Wednesday, December 3, 2008

MVP Has It's Privileges


I come back from lunch, and find out that ESPN is reporting that the Boston Red Sox and Dustin Pedroia have come to an agreement on 6 year (through 2014), $40.5 million contract with an option for 2015.

Usually, you here sniffs of a deal like this before it happens. I listen to WEEI sports radio all of the time, and there was no mention of the possibility of this type of deal happening, so it was quite a nice surprise to read this.

This is a nice deal for both sides. Pedroia made about $500,000 last year. He will now average $6.75 million over the 6 years, but not sure how the individual years breakdown. It ends up being quite a raise for a deserving player like Pedroia. For the Red Sox, it eliminates the arbitration years and 2 (3 is the option is exercised) of Pedroia's free agent years, which will end up saving the Red Sox money in the long-term.

Congratulations to both Dustin and the Red Sox, as it is great to be able to watch Pedroia play and knowing we will be able to for at least 6 more years is nice.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

More Than Deserving

I've recovered from Thanksgiving, Black Friday, My Birthday (Nov 29, and yes I do accept belated gifts), and Cyber Monday. Phew!

Now, it is that time of year again. The Hall of Fame Ballot has been published.

There are only 23 players on this year's ballot. That is the smallest amount ever. 10 of those players are appearing on the ballot for the first time. Those 10 players are highlighted by Ricky Henderson who is a SURE THING to be voted in.

Of the players who are back on the ballot again, there is Bert Blyleven, Andre Dawson, Dale Murphy, Mark McGwire, and Jim Rice, who is entering his 15th and final year on the HOF Ballot and is the subject of today's blog entry.

Jim Rice was one of the most dominant and feared hitters of his era (1974 - 1989), yet he has been unable to garner the necessary 75% of the BBWAA votes to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Why is that?

Obviously, that answer is subjective. However, it can probably be a combination of various things.

Firstly, Rice does not have any "Magic Numbers" in his career statistics. He did not hit 400 HRs (which was pretty much the magic HR total before the steroid era pushed it up to 500) nor did he collect 3,000 career hits. Now, what do these Magic Numbers truly mean? They mean you were either an super extraordinary player or you were a good play who played a long, long time. There can be lots of arguments with regards to using this as a standard of Hall of Fame enshrinement; I mean just compare Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron. However, it is pretty much an unwritten rule that reaching these milestones will garner Hall of Fame induction.

Secondly, when you compare Rice's numbers to other Hall of Famers, there are some things that don't add up for him. However, should players be compared to other Hall of Fame players who played in a different era? The game is constantly evolving; nowadays, more rapidly than ever before. Not only that, but how many of the writers who vote for the Hall of Fame and are doing these type of comparisons, but have never seen Jim Rice play. You figure, if I am 37, that means I wasn't even 3 years old when Rice made his major league debut and I was enjoying my last summer of freedom after graduating high school and getting ready to head off to Nichols College when he played his final game on August 3, 1989. What were some of these other sportswriters doing back then? Now, all they have to go by to determine if he is worthy is by comparing numbers.

Lastly, and this is a weak reason, but there has always been some chatter that Rice was not friendly to the media during his career. Was this truly the case? Who knows? If it was the case, would voting writers hold a grudge and not vote for somebody because of this? I highly doubt it. Maybe 1 or 2 writers, but that would make a minimal difference, since Rice has always been short of reaching 75% by way more than 1 or 2 votes.

Why should Jim Rice be a Hall of Famer?

First of all, like I wrote above, he was one of the most feared hitters of his era. Ask Jim Palmer (actually, don't ask him as he held Rice to a .219 average but he did give up the most HRs to Rice of any pitcher who faced him. So, ask him anyway! Haha), ask Ron Guidry, ask Dennis Martinez, ask Jack Morris, ask Steve Stone, ask Storm Davis, ask Rick Stutcliffe, ask Scott McGregor, ask Sparky Lyle, ask Jim Beattie, ask Doyle Alexander, ask Rollie Fingers, well, ask any pitcher from that time. I'm sure as a BBWAA member you'd be able to ask any of these pitchers, guys who actually faced Jim Rice.

