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Super Youth

/ Jason / 2 Comments

(This post was written last week. Just got around to editing it. Any statistical information in here has changed, though only slightly.)

From time to time, I notice a bit of redundancy in my writing. I’m like the Aaron Sorkin of writing a blog that no one reads. So forgive me, but I know I’ve probably written this next sentence before…

We are currently entrenched in the most exciting time in my baseball life. The game is littered from Lake County, Ohio to Anaheim, CA with the best influx in young talent in decades.

Some of that talent is already in the Majors. Others are still in Low-A ball or even Short-Season. Regardless, we are blessed, as baseball fans. The game of baseball is in excellent hands for the next 15 years. At least.

So why not make a super team of the best players, right now, aged 25 and under (as of this posting) in all of organizational baseball?  What follows is a 25-man roster designed to win (and in the next 2 years). In some instances (and I’ll point them out) I could easily project a player to a starting position for convenience. I’m not going to do that for the starters. It seems unfair.

STARTING LINEUP
Catcher: Buster Posey (San Francisco Giants). He’s a great defensive catcher, who also happens to be able to hit really well to all fields. He’s kind of the perfect hitter for his park. The power is never going to be there at an elite level with Posey, but he could easily be a 20 HR/year guy (on pace for 19 this year). At a position of weakness for baseball, Posey is the clear front-runner.

First Base: Eric Hosmer (Kansas City Royals). Hosmer is having a less than exciting sophomore season right now. He’s hitting just .224 and getting on-base at a clip below 30%. That said, the talent pool at this position is horrid and Hosmer, who is just 22, certainly has the tools to be a very good, everyday 1B for the next 10-15 years. This year could just be his “Jason Heyward” year.

Second Base: Jason Kipnis (Cleveland Indians). Kipnis might not look like a middle infielder, but he’s actually been a solid defensive 2-bagger this season. He ranks 10th in the American League (among all players) in dWAR and if you prefer old-school baseball stats, he’s fielding at a .992 rate. At the plate, Kipnis won’t kill you. He’s not a particularly patient hitter, but you can do much worse (especially at this position) than 33 walks in 370 plate appearances. And there’s a little bit of pop in that bat.

Third Base: Brett Lawrie (Toronto Blue Jays). Quick, who has the highest WAR (Baseball-Reference) in all of the American League? Answer: Lawrie. Most of that is due to his stellar defense (he brings an absurd 3.6 dWAR number to the table). Offensively, you’re going to get speed on the bases (though he might want to consider becoming a more selective base-stealer as he’s been thrown out 8 times in 19 attempts) and a guy with some power potential.

Shortstop: Elvis Andrus (Texas Rangers). Great speed, a solid glove, and a two-time (deserving) All-Star. Andrus can do it all except hit for power. He’s becoming a more selective hitter as he ages (he’s only 23). This is the guy I want leading off for my team. Outside of Troy Tulowitzki, Andrus is the best SS in all of organizational baseball, right now. Of course, there’s someone right behind him. But more on him later.

Right Field: Justin Upton (Arizona Diamondbacks). He may not be a Diamondback for very long, but he’s certainly on this team. At just 24, Upton is miles beyond the development of other players his age. This is his 5th full Major League season. He’s been an All-Star twice and was a legitimate MVP candidate last year. This season, his offensive numbers have dipped and there’s talk that the team doesn’t like his attitude or that he might be injured. I’m not here to judge that. Upton is an undisputed five-tool player. That gives him the slight edge over the other obvious candidate here.

Center Field: Mike Trout (Los Angeles Angels). There aren’t enough superlatives in the English language for Mike Trout. He does everything so well. He’s, of course, only 20. He’s near the pace for a 25 HR/60 SB season, while playing Gold Glove defense. And, again, he’s only 20. There’s another exceptional candidate for this position, but Trout’s enormous ceiling gives him the edge.

Left Field: Bryce Harper (Washington Nationals). He’s a man without a true OF position. He’s started at least 6 games at each position this season, so we’ll place him in LF for now. Harper doesn’t have Trout’s glove or speed (outside of Billy Hamilton and Peter Bourjos, who does?), but at 19 he possesses almost unparalleled power potential. His swing is violent, but he has proven himself to not be a hacker. He strikes out a bit, but he makes solid adjustments when he’s down in counts. At just 19, he’s not afraid of slapping a two-strike pitch into left for a double. If I have Trout in CF, I want Harper flanking him. It just seems right.

Designated Hitter: Giancarlo Stanton (Miami Marlins). I don’t believe that pitchers should hit. I used to. I don’t any more. It hurts the game. Pitchers don’t get enough reps at the plate. And so, we’re playing in the American League. Stanton was the “other obvious choice” at RF, but I’ll take Upton in the field. Stanton is here for his absurd power. He’s going to strike out a lot, but I’m okay with that. He’s only 22 and may have a 50 HR season in his future.

