Yelling About Baseball

If you follow baseball, it’s no secret that Burnett was a huge bust with the Yankees. After having career years in Toronto before packing his bags and putting on the Pinstripes, his career was never really the same.

A huge reason why Burnett’s time in New York was such a “bust” because people over hyped him. In 2008, before coming over to New York, his record was an impressive 18-10. However, his ERA was just a smidge above 4. The Yankees seem to have always been in playoff contention, so any added player that could “bolster” their team, everyone expects them to be on fire.

In his time as a Yankee, Burnett went 34-35. In 2009 he was 13-9 with a 4.04 ERA. Realistically, not very bad at all. Saying that he played in AL East is the reason he had an ERA over 4 does not work; Toronto Blue Jays are also in that division.

2010: 10-15
2011: 11-11

Both seasons he had an ERA over 5. It doesn’t help that he’s been notorious for giving up a good amount of home runs because he’s a hard thrower. So putting him into Yankee Stadium with that infamous short right field, as well as the field as a whole being smaller than most, probably contributed to his higher home run total, thus his raised ERA.

In actuality, Burnett has always been a good pitcher. Just good. A number 3-5 starter on most teams. He may be an Ace on a handful of teams, but on a team like the Yankees, being anything higher than No. 3 in the rotation, or expecting him to be that high, is a bit ridiculous.

The lowest ERA he ever recorded in a season with more than 25 starts was in 2002. 7 years before the Yankees acquired him. And it was 3.30. Very good, but nothing to really turn your head. After that, he hovered between 3.70 and 4.00 in just about every season, aside from 2005’s 3.44 ERA performance.

Ergo, expecting Burnett to go 19-8 with an ERA under 3, which it seems a lot of people were expecting to happen, was not a good idea. Even the 18-10 record of 2008 should have thrown up red flags; a W-L record means nothing, especially if in that season, the pitcher had an ERA over 4. That means that he was backed by a lot of offense, or pitched VERY well when he won, and pitched terribly when he lost.

Before his 18-10 season? Let’s look at his other W-L records in previous seasons:

2007: 10-8
2006: 10-8
2005: 12-12
*2004: 7-6
*2003: 0-2
2002: 12-9

*2004 and 2003 were shortened seasons for him.

Now, even if you believe that W-L is a great way to measure a pitcher’s talent, before 2008, he wasn’t a star pitcher. 2008 was a career year for wins and strikeouts. His WHIP was 1.34, he walked a lot, and he actually gave up more runs in 2008 than 2009.

Bottom line? I’ll admit that Burnett really slumped in a Yankees uniform. At least, in 2010 and 2011. But he was never an Ace and never should have been treated like one, or expected to pull numbers that were numbers he never attained, even in his 2008 performance, which arguably, while it was a career season, wasn’t that good.

So, to get to the point of this article: Why would Burnett flourish in Pittsburgh?

Pittsburgh is the MLB’s smallest marketing team. They are also rebuilding, so to speak. There are low expectations for the team, much less eyes on him, and a weaker division to pitch in.

You can look at his stats and grimace, or you can be rational. He’s 1-2 with an ERA of 8.04. He must have started off the season terribly!

Well, in only one start.

In his first start, he pitched 7 innings, gave up 3 hits and no runs while striking out 7. Great, right? Second start, 6 innings, 6 hits, 2 runs and 8 strikeouts. Not bad at all. After two starts, his ERA was 1.38. he had struckout 15 and walked 5 in 13 innings of work. The walks could be a bit lower, but that’s Burnett for you; he walks a lot.

In his third start is where he got knocked around.

He pitched 2.2 innings while giving up a sky high 12 runs on 12 hits. There’s where his ERA came from.

Now, when your pitcher is struggling, you generally don’t leave them in there to struggle even more. When you realize that he’s not up to his usual stuff, you pull him. Not Pittsburgh!

They left him out to dry, and let Burnett get shelled more than he should have. One explanation could be because in the game before, Pittsburgh’s starter only lasted 4.1 innings, and the bullpen after him gave up 5 runs. It’s entirely possible the bullpen was depleted and they were hoping to get a couple more innings out of Burnett, and it just didn’t happen.

