What to Watch For This Off-Season

Jason Budden: Un-Common Sense?

With the next meaningful baseball game another five months away, the true baseball addicts need something to turn to during the off-season. For me, it’s a variety of things. The NFL and College Basketball are high up on the list, but I also try to keep a close eye on the MLB free agent market.

What players are changing teams this off-season? How is this going to affect next year’s competitive landscape? Are my Orioles going to pick up a few players so that they have a chance to possibly make the playoffs in 2009? Probably not, but I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

Here are a few players to keep an eye on during this off-season:

C.C. Sabathia – The Yankees courtship of Sabathia has started early. They have already made him a six-year, $140 million offer. Most of the experts expect Sabathia to sign with the Yankees, which will have an effect on the rest of the free agent pitcher’s market. If the Yankees don’t get Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe are the next best options. The Yankees may sign Lowe, even if they do get Sabathia. Watch for the Sabathia signing to have an effect on whether the Yanks sign Andy Pettitte, or pressure Mike Mussina to consider coming back for another year (he seems to be leaning towards retirement). There’s not much else out there, so this should be interesting. (Prediction – Anaheim Angels)

Manny Ramirez – This year, Manny “being Manny” took on quite a few different meanings. Manny was just “being Manny” when he shut down and for all intensive purposes, forced the Red Sox into trading him. Then there was Manny “being Manny” as a Dodger, which produced a .396 batting average, 17 homeruns, 53 RBI, 36 runs and an absurd 1.222 OPS in 53 regular season games. He went on to top that performance by just “being Manny” during the playoffs, hitting .520 with four homeruns, 10 RBI, nine runs and a 1.746 OPS in only eight games. Think he was playing for the last contract of his career? Regardless of his motivation, Manny put on a show last year and is going to be paid quite well because of it. But can you trust him to continue focusing and putting in this type of effort? I think the Dodgers believe in the West Coast version of Manny Ramirez. (Prediction – LA Dodgers)

Mark Teixeira – Like Manny, Teixeira went off last season after being traded. During his 54 game stint with the Angels in 2008, Teixeira hit .358 with 13 homeruns, 43 runs batted in, 39 runs and a 1.082 OPS. As if he wasn’t already a top free agent, this performance, not to mention a .467 average in the playoffs, really bumped up his stock (and asking price). Many teams are in the running including the Angels, Baltimore Orioles and the Los Angeles Dodgers (if they don’t sign Manny). At age 28, don’t be surprised if he signs a seven+ year deal, especially with Scott Boras representing him. (Prediction – Baltimore Orioles…this might be more hope as an O’s fan, than intuition)

Francisco Rodriguez – Do you think there are a few teams out there that would like to have KRod at the end of their bullpen? Yeah, I do too. The Angels would love to keep him, but they can’t afford to and have already let him know this. The New York Mets made a splash last off-season by signing Johan Santana to a seven-year $137 million contract. He helped the front of their rotation, but the Mets still missed the playoffs, in large part because they didn’t have the pieces in their bullpen to close the door. KRod instantly provides them with consistency at the end of games. It’s a perfect fit, both on the field and off, as the Mets are ready to pay what it will take to get Francisco on the roster. (Prediction – New York Mets)

Here are the best of the rest. The top free agent players at every position, after the ones I listed above.

Catcher: Jason Varitek
First: Jason Giambi (probably more a DH, but not many 1B available after Teixeira)
Second: Orlando Hudson
Third: Casey Blake
SS: Rafael Furcal
Outfield: Raul Ibanez, Pat Burrell, Bobby Abreu
DH: Adam Dunn
Starting Pitcher: A.J. Burnett, Ben Sheets
Closer: Brian Fuentes


Jason Budden is the Vice President of Operations and Marketing at Baseball Factory. Jason joined the Baseball Factory in 1997 while still a junior in high school. After going through the Baseball Factory's college recruiting program he was placed at Johns Hopkins University where he played two years of college baseball before graduating with a degree in Economics. After working part-time at the Factory throughout college, Jason joined the team as a full-time employee in January 2002 when he was promoted to Director of Marketing. He currently oversees all marketing projects and sponsorship opportunities at Baseball Factory. He is also in charge of development and marketing for Baseball University, the leader in online baseball education and a division of Baseball Factory.

Post Season Awards

Jason Budden: Un-Common Sense?

Early this year, I gave a rundown of my MVP, Cy Young and Rookie of the Year selections, based on their performance through the early part of May. Now that the season is over, here are my picks for the end of season MVP and Cy Young awards.

AL MVP

Dustin Pedroia - If you told me at the beginning of the season that the Red Sox would make the playoffs, even though 1) Manny Ramirez would be traded, 2) David Ortiz, Mike Lowell and J.D. Drew would each miss over 40 games during the season to injury, and 3) Josh Beckett would get hurt and only win 12 games...I would have said you're crazy. Hats off to Dustin Pedroia. He hit .326 with 17 homeruns, 83 RBI, 118 runs and 20 stolen bases. He carried this team when no one else could.