Batting Order:
SS Andrus
CF Trout
RF Upton
DH Stanton
LF Harper
C Posey
1B Hosmer
3B Lawrie
2B Kipnis

Bench players:
Catcher: Travis d’Arnaud (Toronto Blue Jays)
Infielders: Jurickson Profar (Texas Rangers) and Starlin Castro (Chicago Cubs)
Outfielder: Andrew McCutchen (Pittsburgh Pirates) and Jason Heyward (Atlanta Braves)

Offensive Overview:
I thought heavily about having light-hitting Atlanta Braves prospect Christian Bethancourt as a third catcher on this roster. My thinking is that Posey would get some time at 1B, to spell Hosmer and with Travis d’Arnaud’s injury history, I’m willing to take an offensive loss behind the plate in exchange for what some scouts say is the best defensive catcher they’ve ever seen. I’m no scout. But I’ve seen Bethancourt in the minors. His arm is real. And it is spectacular.

That said, Bethancourt misses the cut because he’s an atrocious hitter. d’Arnaud has the tools to put him in competition with Posey if not for the fact that he’s hurt, again. Had he not torn his PCL, d’Arnaud would likely be starting for the Blue Jays right now.

Profar is a name that some might not be familiar with, but they should be. He’s the most impressive prospect in the game and, perhaps, already one of the best 5 shortstops in all of baseball.. As a young 19 year old, he shows the sort of plate discipline that most 30 year olds would envy. He’s got surprising power for a guy who probably hasn’t finished growing. He fields the position so well that his arrival in the big leagues (probably next spring) will move Elvis Andrus elsewhere. And Andrus is no slouch. Profar is the kind of guy I want on a team like this. Someone who can help now and will lead the team in his early 20s.

Starlin Castro is not the kind of player that I want on this team. However, I have a hard time denying that he should be here. He’s also not enough of a shortstop that I would feel bad having two shortstops. He’d move around a little in my infield and bat low in the order when he was in there. I know that doesn’t sound exciting, but frankly, I’m not that excited about having Castro here. He’s the 25th man on the roster. Present only for potential and because I could plug him in elsewhere.

The idea of having Andrew McCutchen on my bench seems a little ridiculous, but I’m unwilling to move Bryce Harper out of the starting lineup. It’s part homerism, certainly, but also the fact that I would rather have Harper for the remainder of his career than McCutchen. That is certainly not to slight Cutch. He’s one of the best players in baseball and a possible MVP candidate this season. We’ve seen McCutchen’s ceiling, I think. In fact, I think we’re seeing it right now. And it’s a very nice ceiling. But Harper’s could be the Sistine Chapel.

The biggest red flag here is that I have six outfield players (including the DH Stanton). I have a problem with that. Trust me. The argument for the six outfielders is this: Hey, look at the first base talent pool. You’ve got a few unproven commodities (Mike Olt, namely) who could move over to the position from elsewhere. You’ve got some middle-of-the-road possibilities (Freddie Freeman, Ike Davis). And you’ve got Paul Goldschmidt, who I just don’t believe is a .360+ OBP hitter.

And, again, you’ve got Posey who can play 1B.

Heyward is the next best bat, for me. And accordingly, he finds himself here.

PITCHING ROTATION
Starting Pitcher: Stephen Strasburg (Washington Nationals). He’s the game’s best young pitcher. No one possesses the arsenal of pitches that Strasburg does. Electric fastball. Nasty hook. And maybe the game’s best change-up.  He’s the total package at 23.

Starting Pitcher: Clayton Kershaw (Los Angeles Dodgers). Kershaw does everything that you want a pitcher to do and from the left side. He too has a great fastball, but also brings a devastating slider that he uses to strike hitters out. And it works. He’s your reigning NL Cy Young Award winner for good reason.

Starting Pitcher: Madison Bumgarner (San Francisco Giants). A lefty with a really good fastball and a decreased walk rate. Bumgarner might be a product of his home park (nearly twice as many homers on the road versus at home), but that’s fine by me. He’s showing an increased ability to miss bats. And the velocity issues he was having prior to 2010 seem to be a thing of the past.

Starting Pitcher: Yu Darvish (Texas Rangers). As long as he doesn’t have to face the Seattle Mariners, I want Yu on my team. His walk rate will need to decrease, but really, you could do much worse for a number 4 starter.

Starting Pitcher: Chris Sale (Chicago White Sox). His arm is going to fall off.Look at this picture. Still, better to burn out than fade away? I guess? Sale is Genghis Khan on lefties. He attacks the zone and strikes hitters out with electric stuff. He might be better suited, long-term, for the bullpen, but you cannot overlook what he’s done in 2012 as a starter.

Missing the cut:
Trevor Bauer (Arizona Diamondbacks)- It’s never a good thing to be demoted to the minor leagues once you’ve been promoted to the minors. Bauer was in the rotation originally. However, he’s shown no control over his offspeed pitches so far. If he gets the walk rate down, he can find himself in the rotation once Sale’s arm melts.


