Synthetic Braun

It’s a sad day in baseball, as a lot of people are finding out 2011 NL MVP Ryan Braun has tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. He had to give a urine sample for the playoffs and it tested positive for elevated testosterone levels. The sad part is that it was not all produced naturally, some was synthetic meaning he juiced, he had taken steroids. Another sad thing, other than Braun actually doing the drug and cheating the game of baseball as it is a banned substance, but Braun knew of this in late October, yet accepted his MVP award like he nothing happened. How much was due to steroid use? I say they probably didn’t help his career too much as he has been a great player even back in his college days and Miami U, but it certainly could have given him the edge to beat out Matt Kemp in the MVP race. I believe and have believed that Kemp should have won, yet I was happy for Braun, until I learned of this revelation. I’m not saying everyone is clean, but it not only hurts Braun’s reputation, it hurts the game of baseball. One of its brightest young stars who just signed a deal for over $100 million last offseason is now facing a 50 game suspension to start next season, and people will continue to speculate how clean the game really is. Steroid talk has seemed to die down a bit since the scandals of Barry Bonds, Mark Mcgwire, Roger Clemens, and other big names had been discovered users. Ironic how Manny Ramirez, whom retired after his 2^nd positive test last year is being reinstated to play this upcoming season after serving a 50 game suspension and signing with a team. Clean the game up men, you get paid to play a beautiful game for a living, don’t stain the game, if you can’t hack it then get out of the game. What ever happened to plain old hard work? This is sad, I hope it’s an isolated incident and everyone else is representing the game well. I’m a big Brewers fan, so this definitely leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Note I am not saying 100% that Braun is guilty, but in all I hear it seems like that is the case.

AL MVP?

Well I have to give my two cents on the AL MVP award in 2011. Detroit’s, Justin Verlander takes home the award, followed in voting by Ellsbury, Bautista, Granderson, and Cabrera. I was not in the category of people, who thought Justin Verlander should have won, but I am happy for him, he had a tremendous season by any standards. A no hitter, the AL pitching Triple Crown, leading his team to the ALCS. He was a true ace, definitely the best pitcher in the AL (proven by his unanimous AL Cy Young award victory). Why do I think he won MVP? I think it was because of many factors. He led his team to an ALCS, he had great statistics, and when you watched him pitch this year, it was utter domination in almost all cases. Now we can prepare to listen to the naysayers who think a pitcher shouldn’t win the award, and we can listen to all the people who jump on the bandwagon and say they agree completely, he deserves the MVP. I won’t really be either as I don’t feel awards are that big of a deal, although I do partake in discussions about them frequently, as it’s something to talk about, especially in the offseason. Who wins or loses is not particularly of importance to me, I don’t judge players off awards.  A lot of people like to turn to WAR (Wins Above Replacement), a sabermetric calculation, to determine the value of a player. If we were to use this, then the order would now be Ellsbury, Bautista, Cabrera, and Granderson/Verlander in a tie for 4^th. Dustin Pedroia, Ian Kinsler, and CC Sabathia all also had a higher WAR than Verlander. For anyone wondering Verlander had a WAR of 7. Ellsbury (9.4) was the highest in the MLB. I don’t think WAR is a perfect representation of value as I would have had Verlander only behind Ellsbury, Cabrera, and Bautista in my voting (in no particular order). Either way, I say great that he won it, it shows that he had a truly great season, but don’t think that he ran away with this one. The vote was fairly close, and the AL witnessed some fantastic seasons by a bunch of players. I am curious though, who do you think should have won the award?

Special Delivery: From Start To Finish

So there’s a lot of noise about the end of year awards in the MLB. One that I particularly like is the “Delivery Man of the Year Award.” Now who delivered this year, 2011 winner Jose Valverde takes home the award. This is an award voted on by the fans, but that definitely does not lessen the award at all in my eyes. Valverde had a fantastic season and didn’t get a lot of attention for it, which is why I really like this award, showing some love for the guys who shut it down from the pen. Valverde lead the AL with 49 saves, impressive! More impressive, 0, as in ZERO, blown saves. He my friends shut it down. He helped Detroit get into the playoffs, had a 2.24 ERA and had almost a strikeout per inning. He was well deserving, and I congratulate him for a great season. While I’m on the topic of post season awards, I’d like to enter one argument that seems to be had quite often when a guy like Valverde’s teammate Justin Verlander has a season like 2011. One for the ages that’s for sure, taking home the pitching Triple Crown in the AL, throwing a no-no, and almost getting a second one. He dominated the 2011 season simple as that, and was a unanimous Cy Young winner, but should a pitcher ever win MVP? I used to be opposed to the idea, but in thinking, I believe they should be able too. It’s not like he’d be stealing a position players award, they have silver sluggers and gold gloves, and each position gets their own. So if you field the best or hit the best for your position you get an award. Pitchers as a whole have to fight for the gold glove and Cy Young Award, so there are far less awards to go around, but let me not digress. I think the MVP should go to the player, any player, who has shown the most value that season. If I had to vote for MVP I would vote Matt Kemp in the NL hands down best player this year in the National League. AL is tougher, but I’d have Miguel Cabrera edging out Jacoby Ellsbury, edging out Jose Bautista and I would have Verlander 4^th, but this is definitely a tough call. I really would never even want a vote for MVP. It’s so tough to decide who is the best in a game with so many aspects to it. I will say pitchers should be considered, but it won’t be often they win as it’s tough to be more valuable than a guy who plays in roughly 5 times as many games as you. Maybe if they go back to 4 man rotations pitchers will have a realistic shot at competing for MVP. Once again, congrats to Valverde, and all the rest of the 2011 award recipients.