Kuzul

As baseball’s offseason heats up, one of the more intriguing names on the market is former No. 1 overall pick and current Arizona Diamondback outfielder, Justin Upton.

Numerous teams are interested in the very young and talented outfielder and, as usual, one of the teams to make an inquiry is the New York Yankees. Although the Yankees do not have Upton at the top of their wish list, he could certainly become an option.

For the right price, this could be a great move for the Yankees in both the short term and the long term. Here are the top 10 reasons the Yankees should make this deal.

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Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton was named the American League MVP Tuesday, receiving 22 first-place votes.

He beat out Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera, New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano and Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista for the award.

Hamilton, 29, batted .359/.411/.633 in 571 plate appearances in 2010, belting 32 home runs along the way. His 1.044 OPS led the American League.

Because Hamilton missed substantial time during the final weeks of the season, many had thought Cabrera would have the inside track on the award. While he was on the field, however, Hamilton was clearly the best player in baseball in 2010.

Here are five reasons Hamilton deserved to win this award, starting with the simplest one, already mentioned.

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It’s almost over.

It’s been more than three weeks since Bleacher Report’s Featured Columnists began unveiling the results of our end-of-season mock awards vote. We’ve worked our way up from lowly Silver Sluggers to mighty Cy Youngs and everything in between.

Today, we release the results of the final award in the American League, but we saved the best for last: the Most Valuable Players.

This time, the top ten 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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November is upon us and we have entered into that time of year when all sports fans turn there attention to the NFL, college football and the start of college basketball. With that said, it is still time to announce the end of the year MLB awards.

It will be interesting to see which players come away with this years awards. The race is extremely tight in the American League, where there are four candidates who have a legitimate shot at winning the award. While in the National League, it will be a foot race between three sluggers.

In the AL, the race is between; Robinson Cano, Josh Hamilton, Jose Bautista and Miguel Cabrera. All four of these players had very strong statistical seasons in many areas of the game. When it comes to MVP awards, a non playoff team member should never win over a playoff team participant. Therefore, the AL race is between Cano and Hammy.

Both of these players had very nice seasons while helping to lead their teams into this years playoffs. With over .300 batting averages and nice doses of power, each hitter was able to get the job done at the plate.

Hamilton missed almost all of September and because of this, definitely lost some stat numbers. This may have a small effect on some of the votes. Since Cano is a second baseman he will also get some extra votes do to his position.

When it is all said and done, I believe Josh Hamilton will come away as the 2010 AL MVP. His .352 average is just straight remarkable and this will be the difference maker when it comes to the voters.

In the National League, the race will also be a close one. Albert Pujols and Joey Votto will be the top two finishers, with Carlos Gonzalez finishing in third place.

My playoff rule is in effect here once again as Votto is the only player of the group who helped lead his team into this years playoffs. However, when it comes to statistics, Votto is also better then the rest.

All three, hit over 30 home runs, scored over 100 runs and drove in over 100 while batting above .300. When it comes to the deeper statistics, Votto was on a whole new level. With his .600 slugging percentage and his .424 OBP he clearly proved to the world that he deserves this years coveted award.

The MVP awards will be announced to the public next week and all baseball fans should look for Josh Hamilton and Joey Votto to come away as the recipients.

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Latino names such as Miguel Cabrera, Albert Pujols, Carlos Gonzalez and Ubaldo Jimenez were among the headline grabbers this past 2010 season.

Always, Manny will be Manny. There was a lot in the news in a moment about David “Big Papi” Ortiz, and right after the World Series, “El Niño de Colombia” Edgar Renteria.

In Queens, most of the headlines are about Carlos Beltran. What about Angel Pagan?

Same happens in the Bronx. Among the New York Yankees, the headliners of Latino names are Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada.

The forgotten one is Robinson Cano.

There is no explanation why the native of the Dominican Republic should be the disregarded Yankee.

Cano had a great career season in 2010; a front-runner for the American League Most Valuable Player Award.

Even if his not the elected one, he already made history this season.

As the two-time All Star was honored with his second consecutive American League Silver Slugger Award, and his first American League Gold Glove Award, he became the 10th Latino in Major League history to win both in the same season.

