Kuzul

When I die, I want to come back and be Dr. James Andrews for a day. How unbelievable must it be to be the preferred doctor of every team and every athlete in North America? I would put his wall of fame up against anyone on the planet.

I guess being on the Dr. James Andrews’ wall of fame is not such a good thing for a player. Visiting Dr. Andrews usually means surgery is around the corner. Arizona Diamondbacks’ OF Justin Upton was added to the wall on Monday and is hoping that he doesn’t suffer the same fate as the other patients of Dr. Andrews.

Upton traveled to Birmingham, Ala. on Monday to get a second opinion on his aching left shoulder. Upton got an original diagnosis on his shoulder in early-Sept., which revealed no serious injury.

Upton originally hurt the shoulder in an Aug. 30 game against the San Diego Padres. He has only had seven ABs since.

The injury ends what I would say would be a disappointing season for Upton. I thought Upton would challenge for the MVP award, but injuries and a really slow start derailed Upton’s season.

Upton will end the season with a .273/.356/.442 slash line with 17 HRs and 17 SBs. That’s compared to a .300/.366/.532 slash line last season with 26 HRs and 20 SBs.

The reason for Upton’s down season?

Well, for one, I would say injuries. And two, I would say the increased amount of changeups Upton saw this season.

Upton really struggled against the changeup this season, producing a -4.8 wCH against the pitch this season. That was good for 14th-worst against that pitch in baseball this season. Due to his struggles, Upton saw a four percent increase on seeing that pitch in 2010.

If Upton can enter the 2011 season healthy, I would expect him to have a season more like 2009 than the one he had in 2010.

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It took the Texas Rangers 11 years, but they are back in the playoffs.

With their 4-3 victory over the Oakland A’s on Saturday, the Rangers clinched their first division title since 1999 and now will have a chance to do something they have never done before—win the World Series.

Of course, the keys for the Rangers as they head to the postseason:

A. Health

B. The starting rotation

When I say health, I really mean Josh Hamilton.

Hamilton hasn’t played since colliding with the outfield wall and injuring his ribs in a game against the Minnesota Twins on September 4. He hopes to play in a game this week, but if he is not ready to go, that will be a big blow to the Rangers lineup.

As I wrote last week, the Rangers lineup without Hamilton doesn’t look nearly as imposing as with him in it. David Murphy and Julio Borbon are nice players, but no Hamilton.

The other question I have about the Rangers heading into the postseason is who is going to step up after Cliff Lee? C.J. Wilson has had a great season, but he has showed signs of slowing down in September (5.24 ERA and over a hit per inning against).

Remember, Wilson coming into this season never threw more than 73.2 innings in a season. He is approaching 200 innings this year. If the Rangers are going to go deep into the playoffs, Wilson might have to throw 230 innings this season. That is a huge increase in workload.

One last thing I want to say about the Rangers is congratulations to Michael Young. After playing in over 1,500 games in his career, Young will be heading to the playoffs for the first time in his career.

Young is one of the good guys in the game and one of my favorite players in baseball. Good for him.

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Ichiro Suzuki just keeps hitting and hitting and hitting.

No matter the year, you can bank on the New York Yankees having a winning record, Albert Pujols hitting 30 plus HR’s, and Ichiro getting 200 hits.

With two hits on Thursday, Ichiro became the first player in major league history to collect 200 hits in 10 straight seasons. He now is tied with Pete Rose for the most 200-hit seasons in baseball history.

Rose’s 200-hit seasons were spaced out over 15 years, which makes Ichiro’s accomplishments all the more impressive. Ichiro now has 2,230 hits in 10 seasons. Now the question remains: Is Ichiro a first-ballot Hall of Famer?

The answer is 100 percent yes.

When I first saw Ichiro hit back in the spring of 2001, I though there was no chance he would have the same success in the major leagues as he did in Japan. Up until that point, I never saw a hitter try to run and hit the ball at the same time.

Sure, it’s common in softball, but in baseball trying to hit a 85 mph slider? No way. Boy, was I dead wrong.

Ichiro is fascinating and probably the most unique hitter in the history of the game. The way he can get a running start, keep his hands back, and hit an outside fastball going 95 mph almost defies logic.