Dylan Bundy (Balitmore Orioles)- At this time next year, he might be in the rotation. But until a guy throws a pitch in the Majors, or even AA, I have trouble projecting him as a Major Leaguer.


Matt Moore (Tampa Bay Rays)- He’s giving up nearly a hit an inning. The stuff is certainly there, but he’s had a hard time putting it together this season, after a great September in 2011.


Gerrit Cole (Pittsburgh Pirates)- See: Bundy, Dylan. Also, he’s never called his own game. Ever. That’s an issue until he does.

Barely too old:
Felix Hernandez
David Price

BULLPEN
Craig Kimbrel (Atlanta Braves). Smoke.
Aroldis Chapman (Cincinnati Reds). Fire.
Kenley Jansen (Los Angeles Dodgers). Precision. That .80 WHIP is astounding.
Neftali Feliz (Texas Rangers). I don’t think he’s a starter, long term. And he’s definitely a good reliever.
Drew Storen (Washington Nationals). Really good 2-seam fastball.
Wade Miley (Arizona Diamondbacks). A two pitch pitcher (he throws his curve and slider each less than 10% of the time). He could be a valuable long-relief guy, despite his minor successes as a starter this year.


There you have it. Think I made a mistake? I probably did. So let me know that I missed someone obvious and make me look foolish on the interweb. Think you have a better team? Send it my way.

Bias Bulletin

/ Jason / Leave a comment

5 Baseball Tidbits
–Down 4 runs, in a game the Blue Jays would go on to lose 6-0, Toronto 3B Brett Lawrie dove into the deep camera well at Yankee Stadium trying to catch a Mark Teixiera foul ball. Lawrie didn’t come up with the ball. He did, however, fall a good 8 feet, smash his leg on a railing, and terrify everyone in his organization (and Teixiera who looked visibly spooked by Lawrie’s fall). MRIs revealed that the young 3B just suffered a bruise, but for a team that keeps losing key players, like Toronto, it had to be a frightening moment.
-Miguel Batista is a journeyman relief pitcher. He is currently employed by the New York Mets. He has, more than likely, been previously employed by your favorite team. There’s usually not much reason to pay attention to Batista. Last night, he decided to call some attention to himself by declaring that baseball’s best team is the New York Mets. That’s really all I have to say about Miguel Batista.
-I’ve written in this space before about Diamondbacks pitching prospect Trevor Bauer. He was the third overall pick in last year’s draft out of UCLA. Arizona promoted him to the big leagues about a month ago. That did not go very well. Bauer appeared to regress in each of his starts, culminating in a disastrous start in Cincinnati on Tuesday where he allowed just 1 hit in 3 innings of work (that’s the good part), but accompanied that with 4 runs, 5 walks, and 2 wild pitches, including one ball that was thrown directly to the backstop. Yesterday, Arizona threw Bauer directly back to AAA Reno to work on his command. This morning, Bauer tweeted the lyrics to a song that he’s going to write about adversity. Once that is done, perhaps he’ll work on the release point for his curveball.
-Doug Fister really likes the summertime. Now, I haven’t sat down with the lanky right-hander to discuss this, but if the previous two season are any indication, Fister becomes rejuvenated during the All-Star break and returns as a rotational Ace. Last night, Fister continued this trend by pitching 8 innings against the red-hot Angels, with just one run surrendered (an Albert Pujols HR in the 1st) and 10 strikeouts. Expect a rush of Doug Fister trades in your fantasy leagues next June.
-The time has come for me (and we?) to stop ignoring the Oakland Athletics. Sure, I’m not convinced that Billy Beane can name the entire 25-man roster right now, but the A’s are surging and find themselves just a ½ game out of the 2nd Wild Card spot in the AL. Yesterday, the A’s walked off against the Texas Rangers thanks to a HR by Guy You’ve Never Heard Of. And they’re doing this without their best pitcher, Brandon McCarthy, who is on the DL with a shoulder injury. And the news keeps getting better for the A’s who announced yesterday that pitcher Brett Anderson will begin a rehab assignment in Stockton this weekend as he tries to return from elbow surgery.  Add a healthy Anderson and a healthy McCarthy to a pitching staff without a single 4.00+ ERA and you’ve got a formula for success down the stretch. Even with that lineup.
Your Daily Washington Nationals Update
17 games over .500. 4.5 games ahead of the Atlanta Braves. A remarkable season keeps heading towards a remarkable conclusion for the Washington Nationals.
It’s not always pretty (like last night when closer Tyler Clippard allowed two 9th inning HRs), but the Nats are playing better baseball than anyone in the NL and have been doing so for nearly the entire season.
Actual closer Drew Storen is slated to return from the DL today after missing all of this season with an elbow injury. Word also came yesterday that Jayson Werth would begin his rehab from a broken wrist tomorrow.
The Nats will seek a sweep of the Mets today down at the Navy Yard, but it won’t be easy. New York will send R.A. Dickey to the hill to oppose Gio Gonzalez. The last time the Nats faced Dickey, they managed just 4 hits in 7.1 innings against the knuckleballer. Game time is 12:35 p.m. on MASN.
Game of the Day
Team USA (basketball) will play another exhibition today, this time against Great Britain, who will send out a starting 5 of Andy Murray, Pippa Middleton, Sir Paul McCartney, David Beckham, and Ricky Gervais to take on LeBron, Kobe, Chris Paul, Tyson Chandler, and Carmelo Anthony. I expect this game to have a result similar to that of the Revolutionary War. Game time is 2:00 on ESPN2.
Our baseball game of the day is the Nats and Mets. By far the best pitching matchup of the day, unless May 2010 Ubaldo Jimenez shows up in Tampa today.

