Re-Run: Future Hall of Fame, Middle Infield

The second true entry in the Future Hall of Fame Series. Second base and shortstop were lacking in candidates individually, so I combined them.

Quick Trade Idea

I don't really want to write a full article, so just a quick idea. Nate McLouth has been Atlanta's primary center fielder this year. He also has an OPS+ of 91. Meanwhile, the last place Astros have center fielder Michael Bourn, who is under contract through 2012 and has an OPS+ of 117.

According to MLB Trade Rumors, the Astros want pitching prospacts. I don't know a lot about the Braves' farm system, but I'm pretty sure they have two to three good young pitchers (if I recall right). This seems like they should match up pretty easily, right?

My off-the-top-of-my-head calculations say this would be a 2 WAR upgrade for the Braves the rest of the season (using Fangraphs). And it would help the Astros to rebuild. Maybe the Braves don't want to try and upgrade, seeing as they're running away with the wild card? But they're still talking about trading for other players, according to MLB Trade Rumors (including fellow Astro Hunter Pence).

I don't know. But this seems like an easy match-up.

St. Louis Cardinals Trade Colby Rasmus, Blunder Spectacularly

The Cardinals now join the Rockies and Angels as teams that can claim to be swindled by Alex Anthopoulos.

According to Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman, the Blue Jays swindled the Cardinals out of 24-year old center fielder Colby Rasmus (and some spare parts) for what essentially amounts to...spare parts.

Re-Run: Future Hall of Fame, Third Base

This is the start of the Future Hall Series proper. I decided that after almost half a year that a position-by-position in-depth analysis was more what I was looking for, and third base seemed like the ideal place to start (please note the name of the blog).

As with last time, please note that the stats are slightly out-of-date.

Quick Thoughts: Colby Rasmus

I am a big fan of Colby Rasmus. I know that he gets a flack, and there have been quite a few trade rumors swirling around him as of late. However, I have always thought that trading him would be a big mistake. Even if he's having issues with the manager, trading him now (with his value at its lowest) is still a big mistake. And that's assuming that the manager is more important to the team than the starting center fielder. This article over at ESPN.com only convinces me more that he's worth keeping. Even if he doesn't become a Carlos Beltran or Bernie Williams-level star, there's still likely plenty of value to be had. For example, Ellis Burks wasn't too shabby, you know.

Re-Run: Future Hall of Fame, Attempt 1

I'm a little busy right now, so I'll be re-running articles until
further notice.
The Retired Number Series isn't the first series that I've done. Last
year, over at Bleacher Report, I published articles detailing my
thoughts on which current players might make the Hall of Fame. My
first stab at the thinking went a little awry, though, and I ended up
with one article that wasn't quite what I wanted and a sequel that had
stagnated. The second article never even got finished. But, I figured
I needed to post the whole series, good or bad. So, I present what I
guess is now the intro to my Future Hall of Fame Series, as well as
the never before seen (or finished) sequel. Also, I believe that this article was from before the 2010 season, so the stats are a little old.

Retired Numbers Series: Pittsburgh Pirates

For the next team in my Retired Numbers Series, I was at a bit of a loss over which team to cover. So, I decided to take my dad’s suggestion and cover his favorite team growing up, the Pittsburgh Pirates.

I lived in Pittsburgh when I was little, and tried to become a Pirates fan-unfortunately, it was at the height of the recent struggles, which made it very difficult for a young fan to maintain interest. I root for other teams now, but I still have a respect for the Pirates-they were my dad’s team growing up. They seemed like as good a team as any to continue my series.

On to the analysis.

Retired Numbers Series: St. Louis Cardinals

Picking the next team to do for my Retired Numbers Series is always hard to do. But the last two times I looked at the teams I had left, I kept coming back to the Cardinals. I wanted to put their article off until I had a better idea of what exactly I wanted to write, seeing as the Cardinals have the second most retired numbers of any team in the majors, and would require some work. But they are my favorite team (tied with the Orioles, but they haven’t been doing so hot the last few years, so...). I finally decided to cave in and do them next.

So, how do the Cardinals’ already retired numbers look, and who might be added in the near future?

Retired Numbers Series: Washington Nationals

After the first two articles in my Retired Numbers Series, I decided to continues on with a team common to both of them: the Washington Nationals.

As I said in the Orioles articles, I am an Orioles fan from when I lived in the D.C. area-that was obviously before the Nationals existed. I know the two teams are supposed to be rivals, and maybe it’s just because I haven’t lived in the area for a while, but I’m definitely sympathetic towards the Nats. They aren’t my favorite NL team-my two teams are the Orioles and Cardinals. But I do follow the Nationals somewhat, and I guess I care more about them than most other teams in the league. I don’t feel like there’s enough of a history between them yet to be full on rivals; maybe frenemies instead? They did just partner together in an effort to get their final vote candidates elected, so there is some cooperation. Besides, if Wikipedia has it, it must be a word, so I’m sticking with that one.

Anyway, onto the numbers.

Trade Suggestion: Hiroki Kuroda to Cardinals?

