Carlos Pena on Thursday was selected as the Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner at first base in the American League. Pena, a first-time selection, posted a .998 fielding percentage in 1,099 chances, which was tied for first among qualifying first baseman in the majors. In John Dewan’s plus/minus rating system—perhaps the most effective metric used to evaluate defensive value—he rated out fifth in the majors at the position, and second his league, with a +14.

The Rays’ excellent run prevention efforts were the biggest reason for their remarkable worst-to-first turnaround in the American League East. Tampa Bay only allowed 671 runs, nearly a 300-run improvement from its total a season earlier. The team defense ranked first in the majors in defensive efficiency, the rate at which batted balls hit into play are converted into outs. The defensive excellence coincided with dramatic improvements in the bullpen and starting rotation, helping guide the Rays, with a middling offense, to the A.L. pennant.

Pena was an important part to an outstanding defensive infield, which featured above-average defenders at each position—Jason Bartlett (shortstop), Akinori Iwamura (second base) and Evan Longoria (third base). The left-handed hitting slugger’s defensive contributions normally get overshadowed by his offensive output—31 home runs, .861 OPS—but he is a solid glove man at the position and not a bad choice by the managers and coaches.

Longoria was a legitimate candidate to win his own Gold Glove as well, but lost out to a more deserving candidate, Fielding Bible Award winner Adrian Beltre of the Seattle Mariners.

Here are the full winners. In a future article, I will offer my criticisms about some of the undeserving winners (Michael Young, anyone?) in the American Leauge.

P – Mike Mussina, New York Yankees
C – Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins
1B – Carlos Pena, Tampa Bay Rays
2B – Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox
3B – Adrian Beltre, Seattle Mariners
SS – Michael Young, Texas Rangers
OF – Torii Hunter, Minnesota Twins
OF – Grady Sizemore, Cleveland Indians
OF – Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners

To reach Tyler Hissey, send an email to TylerHissey@gmail.com.

The Tampa Bay Rays excelled at run prevention in 2008, with a solid pitching staff and excellent team defense. The Rays’ defensive unit, in fact, posted the majors’ highest defensive efficiency rating, converting a higher percentage of batted balls in play into outs than any team in the game.

With that being said, it is no surprise that Tampa Bay had several players recognized in the recently released Fielding Bible Awards.

Carl Crawford was the only Rays player to win an award outright, though, as he was voted the premier defensive left fielder in the league.

Evan Longoria was voted as the second-best third baseman, behind Adrian Beltre of the Seattle Mariners, Carlos Pena came in fourth for first baseman and Dioner Navarro placed in seventh for catchers.

Shortstop Jason Bartlett, who helped solidify the Rays’ middle infield after coming over from an offseason deal with the Minnesota Twins, received 13 votes at shortstop. Bartlett was voted as Team M.V.P. by the local chapter of the BBWAA, in large part to due to his outstanding range and defensive excellence.

Gabe Gross (right field), Akinori Iwamura (second base), Andy Sonnanstine (pitcher) and B.J. Upton (center field) also received votes.

Full list of 2008 Fielding Bible Award winners:

1B: Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals

2B: Brandon Phillips, Cincinnati Reds

3B: Adrian Beltre, Seattle Mariners

SS: Jimmy Rollins, Philadelphia Phillies

LF: Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay Rays

CF: Carlos Beltran, New York Mets

RF: Franklin Gutierrez, Cleveland Indians

C: Yadier Molina, St. Louis Cardinals

P: Kenny Rogers, Detroit Tigers

 

Click here for more info on the winners.

 

Larry Stone had a great column in the Seattle Times about the Mariners’ current search for a new general manager.

Stone uses the men responsible for building the rosters for each team in current ALCS matchup as an example of how the new breed of general managers in the industry has transformed the position.

Theo Epstein and Andrew Friedman, as mentioned within the article, are each sharp, young baseball minds who fit into the Ivy League GM mold. (Granted, Friedman attended Tulane.) It is hard to deny with their success, despite their youth, and Stone writes that the M’s should keep this in mind during the upcoming search.

