In 1997 I had just turned 15 years old, and like any kid with a passion for the game of baseball I thought I knew enough.  Not everything, just enough.  Like any walk of life you find out that when you get older you grow wiser and I found out I was just a kid with a lot of heart - but I didn't know enough.  Otherwise I would have given this baseball manager the benefit of the doubt when he was fired that very same year. 

11 years rolled by and not a single team lined up to hire a two-time World Series championship coach.  He wasn't first on anyone's list.  However, teams lined up to hire never-will-be's like Davey Lopez, Phil Garner, Gene Lamont or Don Baylor.  I could have put together a list of coaches who's records were better than the names mentioned above and they still would not have the resume this man had/has.  Aside from current coaches like Joe Torre, Tony LaRussa and Terry Francona, not one has as many or more championships as this man.  Not Lou Pinella, not Jim Leyland and not Bobby Cox.  In fact, this guy was this year's desperate hire to save the General Manager's job and it looks like he has done just that.

That man is Cito Gaston, the first - and only - black manager to win a World Series.  Not that race even matters in this case because winning a championship is a difficult task.  Ask Cox or Mike Hargrove.

Cito Gaston was not only a sentimental choice in Toronto but a man who's track record deserved more than just minor consideration for a Manager's job.  Granted, he was holding out for the right position and when you do that it cuts your possibilities down, but how does he get passed over?  How does Cleveland not hire him after Hargrove?  What about Seattle after Pinella left?  Boston after Jimy Williams?  The Dodgers after, well, anyone?  Marquee places where Gaston wouldn't be given a fair shake.  The closest he got was the White Sox who hired Ozzie Guillen, who won a World Series himself.  If that title was Cito's we'd be talking about a potential Hall of Fame manager along with about 10 shame-on-you articles from Fox and ESPN asking how he didn't get his shot sooner.     

His hiring was out of desperation from a General Manager who's held his position 2 years too long and knew the city of Toronto would love him for it.  J.P. Ricciardi has saved his job for another year, and if Toronto somehow (and I mean, SOMEHOW) makes the post-season in 2009, Ricciardi will keep his job for another 2 years and will continue to poorly assess talent and damage the farm system.

Take Adam Lind for example; Cito not only wanted him up with the big club, he promised he would play.  Lind has responded since going 1 for a million in his first stint this season.  This is a guy who's a 2-time minor league player of the year and the best prospect in the Blue Jays system for years.  While he was tearing up the leagues, J.P. refused to bring him up (the last time a guy under 23 has stuck with Toronto was Alex Gonzalez - well before the Riccardi regime.  Imagine how he would have held back A-Rod or Pujols if he had them).  He didn't feel Lind was ready, otherwise he would have said bye to Matt Stairs in the off-season and not sign Shannon Stewart after cutting the hard-nosed Reed Johnson due to being over-budget.  Cito wanted Lind, and he has been the MVP of the Blue Jays over the last 3 months. Not bad considering the GM wanted him to linger in the minors this season.  He hit .273 in the second half last season - he was ready this year and many people in Toronto knew it.

Not a bad call by Cito considering his one knock over a decade ago was how he handled the younger players.  Perhaps he could be guilty of loyalty to his veterans like Joe Carter, a Jays icon who only hit one of the biggest homerun in baseball history.  Cito was a players manager who was very loyal to his guys.  We've seen numerous managers do the same thing with little success.  But I bet those managers don't have fans purchasing their replica jersey the way Toronto has with Gaston.  Already I have see 4 Gaston jerseys being worn around town.  That is how much the city loves Cito.

Although he won't win the Manager of the year award, he has taken overrated talent (which means lack of talent) and has gotten the most out of it.  He's had his #2 and #3 pitchers out (Shaun Marcum and Dustin McGowan - Marcum has returned), his starting second baseman (Aaron Hill) and his star Centerfielder out (Vernon Wells - returned last week).  Yet the team now sits 1 game behind the New York Yankees, who have much more talent than Toronto.  The award should go to either Joe Maddon of Tampa or Mike Scoscia of L.A., but the job Cito has done with this team has been outstanding. 

