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New York Yankees: Granderson, Cano, CC, Tex, Houdini All On MVP List

Posted by on 21 November 2011, 11:38 pm
Justin Verlander

2011 MVP Winner..Justin Verlander Image via Wikipedia

Much to my dismay (click HERE to read why) , I obviously still extend my sincerest of CONGRATULATIONS to Detroit Tiger ace, and

recent CY Young receipt Justin Verlander for being named the 2011 Most-Valuable-Player.

There was no question that Verlander was the best pitcher across baseball this past season. Verlander finished the regular season 24-5 in 34 starts. He also boosted a 2.40 ERA, had four complete games and two shutouts during the 251 innings he pitched. Verlander gave up 67 earned runs, 24 home-runs, and 57 walks but managed to strike out a whooping out 250 batters of the 969 he faced. That explains why Verlander held opposing hitters to a .192 average and 283 total bases.

Not since Oakland Athletics Dennis Eckersley was named 1992 MVP has baseball given its most coveted award to a pitcher. Eckersley was just the 23rd pitcher in baseball history to win the MVP; and now after a 19 year drought, Verlander becomes #24.

The New York Yankees were represented with five players making the MVP final voting list: Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: Granderson, Cano, CC, Tex, Houdini All On MVP List’ »

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New York Yankees: MVP To Granderson, Honorable Mention To Verlander

Posted by on 21 November 2011, 4:57 am
Granderson Batting In 2011 ALDS Game 5 Vs. Tigers

2011 ALDS Game 5.

With the announcement of the 2011 AL MVP Award just hours away, the endless debate still continues about who is the rightful winner.

The  reason for all the hoopla is that Detroit Tiger, and recent crowned CY Young winner Justin Verlander has a good chance of taking the coveted annual award home later today.

So, everyone from baseball experts, MLB Players, and fans are weighing in with their own answer/opinion about pitchers winning the MVP Award over positon players…is it fair or not to give it to Verlander?

At this point, I have read a million answers from both sides of this argument, which at times have made me indecisive about my opinion in the matter.

Than after milling over pages and pages of stats and articles, here is why Justin Verlander is not the 2011 AL MVP and how New York Yankees Curtis Granderson is:

1999 Pedro Martinez vs. 2011 Justin Verlander

In 1999, Boston Red Sox’s ace Pedro Martinez was named the CY Young Award winner, just like Verlander was for this past season.

Both finished the regular season with impressive records, with Martinez going 23-4 in 29 starts; and Verlander going 24-5 in 34 starts.

The fact is the aces did not have comparable wins-losses; Martinez had an edge over Verlander due to making five less starts in 1999.

That is just one example of how Martinez edged out Verlander.

Now look at the two tables below to see that Martinez had a better 1999 season almost across the board in comparison to Verlander’s 2011:

All stats are courtesy of baseballreference.com

Martinez did not win the AL MVP in 1999; he came in second place behind Texas Rangers catcher Ivan Rodriguez. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: MVP To Granderson, Honorable Mention To Verlander’ »

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2011 Silver Slugger Awards Included Two New York Yankees

Posted by on 2 November 2011, 11:59 pm

After getting snubbed from the Gold Gloves, two New York Yankees were recipients of a 2011 Silver Slugger Award.

So congratulations are in order, for outfielder Curtis Granderson and second baseman Robinson Cano who both consistently produced at the plate throughout the 2011 season. The Yankees also owe HUGE thanks to batting coach Kevin Long, who has been instrumental in the entire team’s success at the plate.

Here are all of the MLB players who were named 2011 Silver Sluggers:

AMERICAN LEAGUE:

NATIONAL LEAGUE:

CONGRATULATIONS to all the  Silver Sluggers for swinging the hottest bats in the 2011 season!!!

 

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New York Yankees: Burnett Pitches ALDS Back To The Bronx

Posted by on 5 October 2011, 2:46 am
A.J. Burnett

Image by Keith Allison via Flickr

Last night’s ALDS Game 4 was a do or die for the New York Yankees, as they were down 2-1 in games to the Detroit Tigers.

So in an almost reckless effort to succeed, Yankees skipper Joe Girardi put the team’s fate in the hands of AJ Burnett.

To say Burnett’s time in New York has been rocky would be an understatement, as he is the definition of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde on the mound.

A majority of Yankee Universe couldn’t stand Burnett. And once enemy #1, Alex Rodriguez just continued playing too well for to even excusable Bronx booing, the fans road Burnett like Sea-biscuit, and he become almost to easy a target.

The difference with Burnett is that Yankee fans didn’t enjoy to booing him like they did with Javier Vazquez, Kyle Farnsworth or Sergio Mitre.

Speaking personally, I have never booed Burnett. Why? I am a huge Burnett fan and you can see he wants to do well for the team. Burnett’s teammates love him, and to be honest I bet he is a riot as a friend.

Regardless, (and apologies for my above girly mush) Burnett had to pitch well or season over, but either or, the Yankees were getting on a plane late Tuesday night back to New York.

Well, thanks to a great performance on the bump in Detroit, AJ Burnett made sure that the Tigers were coming back to the Big Apple too.

The Bombers in the eleventh-hour gave the Tigers a beat-down in Game 4 to a tune of 10-1.

Wonder what Detroit Tigers closer Jose Valverde thought about the game? If you didn’t know according to Valverde this ALDS was over last Sunday, and told Detroit fans to get ready to party following Game 4 because this series was not going back to New York, no matter what.

Some recommendations for Valverde… once in New York don’t leave your hotel because you pissed off a lot of Yankee fans here.