Bias Bulletin

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The Linston Linkets
Man, that never gets old, does it?
Yesterday, it became official that the New York Knicks are bigoted towards mediocre point guards who perform well above their ceiling because they’re playing in the perfect system for their rather limited skill set.
Jeremy Lin, who you’ll remember as the star of the 2011-12 season, was officially signed yesterday by the Houston Rockets, as the New York Knicks declined to overspend on a marketing star, but limited on-court player. Lin goes to a team, in Houston, with experience in the Chinese market thanks to Yao Ming. I fully expect Lin to be voted as an NBA All-Star. Perhaps even Tracy McGrady too.
5 Baseball Tidbits
–During this past offseason, the Kansas City Royals traded Melky Cabrera to the San Francisco Giants for pitchers Jonathan Sanchez and Ryan Verdugo. At the time, many (myself included) regarded this as a win for the Royals. They were acquiring a young lefty with really good stuff and a no-hitter under his belt.  Fast forward to July 18 and that trade looks lopsided, but not in the way anyone expected. Cabrera leads the Majors in hits and has put himself in a position to receive an enormous free agent contract after this season. Meanwhile, Sanchez was designated for assignment yesterday. And in a cruel twist for Royals fans, he was DFA’d so that they could promote Verdugo to make his MLB debut. Which he did. 1.2 IP, 6 ER.
–Boyz II Men sang about the “End of the Road” back in the early 90s. Little did we know that they were foreshadowing the 2012 Baltimore Orioles. For the first 3 months of the season, the Orioles were the darlings of the mainstream baseball writing world. Now? The Orioles are the second worst team in the American League in run differential. They’ve lost their “best” pitcher (Jason Hammel). They’ve lost 7 of their last 10 games. And they’ve surrendered 25 runs in the previous two games against the Twins.
–CC Sabathia and Roy Halladay are two of the best pitchers in baseball. I don’t know how long the list is, but they’re on it. Last night, they both returned from DL stints and did so with the results you’d expect from each.  Sabathia pitched 6 shutout innings. Hallday gave up 2 runs in his 5 innings, but struck out 6 while walking none. The Yankees and Phillies both won.
–The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim California Angels put up a football score on the Detroit Tigers last night, thanks largely to home runs by nearly the entire roster, Mike Scioscia, , Tim Salmon, Miranda Kerr, and Danny Glover. 13-0. The Angels are very good, not that one 13-run night was needed to show that.
–Barry Zito continued his 2012 comeback/regression tour last night on the comeback leg. The former Cy Young winner pitched a relatively efficient 7 innings of shutout baseball last night, allowing only 4 baserunners. Zito has bounced between great starts and clunkers (six walks against the Reds on June 30, for one). Overall, his numbers aren’t all that bad. But Giants fans need to be a little nervous about the prospect of Zito down the stretch. Although, I now have a new nickname for Zito: Box o’ Chocolates.
Your Daily Washington Nationals Update
The biggest story from last night came out of the nation’s capital, as the Washington Nationals, twice, managed to comeback with the game on the line, as they beat the New York Mets 5-4 in 10 innings.
The Nats entered the top of the 9th with a 2-0 lead. A three-run HR by Jordanny Valdespin gave the Mets a 3-2 lead. In the bottom of the 9th, Danny Espinosa singled up the middle to score Ian Desmond (pinch running for Michael Morse). Game tied 3-3.
The Mets regrouped and put a run on the board in the top of the 10th. The Nats would not die.
Bryce Harper delivered a game-tying triple, scoring Jhonatan Solano. Game tied 4-4. After a force out at home plate, the game appeared to be heading to the 11th, when Mets reliever, Guy You’ve Never Heard Of, threw a wild pitch practically into the Infield Gallery to score Ryan Zimmerman from 3rd. 5-4. Game over. Nats win.
The National will try to win in less dramatic fashion tonight when Jordan Zimmermann and Chris Young face off at 7:05 on the MASN.
Game of the Day
Phillies at Dodgers, 3:00 p.m. Cliff Lee v. Clayton Kershaw. (MLB Network)

