Kuzul

Shhh…do you hear that?

If you’re a baseball fan, a sports enthusiast, or if you simply happen to hail from the Greater St. Louis area, I’m sure you are hearing the same thing I am.

Silence.

That’s right, for the first time in recent memory, the day’s sporting headlines have not been dominated by Albert Pujols chatter and, I must say, the silence is deafening.

I was truly surprised to visit the ESPN website today and not see ONE update on the Pujols contract saga. Soon after, I was downright SHOCKED to see that Pujols’ name was absent from the home page of MLB.com as well. It looks like, at least for the time, Pujols is staying true to his word and ceasing contract negotiations after his self-imposed Wednesday afternoon deadline.

To say the Pujols’ story has been well-documented would be like saying 12 year-old girls like Justin Bieber; both are vast, vast understatements. Yet, while the obligatory “what if Pujols were traded to my team” articles and blogs have surfaced, most of the Pujols coverage has been dedicated to dissecting the extension he is demanding from the Cardinals, or the kind of deal he could get if he were to enter free agency in 2012.

The media’s focus on Pujols agreeing to an extension with St. Louis is not unfounded, however. Pujols has made it clear that he wants to retire a Cardinal, and that he will block any trade on the strength of his 10-5 no-trade clause (10 years in the Majors, five with one team).

However, one has to believe that, especially in a situation that has gotten as sticky as Pujols’ (Pujols and the Cards are way off on their numbers), nothing is outside of the realm of possibility.

Straight out of the “stranger things have happened” file, here are the ten things that must go down in order for Albert the Great to be traded.

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Perhaps the greatest statistical achievement for a Major League pitcher to accomplish is that of the Triple Crown of pitching.

In the history of Major League Baseball, only 35 times has a pitcher led his respective league in wins, ERA and strikeouts.

In the American League, 10 pitchers have combined for 15 Triple Crown seasons. In the National League, it has been done 20 times by 15 pitchers.

Walter Johnson, Lefty Grove, Lefty Gomez, Roger Clemens, Christy Matthewson, Grover Alexander and Sandy Colfax are the only pitchers to accomplish the feat more than once.

Since 1970, it has only been done eight times, and it’s happened just three times since 2000.

The last pitcher to win the Triple Crown was Jake Peavy in 2007.

With so many dominant pitchers in today’s game, will 2011 be the year that we see someone win a Triple Crown for the first time in five seasons?

Who will be the 26th pitcher to win baseball’s Triple Crown of pitching and join this “Who’s Who” list of pitching legends?

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Our 2011 fantasy baseball projections will be released one-by-one until the top 100 players have been revealed. These rankings consider past achievements, current performance and expected future results based on standard 5×5 H2H settings.

Over the last two years, Adam Wainwright has established himself as one of the best starting pitchers in fantasy baseball.

His three-year averages in wins (17), BB/9 (2.36), ERA (2.68) and WHIP (1.14) are all better than those of Tim Lincecum and Felix Hernandez.

Since 2007 (Wainwright’s first full season in the majors), the towering right-hander has improved on his formerly average strikeout and walk rates:

Strikeout Rate

• 2007: 6.06 K/9
• 2008: 6.20 K/9
• 2009: 8.19 K/9
• 2010: 8.32 K/9

Walk Rate

• 2007: 3.12 BB/9
• 2008: 2.32 BB/9
• 2009: 2.55 BB/9
• 2010: 2.19 BB/9

In 2010, Wainwright was the only pitcher in baseball to record a value of 10 runs above average with three different pitchers (fastball, slider, curveball); in fact, Wainwright’s curveball was the best in the majors last season, checking in at 22.4 runs above average.

Looking forward to 2011, there’s nothing to suggest a letdown. A tiny regression to the mean from his 2010 ERA of 2.42 may be in order, but it shouldn’t be a big one.

Expect another dominant performance from the 29-year-old in 2011.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: FANTASY BASEBALL INSIDERS

Check out the Home Run Heroics Forum to discuss the hottest baseball topics, including the upcoming 2011 fantasy baseball season!

