989 making him 22 years old when he starts the season. He will be among some of the youngest players in baseball, but he is projected to be better than most the other pitchers. The Rays have been slowly building up the amount of innings he pitches every year, so he won't burn out in September. This was a very smart move, because fatigue is something we see in a lot of young pitchers in their first  few season. In 2011 he pitched 164 innings in AA, AAA, and The MLB. In all three of the leagues he pitched in during 2011 his ERA didn't surpass 3.00.  Moore is projected to have around a 3.40 ERA for The Rays in 2012 and he will be able to pitch a full season due to The Rays'  great farm system.  

Bryce Harper is probably the most talked about prospect in a long time if not ever. Scouts are comparing him to Mickey Mantle, Ken Griffey Jr and Alex Rodriguez. I believe that is great company to be with. Although Harper is a great ball player and athlete there is controversy sounding him. He finished school early to be able to pursue his professional baseball career. One time when Harper hit a home run, while rounding first base he blew a kiss to the pitcher. Just tip you cap and jog around the bases. Harper was born on October 16, 1992. He will be 19 when he reaches the major leagues just like Rodriguez, Griffey and Mantle. Harper will not be on the opening day roster, but he will make the trip to Washington near the end of April. This tactic used by the Nationals is to push back his eligibility for arbitration and free agency one more year. The San Francisco Giants made this mistake With Tim Lincecum and had to pay up big time.

The average age of a baseball player is getting younger, but there will always be an established veteran in the game. Without prospects baseball would die out. The constant replenishment of talent is necessary to keep the game moving to the future. In 15 years from now Bryce Harper or Matt Moore may be giving advice to one of your friends, children, or someone you know. You can never know.

Some of The Statistics I Use Explained

ERA+:

ERA+ is a comparison of a pitcher's ERA to league average. In 2011 league average in The American League was 4.08 and average in the National League was 3.81.  In the statistic ERA+ 100 is used as average and the percentage that the pitcher's ERA is better is added to 100. So if Roy Halladay had an ERA of 2.35 and League average was 3.81 his ERA+ would be 163. He is 63% better than league average.

OPS+:

OPS+ is also a comparison stat, but used to evaluate batters. In 2011 league average in the American League and National League was .730 and .710 respectively. 100 is also used as average and the difference between OPS+ and 100 is the percentage of players they are better than. Remember that OPS is on base plus slugging percentage. Miguel Cabrera had an OPS of 1.033. So his OPS+ is 181. He is 81% better than the average hitter.

Ground Ball Percentage:

For a pitcher getting batters to hit ground balls is great. They are more likely to hit into double plays and you don't risk the extra base hit. Basically you are more likely to get the out on a ground ball than a fly ball. In 2011 CC Sabathia had a GB% of 46.6%; which is great. Almost half of the hitters he faced are hitting ground balls. Sabathia also plays a lot of his games in Yankee Stadium where fly balls
 could hurt you a lot.

Fly Ball Percentage:

Fly Ball percentage is the ratio of fly balls hit to at bats. You want to hit fly balls as a hitter, they are more likely to score a run and get on base. Prince Fielder had a fly ball percentage of 37.1% in 2011. He was hitting a fly ball in more than one out of 3 at bats. If there is a runner on third and one out an opposing team may consider walking Fielder, because he could hit a fly ball to score the run.

Pitcher Performence Value:

A pitcher's performance can change by the team he faces and many other factors. A simple evaluation of a game is ERA before the game divided by the average OPS of the players he got out. If a pitcher gets out great batters but has an average ERA he is better than a pitcher who has an above average ERA and gets out mediocre batters. PPV = ERA/ AOPS

Run Production Probability:

What are the chances of a batter scoring a run in the inning he comes up to the plate? (R + RBI's - HR) / PA.
If Curtis Granderson were to come up to the plate in the third innings he would have about a 32% of scoring a run in that inning. Since a player gets about 4 at bats in a game the chances that Curtis Granderson will produce a run in that game are very likely, making him valuable to an offense.

Mark Teixeira

I'm sure we have all heard about Mark Teixeira saying he will be laying down bunts this year to avoid hitting into the shift. As a left handed hitter Teixeira hit 100% of his home runs to right field. and 62% of his hits went to right field as a left handed hitter. The shift is a good idea from the opposing managers.

When Teixeira is hitting against the shift the third baseman moves all the way next to second base. Teixeira's mentality is: If there is no one at third base, i'll just hit it over there. His on base percentage vs right handed pitching is .325. If there is a right handed pitcher on the mound 74% of time then Teixeira has a problem. There should be an increase in Teixeira's on base percentage but a decrease in his home runs if he goes through with this.