Bias Bulletin

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4 Baseball Tidbits (Now With More Owies)
–Joey Votto has a better approach at the plate than any other player in baseball. For the next month though, the only plate he’ll approach is one at Tim Hortons. Votto had minor knee surgery yesterday on a meniscus injury and will miss up to 4 weeks. He is the NL’s leader in OBP and seemingly the only really competent hitter in Cincinnati’s lineup.
-Late in the Blue Jays game against the New York Yankees, Jose Bautista took a hard cut at a pitch that landed in foul territory deep in left field. Then Bautista left the game. It appeared as though he may have tweaked his wrist while sliding into home earlier in the game and this hard swing clearly didn’t help the situation. Jays manager John Farrell said that Bautista, the AL’s #2 HR hitter, felt something pop. Generally, you don’t want things popping in your wrist.
-David Ortiz tweaked his achilles while running the bases on an Adrian Gonzalez HR. You read that correctly. Bobby Valentine expects Ortiz to miss “a few games.”
-Also in Boston-land, Kevin Youkilis returned to Fenway Park last night and delivered a 3-hit performance for the White Sox, albeit in a loss. Youkilis got a standing “Youk” from the Boston crowd prior to his first at-bat. The great irony of the game, though, is that Boston designated Brent Lillibridge for assignment prior to the start. If that name is unfamiliar to you, I don’t blame you. Lillibridge, though, is one of the players Boston got for Kevin Youkilis. How’s that Zach Stewart for Kevin Youkilis trade looking to Boston now?
Team USA Isn’t Very Good Right Now
Our men’s Olympic team had a bit of trouble with the Brazilians last night, winning sloppily by 11 points over a team whose best NBA player is Nene. The Americans were led by LeBron James’ 30 points. No other American player scored more than Kevin Durant’s 11. The team was awful from deep and didn’t appear to have much in the way of ball movement. Lots of work to do before the Olympics.
Your Daily Washington Nationals Update
The Nats managed to hit into 65 double plays (a slight exaggeration) last night as they fell to the Miami Marlins 5-3. Edwin Jackson continued his streak of terrible starts (now at 3!). The bright spots for Washington were Danny Espinosa and Ryan Zimmerman, each of whom had 3 hits in the loss. The Nats and Marlins split their four-game series.
The Nationals will return home tonight to begin a 3-game series with the New York Mets. Ross Detwiler and Jon Niese will square off at 7:05 on MASN.
Game of the Day
Today’s baseball game of the day takes us to Los Angeles, where Roy Halladay will return for the Philadelphia Phillies to face the Dodger’s young starter TBD. This will be Halladay’s first start since May 27, when he left with a lat strain. The Phillies are 3-1 since the All-Star Break and just got Ryan Howard and Chase Utley back. Game time is 10:10 p.m.

Bias Bulletin

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5 Baseball Tidbits
-The return of Big Time Timmy Jim? Maybe not. But Tim Lincecum offered the Giants a look at what they’ve been missing all year on Saturday. Lincecum pitched 8 shutout innings, striking out 11 Houston Astros. Bear in mind, the Astros had a perfect game thrown against them earlier this year by the Giants’ Matt Cain. Regardless, Lincecum had been the worst pitcher in baseball for the first 3 ½ months this season. A performance like that, against any team, is big. He’ll face the Phillies on Friday.
-The last time Ben Sheets started a Major League Game, Richard Nixon was in the White House. Okay, that’s a bit of an exaggeration. However, it had been 2 years since the former star had toed the rubber in a Major League game. Sheets, now an Atlanta Brave, went out yesterday and pitched 6 shutout innings. Gone was the electric fastball and 12-6 curve that made him a star in Milwaukee, but Sheets still managed to pitch well in 100+ degree heat.
-The Cincinnati Reds had perhaps the best start to the second half of any ML club, as they swept their hated division rival, the St. Louis Cardinals. Last night’s game was the most exciting of the series, with Scott Rolen delivering a two-run double in the bottom of the 8th and Aroldis Chapman touching 100 MPH in the 9th to pick up the save. The Reds now hold a 1 game lead on Pittsburgh in the NL Central.
-Jacoby Ellsbury and Matt Kemp returned to the Red Sox and Dodgers, respectively, on Friday and did so with a bang. Ellsbury went 6-14 in his three games, while Kemp went 5-9 in his 2 games (the Dodgers gave him yesterday’s game off).
-This could go in the daily Nats update, but deserves mention here: Yesterday, Marlins manager and noted Buddhist Ozzie Guillen complained about the amount of pine tar on Bryce Harper’s bat in the 19 year old’s second at-bat. Harper offered his bat to Ozzie, which led to the Zen Master spewing off a number of pixilated words in Harper’s direction. After the game, Guillen called Harper disrespectful, probably because he didn’t swear back at Guillen. Harper called Ozzie great.
Your Daily Washington Nationals Update
The Nats took 2 of the 3 games this weekend against the Marlins and will wrap up their 4 game set tonight.
Yesterday saw Stephen Strasburg pitch 6 shutout innings, followed by a near implosion by Tyler Clippard in the 9th. Regardless, Clippard escaped unscathed, despite loading the bases with 0 outs.
Edwin Jackson and Carlos Zambrano will face each other in the finale tonight. Get your pine tar ready. Game time is 7:10 on MASN.
Games of the Day
The US Mens National team (basketball) will take on Brazil in an exhibition game at Verizon Center tonight. Game time is 8 p.m. on ESPN 2.
Your baseball matchup of the day sees the Diamondback and Reds facing off in Cincinnati at 7:10. Wade Miley and Bronson Arroyo will take the mound. The Reds will look to continue their hot start to the second half.