For those history buffs, here is the list of the other Latinos in Major League history to accomplish this feat:

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Roberto Alomar: Toronto 1992/Baltimore 1996/Cleveland 1999 and 2000
Ivan Rodriguez: Texas 1994-99/Detroit 2004
Rafael Palmeiro: Texas 1998 and 1999
Alex Rodriguez: Texas 2002 and 2003
Placido Polanco: Detroit 2007

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Manny Trillo: Philadelphia 1981
Benito Santiago: San Diego 1988 and 1990
Edgar Renteria: St. Louis 2002 and 2003
Carlos Beltran: New York Mets 2006 and 2007

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The debate over the true nature of the Most Valuable Player Award rages every year. What precisely, constitutes “most valuable”? Is it the player with the best statistics at year’s end? Should the winning candidate come from a playoff-bound team?

Further questions cloud the issue even more so. Can pitchers, although they play in less than half their team’s games, be considered for the award? What about designated hitters that only contribute offensive production and are otherwise nearly non-factors?

Throughout the 2010 Major League Baseball season, we have seen fantastic seasons from a wide variety of players across the American League, helping to interject their names in the MVP discussion. Perennial favorites return year-after-year, emerging superstars turn the corner into a new era of greatness, a sudden blast from nowhere out of an unlikely source in Toronto, and even a long-time veteran who only seems to enter this conversation when he’s playing for a new contract.

For the purpose of this discussion, I’m going to exclude pitchers, not because I feel they are undeserving, but because the realistic probability of a pitcher winning the honor is low. Of course, it has happened numerous times throughout the history of the game, but in the last 25 years, we have only witnessed the occurrence twice.

Besides, this is a crowded enough field of potential candidates as it is, we can leave the discussion over the AL’s best pitcher for another day. That figures to be another spirited debate regarding that category.

In this piece, in addition to the familiar statistical analysis, I’ve also incorporated information from Fangraphs, utilizing their estimated WAR(Wins Above Replacement) statistic, in order to help gauge a player’s value to his team. Additionally, I also used their UZR(Ultimate Zone Rating) in order to help understand each player’s general defensive contribution as well. Of course, Fangraphs is not the only authority on such player assessments, but nevertheless, these two tools are useful and when viewed in conjunction with additional analysis, provide critical evaluations of a player’s performance.

Without further adieu, let’s take a look at ten of the leading candidates that will surely garner votes in the election to honor the American League’s Most Valuable Player. If you feel I have made any egregious omissions, please feel free to share your thoughts on the matter.

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The national media’s love affair with the New York Yankees knows no bounds. They get the headlines, they get the national broadcasts, and they get the end-of-season awards.

This last handout is most topical the day after the announcement of the American League Gold Gloves. The gilded webbing is notorious for being based more on reputation and sheer name recognition than actual defensive skill—how else could Torii Hunter and Matt Kemp have been honored last year while Franklin Gutierrez and Nyjer Morgan’s mantles remained unadorned?

But I digress. Due to baseball’s sycophantic infatuation with everyone who suits up in pinstripes and (probably) a general apathy among the voters, three Yankees were named among the Junior Circuit’s top fielders—and none of them deserved them.

The first, Mark Teixeira, has parlayed one great defensive season, when he posted 15.3 UZR (Ultimate Zone Rating—a measure of how many runs a player saves with his fielding) in 2008 into a reputation as a master glovesman. Since then, he has been average at best; he posted just a 0.6 UZR in 2009, and that dropped to -2.9 last year.

Why that’s worthy of two consecutive Gold Gloves over, say, Oakland’s Daric Barton (12.1 UZR) is beyond me. Do you think Tex would have had a prayer if he was still with the Rangers?

The second, Robinson Cano, was almost as bad of a choice. His defense was worth -0.6 UZR, thanks to the worst range (-7.5 Range Runs) of any second baseman in the game. The Gold Glove would have fit the A’s’ Mark Ellis or the Twins‘ Orlando Hudson much better.

But by far the most undeserving winner was the Captain himself. For the fifth time in his career, Derek Jeter was named the AL’s best defensive shortstop. And for the fifth time, he didn’t deserve it.

Jeter’s -4.7 UZR wasn’t anywhere near the top—in fact, it was third-worst among AL shortstops. That’s a full 15.5 runs—the equivalent of nearly two wins—behind the rightful Gold Glove winner, the White Sox‘ Alexei Ramirez.

