MLB season recap: Gloating & Awards - Part one

MLB season recap: Gloating & Awards - Part one
by Dan Salem and Todd Salem (9-30-13)



DAN:
So the MLB season is in the books and its been a fun and wild ride. I feel its appropriate to dredge up the past a bit and remind you of our World Series predictions we made way back during the first week of January. This will be fun, mostly for me!

You predicted, and I quote: "The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim will be back in the series on the backs of their loaded lineup and sterling pitching to face the Cincinnati Reds."

The Reds are in the playoffs, but how do you feel about your picks? You had the Angels winning in six games. I'm sorry, well no I'm not, but that pick looks really really bad in hindsight. You also stuck by the Angles in May and picked them to make the playoffs instead of the Dodgers, when both teams were stinking it up.

Now for my own prediction. "I'd say the Braves face the Rays in the World Series. The team with the healthiest pitching wins... Atlanta."

Well, well, both teams are in the playoffs (as of today the Rays are in the playoff play-in game so close enough for now). Win for me! I also nailed the Dodgers bouncing back and the Indians being this season's Pirates. We were both way off on the Red Sox, but who cares. Enough of my gloating, let's lay down some season awards.

If I could take a team's record out of the equation, then I would give the AL MVP to Mike Trout, but I can't. Miguel Cabrera wins it, with Detroit winning their division yet again. As for the AL Cy Young award... its goes to Max Scherzer because someone has to win it.

The National League weaves a very different web. The NL MVP has no clear cut winner in my book, so I'm leaning towards Jay Bruce with the Reds in the playoffs. I'm also going Kershaw for Cy Young winner. That one's a pretty easy pick.

What do you got?


TODD:
Hmmm.

Well, I do still like the Reds. They have one of the strongest teams, top to bottom, in the league. As for the Angels selection, I can only assume that I was aiming for some sort of reverse jinx to remove one of the Yankees' top competitors...and it worked like a charm! You're welcome. The Angels pitching was horrid all year and their big bats flamed out masterfully, with the exception of your boy Mike Trout.

As for the Dodgers, I'm still not sure how they finished the year so well. I guess their two-man rotation got a huge lift from Hyun-Jin Ryu, who was amazing all year. Forget Yasiel Puig; Ryu was probably the Dodgers best rookie this season. And the bullpen was good even though Brandon League threw over 50 innings while sporting a 5.40 ERA and 1.56 WHIP. The lineup, on the other hand, is pretty inexplicable. Three, count em, three of the Dodgers four best hitters (according to offensive WAR) had comeback seasons for the ages. Hanley Ramirez was their best batter, by a lot, and the majority of fans thought his career was over. The same goes for Adrian Gonzalez. And Andre Either somehow brought himself from a future fourth or fifth outfielder to a three-win player who hit 30 doubles and was serviceable everyday.

Overall, this team's success still doesn't make sense. Matt Kemp had fewer than 300 at-bats; Hanley had barely over 300 ABs and still accumulated more than 5 wins above replacement. Hell, Zack Greinke was ninth on the team in offensive WAR. Yes, OFFENSIVE WAR, starting pitcher Zack Greinke, who had all of 56 at-bats this season. It's astonishing.

All that being said, I see the Dodgers as the most likely team to lose their first round series but we'll get to playoff predictions later in the week. As for regular season awards:

I think you have it backwards in the AL. I think Mike Trout should, and does, take home the MVP this season. He could have gotten it last year, and would have if Cabrera fell short in one of the triple crown categories. Well, this year Cabrera has been outstanding but he's been banged up much of the month of September. And really, the way these things work, how can the voters disregard Trout two years in a row with the seasons he's had? He is just as good of a hitter as Cabrera in nearly ever category, with the exception of the home run power, but blows Miggy away on the base paths and on defense. Everyone knows team success should not factor into MVP voting. I love Cabrera. Actually, this is funny how this worked out since Trout is your guy and Miggy is mine but I think Trout gets the award.

I actually agree with you on AL Cy Young; it's going to be Max Scherzer. Chris Sale had been the best pitcher in the American League all year, and he still does lead the league in WAR. But his peripheral stats are not that much better than Scherzer's. And Max hits all the number thresholds: 20+ wins, ERA under 3, WHIP under 1, well over 200 strikeouts. He gets it.

In the NL, you are right again with the Cy Young; it is Clayton Kershaw and it's not even close.

As for MVP, way to be wrong on both accounts. First, Jay Bruce is a ludicrous pick. He's not even the best hitter on his own team. That would be Joey Votto. But you are also wrong with there being no clear-cut winner because that man is Andrew McCutchen. He is near the top five of pretty much every offensive category in existence. His team had its best season in decades. He runs. He plays defense. He does it all. McCutchen may not be a brand name yet but that doesn't mean he's not the easy MVP pick.


