Long Live The King

Posted by Brady

While reading some of my normal, everyday baseball blogs today, I came across a post talking about the American League Cy Young Award, and it was very Team Felix. After reading it, I was skimming through the comments and saw this one.

“so then for debate sake if King felix is traded to NY and goes 24-2 then he should not be considered for the award? With that logic one could say that you are a poor sportswriter due to that fact that you write for a paper that is only good for fishwrap”

It then went on to talk about how David Price is your 2010 AL Cy Young Award recipient. And it made me seriously think about what Hernandez winning the Cy Young Award would mean.

By now, we are all well aware of what Hernandez has done in the traditional sense. 13 wins and 12 loses. A league leading ERA of 2.27, and 231 strikeouts. But does a win for Felix create a wider acceptance of advanced statistics? Hernandez is second in AL starters in WAR (6.4), 4th in FIP (3.05), and 2nd in WHIP (1.06) and only Dallas Braden and Carl Pavano had more shutouts.

Hernandez had more than 20 quality starts, and he was given a loss on 6 of them! He was betrayed by his offense, his defense, and his bullpen.

The Mariners offense ranks DEAD LAST in every category you can think of. Home runs? 101. Average? .235. On base percentage? .298. SLG% .340. The Seattle offense scored 510 runs. The lowest total of any team since the advent of the designated hitter.

Felix Hernandez had more than 20 quality starts, and he was given a loss on 6 of them! He was betrayed by his offense, his defense, and his bullpen.

The bullpen allowed 213 runs, and had a WHIP of 1.37, with a 4.40 FIP. And while the 2010 Mariners had a very rangy defense, they did make 109 errors, they allowed more than their fair share of stolen bases, checking in at 146.

The Mariners were a complete mess this year, and it seems this year, more than any other year (I’m looking at you Zack Grienke), a great pitcher will not be penalized for things beyond his control.  If Hernandez wins this year, it will mark the beginning of looking for more than a 20 game winner to for the Cy Young.

All that being said, I just want to make sure people know, in case that person who posed the comment about Felix going 24-2 with the Yankees in Make Believe Land, that we here at PTAPP don’t hate 20 game winners. In fact, we love Roy Halladay.

Milton Bradley Needs to Go

Posted by Wilchiro

In the offseason of 2009, the Mariners traded Carlos Silva and cash to the Cubs for Milton Bradley. At the time, Mariners fans were crying tears of joy. They had just traded arguably the worst pitcher in baseball for a talented player with alot of upside.

Things didn’t turn out the way that M’s fans planned. Nine months after the trade, Silva has been one of the Cubs best starters. His ERA has been nearly five points better. His WAR has drastically improved to 2.1. And his FIP has been better then expected.

Milton Bradley has not produced at all in a Mariners uniform.

Meanwhile, Bradley has been almost the exact opposite. He has missed a lot of time due to personal problems, and multiple DL stints. His line of .205/.292/.348 is not impressive. He has a below average WAR of -0.2. His BABIP is well below expectations at .258. One thing that has gone well for Bradley, though, is his defense, something the Mariners always look for. His UZR/150 in LF of 2.5 is better then normal.

But the Mariners have had a bad year as well, which means it’s time to rebuild in 2011. That means giving the youngsters some playing time. And that means giving Michael Sounders full playing time in LF.

The year Bradley was an All-Star in 2008 while playing for the Rangers, he posted excellent numbers. His line of .321/.436/.563 was superb. His K% ratio was down, and his BB% was up. He had a WAR of 4.6. His BABIP was fantastic at .388. And his defense in the outfield was an incredible UZR/150 of 18.1.

But that was also two years ago. That was also in the most hitter friendly ballpark in baseball.

Bradley, now 32, is making a whopping $11 million next year. And he is not a fit for this team.

If the Mariners were looking to deal Bradley, and were willing to take on his remaining 2010 salary, and 25-50% of his 2011 salary, I imagine there could be a lot of takers. The Red Sox might be one of those teams, as the centerfielder and leftfielder, Mike Cameron and Jacoby Ellsbury, are both out for the season with injuries. The Rays might also be interested, as they were actively looking for a DH/OF type player at the deadline.

Whether the M’s decide to DFA him or trade him for little to nothing, Milton Bradley needs to go. And he needs to go, soon.