It should be noted that neither 1992 or 1993 World Series was a lock for Toronto and nobody should look at those years and think any less of the job Cito did.  He won 4 division titles in 5 years and the two years they did not get to the World Series (1989 and 1991) they may not have been the most talented team in the old AL East.  Cito should be remembered at the manager who was ahead of his team, and got the job done when several other managers who've had a lot of talent could not close the deal.  It is a constant reminder that no sport, let alone baseball, should ever pass over a proven winner and 2-time champion the way teams in Major League Baseball passed over Cito Gaston - especially being replaced by a con artist in Tim Johnson.

And I apologize for wanting him out as Manager in the first place.  I guess 15 year olds don't know better. 

To make the situation any worse for the Toronto Blue Jays would be seemingly impossible.  Last night they achieved the impossible after a report that J.P. Ricciardi claimed to have talked to Adam Dunn over the telephone to squash any hard feelings stemming from comments they have made towards one another.  Dunn claims he never made a phone call to Ricciardi.

The situation reminds me of a politician who decides to make up a story which would have no real effect in his or her political campaign.  Regardless of what story you believe, whether Ricciardi was tricked or whether he made the story up, J.P. should have been the one to go out of his way to make the phone call.  He did start the fire.

Here in Toronto it has been difficult to give Ricciardi the benefit of the doubt.  We have seen some baffling changes over his 7 years as General Manager of the Blue Jays - considering he is in year 7 of a 5-year plan.  Here are a few quick points...

- What was once a proud franchise that use to have one of the best minor league systems around has now become one of the worst.  That comes to no surprise when Ricciardi got rid of most of the scouting department that had ties with the organization dating back to Pat Gillick.  Since the changes, few of Ricciardi's draft picks have made any kind of impact at the major league level.  The 3 faces of the Blue Jays organization, Vernon Wells, Alex Rios and Roy Halladay, were all drafted by Gord Ash.

- Ricciardi was specifically hired to make a contender out of a team that was not going to spend a lot of money.  Coming from the Oakland Athletics organization, Ricciardi was brought in to be the next Billy Beane, his close buddy.  After the 2005 season, the Blue Jays decided to boost payroll since they had brought in more revenue after the franchise successfully purchased Skydome - now Rogers Center.  The problem is, Ricciardi was brought in to win without a huge payroll and he still can't win WITH the boost in spending options.

- Ed Wade, the GM of the Houston Astros, offered Ricciardi Ryan Howard in exchange for Ted Lilly back in 2005 when Wade was GM for Philadelphia.  It was a deal that should have been made; Howard was ready for the big leagues after tearing up AAA for a couple of years and Lilly was just an above average pitcher at best.  Lilly was Ricciardi's guy, he liked Lilly from his Oakland days and felt he was going to accomplish big things.  Lilly walked after 2006 and signed with the Cubs while Howard won an MVP and hit nearly 60 home runs.

- In 2002 the New York Mets were interested in Jose Cruz Jr., then an outfielder and soon-to-be free agent for the Blue Jays.  Ricciardi was looking to deal Cruz and the Mets could only offer a Single-A player by the name of David Wright.  Cruz was not traded and signed with San Francisco after the season.

- That same year, Orlando Hudson called Ricciardi a "pimp", which Ricciardi did not take kindly.  He sent down Hudson who had a great spring training.  In AAA, Hudson was having a great year but as punishment, Ricciardi did not call him up to the big club.  Meanwhile, Homer Bush was battling injuries, Felipe Lopez was not adjusting to the major league level and Ricciardi decided to call up 1st round draft bust Joel Lawrence, who couldn't hit in the minors, let alone the majors.  Lawrence batted a cool .180 in 150 at bats while Hudson continued to abuse pitchers in Syracuse.  Hudson deserved a shot months earlier.

- 2005 draft.  The Blue Jays looked up and down the list and Ricciardi felt the need to draft a pitcher Ricky Romero.  Although the next best prospect on that list was Troy Tulowitzki, Ricciardi felt no need to draft another shortstop.  Unlike basketball or football, you have to draft the best available player in baseball because they will take a couple years before they are ready to play in the big leagues.  Therefore, not drafting the best player in the draft was a mistake.  Tulowitzki helped Colorado get to the World Series in 2007 while Romero may not ever make it to Toronto.  Other notable players that were passed over by the Blue Jays: Cameron Maybin, Jay Bruce, Michael Pelfrey and Jacoby Ellisbury.