What is even more amazing about Ichiro is that if you have ever watched him in batting practice, he can hit the ball as far as anyone. If he wanted to change his game completely, he probably could hit 20 HR’s a year. That just tells you what kind of hitter he is.

Ichiro is easily in the top five of the best pure hitters that I have ever seen (last 25 years). He is right up there with Tony Gwynn, Wade Boggs, Edgar Martinez, and Paul Molitor.

Ichiro is unquestionably a first-ballot Hall of Famer. The only question that remains is when it is all said and done, is Ichiro the greatest hitter of all time?

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A couple of weeks ago, I wrote that Jered Weaver was very, very quietly having a Cy Young-caliber season.

Well, it just so happens that the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have another pitcher who is very, very quietly having a solid season—not a Cy Young-caliber season, but a very solid season.

Angels pitcher Ervin Santana tossed the very rare complete game shutout on Tuesday night against the first place Texas Rangers. Santana gave up just five hits (all singles, by the way), walked just one, and struck out eight over his nine innings of work.

Santana didn’t induce a lot of swings and misses (only eight swings and misses out of 117 pitches thrown), but as you will see from his pitch plot below, Santana kept the ball away from lefties and did a great job of busting the righties in on the plate.

Santana improved to the quietest 17-9 on the season. After an injury-plagued 2008 season in which he only made 23 starts and had an ERA over five, Santana has really had a nice bounce-back season in 2010.

Santana’s stuff isn’t as good as it was in 2008, but he is getting by with one of the best sliders in the American League (12.3 wSL) and an improved BABIP. Hitters have a .291 average on balls in play off Santana, which is in line with what it was back in 2008 (.302). Last year, hitters had a .330 average on balls in play off Santana.

Many may not know it because the Angels have uncharacteristically fallen out of the playoff race, but Santana has quietly had a very good season in 2010.

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In need of a general manager, the Arizona Diamondbacks went out and got someone who knows the National League West very well.

The Diamondbacks introduced former San Diego Padres’ GM Kevin Towers as their new GM and third full-time GM in their history on Wednesday. Towers replaces Jerry Dipoto, who was the interim GM.

This move represents another talent swap between the Diamondbacks and Padres.

Jeff Moorad went from being the partial owner of the Diamondbacks to the CEO of the Padres. AJ Hinch, who managed the Diamondbacks and was fired by Arizona in July, is now the VP of Professional Scouting for the Padres. And now Towers is going from the Padres to the Diamondbacks.

I really like this move by the Diamondbacks. I thought Towers got a raw deal in San Diego and did his job very well despite having a terrible ownership situation the majority of the time.

Towers certainly has his work cut out for him taking this position. He takes over a franchise that has a mediocre at best minor league system and has finished last in the NL West the last two seasons.

He does have a good nucleus at the major league level to work with. Justin Upton, Stephen Drew, Mark Reynolds, Miguel Montero, and Daniel Hudson is a good group to build around.

Towers’ three immediate priorities should be replenishing the minor league system with talent, deciding whether or not to keep Kirk Gibson as manager (I think he should), and figuring out how to fix the Diamondbacks’ bullpen. The Diamondbacks have the worst bullpen by far in the majors this season. Towers built very good bullpens in San Diego, so perhaps he can do the same in Arizona.

Towers was signed a two-year deal by Arizona with a couple of option years.

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The one constant thing I have said about the Texas Rangers all season is that the only thing that can hold them back would be injuries.

Despite the acquisitions of Jorge Cantu, Cristian Guzman, and Bengie Molina—all of whom haven’t worked out, by the way—the Rangers’ roster isn’t as deep as it might appear at first.

The Rangers need all their pieces in place offensively if they are going to get by the New York Yankees or Minnesota Twins in the first round of the playoffs. They are going to especially need OF Josh Hamilton to be healthy once the playoffs start.

Hamilton was diagnosed yesterday with a small stable fracture in his seventh and eighth ribs. He was given an anti-inflammatory injection at the site of the discomfort and an epidural nerve-block injection to manage the pain. All told, Hamilton received six injections yesterday.

That sounds awesome.

What won’t be awesome is if Hamilton can’t go in the first round of the playoffs. Julio Borbon and David Murphy are nice seat fillers, but without Hamilton in the middle of that Rangers lineup, it doesn’t look nearly as formidable.

