The midsummer classic goes to Disneyland in 2010.
Just miles down the street from the happiest place on earth, a collection of the greatest baseball players in the world will meet for one star-studded evening.
Who’s ready for a California Adventure?
I sure am.
Here is a position-by-position breakdown of the 81st MLB All-Star Game in Anaheim, California.
So, we’re now more than halfway through the MiLB season.
And what an incredible season it has been for one of the up-and-coming leagues in American sports. Attendance has never been better, and with Strasburg-mania, and top-level prospects like Mike Stanton, Carlos Santana, Buster Posey, and Jason Heyward, 2010 will be a tough season to forget.
Don’t let the graduated roster fool you though, there is still a TON of talent left in the minors, and in honor of those having tremendous seasons, it’s time to honor them, with a mid-season All-Star team.
Like most All-American teams, this one will feature eight position players, five starting pitchers and a closer.
In order to spend less time writing about Stephen Strasburg and Carlos Santana, names you most likely now know, I’m gonna keep it to players who are still currently in the minors.
The MLB All-Star Game is soon. Unfortunately, we don’t always get to see the best players selected for it. In this slideshow, we’ll take a look at the best position players in the National and American League. The following players SHOULD be the starters for the All-Star game…
For some time, I’ve wanted to analyze the Hall of Fame; specifically, who today is going in? I’ve tried it once before, but the result never felt satisfying.
But then, it hit me.
Instead of writing three sentences each about fifty-odd guys and splitting it over two articles, write a more focused bit on smaller groups at a time.
I am starting with my favorite group, the third basemen.
Third is an extra interesting group, because the baseball writers committee, as a whole, seem to have absolutely no idea how to treat the position.
Shortstops and second basemen get special considerations for their offense, as the positions are defensively difficult. However, they completely ignore defense at third. Consequently, the position is under-represented.
Let me phrase this a different way: name every third baseman in the Hall of Fame. Not Veteran Committee/Negro Leagues/etc., JUST those elected through the standard process. Keep track of how many you name.
Did you get past five? If you did, you have named every third baseman in the Hall. The hot corner has a mere SIX representatives in Cooperstown: Pie Traynor, Eddie Mathews, Brooks Robinson, Mike Schmidt, George Brett, and Wade Boggs.
Think about it this way: of the six Hall of Fame third basemen, one was elected before the Korean War, and half were inducted in Bryce Harper’s lifetime.
Despite this bizarre condition, I have confidence that the current group manning the position can reverse this trend.
That’s because the young center fielder wasn’t in the starting lineup.
“I just did not want to start him tonight based on a lot of different items that I’m looking at,” Rays’ manager Joe Maddon told MLB.com writer Bill Chastain before Tuesday’s, 8-5, loss.
“Often times, I don’t start somebody. A day off after a day off is part of the reason. I just chose not to start him tonight. But he’s definitely available for the game.”
Before Wednesday’s, 9-4, victory, Maddon said it was a sore right quadriceps that kept Upton from appearing.
Whatever reason Maddon wants to use about not starting Upton, Rays’ fans couldn’t help to think it had something to do with Sunday’s dugout skirmish between two of southwest Florida’s most popular athletes, Upton and Evan Longoria.
Maddon did cover his tracks, Tuesday, in the top of the eighth, entering Upton as a pitch hitter. Upton tripled then took centerfield in the bottom of the ninth.
According to Chastain, Upton told Maddon, Wednesday, that he felt a little sore and did not give reporters details on the injury.
However, Upton’s short appearance didn’t help the stumbling Rays (45-32), which finished 11-14 in June; and are two games behind the AL East leaders, New York Yankees, and one game below Wild Card leader, Boston.
The news gets worse.
Not only is a playoff spot slipping away, the recent events with Upton has put the front office in the spotlight and with the trade deadline looming, the decision on what to do with the center fielder has reached a crossroad.
In 2007, Upton put up All-Star numbers in just 129 games hitting .300 with 24 homers, 82 RBI, 86 runs and 22 stolen bases.