As you may have been able to guess, his last start was fully situational. Not to mention that he was pitching against a strong Cardinal’s offense that had Carlos Beltran “Belting” 2 home runs off of him.

I think Burnett will pitch decently in a Pirates uniform. I don’t expect him to pull All-Star numbers or Cy Young numbers, but they will be good numbers for a team that has little expectations overall. And that will be a great thing for Burnett.

Not everyone can handle The Big Stage.

I follow baseball quite extensively. In my spare time, if I’m not hanging with friends, playing music, or occasionally playing a video game, I like to read up on baseball, current and old.

It’s come to my attention that a lot of San Francisco Giants fans are accusing Matt Kemp of using steroids because he’s already hit 9 home runs this season.

Just because Barry Bonds roided it up to hit the long ball, doesn’t mean Matt Kemp is as well.

That is all.

- Sincerely, NOT a Dodgers fan whatsoever.

Andy Pettitte throws one inning. One inning. And they write a whole article on how “strong” his outing was.

I know that Andy Pettitte is a big name pitcher in baseball history. I know that he’ll have strong consideration for Hall of Fame voting.

But his “strong outing” was one inning, in which he gave up a single. I was thinking more along the lines of 5 scoreless innings with a hit or two, maybe a walk.

Not one measly inning with a hit. Most pitchers don’t get told it was a “strong outing” if they come out, pitch one inning with a hit, and that’s it.

I’m sorry to my followers with my ranting, but ESPN has the biggest East bias I have ever seen, with the Yankees, Red Sox, and Phillies basically all they ever talk about. Need an article? Why not write about a Yankee pitcher coming back and throwing one inning, but make it sound like he was strong and pitched very well? Throwing 10 pitches deserves recognition you know.

Let it be known, I’ve always liked Andy Pettitte, and it’s nothing against him. But seriously now, ESPN has some strong bias and recently their articles are getting a little ridiculous.

Continuing with the predictions, here is the National League Central edition of it.

1. St. Louis Cardinals: 93-69
2. Milwaukee Brewers: 86-76
3. Cincinatti Reds: 83-79
4. Chicago Cubs: 77-85
5. Pittsburgh Pirates: 72-90
6. Houston Astros: 68-94

With Adam Wainwright back in the Cardinal’s rotation, Chris Carpenter and Wainwright will be a formidable one two punch in the front of the rotation. Jake Westbrook must keep his ERA and WHIP down if he wants to keep the rotation strong, though. Even though they lost Albert Pujols, the addition of Carlos Beltran helps the wounds a bit, and they can look ahead to getting a younger first baseman to man it, as Pujols is past his prime, regardless of his level of skill and power.

The loss of Prince Fielder is a heavy blow to the Brewers lineup. Fielder slugged 38 home runs and 120 RBIs last season, so filling that hole will be a hard thing for the Brewers to heal from. However, the Brewers have a much deeper lineup than one would think. A lineup consisting of Ryan Braun, Corey Hart, Rickie Weeks, Aramis Ramirez, and Alex Gonzalez is nothing to take lightly. Their main strength is the quality of their rotation, with Yovani Gallardo, Zack Greinke, Shaun Marcum, and the emergence of John Axford as a superb closer could have them take the Central crown away from the Cardinals, but with the loss of Fielder, one should expect their power numbers to take a hefty drop from last season. If they want to keep in contention, their rotation and bullpen need to be in tip-top shape.

The Reds have a great team, but tapered off last season and fell of the charts it seems. Joey Votto continues to be one of the league’s best hitters, but until the Reds get him better protection and more depth to their lineup, they won’t be going too many places. Another team that must rely on their rotation and bullpen shining to counteract the down power numbers. They did score the 7th most runs in the league, but also gave up the 11th most runs, but with some players having career years, one shouldn’t expect the same numbers as last year, though they are very possible.