Stone:

As the Mariners strive to fill their GM position, they can't avoid paying heed to the dramatic changes the job has undergone.

No longer is the prevailing prototype that of the cigar-chomping baseball lifer who uses his gut instincts to formulate a roster — though Pat Gillick, who has guided the Phillies into the National League Championship Series at age 71 (minus the cigar), is proof that the GM job is not the total province of the fuzzy-cheeked.

…Indeed, the "Moneyball" argument that raged just five years ago with the publication of Michael Lewis' landmark examination of the Oakland A's and their trendsetting GM, Beane, has already become passé.

No longer is it a question of "stats vs. scouts." No organization would dare operate without at least dabbling in sabermetric analysis and trying at some level to exploit market inefficiencies that were the A's lifeblood.

"I would be surprised if any organization doesn't do both," said Dombrowski, referring to the statistics versus scouts dichotomy. "Now it's a matter of how you emphasize one versus the other."

In all honesty, no matter who they choose, things cannot possibly get any worse in Seattle. In fact, it would be difficult to choose a baseball operations leader who could possibly prove to be any more incompetent than Bill Bavasi, whose disastrous run as GM came to its ultimate end when he was fired earlier this season.

From the Carlos Silva debacle to Jarrod Washburn to Richie Sexson, and many more blunders, Bavasi turned a blind eye to advanced statistical analysis and a wave of progressive baseball analysts who criticized most of his moves (at the time they were made). His close-minded approach produced a set of results—including a near 100-loss season in 2008, all for over $100-million—that speak for themselves.

Epstein and Friedman, on the other hand, have shown that they are open to all useful information if it will help their club win baseball games. They could care less about the source, and are more concerned with using the right tools to generate strong results.

In particular, Friedman—a 27-year-old former Bear Stearns employee—values information of all sorts. Whether it is quantitative analysis or more traditional measures of evaluating talent, he is a general fan of intelligent information that can help him make the best decision in the end.

Clearly, that seems to be an effective approach. While Friedman has had a strong right-hand man in Gerry Hunsicker, his ability to find value is, in part, a result of his open-mindedness. His progressive approach to building a franchise has put the Rays in an excellent position to sustain their success for the long term.

During the search this week, Seattle president Chuck Armstrong and his staff should, indeed, look for similar qualities when interviewing all candidates.

The candidates are as follows—Tony Bernazard, VP, player development, New York Mets; Jerry DiPoto, Director player personnel, Arizona Diamondbacks; Tony LaCava, Assistant GM, Toronto Blue Jays; Kim Ng, Assistant GM, Los Angeles Dodgers; Peter Woodfork, Assistant GM, Arizona Diamondbacks

Ng, who will be interviewed later this week, is the first woman candidate for a GM position in baseball history. She has proven to be an extremely competent employee during her tenure in MLB, especially at negotiating deals in arbitration proceedings. Certainly, there will be some people in the industry who will voice concerns if she is hired, solely because of her sex.

Well, that is ridiculous. If she is the most capable candidate to rebuild the Mariners, potentially turning them into a contender after a few years, sex should not matter. At all. I have already read some jokes about her potential hiring on the Internet. Well, the real laughter lies in the repeated boneheaded decisions made during the Bavasi regime.

She certainly could not do any worse.

Either way, this is a huge decision for the future of the franchise. The organization and those involved in the interview process would also be wise to process as much information as possible before making a decision here.

The Tampa Bay Rays have a four-game lead in the American League East, having already surpassed their previous season-high of 70 wins.

With Carl Crawford and Evan Longoria recently placed on the disabled list, however, the skeptics are surfacing on the airwaves, Internet and in print in full force.

Crawford broke his right wrist, possibly forcing him to miss the remainder of the season.