At the time, Upton was 22-years old and it seemed he’d develop into a 30-30 player, who could hit for average and flash the glove—despite coming through the Rays’ system having no idea what type of defensive glove he’d wear.
This hasn’t been the case, at all.
In the 2008 regular season, Upton hit .273 with nine homers, but rebounded in the postseason, smashing seven homers in 16 games.
Upton struggled in 2009, hitting .241 with 11 homers.
In 72 games this season, Upton is batting .262 with seven homers and has put the Rays’ front office on red alert.
“We’ve had a lot of conversations lately,” said, Maddon about Upton before Tuesday’s game. “We had one after the game [Sunday]. We had one yesterday and also today. We had some wonderful conversations — very frank. I just wanted to share with him some of my past experiences as a young man and as a manager today.”
It’s well documented that Upton is a good guy who had a good upbringing by his parents, Manny and Yvonne, documented in this 2007 article by ESPN’s Bomani Jones (below).
So, let’s assume, maybe, attitude isn’t the problem.
Let’s say, Upton’s latest tantrums and lack of hustle doesn’t come from being a bad egg.
Instead, it’s from being a frustrated competitor—Longoria confronting Upton came from frustration, right?
The real question is, what happens if the player’s skills don’t listen?
What then?
When does an organization stop waiting for a player’s talent to come around and parts ways with him?
“At this point, salvaging Upton’s potential is going to be that much harder for the Rays,” wrote Tampa Bay Tribune columnist Gary Shelton on Tuesday. “For a long time, the Rays have had to endure the underachievement and hoped the talent inside Upton will emerge” said, Shelton.
Fact is, at the end of the season, Upton becomes eligible for arbitration and could see a spike in pay; and starting left fielder, Carl Crawford, becomes a free agent.
Ask any Rays fan and they’ll admit, they want Crawford to stay, no matter what the cost.
According to baseball-reference.com , Upton, currently makes $3 million a year. That money could be spent on Crawford, who makes $10 million and will see a pay raise in the $15 millon range.
Last season, the Rays parted ways with a potential superstar prospect, pitcher Scott Kazmir.
Kazmir, picked 15th overall in the 2002 amateur draft by the New York Mets, was dealt to the Rays in 2004 and was supposed to be the hard-throwing lefty a franchise builds a rotation around.
In five and a half seasons, Kazmir made two All-Star teams, but combined for a 3.92 ERA, 55-44 overall record, and a 2.29 K/walk ratio.
Numbers not good enough for a legitimate ace.
At last season’s trade deadline, the Rays shipped Kazmir to Anaheim for minor leaguers Alex Torres, Matt Sweeney and Sean Rodriguez, who has played in 58 games this season.
As of June 30, Kazmir is 7-6 and carries a 5.92 ERA for the Angels.
The bottom line, baseball is a business and too much attachment to an investment can hinder a team’s progression.
I’ll admit, I like B.J. and once had an attachment to the second-overall pick of 2002.
Back in 2008, I drafted Upton in the third-round of The Super League ’s first baseball draft .
Looking at his 2007 stats, the kid was a five-tool, 5×5 fantasy player and thought it could only get better.
In 2009, the Frontnac Bigg7evens kept Upton, thinking the kid had a tough season and needed a second chance.
However, after another slow start, Frontnac cut ties with the centerfielder and traded him for Yankee pitcher C.C. Sabathia.
At the time, Upton had fantasy upside and that’s how it was possible to make a deal.
Currently, Upton has real-life upside and now, is the best time to move the 25-year old.
But it’s not easy to let go of an investment, especially one that a franchise has scouted, drafted, and spent time and money developing.
Unfortunately, for the Rays, its time to decide.
Either keep Upton and accept him for the player he is; or deal Upton to another team which is willing to be patient and let him reach that potential we’re all still waiting on.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
The 2010 MLB All-Star game is upon us.
On July 13th, baseball’s best will gather in California and battle it out for home field advantage in the World Series.
