2009 MLB Awards : NL MVP

Would you like a first baseman with Gold Glove-caliber defense, BA/OBP/SLG at .300/.400/.600, and more walks than strikeouts?  That describes Albert Pujols, who should win his third MVP award this year, but it could also be Adrian Gonzalez, if he didn't play half his games in the worst hitter's park in the league.


Look at his home/away splits (as of the morning of 7/22); it's ridiculous.  He could use significant improvement against lefties, but for $3M/year, he's an MLB bargain.

By Breakdown	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	HBP	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
vs. Left	204	23	46	9	2	10	35	27	3	50	1	0	.225	.323	.436	.759
vs. Right	313	59	95	17	0	29	57	78	2	52	0	1	.304	.442	.636	1.078
Home	246	30	59	12	2	12	35	64	2	53	0	0	.240	.399	.451	.850
Away	271	52	82	14	0	27	57	41	3	49	1	1	.303	.396	.653	1.049

Season saved?

Is an otherwise pedestrian season for the Padres saved by one single sight?

San Diego Padres
Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	#P	AVG	OBP
T Gwynn CF	2	1	2	0	3	0	23	.325	.426

"Saved" might be too strong a word, but damn it does feel good to see a Tony Gwynn batting .300 for the Padres again.

Rebuilding: Year 40 for the Padres

As part of the latest round of rebuilding, the Padres traded Khalil Greene to the Cardinals; unfortunately, this was a year too late.  Yes, Padres management wanted to keep the competitive core from the last few years together for a 2008 run to the playoffs, but Greene, while valuable defensively anywhere, has never been comfortable at Petco.  While his overall numbers were great in 2007, it was not a breakthrough at home; his OPS was .670 home versus .841 away, and the chance to ship him somewhere else for a player more valuable at Petco slipped through the Padres' fingers.

Out of the playoffs

I've read the Sports Guy's articles since he was picked up by ESPN.com and greatly enjoyed them. Recently, he updated his "Levels of Losing" in honor of the Mets' collapse and falling out of the postseason.

Too bad they didn't wait until Monday night's game was resolved to finish the article. Don't you think that the career saves leading blowing two critical games in a three-day span to drop his team out of the playoffs (hell, not to mention that the first blown save occurred on a triple given up to the son of Mr. Padre, and the second blown save came in a game where a. the starters were Peavy vs. Fogg and should never have come down to being decided by a shaky Hoffman in the first place, and b. the hit by Holliday handed him the batting crown and likely the MVP award, despite being a product of Coors) deserves to be categorized? Gaaaaack.

Here's the final cumulative games over .500 by division. Can all 17 Padres fans take solace in knowing that their division was really tough this year? Given that Norv Turner is coaching the Chargers... no.

Week ALE ALC ALW NLE NLC NLW
2007-09-30 6 -2 18 0 -54 32

Win the games you can

Cumulative games over .500

Week        ALE  ALC  ALW  NLE  NLC  NLW
2007-09-09    8   -8   22   -5  -47   30

The competition in the NL West is absolutely brutal (see above), and you have to just win the games you can win, and not worry about the rest. This past week Jake Peavy made a start on 3 days rest, but for Ed Whitson's sake, why?!!?

Sure, Arizona had taken the previous game and would take the division lead with a win on Wednesday, but that single game would hardly make or break the Padres' playoff chances, so there's no need for Peavy to even try to be heroic. I could understand if pitching Peavy on Wednesday would allow Bud Black to slate him in for an extra start by the season's end, but looking ahead, that can't happen. Jack Cassel pitched all right in his previous start, so it's not like Stauffer or Hensley would have to be out on the mound. Saving Peavy for Friday gives him, Maddux, and Germano good rest for the weekend series against Colorado and Chris Young a full week between starts (not to mention the luxury of pitching at Dodger stadium instead of Coors and against a weaker lineup**), and gives you the best chance to win the games you can win. Squeezing Peavy in against a team you're tied with when there are 20 games left is a little panicky.

There's a little bit of hindsight here, because I'm writing after the disastrous weekend results, but that's how I felt on Tuesday -- I just don't like modern pitchers working on 3 days rest without a good reason.

** Young was looking a little healthier in the game against the Rockies than in his previous two starts; here's hoping he's good to go for the playoffs