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| Samardzija stifled the Jays to complete a 4-game sweep |
For a majority of the season, Chicago had shopped each pitcher to various teams but finally struck a deal this weekend. Samardzija, seeking a hefty raise, commanded an extremely high price tag from his suitors due to the small market for high-level starters at this year's trade deadline. After dealing with a rash of injuries, Oakland jumped on the opportunity to improve their rotation tenfold. Marred with injuries for the beginning of the year, the A's needed to support the efforts of Sonny Gray, Jesse Chavez and recently named All-Star Scott Kazmir. Both Hammel and Samardzija had felt the effects of a Cubs offense that had been essentially anemic this entire season, both toting ERA's under 3.00 while combining for a record of 10-12. Now, each starter can reap the benefits of playing for the highest scoring offense in the MLB.
Even if the A's are simply renting out the pitchers for the stretch run and the postseason, this move makes the Athletics the clear favorite in the AL, if they weren't already. Toting the best team ERA in the American League, Samardzija and Hammel round out a playoff rotation that could potential feature 4 former opening day starters. Sonny Gray has struggled in recent weeks but his torrid start to the season should reserve any doubt that he will bounce back to his early successes in 2014. The thing that stands out most is the urgency from Billy Beane to enter "win now" mode although they were arguably the most complete team in the league. If there was ever a year to go all-in on a playoff season for the A's, it is certainly. The master of Moneyball isn't one for selling his beloved farm system for large trade targets, rather than resurrecting careers for players who had appeared to have seen their better days (i.e. Coco Crisp, Scott Kazmir). Beane, a tenured GM that has witnessed his fair share of winning in his days at Oakland must have mulled this decision over an infinite amount of times in the upcoming hours before the trade.
I say this because of the haul he was forced to part with in order to land these two. Making their way to Chicago was the last two first round picks for the A's organization, which included the #3 prospect in the MLB according to Keith Law, in Addison Russell. Russell, a promising shortstop was the centerpiece of the deal for the Cubbies. Already possessing 3 of the top 15 prospects this year (Baseball America), Chicago was once again able to stockpile assets for their rebuilding process. Samardzija and Hammel were both free agents after this year anyways, so how could Theo Epstein possibly say no? If they're this high on "Shark" still, they could ultimately sign him to his desired extension if Oakland opts to only keep him for the remainder of the season. The team may not look "sexy" on paper right now but the Cubs are assembling a formidable core of young players who continue to show improvements. The biggest surprise is Jake Arrieta, who was packaged along with Pedro Strop last season from the Orioles and has flourished into one of the most dominant pitchers in the past few months. Showing signs of his effectiveness last season, he has become the hottest pitcher in the league now named Kershaw and Wainwright. He will now be vaulted into the ace role of a Cubs team that saw their playoff aspirations fly out the window weeks before. However, the loss of Samardzija allows Chicago to retain a top of the line starter for a much cheaper price tag and can use their assets and large payroll to build around him.
Back to the A's, they concluded this weekend with Samardzija's debut start in the A.L. and Oakland was thoroughly pleased as he held the high powered Blue Jays offense to only one run over 7 innings, picking up the win. For Oakland, they improved to an astounding 22 games over .500 with the ASB break looming and have solidified their spot atop Nick Caputo's unofficial MLB power rankings for this week. Similar to Jaws in the town of Amity, this Shark has taken over the town of Oakland and the future looks bright for the A's.
Trout & Puig: The Future is Bright
If you've been living under a rock these past two years, I suggest you get out from under said, "rock" and watch Mike Trout and Yasiel Puig take over the MLB. For those of you that are fortunate enough to watch on a nightly basis can all agree that these two are the main attraction whenever they take the field. This season, they've somehow got even better as the two are frontrunners for the MVP in each league and have guided their respective team's to two of the best records in baseball (Angels 51-36 & Dodgers 51-40). If the season ended today, we'd be gifted to watch both of the California-based superstars in the playoffs and you all would be eternally grateful for that.
Although nearly missing out on the MVP award the past two seasons as a professional, Trout has yet to play in October and you can tell that he's dedicated to changing that this season. It would simply be easier to list the things that Trout isn't doing to save more time in this article and believe me, I really can't think of anything and I'm not trying to nitpick any type of argument against either player. Last week, we saw Trout crush a ball that nearly landed in St. Louis when he teed off against Jason Vargas for a 490-foot tater to dead centerfield. If you haven't seen the clip, fear not, it's right here. Feel free to marvel at the raw power from the 22 year old slugger. As I was saying, Trout leads the Angels in every major offseason category this season and has propelled them to second place in the West behind the streaking A's and the first Wild Card spot above Seattle. If the season ended today I would be hard-pressed to find someone that wasn't as deserving of MVP as Trout. Miguel Cabrera has had the luxury of Victor Martinez although posting some absurd numbers of his own. The contributions from Albert Pujols and other Angels have been noted but the Trout effect has once again placed him atop the leaderboard in WAR. In addition to the eye-popping plays and mammoth homers, he's also extremely clutch. Friday night, Trout launched a game-winning solo home run to propel the Astros to complete yet another come from behind victory for the Halos. His second of the season and his career, Trout just seems to have a nact for hitting in the big spots.
