How Biogenesis Will Affect the Playoff Races

With Monday’s punishments announced for the players involved in Anthony Bosch’s biogenesis clinic, 2013’s playoff races may be slightly altered. Although most of the players connected to biogenesis are less than role players, some teams will be tasked to endure the season’s final two months without impact players and All-Stars who were an integral part of their first half lineups.

Two teams whose quest for October will lack 2013 All-Stars are the Texas Rangers and Detroit Tigers. The Tigers lost their shortstop, Jhonny Peralta, while Texas will move forward without their main catalyst, right fielder Nelson Cruz.

In the Rangers’ first season without Josh Hamilton and Michael Young, one of their offense’s few reliable assets was Cruz. Understandably, Cruz was having his best statistical season prior to his suspension. Through 108 games, Cruz was on pace for career highs in homeruns and qualifying batting average.

Cruz led the Rangers in homeruns with 27, RBI with 76, and walks with 35. Aging third baseman Adrian Beltre will be the Rangers’ main offensive force for the remainder of the season. Beltre leads every major offensive category that Cruz didn’t.

Two players who the Rangers will need to perform for hopes at keeping up with the surging Athletics are catcher A.J. Pierzynski and second baseman Ian Kinsler. Both players have missed over 20 games already and will need to stay in the lineup and perform like their old selves for Texas to have a chance at getting back to fall baseball.

Unlike the Rangers, Detroit probably will not even feel or notice Peralta’s absence despite his All-Star season with a .305 average. Detroit still has the reigning Triple Crown winner, Miguel Cabrera, along with his counterpart, Prince Fielder.

Thus far in 2013, Cabrera is posting a legitimate bid for a repeat at the Triple Crown with a league leading .359 average and 105 RBI along with a second best 33 homeruns. Fielder has provided an additional 80 RBI and 17 homeruns.

Like Cruz, Peralta was also having one of his best seasons. Peralta’s .305 average was a career high and was on pace for his most homeruns since 2008. Despite this revival to his eleven year career, Peralta is a minor subtraction from an already very deep and experienced lineup loaded with Cabrera and Fielder as well as seasoned veterans Torii Hunter and Victor Martinez.

The Tigers had prepared for Peralta’s suspension when they addressed his potential vacancy at the Trade Deadlne. Detroit acquired Jose Iglesias from the Red Sox in a three team trade with the White Sox that saw the departures of Avisail Garcia and Brayan Villareal.

Iglesias is a defensive minded shortstop, but showed signs of strong offensive production earlier this season.

Even if Peralta’s absence downgraded the offense, the Tigers’ starting rotations is still one of the league’s most talented staffs with the 17-1 Max Scherzer, 10-5 Doug Fister, and perennial Cy Young candidate 12-8 Justin Verlander.

The Tigers have the pitching and enough offense to make the playoffs and hold off the threatening Indians without Peralta. In Arlington, the outcome does look as promising. Texas will fatally miss Cruz’s power in their efforts to stop the Athletics if other players fail to stay productive and on the field.

By suspending the players involved with biogenesis, baseball hoped to retain the integrity of the game and keep an untainted playoff race. These suspensions have altered the playoff race and punished more than just the players, but also their teams. Seeing the way their teams needed them, after failing to make the playoffs, could be the best punishment of all for the players and perhaps an added incentive in the future to stay clean.

A Crucial Time for Cardinals

Just inside the final two months of the season, the St. Louis Cardinals are finding themselves in a position not to familiar to the eleven time champions: doubt.

The division rival and competing Pittsburgh Pirates have hosted the Cardinals for a five game set that may serve as a deciding factor for the NL Central title. Pittsburgh has won the first four games, including a double-header sweep on Tuesday. The Pirates have outscored the Cardinals 22-7 so far this series.

Losing both ends of Tuesday’s double dip was not even the worst part of the day for the Cardinals. In the second game, National League MVP candidate Yadier Molina left in the third inning with a knee injury. Molina’s MRI would later reveal knee inflammation which landed him on the 15 day DL.

Before his injury, Molina had put together arguably the best season of his eleven year career. The National League’s starting catcher for the All-Star Game, Molina was batting .330 with an unusually high 54 RBI.

2.5 games out of first place and without their biggest asset for at least the next two weeks, the aging Cardinals are riding a five game losing streak and are tasked with keeping pace with the much younger and scrappy Pirates.