Bias Bulletin

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The National League All-Star Game
While Justin Verlander might have been the only logical choice to start the MLB All-Star Game last night, he certainly wasn’t the smartest choice. Verlander is a pitcher who relies on repetition and building up his arm in each start. Last night, he didn’t have that luxury and instead of coming out with his 92 MPH fastball, Verlander tried to ramp it up to 99 MPH and lost command of his pitches. And the American League, before they could bat, lost control of the game.
The National League won 8-0. Giants outfielder Melky Cabrera won the MVP award, though his Giants teammate Pablo Sandoval easily could have won the award. In fact, the entire National League pitching staff could have shared the award. They allowed 0 runs on just 6 hits against the American League’s best hitters. Only Clayton Kershaw surrendered more than 1 hit.
With the win, the National League’s champion will have home-field advantage in the World Series. The National League has won the previous two All-Star Games and the previous two World Series championships.
Dwight Howard Trade Watch
Dwight Howard has not been traded yet.
Game of the Day
So, the Botelho Bulletin will likely not appear over the next few days. There are no Major League Games between now and Friday night. There’s a AAA All-Star Game tonight, but, really no one should care about that, outside of Royals prospect Wil Myers.
If something big happens over the next few days, like a Dwight Howard trade, I will update.

Bias Bulletin

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Baseball In Review, Briefly
With it being the All-Star break, your editors decided to put a bow on the first half of the MLB season.
The American League is shaping up to be a two-team race between the Yankees and Rangers. Each team leads their respective divisions thanks in large part to their offensive production. The Yankees have been beset with injuries on the mound, but have more than stayed afloat in the absence of CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte, and Mariano Rivera. Texas has not had much bad luck fall on them this season, save for the loss of Neftali Felix, and has been a near wire-to-wire leader in the AL West.
The team to look out for in the AL is the Angels, who have surged over the last month and a half, thanks in large part to Rookie of the Year favorite Mike Trout, who leads the league in batting average and stolen bases. The Angels boast a solid pitching rotation and have gotten great bullpen work out of players you’ve never heard of.
In the senior circuit (that’s the National League), things are a little more unclear. Your current division leaders are the Nationals, Pirates, and Dodgers.  Had you gone to Vegas in March and bet on that trifecta, you too would own a dressage horse by now.
Each of those teams, unlike their AL counterparts, have gotten by thanks to pitching. But the Natratgers are not the only contenders in the NL. San Francisco, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Arizona, and Atlanta all possess realistic shots at overtaking their division leaders.  Look for the NL to have a wild finish in late September.
Midseason Awards (so, you know, total editorializations)
AL MVP: Mike Trout (OF/Los Angeles)
NL MVP: Joey Votto (1B/Cincinnati)
AL Rookie of the Year: Mike Trout (OF/Los Angeles)
NL Rookie of the Year: Wade Miley (SP/Arizona)
AL Cy Young: Justin Verlander (SP/Detroit)
NL Cy Young: RA Dickey (SP/New York)
Game of the Day
Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game. The festivities (Anthem, player introductions, etc.) begin at 7:30 p.m. on FOX. The game will start sometime around 8 p.m. Matt Cain will start for the National League. Justin Verlander will start for the American League. The game is played in Kansas City, Missouri.
If don’t watch the All-Star Game, but you didn’t miss a Republican debate, you should be sent to North Korea immediately.

