First Week of the 2015 Is in the Books

The first week of the 2015 season is in the books and here are somethings that stood out to me:

- Miguel Cabrera is back!!!!

Cabrera set the tone for the American League by being on fire. Not counting the first series of the season against the Minnesota Twins, Cabrera against the Indians hit 11-for-14, with a 4-for-4 game on Sunday with two homers, a double and a single. According to the article Detroit Tigers, Miguel Cabrera roll over Cleveland Indians to complete sweep by Paul Hoynes from Cleveland.com dated April 12, 2015:

Cabrera's 11 hits are his most ever in a three-game series. He arrived in Cleveland hitting .182 and left hitting .520. In his career against the Indians, Cabrera is hitting .357 (184-for-516) with 31 doubles, 37 homers and 117 RBI in 133 games.

Now yes, it is the first week, but if Cabrera stays healthy and is batting consistently, a .350+ season batting average is not out of the question.

- Adrian Gonzalez is afire!!!!

While Miggy is being Miggy in the AL, Adrian Gonzalez was tearing up the National League in this first week. Though Gonzalez was kept homeless against the Diamonbacks after belting five dingers against the San Diego Padres, he went four for 10 with four walks in the three games, leaving Arizona with a .609 overall batting average. Again, as with Cabrera, it is the first week, but if Gonzalez stays healthy and is batting consistently, a .350+ season batting average is not out of the question.

- Pitching Suspended For PEDs

What's up with two pitchers being suspended for PED usage. And Stanozolol of all things. In know PEDs are somewhat easier to get in the Dominican Republic and both hurlers (Ervin Santana and Jennry Mejia) are Dominican but man, you really have to wonder what they are thinking. The league is serious about testing that they raised the first time penalty for PED usage from 50 games to 80 games. Why run the risk of losing half a season, without pay. We know why they risk it, it was a hypothetical question by yours truly. So much for pitchers not benefiting from PED usage. Maybe they got a different memo.

- The Billy Hamilton Race is On!!!!

Seven stolen bases in six games. What more can I say than let's see how many swipes he has at the end of this month.

- The Royals Are Undefeated

So much for the Royals being let down after their exciting seven game loss in the 2014 World Series. The team is playing confident ball batting behind young stud Yordany Ventura who leads the AL with a 2-0 record with a 2.31 ERA. Now consider that the Tigers are also 6-0 and both teams play in the same division as the reloaded Chicago White Sox and the Cleveland Indians who just happen to be the favorite of Sports Illustrated (SI's World Series pick: Indians will end 67-year title drought in 2015) to win the World Series. That AL Central race might be the tightest race in the AL.

Ok folks, that's enough for this week. I apologize for the lack of posts. Work has been a killer on the writing. I'm still working on that 1940's Baseball History post focusing on the St. Louis Cardinals. It'll be done soon. I promise :)

Until Then Keep Playing Ball,
Baseball Sisco
#baseballsisco
#baseballsiscokidstyle

Prince Fielder Traded to Texas For Ian Kinsler

The Baseball world is buzzing with the reports of the Detroit Tigers trading their starting first baseman Prince Fielder to the Texas Rangers for the Rangers' second baseman Ian Kinsler. ESPNDallas.com's Richard Durrett reports that the trade was made official Wednesday evening. As part of the deal, the Tigers are sending $30 million to Texas to offset Fielder's contract. The only thing holding up the trade is the passing of the physicals of the players involved. First let me address the Texas Rangers.

It would seem to me that the Texas Rangers have missed having a first baseman of Prince Fielder's caliber since they traded Mark Teixiera to the Atlanta Braves during the 2007 season. Fielder's presence in the lineup will be felt in the form of protection for third baseman Adrian Beltre. Fielder moves into a much more hitter friendly park in Arlington than in Comerica. The trade is even more important that in sending Kinsler to Detroit, the move opens the door for a permanent position for Rangers prospect Jurikson Profar. As I noted in my post Elvis Got Paid from April 1, 2013, the signing of shortstop Elvis Andrus to a long term deal created a logjam in the middle infield that could be remedied with either a move to first by Kinsler or a trade. Now we know the answer. Back to Fielder.

I keep seeing reports that the Rangers might still be in the running to sign Robinson Cano. After picking up the remaining $138-million dollars on Fielder's 7-year $168-million contract (the Tigers will send $30-million) I can't see the Rangers adding an extra $30-million a season to sign Cano long term. I think their infield is set for the next two seasons as Beltre would become a free agent after the 2015 season. Why would the Tigers trade Prince Fielder at this point in time?