He's now the 8th player in Angels history to post 20 homers and 60 RBI's before the All-Star break and the last player to do that was Vlad Guerrero in 2004, who would go on to win league MVP. If he's not the best player in baseball yet, he's certainly the most complete and arguably the most dynamic along with Mr. Puig, who I'll get to next. As an overall fan of baseball, I'll be rooting for the Angels to make the postseason for the opportunity to watch Mike Trout play a few more innings, and you should too.
Now, onto the man that has picked up exactly where he left off last season as a tour de force in Southern California, Yasiel Puig. It is fair to say that Puig is the closest we'll ever see to another Bo Jackson but Puig is doing it at such a young age, like Trout. He remains to be a lightning rod for controversy as opposed to Trout, with his off field issues and his unconvential style of play but everyone can agree that "MVPuig" could soon be a reality come November. Like Trout, there are several deserving candidates for MVP in the Senior Circuit that Puig will have to overcome but if the Dodgers continue their winnings ways, he can surely be in the conversation once the season ends. Up until this point, he's been producing the same amount of production at the plate and in the field as the Dodgers are back in first in the NL West. Last season, we all remember the charge that L.A. made to win the division, spearheaded by the astounding play of Puig in his shortened rookie campaign. Battling a recent injury and a power outage (33 games without a homer), Puig showed no signs of weakness as he launched a tape measure blast to deep centerfield on Friday accompanied by his now infamous bat-flip.
Although sometimes over-the-top, Puig's bat flips have spawned waves of viral videos attempting to re-create the triumphant tosses. Now, HR Derby captain Troy Tulowtizki has now entertained the idea of Puig being asked participate next week at Target Field and would certainly headline what is shaping up to be another excellent field. Regardless, after a torrid pace to begin 2014, Puig's power numbers have cooled off yet his average still remains at .309 while he continues to play superb defense. His defensive prowess was once again on display Saturday as he lost track of a Drew Stubbs flyball in Colorado, only to make a diving circus catch to record the out. Not done, there Puig quickly got to his feet and gunned down Wilin Rosario at third base attempting to tag up. All aspects of Puig's game were only display as he is in contention for his first gold glove. With only one error and 6 outfield assists in 84 games, Puig is a leading candidate to take home some hardware from Rawlings in a few months.
If Puig's season ends anywhere near where it began, we will see a push for voters to choose in his favor for MVP. For now, he'll continue to anchor the Dodgers lineup as they attempt to hold off the Giants for yet another division title in 2014. Maybe, if we're lucky, we could even see a Trout-Puig matchup in the Fall Classic, which would certainly cause social media to explode. Personally, it would be great to see due to the impact it would have on the younger baseball fans as there has been many debates about the sports' appeal to a mass audience compared to football and basketball. This wave of young players are the key to the future of baseball and the MLB seems to be in capable hands.
All-Star Game Rosters
As for the current MLB stars, they were recognized last night as the rosters for the All-star Game were announced on ESPN. Here's a full list of the rosters right here and for the most part, I have no problem with the results. As an Orioles fan, I was delighted to see that Matt Wieters still commanded a significant portion of the vote to be elected as a starter but of course, due to injury he'll be replaced by Salvador Perez and the fact that fans went out to vote for Adam Jones. Several deserving players got their first nods as Jose Abreu and Josh Donaldson deservingly received an invitation while Derek Jeter was properly selected in final season.
However, a logjam of pitchers in the AL led to a few snubs that may not get to play in the ASG. While I understand that each team gets their own representative, guys like Chris Sale, Garrett Richards and Corey Kluber will have to fight over the final vote to get a chance to play. Of course, there will be the usual injury replacements and pitchers opting to not pitch but I thought Chris Sale and Richards would easily make the AL team. Although Sale missed roughly seven starts due to injury, he is arguably the best pitcher in the league, posting an 8-1 record with a 0.87 WHIP and a razor-thin 2.16 ERA. With the final vote and Tanaka most likely not pitching, Sale will represent the White Sox next week. Garrett Richards, one of the biggest surprises this season for the Angels is 10-2 record with a 2.71 ERA as well. Another 2014 surprise was Corey Kluber, who doesn't tote the eye-popping numbers of Sale but has been one of the most dominant pitchers in the league this season. Kluber is 8-6 with a 2.86 ERA and has fanned 137 batters and been consistently impressive all year for the Indians.
Another thing I liked was the love for the middle relievers as flamethrower Dellin Betances from the Yankees, veteran side-armer Pat Neshek and Pittsburgh's Tony Watson were selected after posting stellar first half numbers. Betances, in his first full season is the savior of the Yankees bullpen, with an amazing 78 strikeouts in 50 innings, which leads all relievers while Neshek and Watson have posted sub 1.00 ERA's although each appeared in at least 40 games so far. Personally, I'm a fan of these picks since these relievers are such a pivotal part of team's successes and tend to be severely overlooked.
The league's top teams were well represented as the A's and the Brewers led each league in selections this year. With the trade of Samardzija, Oakland added their seventh player picked although he will not be able to play since he switched leagues this weekend.
It's shaping up to be another excellent Midsummer Classic as the league's best will fight for the ever-important home field advantage. The final appearance by Derek Jeter will make for a special occasion as he will receive yet another proper "send-off" from his legendary career.
Follow me on twitter (@fakenickcaputo) to hear more sports rumblings.
Follow me on twitter (@fakenickcaputo) to hear more sports rumblings.
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