With the trade deadline now approaching, the Cardinals are surely looking to make some moves at the deadline. I am approaching this topic with a sort of hesitancy-I hope that the front office holds on to most of its prospects, as I dread the idea of giving up a future superstar for a two month rental. But I feel like the Cardinals need to make a move or two in order to hold off the Brewers and Reds. So, I’ve been trying to come up with possible low-cost alternatives.

2011 All-Star Game Random Renderings

So, I was watching the All Star Game with my dad, and we were making rather sarcastic remarks on some of the announcing. I mentioned that I remembered Tim McCarver rambling last year at the game, and after a few more...interesting statements, we figured maybe I should keep a running track of my thoughts over the course of the game. Several of these are word-for-word transcriptions of my thoughts.

And so, I present to you, My 2011 All Star Game Random Renderings.

Retired Numbers Series: Texas Rangers

For the first article in my Retired Number Series, I started with a team I knew well. For the second one, though, I wanted to do a team that I didn’t know as much about. The Ballpark in Arlington was the last stadium I visited, so the Rangers kind of stood out.

As it stands, the Rangers have only retired two numbers; what I’m going to do with this article is look at the numbers they’ve already retired, compare the Ranger’s process to other teams, and guess which numbers might be next.

K-Rod to Brewers: One Paragraph Knee-Jerk Reaction

Well, it seems Francisco Rodriguez will be leaving the New York Mets for the more beer-and-cheese laden pastures of Milwaukee. I would do one of my Knee-Jerk Reaction pieces on this move if I wasn't totally bogged down with writing right now (you'll see what I mean in a bit). So, for now, I will leave my thoughts on the Brewers acquiring a $17.5 million set-up man for John Axford to "LOL wut?"

A Short Notice

The Platoon Advantage is running a haiku contest on their website, relating to the 2011 season. I'm one of the ten finalists.

A link can be found here.

Retired Numbers Series: Baltimore Orioles

So, this is the first article in my Retired Number Series, so it’s going to be an experiment. And, it seemed that the most fitting choice for honorary first team would be the Baltimore Orioles.

In this series, I’m going to look at each team’s retired numbers, compare the standards of the different teams, and suggest possible future retired numbers.

The Orioles are one of my two teams: they are the first team I ever saw (back when I lived in Washington, D.C.), and even though I haven’t lived in an AL city since, and even though the Orioles have been pretty bad as of late, I’ve stayed faithful. In any case, that’s my reasoning behind starting my ambitious project with the Orioles: I know more about them than most teams.

But enough preamble; on to the analysis.

Quick Update: Retired Numbers Series

Okay, I’ve been mentioning an upcoming series of articles for the last week or two. I haven’t forgotten it, I’ve just been struggling to start it. I finally decided this would be the best way to introduce it: a brief introduction.

I’ve always been fascinated by retired numbers. I don’t really know why; maybe it has to do with a team acknowledging its past. It has led me to reading up on players I might not have known otherwise. Maybe it’s some combination of these. But, whatever the cause may be, I have decided to analyze each team’s retired numbers.

Right now, my plan is to write several articles and see where they take me, so I’m not positive when the first piece will go up. As of this moment, I’ll be looking at the quality of players each team has retired numbers for, their ties to the team, potential future retired numbers, and where each team ranks in relation to the league.

Check back Monday or Tuesday next week; hopefully, part one will be up then.

Re-Run: Don't Worry, MLB: I Fixed the All-Star Game Rosters

I wanted to start getting a semi-regular schedule, but I got back late last night after watching the Orioles get shellacked twice by the Rangers. So, I'm reposting my All-Star game column from last year. I would also like this time to mention that Omar Infante's nickname should be "Freaking".

Really, MLB?
You’re going to make me take time out of my Future Hall of Fame series to fix your All-Star Rosters?
You guys obviously need help this year. There’s bad, and then there’s not even trying. I mean, really.
No Joey Votto? No Jered Weaver? OMAR FREAKING INFANTE?
Thankfully, I’m giving you a mulligan this year. In fact, I’ll even fix your rosters for you, starting right now.

Don't Worry MLB, I Fixed the All-Star Rosters (Again)

So, we meet again, MLB All-Star rosters.

Just like last year: two enter, one a person with a red sharpie, the other an abstract list of baseball players; one leaves covered in red mark-ups (that would be the roster, in this case).

I tried this last year, and I think it really helped. Maybe not the roster, since MLB didn’t actually listen to me, but it made me feel a little better, so there’s that. And the rosters didn’t make me beat my head against the wall, so I’ll take the credit for that. Therefore, it can only help if I fix the All-Star rosters again.

MLB's All-Overlooked Team

With the All-Star game just around the corner, we will be seeing some of the most brilliant and visible stars of the game today. I would like to take a moment to recognize something else, though-players who are almost exactly the opposite. These are the players who play just as well as those who will be attending Arizona on July 12th, but are much less likely to be attending themselves. For whatever reason, these players are overshadowed relative to their performance, an All-Dark Matter team, if you will (since dark matter is invisible? Actually, this metaphor works better than I expected).

In any case, even if you didn’t fill out a ballot with these player’s names, you can at least give them some attention now.