- After the 2006 season Ricciardi had agreed to a deal with catcher Rod Barajas - or so he thought.  Barajas apparently backed out of the deal and signed with Philadelphia.  Ricciardi was enraged and spoke out about how Barajas had given him his word on signing with Toronto.  A year later, Ricciardi signs Barajas.  Funny considering the way he laid Barajas out just a year earlier. 

- If Ricciardi does his homework on guys like Adam Dunn, why did he sign Shea Hillenbrand?

There have been other things during his 7-year tenure as GM of the Jays (calling out A.J. Burnett through the media, lying about B.J. Ryan's injury last year, etc.).  What baffles me is how he still has his job.  He is down to his last few bullets after firing his friend John Gibbons, so he may be on the clock.  He has, however, established a great relationship with the media.  There have been very few people in Toronto that has taken a run at Ricciardi.  Whether it's the newspapers, television or the pre-game and post-game radio host, Ricciardi seems to have been given a pass within the media.  From now until his run as GM is over, he'll maintain a positive relationship with the media. 

Otherwise his days are numbered.

Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling announced he will be having a second shoulder surgery that will end his season and possibly his career. 

This, if you can recall, is the same man who has pitched through considerable pain more than once during his career.  I was reminded of this when watching Tiger Woods fight through the pain in his knee to win the U.S. Open - only to have season-ending surgery after the tournament.  Like Schilling, certain people felt Woods' injury was fake or some bogus story.  Perhaps these people have never played through pain, or perhaps these people cannot stand these two athletes so much that they will say anything to tick them off.

Regardless, these 'people' don't have a clue nor should they be taken seriously.

In fact, a lot of these people are here on this site on Foxsports blogging about it.  The same people who can't get an All-Star vote right.  The same people who recently crapped on Ken Rosenthal for questioning the New York Mets decision to fire Willie Randolph in the middle of the night on the west coast.  The same people who hailed Kobe Bryant as the most clutch player in the NBA - who proved once again that he's no more clutch than the next superstar.  The same people that call Chad Johnson selfish for celebrating a touchdown but applaud Brett Favre for throwing snowballs at teammates on the field.

So when I read about your comments regarding Curt Schilling as a (bleep) or a (bleep), my head shakes as I wonder how people can be angry at a man who's played the game the right way, kept his integrity off the field intact and has come through in some of the most pressure-packed games of our time.  We are a culture that supposedly embraces athletes with guts, yet people seem so eager to cut Schilling's guts out whenever they get the chance.  In case you haven't noticed, he is the anti-Jose Canseco, the anti-Barry Bonds, the anti-Rafael Palmiero and the anti-Roger Clemens.  

He may go into the Hall of Fame.  He may not.  He may wear his heart on his sleeve.  Is there a problem with that?  No.

And I would not call pitching with 1 leg in the 2004 World Series selfish either.  I doubt Schilling cares about the self-glory more than he cares about beating New York and winning championships.  The guy is a true winner, a true bulldog, and a type of human we may not see from the new crop of pitchers coming up. 

Appreciate what he has done for this game and the memories he has brought on the field.  Although I am a fan of most of the things he says off the field, people seem to complain about it more than people complain about Ozzie Guillen. 

In a world where athletes get arrested, cheat the game, cheat on their wives, we've actually been able to put a guy like Curt Schilling in that category of an athlete that fans can hate so much.  Goes to show why organizations, sports talk shows and paid-writers on this particular site do not take you seriously.

Curt Schilling deserves better.

Let's get this right out of the way so that fans of Jimmy Rollins or Philadelphia can think about jabbing the pitchfork through this blog rather than no thought whatsoever: Jimmy Rollins is a good shortstop and has been one of the best in the National League for years.  Teams would kill for a guy like him to play position 6 for several years.  His game has transformed him from being a speed guy to an all-around, perennial All-Star shortstop.  

But he is not the MVP of the National League.  In fact, he is not the MVP of his team.  

