I'm pleased to announce that I'll be continuing the Ten Questions series throughout the season. As Giants pitchers and catchers reported today, and Spring Training is starting to get underway, I thought it would be cool to get a general baseball blogger to participate -- as a brief 2011 season preview. MTD, one of our friends and the proprietor of one of my favorite blogs -- Off Base Percentage -- took the time to answer Ten Questions, for which I'd like to thank him. A brief introduction -- he's an Angels fan, loves to talk about how Chase Utley is underrated, he occasionally gushes about Buster Posey, and tracks golden sombreros on his blog (through which Jose Guillen's memory lives on.)
1. First of all -- predictions...who do you think will win the NL/AL ROY Awards? Cy Young Awards? MVPs?
I’m sticking with Brandon Belt for the NL ROY but he’ll have to live up to the hype since it looks like he’s starting in AAA. The smart money is probably on Freddie Freeman though. In the AL, I think the ROY is Jeremy Hellickson’s to lose.
I don’t think there will be a dethroning of Roy Halladay for the NL Cy but I do think Lincecum rebounds in voting to finish third. Jon Lester seems like as good a candidate as any for a run at the Cy in the AL.
I have Albert Pujols as the NL MVP favorite for 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. But I’ll probably spend most of the season championing Ryan Zimmerman’s case. If Evan Longoria doesn’t win in the AL, it will be because he was injured or Adrian Gonzalez hit 60 home runs.
2. Right now, who do you think is the best team in the majors? The worst?
The Red Sox are the easy choice for best team after adding Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Bobby Jenks to setup/replace Paps. But I’m going to take the Phillies and their staff of aces with backup dancer Joe Blanton. If Chase Utley is healthy and they give Domonic Brown a chance, the Phils should be scary good.
The worst team is the Houston Astros and the carcass of Carlos Lee. Good luck with all of that. Poor Hunter Pence.
3. I've noticed you love to talk about how Chase Utley is underrated. Care to discuss it?
I’m not really sure when it happened but I’ve gotten quite the reputation of being on the same Utley fandom level of Mac from It’s Always Sunny. I am not obsessed with Chase Utley. My attorneys tell me it’s in my best interest to mention that every few days. In order to keep this answer under 1,000 words, I’ll keep it to the basics.
I cannot, by any means, figure out how Utley doesn’t get more MVP love. Need examples?
2005 - He finished 13th despite having a higher WAR than 8 players in front of him including teammate Jimmy Rollins.
2006 – 7th
2007 – Finished 8th with a higher WAR than Ryan Howard who finished 5th and Rollins who finished 1st . Terrible voting all around in 07.
2008 – 14th and out WARed Brad Lidge who finished 8th and Howard who finished 2nd and 8 others.
2009 – He finished 8th again and, per usual, behind Howard who finished 3rd. Utley actually had the best WAR next to MVP Albert Pujols.
And he hasn’t won a Gold Glove even though he’s probably been the best fielder at
second in all of baseball for several of those years. Ugh. Now I want to punch a hobo.
4. Which team had the best offseason? The worst?
The Red Sox are once again the obvious answer with the A-Gon, Crawford, Jenks acquirements. Although, the Blue Jays get a vote for unloading Vernon Wells’ contract and the Yankees get a vote for signing several 2005 All Stars.
Unfortunately, I agree with everybody else in awarding the Angels with the worst offseason. The Wells contract is brutal and they lost out on Crawford and Beltre while overpaying for middle relievers.
5. How many home runs do you think Jose Bautista will hit this year?
I think Bautista falls back to around 32 home runs in 2011. Toronto was home to a pretty big power spike last year and pitchers will likely treat Bautista with a little more caution this year.
6. Do you think Albert Pujols will stay with the Cardinals?
I actually talked about this the other day on The Baseball Show podcast with Diamond Hoggers and The Golden Sombrero (shameless plugs) and I can’t see how St. Louis lets him walk. Mortgage the Arch, slap a Pujols tax on Bud Light, et cetera, et cetera. He’s the franchise and the best hitter in baseball. If I were the Cards though, I’d try to pay more for fewer years.
7. Tough question here...you're an Angels fan. You think they'll make the playoffs this year?
*sigh* I like the top of their rotation but I’m guessing the order of the AL West stays the same as last year. A healthy Morales will help the offense and Wells (hopefully in left) will improve a poor outfield defense compared to what happened in 2010. But there will still be holes at the catcher position and the third base rotation has a ceiling of league average.
Help is on the way though in Hank Conger, Jean Segura and Mike Trout so instead of whining I’d rather…
8. You like to gush about Buster Posey. Here's your chance...
I don’t even know where to start. I’m sure I don’t have to point it out but I will. Giants fans have to be ecstatic that the Rays (and others) passed on Posey even though it was a glaring need for Tampa. Posey became the first blog favorite at Off Base during his rookie campaign. Derwood was lucky enough to cover him in high school and I just wrote about him constantly. I’m sure I’ll be writing plenty about him in 2011.
I voted for Posey with my BBA ballot last season after he hit 18 jacks and .305/.357/.505 in just 443 PA. I can’t wait to watch Posey play for a full season. The Giants playing Molina over him was a crime against baseball and humanity in general.
9. How many home runs do you think Adam Dunn will hit in the hitter-friendly confines of U.S. Cellular Field?
Off the cuff, I’m pegging Dunn for around 43 home runs in 2011. Hitting in the friendly confines of US Cellular or whatever they’re calling that place, you’d have to think he’s good for 27 or 28 there.
10. Any Hall of Fame debates you're really passionate about?
Aside from the obvious ones (Tim Raines, Jeff Bagwell), there is one that really drives me nuts. Following Pettitte’s retirement, there is a huge groundswell in his favor for being enshrined. I’m sorry, but he doesn’t have the resume to get in. Yet, he’s going to get so much more support than Kevin Brown did.
Brown received 2.1% in his first year on the ballot which means he’s one and done. Brown finished with a career 3.33 FIP and 77.2 WAR. If I had a ballot, I would have voted for him. It’s so frustrating that a career like Brown’s get dismissed so quickly.