Fantasy Baseball Insiders’ 2011 Big Board:

• Nos. 1-10 Is Pujols Still The Top Pick?
• Nos. 11-20 Where Do Votto, A-Rod and Halladay Fit In?
• No. 21: Dustin Pedroia
• No. 22: Chase Utley
• No. 23: Ryan Zimmerman
• No. 24: Jose Reyes
• No. 25: Josh Hamilton
• No. 26: Shin-Soo Choo

MLB Trades: Fantasy Impact:

• Frank Francisco Traded to the Blue Jays, Who Will Be The Team’s Closer?
• Mike Napoli Traded to the Texas Rangers: Fantasy Impact
• Vernon Wells Traded to the Los Angeles Angels: Fantasy Impact
• Adrian Beltre Traded to the Texas Rangers: Fantasy Impact

Previous articles from Fantasy Baseball Insiders:

• The Sub-2.50 ERA Curse: Why Five Elite Starting Pitchers May Regress in 2011
• 2010 Batting Average on Balls in Play Leaders: What to Expect in 2011?
• 2011 Closer’s Corner: Papelbon, Cordero & Rivera Are the Only Reliable Options

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

You read who I thought were the 10 best hitters in baseball entering the 2011 season, and now here’s a list of the 10 best pitchers in baseball.

This is a very tough list to make because there is so much good pitching these days, but these 10 stand out above all. You could have made a ranking of the top four pitchers in the game and listed every Phillies starter but that would’ve been too easy.

Which pitchers are the most dominant, who you always expect to carry their team to a win when they take the mound? Here’s a list of the 10 best pitchers in baseball, with nine of them being starters.

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The Yankees didn’t get their man this winter, but who might be heading to the Bronx next offseason?

Cliff Lee is a great pitcher and makes the Phillies the clear cut favorite to win it all next season in my opinion, but the Yankees are still a very talented team, and if they can swing a few trades here and there, they could easily wind up right in the middle of the playoff picture.

But as for next offseason, the Yankees should be major players for the top free agents out there, and here are the potential big names out there.

Not to pick on the St. Louis Cardinals, but they have two players in particular that GM Brian Cashman will have his eye on.

The first one you probably know, and that would be three time MVP Albert Pujols. Providing he doesn’t agree to a contract extension with the Cardinals, who I think won’t be able to afford him, he will be a free agent and will be looking for A-Rod money at the least.

Pujols could play first base and Mark Teixeira could slide into the DH role with Jorge Posada out of the picture after next season, or Pujols could be the primary DH. Pujols has also had playing time in the outfield and with Nick Swisher’s contract set to expire, right field might be another possibility.

The other potential free agent from St. Louis is pitcher Adam Wainwright, who has quietly emerged into one of the best starters in the NL. He is 39-19 with a 2.53 ERA over the last two seasons. He has also struck out 425 while walking only 122 batters in those seasons.

Wainwright would certainly be a major upgrade to the Yankees’ rotation, but he has a $10 million vesting option for 2012. I believe he would elect free agency over a return to St. Louis. The Cardinals would like to sign both Pujols and Wainwright, but I don’t see them being able to afford both of them, so that means one will for sure be out there, plus Chris Carpenter is a free agent as well.

As I mentioned before, Nick Swisher’s contract is up after the 2011 season, and if he has a bad year and the Yankees don’t bring him back, then Jose Bautista is a viable option.

He slugged 54 home runs in 2010, by far the best in the league, and also drove in 124 runs. I certainly don’t expect him to continue at that pace, but if he has a good season and hits 35-45 homers with 100 or so RBIs, I think he would be a great fit in right field for the Yankees.

Like Pujols, another prominent NL first baseman that is a free agent next offseason is Prince Fielder, who is almost certainly out of the Brewers’ price range to retain him and he could be on the move this year at the trade deadline.

Fielder would be an exclusive DH for the Yanks and almost every other AL team, so that might be a little bit of a concern, especially if you’re going to invest 20+ million dollars in him. But with him being a left handed bat, one can only imagine the amount of home runs he would hit well past that short right field wall at Yankee Stadium.

Roy Oswalt has a mutual option with the Phillies after next season, but he is certainly a pitcher that the Yankees might want to look at if he is available. He pitched extremely well in Philadelphia for the final two months of 2010 and if he has a good year in 2011, then I would think that Cashman would consider him, even at age 34.

Remember that these are all potential free agents, and could get contract extensions with their current teams or sign an extension with a team they might be traded to in the near future.

But those would be the stars of next year’s free agent market and the Yankees look like they will have plenty of money to spend, and I think you all know what that means.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The man they call Doc Halladay had a mighty impressive first season in the National League, and the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) certainly took notice.

Roy Halladay, the ace of aces for the Philadelphia Phillies, won the National League Cy Young Award unanimously, taking home all 32 first place votes. He easily outdistanced Adam Wainwright of the St. Louis Cardinals and the Colorado Rockies’ Ubaldo Jimenez— who seemed like a lock to win it when he arrived at the All-Star Game with a 15-1 record.

Tim Hudson, of the Atlanta Braves, and the Florida Marlins’ Josh Johnson (the NL’s ERA leader) rounded out the top five.