I believe that it comes down to playoff performance. Granted that having Fielder in the lineup gave two-time defending American League MVP protection in the lineup that he might not have next season, but Fielder's numbers during the season seemed to take a dip since he joined the Tigers and his numbers were virtually non-existent in the postseason. Fielder's slash line for 2012 was .313/.412/.528 with 30 homers, 108 RBI, 182 hits (35 2B/1 3B/30HR), 85 walks and 84 strikeouts in 162 games. His slash line for 2013 dropped to .279/.362/.457 with 25 homers 106 RBI, 174 hits (36 2B/0 3B/25 HR), 75 walks and 117 strikeouts in 162 games. In five postseason series for the Tigers in 2012-2013, Fielder went 18 for 92 for a .195 batting average with just 1 homer, 1 double and 3 RBI, with 6 walks and 18 strikeouts. Fielder did not drive in a run in the 2012 World Series or in either playoff series for the Tigers in 2013. This would lead me to believe that his lack of production in the postseason overshadowed the benefit of having him in the lineup protecting Miguel Cabrera.

The move to acquire Kinsler not only frees up payroll for the Tigers, but it pairs him with shortstop Jose Iglesias giving Iglesias a veteran second baseman to work his magic with. More importantly, the move opens up some possibilities for the Tigers at first. At first I wondered who the Tigers could sign to fill in at first. Mike Napoli instantly came to mind as I noted on my Baseball Sisco Kid Style Facebook page:

Post by Baseball Sisco Kid Style.

The good people on my Baseball Sisco Kid Style page were quick to remind me something that I had forgotten: Miguel Cabrera was already a first baseman and willingly moved to third when the Tigers signed Fielder after the 2011 season. So I guess that takes care of first base. But what about third? I suggested that maybe the Tigers could make a deal with the San Diego Padres for their third baseman Chase Headley or signing free agent Juan Uribe. My friend Christopher was quick to point out that the Tigers have third base prospect Nick Castellanos waiting in the wings. I had no idea who Nick Castellanos is so I decided to look into him a little.

According to Baseball Cube.com, Castellanos' slash line last season at AAA Toledo was .276/.343/.450 with 18 homers and 78 RBI. In 134 games he had 147 hits (37 2B/1 3B/18 HR) with 54 walks and 100 strikeouts. The big gamble is playing him at third. In the low minors, Castellanos played third while in AAA he played the outfield. Looking at his statistics, Castellanos had 40 errors at 3B while in the outfield he only had 8 of which 6 were in AAA. Considering that Cabrera played third while not being a natural third baseman leads me to believe that the Tigers would consider playing someone who isn't a third baseman at third. Josh Slagter of the Mlive.com website in his article Miguel Cabrera back to 1B, Nick Castellanos to 3B? Detroit Tigers will discuss it after trade mentions:

With Fielder gone to the Texas Rangers and Detroit receiving second baseman Ian Kinsler in return, Tigers president Dave Dombrowski noted it's certainly a possibility that two-time MVP Miguel Cabrera shifts back to first base and Nick Castellanos could get a shot at playing third.

At the age of 21, Castellanos is the ranked as #11 on the MLB.com's top 100 list. So we'll have to see what plays out after the first big trade of this offseason.

Sisco Kid

For Further Reading
- Click Here to access Prince Fielder's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to access Ian Kinsler's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to access Nick Castellanos career statistics from Baseball Cube.com

Mariano Blows Three Straight Saves

The Detroit Tigers led by reigning American League MVP Miguel Cabrera strike again against Yankees closer Mariano Rivera. As with Friday night, the Tigers struck with the longball against Rivera to make history. According to Michael Kay on the Yankees' broadcast:

- Mariano Rivera has never blown three straight saves
- Rivera has only allowed two homers in one inning five times, this was third time since 1996
- The two home runs by Cabrera and Martinez are the first two home runs to blow a save. Other four times it happened as follows: twice as a starter, one in a blow out, one in a tied game
- In 56 games against Detroit, Rivera had only given up 2 homers. This weekend he's given up 3 in two games
- In last 25 years, three straight blown saves by a Yankees closer/reliever has only happened twice: Dave Righetti in 1988 and Kyle Farnsworth in 2006
- Miguel Cabrera is the fifth player with multiple career home runs against Rivera and first to do so in consecutive at-bats

This shows how deep that Detroit Tigers lineup is and how much of an amazing player Miguel Cabrera is. We really are watching one of the best offensive players to ever lace up a pair of cleats. And about the other player who is considered the best in his position? I'm not worried about Mariano. Its part of the game. Though never let it be said that Rivera's last year would be anything but interesting.

