Why Albert Pujols Will Not Win Another MVP

Its not about the money, its about respect....and the money.

The Most Valuable Player award is supposed to go to the player who had the best season.  Now we know that doesn’t always happen.  For example, every Red Sox fan knows, even if they won’t admit it because thats just the way they are, there is no way Dustin Pedroia should have won the MVP in 2008.  He didn’t even have the best numbers on his own team! But this isn’t about the past.  There will be plenty of time to hammer everyone’s least favorite team.  This is about this year.  Who will be the new NL MVP?

Now the point of this exercise is not for me to pick who I want to be the MVP but who I predict will win.  Naming a winner is not a clear cut case of who had the best season.  It should be, but its not.  Too much emphasis is put on how the team as a whole does.  Instead of the best player winning the award it becomes the best player on the best team wins the award.  So, what I am saying is that other factors need to be considered besides who has the best numbers.

The Worst League’s MVP

Still Waiting On His MVP...

Oh, the Junior Circuit.  I’m doing my best not to be biased but I don’t care for A.L. baseball, hate most of the teams and don’t generally watch.  I’m qualified to pick an A.L MVP like Cordell Walker is a peaceful negotiator.  However, I’m going to do it anyways because, like David Eckstein, I do my damndest even if I’m completely unqualified.  Josh Hamilton won the award last year absolutely tearing the cover off the ball despite injuries and jumping on and off the wagon like a kid playing Oregon Trail. Actually I think he was sober all of last year, but that picture is just too good.  I think he has a lineup around him that will give him a serious chance at repeating, however there are numerous other candidates with a real chance at winning, and I’m not sure the Rangers will get the wins they piled up last year to support his bid.   Thus further discussion is necessary.

The Week Ahead…

No Caption, Just Love Leslie Nielsen

Thank the ghost of Nate Dogg baseball season is almost here.  With the start of the season we will be putting out some predictions about what we believe will happen in the coming season.  We generally have little to no basis for our predictions other than our Frank Drebin like poor instincts and Darwin Award-like intelligence.  Three dead people references in one paragraph!  Anyways, we will make the predictions starting with the MVP races, followed by Cy Young, Breakout players, guy you will hate by the end of the year, division winners, and World Series Champs.  Hopefully we can spark some conversation, or argument.  If not, well then we’re geniuses and got it all right.

Why are we so bothered?

Trust me guys, cheating is cool.

Allow me to preface this.  I don’t agree with what Barry Bonds, Raphael Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa, Mark Mcgwire or any of the other juice-heads did.  The peddling of illegal drugs doesn’t interest me, and I’m in a profession where I see lives destroyed by drugs on a regular basis.  I don’t differentiate between steroids and the methamphetamines ruining our rural areas, or the cocaine and heroin tearing apart our inner cities.  Is heroin still a problem?  The Lizard King says yes.  For those of you skeptical of steroids being put into this category, tell that to the family of “The Canadian Crippler,” or the Marerro family.  Steroids are a drug, and a drug which can lead to heavy depression with dangerous and violent results.  For that reason I detest steroids.  However, from a strictly baseball standpoint, I actually don’t understand what all the fuss is about.   Is this really a game where we abhor cheating?  Really? (Editor’s note, I hate Tony Danza strictly because he was a pretend second baseman for the Cardinals).

Kicked to the Curb

Now that Cubs have made the decision to add Andrew Cashner as the club’s fifth the starter the question becomes what do they do with Carlos Silva?  Obviously, they are going to try to trade him but I don’t have any confidence that Hendry is going to pull it off.  At this point in his career Silva is an emergency pitcher.  He is the kind of guy you keep around in case one of your top five goes down with injury.  This statement creates a couple of problems.

The first is that Silva is owed 11.5 million dollars this year.  Who is going to accept that kind of salary from their 6th or 7th starter.  Even if the Cubs do unload him it will most likely be under the condition that they pick up the bulk of that number.

Royals fans, hire a chiropractor….

Hanley Ramirez thought this was a poor effort

God Bless the Kansas City Royals.  God Bless them as hard as he/she/it possibly can.  Last year the Royals absolutely tore the cover off the ball, you know for the Royals.  They were second in the AL in batting average and hits, however most of their hits went only for singles, and strictly when nobody was on base.  They had a serious problem getting runners in, to the clip of  Tenth in the AL in runs scored.  Michael Jordan had more RBI’s in his one season as a Baron than all but 3 players in a Royals uniform in 2010.  Really let that sink in.  They were second in the league in hits, and Michael Jordan, a .202 hitter, had more RBI’s than did any Royal not named Butler (78), Betancourt (78), or Guillen (62) in 2010, and he took time off to save the Looney Tunes.  And this was the bright spot.  Royals pitching in 2010?  Dead last in ERA, and it wasn’t close.  This is a sinking ship.  So when there’s a hole in the side of a sinking ship what do you do? If you said bore a hole in the other side of the ship to, you know, even it out, you are more than qualified to captain the S.S. Kansas City Royals.