Halladay made his first NL campaign a most memorable one, as he led the senior circuit in wins (with a 21-10 record), complete games (nine), shutouts (four) and innings pitched (250.2). He anchored a terrific starting rotation that led the Phillies to the best record in all of baseball during the regular season.

The Phillies’ ace was both spectacular and steady. His most spectacular outing, of course, was his May 29 perfect game at Florida, in a game where the Phillies could only manage one unearned run against Josh Johnson.

Other highlights included Halladay’s 4-0 record with an 0.82 ERA and two complete games in his four starts of the season, and his last regular season start of the season which may have clinched the “Cy.”  Pitching in Washington against the pesky Nationals, he hurled a two-hit shutout without yielding a single walk.

His spectacular performances in 2010 included his first-ever postseason action, even if the postseason does not figure into the balloting. Facing a potent lineup in Game 1 of the NLDS, all Doc did was throw the second no-hitter in MLB postseason history. He was one walk away from a perfecto.

Doc also kept the season alive by winning Game 5 of the NLCS versus Tim Lincecum and the eventual world champion San Francisco Giants. That he did so pitching on one good leg only added to his legend.

Halladay was steady as well as spectacular. In his 33 starts, he failed to pitch at least seven innings only four times. His shortest outing was 5.2 innings in an 8-3 loss to the Boston Red Sox. His next outing:  the perfecto versus the Marlins.

The 6’6” future Hall of Famer, one of the most obscure superstars in the game entering the 2010 season, posted spectacular stats, and continued to do so in a way that furthered his reputation as the ultimate competitor, a workout fiend, and a terrific teammate.

The 33 year-old, still looking to add a World Series title to his trophy case that now boasts two Cy Young Awards (his first was achieved in 2003 while pitching in a Toronto Blue Jays uniform) would appear to have a few prime seasons left and it would surprise nobody in baseball if he authors another Cy-worthy campaign in 2011.

Every now and then, the baseball writers get it right, even if Halladay made it eminently easy for them to do the right thing.

GOLD NOTES:

Halladay is just the fourth Phils pitcher to be honored with this award, along with Steve Bedrosian (1987), John Denny (1983) and Steve Carlton (a four-time winner in 1972, 1977, 1980 and 1982).

Doc is now the fifth pitcher in MLB history to win a Cy in both leagues, joining Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson and Gaylord Perry.

Halladay went seven years between Cys, tying the Braves’ Tom Glavine for the longest gap between awards.

New teammate Roy Oswalt finished sixth in the balloting.

For more information on Matt Goldberg’s new books, other writings and appearances, please e-mail: matt@tipofthegoldberg.com

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Today, the Baseball Writers Association of America will unveil its choice for the 2010 National League Cy Young Award, making this the first time in the more than three weeks since Bleacher Report’s featured columnists began to release the results of our end-of-season awards poll that Major League Baseball has had the decency to coordinate their announcement with ours.

Yesterday, we did the AL Cy Young, they did the Rookies of the Year. Last week, they announced the Silver Sluggers and Gold Gloves, a full fortnight after we did. And while we’ll be all done by Thursday, they’re going to drag their results out until just before Thanksgiving.

But I digress—here are the results of B/R’s NL Cy Young vote.

As always, the top five vote-getters are featured here, with commentary from the writers who chose them. The full list of results is at the end.

So read on, see how we did, and be sure to tell us what we got wrong!

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Major League Baseball begins handing out its postseason awards today with the Cy Young winners being announced on November 16.

Roy Halladay is the favorite to win the award, but could face some competition from Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals and Josh Johnson of the Marlins.

Halladay was the most consistent pitcher in the National League this season, averaging 7.6 innings per start with a WHIP of just 1.04. 

However, Halladay did trail Johnson and Wainwright in ERA.

Halladay also had less strikeouts per nine innings pitched than Wainwright and Johnson, but was dominant in walks per nine innings.

Other interesting aspects to Halladay’s case include his perfect game.  Halladay tossed the only perfect game in the National League this season.  Ironically, the opposing pitcher that game was Josh Johnson. 

Halladay also threw the second no-hitter in postseason history in game one of the NLDS against the Cincinnati Reds.

Halladay’s 21 wins, 250.2 innings pitched, nine complete games and four shutouts all also led the league.  He was also the only candidate from a playoff team. 

Halladay’s statistics put him in the front-running to win the award, but fans have seen some crazy things happen in years past, such as C.C. Sabathia earning the award over Johan Santana in ’05. 

All other things aside, expect Halladay to win the Cy Young the beginning of next week. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Cardinals came into this season expecting to challenge the Philadelphia Phillies for the National League pennant and to dethrone the New York Yankees in the World Series.