Second, if Gary Carter is a Hall of Famer, than Jim Rice is a no-brainer. Carter is a career .262 hitter, 2,092 career hits, 324 HRs, 1225 RBIs in 19 seasons. His Mets defeated Rice's Red Sox in the 1986 World Series. That is the only thing Carter has over Rice. Why is Carter in the hall?
Next, let us compare Jim Rice to other players of his ERA. Jim Rice played from August 19, 1974 through August 3, 1989. In those 15 seasons, 13 full seasons, his contemporaries were players such as Mike Schmidt, George Brett, Dave Winfield, Reggie Jackson, Gary Carter, Fred Lynn, Andre Dawson, George Foster, Carlton Fisk, Don Baylor, Eddie Murray, Greg Luzinski, Robin Yount, Dale Murphy. All of these players were active for AT LEAST 12 seasons during Jim Rice's career or the Rice era.

Only 2 players hit more career HRs during the Rice era than Jim's 382. Mike Schmidt hit 529 in that span while Dave Kingman hit 383 HRs. Only Robin Yount and George Brett accumulated more than Rice's 2,452 hits with 2,602 and 2,523, respectively. Only Mike Schmidt had more RBIs, 1,540 to 1,451 during the Rice era. Jim Rice led all players in the Rice ERA in RBI's per game, as he average .69 RBIs which is slightly better than Mike Schmidt's .68 RBIs per game. His Batting Average of .298 ranked 8th in the Rice era behind Rod Carew, George Brett, Al Oliver, Bill Madlock, Paul Molitor, and Cecil Cooper. His Slugging Percentage of .502 was 3rd in the era behind only Mike Schmidt and George Brett.

For this comparison, you could conclude that Rice was the 2nd or 3rd best hitter during this era. I think, undoubtedly, Mike Schmidt is the dominate hitter of this era. You could rank Rice ahead of or behind George Brett. Aside from that, there is nobody else who compares. However, you have to take into consideration that Dave Winfield, Reggie Jackson, and Eddie Murray played 14, 13, and 12 of the seasons of the Rice ERA. I will concede that Reggie Jackson more than surpasses Jim Rice (although Rice did have a better career average and slugging percentage and ALMOST more career hits even though Jackson played 6 more seasons), but you CANNOT say that Dave Winfield or Eddie Murray surpass Jim Rice. The only reason they are in the Hall of Fame, is because they hit the one or both of the MAGIC NUMBERS.

Dave Winfield is a Hall of Famer. He played 22 seasons to Rice's 15. Winfield finished with a .283 batting average, 3,110 hits, 465 HRs, and 1,833 RBIs. Rice retired at age 36. Winfield's numbers at age 36 (he retired at 43) were: .287 batting average, 2,421 hits, 357 HRs, and 1,438 RBIs. Looks pretty similar, eh? Winfield never accumulated 200 hits in a season, while Rice did that 4 times. In his remaining 6 seasons, Winfield batted over .271 once (at .290) and averaged 18 HRs and 66 RBIs during that time. Not really HoF type numbers, but lasting those last 6 seasons, got him to the magic numbers. Winfield never won an MVP and placed in the Top 5 of MVP voting 3 times, but was a 12 time All-Star game selection. Jim Rice won 1 MVP and placed in the Top 5 6 times, but was only selected to 8 All-Star games.

Eddie Murray is a Hall of Famer. He played 21 seasons to Rice's 15. Murray finished with a .287 batting average, 3,255 hits, 504 HRs, and 1,917 RBIs. Murray played his first full season of 160 games at the age of 21 while Rice only got 24 games at age 21 with his first full season at 22. Rice retired at age 36. Here are Murray's numbers at 36 (he retired at 41): .290 batting average, 2,646 hits, 414 HRs, and 1,562 RBIs. Almost similar, but slightly better since that covers 16 full seasons while Rice only had 13 full seasons. In his remaining 5 seasons, Murray batted over .260 twice (.323 and .285) and averaged 18 HRs and 71 RBIs. Not really HoF type number again. However, like Winfield, Murray played long enough to reach the magice numbers of 500 HRs and 3,000 hits. Again, like Winfield, Murray never had a 200 hit season nor won an MVP. However, like Rice he finished in Top 5 MVP voting 6 times, and was selected to 8 All-Star games.