That distinction goes to Chase Utley.  I realize Utley's playoff performance was a disappointment while Rollins showed up, but the playoffs do not dictate who the MVP of the regular season is.  The Phillies could not have gotten to the playoffs without the play of Rollins, Utley or Ryan Howard, the reigning MVP of last season.  The team went through a roller coaster ride all season; from a manager on the hot seat to the team losing pitchers to injury to a head-screwed starter-turned-closer losing his head (only this time it was not on his wife), to making an improbable comeback to win the division.  Who was the one guy Philly could not play without?  Chase Utley.  When he was hurt, Philadelphia went into a funk.  When he came back from injury, they starting clicking again.  That is why he is the MVP of this team.  They were not the same team when Utley was out of the lineup.

As for Rollins, who played a big role in Philadelphia's run for the playoffs, is to his team what Kenny Lofton was to Cleveland in the mid-90's, what Roberto Alomar was to the Toronto Blue Jays in the early 90's and what Derek Jeter has been to the New York Yankees.  All rock-solid players who are valuable to their team - but none of them have an MVP under their name during the regular season.  Seems strange because those guys were impact players in their prime (in Jeter's case he still is an impact player), but that does not downplay how great they were or are.  Rollins is that guy. 

But don't go Barry Larkin and give him the MVP. 

Who takes the award then?

Some people are saying Matt Holliday.  Granted, Holliday plays in Colorado - a place known for offense but he certainly had a great year.  However, Holliday wasn't even on the radar until the last week of the season.  An MVP should have had strong consideration before September 15th.  Therefore, Holliday is not an option.

This decision, however, will allow you to pile up ridicule.

David Wright.

I realize New York just had one of the biggest choke jobs in baseball history.  But Wright was the man the entire year, hit for a great average with great power, fielded his position like a gold glover and added 30+ stolen bases to his credit.  Not to mention that his second half and September batting average was incredible.  So how do you fault the guy?  The Toronto Blue Jays choked a big lead away in 1987 to the Detroit Tigers when they lost their final 7 games of the season.  The man who won the MVP award that season was George Bell, who played with the Jays.  He was the MVP that season and David Wright should be the MVP of the National League. 

Other Awards:

- A-Rod should win the AL MVP, Jake Peavy should win the Cy Young Award in the NL and I'd give the AL Cy Young to Josh Beckett with C.C. Sabathia being a close second.  Give Ryan Braun the Rookie of the year in the NL and Dustin Pedroia the Rookie of the year in the AL.  Coaches of the year?  Let's go with Eric Wedge and Bob Melvin.

***My show has been on hiatus since Sept 20 as I have been working on other projects while recharging the batteries.  I will be back next Tuesday October 16 at 9AM EST. 

I love this guy.  I will admit this.  I first became a fan of him when he pitched his heart out back in 1993 against the Toronto Blue Jays in the World Series.  I went to Game 1 to watch the Jays tee off on him - only to watch him stone them on television in Game 5.  The other thing he was famous for was putting a towel over his head whenever Mitch Williams came in to close the game.  Obviously, he knew what he was doing.  Just like his interview with Bob Costas.

As a competitor he should gain the respect of every baseball purist.  In his prime he was one guy you would want to take the game ball if your life depended on it.  Because of people's short-sided view on this man, people will not admit that his heroics and greatness in October and his great career has propelled him to Hall of Fame status.  He has done enough to make the Hall of Fame - alongside his bloody sock.

Oh by the way, he said he'd allow his sock to be examined to see if the blood is his.  He stands by it because he is a man of integrity - something that is missing in several athletes today.

What has everyone's underwear feeling less than snug are his comments made on Costas's show.  Though we may not know this for sure, Schilling did not tell Costas to stay away from certain questions as Bonds has.  Schilling was asked a question and he answered it.  Whether or not you like the answers given Schilling was right.

As a member of the media, and a blogger, if I were to write a book on someone famous and made false claims I would be slapped with a lawsuit.  Some of you think athletes wouldn't go after the person and you could not be more wrong.  These athletes don't just worry about defamation of their character, but it goes much deeper than that; his kids get bombarded with insults from other kids saying their father is a cheater and a liar, his wife is embarrassed because her husband had been unfaithful and she didn't know about it for years and the picture that has been painted is even worse than anyone could imagine for one athlete.  This book, if false, could severly destroy a family.  The only way to rectify the situation is to prove this book is a total lie.