The Return of the Bias Bulletin

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Lawn Sport
What Roger Federer did over the last fortnight is no small wonder. For years now, the mainstream media (who only follows tennis 3 times a year…sorry Australia!) has said that Roger is done. Wimbledon was supposed to be Novak Djokovic’s time. The Serbian seemed poised to officially separate himself from Federer and Nadal. This looked even more likely when Nadal was eliminated by Guy Whose Name We’ve Already Forgotten, early on in the tournament.
Federer and Djokovic’s seminfinal matchup really wasn’t ever close.  Federer won in 4 sets to advance to the finals. In the championship, he would face Brit Andy Murray. Murray arrived in the finals with the weight of Queen Elizabeth on his back as he was the first Englishman to play in a Wimbledon final in over 70 years.
Murray jumped out to a rather easy first set victory. Then Roger (and the rain) arrived and put to bed any hopes that Murray could vault himself into the true upper echelon of men’s tennis. Federer’s Wimbledon victory is his 7th and first since 2009. Today, Roger will return to the #1 spot in the ATP rankings of tennis players.
Federer turns 31 next month. He is, by most metrics, at the point when his career will begin to decline. But for two weeks in London, in the summer of 2012, he looked like a 20 year old again.
Basketing Sport
With the NBA’s free agency period underway, there has been a lot of movement over the last week.
The biggest story, of course (sorry Nick Young) was Steve Nash agreeing to a sign-and-trade with the Los Angeles Lakers. Nash will give LA the floor general they’ve lacked since Magic Johnson left (don’t go into a thing about Derek Fisher…just don’t).  Nash might be 93 years old, but he still possesses better on-court vision than anyone in the sport. He makes LA an instant contender for the 2012-13 season.
3,000 miles away, Ray Allen decided to leave the Boston Celtics and join their current Eastern Conference rival, the Miami Heat. He’ll give Miami the aging wing player with aching legs that they so desperately already possess.
Elsewhere, Deron Williams resigned with the Brooklyn Nets, thanks, maybe (?) to the Nets acquisition of Joe Johnson from Atlanta for a package of spare change, Devin Harris, and Thanksgiving leftovers.
In non-free agent news, Team USA announced their final roster for the 2012 Olympics. It is as follows: LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Andre Igoudala, Kobe Bryant, Blake Griffin, Tyson Chandler, Kevin Love, Eric Gordon, Carmelo Anthony, Anthony Davis, Chris Bosh, and Rudy Gay. They are considered the light favorites.
Fielding Sport
Baseball entered its All-Star break last night. The Home Run Derby will be played tonight at 8:00 (ESPN). Matt Kemp, Andrew McCutchen, Carlos Gonzalez, and Carlos Beltran will swing for the NL. Robinson Cano, Prince Fielder, Josh Hamilton, and Jose Bautista will swing for the AL.
Tomorrow will feature a first-half recap. There is no game of the day today (other than the Derby) because there are no games.

Bias Bulletin

/ Jason / Leave a comment

Euro 2012 Update
In the upset of the tournament (apologies to Greece), the Italians used two Mario Balotelli goals and a workman-like performance in net from Gianluigi Buffon to eliminate Germany and advance to their first European Championship since their 2000 loss to France.
The Italy/Spain final is a rematch from the first weekend of the tournament, when the two teams drew 1-1. There will be no drawing in the final on Sunday.
NBA Draft Recap
As many expected, Kentucky forward Anthony Davis was the first overall selection in the 2012 NBA Draft, going to the New Orleans Hornets. NOLA used their second lottery pick (10th overall) to draft Duke guard Austin Rivers, establishing, in the span of an hour, one of the best young nucleuses in the league.
Elsewhere, the Charlotte Bobcats drafted Davis’ college teammate Michael Kidd-Gilchrist with the second overall pick. The Wizards followed by taking Florida freshman Bradley Beal. Cleveland surprised many by drafting Syracuse guard Dion Waiters with the fourth pick, despite the fact that Waiters never started a game in his two years in college. Finally, Sacramento rounded out the top 5 by taking D.C.-native and Kansas forward Thomas Robinson.
The surprise of the draft, though, may have been that there were no surprises. No big trades (apologies, as always, to Tyler Zeller). No shocking picks (we call those Mouhamed Sene’s). The fans booed NBA Commissioner David Stern. They cheered Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver. And the ESPN analysts talked about wingspan and upside.
5 MLB Tidbits
–Great Pitching Performance #1: Felix Hernandez. Maybe it’s because he plays for a terrible team (that’s exactly what it is), but King Felix doesn’t get enough notice for just how good he is. Last night saw a return to form for the King, after a bit of an off season. Hernandez threw a shutout and struck out 13 Red Sox hitters and got the minimum of run support from his teammates to lead Seattle to a 1-0 victory.
-Great Pitching Performance #2: Madison Bumgarner. Bumgarner came within one hit of throwing his first career no-hitter, as he led the now first place San Francisco Giants to a 5-0 victory over the Reds. Cincinnati’s only hit came off the bat of Ryan Hanigan. Bumgarner struck out 8.
-Great Pitching Performance #3: Andrew Cashner. The Padres decided last month to conver the electric-armed (and often-injured) Cashner to a starting pitcher role. They sent him to the minors where he was dominant. Last night, in his return to the Majors and his debut as a full-time starter, Cashner took a no-hitter into the 7th inning before surrendering a line drive single to Carlos Lee. Cashner dominated the Astros, though, in the previous six innings, striking out 9 and walking just 1. The Padres rallied in the 9th for a 7-3 victory.
-Mediocre Pitching Debut #1: Trevor Bauer. Pitching in his MLB debut on short rest (which is apparently the way to do this sort of thing…?), Diamondbacks prospect Trevor Bauer pitched 4 innings, surrendering 2 runs and striking out 3. Better things to come.
-Coming off of a week-long series with their cross-state rivals, the Pittsburgh Pirates now find themselves just 1 game back in the NL Central. The Pirates begin a weekend series tonight with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Your Daily Washington Nationals Update
Yesterday was just your run-of-the-mill 11-10 extra innings game between the Nationals and Rockies. The Nats were on the 10 run side of the equation and drew to a disappointing split with the Rockies.
Starter Edwin Jackson was rocked for 8 runs early and exhibited as much life on his fastball as Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The Nats were able to sustain an unsuccessful rally thanks to a late-inning homer by Bryce Harper that traveled up I-25 to Cheyenne.
The Nats begin a three-game series in Atlanta tonight. They enter the series with a 3 ½ game lead on the Braves. Your weekend pitching matchups and start times:
Friday: Ross Detwiler v. Randall Delgado (7:35 p.m.)
Saturday: Stephen Strasburg v. Mike Minor (4:05 p.m.)
Sunday: Gio Gonzalez v. Tim Hudson (1:35 p.m.)
Games of the Weekend
Soccer: Spain v. Italy (Sunday 2:45/ESPN)
MLB: Tigers @ Rays (Friday 7:10/MLB.TV……Justin Verlander v. David Price)
And then some tennis and stock car racing, and I’m sure a golf tournament. Perhaps some cage fighting and some bowling.
Enjoy your weekends. Safe travels to those hitting the road, rail, or sky.