DAN:
Playoff predictions.... playoff predictions. Do I stick with my New Years' picks or clean slate and re-evaluate after a full season of games? Once the play-in game for the final American League wild card spot, along with the two single elimination wild card games are in the books, we can make some real playoff predictions. I still like my Braves.

[Part two - Playoff Prognostication & the Off season]

LeBron James: King of Kings - Part one

LeBron James: King of Kings - Part one
by Dan Salem and Todd Salem (6-10-13)



TODD:
Well, here we are. The Miami Heat are back in the NBA Finals, in no small part thanks to league MVP LeBron James. Okay, who are we kidding; it's the whole entire part thanks to LeBron James. He is the best player in the league, in the world, in the NBA since Michael Jordan. The leap between the Association's second best player (Kevin Durant) and James is wider than the gap between Durant and the rest of the top ten. Just look at the rest of this supposedly loaded Miami club that James carried. Dwyane Wade has not been healthy the entire season. He can only bring it in spurts, and that's not even every game. Chris Bosh is out-matched by any legit center, as Roy Hibbert demonstrated game after game. Bosh has become a stretch four, even though he really needs to be closer to the basket to grab rebounds for the otherwise small Heat. And the rest of the club is what it is: Mario Chalmers is sometimes good; Shane Battier and Ray Allen used to be good at shooting threes; Chris Andersen is tall. You get the idea.

Which brings us to only one logical conclusion: LeBron could have carried nearly any team to the Finals. Just look back at those Cleveland Cavaliers teams he trekked to the championship for an even better example of his prowess. His best teammates were Mo Williams and Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Seriously. That's not even a joke.

So let's play a game! Take LeBron off the Heat and put him on any team, replacing their best player. How far would that team have gone?

For example, if LeBron replaced Carmelo Anthony on the Knicks, that New York team makes the Finals, easy. They become the best team in the conference. James is that much better of an all-around player than Melo is. The defensive gap alone is so wide, we can't see to the other side. Now not every team has a clear-cut best player. If we used the Memphis Grizzlies, would we be replacing Marc Gasol or Mike Conley? Same goes for Indiana. But these teams aren't important here anyways. They were so close to making the Finals that obviously obtaining the MVP would have pushed them over the edge. What about some lottery teams though?

Here were the 14 lottery teams this season, the teams that were not good enough to even make the playoffs: Philadelphia, Toronto, Detroit, Cleveland, Washington, Charlotte, Orlando, Sacramento, Phoenix, Dallas, New Orleans, Utah, Portland and Minnesota. With the help of one LeBron James, no less than half of these teams would have leaped all the way from chasing ping pong balls to chasing the Larry O'Brein trophy.

Toronto, Detroit and Washington are no-brainers. These teams have a number of impressive players and complimentary pieces. Replace Rudy Gay, Greg Monroe and John Wall respectively with James and all those squads could have won multiple playoff rounds. Toronto would have young studs Jonas Valanciunas and Terrence Ross as well as veterans Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, Amir Johnson and the capable Andrea Bargnani (who, when he's shooting well is essentially everything Bosh was in the Indiana series: not capable of defending or rebounding but can stretch to the three point line on offense). Detroit would still be left with Andre Drummond in the middle and James would be flanked by shooters in Brandon Knight, Rodney Stuckey and Kyle Singler. With Jose Calderon running point, this team is clearly better than any year LeBron played in Cleveland. Same goes for Washington with two bigs (Nene and Emeka Okafor) and Bradley Beal is so good the Wiz wouldn't even trade him for LeBron's real shooting guard teammate, Wade.

In the West, Dallas, New Orleans, Utah, Portland and Minnesota all make runs in the playoffs with LeBron. Not to get too detailed, but none of these teams are that far away from playoff contention. Minnesota would have made the playoffs with or without LeBron had injuries not derailed their season. Take each team's go-to guy away and replace him with the King and every squad could challenge San Antonio out west. If you're telling me I can claim Eric Gordon as the Hornets' number one guy, that team is loaded. A lineup of Anthony Davis, Robin Lopez, James, Ryan Anderson and Greivis Vasquez is so ridiculously tall, it would create mismatches against any opponent in the league. Too bad Austin Rivers was the worst rated player in the history of the NBA this season or we really could have something here. Otherwise, if Anthony Davis is replaced by James instead, this team becomes much more prototypical but remains quite lethal.

So that's my eight: eight lottery teams who, with the addition of James, would have (a) made the playoffs and (b) made a run at the title. You could even talk me into a few more. Philadelphia might not have quite enough but isn't too far away; same goes for Phoenix and even Charlotte if we're feeling generous. Some of these teams missed the playoffs by 20+ games. If there was a WAR stat for the NBA, LeBron would be worth that much, trust me.

