Crying over Mariano

I'm sure there will be no shortages of fond reflective pieces all over the interwebs today about Mariano Rivera. He's just too good. At his craft, at his job, at his age, as a person. The first ballot Hall of Famer is the all-time saves leader, a playoff warrior, and so consistent performing a duty that routinely chews up and spits out it's participant. When you sit back and look at the gravity of the injury: his season is done. Then expand wider to his career, his influence in the clubhouse and the field it's almost too much to take in.

As a Phillies fan, I'm wondering why I feel sad for Mo. Sure he's a good guy and an excellent ballplayer, but that hasn't elicited a feeling that is best described as "bummer" in me before. Especially from a non-Phillie.

When events like this happen, people want to feel involved. They want to participate to reflect and share their feelings as if it's entirely unique and personal. When Whitney Houston died, it's not uncommon for people to express their feelings over Facebook or Twitter. iTunes record sales for Houston shoot up thousands of percents because why? Did all of these Houston fans not own the Bodyguard soundtrack? No, they weren't really fans in the first place, but they wanted that experience of being included and participating in the magic that was her music. Something that many of those iTunes purchasers took for granted while she was alive, only to show up late to the party once they realized her talents are now finite.

The benefit of knowing and acknowledging the above paragraph is that you don't succumb to such empty and soulless trysts of a nostalgia you never had but then, suddenly, wanted.

So that has very little to do with my emotional output for Mariano. I think most of the bummer feel comes from just the circumstances of seeing one of the all time greats of baseball history go down in a heap. Appearing mortal. Abruptly (potentially) ending his illustrious career not on his terms, but on the terms of a freakish accident.

We have all seen players that hang around too long, tarnish their legacy, put on jerseys that just don't look right, force comebacks, or are forced to retire because their bodies just can't take it anymore. Very few athletes are able to or capable of making the decision to leave on their terms -- at the right time. Mariano looked like he was going to be able to make that decision. He was healthy, coherent, still on top of his game, and before the season started he hinted at possibly thinking about retiring. He earned that right. He was prepared to leave the game with as much class and respect as he entered it with.

Should this be the end for Mariano Rivera, it's just not the way any baseball fan would want it scripted. His #42 jersey will be the last 42 worn in baseball for the rest of time. It'll be Exit Sandman, and well, that just plain sucks.

Guillen Embargo

Miami Marlins skipper was suspended 5 games for seemingly pro-Fidel Castro remarks.

Unfortunately for Ozzie Guillen, the Castro he seemed to be praising in his Time Magazine article wasn't Starlin. Guillen was suspended by the Miami Marlins for 5 games after raising the ire in the Miami community and probably other places as well for complimenting Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. Fine cigars aside, the Cuban dictator has reigned over his people for generations.

Guillen referenced that his 'admiration' stemmed more from Castro's ability to remain in power with everyone essentially hating him. Now, that's easier to do as a dictator than say manager of the Miami Marlins, but here's the thing Ozzie Guillen is a loudmouth. Everyone knows this, and he is known for it. I can see where his comments are stemming from. Partially in jest that, hey here's a guy everyone dislikes, dictators are getting overthrown all over the world; but this old guy whose smoked more cigars than the entirety of Mahogany combined, has failing health, and let's face it...if I said to you that we're overthrowing a dictator who would you choose? Egypt? Iran? The guy has the odds against him.

The biggest goof of the whole situation is that Guillen made these comments as the skipper of the most pro-Latino baseball team ever, the Miami Marlins. Everything the Marlins rebranded themselves as was pro Miami, pro the culture, pro the people there. For Guillen to reference a man so many people in that community have not only ill feelings towards, but probably directly or tangentially experienced what living under Castro was the extra fire to overcook everyone's ropa vieja.

Seemingly without intent Guillen mixed together sports, politics, and culture into one innocuous set of statements that sent his new employers scrambling for damage control. One of the new faces of the Miami franchise had taken a step towards insulting the large fan base the Marlins were hoping to bring into their flashy new stadium. To see their flashy new players. And to be a part of a cultural atmosphere in South Beach. The Heat may wear 'El Heat' on their jerseys some nights, but the Marlins were the main team reaching out to the Latino fans. They had Brazilian dancers escort players to the field on opening night for crying out loud.