The opposing team will notice that Teixeira is getting on base due to the bunt and will move the players back to normal alignment. When back to normal alignment Teixeira can swing for the fences and not hit into the shift. Teixiera will probably hit 5th this season so his overall performance wont be as important as it was when he was hitting 3rd. If Teixeira can get everything together and get on base and continue to hit 30 home runs and drive in 100 RBI's The Yankees will again have a devastating line up.  

Pitching Performance Value

How do you truly identify how well a pitcher performed? Looking at his ERA+, WHIP or his K/9 rate may be misleading. What if a set up man comes into the game and gets out 3 great hitters and then the closer comes in and gets out 3 mediocre hitters. Their performances look the same on paper, but they actually aren't. The set up man had to work harder to get the outs and those outs held more significance.

I would like to establish a statistic that shows this. This one is very simple: it is just a ratio of ERA to the average OPS of the hitters faced. It will look something like this: PPV = ERA/ AOPS.

On September 25, 2011 The Yankees played The Red Sox in a double header they lost in extra innings in one game and won the other. In the first game David Robertson pitched four outs and faced David Ortiz, Jacoby Ellsbury, Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez and Dustin Pedroia. He struck out Ellsbury, Ortiz, Gonzalez and Crawford flew out. Mariano Rivera pitched in the second game and he faced Jarrod Saltalamacchia, JD Drew, Marco Scutaro, Mike Aviles, and Adrian Gonzalez.   He got out Saltalamacchia, Drew and Aviles.

I chose September 25, 2011 because it was close to the end of the season and their stats were close to complete. The OPS of the opposing players should be taken on the day of the performance, because hot and cold streaks do exist. Although some people believe hot and cold streaks do not exist, they do. You need to know how well the batter was doing up to that day. A batter could hit 5 home runs in one week and then 0 for an entire month.

So Robertson got out Ellsbury (.928 OPS), Ortiz (.953 OPS), Gonzalez (.957 OPS), and Crawford (.694 OPS). Robertsons ERA was 1.08. So the stat would be set up as PPV = 1.08 / ((.928 + .953 + .957 + .694) / 4). That turns out to be 1.22. The lower the number the better. Marinao River had an ERA of 1.91 and he got out Saltalamacchia (.737 OPS), Drew (.617 OPS), and Aviles (.775 OPS). 1.91 / ((.737 + .617 + .775) / 3) =  2.69

Robertson performed better than Rivera on September 25, 2011.  I know they didn't pitch in the same game, but the batters they faced are the main reason. You can use this stat to evaluate a pitchers performance on any day, as long as you use the batters OPS for that day. It also works for starting pitchers, but there will be a lot more numbers to average.

Yu Darvish

Yesterday Darvish started his first spring training game. According to scouts his fast ball reached up to 95 MPH and was consistently 93 MPH. His slider was also very effective. He struck out two batters and got ahead of batters in the count. 26 of his 36 pitches were strikes. Will Venable hit a 410 foot double off of Darvish, but that was the only well struck ball. The other hit was by Orlando Hudson.

In Japan Darvish's ERA was never over 2.00 and he has about 200 innings pitched each of his 5 seasons. He also strikes out slightly more than one batter every inning. Darvish is probably the most hyped up Japanese pitcher ever, but lets see how he may do.

Daisuke Matsuzaka was another hyped up pitcher coming over from Japan. He had an average ERA of 3.00 over his 7 seasons in Japan. That is not even close to Darvish's sub 2.00 ERA. When Matsuzaka pitched for The Boston Red Sox in his first season he pitched 204 innings with a 4.40 ERA. He was a fluke, but in his second season he pitched 167 innings with a 2.90 ERA. Then from 2009-2011 he had an ERA above 5.00.

Hiroki Kuroda had a 3.69 ERA in his time in Japan with 103 wins. In the MLB he has a 3.45 ERA with 41 wins. Kuroda came to the U.S. when he was 33, Darvish is 25. Hideo Nomo came to play in the MLB at the age of 26. He had a 3.15 ERA in Japan and posted a 2.54 ERA in his first season with The Dodgers. He would only have 3 other seasons of with an ERA below 4 and about 3 years into his contract Nomo had a 5.05 ERA.

Yu Darvish is major league ready. He is consistently pitching a lot of innings and his ERA is incomparable to other pitchers who made the transition. Never posting a an ERA higher than 1.88 ERA is great and Darvish may have a promising career in The MLB.

Prince Fielder

Prince Fielder spent his last 7 seasons playing in Miller Park in Milwaukee. In 2012 Prince Fielder will be playing for the Tigers until 2021. Fielder will be 28 in may and has 230 home runs and a career .390 on base percentage to his name. Lets see how a change in ball park will fare for Prince Fielder.