Tell me where I'm wrong. Tell me why I'm crazy.


DAN:
I'm a smart guy, so I obviously agree that LeBron is the best player, blah, blah, blah. But your missing the biggest point of all. He is light years better than he ever was as a Cleveland Cavalier. Sports pundits are touting the rematch between LeBron and the Spurs, vindication for his Finals loss with Cleveland in 2007. But LeBron is NOT the same player. At times his Miami team looked average at best during the Pacers series, but LeBron knew when to take over, when it had to be him, and he was beyond clutch. He is unmatched in the league right now and your argument stands. He would definitely have brought a few of those teams to the finals, swapping him for each team's best player. But ALL eight teams, that's crazy talk! They would all be playoff contenders and definitely make the conference finals. But they aren't all making the NBA finals. Give Dwyane Wade and Bosh a bit more credit than that.

Close, but no Cigar:

Detroit: Greg Monroe for LeBron: This team wouldn't beat Chicago or Indiana.
Washington: John Wall for LeBron: I like their chances, but I think they lose in seven to Indiana.
Portland: Umm, no.

All the way to the NBA Finals baby: (in order of dominance)

New Orleans: Eric Gordon for LeBron: Can we make this team happen please?
Minnesota: Kevin Love for LeBron: If Love somehow stays, this team's a dynasty. Still a winner.
Toronto: Rudy Gay for LeBron: You won me over with your roster breakdown.
Dallas: Dirk Nowitzki for LeBron: Cuban might make this happen in a year or two. Scary.
Utah: They practically win with no one. Add LeBron and look out.

That was the easy part, putting LeBron on a bad team. Let's play the reverse game!

LeBron teamed up in Miami with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, but unfortunately age and injury have caught up with Wade. They won't win six titles like they predicted, albeit somewhat sarcastically.

What 'Big Three' that includes LeBron is the ideal dynasty team? He can go anywhere after next season, or Pat Riley will bring in anyone to keep him in Miami. Who's the new big three?


TODD:
Isn't it obvious? The new and improved Big Three, and perhaps the only remaining Big Three in the NBA with all the roster movement that has gone on, will be in Cleveland.

LeBron returns to Ohio to make amends and team with Kyrie Irving (the best under 24 point guard in the league...and yes, I had to look up Russell Westbrook's age and make sure I went under that threshold. Westbrook has already turned 24 so we're safe), and Anderson Varejao who was absolutely killing it this past season before he went down with an injury. Albeit in just 25 games, Varejao averaged a 14 and 14 with good shooting splits and 2+ stocks (steals plus blocks). He is arguably one of the best complimentary big men in the entire league, a middle-class man's Joakim Noah.

[Part two - A new Castle for the King]

More What ha... happened? - March edition

More What ha... happened? - March edition
by Dan Salem and Todd Salem (3-22-13)

[Monday's What ha... happened?]



We scour the internet for crazy sports photo and someone must try to explain it. Seesaw Sports asks what ha... happened? Monday: opening statements. Friday: rebuttal.

Real photos. Real results. But what in the heck happened?

DAN:

I present to you the following:

Photo: Baseball in the face!

Title: "Don't mess with the Philly Phanatic."

Description: Its not enough that the Phillies stink, or that their fans are incessant booing machines. Now the Philly Phanatic, their beloved mascot, has turned on the team as well. Baseball in the face!

Was it the mascot, or something more sinister? You tell me, what ha...happened?

TODD:

The baseball comes at the batter, Mr. Jimmy Rollins, from a very odd angle here. If it had come from the pitcher, it would have struck him in the ear hole. If it had come from the catcher, it would have struck him in the back of the head. But no, the ball makes contact square in the face, seemingly coming from the stands between home plate and first base. What!

This is the key factor in deciphering what happened. Some pictures are hard to pinpoint, but Jimmy Rollins getting hit in the face with a baseball is almost self-explanatory: One of the aforementioned booing machines, as you so aptly named them, threw it at him! Go Phillies!

Most fans at baseball games try to collect foul balls for an autograph or to give to their child, or something heartwarming like that. Not Phillies' fans though. Oh, hell no. They scoop up foul balls with one thing in mind and that's who to throw it at later. If the owner's box was at field level it would be protected like the Pope-mobile, but since the booing machines can't peg the owners with foul balls, only the players are left to choose from.

Jimmy Rollins is an obvious choice to get hit in the face. He's a player Philadelphia should be cherishing as his career winds down, but instead is getting turned on because he isn't as good as he used to be, or as good as they want/need him to be. Thus: Smack! Ball in the face.

Sorry Jimmy; former league MVPs deserve better. I hope your nose is okay.

[Monday's What ha... happened?]