Sisco Kid

Miguel Cabrera 2nd Venezuelan to 300 Home Runs

Venezolano Miguel Cabrera continues his torrid pace up the record books by becoming the 134th player in the history of MLB to reach the 300 homerun plateau at the age and only the second Venezuelan player to reach that mark. This is all done at the young age of 29. The first was one of my all-time favorite players "El Gato" Andres Galarraga who retired with a total of 399 dingers.

With Cabrera's track record of hitting 30 or more homers a season for the last five seasons, it would stand to reason that he can surpass Galarraga by the 2015 season. He's missed the 30 homerun mark only twice in his still young career when he hit 12 with 62 RBI in his rookie season of 2003 and 26 with 114 RBI in 2006. Each season he hit 30 or more he drove in over 100 RBI with a career high 127 in 2008. Since he's sitting at 21 homers with 77 RBI (Not counting today's totals), he should again reach the 30-100 mark for the sixth straight season. And its scary to think that he is just reaching his prime.

Felicidades hermano.

FH

What's Going to Happen to Miguel Cabrera

With the first full day of workouts at Spring Training sites across Arizona and Florida, one face is missing from the Detroit Tigers camp in Lakeland, Florida. Franchise player Miguel Cabrera has yet to report to camp and according to the Associated Press article Cabrera misses Tigers' first full-squad practice Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski is quoted as saying: "Miguel is not going to be here today nor will be here for the next couple of days,". The reason for his delay? It has to do with Cabrera's drinking problem.

Let me say up front, I am not trying to be judgmental with this post. Far from it. I can say that working in a bar I somewhat feel responsible for how bad people get when they drink. I work in an industry that profits from those who drink, regardless if they drink responsibly or not. I am not here standing on a soapbox when I wonder what's going to happen with Miguel Cabrera. He has had a history with his drinking that some would say has hampered his ability to perform on the field.

During the end of the 2009 season, the Tigers and the Minnesota Twins ended the season tied for first and needed a tie-breaker to decided who would win the American League Central. 12 hours before the game was to start, a 911 call went out from the Cabrera household by his wife which led to Cabrera being detained at a local police station until Tigers GM Dombrowski picked Cabrera up. There was apparently an argument and an altercation due to Cabrera's coming home late after a night of drinking. This led to an apology to his teammates for being drunk on a weekend while the Tigers were trying to hang on to the lead in the AL Central and a promise to get the necessary help in combating his problem.

After spending three months in an outpatient treatment program for alcoholism during the 2009/2010 offseason, Cabrera was quoted in January 2010 as stating: "My drinking was a problem, and I feel good without it. I feel like a new man,". Cabrera claimed that since the day of his arrest on October 3, 2009, he was alcohol free. By March of 2010, Cabrera's tone in reference to his situation seemed to change. In reference to the media's portrayal of his situation, he was quoted as saying: "You guys write in the paper 'alcoholic,' that's not right, I don't know how to explain, but it's not an alcohol problem.". Cabrera arguably had his best season in 2010 coming second to the Rangers Josh Hamilton in the AL MVP vote (Cabrera finished 4th in the 2009 AL MVP vote). Here we are in February of 2011 and things seem to have gone full circle for Cabrera.

Cabrera was arrested last week on charges of suspicion of Driving Under the Influence (DUI) and resisting arrest when he was found in his car by a Deputy in Fort Pierce, Florida. Though, he was just sitting in his car with the engine running on the side of the road, Cabrera apparently took a drink from a Scotch bottle in front of the Deputy. The police described Cabrera as being uncooperative, yelling out "Do you know who I am, you don't know anything about my problems" and cursing at the police while resisting which led to his resisting arrest charge. The full police report is located at the following SBNation site: Click Here. Getting back to my original point in the title of this post: What's going to happen to Miguel Cabrera.

