Tomorrow's the Day (Starcraft II Content Incoming)

Well tomorrow is the big day: Starcraft II finally comes out. Unfortunately, I can't afford it, so I will likely have to wait a week or two for one of those lovely birthday checks to come in. But to anybody out there who loves Starcraft as much of me, enjoy the game!

PS: 5th no-hitter of the year thrown tonight by Matt Garza of the Tampa Bay Rays. Crazy. More on that later, perhaps.

My First Link!

I was linked by LenNY's Yankees Blog! Here's the post. I made a post on his site about how I was against moving Phil Hughes to the pen until his innings limit was reached. I was honored to even be mentioned by Len, so I definitely appreciate that. Definitely check out his blog, it is very good. Here is the link to his blog.

The Mariners Are Good at Trades

So remember that Cliff Lee trade? You know, the one where they balked last minute on the Yankees and sent Lee over to the Rangers instead? Well, here is one of the pitchers they got in return.

Good stuff, right?

Girardi's Brilliant Managing

Joe Girardi often gets criticized by fans and the press by how he manages the bullpen. In the playoffs last year, he made some questionable bullpen decisions and he sometimes gets a little obsessed with the mix and matching. But all the credit in the world should go to Joe for today's big win against the Rays. After Andy Petitte had to leave the game with a groin injury with one out and two on in the 3rd inning, Girardi had to go to his bullpen way earlier than he anticipated. He could have turned to somebody who could go longer, such as Chan Ho Park, but he made a gutsy move and called on David Robertson to get the final two outs. This was the right call; the score was still close at 3-2, and this was a huge game. If the Rays won, the Yanks would have had only a one game lead in the AL East. While Robertson walked the first batter he faced on a 3-2 pitch (he came into the game with the count 3-1), he got Sean Rodriguez to pop out to Derek Jeter, and then retired BJ Upton on a fly ball.

Of course, the game wouldn't have been won if it weren't for the great offense. But the great managing by Girardi in that inning was really the key to this 9-5 win.

Why Do People Like John Lackey?

When RHP John Lackey signed a 5 year $82.5 million dollar contract with the Red Sox over the offseason, it was generally agreed that it was a great signing by the Sox. If Lackey stayed healthy, so they said, the Sox would have the best rotation in the league with Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, and Lackey leading the rotation. Lackey has certainly avoided the injury bug that has hit the Sox this season, but that doesn't mean he has been good. Indeed, despite posting 9 wins Lackey sports a 4.78 ERA with 46 walks. To put that in perspective, he had 47 all of last season, and 52 in his best season in 2007, when he won 19 games. So Lackey has certainly been a disappointment; but was he ever really that great to begin with?

As I said before, his best season came in 2007 when he posted those 9 wins as well as a great 3.01 ERA. Before that, he was basically an average pitcher, averaging about 14 wins from 2004-2006. Lackey has basically built his reputation as an elite pitcher with his performances in big post season games. In Game 7 of the 2002 Angels Lackey, then with the Angels, clinched the series, holding the Giants to 1 run over 5 innings. Maybe not the prettiest of lines, but he was just a rookie. But just because you are a great postseason pitcher, doesn't mean you should be up there with the elite pitchers. And really, aside from that 2002 postseason, when he went 2-0, he really was nothing special in the postseason. Sure, his overall ERA is 3.12, and you can't necessarily control your wins in baseball, but he didn't win his third postseason game until last year. He went 0-3 from 2005-2008.

So really, John Lackey got paid ace money when he was really never an ace. Yeah, I guess he was the "ace" of the Angels when he was with them...but that's because they didn't really have anybody that great to begin with, until Jered Weaver came along, and he was developing when Lackey was with them. So when I hear people say how much Lackey is a horse, I can't help but chuckle a bit.

Holy S%$^ the NL Won! Also, thoughts on George Steinbrenner

So the NL finally won the All Star game, the first time since 1996. Brian McCann (the All Star MVP) came up with a three run double off Matt Thornton, who can apparently only throw fast balls, giving the loss to Yankees starter Phil Hughes (who started the inning giving up two singles after getting the first out). I know home field advantage is a big deal, but I still don't think the game is as important as people make it out to be. The good teams are able to win at home and on the road.

Of course, the story of the day was the passing of Yankees owner George M. Steinbrenner. Everything has been said already, but this was obviously a sad moment for all of baseball, not just the Yankees. Although The Boss is known for his brash style, I wasn't aware of all the charitable things he did. He was a trailblazer in this business and there will never been someone like him again. RIP, George.

AL/NL Starting Lineups for All Star Game

Watching the All Star press conference on MLB Network (can I just point out this station is one of the best things to happen to baseball?). They are announcing the starting lineups and starting pitchers for each leagues' All Star squad. And here are the lineups:

AL:

Ichiro Suzuki RF
Derek Jeter SS
Miguel Cabrera 1B
Josh Hamilton CF
Vlad Gurrerro DH
Evan Longoria 3B
Joe Mauer C
Robinson Cano 2B
Carl Crawford LF

Starting pitcher: LHP David Price

NL:

Hanley Ramirez SS
Martin Prado 2B
Albert Pujols 1B
Ryan Howard DH
David Wright 3B
Ryan Braun LF
Andre Ethier CF
Corey Hart RF
Yadier Molina C

Starting pitcher: RHP Ubaldo Jiminez

And there ya go. Pretty good lineups on both sides, as well as pitchers. Should be a great game.

