Idiotic Move

Aroldis Chapman is one of my favorite players. He comes in to the game and adds electricity to the crowd. He is fun to watch and exciting to see. Every pitch he throws can eclipse 100 miles per hour. If the Reds convert him into a starter, it would be their biggest mistake since getting rid of Josh Hamilton.

Lets be honest. Even to a true baseball fan, the end of games can be very boring. With all the pitching changes and the left handed and right handed match ups, the games can also feel very elongated. Chapman will come in the 9th or even the 8th and work his magic. The crowd's electricty will return. In tie ball games he can pitch the 9th and 10th inning to get through those innings. 

The Reds already have a nice rotation. Cueto, Latos, Leake, Arroyo, and Bailey is a solid 5. They can still add another pitcher. Greinke, Dempster, Lohse, Jackson, and Dan Haren are still available and are probably affordable for the Reds. 

Chapman has reached 106 miles per hour on his fast ball and that is the kind of thing that drives fans crazy. If he is a starter, you can bet that he may reach 100 miles per hour only a few times in a start. You can also bet that he won't pitch for more than 5 innings very often. So think about it. Would you rather have 5 innings and 3 runs every 5 days or 4 innings, 4 saves, and 0 runs every 5 days. 

Also like Kerry Wood and Joba Chamberlain, a flame throwing starter is definitly high risk of injury.

With Broxton resigning with the Reds and Chapman remaining as the closer, the opposing team won't be able to take the heat at the end of the game. 

Recent Signings

I haven't been keeping up with this site as much as I should, but there have been some free agents who have found new homes and some who are returning to their old ones. In no particular order here are some of the players to get new contracts or extensions.

Hiroki Kuroda - Yankees - 1 Year $15 Million
Andy Pettitte - Yankees - 1 Year $12 Million
Evan Longoria - Rays - 6 Year $100 Million extension
Ryan Madson - Angels - 1 Year $8 Million
Jonathon Broxton - Reds - 3 Years $21 Million
BJ Upton - Braves - 5 Years $75.25 Million
Melky Cabrera - Blue Jays - 2 Years $16 Million

The two big fish, Josh Hamilton and Zach Greinke, are still on the market. If BJ Upton got $15 Mill/Year Hamilton will eclipse that amount by a significant margin.

The Reds have announced that Aroldis Chapman will become a starter. I will make a post about that in the future. It will not be positive.

The Birds and the Fish?

The huge trade between the Blue Jays and the Marlins is complete. The Blue Jays will get Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, Emilio Bonifacio, and John Buck. The Marlins will get Yunel Escobar, Adeiny Hechavarria, Henderson Alvarez, Jeff Mathis, Anthony DeSclafani, Justin Nicolino, and Jake Marisnick. 4 Million Dollars will go to the Blue Jays.

This trade is obviously in favor of the Blue Jays. They get two speed demons, one who is a great hitter, one great pitcher and one good pitcher, and a decent catcher.  The Marlins are dropping their payroll and reconstructing their team.

The way I would construct the lineup for the Blue Jays in the following:

Jose Reyes, Emilio Bonifacio, Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, Colby Rasmus, Brett Larwrie, Adam Lind, John Buck, Rajai Davis.  

But the Pitching Rotation is even better. Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, Brandon Morrow, Ricky Romero are a sold four starters although Romero was just terrible this past season.

In other news, Today the Tigers signed right fielder Torii Hunter. He signed a 2 year $26 Mill contract with the Tigers. He will be playing with some of the best and probably play right field and bat 5th or 6th. The projected lineup is the following:

Edwin Jackson, Victor Martinez, Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder, Torii Hunter, Jhonny Peralta, Alex Avila, Andy Dirks, Omar Infante.

Not to shabby for these two American League Teams.  

MVP Race

Before I preach about MVP candidates I'll let you know about the Silver Slugger Awards and the Gold Glove Awards.

2012 AL & NL Silver Slugger Awards :
C: Pierzynski , Posey
1B: Fielder , Laroche
2B: Cano , Hill
3B: Cabrera , Headley

SS: Jeter , Desmond
OF: Trout/Willingham/Hamilton , Braun/Mccutchen/Bruce
DH: Butler
P: Strasburg

2012 AL & NL Gold Glove Awards Awards

C: Wieters, Molina 

1B: Teixeira, LaRoche

2B: Cano, Barney 

3B: Beltre, Headly 

SS: Hardy, Rollins 

LF: Gordon, Gonzalez

CF: Jones, McCutchen 

RF: Reddick, Heyward

P: Hellickson/Peavy, Buehrle 

All players were deserving, but Mike Trout was absolutely robbed for the Gold Glove for center fielders.