If Molina can return on time, he should be available for the final game of the Pirates/Cardinals series occurring from August 13-15 in St. Louis. Until their next meeting with the Pirates, the Cardinals will venture through a difficult segment of their schedule without their best player.

After tonight’s concluding game of this rare five game series, the Cardinals will travel to Cincinnati for a three game series with the 60-49 yet third place Reds. While in Cincinnati, the Cardinals pitching staff will be tasked with containing the Reds’ power threats in Jay Bruce, Joey Votto, Shin-Soo Choo, and Brandon Philips who combine for 65 homeruns.

Following the Reds series, the Cardinals will return home to face the National League’s hottest team, the Los Angeles Dodgers. Though at home, this series will still be a test for the Cardinals as they encounter the explosive Dodger lineup who have the MLB’s best team average in July.

Without Molina, St. Louis can potentially face the impressive tandem of the 10-6 and ERA leading Clayton Kershaw and 8-3 Zach Greinke in the Dodger series and the 10-4 Mike Leake versus the Reds.

After meeting the Dodgers, the Cardinals will have somewhat of an easier matchup as they face off with the longtime foe Chicago Cubs.

Even without their All-Star closer, Jason Grilli, Pittsburgh has a much easier schedule before their next meeting with the Cardinals. The next three series for the Pirates will be against sub-.500 teams. The Pirates are slated to play the miserable last place Marlins in between two sets with the 51-58 Colorado Rockies.

Pittsburgh has it so good these next two weeks that when they play the Marlins, they will not even have to visit the hideous Marlins Park.

When the Pirates arrive in St. Louis for another crucial meeting, the standings could be determined by much more than 2.5 games. Although the Cardinals have the fifth best record in the major leagues, these next two weeks without Yadier Molina could be detrimental to their season.

The Cardinals will still have a strong team without Molina but they will be losing one of the lineup’s main catalysts. There will be added pressure on the aging bodies of Matt Holliday and Carlos Beltran for Molina’s leadership and production while more emphasis will be placed on Matt Carpenter for Molina’s reliability.

In recent years, it was the Pirates who fell apart at this time of the year due to injuries and slumping bats, however the tables may turn.

Depending on how this next stretch goes for the Cardinals could help Molina’s campaign for MVP. Unlike the Heisman Award in college football the MLB does not grant the award to the best player, but rather to the player who was the most valuable to his team, thus the name Most Valuable Player. If the Cardinals struggle without their elite backstop, it will prove his worth as the most valuable player on the team.

A Nostalgic Weekend for the Yankees

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This weekend’s story could not get any better for Yankee fans. Serving at least as a temporary distraction, the Bronx Bombers were able to relive their glory years of the late 1990s and early 2000s for a little while.

That era of Yankee baseball may have been one of the single greatest dynasties in sports history, along with another great chapter in the team’s legacy, the 1920s and 1930s where the Babe Ruth led Murderer’s Row went to six World Series in twelve years, winning three.

For the first time since the mid 1960s to early 1970s championship drought, the Yankees are facing a true crisis. Teams in the AL East are younger and more talented, as the Yankees are running out of their normal luck in finding high risk/high reward free agents, as well as time with ageless wonders and franchise cornerstones, Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera approaching retirement.

While the team is unraveling, the status of the 275 million dollar third baseman, (No, that is not a hyperbole.) Alex Rodriguez, is indefinite. Rodriguez, who admitted his steroid use in 2009, is among the players accused of involvement in Anthony Bosch’s biogenesis clinic, facing a potential suspension or lifetime ban from baseball.

After a week tainted by the Yankee front office taking disassociating themselves from the same player they signed for ten years in 2007 to a new extreme by falsely placing him on the disabled list, Yankee fans had a taste of their rich past to forget about the scandals and decline of their team.

This weekend began with the midseason trade for former Yankee Alfonso Soriano from the Cubs. Soriano was acquired to help spark an outdated, fragile, and sluggish Yankee lineup. Before the trade, Soriano had hit eight homeruns in the month of July, one more than the Yankees, as a team.

While a Yankee, Soriano was part of four World Series teams, including two championships. Before the 2004 season, Soriano had been traded from the Yankees to the Texas Rangers for Alex Rodriguez.