Murphy is having a nice season (.291/.357/.447 with 11 HRs), and the Boston Red Sox certainly could have used him this year (Murphy was traded to the Rangers in the Eric Gagne trade), but having him in the three hole or having Hamilton in the three hole is the difference between the taste of fried chicken and steamed chicken.

Hamilton won’t know if the shots were effective until about tomorrow. If everything works out, he is hoping to play a couple of games during the final week of the season.

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Another year, another playoff birth for one of the model franchises in baseball.

With their 6-4 win over the Cleveland Indians, coupled with the Chicago White Sox losing to the Oakland A’s, the Minnesota Twins have clinched the American League Central title and their sixth AL Central title in nine years.

The Twins were down 3-1 to Fausto Carmona and the Indians, but rallied for a run in the sixth knocking Carmona out of the game and then laid the smackdown on Justin Masterson with four runs in the eighth to secure the win. Just another solid win for the team that has the second best record in baseball.

That’s all this franchise does is win. No drama, no silly pitcher’s rules that take up 90 percent of the air time on the radio, no management issues, and no off the field issues that take away from the on-field accomplishments.

The Twins are a machine.

The Twins draft the right players and more importantly, they bring in the right players. The best example of this would be Jim Thome, who just happened to hit his 25th HR last night.

Nobody wanted Thome this offseason, so the Twins brought him in on a one-year, $1.5 contract to be a left-handed power source off the bench and to occasionally be a DH against right-handed pitching.

All Thome has done this year is put up a hitting line of .280/.412/.631 with 25 HR’s. He’s been worth about $14 million to the Twins this year according to Fangraphs.

However, it’s not so much the production on the field that made the Thome signing so valuable. It’s what he brings to the table off the field that made the Thome signing so valuable.

Thome is a solid guy. He’s a great clubhouse guy. He’s a leader. He’s pretty much everything the Twins look for in a player.

That’s why the Twins win.

The Twins are going to need Thome and the rest of the lineup to continue to step up like they have been in the absence of Justin Morneau in the playoffs. There is a slight chance Morneau might make it back for the playoffs, but concussions are a sensitive subject and I wouldn’t bet my life on his return.

It’s a tall task to ask a team to win a World Series without their second best offensive player, but if any team can do it, it will be the Twins.

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There was a lot going on yesterday with the New York Yankees.

They played the Tampa Bay Rays last night in a battle for first place in the American League East. Before the game, they honored George Steinbrenner with a massive plaque in monument park.

Part of the Steinbrenner celebration was the fact that the Yankees brought back Don Mattingly and Joe Torre to take part in the festivities. There has been a lot of animosity between Torre and the Yankees since Torre left, so this was a big deal.

During the afternoon, Torre and Mattingly were on the Mike Francesa show on WFAN. During the interview, Torre mentioned that he would be open to managing the New York Mets.

Apparently this didn’t sit well with the current Mets’ manager, Jerry Manuel.

In an interview with the New York Daily News, Manuel said, “I find it curious when someone comments about a job that someone already has. You question the integrity. That’s what comes to my mind.”

I couldn’t agree with Manuel more.

Listen, we all know that Manuel in all likelihood won’t be back with the Mets next season. Regardless of what may happen three weeks from now, the reality is that Manuel is the Mets’ manager now.

Saying that you would be interested in a job that someone currently has is very disrespectful.

Remember when Jennifer Lopez (yes, I am using Jennifer Lopez as a reference) came out with that song “Jenny from the block?” The song was basically about how no matter how much money she makes that would always be grounded and would never forget her Bronx roots.

That was obviously a bunch of nonsense as everyone knows Lopez is one of the more difficult people to deal with in the industry. She clearly has forgotten where she came from.

I feel Torre is in the same boat.

Torre was an absolute hack with the Mets, Atlanta Braves, and St. Louis Cardinals. He goes to the Yankees, gets handed a team full of stars, and all of a sudden he is a genius.

Anyone could have managed those Yankee teams in the 90s and early-2000s and won. Switch Torre and Don Zimmer (who was really the brains of that team), and Zimmer would be the most beloved figure in New York.

Torre thought he was the reason why the Yankees won and thought he was being “insulted” by the Yankees’ offer when his contract expired at the end of the 2007 season.