The lovable Cubs try, you have to give them that. Starlin Castro is proving to be a future superstar, and if the Cubs can lock him up, it’ll be a great step in the right direction. Alfonso Soriano is still one of the games best outfielders, David DeJesus is a good player, but aside from those, their offense is lacking something awful. Couple that with a lacking rotation, there isn’t any clearer answer than these guys will have to have players with career years and consistently good numbers to make it anywhere.

It seems like the Pirates surprised people last year by doing surprising decent, compared to their usual terrible seasons. They even lead their division for a short time in the first few months of the season, but they fell apart rather quickly. They finished last in nearly every offensive category, and still ended the season rather disappointingly. They acquired A.J Burnett in the offseason from the Yankees, but whether that is a pro or con is a subject to debate. Andrew McCutchen and his pals will have to deal with yet another down season.

The Astros actually had better offense than the Pirates last season, but it was their pitching that ruined them…aside from their still terrible offense. Giving up the third most runs in the entire league will do that. On a batting average standpoint, they were 10th overall, which isn’t bad. But a team needs more than batting average to make their offense numbers count.

Predictions for the NL Central. What are your predictions?

Over in Texas, they’re liking what they see with what they gambled for.

Yu Darvish, the young Japanese pitching phenom, has proved to be a force to be reckoned with in his new team’s uniform in the states. In his final Cactus League start of Spring Training, he pitched 6 innings, giving up 3 runs on 6 hits, but striking out 11 and walking only 1. 6 of those strikeouts came on the superstars Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez; three a piece.

Darvish finished the spring with a 1-0 record in 4 starts, respectable 3.60 ERA, 21 K’s and 8 walks. He held batters to a .226 batting average, and had a WHIP of 1.33. If Darvish can control his pitches a little better and cut back on his walks (8 walks in 15 innings), he will definitely shine with the Rangers. If his last outing of 11 K’s/1 BB is indication that he’s worked on his control over the spring, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him in the Top 10 for K’s at the end of the season, barring any injuries.

Continuing this series of division predictions, here is my numbers and opinions for the National League East.

1. Philadelphia Phillies: 96-66
2. Washington Nationals: 86-76
3. Miami Marlins: 83-79
4. Atlanta Braves: 82-80
5. New York Mets: 70-92

The Phillies are still the most talented team in the division, holding the elite rotation of Halladay, Lee, and Hamels. The biggest problem they have is their infield being in shambles: Utley and Howard are injured, with Howard slated to miss a large portion of the season, leaving Wigginton, Thome, and other backup players to fill in the hole at first. Other than that, you can’t really go too wrong with this team. However, the majority of their star players are getting older. They need to find young replacements, and quickly, before it’s too late.

The Nationals are getting such a huge facelift. Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Edwin Jackson, Bryce Harper, and a slew of other players are hopefully going to lead the team somewhere. If Jayson Werth can retain his former glory, Stras’ can pitch like a bona fide ace, with Gio and Edwin pitching like their usual selves, and their players fall into place, they can have a postseason worthy team. The only problem is taking down the mighty Phillies.

There is no doubt that the Miami Marlins are expected to do well this season, but I just don’t see it. After watching a number of spring training games, it doesn’t look like the team has clicked just yet, seeing as almost half of the team was acquired in the offseason. With the inane managing of Ozzie Guillen, one can only wonder where they will go. I predict a slow start, and a second half surge once they get clicking on all cylinders, but it won’t save them in time.

I feel bad for ranking the Braves so low, but in their defense, Miami and Washington has really fortified their team, whereas the Braves have not done much moving around. I would be lying, however, if their late season collapse didn’t factor into my predictions, as well as their spring training blunderings.

I think the last place winners is a no brainer with the New York Mets. Losing Jose Reyes was a big blow in the infield and the offense. As they made no big offseason acquisitions or trades, they are basically the same team as last season, without Reyes. In their defense, much like the Braves, the teams ahead of them have made big time moves, so it’s not quite fair to them.

There you go, my NL predictions. What are yours?