And yet here I am looking around and people are telling Schilling to "shut his mouth".  Again, he was asked a question and he answered it.  I cannot be more clear than that.  The best line may have been left for Mark McGwire as he was absolutely dead-on with his answer.  Otherwise, McGwire would be in the Hall of Fame if people did not feel the same way as Schilling. 

We cannot imagine suing someone because we aren't in the same position as Barry Bonds, or even Gary Sheffield for that matter.  We do not have an 8-figure bank account (most of us don't).  But if we did, and we were dragged through the mud by the media on claims that were 100% inaccurate we would set an example and go right after these people so they wouldn't write another piece of trash ever again.  We would set the precedence and never allow anyone to write another article, let alone book, that has no evidence of prior drug use. 

Face the facts - Curt Schilling was right.  He tells it how it is, and that's why I love Curt Schilling. 

Baseball has the home run derby.  Hockey has the skills competition.  Basketball has the slam-dunk and 3-point contests and Football has, well, great weather.  Today we sit hours away from the mid-summer classic and we have something to beef about.

Depending on the person, some feel the home run derby has run it's course.  I remember when I went to the 1991 All Star festivities to watch the old timers game and the home run contest I was thrilled about it.  I was 8 years old at the time so perhaps the joy was caused by youthful intrigue.  But some of the complaints are invalid.  While you see the derby as the same thing over and over again, watching long bombs, you get to see some guys you may not really know well.  Granted, you see more of the same thing but the difference now from 1991 is you have more than one round (as well as the body-type, but that's another story).

What probably set me off was the notion that there weren't enough big names in the contest.  They wanted to see guys like Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey - great power hitters.  However, why was there complaints about the competitors last night?  We watched 2 hall of famers, Albert Pujols and Vladimir Guerrero, who are the two most consistent and best hitters of this decade.  Yes, I just snubbed Alex Rodriguez - ask yourself when Albert and Vlad hit under .300 and the answer is never.  Vlad and Albert are the two best hitters in the game today - and had Miguel Cabrera not pulled out of the competition we could have had "The Next One", so to speak.

We also had reigning MVP's Justin Morneau and Ryan Howard (also the HR champ and last year's derby winner), current home run leader Prince Fielder, current batting average leaders Magglio Ordonez and Matt Holliday, and newcomer Alex Rios.  Aside from Rios, who ended up hitting the most bombs yesterday, there were guys who deserved to be there.  So the knock on the competitors not being marquee or not being big-names is horseshit.  Years from now we could be saying "wow, that 2007 derby had some great players", and potentially more hall of famers.

Now, we would have loved to have seen Barry in the competition simply because it's his house.  But he declined and that was his choice.  But we did listen to him being interviewed during the broadcast and he really handled himself well during the interview.

There are a lot of people who are defending Barry's actions and will continue to use the argument that there is "no proof" that he did a thing - which is naive to think.  However let me play devil's advocate for a second: one of the parts of both Bonds books stated that he was ticked that guys were getting away with using illegal supplements (by law) yet he was getting by on pure natural ability without any #### in his system.  If you had the opportunity to take something to enhance your legacy with the knowledge that the game itself does not care would you at least think about it?  Barry Bonds has a huge ego and quite frankly that is not necessarily a bad thing.  I'm not the person that will condone what he did but I have always seen the reasoning behind it.  Ungrateful and undeserving players taking the awards, credit and respect that he felt he earned during his career.  Had he been better to the media when he was younger they may have been going out of their way to say something great about him during the midst of baseball's dark age.  Regardless, many baseball players know they have gotten away with something both Bonds and Jason Giambi haven't, along with the rest of the players who have tested positive over the last few years.

At least Bonds isn't the one losing his head over this record.  That goes to Commissioner Bud Selig.  He's taken this personal because he doesn't want to see his buddy Hank's record broken, and that is human nature.  He also may feel deep down that he let this happen under his watch.  Or he knows more than he's letting on and cannot share it with anyone - allowing it to eat away at him.  Only those close to the situation knows the truth, but Selig not being present for the record-breaker does not provide fans any confidence of this entire scenario.  True fans know he has to be there and if he doesn't show up a lot of fans will lose faith in the game if they haven't already.

Let's just get through tonight and then we can focus on the pennant races for the second half.

