Rocking Rookies

Some come out of nowhere. Some were destined for greatness while some were surprises from the start. Now what am I talking about? The Rooks. The New Kids on the Block. Each year there are standouts (see Longoria, Braun) and massive dissapointments (see Delmon Young, Rickie Weeks). The best part about rookie though is that they have that level of unpredictability (I don’t even know if that’s a word : ). Now lets see some of the newbie rookies right here: 

 

Leading off:

Our leadoff guy in this segment is Andrew McCutchen.

(mlb.com)

Here is a good player that has 5 tools. He is and excellent fielder, bolts around the bases and is a good hitter. He is the starting centerfielder for the Pirates now that they traded Nate McClouth and is the new lead off hitter. I actually thought his name was Andrew McClutchen because he was a such a good hitter.

McCutchen = McClutchen 

Batting Second:

Gordon Beckham

(mlb.com)

Beckham is currently the 3rd baseman for the White Sox and was only drafted LAST YEAR. It’s the Ryan Zimmerman the Second. I heard he was a solid hitter and has alot of talent so we’ll have to see…

 

 Batting Third: Mr. 5 Tools

Adam Jones

Jones is an amazing young player who is fast and knows how to hit the baseball.

 

Hitting Cleanup: Matt Wieters

You can love him, you can hate him, but what I know is that this guy has alot of skill and is gonna be a star in the future.

Today’s Pitching Matchup is Between Tommy Hanson and David Price

 

vs.

These guys are both pristine players that are both very talented. Hanson is on one of my fantasy teams and gets the job done each time. Price has been highly regarded for an extremely long time and price is just…er…um…right. Hah. Here are some honorable mentions:

Honorable Mentions 

1. Mat Gamel – Mat is a good hitter and is like Ryan Braun (bad defense at 3rd, great power swing). Give him some time and he will succeed.
2. Rick Porcello- He was dominating entering 2009 after his debut and looks to get 10 wins before the All Star Break. 
3. Dexter Fowler – fast and once had 5 steals in a game this year!
4.  Elvis Andrus -great defense and a good bat equals a good combo
5.  Trevor Cahill- doing a great job pitching for the A’s
6. *Omir Santos* (pretty sure he’s a rookie)- he came from practically nowhere to claim the Mets starting catcher job and has thrived since
7. Nolan Reimold- hidden from the spotlight of Matt Wieters, Reimold has been an outstanding player this year and already has 9 homeruns
8.  Ricky Romero- hey! hey! Ricky! Romero has been lights out since he returned from the DL and is making great contributions to a surprisingly dominant Toronto pitching staff 

9. Fernando Martinez- although F-Mart has had his struggles, and his face plants into the Citi Field grass, I still believe he will turn it around (anyone up for after the All-Star Break? Anyone?) 

 10. Andrew Bailey- Huston Street :traded; Joey Devine: season ending surgery; Brad Ziegler: ineffective; Bailey: sure I guess we’ll take him. Imagine if this what was running through A’s manager Bob Geren’s head as he was thinking about his closer. So far, this has been the right choice as Bailey has been lights out.  

                 So to end this post with a little more rookieness, do you think there will ever be rookies like Braun or Longoria again? Who do you think will win rookie of the year? Will Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg ever face off in the future???

and

The Battle is On.

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Super Shields is the Rays Opening Day Starter

Talk about a big game pitcher huh? 2 years ago, he won 12 games, last year he won 14 games, this year he will probably win 16 games. Who am I talking about you ask? No one other than this guy right here.

James Shields. He is the Rays Opening Day Starter as officially declared by Joe Maddon last week. It looks like Kaz isn’t our ace anymore after all. So what will the rotation look like then? Well here it is…

1. Righty James Shields

2. Lefty Scott Kazmir

3. Righty Matt Garza

4. Righty Andy Sonnastine

5. Lefty David Price

 

Talk about a killer rotation.

 

So what did the trade of Edwin Jackson do for the Rays?

 

1. It made Jackson go bye bye 

 

Now don’t get me wrong, Jackson was and still is a good player. The problem is that there was no room for him in Tampa Bay’s rotation. Right now there are still about 5 guys vying for that rotation spot, besides Price. 

 

(That AL Championship shirt will probably be the last one will ever wear in his career.)

 

 

2. We got Matt Joyce.

 

 

Matt Joyce is a great player and a stellar addition to the Rats team. I think the Rays should have let Gabe Gross go after this because they have Gross, Joyce, Perez, and Ruggiano all going for that one spot. The Rays also could have then used Perez and Joyce in a platoon for that spot. The best part about him is that we have him for 5 more years at an affordable price.

We should all just Rejoice with Joyce.

 

3. We opened up a spot for our Future Ace

Do I need to say any more?

 I’m going to say a classic that I found to finish up this post.