Yes, Jeter’s .989 fielding percentage was the best of all Major League shortstops. But that number is misleading, as it reflects only the balls he got to, and the biggest flaw in Jeter’s game is his abysmal range. A brick wall will stop any ball that’s hit right to it, but it wouldn’t be an effective fielder because it couldn’t get to anything else (also because brick walls can’t throw).

Jeter committed only six errors, compared to Ramirez’s 20. But for every extra error Ramirez made, he also completed five more putouts and got 10 more assists. The plays Ramirez flubbed may have been more obvious than the mistakes Jeter made, but the fact of the matter is that Ramirez was a more effective defender.

Jeter’s -11.8 Range Runs ranked second-worst in the league. Keep in mind that he’s a shortstop, meaning his primary job is to cover a lot of ground. How can a fielder win a Gold Glove when he’s one of the worst in the business at getting to the ball?

You could try to argue that Jeter was unlucky in terms of balls hit near him. But even if you don’t accept that those things tend to even out over 162 games, this isn’t a new trend.

Only twice since tracking began in 2002 has Jeter posted a positive UZR; over that time, he’s been worth -42.5 runs on defense—and that’s being generous. Total Zone has him at -60 runs over that stretch and an absolutely awful -131 runs in his career.

This isn’t just anti-Yankee bias—I think one snubbed Bomber, Brett Gardner, actually deserved a Gold Glove. I’m not complaining because they’re Yankees. I’m complaining because they’re inferior defenders.

Teixeira, Cano and Jeter didn’t deserve their honors, and if they were on any other team, they wouldn’t have had a chance. Any defense of these choices would make Jeter’s glove look good by comparison.

For more from Lewie, visit WahooBlues.com.

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As the baseball world enters into free agency, I begin to wonder about the status of the Yankees if they had traded Robinson Cano.

As you may or may not know, Alex Rodriguez was traded from the Texas Rangers to the New York Yankees in exchange for Alfonso Soriano and a player to be named later. Now the Rangers had around five choices, but mainly had their eyes on two, Joaquin Arias and Robinson Cano.

Joaquin Arias, plagued with injuries and poor hitting,  proved to be a huge bust for Texas.

So, why did the Rangers choose Arias over Cano?

No one truly knows. Most say it was due to age (Arias is two years younger than Cano) and “better” defense. 

Arias was traded to the New York Mets in exchange for Jeff Francoeur this past August. Even with the struggling Mets, Arias proved to be of no service.

Most recently, Arias was claimed by the Kansas City Royals and will possibly begin the season with them. So much for a coveted prospect.

And then there’s Robinson Cano.

Arguably the best second baseman in baseball, Robinson Cano has proved himself to be the better prospect. From his rookie season all the way up to this past ALCS only furthers this point, as Cano has gotten MVP consideration in 2006 and 2010 respectively.

Can you imagine what the Texas Rangers lineup would look like with Cano? Two words: absolutely deadly. I think if the Rangers had chosen Cano over Arias he’d fit beautifully as the number three hitter. 

Possible Lineup (Without Ian Kinsler)

Elvis Andrus, SS

Michael Young, 3B

Robinson Cano, 2B

Josh Hamilton, CF

Vladimir Guerrero, DH

Nelson Cruz, RF

Mitch Moreland, 1B

Jeff Francoeur, LF

Bengie Molina, C 

(I’m not sure where Ian Kinsler fits in here, as he is also one of the best second baseman in baseball. Position switch? DH?)

The Yankees would have a gigantic gap in their lineup without Robinson Cano, easily the Yankees’ MVP of 2010.

Tony Womack? Free Agents? At this point in time, no one can replace Robinson Cano on the New York Yankees. Expect him to thrive in New York for the rest of his career, as he is the next face of the franchise.

Did I mention Cano was almost traded to the Twins, too?

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Now that the Major League Baseball season is officially over, we need to start thinking about the offseason. Here are some important dates that you may want to mark off on your calendar.

Nov. 7, 2010: Free-agent filing period and exclusive negotiating window ends at 12:01 a.m. ET. Free agents can sign with any team.