Miller Park is actually bigger than Comerica Park to right field. The dimensions of Miller Park from left field to right field are the following: 344, 371, 400, 374, 345. In Comerica Park the dimensions from right to left are the following: 345, 370, 420, 365, 330. The right field line and the right field power alley are significantly closer for Fielder so his power numbers may go up.

Fielder gets hits to all fields, but 52% of his home runs were hit to right field. Fielder played in every game last year and hit 24 home runs at Miller Park so that means he hit about 12 home runs to right field in Miller Park.With the walls being about 10-15 feet closer in right field, when Fielder pulls the fly out on the track it will now be gone. Fielder did hit 10 home runs to center field, so that is 26% of his home runs. Center field is 20 feet deeper in Comerica Park so Fielder may try to pull the ball more in the upcoming seasons.

The other thing that people often look over when evaluating a player switching leagues is the ballparks he will be playing in on the road. Fenway Park is 302 feet to the right field foul pole, Yankee Stadium is 314 feet to the right field foul pole, Camden Yards is 318 to the score board in right field, in the Rogers Centre its 328 feet to right field and in Tropicana Field it is 322 feet to right field. All the ballparks in the American League East are small and so when Fielder and the Tigers are on the road and playing east coast teams watch out.

The average dimensions to right field and right center in the National League are 333 feet and 380 feet respectively and in the American League they are 324 and 372 respectively. The average height of the fences are smaller as well. In the American League the fences are 1 foot shorter than in the National League. Its not a big difference, but there is one. These are just the little things that factor into Fielder having a great 2012 season. You can expect at least 40-45 home runs from him.

Albert Pujols

Albert Pujols has joined The Angels for the 2012 season and will be playing there until 2022. He is projected to have a regular Albert Pujols season. Of course that stands for great. He is porjected to hit 41 home runs and 121 RBI's with a .408 on base percentage. Although he is destined for greatness every year lets see how he will fare in 2012 in a new ball park.

In order from left field to right field the dimensions of Angel Stadium  are 330, 387, 400, 370, 330 feet. Pujols has an average of 40 home runs a year through the first 11 seasons of his career. He played half of his games at Busch Stadium. The dimensions of Busch Stadium are as follows from left field to right field: 330, 372, 402, 375, 330 feet. Busch Stadium is smaller to left field and Angel Stadium is smaller to right field.

Pujols had 37 home runs in 2011 and only 3 of them were to right field. As for the other home runs 11 went to center field and 23 went to left. It is only a 15 foot differnce between the left-center gaps in Busch Stadium and Angel Stadium, but it could take away 3-4 home runs from Pujols. You can see an increase of doubles for Pujols in 2012.

Additionally Pujols had

a fly ball percentage of about 37% for 2011. That is great for a guy who is supposed to drive in RBI's. He only strikes out 9.2% of the time, so when a runner is on third and you need him to score, it would be great if Pujols is batting.

Although Pujols' fly balls go to left field his line drives go to right field. He can turn most of those around for a double. Pujols will probably have a great year in 2012 especially facing American League pitching. He has to adjust to the new pitchers, but he did go 2-3 with a RBI double in his first spring traingin game yesterday.  

Don Mattingly for The Hall of Fame

Mattingly was one of those players that everyone loved. If you were a baseball fan during the years 1984-1995 you knew who Don Mattingly was. Mattingly has been eligible for The Hall of Fame for 10 years now but has not received enough votes to be inducted.

The average batting for a player in The Hall of Fame is 211 home runs, 2399 hits, and 1213 RBI's. Barry Larkin was inducted in the 2012 class and has very similar numbers to Don Mattingly. Larkin has 198 home runs, 2340 hits, and 960 RBI's. Larkin played 19 seasons and had 12 all star appearances, 3 gold gloves, 10 silver sluggers, and 1 MVP award. While Don Mattingly has 14 MLB seasons, 222 home runs, 2153 hits, and 1099 RBI's. Mattingly has 12 all star appearances, 9 gold glove awards, 8 silver sluggers, and 1 MVP award in that period.

Barry Larkin and Don Mattingly played in the same era, but Larkin played 5 more seasons and they still have similar stats. Mattingly was one of the dominant players in his period but isn't recognized because he never won a World Series. Larkin was part of the 1990 World Series win with the Reds, but that was his only one. What if there was no strike in 1994 and The Yankees would have went on to win the World Series? Would Mattingly have to wait so long, he would be in the same position as Barry Larkin. The Yankees were having a great season in 1994 with a 70-43 record before the strike and Mattingly was one of the leaders on the team with a .397 on base percentage.

