There is a veteran outfielder available this off-season who, in 2018, had a .253 batting average, a .341 on-base percentage, and a .370 slugging percentage. His .712 OPS (a point higher than adding his OBP and SLG due to rounding errors) is just ahead of Kevin Pillar, who had an OPS+ of 93 at a…
The Paul Goldschmidt trade is a no-brainer. Unless it isn’t.
When news broke of a major blockbuster trade on Wednesday afternoon, one which sent six-time All-Star first baseman Paul Goldschmidt to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for pitcher Luke Weaver, catcher Carson Kelly, minor league infielder Andy Young, and one of the competitive balance draft picks that the Cardinals are frequently mocked for receiving…
What should Kyler Murray do?
Later today, Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Kyler Murray is probably going to be announced as a finalist for the Heisman Trophy and will likely finish in the top two, along with Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. He is an exhilerating football player, and he is the kind of dual-threat quarterback that has been increasingly coveted in the…
The pros and cons of Paul Goldschmidt
In 2017, the Arizona Diamondbacks won 93 games and made it to the NLDS. In 2018, the Diamondbacks weren't quite as successful, but they did still finish over .500 and actually finished with a more positive run differential than the Colorado Rockies, who made it to the NLDS and finished the regular season proper with…
A millennial revisits “Heck of a Year” (after a few drinks)
I am twenty-nine years old, an age which is not generally considered "old", per se, but an age at which there is a major cultural difference between me and many of you who are younger than I am, particularly if you are several years younger than I am. I spent the first decade-plus of my…
Evaluating the 2019 Hall of Fame cases of the ex-Cardinals
Of the thirty-five men who made the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame, six played for the St. Louis Cardinals. And all did for at least a season, at that--there are no John Smoltz scenarios here where you have to squint to the find the Cardinals tenure on his Baseball Reference page. And while…
Let’s stop worrying what Michael Wilbon thinks about baseball
On Wednesday evening, to the surprise of nobody, New York Mets starting pitcher Jacob deGrom won the National League Cy Young Award. It was nearly unanimous, with just one voter not picking the Mets ace for the award for the league's top pitcher (and he voted for deGrom in second place). I agree wholeheartedly with…
My NL MVP ballot
Here is how I would have voted. For the final time (oh, man, I've done a lot of these, haven't I?), this ballot is not a prediction of how I think MVP voting will shape up but rather how I would vote if I had one. 1. Jacob deGrom--New York Mets: He isn't even a finalist,…
My AL MVP ballot
I wrote quite a few of these awards ballot posts, as you may have noticed. Some of them were more fun than others to write. But MVP discussions are what really matter. Everything was a precursor to this. Cy Young Awards and Rookie of the Year awards are fun discussions, but each is necessarily a…
My Cy Young Award picks
Tonight, the awards for the best pitchers in the American and National Leagues will be conferred upon (probably) deserving candidates and perhaps one or two new men will forever be known as "former Cy Young winner", a prefix to names such as R.A. Dickey and Rick Porcello. This sounds like a joke, but you don't need…