Look plain and simple, for any athlete to make such arrogant statements in the midst of a playoff series is just fueling the opposition. Valverde is just another athlete writing checks that his team just can’t cash. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: Burnett Pitches ALDS Back To The Bronx’ »

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New York Yankees: Most Valuable Player

Posted by on 7 September 2011, 2:04 am

Without question New York Yankees Curtis Granderson is having an MVP worthy season, but the odds are stacked that he won’t win it.

The one reason being that the BBWAA (Baseball Writers Association of America) has not voted an AL player the MVP with a below .300 average since Alex Rodriguez won the honor posting a .298 back in 2003. Before A-rod, it was California Angels Don Baylor who won in 1979 with a .296 average.

That makes me believe that Granderson’s .271 average is just not going to cut it, which is completely insane in my opinion.

Also the fact that Granderson is a Yankee probably doesn’t help his campaign either; and in the end he will not muster enough votes to win an award he rightly has earned.

Granderson is leading all the Majors in runs (126) and RBIs (109). Not to mention he is second overall in home-runs with 38, is fourth in slugging with .575, ninth in OPS (on-base plus slugging) with .948 and tenth in walks drawing 77 so far. Granderson also has 24 steals on the season.

Another stat that I found interesting was that Granderson has clocked 609 at-bats (as of 09/06), which ranks 15th most in baseball, and tied with Texas Rangers Michael Young. Big deal right…but than I saw that Granderson has made pitchers throw a total of 2724, which is the most in the Majors.

Call me crazy but that translates into Granderson making pitchers have to work the hardest when he is at the plate. Sounds pretty MVP-like to me??

So, why batting average is an invalid excuse?

Just because batting average (BA) is the most recognizable hitting statistic, it is not the only way to test a hitter and can be unfairly interpreted.

For example, power hitters habitually strikeout more, which is the reason for their more modest batting averages. Still this is without taking into consideration that these power bats subsidize this by hitting a lot of extra base hits, which are more effective in scoring runs.

So when assessing a power hitter, slugging percentage (SLG) is the superior statistic in determining real value because it factors in the number of bases achieved by each hit, instead of seeing all hits as equal. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: Most Valuable Player’ »

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New York Yankees: Hurricane Irene Got Nothing On The Bronx Bombers

Posted by on 26 August 2011, 11:17 pm

Up in the Bronx on Thursday afternoon, the New York Yankees started a hurricane with their bats.

Not only did their bats beat the Oakland Athletics 22-9, they also made baseball history along the way. As Robinson Cano, Russell Martin and Curtis Granderson all hit grand slams during the game, which is the first time that has ever happened in the history of the baseball.

The Yankees are in Baltimore to play five games in four days against the bottom feeding Orioles. Problem is that Hurricane Irene didn’t come soon enough to save pitcher AJ Burnett.

The right-hander had another night to forget to add to an ever-growing list, as he gave up six runs in the second inning. Unfortunately, for Burnett, the bats didn’t have a repeat performance in the 12-5 loss.

Regarding Burnett, I am one of the few not worried so much about him righting himself. Burnett’s determination to fix himself is genuine, and he is working hard to make sure that happens. I believe the encouragement from both his teammates, as well as the coaching staff and GM will boost Burnett back to a respectable level again very soon.

**Hurricane Irene is heading up the coast so it is doubtful the weekend games will be played, which includes the double-header scheduled for Saturday that has already been postponed. The latest news on MLB.com is the Yankees/Orioles will play two on Sunday pending on the weather. The Yankees were hoping to get two games in on Friday or one very early Saturday morning but the Orioles wouldn’t do it. Go figure….

On – Off-The-Field Gossip:

Even though I discourage turning athletes personal lives into Hollywood gossip, exceptions are made when it affects a player’s performance on the field.

So, the recent gossip conveyed on JustJared.com that Derek Jeter dumped Minka Kelly is applicable because the Captain’s boosted level of play since the All-Star break has been remarkable; and getting out of a stressful relationship has to play a part. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: Hurricane Irene Got Nothing On The Bronx Bombers’ »

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New York Yankees: I Want My, I Want My, I Want My MVP

Posted by on 22 August 2011, 12:09 am

Like any avid baseball fan, the MLB Network has quickly become my favorite channel.

The channel provides the latest updates, shifts around the daily games and provides a variety of opinions from former players to GMs.

Still, as a New York Yankee fan I watch on high alert, aware of the lack of love the Bombers get all over. Some might call it paranoia, but fair is fair and the Yankees get a lot more attention for the bad than the good.

What I really can’t understand is why the MLB Network’s round table, made up of mainly ex-players and GMs, have been talking about the MVP race and not once has Yankee outfielder Curtis Granderson been mentioned as front-runner for the annual award.

Look, I already saw the Yankee captain robbed of the MVP back in 2009, and I would hate to see it happen again. As Granderson is getting the same brainwashing via the media, as he does not get the same hype, as some other players and it is all because of the uniform he wears.

Not that these nominees are unworthy, but guys like Rangers Michael Young, Red Sox’s Jacoby Ellsbury or Adrian Gonzalez, while dominating are not having Granderson type seasons.

The proof is in the stats (all courtesy of mlb.com; post all Sunday August 21, 2011 games):

  AT-BATS RUNS HITS RBIs HRs SB AVG SLG OBP
YOUNG 505 63 170 85 10 5 .337 .491 .374
GRANDERSON 463 114 130 98 35 24 .281 .594 .375
GONZALEZ 505 82 173 94 18 1 .343 .537 .404
ELLSBURY 505 89 158 79 22 33 .313 .517 .370

Granderson has a .281 batting average, which is noticeably the lowest, but BA is not an accurate statistic because all it determines is how often a player gets a hit. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: I Want My, I Want My, I Want My MVP’ »

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