Soriano’s best season in the pinstripes, 2002, may have been the best of his fourteen year career. In 2002, Soriano hit 39 homeruns and drove in 104 runs while hitting .300 for the only time in his career. Though he may be well passed 2002, Soriano can still provide the offense with that same explosive production while providing fans with his attendance for a blast from the past.

Less than 48 hours after Soriano’s arrival in the Bronx for the weekend series against the Tampa Bay Rays, two other iconic Yankees made their return to The Stadium.

Longtime Yankee captain and shortstop Derek Jeter returned to the Yankees lineup from another stint on the disabled list on the day his former teammate, Hideki Matsui, retired and was honored with his own bobblehead day.

This was Jeter’s second return of the month after reinjuring himself in his first game off the DL on July 11. A perennial and classic Yankee with five rings, Jeter experienced his best seasons during that dynastic era in the Bronx.

In the 1999 World Series winning season, Jeter hit .349 with a 24 homeruns uncharacteristic to a shortstop. Jeter would also excel in 2000 where he was awarded the unprecedented combination of both All-Star Game MVP and World Series MVP.

Matsui joined the Yankees in 2003 after an already illustrious career in Japan. A two time All-Star, “Godzilla” was part of one World Series team in 2008 where he batted .615 with three homeruns and eight RBI, earning him Series MVP.

What could be more Hollywood for the class act Jeter to return with Matsui in attendance and being honored?

Homering on the first pitch of his first at bat.

Jeter’s homerun was the first for the Yankees in nine games, making his presence known immediately. After a 2-4 performance by Jeter, Tinseltown would return for this throwback as Soriano slated his fourth hit of the day, a walkoff to give the Yankees a much-needed victory.

Now as the scriptwriters and film crews have left Yankee Stadium, there still are those same issues lurking with the Steinbrenners, Brian Cashman, and Joe Girardi.

The feel good movie is now more of a melodrama.

What will happen with A-Rod? How can we keep up with the Red Sox, Orioles, and Rays? What are we going to do when Mo and Derek leave? Can Soriano meet our expectations and perform like before?

For the Yankees, this weekend full of feel good memories of yesteryear served as a suitable distraction, however moving forward the Pinstripes may never be the same.

All was not well for the Yankees of the early 2000s yesterday, former Yankee star Tino Martinez resigned as Marlins hitting coach after numerous complaints and accusations on his “tough” approach.

The Battle of the Boroughs- Mets vs. Yankees in the Subway Series

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It is not a surprise that in a city like New York, there exists the greatest interleague rivalry in baseball.  The Dodgers and Angels are a highly congested freeway apart, and have a generally relaxed Southern California fan bases.  These two have experienced similar success, each capturing one World Series on the West Coast. The Cubs and White Sox have also faced comparable achievements, both going through extensive championship droughts.  The two Chicago teams have coexisted for over 100 years and are located about the same distance from each other as the Mets and Yankees.

The key word there is coexisted.  The Mets and Yankees have not coexisted.  There is a friendly hatred between the two franchises.  This only exists because 27 beats 2.

In New York, everyone is a Yankees fan.  Who would not want to “like” a team that has succeed more than any other sports team?  A Mets fan.  Mets fans are some of the most dedicated and cynical people, hardened by heartbreak, endless failure, and the never-ending catchphrase of bandwagon fans, “27 rings.”

The first Subway Series happened over forty years before Casey Stengel’s Loveable Losers took the field.  From 1921 until 1923, the Yankees and then New York Giants faced off in the World Series.  The Giants won both in 1921 and 1922 with all the games were played in the Polo Grounds, as both teams called this odd configuration home.

In 1923, and at their own stadium, the hallowed Yankee Stadium, the Bronx Bombers would win their first of many World Series.  The Yankees would also beat the Giants in 1936 and 1937.  In 1941, the Dodgers and Yankees squared off in the Fall Classic in the first of seven postseason meetings 15 years.  The Yankees would win six of them, inspiring the start of the Brooklyn slogan, “Wait until next year!”

In 1955, it was next year. Dem Bums would win their only World Series in Brooklyn, behind a masterful Game Seven outing from Johnny Podres.  The Giants would fall to the Yankees one last time in 1951.