NL MVP

Albert Pujols - He quietly put together another monster year hitting .357 with 37 homeruns, 117 RBI and 100 runs. I don't know how that year was kept quiet, but this season there was not much fanfare around Albert Pujols. Maybe it was because the Cardinals faded late in the season. Maybe it was because the Cubs and Brewers were a more exciting story in the NL Central Division. Maybe it is because we have become used to seeing Albert put up these numbers. Regardless, he deserves the NL MVP award.

AL Cy Young

Francisco Rodriguez – I think I stand alone on this pick. Most all of the experts are selecting Cliff Lee, and I have no problem with that selection. Lee went 22-3 with a 2.54 ERA, but 14 of his wins came against teams with losing records including eight wins against the lowly Mariners, Tigers and Royals. That might be nitpicking, but if KRod doesn’t win the Cy Young, after breaking the single season saves record by five saves, what closer will ever win the award? How could you give it to a closer, unless they break this record, which is very unlikely? The previous record stood for 18 years. Are closers really disregarded that much that KRod’s accomplishment could go unrewarded? Not by me.

NL Cy Young

Tim Lincecum – The stats of Lincecum and Johan Santana are almost identical:

Lincecum: 227 IP, 18 – 5, 265 Strikeouts, 2.62 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 3.15 K/BB
Santana: 234.1 IP, 16 – 7, 206 Strikeouts, 2.53 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 3.27 K/BB

So why Lincecum? I really can’t give you a good reason. In the end, I picked Lincecum because he struck out 59 more batters than Santana, no other concrete reason.


Jason Budden is the Vice President of Operations and Marketing at Baseball Factory. Jason joined the Baseball Factory in 1997 while still a junior in high school. After going through the Baseball Factory's college recruiting program he was placed at Johns Hopkins University where he played two years of college baseball before graduating with a degree in Economics. After working part-time at the Factory throughout college, Jason joined the team as a full-time employee in January 2002 when he was promoted to Director of Marketing. He currently oversees all marketing projects and sponsorship opportunities at Baseball Factory. He is also in charge of development and marketing for Baseball University, the leader in online baseball education and a division of Baseball Factory.

Get the Trophies and Banners Ready!

Jason Budden: Un-Common Sense?

It’s already May, so why not hand out some hardware. Who cares if the season only has one month in the books…let’s crown a champion!

But first, the individual awards…

American League

MVP

Manny Ramirez, Boston Red Sox, .315, 21 Runs, 6 HR's, 23 RBI, .962 OPS
As of May 5, the top player performances in the AL pale in comparison to the NL. If I were to rank the top 25 position players in the league so far in 2008, that list would include three players from the AL, four at most. That leaves me with little to pick from (seriously, this is brutal). Manny gets the nod based mainly on the fact that David Ortiz is hitting .225 and Mike Lowell is hitting .237 and has driven in two runs this season. Manny has been forced to drive the ship, and he has done an admirable job, leading the Sox to 21 wins, tied for the most in the Majors.

Runner Up

Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers, .300, 16 Runs, 6 HR's, 33 RBI, .878 OPS
If the Rangers weren’t in the basement of the AL West, he would have been my choice. What a remarkable turnaround Hamilton has made over the past few years.

Cy Young

Ervin Santana, Los Angeles Angels, 6-0, 2.02 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 38 K’s
Santana has been a bust the past few years. He was a prospect with outstanding talent that, up to last year, hadn’t delivered on his promise. After going 12-8 with a 4.65 ERA in 2005 and 16-8 with a 4.28 ERA in 2006, many of baseball’s experts picked him to have a breakout year in 2007, but he disappointed with a 7-14 record and a 5.76 ERA, giving up 26 HR in 26 starts. Finally, he has realized what everyone has been saying for a few years. He has the stuff to succeed, and is doing it in 2008. On May 5, he went nine innings giving up four hits and zero runs while striking out nine and walking none of the Kansas City Royals batters he faced.

Runner Up #1

Jonathan Papelbon, Boston Red Sox, 2-0, 10 Saves, 0 Blown Saves, 1.65 ERA, 21 K’s, 1 Walk. He continues to be the best closer in the game, by far, enough said.

Runner Up #2

Cliff Lee, Cleveland Indians, 5-0, 0.96 ERA, 0.56 WHIP, 32 K’s
Unheralded started behind C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona, Lee has put up better numbers, and has five of the Indians 14 total wins.

Rookie of the Year

Jacoby Ellsbury, Boston Red Sox, .275, 25 Runs, 3 HR's, 12 RBI, 11 SB
Ellsbury showed the world that he was ready to make an impact at the Major League level when he hit .360 in 25 at bats during the 2008 Postseason. Terry Francona came into 2008 expecting Ellsbury to contribute as an everyday player and he has not disappointed. In addition to his success on offense, he has not committed an error while playing all three outfield positions including 17 starts in centerfield.

Runner Up

Armando Galarraga, Detroit Tigers, 2-1, 1.87 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 15 K’s
The only bright spot in a pitching rotation that has been brutal. Galarraga leads the club’s starting pitchers in ERA by a full two runs per nine innings over Jeremy Bonderman (4.17 ERA).

We’ll review the National League next time and hand out some more early season awards.