Longoria fractured his wrist after getting struck with a J.J. Putz pitch this weekend against the Seattle Mariners, forcing him to join his teammate on the DL retroactive to Friday.

While it is true that the Rays had a tough battled ahead of themselves even before the injury bug struck, do not expect this club to roll over and die. So, hold off on the J.J. bleeping Putz cries for the time being, because Tampa Bay will remain in the hunt down to the end.

Crawford is perhaps the most popular player in the history of the franchise, a two-time All-Star and a perennial threat to swipe 50 bases. Regardless, it will not be difficult to replace his performance offensively, as crazy as it sounds. The speedy left fielder has struggled through one of the worst seasons of his career, batting .273/.319/.400. Although he put together a nifty little 11-game hitting streak before the injury, a .718 OPS just does not cut it at a position, left field, which is not all that demanding defensively.

It will be difficult to replace the speed that Crawford brings to the table, but his poor on-base percentage has not allowed him to take full advantage of it yet. Hence the low—for him, at least—stolen base total. Eric Hinske, Justin Ruggiano, called up in aftermath of the news, or any other option should not be that much of a drop off production wise.

Perhaps this will situation will finally provide a real opportunity for Ruggiano, who is labeled by some scouts as a AAAA player but has put up solid statistics at each level in the minors. He was batting .315/.374/.537 with 11 home runs and 51 RBIs for Triple-A Durham at the time of the promotion.

The real hole created by losing Crawford has more to do with his defense in left field, as he has tremendous range and great instincts. He has registered the best range factor and zone rating at his position in the majors, roaming the gaps in left center with grace. Along with B.J. Upton, who has tremendous range in center field, he has helped steal his fair share of doubles by making highlight-reel plays.

The loss of Longoria hurts a lot more, of course. The rookie third baseman has undoubtedly been the Rays’ most valuable position player, posting a line of .278/.352/.533 while playing tremendous defense at the hot corner. He has already broke Jonny Gomes’ single-season record for most homers for a rookie by hitting his 22nd bomb before getting hurt, was elected to the All-Star team and is the favorite to win AL Rookie of the Year.

Longoria has also provided enough walk-off hits to make David Ortiz jealous. He truly has helped carry an offense that has had its fair share of struggles.

Thus, the Rays are going to have a difficult time replacing him with a combination of Willy Aybar and Ben Zobrist, who will see the majority of the innings at third base while the star rookie is sidelined (expected to be at least three weeks). Clearly, then, the loss of Longoria came did not come at a great time.

However, Tampa Bay has gotten to this point by relying on its excellent pitching and defense. When a team builds its success on these two pillars, it takes a lot for the house of cards to come piling down. With an improved bullpen, a talented young starting rotation and one of the majors’ best team defenses—having converted 71.7 percent of balls put into play into outs, second-best percentage total in baseball—the Rays have been excellent at run prevention.

While the defense will take a hit with the loss of Crawford and Longoria, it will still be an area of strength down the stretch.

Pitching-wise, Andrew Friedman made another nice pick-up on the waiver wire, acquiring ground-ball specialist Chad Bradford from the Baltimore Orioles. Bradford does not strike out a lot of hitters, but has posted the premier ground-ball ratio in the league and a 2.34 ERA in 42.1 innings pitched. For a bullpen predominantly consisting of pitchers prone to giving up the long ball, he has helped diversify the Rays’ relief corps—which has seen the emergence of Grant Balfour— tremendously.

Not to mention, Tampa Bay has a secret weapon, top prospect David Price, waiting in the wings down in the minors. Price, the number one overall pick out of Vanderbilt University in the 2007 First-Year draft, is 11-0 with a 1.87 ERA and 92-to-23 K/W ratio in 15 starts combined between Single-A Vero Beach and Double-A Montgomery. The 22-year-old southpaw, who has a mid-90s fastball, excellent pitching sense and tremendous command, will make his Triple-A debut on Wednesday night for Durham.

