Odds and Sods

Here are the Odds and Sods Stars for the National League.

Catcher: Russell Martin, LAD

Russell Martin is really a no-brainer for this position.  He leads all catchers in every major offensive category except homeruns (where he trials Michael Barrett 9-8).  He has about a .070 higher OPS than everyone else.  Easy Call

First Base: Prince Fielder, MIL

First Base is a loaded position in the NL.  With perennial MVP Albert Pujols, last years MVP Ryan Howard, Derek Lee, Todd Helton, Lance Berkman, and Carlos Delgado all being National League first basemen, one would hardly expect a young guy like Fielder to get the nod.  But, he has been far away the best so far this season.  He has a higher .OPS than any player in the National League not named Barry Bonds.  He leads MLB in Homeruns.  He’s the one.

Second Base: Chase Utley, PHI

This one is a no brainer as well.  Utley leads NL Second Baseman in Batting Average, On Base Percentage, Slugging Percentage, and RBI.  He has a commanding .120 lead in .OPS.  Very Easy.

Shortstop: Jose Reyes, NYM

Shortstop was the toughest position to decide.  J.J. Hardy looked like the frontruner until June.  Hanley Ramirez and Edgar Renteria have both had fabulous seasons as well.  However, Reyes has to be the pick here.  He doesn’t have the slugging percentage of the other three, but his 38 stolen bases more than make up for that.  He gets on base and is the catalyst for the Mets offense.  He’s arguably the most exciting young player in the game.  Reyes gets the nod here.

Third Base: Miguel Cabrera, FLA

Cabrera was another easy pick to make.  Listed at a laughably light 210 lbs, Miguel leads NL Thirdbasemen in every major offensive category.  He will be a DH in the American League in a few seasons (if he keeps growing at his current rate he won’t be able to move), but for now he has to be the choice at third base for the NL.

Outfield: Ken Griffey Jr., CIN

It has been heartbreaking to watch Griffey the last few years.  He always seems to come back healthy and productive, only to be felled by a fluke injury that ruins his season.  Cincinatti finally wisened up and moved the poor guy to right field to reduce some of his defensive burden and injury potential.  Despite the spector ever present in the background, Griffey has been absolutely spectacular this season.  He’s hitting .293 with 21 home runs and is third among NL outfielders in OPS.  Though injuries have stutified his legacy somewhat, history will revere him as the best player of his era, and one who did it the right way.  Griffey is an easy choice to start in RF.

Outfield: Matt Holliday, COL

Matt Holliday is another easy choice.  Yeah, he plays in Coors Field, but it hasn’t been his power that has been impressive.  He is first in Batting Average (.349), third in RBI (60), and second among NL outfielders in OPS.  The numbers don’t lie.  He’s having a fabulous season.

Outfield: Aaron Rowand, PHI

There were many possibilities for the third outfield spot.  A Bloated Balco Bomber leads the NL in OPS.  Adam Dunn has 22 homeruns.  However, we here at Odds and Sods decided to choose a Center Fielder.  Aaron Rowand  is having a stellar season.  He has an .080 advantage in OPS over every other Center Fielder.  He is a fan favorite who literally will run face first into a brick wall to make a catch and certainly deserves his due.

Starting Pitcher: Jake Peavy, SD

There are three starters who have really stood out above the pack in the National League this season, Brad Penny of the Dodgers, along with Chris Young and Jake Peavy of the San Diego Padres.  Their numbers and records are startlingly similar.  Penny has a slightly better record and ERA, but Peavy has 40 more strikeouts and a much lower opponent OPS.  They have both been excellent, but Peavy has been more dominant (not to toot our own horn or anything, but he was the Odds and Sods Cy Young prediction for the NL.)

The Cubs announced today that Mark Prior would once again be placed on the disabled list.  This time for an “exploratory” arthroscopic procedure.  The translation is that he is feeling pain in his shoulder for which there is no visible cause.  The doctors could be incompetent, Prior could be a hypochondriac, or, maybe, his arm just was not designed to withstand the wear and tear of pitching in the Major Leagues.