Mattingly's WAR over his career is 39.8 which means he directly was responsible for almost 40 wins over his career. Over a 14 year career that translates to a WAR of  2.85 a year. Just for the record Mattingly played 5 games in the post season and had 10 hits, 1 home run, 6 RBI's, a .440 on base percentage and a .708 slugging percentage. The Yankees would lose that series to The Mariners, but Mattingly showed what he can do in the post season. Vote for Donnie Baseball!

MVP's By Team

The following 30 players are the MVP's for their respected teams. The teams will be listed by division with the player and their projected stats for 2012. 

Baltimore Orioles: Nick Markaskis: .372 OBP, 17 HR, 87 RBI

Boston Red Sox: Adrian Gonzalez: .387 OBP, 30 HR, 108 RBI

New York Yankees: Robinson Cano: .350 OBP, 25 HR, 102 RBI

Tampa Bay Rays: Evan Longoria: .371 OBP, 33 HR, 112 RBI

Toronto Blue Jays: Jose Bautista: .387 OBP, 37 HR, 105 RBI

Chicago White Sox: Paul Konerko: .360 OBP, 30 HR, 100 RBI

Cleveland Indians: Shin Soo Choo: .370 OBP, 18 HR, 80 RBI

Detroit Tigers: Miguel Cabrera: .412 OBP, 33 HR, 118 RBI

Kansas City Royals: Billy Butler: .368 OBP, 20 HR, 95 RBI

Minnesota Twins: Joe Mauer: .395 OBP, 10 HR, 73 RBI

Los Angeles Angels: Albert Pujols: .408 OBP, 40 HR, 121 RBI

Oakland Athletics: Yoennis Cespedes: No Data Available

Seattle Mariners: Jesus Montero: .345 OBP, 26 HR, 85 RBI

Texas Rangers: Josh Hamilton: .360 OBP, 25 HR, 94 RBI

Atlanta Braves: Brain McCann: .350 OBP, 23 HR, 85 RBI

Miami Marlins: Giancarlo (Mike) Stanton: .366 OBP, 38 HR, 108 RBI

Philadelphia Phillies: Roy Halladay: 17 Wins, 2.80 ERA, 195 K 

New York Mets: David Wright: .368 OBP, 21 HR, 85 RBI

Washington Nationals: Michael Morse: .340 OBP, 25 HR, 86 RBI

Chicago Cubs: Starlin Castro: .348 OBP, 8 HR, 65 RBI

Cincinnati Reds: Joey Votto: .408 OBP, 31 HR, 100 RBI

Houston Astros: Carlos Lee: .330, 20 HR, 84 RBI

Milwaukee Brewers: Ryan Braun: .378 OBP, 33 HR, 108 RBI

Pittsburgh Pirates: Andrew McCutchen: .365 OBP, 18 HR, 74 RBI

St. Louis Cardinals: Matt Holliday: .385 OBP, 25 HR, 95 RBI

Arizona Diamondbacks:  Justin Upton: .375 OBP, 30 HR, 95 RBI

Colorado Rockies: Troy Tulowitzki: .370 OBP, 28 HR, 101 RBI

Los Angeles Dodgers: Matt Kemp: .360 OBP, 30 HR, 100 RBI

San Diego Padres: Cameron Maybin: .330 OBP, 11 HR, 55 RBI

San Francisco Giants: Tim Lincecum:  15 Wins, 2.90 ERA 239 K

Stats provided of Fangraphs.com      

Special thanks to Volmir 

2012 Standings Predictions

The standings are ordered from the team with the most wins to the team with the least wins. The teams will be listed with the number of wins following. All of the wins are approximates, the actual number may vary 1-2 wins higher or lower depending on unexpected events during the season.  The teams with a "W" following their name means they will get a wild card spot. 

American League

East 

        1. Yankees 98

        2. Red Sox 93 W

        3. Rays 90

        4. Blue Jays 70

        5. Orioles 62 

Central 

        1. Tigers 95

        2. Indians 83

        3. Royals 81

        4. Twins 70

        5. White Sox 70 

 

West

        1. Rangers 94

        2. Angels 93 W

        3. Mariners 71

        4. Athletics 64

Nationals League

East

        1. Phillies 96

        2.Marlins 92 W

        3. Nationals 87 

        4. Braves 85

        5. Mets 63

Central 

        1. Reds 93

        2. Cardinals 92 W

        3. Brewers 85

        4. Pirates 78

        5. Cubs 65

        6. Astros 60

West 

        1. Giants 91*

        2. Diamondbacks 91*

        3. Dodgers 85

        4. Rockies 73

        5. Padres 60 

* The Giants and The Diamondbacks are so well matched they will finish with exact records. They will have to play a game 163 and the winner will go on and win the division. I predict the winner of game 163 to be the Giants.