...Other notes...

- How does a guy get robbed twice in his life?  Antoine Walker managed to have that happen to him.  That is either a total coincidence or someone really enjoys taking stuff from him.  He may want to leave Chicago and head to Miami.  It's warmer down there anyway.

- There is no question that Roger Federer is more dominant in his sport than Tiger Woods at this present time.  He has been in the finals of every major for the last 9 Majors.  That is incredible.  That is pure dominance.  This does not take anything away from Tiger, who's phenomenal.  What needs to be pointed out is Federer's lack of hype surrounding his greatness.

- The Tour de France started already?  Did anyone notice?  Even the NHL said they were pretty quiet.

What's The Deeley-O back this Thursday.  Doesn't matter what you write to me just WRITE.  Thursday's are your day bloggers so check in and dazzle me.  Cheers. (chevradionoise@gmail.com).

www.chevradioam
.com 

Major League Baseball is back to driving the market crazy with their free spending for the simple reason that they need to.  Of course, there are teams like Pittsburgh and Kansas City who have been quiet this off-season thanks to not having any veterans they need to dump for salary purposes.  On a side note, it seems unfortunate to see two proud franchises getting pounded into the ground in the cash game.  KC was a model franchise in the 1980's while Pittsburgh has been in the MLB forever.

But this off-season has resembled what we use to see a few years back when guys were obtaining gigantic contracts.  At least, for the most part, guys who were getting big contracts back then were justified (with the exception of Darren Dreifort).  We can debate that for days, but we can at least come to common ground in admitting the market has gotten out of hand over the last month.  Let's just throw out the names of Matthews, Pierre, Padilla, Baez, Bradford, Lee and Eaton to name a few.  Let's wait until the these guys sign: Lilly, Meche, Zito, Schmidt, Drew, Pettitte and Clemens all sign.  It shall be more public outcry who cannot understand why certain guys are taking in cheques that they haven't earned.  There are a few of you that even feel guilty about seeing a guy get signed for a huge contract, and that is human nature.

It is also human nature to be upset at baseball for this inflation of contracts.  Sometimes pointing the finger at the wrong culprits.  Remember the line from Booker T: Don't hate the player, hate the game.  Free Agency has seemingly made it certain that a player will change teams for the better dollar, especially if the player played well in a small or mid-market.

It all comes down to two parties: Owners and Agents.  Agents know the pressure points of a franchise, know what positions a team is desperate to fill, knows the franchises competitors and uses other players' contracts as leverage in negotiation.  That is why players have agents; they want to maximize their contract and know they can make a lot more money having a master talker in the room with all the strategies and statistics at his/her disposal. 

We just saw Jose Guillen sign for about 5.5 million dollars with Seattle and though that might look like a lot, Seattle could potentially get a bargain if Guillen is healthy.  However, he did not have leverage at the negotiating table.

However, adequate pitcher Vincente Padilla receives 33 million for 3 years.  Why?  Well not only does Texas need a pitcher, they we're not ready to let Padilla go knowing they did not have a stranglehold on Barry Zito.  What kind of leverage could Padilla get from that?  Tons.  But he could also measure himself to other players...

"A.J. Burnett got 55 for 5 from Toronto and he's a .500 pitcher." Or..."Jaret Wright got around 9 million a year from New York after he won 15 games with Atlanta."  Guess how many wins Padilla had this season?  15.

Another adequate pitcher, Ted Lilly, goes 15-13 and he has a career year.  A 15-13 career year does not toss any confidence in a typical baseball fan.  But there is a reason why he hasn't signed yet: Barry Zito.

Zito will command the most money out of any pitcher for so many reasons: He's durable, he's reliable, he's left handed, he has been an ace and he's a former Cy Young award winner.  Is he the best pitcher available?  He isn't the most dominating, that goes to either Clemens or Schmidt.  But teams want a lefty who can take the ball for 33 starts if necessary.  So Lilly will measure his contract up against the team who shells out tons of cash to Zito.  Lilly needs Zito for leverage at the negotiating table.  He becomes the best available lefty on the market. 