Okay speaking of Trout, should he or Miguel Cabrera win the MVP award. Lets break this down into a few categories: at the plate, on the bases, in the field, value to team and overall value. 

Let the best man win. 

At the Plate

At the plate Miguel Cabrera wins hands down. He had a .330 batting average, .393 on base percentage, .606 slugging percentage, 44 home runs, 139 runs batted in, and 109 runs scored.  

Mike Trout at the plate wasn't far off from Cabrera, but he did not win the triple crown. He had a .326 batting average, .399 on base percentage, .564 slugging percentage, 30 home runs, 83 runs batted in, and 129 runs scored 

As you can see Miguel Cabrera was either better or really close to Trout in all the categories. Cabrera wins this category.

On the Bases

I don't even know why i'm writing this. Mike Trout is a fantastic base runner and Miguel Cabrera is not, never was, or never will be a good base runner. Trout had 49 stolen bases and 8 triples. Cabrera had 4 stolen bases and 0 triples.  

Guess who won this category, Trout. 

In the Field

Miguel Cabrera moved from first base to third base this season which isn't easy to do. In 2012 he was a below average third baseman. He ranked 17/30 among third basemen in defense. He made 13 errors and had a .966 fielding percentage. His defensive runs saved was -4. meaning he cost the Tigers 4 runs. 

Mike Trout made highlight reels every night. He had a .988 fielding percentage and made just 4 errors. In the runs saved department, Trout saved 21 runs. 21 runs can be the difference between a win and a loss in 21 games. Out of center fielders he ranked 1/30. 

Mike Trout wins in this category. 

Value to Team

Mike Trout's combination of speed, power, and defense puts him in his own category. He is a five tool player. Holding down center field with Hunter in right and covering ground for the unsteady left fielder Mark Trumbo, Trout's defense is a huge asset to the Angels. Trout also grounded into a  double play just 7 times the entire season. He doesn't kill rallies, he makes them. He turned a single or a double into a double or a triple 49 times by stealing bases. 

The Tigers obviously had to sacrifice some defense to have the best 3-4 combo in baseball with Cabrera-Fielder, but with another defensive nightmare at short stop Cabrera's poor defense is magnified. Cabrera also grounded into a double play 28 times and that led all of baseball in the category. He stole just 4 bases so he didn't create rallies on the bases, he killed them 28 times. He did make up for them by hitting 44 homers and driving in 139, but he could done even more damage, because he had the chance. 

People argue that the Tigers made it to the playoffs and the Angels did not. I'll inform you that Miguel Cabrera had nothing to do with the White Sox falling apart at the end of the season. In fact the Angels actually won 1 more game than the Tigers did! If the Angels were in the central division they would have won the division. 

This category goes to Trout. 

Overall Value

Miguel Cabrera is a veteran, a World Series champion, a leader and boy could he hit. He is the type of player you want on you team. Mike Trout is a rookie you don't have a large sample size of what he could do. 

Miguel Cabrera won the triple crown. A feat that is so rare in baseball it is the first time since 1967. The Overall value of the historical circumstance is huge. 

This category goes to Miguel Cabrera. 

Conclusion

Trout won 3 out of the 5 categories so that means he should win the MVP. With an additional fact that Trout faced better pitchers more often in the AL West it just adds onto his case. I used the word should, because this is a special case. The historical circumstances overwhelm the other circumstances. There have been times where the triple crown winner did not win the MVP, that should not happen this year. I think Miguel Cabrera should win the MVP award because he has accomplished something that few have ever accomplished.  

Royalty

Ervin Santana shall hereby be referred to as the heir de home run. Ervin Santana was traded to the Kansas City Royals yesterday for Minor League player Brandon Sisk.

Santana lead the American League by allowing 39 home runs. Although he does eat some innings he had a 5.16 ERA in 2012, but has shown success in the past. In 2010 and 2011 he posted a sub 4.00 ERA. Pitching in a weaker division Santana may find more success with the Royals.

For the Royals this is a great trade. They didn't give up much and obtained a pitcher who can be considered an ace. For the Royals he is their ace. The Royals also obtained Jeremy Guthrie this past season and he would be a good number two starter for a team that wants to get its name back.

The rotation for the Royals next season as of now looks to be the following:

1. Ervin Santana    R
2. Jeremy Guthrie  R
3. Bruce Chen       L
4. Luke Hochaver R
5. Danny Duffy      L