Most likely, Price will come up to fill a relief role, adding a power arm out of the bullpen—reminiscent of Joba Chamberlain for the New York Yankees last summer—while limiting his innings. There is still an outside chance that he may crack the starting rotation upon his debut, moving either Edwin Jackson or Andy Sonnanstine to a new role. Either way, the 22-year-old southpaw will impact the East race somehow, perhaps providing a necessary turbo boost as the Rays near the finish line.

There will be a major void in the lineup for the time being in the absence of Longoria, the team leader in home runs and RBIs who will miss roughly around 80 plate appearances. Still, the Rays rank 10th in the league in runs scored, with several key players having down campaigns with the stick who should pick it up the rest of the way.

Carlos Pena (AP)

The perfect example is Carlos Pena, who hit 46 homers and finished second in the AL with a 1.038 OPS to win Comeback Player of the Year in 2007. Pena, signed to a three-year, $24.125-million contract before spring training, has struggled through an injury-plagued, unproductive campaign. He has been hot of late, though, posting a 1.019 OPS with seven home runs in 80 at-bats since the All-Star break. A Gold Glover-caliber first baseman, he is batting .391/.545/.826 in his past seven games. Look for him to carry the load down the stretch.

Then there is Rocco Baldelli, who looked good in his debut against Seattle on Sunday afternoon. While a rare mitochondrial disorder will limit Baldelli from playing regularly, he has a chance to add a nice boost as well. The former star, who was once compared by a scout to Joe DiMaggio, still has a nice set of skills and will see some innings at DH and in right field.

Baldelli, who went 1-for-4 with an RBI in his debut, posted a .977 OPS in 13 games with Montgomery in the Southern League while on a rehab assignment.

Even if Baldelli does not add any real value, Crawford does miss the remainder of the season and Longoria is out for longer than expected, the Rays are built to last. There is a lot of baseball left to be played, for sure. Plus, Tampa Bay has a tough September schedule, featuring several important division games on the road, where it has struggled.

Regardless, the once-lowly Devil Rays have enough talent to win the division if the pitching holds. Even if Boston does take home the division crown, though, Tampa Bay also has the inside track at the Wild Card, as New York is now eight games back.

The injury bug struck at the wrong time, but the Rays have what it takes to survive the unfortunate circumstances. Do not begin to doubt them now. They are still in strong position, and have a legitimate chance to win the A.L. East.

To reach Tyler Hissey, send an email to TylerHissey@gmail.com.

There are some things that never cease to amaze me.

The Cincinnati Reds’ decision to hire Bill Bavasi is the perfect recent example.

Bavasi, who was fired as general manager of the Seattle Mariners earlier this season, was added to the Reds’ baseball operations staff, coming on board as a “special assistant.”

The man has worked in baseball for more than half of his life, and oversaw a strong player development system in the Los Angeles Angels organization during his stint as GM during the 1990s.

His recent performance in Seattle, however, was arguably one of the least effective, inefficient tenures of any major executive in baseball history. From the Carlos Silva debacle to Jarrod Washburn and several other mediocre acquisitions, he was a lavish spender during his time with the Mariners, burying them into their current state— as one baseball insider said before the trade deadline, “they are an absolute mess.”

A mess that he helped make. The firing of Bavasi, who comes from a baseball family that helped enable his entrance into the industry, was a step in the right direction for the Mariners and their fans.

As I wrote at the time:

The Seattle Mariners on Monday afternoon fired their embattled general manager, Bill Bavasi.

Bavasi, who took over a promising franchise at the end of the 2003 season, has made a plethora of poor baseball-related decisions, some of which have crippled the organization and will set it back for at least a few years.

Although he has guided the club to only one .500 campaign and two 90-loss seasons in his tenure, it was the Mariners’ dismal showing over first few months and poor record that proved to be the last straw.

Headed into spring training, many within baseball had high expectations for Seattle, which added Erik Bedard and free agent right-hander Carlos Silva to its starting rotation.

The question, though, is why?