The team had to act swiftly and put on the big production they did on Tuesday. Guillen should have known better, but the Marlins should have a Guillen Emergency Plan in a safe behind a painting of Ernesto Lecuona for all of the dust ups he will have in his time as Marlins skipper. I'm sure no one in the Marlins organization could imagine even Guillen could do this in such a short span of time, but now they know they're in the Ozzie Guillen business.

Han on the LAM

Jose Reyes' arrival in Miami isn't sitting well with former face of the franchise Hanley Ramirez.

With the baseball off-season hot stove at full burn, here's what we can say right now.

1. The Miami Marlins are spending money like the New York Yankees.
2. Jose Reyes got paid $100M+ to play about 131 games a year.
3. Hanley Ramirez's shift to 3B is not going to be easy.

So while that's where we are today, that's not necessarily where we will be by the time the 2012 season begins. It may be fun to speculate what the Miami Marlins line-up may look like with Albert Pujols smack dab in the middle of it, for the purposes of being current what we are looking at is a team that acquired a new $100M shortstop to supplant their current $70M shortstop. And wouldn't you know it, the $70M shortstop might just be better. That's why the announcement of Jose Reyes signing is causing almost as much turmoil down on South Beach as another announcement.

That's good fodder for Buster Olney and Jayson Stark, but what I'm concerned with are the fantasy baseball implications. 

Let's dream Han-Ram is a Marlin in 2012. A happy Marlin.

Two years ago, Hanley was the best player in all of fantasy, let alone best player at the shortstop position. Injuries, questionable behavior, and quite frankly a downturn in production has made this upcoming season a pivotal one for the 27 year old. So, I can understand, coming back from shoulder surgery, supposed to be the face of the franchise, and generally a bad teammate why Hanley is opposed to a move from his natural position even though it seems to make sense (makes the team better, he's a poor fielding shortstop, he's too big to play shortstop).

For the sake of not predicting the future, let's say all of that subsides. Jeffrey Loira works some magic, and Hanley and Jose are happy teammates on the Miami Marlins. Hanley is hitting like 2009 Hanley and all Hanley fantasy owners can rejoice that their frustrating franchise player is back to where he needs to be.

Hanley is the key member of my dynasty league baseball team, so all opinions moving forward are a tinge on the optimistic side.

Here are the Top 5 Reasons why fantasy owners shouldn't panic about Hanley. 

1. If everything breaks correctly and Hanley is happy and healthy in 2012, he'll be a top 10 fantasy player again and still carry over his SS eligibility from 2011. This won't provide much long-term solace for dynasty fantasy owners, but it's no reason to panic and trade Hanley away so you can draft J.J. Hardy.
2. Now, if things break like I say, Hanley will be the everyday 3B for the Marlins. This does jeopardize his 2013 SS eligibility, but the good news is, the guy taking his spot is Jose Reyes, who has played in 36, 133, and 126 games each of the past three years due to a nagging hamstring injury. Reyes steals bases and runs...a lot. The likelihood of him re-injuring or getting some rest to stave off injury is likely. Should the Marlins give Hanley those starts, then SS eligibility retained for another year (depending on your individual league's format).
3. Ok, so Hanley plays 3B is happy, and has Reyes playing SS and batting in front of him. Well, he loses SS eligibility in 2013, but offensively he has Jose Reyes in front of him. Reyes is one of the most prolific leadoff men in the league, and a key part of the line-up that Hanley has been missing ever since the leadoff hitter was Hanley himself. Emilio Bonifacio had a great year, and can be a solid player, but there's no comparison to what Jose Reyes does on the basepaths. Reyes' OBP averages 20 points higher than Bonifacio, and while Bonifacio hasn't scored more than 78 runs or stolen more than 40 bases in his career, Reyes has 4 years of 100+ runs (not including a 99R year) and 40+ steals. That equals run production for run producers. Better pitches at the plate getting statistical payoffs for doing what Hanley does. No more 33 HR 67 RBI seasons for Hanley.



