Tag: Alex Rodriguez (Page 6 of 13)

      Mikey’s MLB power rankings

      August 29, 2009 /

      Pennant races this season are not quite as exciting as last season, but that doesn’t mean we won’t have a few good races in September. The power rankings this week have not changed much, but the Rockies and Rangers swapped places. The Rays, who were on the cusp of cracking the Top 10, traded Scott Kazmir to the Angels yesterday, making us all scratch our heads and wonder if they are conceding the race.

      1. New York Yankees (80-48)—The first team to 80 victories is officially in cruise control. The question is, can they carry it over into the postseason? Because we all know how you-know-who performs in October.

      2. Los Angeles Angels (76-51)—If newly acquired Scott Kazmir stays healthy, this scrappy Angels team could be wearing new jewelry. Then again, October has been none to kind to them recently as well.

      3. St. Louis Cardinals (75-55)—The Cardinals now have a 9 game lead on the woe-as-me Cubs. The good franchises always add the right parts when they are in a pennant race, and Matt Holliday and John Smoltz are those guys for the Redbirds.

      4. Philadelphia Phillies (74-52)—The Phils may have given the slightest ray of hope to the Marlins and Braves, but then they remembered that they were the world champs.

      5. Los Angeles Dodgers (76-53)—Their lead over the Rockies shrunk to 2 games this past week. It’s now back to 4, but this NL West race is not going to be a landslide as everyone thought. In fact, it’s now a 3-team race.

      6. Boston Red Sox (74-54)—Don’t think the Sox can’t still catch the Yankees. If not, they should be able to hang on to the wild card, and adding Billy Wagner certainly doesn’t hurt their chances.

      7. Colorado Rockies (72-57)—The wild card is not what these Rockies have in mind, and they just keep right on winning and closing the gap.

      8. Texas Rangers (71-56)—Slipping in the power rankings and slipping in their quest for a wild card berth.

      9. San Francisco Giants (70-59)—Got a big lift from Lincecum last night against the Rockies, but Giants need to sweep this weekend if they want to remain in contention.

      10. Detroit Tigers (68-59)—T-men hanging tough, but watch out for the surging Twins, is all I’m sayin’.

      Bullz-Eye Sports Channel, MLB

      Posnanski: Top 100 MLB Players

      July 22, 2009 /

      Joe Posnanski put together a ranking of who he believes are the top 100 current MLB players at this moment (as in right now – not over the past two years, three years, etc).

      Here is his top 10:

      1. Albert Pujols, 1B, Cardinals
      “Every hitter is human,” says pitcher Zack Greinke (No. 4). “Except Pujols.”

      2. Joe Mauer, C, Twins
      Could win his third batting title this year … no other American League catcher ever has won even one in history.

      3. Hanley Ramirez, SS, Marlins
      Advanced stats suggest he’s better defensively than people think. Offensively, he leads the league in hitting and might have another 30-30 season.

      4. Zack Greinke, SP, Royals
      Throws four plus pitches, all for strikes, leads the league with a 2.08 ERA, and has won 10 games for a team that has scored the fewest runs in the AL.

      5. Chase Utley, 2B, Phillies
      Crushes the ball, plays outstanding defense and, just as a fun side note, has led the league in hit-by-pitch three years running.

      6. Alex Rodriguez, 3B, Yankees
      Disastrous first half splattered with injuries, rumors and a low batting average … and the guy STILL has a 145 OPS+, good for seventh in the AL.

      7. Tim Lincecum, SP, Giants
      The Freak is pitching even better this year (10-2, 2.27 ERA, league-leading 159 K’s) than last year, when he won the Cy Young.

      8. Dan Haren, SP, Diamondbacks
      League is hitting .187 against him and he has a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 137-18. Baseball hasn’t seen anything like that since the heyday of Pedro.

      9. Johan Santana, SP, Mets
      He was 2-4 with a 6.19 ERA in six June starts and people screamed that he was done. But Santana is a demon in the second half … and sure enough he has not allowed a run in his last two starts.

      10. Roy Halladay, SP, Blue Jays
      Not sure where he will be pitching … but he will dominate. A handful of the people in the world can throw 93-mph fastballs that sink. A handful of people can pitch with pinpoint control. One man can do both.

      It’s hard to argue Pujols being in the top spot and with how good Mauer has been this season (especially considering how there were huge concerns about his back in spring training) I’m not going to debate Posanski about his second slot either.

      But I guess I’m a little confused about his ranking system overall. He says that he’s doing a top 100 of players RIGHT NOW (to use his exact phrasing of the words “RIGHT NOW”), but what does that mean? Over the past two weeks? Over the past couple days? Over the entire course of the season – what?