The Mariners’ 25-man roster was poor, and all preseason polls predicting a postseason run for the club were way off base.

How could one expect Bedard, just a single, injury prone pitcher, to make such a huge difference?

While Silva was one of the premier free agents on the market in a thin class of starting pitchers, he is a league average starter at best.

Which is why Bavasi’s decision to throw $48-million dollars at such an average pitcher entering the decline stages of his career is so puzzling—and concerning.

The team would have been wise to resist the temptation of spending so much money to lock up the veteran, who has yet to strike out more than 90 batters in a single season. Heck, if they waited, perhaps they could have pursued Kyle Loshe—8-2 with a 111 ERA+—for half the price instead.

Was anyone really surprised, though?

This is the same GM who spent $37-million on middle-of-the-rotation lefty Jarrod Washburn, at best a number three starter during his prime.

Bavasi has been the worst general manager in the game for some time. In fact, before he was fired today, there was a huge gap in baseball intelligence between GM number 30 and 29.

Quite frankly, the longtime baseball man did not understand the crucial concepts of how to run an efficient organization, becoming one of the game's most irresponsible spenders. Given a generous budget to work with, he has turned the Mariners into one of baseball’s worst teams during his five-year stint in Seattle. Instead of throwing hefty contracts at veterans or trading for players who are bound to underachieve— with Bavasi: Horacio Ramirez (trade to Atlanta for Rafael Soriano), Richie Sexson, Jose Vidro and Washburn, for example— compared to their paychecks, organizations must look for cheaper (usually more productive) alternatives.

The time has come for clubs to ignore throwing big money at aging veterans, when they can receive similar on-the-field results from youngsters entering the league, with some making near the league minimum.

…John McLaren, who was on the hot seat at the start of the month, has come under fire as well. The one person who is ultimately responsible for this team’s grave failures, however, is Bavasi. With the roster that he was given to work with, it would have taken a miracle for McLaren—even if he truly inspired the best out of his players to this point—to guide his club above the .500 mark.

Thus, the Mariners, whose $100-million-plus payroll has bought them the worst record (24-45) in the majors, turn the pages on a new chapter. With Bavasi gone, a real solution to competing again in the AL West is finally within reach, although the rebuilding process—essentially cleaning up his mess—will take a couple of years. If the club fired him this time last year, they would already have a head start. Still, the organization does deserve some credit for making the necessary move this afternoon, as obvious as it has been for a long time now.

Bavasi’s résumé as the top baseball operations exec in Seattle includes many other blunders as well, from trades to player development issues.

There is one tidbit, however, that he will not get to add to his not-so-illustrious LinkedIn profile. Since he was fired, he loses his opportunity to become the first general manager to have a 100-loss season with a payroll exceeding $100-million.

Rumor has it that a few years back, when a Mariners player was reading Moneyball on a team flight, an unnamed executive in the organization laughed at the book, saying, “What are you reading that #### for?”

While there is no guarantee the executive was Bavasi, who would be lucky to get another general manager job some day, I still wonder. Who is laughing now?

Bavasi will not have as much power in the decision-making process as he did as a GM, of course. Still, for a franchise like the Reds—who have a strong core of young talent and a bright future—adding someone who has turned a blind eye to advanced statistical analysis and with his track record may come back to bite them. To his credit, he has had some success in developing minor league prospects while with the Angels. However, Cincinnati needs to add more progressive thinkers, especially with Dusty Baker as manager and longtime GM Walt Jocketty running the show, to add to its baseball operations team.

Not someone like this.

The addition of Bavasi may end up doing more harm than good in the long run, which is not what the Reds need right now. As a mid-market team, the only way that they can sustain any level of success in the current economic state of the industry, even with revenue sharing, is to lock up their strong nucleus under the age of 25 and resist overpaying for mediocre free agents.

With Bavasi, that may be prove to be a difficult challenge, as the Washburns of the world always seem to strike his fancy. He just loves to spend millions on replacement-level production.