And Agents know that.  So they use every angle in the book to squeeze owners into paying them what his player wants and what their team needs.  The New York Mets will blow their wallet on a big name pitcher because they need an arm.   Just like Houston needed a bat and went after Carlos Lee and showed him the money.  Houston needed to get stronger to match Chicago and hoped to stay on pace with St. Louis.  Now if only Houston got another pitcher to compliment Roy Oswalt...

Hardball is being played in the business dealings this off-season.  Owners are vulnerable for help in spots and agents prey off the necessities of each team.  So even if you don't put up stud number like Gil Meche, you will get paid.  Eventually, however, the market should level off like it did for a couple of years during this decade.

Regardless, many fans don't understand how certain players are commanding huge money.  Even with the competition being so high on and off the field, some of these signings are mind-boggling.  So if you think all of this is ruining baseball, just remember it is a total team effort and not just one person or one facet in the baseball world.



 

This year was a tight race for the MVP awards in Major League Baseball.  Tight because we have identified the Most Valuable Player award not by the player who produces the best season in the major leagues (excluding Andre Dawson 1987 and Alex Rodriguez 2003).  Take, for instance, Barry Larkin in 1995.  Did he have the best numbers that season in the National League?  No.  But they gave him the award for what he did for his team.  Was it the right decision?  No.  Greg Maddux should have ran away with the MVP that year and if you don't believe me just check out the season he had along with the run support from his team.

Nonetheless, fast forward to 2006 and we have two different situations: 2 Monster years from 2 guys in the National League and a bunch of good years by good players surrounded by other good players in the American League.

Ryan Howard and Albert Pujols were enormous in 2006.  Howard slams 58 homeruns and Pujols simply was Pujols once again.  Both guys beat eachother in statistical categories, and both played on teams that either made the post-season or had a shot at the post-season.  Howard's Phillies came up short after they had thrown up a very small yet visible white flag after trading away Bobby Abreu to free up some money.  Albert's Cardinals had a lot of injuries throughout the season, including his obliques and hamstring acting up, yet persevered to help his team win the World Series. 

This was too close to call.  All season I flipped back and forth on Howard and Pujols.  Howard, no Pujols, no no Howard, naw Pujols, naw...

I flipped on this subject so much I was ready to call myself John Kerry. 

It's not whether the right guy won in the National League, it was a matter of not giving the award to anyone else but one of those two players.  Therefore Howard was a good choice.

Over in the American League there were problems all over the place: Boston and Chicago both came 3rd in their divisions so David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, Jermaine Dye and Jim Thome were handicapped from the very start.  Vladimir Guerrero would have had my vote hands down if the L.A. Angels won the West.  Then there is Frank Thomas, who seemingly carries the Oakland offense in the second half but did it quietly.  Vernon Wells had no shot either.

That left us with Justin Morneau v. Derek Jeter.  Morneau has Joe Mauer and Johan Santana.  Jeter has endless amount of firepower around him. 

Let's face it, the Minnesota Twins were nowhere until 2 things changed: 1) Francisco Liriano bursted onto the scene and 2) Justin Morneau started to carry his team through games and they made a big comeback in the division.

As for Jeter, he and his Yankees took the division when the Red Sox became too depleted to make a comeback and they cruised into first after picking up Abreu at the trade deadline, along with healthy players like Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield.  Looking at the lineup the New York Yankees presents day in and day out, there is just no way to give Jeter the MVP.

Sorry to take you back down memory lane but let's do so: In 1995 Mo Vaughan was named MVP.  Perhaps the best season put up offensively that year was done by Albert Belle.  The problem with him was he had more firepower around him: Thome, Ramirez, Kenny Lofton, Hall of Famer Eddie Murray and Carlos Baerga in his prime.  Either that or nobody really liked Belle back then.

Regardless, if the whole notion that a great team would nullify someone's MVP, why wouldn't that work with Jeter?  Didn't he start off the 2004 season batting under .200 for the first 2 months and the Yankees were doing fine?  If the firepower is/was suppose to be better in 2006, how can he become more valuable to that team?  Let's face it, Jeter is a victim of where he plays and based on the arguments we have heard over the years, its rightfully so. 

Justin Morneau is what Mo Vaughan was in 1995.  Big offensive season and clutch for his team when his team needed him.  They both also lost in the first round of the playoffs.

Having said all of that, Morneau was a good choice.

Who's ready for the 2007 season?