The starters and the players who fill the final roster spot will be voted in by the fans, while the reserves will be selected by the managers and players.
Some starters will be well deserving of the honor. Others will be voted in simply because they’re the fan favorites.
From Joe Mauer in Minnesota, to Josh Hamilton in Texas, and Miguel Cabrera in Detroit, there are great players from all over the American League. But the time has come to decide, what 10 players from just the AL East deserve a trip out to the Golden State for All-Star week?
Without further ado, I present “The AL “B-east”: 10 Deserving All-Stars from MLB’s Toughest Division.”
Is your favorite player on here?
Let’s find out, as we begin with an easy selection, and a player who’s earned
the right to represent the American League in the All-Star game.
Oh dear Lord, please say it isn’t true.
According to the Florida Marlins’ official website, the first 15,000 fans that come to Saturday’s game versus the Tampa Bay Rays will be the proud owners of miniature Marlins vuvuzelas!
The team is calling them “air horns,” but don’t be fooled; they’re vuvuzelas.
See for yourself—visit the Marlins promotions and giveaways page and click on “Marlins Air Horn” under Saturday, June 19th.
If that’s not a vuvuzela, I don’t know what is.
Now, I don’t know whose genius idea this was, but my bet is that it was the same guy who thought of selling the Marlins’ unsold tickets to Roy Halladay’s perfect game as souvenirs.
This is a bad idea, and here’s why.
Attendance Problems
The Marlins have enough trouble filling the awful monstrosity that is Sun Life Stadium. Do the public relations people really think that people are going to want to stay for a game while 15,000 fans are going to town on those over-sized kazoos? No.
That’s two questionable P.R. moves in less than a month. Kudos on the new stadium with the fish tanks behind home plate, though.
Irate Parents
Okay, you’re going to take the kids to see the first place Tampa Bay Rays. I know how it is because I lived in Kansas City for two years and we would always try to make it to the games when the good teams came to town.
Anyway, the kids are all excited about seeing Carl Crawford, Evan Longoria, Carlos Pena—and Wes Helms, of course.
So, you get to the game, hand the guy at the gate your tickets, and what do you get in return?
Vuvuzelas! One for each one of you!
Do you know what the worst part is?
You don’t just have to listen to them for three hours during the game; you have to listen to them during the car ride home and for the following week, until they mysteriously disappear or accidentally get broken.
It’ll go something like this:
Dad: Oh no, what happened to your vuvuza—whatcha-ma-call-it? (If he only knew.)
Johnny: It got lost.
Dad: You can’t find it? That’s too bad, Buddy. (Wink.)
Johnny: It was my favorite.
Dad: I liked it, too. It was a pretty cool idea those Marlins had.
Johnny: Yeah. Do you think they’ll do it again?
Dad: Maybe. (God, I hope not.)
Johnny: What could’ve happened to it?
Dad: Hey, maybe it’s in your room. You should go clean it. (Oh snap, I’m clever!)
Back to the present.
See, I told you it was a bad idea. Look at all the family discord it could cause!
The point is that vuvuzelas do not belong in the stands of baseball stadiums. Baseball is supposed to be “America’s pastime,” and vuvuzelas are distinctly South African.
It’s a simple culture clash, and baseball and vuvuzelas just don’t mix.
The horns have already drawn criticism from fans at the World Cup, and a noisy fan was asked to leave a Yankees game for blowing a vuvuzela.
Officials at Wimbledon have also released a statement saying noisemakers of any kind (vuvuzelas included) will be banned from the tennis tournament.
I have this message for the Florida Marlins public relations personnel: Please, for the love of baseball and everything sacred, reconsider this ill-conceived, very poor promotional idea.
Author’s Question: What would you do if you were seated near someone blowing a vuvuzela at a baseball game?
Leave your comments!
You can follow Mike on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MikeMacOnBR
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
Evan Longoria was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays with the 3rd pick of the 2006 amateur player draft out of Cal-State Long Beach. Rays fans knew as soon as they heard about this kid that he was going to be great.