Now What Barry?

There are two things in this world that I know for sure:  1.  Evolution is real 2.  Barry Bonds knowingly used performance enhancers.  Now, I know number one is still up for debate is some of the neckier parts of the country but I think number two is something we can all agree on.  This case is now actually going to trial and Barry is screwed.  Nobody in their right mind is going to believe that he took the drugs unknowingly.  Maybe if the prosecution accidentally put a racist on the stand he would have a shot, but I can’t imagine the Feds making the same mistake as L.A. county.

So what is he supposed to do now.  Its too late to get a good deal so I guess he just has to stick with his story to the end right?  Maybe not.  I thought ESPN’s Mike Salk brought up an interesting point the other day:  blame the system.  I know, I know.  Just bear with me for a minute.  I said the same thing.  Sure its completely bullshit but the more I think about it the more I think that it could work.

So happy I almost cried

I am a manager guy.  I love when baseball is played in my perceived “right way” where you string together a couple hits with a sacrifice and a stolen base for a big inning.  I love when a pitcher gets five straight ground outs, or gives up a big fly and then hits the guy in the ribs for admiring it the next time he’s at the dish.  I love the little games that go back and forth between the dugouts throughout a contest, and then watching the managers act like they aren’t stealing signs.  I am a manager guy.  As such I have a very definitive mental ranking as far as my favorite managers go throughout the Bigs.  First, and by so far he’s not getting caught, is the genius Ron Gardenhire.  The Twins take the field year after year and win.  Morneau’s out for the season? Who cares we’ll make the playoffs with Jason Kubel and Delmon Young picking up the slack.  Trading away our ace? Gardy knew what he was doing.  My second favorite manager has always been in flux.  Before today it was Mike Scioscia after I watched him get the heave-ho in a Spring Training game earlier this week, and the report came out that not a single pitcher under his watchful eye has had Tommy John surgery during his 11 year tenure with the Angels.  Hell, Doc Sadler of Nebraska basketball can’t even boast that kind of streak.  When it hasn’t been Scioscia it’s been Joe Maddon of the Rays, Tyrone Biggums for the Rangers, or Bobby Cox who I’m going to miss this year.  However a new sheriff strode into town today blowing away the competition like a Candygram for Mongo.

What Chemistry?

Admittedly, I am a Cubs fan.  I am not trying to hide it.  Its not all I am going to talk about but make no mistake I love this team and hate this team and really enjoy complaining about this team.  So get used to it.  Really, everyone should enjoy Cubs talk even if you aren’t a fan.  Who doesn’t like to watch a group of frustrated people collectively curse and pull their hair out for six months a year?  (Notice I am not counting October)

Ok, now that that is out of the way we can get to the important stuff.  Baseball people understand how team oriented this game is.  I know that much of the game is made up of little individual battles (batter v. pitcher, pitcher v. runner, manager v. manager, and on and on) but every team as a whole has a kind of chemistry to it whether its good or bad.  The teams that have good chemistry seem to win more than the others.  That’s just the way it goes.

Take the Red Sox teams in the mid 00’s.  Manny popping his head in an out of the scoreboard while everyone laughed and Big Papi’s gigantic smile are the images that pop into my head when I think about that team.  They seemed to really enjoy being around each other and that transferred to the field.  This isn’t a new idea.  Remember the “We Are Family” Pittsburgh Pirates of  ’79 (I don’t actually “remember” because I wasn’t alive yet but you get the point).

Who We Are

Welcome to Kill Whitey (Herzog)

This is a blog about Major League Baseball.  We are not experts, nor will we ever claim to be, thus we can’t promise any deep expert analysis, or over the top statistical evaluations.  Further, we aren’t journalists, thus we can’t promise any inside scoops or breaking news from the locker rooms.  Lastly, we aren’t professional ballplayers, thus don’t anticipate insight into the minds of players or anecdotes from our playing days.  What we are, however, is assholes who love this game of baseball.  Kill Whitey (Herzog) is a blog for fans who really care about the game and do their best thinking with a couple beers in them.  Share your opinions as long as they are like ours:  strong and based on little to no research.  Enjoy.

BK & NB