Cabrera is in the 4th year of his 8-year $152 million dollar contract with the Tigers. It seems unlikely that the team will cut ties with their franchise player. While Tigers Manager Jim Leyland seems to have taken the stance that Cabrera's problems with alcohol is not a problem, it is. We're dealing with adults here and let's be honest, adults let loose at times. We all have stress in our lives regardless if we make $22 million a year or $22 thousand a year. The issue is not how we release our stress but what steps we take to do so responsibly. I'm sure the teams have resources available to players like taxi service to and from Spring training sites and team hotels to ensure the players get to and from places safely. The players just need to utilize them to avoid situations like Cabrera's. When you get to Cabrera's level of having gone through an intervention, then things change.

By taking Leyland's tact of nothing being wrong is like placing a finger in a leaking dam with 20 other cracks leaking water and expecting the leaks to go away. I believe that Tigers GM Dombrowski says it best when talking about Cabrera:

We have an issue here that needs to be addressed and helped -- and we're going to help him. We fully support him in trying to get help. But it also can be tough help sometimes.

Its like I tell people in the bar, you can promise to help people all you want but in the end, if the person in question doesn't help themselves the help is wasted. Does Miguel Cabrera really want help? Only he can answer that question. I believe there are many things in this world that we can't control. We can control our drinking. I don't think there is someone holding Miguel Cabrera down forcing liquor down his throat. For whatever his reasons, he's doing it to himself and only he can stop it before he puts his career in the garbage. All he needs to do is look at the example of Josh Hamilton to see what can happen when you allow yourself to throw your career away. There is hope for Cabrera.

I believe that fellow Venezuelan and teammate Carlos Guillen (in statements made to MLB.com) puts Cabrera's situation in the proper perspective:

Yeah, I'm worried about him, because he's got a lot of talent. He's got the potential to be a Hall of Famer one day. Sometimes you have people around you that are not good for you. You think they're your friends, but they're not really friends.

Hopefully Miguel Cabrera can come to realize that for himself before its too late for the sake of his career.

FH

For Further Reading:
- Click Here to access Tom Gage's article Tigers GM: 'We have an issue,' no date set for Cabrera's return from The Detroit News website dated February 17, 2011
- Click Here to access the Associated Press article Cabrera misses Tigers' first full-squad practice from the Florida Times Union website dated February 19, 2011
- Click Here to access the ESPN News Service article Miguel Cabrera faces DUI charge from ESPN.com dated February 19, 2011
- Click Here to access the Associated Press article Miguel Cabrera puts issues in past from ESPN.com dated March 2, 2010
- Click Here to access the Associated Press article Tigers' Cabrera treated, says life is good from ESPN.com dated January 22, 2010
- Click Here to access the ESPN News Service's article Cabrera apologizes to teammates from ESPN.com dated October 6, 2009

Carlos González Ganador Premio Aparicio

It was announced today that Carlos González of the Colorado Rockies was named the 2010 Luis Aparico Award winner. The award is given out to the best Venezuelan ballplayer in MLB. The votes are submitted by sports writers across Venezuela. 

The award is named after Baseball Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio (HOF 1984) who holds the honor of being the only Venezuelan to currently be enshrined in Cooperstown.

Since it's inception in 2004 the award has only been won by a player multiple times (Johan Santana in 2004 and 2006). Here are the previous years award winners:

2004 Johan Santana SP
2005 Miguel Cabrera LF
2006 Johan Santana SP
2007 Magglio Ordoñez RF
2008 Francisco Rodriguez RP
2009 Félix Hernández SP

This year's award was decided between Carlos González, Miguel Cabrera and Félix Hernández. Each player received votes for up to a total of 100 points. Here was the breakdown of the voting:

González (471 points)
Cabrera (438 points)
Hernández (379 points)

González's 2010 campaign was one of a breakout nature. González was a Triple Crown candidate who won the National League Batting title with an average of .336 with 34 HRs and 117 RBI. He had a total of 197 hits (34 2B/9 3B/34 HR) 26 SB (34 attempts) with 135K's and 40 walks and an OPS of .974 (.376 OBP/.598 SLG). González has put himself in a position to become a future superstar in MLB.

Felicidades en gainer el premio Aparicio.