I’m not sure how many of you enjoy or partake in Fantasy baseball, but here is my team for this season (in no order of draft #)

C - Mike Napoli (TEX)
1B - Eric Hosmer (KYC)
2b - Rickie Weeks (MIL)
3B - Evan Longoria (TB)
SS - Jhonny Peralta (DET)
OF - Matt Holiday (STL)
OF - Coco Crisp (OAK)
OF - Carlos Lee (HOU)
UTIL - Yadier Molina (STL)
UTIL - Martin Prado (ATL)
P - Doug Fister (DET)
P - Brandon Morrow (TOR)
P - Tim Stauffer (SD)
P - Justin Verlander (DET)
P - David Price (TB)
P - Ian Kennedy (ARI)
P - Jose Valverde (DET)
P - Heath Bell (MIA)

Bench:
Josh Willingham (MIN)
Yunel Escobar (TOR)
Matt Joyce (TB)
Yoenis Cespedes (OAK)
Gavin Floyd (CHW)


Not bad I suppose. Valverde and Heath Bell were chosen because SV’s in my league give you a good number of points, so I made sure to pick up some reliable closers. Cespedes was my last draft pick as my “gamble” draft. I thought about taking Yu Darvish as my gambling draft, but he was drafted in the middle.

The Detroit Tigers fanboy in me kinda shines here, but I believe they will do good for me regardless. My only concern is Doug Fister, as he is a groundball pitcher, and with the current infield defense of the Tigers being pretty sub-par, he may not do as well as I hope.

Does anyone else do Fantasy? Share your teams!

Following the trend of my last two predictions, here are my predictions for the American League West Division:

1. Texas Rangers: 93-69
2. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim - 91-71
3. Seattle Mariners: 75-87
4. Oakland Athletics: 67-95

The Texas Rangers lost ace C.J Wilson to their division rival Angels, but picked up Japanese phenom Yu Darvish to replace him, a replacement that may well have been a large increase in talent. There’s no denying the sheer power they have with their bats, a lineup that includes Micheal Young, Josh Hamilton, Mike Napoli, Nelson Cruz, Ian Kinsler, etc etc. All are batters who are capable of hitting 30+ HR’s next season (except maybe Young), and can also hit for average, so they are a force to be reckoned with. They will be battling for the top spot in their division against…

The Los Angeles Angels made the biggest offseason signing of the year when they signed Sir Albert Pujols and then added to it by acquiring the aforementioned C.J Wilson. The Angels have a dynamite rotation that can remind you of the force that the Phillies have. A rotation that consists of Jared Weaver, Dan Haren, C.J Wilson, Ervin Santana, they are ready to roll. Weaver, Haren and Wilson can all win 15+ games and post ERA’s hovering around 3. With the emergence of Mark Trumbo and Erick Aybar being one of the best shortstops in the game, not to mention the veterans in Bobby Abreu, Torii Hunter and Vernon Wells, this team will be going places for a couple of years. I wouldn’t be surprised if they beat out the Rangers, but we haven’t seen how well Pujols and Wilson can play for their new club, so they stay at second place.

The Seattle Mariners, in my opinion, have a better team than what their record suggests. They have a respectable rotation fronted by Felix Hernandez and Jason Vargas, and with the addition of Jesus Montero, they could surprise some people and turn their heads. With the blockbuster bust of Chone Figgins, and Ichiro having a down year last season, it looks like some of their stars are on the decline. With the emergence of Justin Smoak, Miguel Olivo, and the acquisition of Casper Wells from the Tigers, their bats may ignite a lot more than the past couple of years of their weak offense. But playing in a division with the power hungry Angels and Rangers will take it’s toll on the team.

Moneyball brought in extra interest for the team, but it’ll take more than interest to get the Oakland Athletics into the black. After trading away Gio Gonzalez and Trevor Cahill, their rotation is lacking something awful. Dallas Braden, Brandon McCarthy, and offseason acquisition Bartolo Colon seem to be the main core of the rotation, which could be worse. The worst part, however, is their lack of offense. Yoenis Cespedes may produce some great offense, but there is little to no guarantee he’ll do anything of the sort. Manny’s back, but as he reaches 40, who knows what he can do? Coco Crisp and Jemile Weeks do, however, have the talent to hit for average and swipe 40 bags, so if the A’s want to get some scoring done, their going to have to rely on their legs to get them around the bases instead of their bats. Their W-L is so weighted because of the uncertainties of their offseason acquisitions.