After his disastrous run in Seattle, it is a surprise to see him get work so quickly. After all, the man built a team with a plus-$100 million payroll—filled with aging position players on the decline—that is on pace for over 100 losses and has one of the most poorly constructed offenses, considering the financial cost, ever.

Jocketty, however, shed a different light in the Reds’ official press release, citing the 50-year-old Bavasi’s experience.

“We're excited Bill has joined our organization,” Jocketty said. "Over his career of more than 30 years, he has worked in almost every facet of baseball operations. We will benefit from his experience and insights."

At this point, though, that experience may be more of a crutch than an asset. He is behind the eight ball, to be blunt, in how to properly evaluate player performance at the major league level.

This move, it seems, is a step in the wrong direction for the Reds.

The Seattle Mariners entered the season with high expectations. After all, Seattle added a talented young lefty, Erik Bedard, to the top of its starting rotation, in addition to one of the more promising free-agent pitchers in a thin class, control artist Carlos Silva. Several writers thought that perhaps Bedard, who came over in a blockbuster deal from the Baltimore Orioles this winter, was the missing link for the Mariners, who nearly missed winning the American League Wild Card down the stretch in 2007.

Under the leadership of recently fired general manager Bill Bavasi, however, Seattle did not see its ’07 campaign for what it was, essentially a fluke. Thus, Bavasi mortgaged the future in Seattle, sending Adam (not Pacman) Jones, George Sherrill and three other minor league prospects to Baltimore with the intention of overthrowing the Los Angeles Angels as the supreme team in the American League West.

What Bavasi failed to recognize, though, is that the Mariners’ projected lineup entering spring training was not exactly worth writing home about. In fact, it was easy to picture the Mariners struggling to score runs. Too many overpaid replacement-level veterans--Jose Vidro, anyone?--were slotted in the middle of the lineup, and have received far too many at-bats.

Then there is Bedard, who has turned into a six-inning pitcher and is now on the trade block himself.

There is now hope, however, for Seattle fans. Bavasi, who was in way over his head in today’s generation of statistical analysis and did not understand the concept of replacement-level, is gone. The Mariners' opening day manager, John McLaren, was shown the door as well, becoming one of three managerial casualties--as well as John Gibbons and Willie Randolph--in less than a week earlier this spring.

And today, Seattle made another long-awaited step towards securing its future, finally viewing aging first baseman Richie Sexson as a sunk cost by releasing the underperforming veteran. Over the past two seasons, hitting a baseball has been extremely difficult for Sexson, perhaps the ultimate example or the face of the Mariners’ willingness to overpay for aging, unproductive stars on the decline.

In fact, one could say that Sexson has been allergic to hitting since he belted 34 home runs back in 2006. He was one of the least productive offensive first baseman in the majors during the Mariners’ brief stint of relevance in ’07, batting .205/.295/.399 in an injury-plagued campaign. Things have not been any easier for him this spring, as he posted a .696 OPS in 74 games before getting released this afternoon.

Sexson’s 2008 salary: $15,500,000

Now, though, instead of wasting at-bats on Sexson, the Mariners can create more opportunities for some of their younger hitting prospects, including catcher/designated hitter Jeff Clement. Clement, who was sent down to Triple-A Tacoma a few days into a call-up earlier this season based on his performance in relatively small sample size, proved that he could handle Triple-A pitching, posting one of the highest OPS totals in the Pacific Coast League.

So, the Mariners finally came to the conclusion that Sexson is a sunk cost, an incurred cost fixed into the budget which cannot be recovered.

New manager Jim Riggleman, however, continues to place Vidro--and his embarrassing .571 OPS--in the cleanup spot. These things take time, apparently, in the land of Starbucks.

Bedard, by the way, was placed on the disabled list in a corresponding roster move. That certainly does not help improve his trade value, and odds are that Seattle will not get anywhere close to what it gave up in return for the inconsistent lefty.