The Great Unknown.

4. There's a new ballpark. With new ballparks always comes the great unknown. Parks have been built as pitcher friendly only to turn out hitter friendly and vice versa. It has to do with jet streams or something. All indications are the new home for the Marlins, fish tank and all, will be more hitter friendly than the old football stadium they used to pack with 19,000 whole (announced) fans. A better offensive ballpark will help Hanley and his cast of characters.
5. If all doesn't end well when the 2012 season wraps up, or maybe even earlier, Hanley will be traded. You're not moving Reyes' contract anywhere, and if Hanley can bounce back can fetch a great price for the Marlins to build up their pitching staff. Hanley should be entering his prime years at a fairly sane contract number. Assuming clubs want to plug him back at SS then there should be demand for his services from nearly every team in baseball. Odds are, more likely than not, he will make his way to a contending team and continue where he left off.

The drama in South Beach is just starting, but like the new Marlins logo hints at, sunny times are ahead.

Why Not Kemp?

Matt Kemp's 2011: .329 AVG/39 HR/126 RBI/115 R/40 SB; Gold Glove

Ryan Braun won the NL MVP Award Wednesday, and he probably should have. Braun was the best player on a Brewers team that captured their first division title in 30 years and the first Brewer to win the MVP since Robin Yount. While both have similar hair related issues, they were both deserving MVP candidates.

While the numbers and advanced stats are debatable, what isn't in question is whose team did better, and that ultimately was the biggest factor in Braun getting the nod over Kemp. I heard from an industry insider, ex-girlfriends were not considered as part of a player's MVP-ness, otherwise it might have been a different story.

As a side note, my favorite thing about Kemp's season is that two years ago (2010), when he was dating Rihanna, he had his worst year to date, and was being lambasted as lazy and not capitalizing on his immense talent. You can totally see his thought process, "Hmmm, 100 extra swings in the cage and work on tracking fly balls or head out to see Ri-Ri on a yacht?" Hence you have a WARP of 1.5 as compared to 8.9 this year.

You won't mull over many 0-4 nights if this is waiting at home for you. 

Now for those of you paying attention while the article title appears to speak in favor of Kemp getting the MVP trophy, you may be confused as to why I spent the first two paragraphs saying Braun is the right choice. Well I say, "Why Not Kemp?" simply because the seemingly same criteria that damned his chances benefited his Dodger teammate Clayton Kershaw's Cy Young victory just days earlier.

Not knocking Mr. Kershaw.

Kershaw won 2/3rds of the pitching triple crown (tying wins) and Kemp won 2/3rds of the hitting triple crown (losing to future Miami Marlin, Jose Reyes in batting average). They both played on the same team, and yet the voters were compelled to elect Kershaw the most elite pitcher, but not Kemp as the most elite position player.

The debate between what the 'valuable' means in MVP has been discussed time and time again, but what I'm interested in is that with virtually similar seasonal resumes as pitcher and hitter, one was penalized where the other was not. 

What appears to be the case is that these baseball writers view a pitcher's accomplishments as more of a singular performance, regardless of team, while the everyday position player has the added expectation of carrying that team to a winning record and, more than likely, the playoffs. 

Where does that burden lie? If the feeling is that the position player has more of an impact in a season, then why should Justin Verlander win the MVP (Cy Young was a lock for him)? Shouldn't Jacoby Ellsbury or Miguel Cabrera get more consideration for that added burden?

This NL MVP race was much more "up for grabs" than the NL Cy Young. Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Ian Kennedy all had comparable figures to Kershaw, and they were on winning/playoff teams (remember voting takes place at the end of the year, so the Phils collapse would have no impact). This is no knock on Kershaw, as he is probably the best young pitcher in baseball. He'll get many more Cy's to add to this, but I was surprised how these baseball experts treated two similar situations so differently.

There is an innate difference in the way the writers view position and everyday players. Why not Kemp? Because his team did not accomplish what makes a position player the Most Valuable in the league.