Nov. 9, 2010: AL Rawlings Gold Glove Awards

Nov. 10, 2010: NL Rawlings Gold Glove Awards

Nov. 15, 2010: AL, NL Rookie of the Year Awards

Nov. 16, 2010: NL Cy Young

Nov. 16, 2010: AL & NL Manager of the Year

Nov. 16-17, 2010: General Managers Meetings, Orlando, Fla.

Nov. 18, 2010: AL Cy Young

Nov. 22, 2010: NL Most Valuable Player

Nov. 23, 2010: AL Most Valuable Player

Nov. 23, 2010: Last day for teams to offer salary arbitration to free agents in order to preserve their right to draft-pick compensation.

Nov. 30, 2010: Last day for free agents to accept salary-arbitration offers.

Dec. 2, 2010: Last day for teams to tender 2011 contracts to players under reserve.

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With the sting of the New York Yankees loss to the Texas Rangers in the American League Championship Series still fresh in the minds of many Yankee fans, many are demanding drastic changes.

The uninspired six game defeat to the upstart Rangers will surely result in some roster turnover.

Pitching coach Dave Eiland has already had his fate determined, as he was fired earlier this week.

Once the World Series ends, Yankee fans will have visions of Cliff Lee and Carl Crawford dancing in their heads and no doubt the 2011 version of the Yankees will be different then the 2010 model.

There already has been one change that may have gone unnoticed during the regular season, but became very apparent during this post season—the New York Yankees are now Robinson Cano’s team.

Some of you may be doing a double take at this last sentence or are even finding it hard to fathom that little old lazy Robbie Cano has now taken charge of the Yankees, but trust me, the proof is right in front of you.

Cano was no doubt the Yankee’s MVP (and a strong case can be made for AL MVP as well) this season.

He played in nearly every game, played gold-glove caliber defense, lead the team in average and OPS, was tied for second on the team with 109 RBIs and was tied for third on the team with 29 homeruns.

Now, some skeptics might say it was about time that Cano had finally put all the pieces together and realized his potential, but this team still belongs to Derek Jeter and to a lesser extent Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira.

I think this past postseason will put any of those doubts to rest. Cano led the team hits, hit four home runs and had six RBIs during the Yankees most recent post season run.

The RBI total doesn’t seem like much, but considering he was one of two Yankees (Curtis Granderson being the other) that hit over .300 during the postseason, those numbers are even more impressive.

Considering A-Rod hit .219 and Teixeira hit .148 (including an 0-14 effort in the ALCS) just stresses how important Cano really has become to the team.

It is a testament to Cano’s work ethic that he has been able to rise so far so fast in his career, despite the criticism he’s received in the past from the front office and Yankee fans.

It always amazed me that people questioned Cano’s work ethic. The man was a ho hum second basemen in the minor leagues that hit around .270 and was average defensively at best.

Maybe his .342 average in 2006 was a bit of an obscurity, but he has been a consistent .315 hitter during his tenure with the team and he always seems to respond to the criticism.

Rewind back to the 2008 season, when Cano struggled for the first time in his career as he hit a meager .270 and had the fans in a tizzy because they viewed him as lazy and indifferent.

His defense was skeptical and it seemed like the Yankees would trade him while he still had any value.

Cano came back in 2009 and put together a strong offensive campaign and played strong enough defense where he was considered a favorite to take home a Gold Glove.

This year, manager Joe Girardi penciled in Cano to take over for Hideki Matsui in the 5^th spot of the batting order.

Many fans questioned this move, but Cano responded by putting together a monster season and become what many believe is the most complete second basemen in baseball.

Did I mention he was ninth in baseball this season with .381 on base percentage and had a career high 57 walks?

When A-Rod was dealing with his nagging injuries this year, Cano was entered into the cleanup spot in the lineup and continued to produce.

When Tex went down during the ALCS, Girardi once again turned to the Yankees best player to try to save their season as he entered Cano in the three hole.

Yes, Derek Jeter is still the face of the New York Yankees and because of those massive salaries, Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira are also viewed as the other mega stars of the franchise.

Ask yourself one question though Yankee fans: Throughout the season, and especially during the postseason, who was the one Yankee you had the most faith in and knew would come through for you?

Not such a slacker anymore, is he?

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