Good morning.
Here are several go-to links to make your Monday a bit more bearable:
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Congrats to last week’s big winners: Mike Trout and Bryce Harper for Rookie of the Year, Bob Melvin and Davey Johnson for Manager of the Year, David Price and R. A. Dickey for Cy Young, and Miguel Cabrera and Buster Posey for Most Valuable Player.
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Based on his tone in this radio interview, ESPN’s Keith Law sounds rather less than pleased with the AL MVP results.
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Earlier, Nate Silver — yup, FiveThirtyEight’s Nate Silver — had also weighed in on the Cabrera-versus-Trout competition.
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In contrast to the sabermetrician masses, Bill Chuck of Baseball Analytics defends the Cabrera selection.
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Not content with resting after its big trade with the Marlins, the Blue Jays soon after signed Melky Cabrera to a two-year, $16 million contract. Jeff Sullivan of Fangraphs offers his take:
The Blue Jays aren’t paying Cabrera to repeat his 2012, and they aren’t even paying Cabrera to repeat his 2011. According to our numbers, the last two years Cabrera has been worth 8.8 WAR over 268 games. If the Blue Jays were paying Cabrera to be that sort of player, they might’ve guaranteed $16 million over one year or $32 million over two years. They’ve opted for half that, and Cabrera has accepted.
Do you know what an outfielder needs to be to be worth $16 million over two years as a free-agent acquisition? Something in the general neighborhood of league-average. Even slightly worse than that, or league-average and injury-prone. Cabrera was that sort of player in 2009 with the Yankees, when he posted a 94 wRC+. He was just kind of average at everything. If Cabrera could be that guy for two years, the Blue Jays wouldn’t have made a bad investment, and if Cabrera could be better than that guy for two years, the Blue Jays would have made a solid investment.
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On the flip side, YonYonson of Athletics Nation trots out the least valuable players of 2012. Dickey’s value may never be higher, but Jay Jaffe of Sports Illustrated explains why trading the knuckleballer would not be a very good idea.
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Marlins fans may have little to cheer in 2013, but perhaps Juan Pierre’s return to Miami (pending a physical) will help them remember the good times from the 2003 championship season. Meanwhile, Crashburn Alley is happy that the Phillies, who may be focusing their attention on center field, are letting the 35-year old left fielder walk.
That’s it. Have a walk-off week!