Cliff Lee to the Yankees? (UPDATE: Or Not)

UPDATE: Well, so much for that. Over the course of the afternoon, talks between the Yanks and M's broke down, with the Mariners concerned about the health of David Adams. According to Joel Sherman the Rangers are set to acquire Lee (and reliever Mark Lowe...who is injured and will not pitch at all this season. God knows why he was included) for 1B Justin Smoak and three other prospects. I'm guessing the Mariners will pay his salary, given that the Rangers have no owner at the moment. At least the Yankees don't have to face Lee tonight.

We all know that whenever a big name player is available, be it via trade or free agency, the Yankees are always attached. But I never once believed the Yankees were truly interested in acquiring Cliff Lee in a trade. The pitching rotation is very solid right now, with AJ Burnett seemingly back on track. Sure, Hughes is scuffling a bit, but that is to be expected with a young starter. And Javy Vazquez has really picked it up after an awful start. So it came with great surprise when I read this morning that the Yanks were "on the verge" of acquiring Cliff Lee from the Mariners (Link Here.)

Supposedly, the deal involves highly touted catching prospect Jesus Montero as well as 2nd base prospect David Adams. It's a bit tough to lose a prospect like Montero, especially with Jorge Posada's days behind the plate numbered. But the Yanks do have a lot of depth in the minors at catcher, including Austin Romine and Gary Sanchez, and I have read that the Yankees don't consider Montero much of a catcher. And considering what the Yankees get in return, it's a bit of a no-brainer (and I see no way that they aren't able to sign Lee long term).

The big question this trade brings up is who leaves the rotation. I have read that Vazquez would be traded somewhere, perhaps to the Phillies for Jayson Werth. But according to Ken Davidoff of Newsweek, the Yankees aren't close to trading Javy, and may even keep him until the trade deadline. Putting Hughes in the bullpen would be a mistake, in my opinion. They should learn from Joba that constantly changing a starter's role from year to year is not a good idea. It worked last year, but Hughes needs to finish this year as a starter. If anybody is going to go into the bullpen, I would put Javy. He could work as a good long man, I think. I know it's tempting to put Hughes in the pen, given his success last year and the trouble they have had this year with the pen, but I just think that would be a terrible idea.

Regardless, this should make for an interesting day (and here's hoping this trade gets done before the Yankees have to face him tonight!)

Swisher and Votto are In!

Congratulations to Nick Swisher and Joey Votto for making the final spot of their respective All Star Teams! So both of my guys won...go me!

Last Chance to Vote For Last All Star Player; Also, Starcraft 2 Beta Phase 2 Begins

Just a reminder, today is the last day you can vote for the final man on both rosters in the All Star game. Here is the ballot. I voted for Nick Swisher and Joey Votto. But, uh, I'm totally not telling you to do that.

Also, the Starcraft 2 beta is back up! Hooray! There seems to be some trouble with the matchmaking service in the beta, but that should be fixed soon.

And finally, LeBron James will be making his decision tonight on the aptly named ESPN special "The Decision." All signs seem to be pointing to him joining Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh with the Miami Heat. People are going to vilify him for taking the "easy way out," but the fact is he wasn't going to win a championship with Cleveland. Nor would he win one with New York. He had a shot with Chicago, but Miami certainly is his best chance to get that ring.

OMG WHY WAS VOTTO SNUBBED?

Update: FYI, Votto has two HRs in tonight's game against the Mets, bringing his totals up to 21 HRs and 59 RBIs.

Everyone is making a big deal about how Joey Votto could not have been voted to be a starter for the NL All Stars. There is a pretty obvious reason he isn't there (for the moment, anyway, he is currently leading the votes for 34th player): it's name is Albert Pujols. Let's be honest, the voting for the All Star game is really a popularity contest, and Pujols is a bigger name than Votto. Not that King Albert was having a bad year. In fact, both Pujols and Votto had similar numbers coming into tonight's games:

Pujols: .305 BA 20 HR 60 RBI .413 OBP

Votto: .312 BA 19 HR 57 RBI .412 OBP

Now there certainly were some problems with both All Star rosters (how in the world did Omar Infante make the All Star team?), but Votto not getting in, while certainly a snub, is not the biggest.

Offensive Ineptitudes

It's really amazing to me that the Mariner's co-ace (and soon to be ace, once Cliff Lee is traded) is only 6-5 after last's dominating complete game shut out over the Yankees. I do realize that he did pitch against a struggling Yankees offense (only one run so far of Ryan Rowland-Smith...really?) but he has been like this for most of the year. He did struggle a bit early on in the season, but he has been this dominant for most of the year. His record really speaks volumes about how bad Seattle's offense has been (despite what they've shown against the Yankees).

Speaking of lack of run support, how bad must Roy Halladay feel right now? All we heard after his trade to the Phillies was how he might win 25 games with all the run support he would get. Well, he's gotten almost no run support and he lost his 8th game yesterday (though he did give up the lead). I wonder if he wishes he stayed in Toronto now.