      Because if it’s over the entire course of the season, he’s got A-Rod way too high and I don’t think Johan Santana should be ranked ahead of Roy Halladay either. Also, and I know I might catch some flack for this, but I think Lincecum is the best pitcher in baseball right now. Greinke has been absolutely phenomenal, but Lincecum just recently went 29 innings without giving up an earned run and could easily have 13 or 14 wins if it weren’t for the Giants’ pathetic use for an offense.

      But hey, as with any ranking, you can debate every slot 1 through 100 and I like the feature on a whole.

      MLB

      Sports poll: A-Rod not MLB’s best player anymore

      July 14, 2009 /

      Here’s a shock: Alex Rodriguez is not considered baseball’s best player anymore according to a report by the New York Daily News.

      In a random, unscientific survey that included several scouts, executives, players and other observers, none said Rodriguez was still the best player in baseball.

      “When I think of the best player, Pujols’ name stands out,” one scout said, a sentiment echoed by many. Others suggested Minnesota catcher Joe Mauer or Tampa Bay third baseman Evan Longoria.

      But no one said A-Rod was out of the conversation, either. While a few predicted his production would decline, they also said he would remain among the top run producers in baseball. Because of Rodriguez’s admission he used steroids from 2001-03 while with Texas, some said they’ll always wonder what is genuine in A-Rod’s career.

      One major-league scout who has watched Rodriguez extensively this season replied, “Probably so,” when asked if A-Rod’s best days were behind him.

      While players like Mauer and Hanley Ramirez certainly garner attention, Pujols is the best player in baseball. He’s the best pure hitter in the game right now and he puts up out-of-this-world numbers in a lineup that isn’t conducive to do so. He’s the best, period.

      That said, here’s hoping he never breaks our hearts by testing positive for PEDs. I, like many baseball fans, want to continue to believe that what Pujols is doing on the field is 100% legit. As of now, there’s no reason to believe otherwise.

      MLB

      A-Rod passes Jackson on all-time HR list

      June 27, 2009 /

      Mr. April has officially passed Mr. October on baseball’s all-time home run list.

      Alex Rodriguez hit home run No. 564 to help the Yankees beat the Mets 9-1 on Friday night, moving past Reggie Jackson into 11th place on the career list.

      “The negativity that surrounds the steroids is certainly not something that I carry over to him,” Jackson said. “I do appreciate the fact that he admitted his mistakes, so from here we move forward. Judgment on him will be passed with the next 7 1/2 years of his time with the Yankees.”

      Jackson was sixth when he retired in 1987, trailing only Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Frank Robinson and Harmon Killebrew. He’s since been passed by Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr., Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro and A-Rod.

      “You get used to it really,” Jackson said.

      Remember when A-Rod was supposed to save us all from Barry Bonds and “legitimize” the home run record again?

      Moments like Rodriguez hitting his 564th mean very little now. Maybe Griffey will keep playing until he’s 80 and pass everyone.

      MLB

      David Wells: ‘Players that cheat should be banned after first offense’

      May 18, 2009 /

      Former MLB pitcher David Wells tossed a few high hard ones at Alex Rodriguez and Roger Clemens this past weekend, saying that any player that cheats the game should be banned from baseball after the first offense.

      Wells said the home runs that Rodriguez hit during the time he admitted he was on steroids shouldn’t count, including the three he jacked against Wells in 2003. He also questioned Roger Clemens’ veracity on his constant denials that he never juiced, and said all steroids cheats should be banned from baseball after the first offense and have no shot at getting into the Hall of Fame.

      “I think that would be great. No 50-game suspension. Ban them right away,” Wells said. “That would stop it in a heartbeat, especially with the money they are giving out today. It would be incredible if they did that. You wouldn’t have to worry about steroids or HGH.”

      Why do players abuse steroids? So they can post incredible numbers, assault records, extend their careers, sign big contracts.

      “It (stinks) because of the fact that these guys are playing dirty and that’s not fair to the guys who busted their butt all those years to try and stay here and just didn’t have what it took,” Wells said.

      If baseball truly wanted to stop player’s use of performance-enhancing drugs, they would take on Wells’ philosophy. No player in their right mind would risk taking steroids if they knew a positive test would result in a lifetime ban from the game. (Well, maybe I shouldn’t suggest that no player would risk using, because I’m sure some nitwit would do it anyway thinking he’d never be caught.)

      One thing to note is that MLB wouldn’t be able to make this rule retroactive because if they didn’t think it was important to have a testing policy in place 10 years ago, then they shouldn’t be able to ban a player who admitted using during that time. So guys like A-Rod and Andy Pettitte would be given a free pass for now.

      But a lifetime ban would put the responsibility back into the players’ hands – where everything starts anyway. If a player isn’t sure that a supplement or medication will get him banned, he needs to check with a team doctor and have it authorized. That way everyone knows what’s going into these players’ bodies and therefore there wouldn’t be any surprises. And this wouldn’t just help keep the game clean, but it would also show that MLB cares about the players’ long-term health, too. It seems to be a win-win for all parties involved.

      MLB

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2025 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