2007 Draft Pick-$1

Fastball-97 mph

Rookie Contract-14 million

Making it happen-

David Priceless

The Manoman 

Manoman’s Top 20 (20-11)

This is the first entry of a 2 part series titled Manoman’s Top 20

 I was thinking about doing something like:

• The Top Awesome Players That Are Now Playing Today
• My Grand Slam Crew of Active Baseball Players

            I was even thinking of doing something like…

•            The 20 Most Spectacular Men That Are Playing the Game of Baseball Today

                              (thankfully I didn’t go there)

So with that, let’s get on with the list!!!

                                                                   
 

 

20. Adrian Gonzalez 1B

Always flying under the radar and puts up great numbers at the massive Petco Park.

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19.Dustin Pedroia 2B

The “Little Man” had great numbers in 2008 and he won the MVP Award. Even though he is a Red Sox, I like him because he shows so much determination and dediication to the game of baseball.

18. Nick Markakis RF

He is a consistent threat at the plate and makes great plays in the outfield.

 

17. Grady Sizemore CF

Grady is a great young hitter with 40-40 potential and he is very exciting to watch on the field.

 

 

 16. David Price SP

David is an amazing young pitcher who is going to be the next Johan Santana. He has electric stuff and is the future ace of the Rays.

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 15. Jorge Posada C

 

He is a homegrown Yankee who has played with the club for more than 10 years now. He also provides great leadership and order to the pitching staff and is cool to watch in the game.

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14. Ichiro Suzuki RF

I like how Ichiro plays the game and he is practically a guarantee to get on base every time he is at bat. He has gold glove caliber fielding and he is a steals machine.

 

                                                  

                  
13. CC Sabathia SP

CC is now in N.Y.C. and with him comes at least 15 victories and a great attitude. I feel like he is one of my “home boys”.

 

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12. Mark Teixeira 1B

Mark is an up-beat kind of guy that brings his best to the field every game and always has a smile on his face.

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11. Tim Lincecum SP

“The Freak” is a phenomenal young stud that blows hitters away with his impressive arsenal of pitches. Admit it, he looks like a kid and yet he still dominates guys that are in their 30’s.

 

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The W.B.C. is almost here!

The Manoman

Happy New Year!!!

Hey guys! I’m back! Happy New Year!!! It seems like just yesterday that it was 2008! My vacation went well but unfortunately I didn’t have internet access so I wasn’t able to post fo a long time. The highlight of my vacation though was crashing into a net with my skis up in the air just like I did when I was younger. 2009 looks to be a great year for baseball as CC and A.J. look to be dominating in the AL East and Postseason masher Evan Longoria looks to follow up his outstanding rookie of the year campaign with another awesome season. David Price and Phil Hughes are going to be solid contributers to their teams and even the Melk-Man and Carl Crawford are going to bounce back from their not so typical seasons. Who will be next season’s Fairy Tale Team? Will the Rays once again make it to the series? How will the Yankees fare with CC, A.J. and Teix? So many questions, 162 games to be played. I also want to give a shout out to the MLB Network as now our National Pastime is going Full Time 24/7 and I don’t have to wait each morning for some tiny tidbits of baseball info to pop up on ESPN. This year is going to be great and I can’t wait for baseball to get started!

 

Happy New Year 2009!

 

The Manoman  

Early Division Predictions: AL East

Okay, I know that it’s still really early in the offseason but I feel the need to write about my super early division rankings. What that basically is, is what placements I think teams are going to receive in their divisions. Over the next 6 to 7 days I will be writting my different division rankings. First up is the AL East:

 

AL East

1. Yankees: They just got CC and A.J. Burnett and replaced Giambi with Swisher while also getting a great pitching prospect in the White Sox trade, Kanekoa Teixeira, in exchange for Betemit,and pitching prospects Jeffrey Marquez and Jhonny Nunez. Rivera’s one of the best closers ever. They have a stacked line up and a killer rotation.

2. Rays: Solid rotation with Shields, Kazmir, Garza, and Sonnastine. Don’t forget about David Price their pitching stud. They can use Grant Ballfour, Dan Wheeler, or Troy Percival, if he’s healthy, in the closer’s role. They have Evan Longoria, Carlos Pena, and B.J. Upton who are players who consistently deliver and have a stacked farm system and will dominate for years to come.

3. Red Sox: Good rotation with Dice-K, Beckett, and Lester leading the way. Papelbon is dominant in the bullpen. Having Lowell out hurts them but they still have a great line up and they are a nice combination of old and new.

4. Blue Jays: Roy Halladay leads a questionable rotation now without A.J. Burnett. They have Wells, Rios, and intriguing players Travis Snider and Adam Lind. Need to at least acquire a mid- level pitching player to have a slim chance of competing in this tough division.

5. Orioles: Obtaining Mark Texeira would give them an immense boost to their offense. Their best hitter right now is Nick Markakis and he is a stud. The Orioles need more pitching for sure as their rotation headlined by Jeremy Gurthie isn’t really steady. Sherril is a decent closer and Matt Wieters will be the 2009 AL Rookie of the Year if Price doesn’t beat him out.

Look for the rankings of the AL Central in the next two days.

Bye for now!

The Manoman