Yet they were out of contention by the middle of September, in the clutches of a collapse from a first-place tie with their longtime rival, the Cincinnati Reds, and were far removed from being the hottest Redbirds team in three seasons.

Collapse is a more powerful word than the phrase “second-half swoon,” but collapse is more appropriate in this situation, without question.

Redbird Nation is baffled:

How a team expected to swim deep into the playoffs needed CPR, personal oxygen tanks, and a breathing apparatus by the beginning of September is beyond us.

Instead of challenging the Phillies in the playoffs, the Cardinals were eliminated by the Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates with a week remaining in the regular season.

Watching their barroom-brawling rivals run away with the division crown this particular season is a James Bond movie-like bitter and poison pill for diehard Cardinals fans to swallow.

They were 12-6 against the Reds, but their record was an ugly 26-33 against the rest of the division, and 46-50 against teams with a losing record.

Again this year, thanks to a second-half swoon that has become the norm over the last three Redbirds seasons, the Gateway City’s Gas House Gang’s gritty baseball team flavor lost its savor under their now-embattled tragic Cardinal of a manager: Tony LaRussa.

The Cardinals were playing like the best team in baseball from the first pitch after the 81^st All-Star Game.  Starting on July 15, their first eight games after the break were played in St. Louis against two of the top NL teams: the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies.

Eight revenge games to start the second half: The Dodgers had swept the Cardinals out of the playoffs in 2009, and the Phillies were the defending NL Champions.

After the infield dust settled, Major League Baseball eyes watched in admiration at the Redbirds’ sizzling performance.

First, the Birds swept the Dodgers by outscoring them 22-9 in the four-game series.  In July, Joe Torre’s squad was still considered the front-runner to win the NL West.

Then, the Cardinals bopped the Phillies in three straight games, taking the series 3-1, and outscoring Philadelphia 23-8 in the four contests. 

Then, in the very next series, in Chicago against their top rivals (the woefully struggling Cubs), the Cardinals were dismantled by yet another team that owned a losing overall record.

The Cardinals’ August began in Houston against the cellar-dwelling Astros.  Houston shoved an 18-4 loss down the Cardinals’ throat; an embarrassing effort that drew the ire of Cardinals fans who experienced the bitter commentary of MLB analysts as well as those from other team’s fans.

But the Redbirds made up for it a week later, by running Cincinnati red—in Cincinnati.  This was the “Scrap Series,” where the Cardinals swept the clashes but ended up losing the conflict.

Cincinnati’s cocky infielder, Brandon Phillips, a breathing conflict on the diamond, fired the then-second-place Redbirds up with his comments that I will not repeat here.  And when he stepped to the plate, the Cards’ rugged catcher, Yadier Molina, dared Phillips to shine across the line.

Phillips did so and the brawl was on to the Reds’ detriment, or so it seemed.

Being swept by his managerial Mad Hatter in Tony LaRussa, Cincinnati’s skipper Dusty “Batman” Baker’s blood boiled as he was seen bristling in postgame interviews.

The Reds went on a division-clinching run after the series’ infamous summer brawl, while the Cardinals started to swoon.

To end August, the Cardinals got swept by the Pittsburgh Pirates and by the Astros, plus Albert Pujols and the St. Louisans were almost swept by the Washington Nationals.  In the last 10 games of the month, the Cardinals record was 1-9.

The swoon was now lasting way past June.  Even though the Redbirds destroyed the Reds by a score of 6-1 in a game played on national television on the Saturday before Labor Day, for all intents and purposes, the division race was over.

How could a relatively young team with a Cy Young candidate (Adam Wainwright), a first baseman vying for the Triple Crown (Pujols), a $25 million enforcer (Matt Holliday), a top NL closer (Ryan Franklin), and a former Cy Young winner (Chris Carpenter) miss the playoffs? 

Before asking yourself “What just happened?” chew on this:

As you know, I believe that the blame has to fall squarely on the grudge-holding mind of manager Tony LaRussa. 

Both LaRussa and McGwire are pond scum, and now we see them for what they truly are. Hopefully, in this long offseason, consequences and repercussions will be the result. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Albert Pujols did everything he could possibly do and then some to try to get the St. Louis Cardinals to the playoffs.  But, with the Cincinnati Reds preparing for October, something clearly went wrong.  The Cardinals came into the 2010 season with World Series aspirations, but now they will have to settle for watching it on TV.

Pujols did have some help this year.  Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, and Matt Holiday all deserve credit for having excellent years.

But, seeing as the Redbirds missed the playoffs, there has to be some blame to go around, right?  Here are five people who failed to do their jobs this season:

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