The former #2 overall draft pack out of USC displayed tremendous potential in 2003, posting an 18-6 record and becoming a pivotal figure on a club that was five outs away from going to the World Series.  However, freak injuries and eight trips to the DL since have ruined his once promising career.  He was limited to 21 starts in 2004, 27 starts in 2005, and just nine starts in 2006.  Unable to make the Opening Day roster, Prior was optioned to AAA to work out his problems, which apparently will not be happening for the forseeable future.

Sometimes, fate has a way of telling you that you weren’t meant to do something.  You don’t get into the graduate or professional program that you want.  You get fired from a job that you weren’t enjoying anyway.  Or, in Mark Prior’s case you keep getting injured.

Maybe he isn’t supposed to be the next Roger Clemens.  Or, maybe the entire space-time continuum rests upon the Cubs not winning the World Series and a higher power is keeping Prior on the sidelines.  Whatever the case, he needs a change of scenery.

Cubs GM Jim Hendry, who inexplicably still has a job, failed to trade him despite numerous opportunities when he still had some tangible value.  Despite the abysmal pitching market, they won’t get much from trading him, but it is not anymore than they are getting out of him.  It would be better for both him and the club if they parted ways, but this is the Cubs where “if Prior and Wood are healthy” has been the official slogan since 2003.

In an interesting article, Paul Duggan, a writer for the Washington Post, examines why President Bush has declined to attend Washington’s opening day for the 2nd straight year.

Throwing out the first pitch for the Washington franchise has been a Presdiential tradition since 1910, when President Taft through out the first pitch. (He was also the originator of the 7th inning stretch) In the 65 years (that Washington has had a franchise) since, only two presidents (except during World Wars) have missed two years in a row, Woodrow Wilson and Richard Nixon. Wilson missed because he had had stroke.

Where is this President, who has spent an astounding amount of time on vacation? “He’s got various meetings during the day” and “a meeting earlier in the morning.” When asked whether he was afraid of being booed, his spokeswoman stated “No…certainly not.”

There are few greater American traditions than taking a sickie on Opening Day. Hundreds of thousands of people adjust their work and scholastic schedules to attend. It would be understandable if the President was off brokering a Middle East peace deal, garnering support for the “War on Terror,” or even having one of his officially staged and carefully multicultural Town Meetings. But no, he is at a meeting.

We here at Odds and Sods would never dream of displaying any semblance of political bias in our glorious webspace. I mean the president obviously has a great relationship with the city of Washington D.C. It’s not as though he ever, dispensed with the traiditional walk to the White House during the inauguration for fear of protestors, or tried to shirk the $40 million bill for his 2004 inauguration security on the city taxpayers.

And, of course, this could have nothing to do with the city having a 90% African-American population that would potentially boo him, because, of course, George Bush cares about black people. Look how responsive he was after Katrina!

NL East

1. Atlanta

2. Philadelphia

3. New York Mets

4. Florida Marlins

5. Washington

Atlanta has the best top of the rotation and a great mix of veterans and young players in the lineup.  Philly gets a lot of hype, but won’t pan out as usual.  The Mets have a World Series Lineup and a last place rotation.  The Marlins won’t be able to recreate last year’s magic.  Washington needs to rebuild.

NL Central

1. Milwaukee

2. St. Louis

3. Houston

4. Chicago

5. Cincinnati

6. Pittsburgh

This is going to be the division of mediocrity.  I think Pittsburgh isn’t good enough to compete, and the other five clubs are within the same calibre.  I give the edge to Milwaukee because I think that they have the most potential upside.

NL West

1. Padres

2. Dodgers (Wild Card)

3. Diamondbacks

4. Giants

5. Rockies

The Padres and Dodgers are a cut above the rest.  They both have solid veteran lineups, very good pitching staffs.  I give a slight edge to San Diego, becase I think that their staff has the greatest potential.  Arizona has the pitching, but I think that their young players will lack the consistency needed.  The Giants would have been a great team, if this was 2000 instead of 2007.  The Rockies suck.