So why are Winfield and Murray Hall of Famers? You could argue that Rice was more of a feared hitter and a better hitter than both Winfield and Murray, but does that mean Winfield and Murray are only get rewarded for lasting 22 and 21 seasons? Is having a long career more important than how you performed over that career? It does seem that the combination of having a LONG career so that you can reach the MAGIC NUMBERS is the best way to guarantee yourself a plaque in Cooperstown. While injuries took their toll on Rice, forcing him to retire at 36, Winfield and Murray were able to continue playing the game at less than there full selves, but still good enough to remain useful to a team to get themselves the career numbers needed.

Personally, I think Jim Rice should be in the Hall of Fame. I think he isn't because of what I wrote above, and also the fact that offensive numbers EXPLODED during the Steroid Era (maybe Rice should have taken some roids to hang on and over come his injury issues, like Mark McGwire) dwarfing a lot of the solid numbers of the players who dominated and were feared in the late 70s and early 80s. I think it is a joke is Rice does not end up in the Hall of Fame, yet Gary Carter is in there, especially since Jim Rice was just as great a player as Dave Winfield and Eddie Murray.

I rest my case.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In other Red Sox news, the Sox offered arbitration to Jason Varitek and Paul Byrd. You can read hear why offering arbitration to Varitek is a no-lose situation for the Red Sox. Varitek and Byrd will have until Sunday, December 7th to accept or reject arbitration. If they accept, they are guaranteed to be Red Sox again in 2009.

ESPN is reporting that the Sox have signed Japanese pitcher Junichi Tazawa to a "term sheet" which means only passing a physical is impeding the official announcement of a deal.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Tom Who?

Well, since the Hot Stove flame seems like it is flickering and the off-season wheeling and dealing is moving a pace slower than this guy:

I figured I'd blog about something else.

This weekend, a Patriot QB did something no the other Patriot QB had ever done. (No, I'm not talking about marrying a pregnant girlfriend.) Matt Cassel threw for over 400 yards in two consecutive games. That is also more 400 yard games in a span of 2 games than Tom Brady has thrown in his career (or so I've hard, there is no snazzy Play-Index over at Football Reference like there is a Baseball Reference.) Cassel has really done a great job filling in for Brady during this injury. The Patriots still have a great shot of another championship. The Pats currently sit a game behind the Jets in the AFL East and tied with the Colts and Ravens in the Wild Card race at 7-4. Aside from this upcoming week against the Steelers, the remaining schedule is pretty easy. It looks like the Pats can easily finish the season at 12-4 or no worse than 11-5 which should easily clinch a playoff spot. However, the Patriots are no longer the sole winter team in Boston vying for our attention.



Although it is still early in their respective seasons, both the Celtics and Bruins are the top teams in their conferences. Usually nobody pays much attention to these two teams. However, since Kevin Garnett came to town, the Celtics have returned to being the force they were from a previous era:


Not only that, but the Bruins are actually fun to watch. They play fast, the play hard, they hit hard, and they score goals. I've never been much of a Bruin follower or a hockey watcher for that matter. Usually I'd start to tune into hockey come playoff time. There are less whistles and faster pace that is funner to watch during the playoffs. However, I actually did flick the channel over the Bruins game the other night against the Canadians. They were down 1-0 at that time, but came back to win in a shoot out. I can't remember the last time I flipped to that channel.

So, at least in Boston, we have some sports to keep us occuppied during this baseball void.

Oh, and since this is a baseball themed blog specifically tailored to the Boston Red Sox, there was a bit of news today. Rob Bradford at WEEI.com is reporting that the Red Sox opened negotiations with Jason Varitek by offering him a 1-year deal. If the story is true, I don't think that is an offer that is going to get a deal done. Maybe it is only a starting point, as according to Peter Gammons it doesn't appear that the fax machine dedicated toVaritek offers at the Boras office isn't exactly ringing off the hook.