The Yankees were smart for not paying Torre what he wanted because as Joe Girardi has proven, anyone can be a winner managing the Yankees.

Since Torre left the Yankees, he and Tom Verducci wrote a ridiculous book that threw everyone under the bus, and now he is interested in a job that someone else has. Torre has gotten to the point where he believes that since he is “Joe Torre,” he can say and do whatever he wants.

Joe, just remember that talent wins in baseball. You should remember the days when you couldn’t win to save your life. Maybe then people will think you have integrity.

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I would imagine there is a lot of pressure on a rookie to get his first major league hit right away. The more AB’s that go by without getting a hit, the more the pressure mounts.

In the case of Oakland A’s OF Chris Carter, the pressure must have been tremendous. The top prospect started his major league career 0-for-33. That’s right. He went zero for his first 33. That must have been brutal for Carter.

Carter finally broke through last night against the Chicago White Sox. In the bottom of the seventh, Carter singled to left off of Scott Linebrink. Carter is now officially 1-for-34.

The A’s have built themselves a young, solid rotation with Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez, Dallas Braden, and Brett Anderson. Now they need some guys who can hit the ball and drive in runs on a consistent basis. Billy Beane and company are hoping Carter becomes one of those guys.

The A’s desperately need some power at the major league level and Carter has hit 25 plus HR’s the last four years in the minors. The A’s only have three guys who have hit more than 10 HR’s this season.

Once Carter learns the strike zone (striking out over 38 percent of the time) and learns the pitchers of the American League West, I believe he will be a major and much needed power source for the A’s.

Here are some other facts about Chris Carter…

Age: 23

Bats: Right

Throws: Right

College: None. Went to Sierra Vista High School in Las Vegas, NV

Drafted: 15th round of the 2005 Draft by the Chicago White Sox

Minor League Stats:

2005 Rookie: .283/.350/.485 with 10 HR’s and 17 doubles in 65 games

2006 Rookie & High Single A: .273/.373/.522 with 16 HR’s and 24 doubles in 82 games

2007 Single A: .291/.383/.522 with 25 HR’s and 27 doubles in 126 games

2008 High Single A: .259/.361/.569 with 39 HR’s and 32 doubles in 137 games

2009 Double A & Triple A: .329/.422/.570 with 28 HR’s and 43 doubles in 138 games

2010 Triple A: .258/.365/.529 with 31 HR’s and 29 doubles in 125 games

Keith Law Ranking and Analysis

Ranking: No. 33 out of 100 best prospects in baseball in 2010

Analysis: “Carter has made impressive strides since his arrival in the Oakland organization as a power-or-nothing hitter with a long swing and no defensive value, and while he’s still probably a solid DH with thump, he has a chance to contribute in a few different ways. He made a concerted effort to improve his walks without increasing his strikeouts, becoming more selective while cutting down on his normal swing as part of the process.

If he gets a pitch to drive, he’ll load his hands a little deeper to give him more leverage and bring his plus power back out of storage. Carter is limited defensively and will probably max out as a fringe-average first baseman, although the positional logjam in Oakland may make him a DH by default.

Even in Oakland’s ballpark he should be good for 30 homers a year and a solid on-base percentage by his peak.”

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Words that you never want to hear if you are a pitcher: “We are going to send you to Alabama to see Dr. James Andrews.”

Those are the words that Oakland A’s pitcher Andrew Bailey heard this morning. The odds have already been set to 3-1 that we will next see Bailey in August of 2011.

The A’s did the smart thing this morning and shut down Bailey for the final two weeks of the season because of elbow soreness.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Bailey believes this is just a case of tennis elbow. If that is the case, I would be shocked.

Due to various injuries and despite having a lower ERA this year than he did last (1.47 to 1.84), all of his peripherals were down from his Rookie of the Year season. His K/9 dropped from 9.8 to 7.7, and his ground-ball percentage dropped from 42 percent to 39 percent.

I think the drop in peripherals has more to do with his rib cage injury and his tennis elbow that he has been dealing with all year. We’ll see how his visit with Dr. James Andrews turns out.

If Bailey beats the odds and finds out there is nothing wrong with him, then I expect him to be once again one of the better closers in baseball in 2011.

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