Bias Bulletin

/ Jason / Leave a comment

I’m An Idiot or How The BCS Died and I Didn’t Tell You
I missed a huge story in yesterday’s Bulletin. Total oversight. So consider this your old news update.
Beginning in 2014, college football will finally turn to a playoff system to determine the National Champion. A yet to be determined board will determine the four best teams and place them in a seeded tournament using the current bowl system. They’ll apparently measure strength of schedule, win-loss record, and give preference to conference champions. In short, the BCS, for all intents and purposes, is dead.
So commence the arguing over who is the fourth best team in the country. Bear in mind that last year’s 4th and 5thplace teams in the BCS were Stanford and Oregon. And Stanford was the 4thseed. And they didn’t win the Pac-12. And they lost to Oregon. Let’s hope the humans get it right.
Euro 2012 Update
Something about Cristiano Ronaldo not having a penalty kick…
5 Baseball Tidbits
-The San Francisco Giants completed their first ever shutout sweep of the LA Dodgers, outscoring the boys in blue 13-0 in the series. The teams are now tied for the NL West lead.
-The Baltimore Orioles had found a diamond in the rough in Jason Hammel. Hammel had been a less than successful pitcher for the Rays and Rockies before coming to Baltimore in an offseason trade. Up until 7:05 p.m. yesterday, Hammel had been a revelation. Then he got lit up by the Angels and all was made right with the world.
-The Chicago Cubs are terrible. They proved that yesterday by surrendering 17 runs to the New York Mets.
-Chase Utley returned to the lineup for the Philadelphia Phillies last night and delivered a home run in his first at bat. Then the Phillies lost. And again, all was made right with the world.
-(an editorial) The Colorado Rockies are an embarrassment to baseball. You’ll recall that the Rockies have employed a 4-man rotation of underqualified starters. Yesterday, they promoted an ill-prepared AA prospect to start against the best team in the National League (the Washington Nationals). That prospect (Edwar Cabrera) was shelled by the Nationals. 6 runs in 2 1/3 innings. It is never a good idea to promote and expose a raw pitching prospect to Major League hitters. Especially on a team that is going absolutely nowhere and has very little. The Rockies need as many good young pitchers without destroyed psyches as possible. It does no good in promoting a guy like Cabrera nearly a year too soon.
Your Daily Washington Nationals Update
As you could probably tell in the previous bit, the Nationals exploded offensively again last night, en route to an 11-5 victory over the Colorado Rockies. They continue to possess the best record in the National League. They’ll look to take the series against Colorado this afternoon. Edwin Jackson will face Josh Outman (3:10/MASN).
Games of the Day
Germany v. Italy (2:45/ESPN). The winner will face Spain in the Euro Final on Sunday.
My baseball game of the day features one of my favorite prospects in the game, Diamondbacks pitcher Trevor Bauer. He’ll make his MLB debut tonight against the Atlanta Braves, down in the Peach State. He’ll oppose Jair Jurrjens. Game time is 7:10. You’ll need to have some sort of MLB package to watch.
The Bulletin may not be watching Bauer’s debut live tonight though, as one of its favorite sporting events will be taking place. That, of course, is the 2012 NBA Draft. The Draft starts at 7:30 and airs on ESPN. The Bulletin wrote an NBA Draft preview over on his weblog.