Come 1962, the Mets would fill the vacancy left by the Dodgers and Giants as New York’s National League team.  Though the Mets would win a World Series quicker than the Yankees, they would only win once more, a nail biting 1986 victory over the Boston Red Sox.  The Mets would reach the Fall Classic in 2000 for the fourth time in franchise history, meeting the Yankees to set the stage for the first postseason Subway Series since 1956.  The Yankees would win in 5 games.

Prior to the World Series, the Yankees and Mets had begun annually playing each other starting with the 1997 idea of interleague play.  The two teams had faced off in exhibition matchups in the ‘70s, competing for the Mayor’s Trophy.  However, this was different.  These matchups would mean something.

The first regular season Subway Series game would be a 6-0 Mets victory, behind Dave Mlicki.  The Yankees would win the final two games in the series, setting the tone for the future, as the Bombers have won 54 of the 90 regular season meetings.

Depending on which fans and fans of which team you ask, there were many other great games and memories from this rivalry.  In 2006, David Wright did the unknown by walking off against the immortal Mariano Rivera.  Wright would tank a ball to the centerfield wall at the late Shea Stadium, to break a 6-6 tie.

The next day another thriller would ensue, as it would be Billy Wagner who would blow the save en route to a Yankee victory in eleven innings, Rivera captured the win.  Three years later, Rivera would have another game to remember in Queens, when he drove in his first career RBI with a ninth inning bases loaded walk to set up his 500^th save.

For me, there are two events that stand out the most.  During the last season of both Yankee Stadium and Shea, 2008, the Mets and Yankees met in a two stadium, two borough, two uniform double header.  In the first game, played at Yankee Stadium, Met first baseman Carlos Delgado would collect nine RBI, an all time record for any player against the Yankees, as the Mets would prevail 15-6.  In the nightcap and at Shea, the Yankees would prevail 9-0.

My all time favorite part of this rivalry however was the Roger Clemens and Mike Piazza saga.  This conflict began in Game 2 of the 2000 World Series, when the Mets catcher’s broken bat would fly at the overpowering Yankee pitcher.  Clemens would swat down the piece of lumber and throw it in the direction of Piazza, sparking friction between the two.  For the first time, Mets fans had a reason to hate the crosstown rivals other than their store bought titles.

Fast forward to 2002. Both Clemens and Piazza are still in New York, but for the first time since the exchange, Clemens would be batting with the Mets being home. Mets pitcher Shawn Estes would throw at Clemens, but being a Met, missed and the ball went behind the Rocket.  Estes would later homer off of Clemens in an 8-0 Met victory.

This would not be the only controversy between the two teams.  In fact, this does not even begin to describe the strife between teams whose logo is a nothing more than a different style of writing two letters.  It is safe to say Clemens and Piazza opened up room for these controversies. In the next ten years, the once friendly rivalry would become much, much more.

In 2009, he overly intense Mets closer, Francisco Rodriguez, would take offense to Yankee reliever Brian Bruney calling him out on his outpouring emotions.  Before a June 14 game, K-Rod would meet Bruney on the field.  The tender emotions would carry over to 2011, when Mets outfielder, Carlos Beltran, would criticize Yankee captain, Derek Jeter, for electing to sit out the All Star Game.

The harsh feelings would not end there.  The next year, another erratic Mets closer, Frank Francsico, would create controversy, when he called the Yankees “chicken,” for arguing calls.  The Mets hung a picture of a chicken with Jeter’s face on it, and made a Chicken Dance to greet the closer.  Francisco would earn the save, backing up his big talk.

Despite all the hullabaloo surrounding these teams, they are actually quite similar and have exhibited solidarity, with their stadiums 9.9 miles apart.

In 2001, both teams helped restore New York after the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks.  In the first New York sporting event since the attack, the Mets would play an emotional game against the Atlanta Braves, highlighted by Mike Piazza’s game winning homerun.

That year, the Yankees would go all the way to the World Series, where they would lose to the Diamondbacks in one of the greatest World Series of all time.

Regardless of the controversies between the two teams, they are actually quite similar.  At the 2006 All Star Game, history was made.  For the first time, a single city would send the starters for both the American and National League at two positions with Wright and Alex Rodriguez at third, and Jose Reyes and Jeter at shortstop.

Shea and Old Yankee Stadium would both close the same year, 2008.  In 1976, the Mets and Yankees shared Shea, while the Old Yankee Stadium was under renovation.  In their last World Series victory, both teams beat the other’s nemesis, Mets over Red Sox in 1986 and Yankees over Phillies in 2009.

