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Gretzky's Mullet

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Well well, the race for the wild card is actually on now. I think the Rays have their work cut out for them, being that they'll have to carve their playoff spot out of the Yankees. But, they're playing some solid baseball right now and have a very nicely balanced pitching staff, that might just be able to make hay in the last couple of weeks here.

I still haven't given up hope for the Giants either. It's an uphill battle, but they're also playing very well right now, and they have a critical three gamer against the D'Backs this weekend. A sweep is always a tall order (and Arizona is a very strong team), but San Fran knows that they are not out of it. Not to mention that the Braves are also in a funk in the wild card, though that may be just as much to St Louis' benefit.

I think the Rangers have it pretty much locked up though. The Angels really need a huge week just to make their season ending series against Texas relevant. It'll be interesting to watch, and it's cool to note that the Blue Jays can play a serious spoiler role down the stretch. The other teams, the Phillies, Brewers, Tigers and Yankees, can all pretty much rest their starters, though the Yankees will still prefer to keep winning to hold the division should the Red Sox get on a roll.

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Well, if Verlander finishes 25-5, maybe he wins the MVP after all. I've been a very strong advocate of Joey Bats in this thread, and I really don't like the fact that pitchers can win the MVP (or that NHL goalies can win the Hart), because comparing position players and pitchers in value (or players and goalies in hockey) is a fool's errand, and that's why they have a specific award just for pitchers (and goalies), that position players are ineligible to win.

However, for whatever reason, Bautista's numbers have taken a huge dip post-All Star, to the order of 260 points lower OPS. He's still put up good numbers from a general standard in that time, but that lack of consistency does not behoove the league's most valuable player. Verlander, conversely, just keeps motoring along. Again, I don't think pitchers should be able to win the award (and Verlander will win the Cy Young unanimously), but Justin is definitely strengthening his case while Bautista's is sliding. The two of them should be the only real candidates at this point though.

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An unreported but interesting storyline as the season winds down could be how hard the Diamondbacks and Brewers will be playing to avoid the Phillies in the first round. As long as Atlanta holds onto the wild card (far from a given, but still the most likely scenario), one of the other two division winners, they of the lesser record, will be playing Philadelphia in the NLDS. The way it looks to me, that's a recipe for a very short post-season. Sure, anyone with designs on winning the Series will need to go through Philly at some point. But I think they'd rather do that as late in the playoffs as possible, and certainly not in a best of 5. That pitching staff is absolutely scary: three starters with ERA below 3, and their 4th starter (who'd likely not pitch in the NLDS) is Roy Oswalt. Arizona and Milwaukee both have some good pitchers and sport very intimidating lineups, but Halladay, Lee and Hamels consecutively are enough to strike fear in any team's heart. And let's not forget, despite some injury woes, there are some serious bats on the Phillies as well.

At this point, they have to be considered the favourite to win the World Series, certainly to come out of the NL. The AL picture is a lot more muddy: the Yankees have the bats and the pen, but starting pitching is a huge concern. The Red Sox, should they even make it, have the same problem due to injury. The Rays are charging hard, and have probably the best rotation in all of the AL, but less in the hitting department. The Tigers have a lot of hitting, but need Verlander to clone himself and pitch every game (Porcello has been a little better over the past month or so). And the Rangers might be the most balanced of all the teams, and are itching to return to the Series, but top end pitching tends to be invaluable in the playoffs and CJ Wilson just isn't the calibre of untouchable starter that some of the other teams have, though the Rangers likely make up for that with a balanced rotation, a strong lineup, and good defence.

I'm going out on a limb and saying Phillies over the Rangers in 6 games.

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I wish I understood why Brandon Morrow can be so scintillating some nights and so awful on others. I've said it many times in this thread, the guy has the stuff to be a top of the rotation guy, but he just doesn't seem to have the fortitude.

And the last guy to win the American League triple crown was Carl Yastrzemski, in the 60's sometime.

EDIT: looked it up, it was 1967. No one's won an NL triple crown since the 30's, but Mickey Mantle did win all three categories league-wide in 1956.

Also, amazingly, Kemp is also tied for second in stolen bases, at 40, though way behind leader Michael Bourn with 58. Yet amazingly, he may be in tough for MVP votes against Ryan Braun (who is tied with Reyes for first in BA by the way), and has helped a team make the postseason, always a good selling point.

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I think Jacoby Ellsbury will be a frontrunner for the MVP award in 2012. Even this year he will be on the fringes of the vote, being 6th in OPS and homers in the AL, over 100 RBI despite not hitting in the middle of the batting order, 4th in stolen bases, and a solid defensive player at a difficult position.

He may also have just saved the Red Sox season. Frankly, if they can't beat the Orioles then they have no business being in the postseason anyways.

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Kershaw should win NL Cy. I think it's pretty hard to distinguish between Cliff Lee and Halladay for second though, their numbers are eerily similar (except Doc has a slightly better W-L, though that's a stat without much traction these days). For some though, it'll help Ian Kennedy get more votes than he deserves. Still Kershaw is the right pick: it looks like he's going to win the triple crown of pitching for the NL. Verlander has the triple crown in the AL right now, though Weaver is close in ERA and could take that stat with one more good start, which he should make on the last day of the season, and Verlander won't pitch again until the playoffs.

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Well,another disappointing year for the Twins at this point I'm just hoping we don't hit 100 losses. Pitching from the start of the year has been brutal, and our hitters have never gotten into a rhythm. Personally, I think Morneau should take all or atleast a significant part of next season off so hopefully he can get some of his form back. Mauer had a major off year, and with Denard Span not even on the big team it sucked. Valencia & Nishioka played well under the circumstances. Me and a friend are making the trip out to Camden Yards for opening weekend next year so it should be fun

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