After spending two years in the minor leagues, Longoria hit a combined .301/.386/.534 with 44 home runs and 144 RBI, all before his 22nd birthday.
Knowing what they had on their hands, with a team that they felt confident with, Andrew Friedman knew that he had to call up Longoria if the team was going to contend.
Within one week of being called up, the Rays locked Longoria up to the longest contract in team history with a nine year $44 million deal.
Clearly the Rays had a lot of confidence in Longoria, as they were not afraid to make this large of a commitment to a player with less than 30 career at-bats . So far, Longoria has already outperformed the contract that he signed.
You may be asking how a player that has played fewer than 400 career games could be considered the best player at his position in the American League; especially with Alex Rodriguez still playing. The answer, however, is fairly simple:
Defense
Longoria plays some of the best defensive third base in all of major league baseball. Whether it’s ranging far to his right and making a leaping throw across the diamond, or charging a bunt, bare-handing it, and making the out at first, the kid can really do it all.
In his second season, Longoria brought home what many people believe to be his first of many Gold Gloves over his career.
Longoria has already made eight errors this year, his RF/G is at 2.77, which is still above the league average of 2.72. So, while he has made a number of errors, he still gets to more balls than a lot of third basemen in Major League Baseball would get to.
Speed
No one is going to mistake Evan Longoria for Chone Figgins, Scott Podsednik, or Carl Crawford, but this kid has some real sneaky speed.
Over his career, Longoria has been successful on 92.8% of his steal attempts (26/28), including ten stolen bases this year.
Right now, Evan is on pace for about 33 home runs and 30 stolen bases. If he is able to maintain this pace, he will be the first third baseman in the American League to complete this feat since Tommy Harper did it for the Milwaukee Brewers back in 1970.
Overall Batting
This is the one spot of Longoria’s game that I feel is only going to get better over the next few years, which is saying a lot because he had a line of .281/33/114 last year.
Longoria’s batting eye has been getting better each year that he has been in professional baseball, because of that he is starting to see which pitches that he can drive, which pitches to lay off, and he is starting to learn when to push the ball instead of always trying to pull it.
Do I think that Longoria is ever going to hit 45 home runs? No, probably not. But, it is certainly not out of reach for him to one day put up .330/39/130, especially if the Rays can keep him surrounded with the talent that they have.
Conclusion
Why did I say that Evan Longoria is just the best third baseman in the American League and not all of baseball? Well, at this point in their careers, I would have to give the edge to Ryan Zimmerman for the best player in baseball. If Longoria reaches the peaks that I set out for him in the next few years, that may sway my opinion.
However, Evan Longoria is the best third baseman in the American League, right now.
Who do you feel deserves this honor right now? Does Alex Rodriguez still hold this, or is there someone else that I may be forgetting?
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
We can all agree that the impact of rookies in any given sport is sometimes more crucial than that of their veteran counterparts. In some cases, those impact rookies wind up being heroes and godsents for a team, giving a much needed boost of fresh air and talent, while other times, they start hot before fizzling out.
Today, while we await the arrival of one of the biggest impact rookies in recent years (Steven Strasburg) to show us what he’s got, we are already enjoying the contributions of players such as Starlin Castro, and Buster Posey.
And so continues another season with a nother crop of wonderful talent.
So let us take a look at whom I think are the 10 biggest impact rookies in the past 25 years. A debatable topic I am sure, but hopefully an enjoyable read for you!
These players don’t have to win ROY, or a World Series, but rather, simply show themselves to have provided an indelible impact on their team in their debut.
I hope you all enjoy, and don’t forget to add your own selection.
Does anyone else hate when fans fill out their all-star ballots based on “star-power” rather than actual power?
I do, so I decided to compile a slideshow of what my 2010 all-star team would look like based on performance through May 30, 2010.
Writing up an entire roster would have taken too long, so this slideshow is only of my infield selections. Outfielders and pitchers will follow.
Check back for the next edition.