This year was the first time both teams were home on Opening Day, after 50 years together in New York.

Tonight marks a new Subway Series, two-two game series.  Today and tomorrow will be played at Citi Field, and Wednesday and Thursday in the Bronx.  The makeshift Yankees sit atop the AL East, as the Mets try to build some momentum off of last night’s late inning victory over the Braves to break their recent skid.

The Mets will never come close to equaling the success of the Yankees, no one will. However, every year, the Mets get a chance to possibly quiet the Pinstripe Partisans, for a short time at least.

A Different Culture In Flushing: The Renaissance of David Wright

Born and raised in the former Mets minor league town of Norfolk, Virginia, David Wright and the Mets have always been a match made in heaven, better than any eHarmony relationship. The stage was set for a marriage between the franchise and The Franchise, as Wright grew up a Met fan and later drafted out of high school, neglecting to accept his scholarship offer to Georgia Tech.

David Wright set the tone for the future, for both him and the Mets, by signing an extension to stay in New York for possibly the remainder of his career. Wright wants to win for New York. I believe we are entering the renaissance of his career, a revival rather, of his power numbers and overall status as an elite player in the MLB.

David Wright's rebirth will change the overall culture of Mets baseball. The horrific days are over.  The future is bright, as the farm system is expecting a plentiful crop. It is a good time to be a Met fan. I, myself, have never been more excited for what is to come, between Ike Davis coming off a strong turnaround after a terrible start to last year's campaign. A young pitching duo of Matt Harvey and Zach Wheeler resembling Koosman and Seaver, and most of all, newly acquired and soon to be major league catcher, Travis d'Arnaud. d'Arnaud has been tagged as the next Buster Posey, and has potential to be the best Mets offensive catcher since Piazza and the first complete one since the late Gary Carter. What I think is the best part of this team is that there is hype to live up to, nor is their someone destined to choke and fail after being designated to carry the team. (Don't mean to point fingers but the name rhymes with Mason Lay) Even though I am excited, there is no way the Mets will go to the playoffs, for this year, at least. There are just too many better teams in the division with too many better players in or entering their prime. Between the Braves Triple Threat in the outfield of Jason Heyward, B.J. Upton, and Justin Upton, the Phillies who are on the decline but will still win if they can stay healthy, and the Nationals having Bryce Harper, Ryan Zimmerman, and Stephen Strasburg, just to name a portion of their young, All Star bound core group of players. In any other division, the Mets could have been serious contenders, but they simply are not ready, nor equipped to outplay more experienced and talented teams. If anything, playing in this division will make them stronger and benefit them later on. The Mets will finish in 4th place in their division, with a respective record of around 86 wins, and I could not be more hopeful.

Wright is the game changer for the Mets. The media has been all around his power decline since moving into Citi Field, and an inability to play a complete year, as of late. But, what do you expect? It's a career, not every year will be amazing or have 160 games played. Last year, despite some injuries, Wright still managed a strong year, and I think if he can say on the field he will return to the offensive state he was in, in the 2006/2007 time frame. Now, he will finally have some decent protection in Davis if he continues the tear he was on in the second half last year. When d'Arnaud comes up, there will be even more offensive production around him. For Wright to be successful, he needs his team, and likewise, for the Mets to be successful, they need their star player. There has even been talk of a trade for Mark Trumbo from the Angels. Trumbo, who really doesn't have a place in Anaheim, could complete the picture for the Mets to get them back to October for the first time since 2006. Daniel Murphy would fit in perfectly with the AL team, with his strong bat but sub-par at best defense.

It is hard not to love David Wright. I am not sure if it is his dynamic bat, stellar fielding, or just the boyish love of the game and smile he brings to every game. No matter the lows his team experiences, he understands how blessed he is to get paid to play baseball, not to mention on his favorite team growing up. The saying, "Good things come to those who wait," will be the basis of the future of the Mets. David Wright will be rewarded for staying with the Mets and not abandoning them because it wasn't easy enough to win. The Mets have also waited, growing their own talent, as opposed to their crosstown rivals Yankees who have bought pennant after pennant. We are entering the renaissance of David Wright's career, and that is only the start to bringing the Mets back to being Amazin' and his quest for his first ring, and possibly Cooperstown.