TDA Bullpen - Our Writers' Blog

Monday, July 04, 2005

Voting Early And Often

As it turned out, I didn't cast a single vote during the main All Star voting, so I'm trying to make up for it with the Final Vote proceedings. I have clear geographic allegiances in Torii Hunter for the AL and Trevor Hoffman in the NL.

In Hunter's case, I think a pretty strong case can be made that he's the guy who most deserves the nod, at least if you used MVP-like criteria for your vote. Hunter is the cleanup hitter and chief base stealing threat on the team that would earn the AL Wild Card if the season were to end today. Jeter and Matsui are having pretty good years, but for an as of now third place team, and neither of them is the best player on their team, either. Crawford is playing for another cellar dweller, though that really isn't his fault. Podsednik has only played in 85% of his team's games, and I don't think he's been hurt, so on that basis I'd give the edge to Hunter, though had Hunter been selected, I most likely would have transferred my loyalty to Podsednik. This mainly due to the fact that with 40 steals in the ChiSox's first 80 games, he's on pace to do what only 13 players before him have done -- steal 80 bases in a single season.

For the NL side, it's more esprit de corps than anything that drives me to choose Hoffman. He's going up against Billy Wagner and three pretty good starters. To be honest, I haven't done very careful research on the NL side of the Final Vote. Any commentary on the robustness of governance by plebiscite is purely coincidental...

Derrek Lee & Albert Pujols

I think it's fair to say that these two guys are the leaders at the turn for NL MVP honors. Lee's recent power surge has rekindled talk of a Triple Crown, but honestly, do you see Lee besting Pujols for RBI's this year? Think about the choices that Coach La Russa has to slot in front of Pujols -- David Eckstein, Mark Grudzielanek, Jim Edmonds, and Larry Walker. Now think about the crater at the top of the Cubs' lineup they've had in recent weeks with Neifi Perez's return to earth and Corey Patterson's struggles. I'm hard-pressed to see how Lee beats Pujols for ribbies this season.

The only hope as I see it is if Jerry Hairston and Todd Walker get extended time in the 1-2 slots in the lineup. Hairston is going to temporarily replace Patterson in CF while he sorts out his problems. Walker has been hitting 6th recently to give protection to Aramis Ramirez, but he hit second in the first game that Hairston subbed for Patterson. Whenever Patterson comes back, I'd love to see Hairston slide over to left and let he and Walker have a couple-week run in the 1-2 slots in front of Lee to see what they can do.

Even if Hairston and Walker hit 1-2 the remainder of the season, it's going to be a pitched battle for the RBI crown between the two Lees (not forgetting Carlos, of course) and Pujols. Pujols is probably only a couple of homers off of being able to be mentioned as a Triple Crown candidate in his own right, if you think about it. Even though Lee is hitting in the .380's right now, how long can he keep it up? If Lee hits .300 for the rest of the season, his final season average will be somewhere around .340-.345, which is right in Pujols' neighborhood. Pujols' career high in BA is .357, so he's proven he can do it, and Lee would be around this mark if he hit somewhere around .330 for the second half. I think he's a little far behind Andruw Jones (and D. Lee) in homers right now, but it's not anything that can't be overcome. I also think Adam Dunn will have something to say about the NL homer crown. Stay tuned.

Speaking of Andruw...

I was surprised to learn that Jones is the only Brave with double figures in homers, 82 games into the season. As of this writing Adam LaRoche just hit his 10th homer in the first inning against the Cubs. If Jones continues to dominate the Braves' homer production and they make the playoffs, he'll get plenty of consideration for the NL MVP. It's probably safe to say that Jones, D. Lee, and Pujols make up the top three for the award right now, though there is a long ways to go...

posted by Tom Renbarger 4:10 PM