Those are my AL West predictions, what are yours?

As with my last post on the AL East predictions, here are how I feel the AL Central will play out this season.

1. Detroit Tigers: 98-64
2. Kansas City Royals - 84-78
3. Cleveland Indians - 79-83
4. Minnesota Twins - 72-90
5. Chicago White Sox - 70-92

Detroit Tigers are by far the favorite to win the division, within good reason. They have a rotation that has Justin Verlander, Doug Fister, Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello, and an unnamed fifth starter. They’re all young; not a single pitcher is over the age of 30. Verlander has given a strong argument to be the best pitcher in baseball, Fister went 8-1 when he was traded from Seattle to Detroit. In the lineup, spots from #2 to #8 are chockful of power and talent. Boesch, Cabrera, Fielder, Young, Avila, Peralta, and Raburn all batting in the same lineup? This team is going far.

The Kansas City Royals are shaping up to be a great team. With the emergence of Hosmer and Moustakas, the doubles machine Billy Butler, and the entire team being full of young and eager talent, I wouldn’t be surprised if they gave the Tigers a bit of trouble throughout the season. However, they lack a big name ace in the rotation, aside from Jonathan Sanchez, and really a big name player in general, so it’s hard to peg how well they’ll really do.

The Cleveland Indians are…an odd bunch. When they traded for Ubaldo Jimenez, it seemed like that was the missing piece to their puzzle, yet they still finished the season under .500 after dominating the first half. When their team is good, they’re good. When they’re bad…well you get the picture. Asdrubal Cabrera, we must remember, had a career year last season, and never did much before last season, so depending on his bat and defense to lead the team isn’t a sure bet.

The Twins had an abysmal season in 2011, and I don’t think they’re out of that hole just yet. With the loss of Jason Kubel, arguably the only player on the team last season that had any real success, and the still uncertainty of Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, this team is poised to have another bad season.

The Chicago White Sox…oh man. It looks like the team has been stripped down and is entering a rebuilding stage. If Adam Dunn doesn’t shape up, Gordon Beckham doesn’t bring back his former glory, and their rotation missing Buehrle can’t keep up…losing 100 games doesn’t seem too far fetched.

Those are my predictions. What are yours?

I made predictions for each division as soon as the offseason started on my personal blog, but with the new signings and tradings going on, I feel like doing new predictions should be done, starting with the AL East.

1. New York Yankees - 95-67
2. Tampa Bay Rays - 92-70
3. Toronto Blue Jays - 86-76
4. Boston Red Sox - 84-78
5. Baltimore Orioles - 70-92

It’s hard to deny that the Yankees are still one of the best teams in baseball, and just barely the best in their division.

The Rays have shown to have one of the best and youngest rotations in the league, led by James “CG” Shields, David Price, ROY of ‘11 Jeremy Helickson, Wade Davis, and the young phenom Matt Moore. The only two rotations that come to mind that are anywhere near or better than the Rays would be the Angels and the elite rotation of the Phillies.

Ever since Jose Bautista exploded in Toronto, they have been a team with a postseason appearance just waiting to happen if they built around him. As he gets better, and the rotation starts to shape up with Brandon Morrow and Ricky Romero, they can play a good spoiler and may have a shot at making it into the postseason.

Boston is going downhill, and will be for some time. With the addition of Adrian Gonzalez in the 2010 offseason, it seemed that the team would shine in offense, which they did. The problem lies with the abysmal talent in the bullpen and disappointing rotation last season. With the loss of Papelbon, where the Red Sox will end up doesn’t seem promising.

And the Orioles are the Orioles; lackluster and doomed to playing in the toughest division in baseball. They are slowly getting better and more polished with their players, as Matt Wieters is proving to be a premier catcher.


I expect a good battle between the Yankees and Rays for the top spot in the division, but the Blue Jays are my “sleeper” team in the division. What are your predictions?