The San Diego Padres won their 2nd straight NL West Title in 2006.  They tied the Dodgers for 88 wins, but held the tiebreaker.  Despite having home field advantage, the Cardinals defeated them in the division series 3-1.

Starting Pitching

The Padres should quite simply have one of the best rotations in baseball.  Jake Peavy had a subpar season last year (11-14 4.09 ERA) at least partially due to shoulder tendonitis, but he was 28-13 in the previous two seasons with an ERA under 3.  He will only be turning 26 this season.  He has arguably the best stuff in baseball if he is on.  Look for him to have a big bounceback season.

Greg Maddux should nail down the #2 spot in the rotation.  The 4-Time NL Cy Young and 333 game winner is no longer the dominant force that he once was, but can still be counted upon to win 15 games and post an ERA of about 4.  The extra large ballpark in San Diego, should help him.

Chris Young is a solid #3.  He was 11-5 with a 3.46 ERA last season.  He did have a problem with inefficiency last year, as he led the league in pitches per plate appearance.  However, he will be working with one of the most efficient of all time with Maddux, and his performances this spring have been much better.

Veteran David Wells will check in at the #4 slot.  Fluke injuries slowed down Boomer last season, though even into his 40s he has normally been very effective and durable with a combined 42-22 record from 2003-5.  Health will be an issue once again, but for a different reason as Boomer has been diagnosed with Type II diabetes.  Listed at 250lbs, he has not been known for his physical conditioning over the years, though his mechanics have been impeccable.  It remains to be seen how the dietary restrictions regarding fast-food and alcohol affect his pitching.

Clay Hensley is also a solid #5, who went 11-12 with a 3.71 ERA in his first season as a starter last year.

The rotation has a dominant ace in Peavy.  Two extremely experienced veterans with Maddux and Wells, who also still happen to be durable and relatively effective pitchers.  Young and Hensley still have some upside, and shold benefit learning from the two veteran guys.  Their pitching was the key to their success last season, and this year should be no different.

Bullpen

Trevor Hoffman is one of the best closers of all time.  His 482 career saves are the most all time.  He will be gunning for his 4th straight year of over 40 saves.  The only concern will be how long the 39 year old will be able to continue throwing a hard enough fastball to adequately pair with his wicked changeup.

Scott Linebrink, though falling off a bit last season, is still a very good setup man for Hoffman.  They have a good mixture of veterans and young arms to throw in behind them.  They should provide a perfect compliment to the rotation.

Lineup

What the Padres lineup lacks in star power, it makes up for in depth.  Nearly every player from 1-8 is capable of putting up 15-20 home runs, even in the death valley of their ballpark.  Adrian Gonzalez was finally given the opportunity to play every day in SD and took advantage (.304 24HR 82RBI).  The Giles brothers are decent veteran hitters.  Josh Bard hit .333 with 9HR and 40RBI in only 249AB last year.  They will also look for production from rookie 3rd Baseman Kevin “The Crushin Russian” Kouzmanoff.  They don’t have any overt power threats , but they should score enough runs to help out their pitching.

Scuttlebutt

The Padres have few juicy tidbits for newspapers and bloggers to salivate over.  Manager Bruce Boche leaving to take over the Giants’ job is about as good as it gets so far.  We here at Odds and Sods will predict that David Wells will find a way to make a story.  It may be negatively with his mouth, but hopefully it will be positively with a winning record and a successful coping with his Diabetes.

Outlook:Very Nice

The Padres had the lowest team ERA in the NL last year at 3.87, and with the talent on their staff they look to be up near the top again.  Their lineup should be fairly decent as well.  There is no reason they can’t repeat or even expand on their success from last year.

P.S. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE get rid of those special camo-unis!