FH

For Further Reading
- Click Here for the article Reconocido Como El Mejor Venezolano en G.L. from MLB.com
- Click Here for Carlos González's season statistics from MLB.com

Possible AL Triple Crown and NL ERA Dominance

Amid all the talk of Robinson Cano having an MVP type season for the New York Yankees this season, there is a possibility that there may be a legitimate shot at someone achieving the batting Triple Crown for the first time in 43 years. To clarify, the batting Triple Crown is achieved by one person leading the league in the following categories: Batting Average, Home Runs and Runs Batted In. This milestone has been reached by only 14 players with Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox being the last to do so in 1967. The Triple Crown has happened nine times in the American League while only five times in the National League. Two players have won the Triple Crown twice: Ted Williams (1942, 1947) of the Boston Red Sox and Rogers Hornsby (1922, 1925) of the St. Louis Cardinals. The remaining list is full of baseball royalty such as Nap Lajoie, Ty Cobb, Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, Frank Robinson, Chuck Klein and Joe Medwick among others. So who among the current crop of Major League players in is contention? Read on.

- Miguel Cabrera
Last season, Cabrera garnered the one first place vote for MVP that did not go to eventual league MVP Joe Mauer. This season he continues the torrid pace with a .337 average (currently 3rd place behind Josh Hamilton .347 and Justin Morneau .342), 22 homers (currently tied for 2nd place behind Jose Bautista 25) and is first in RBI's with 79.

- Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers
Hamilton continues to write the story of his miraculous comeback from drug abuse and adversity by currently leading the majors with a .347 average, has 22 homers (currently tied for 2nd place behind Jose Bautista 25) and has 66 RBI's (currently 7th).

-Vladimir Guerrero of the Texas Rangers
Arguably the longshot of the three to win the Triple Crown, Guerrero has re-established himself as an offensive force in baseball after a number of injury plagued seasons with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (I really hate having to call the Angels that, LOL). Guerrero is batting .322 (currently 8th) with 20 homers (currently 11th) and 76 RBI (currently 2nd behind Miguel Cabrera)

There you go folks, here is a listing of some of the dominant well-rounded hitting in the post "*" baseball landscape (as my friend Harper refers to the "steroid" era) during the recently christened Year of the Pitcher. And speaking of the Year of the Pitcher.

-The National League ERA race
Ubaldo Jimenez generated the early season buzz in terms of a low ERA. As I posted on my Latinoball blog page on June 13, 2010 called Ubaldo Jimenez is Chasing History at the time Jimenez was 12-1 with 1.16 ERA. This placed him in the company of such pitchers as Juan Marichal and Eddie Cicotte while being in mentioned in the discussion of possibly reaching the pinnacle that Bob Gibson accomplished in 1968: 1.12 ERA. Since then, Jimenez is still on pace for an over 20-win season. He is currently 15-1 with a 2.20 ERA in 127 innings pitched with 3 complete games. Jimenez has 113 K's, 46 BB's and has given up 87 hits for a WHIP of 1.05. This is definitely not shabby in the least but Josh Johnson of the Florida Marlins has stepped his game up to trump Jimenez.

Johnson is currently 10-3 with a league leading 1.62 ERA in 128 innings pitched with 1 complete game. Johnson has 130 K's with only 28 BB's and has given up 96 hits for a WHIP of 0.97. This is especially impressive since the Florida Marlins are not an offensive force and Johnson has single-handed done his best to balance the lack of offense with a lack of runs allowed. In his last 10 starts, Johnson is 6-2 with a 0.76 ERA in 71 innings pitched. Johnson has only given up 6 earned runs in those last 10 starts. What is a shame is that in both losses in that stretch, Johnson has given up only 2 earned runs in 15 innings pitched (one was a 2-1 loss to the San Diego Padres and the other was a 1-0 loss where Roy Halliday pitched a perfect game for the Phillies). It gets even worse for Johnson. During the two no-decisions that he is credited with during that stretch, Johnson gave up only 2 earned runs in 14 innings pitched. That is truly amazing feat of pitching in a situation where run support is limited. But that's not all. Let me shed light on one more pitcher.

Adam Wainwright of the St. Louis Cardinals should not be left out of the discussion. Wainwright is currently 14-5 with a 2.02 ERA in 142.1 inning pitched with 4 complete games and 1 shutout. Wainwright has 130 K's, 30 BB's with 107 hits for a WHIP of 1.00. Wainwright poses a serious threat to both Jimenez and Johnson in the Cy Young award race. I'm thinking he's salivating for another crack at the award especially since he went 19-8 with a 2.63 ERA last season with the award going to San Francisco's Tim Lincecum.

As with the Triple Crown race in the AL, it'll be interesting to see which one of the three pitchers I highlighted will come out on top in the NL.

FH

For Further Reading:
- Click Here for a listing of the Triple Crown Winners from Baseball Almanac.com