I do hope that the Sox and Tek can work out a deal, possibly a 2-yr deal with a mutual option for a 3rd year, as I can't picture him in any other uniform but Red Sox.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Bye Bye Coco

The Red Sox have finally traded centerfielder Coco Crisp. They shipped him of to Kansas City (poor Coco) for reliever Ramon Ramirez.

At first I was a bit disappointed, because I thought, "Who the hell is Ramon Ramirez." But after look him up at Baseball-Reference, I saw that he is a quality middle reliever / set-up guy. This definately addresses on of the needs the Sox have in the bullpen. Additionally, this will allow Terry Francona the flexibility of having Justin Masterson go back into the rotation.

For Coco, it now gives him the chance to start everyday in center field. It also hands the Red Sox center field job to Jacoby Ellsbury, and will hopefully allow him to relax a bit knowing he doesn't have a player of Crisp's caliber waiting in the wings for failure.
Crisp was a good player for the Red Sox, and I enjoyed watching him roam center field. In 2007, I definetly think he was robbed of a gold glove award. Injuires played a factor in some of Crisp's medicore offensive output during some of his time here, but I hope he does well in Kansas City (poor Coco.)

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Congrats Dustin

Congrats to Dustin Pedroia. He was named the 2008 AL MVP. The first Red Sox player to win the award since Mo Vaughn back in 1995. Kevin Youkillis finshed 3rd. The 1st pair of Red Sox players to finish in the Top 3 in MVP since Roger Clemens won and Jim Rice finished 3rd back in 1986.

Free Agent Frenzy?

Now that players who filed for Free Agency are able to sign with any team, the transactions are flying fast and furious. (Note the sarcasm dripping from that sentence.) The action has been slower than anticipated, with the biggest news of the Yankees desperate attempt to make sure they sign Sabathia. Supposedly they have offered $140 million over 6 years and if that is only their initial offer, one has to wonder how high they will go. So far, the only free agent to change uniforms is Jeremy Affeldt. He will not be returning to Cincinnati, instead choosing to sign with the San Francisco Giants.


In Red Sox news, several Sox players and coaches are awaiting to hear some results. Bench coach Brad Mills and 3rd Base coach DeMarlo Hale both interviewed for the Seattle Mariners manager position. The Mariners are supposed to announce their selection today. Although, rumor has it that the Mariners will select Oakland A's bench coach Don Wakamatsu. Good luck to Mills and Hale.




Meanwhile, Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis are 2 of the top candidates for AL MVP. We will find out the winner around 2pm today. Even though I think Youk is more deserving, my guess is that Pedroia will be named AL MVP. Go Red Sox!

Steve had a nice post over at his The Boston Red Sox Blog about a Julio Lugo - Dontrelle Willis trade that may be in the works. I'd like that.

Finally, if you have never checked out this blog: U.S.S. Mariner, it is one of the best blogs around. Anyway, one of the creators of that blog is trying to win a college scholarship for bloggers. Here is his post about it. So, let's support our fellow baseball blogger, and help him win. Vote for David Cameron!! He was winning for a while, but is now about 200 votes behind.

Monday, November 10, 2008

No, I'm not going to complain about Jacoby Ellsbury not winning the RoY. Congrats to Evan Longoria and Geovany Soto for winning the AL and NL RoY, respectively (I’ve always wanted to write that.)

However, I have uncovered a discrepancy in the NL RoY Voting (and I’m not talking about Soto not winning unanimously, although he should have). What I am talking about is that there was a mysterious “extra” vote cast.

The following is the voting results taking from the MLB.com article posted here.

If you calculate all the votes from these results, you'll find that there were 97 votes tabulated here. Was this voting done somewhere in Florida? The voting is done by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Two writers from each city cast a vote for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place.

So for the 14 AL teams, there would be 2 writers from each city placing 3 votes or (14x2x3) which would get you 84 total votes. In the NL, since there are 16 teams, it would go (16x2x3) for 96 total votes. If you count all the votes from the results above, you get (GASP!) 97 votes. Additionally, 3 voters voted for an ineligible candidate! I demand an investigation.

Not only has voter fraud been seen in the political arena, but it has seeped into our National Pastime.

Oh the Travesty!