Kershaw Should Be NL MVP

I'll be the first person to tell you that I don't believe a pitcher should win one of baseball's Most Valuable Player Awards. That being said, Clayton Kershaw should be the 2013 National League MVP.

The three finalists for the award to be announced shortly are Andrew McCutchen, Yadier Molina, and Paul Goldschmidt. All worthy candidates, but none more valuable to his team than Kershaw. (By the way, anyone besides me hate the fact that they announced the three finalists ahead of time? I hated when the NHL started doing it and it's not getting any better!)

My prediction is that Molina will be the winner, which will create some history. With last year's winner Buster Posey, the league MVP award will go to catchers in back to back seasons for the first time.

Molina is one of the best catchers in the game. He's already achieved All-Star honors, a Gold Glove Award and a Silver Slugger this season. His slash line of .319/.359/.477 and a career high 80 RBI was vital to the St. Louis Cardinals Central Division crown.  Of course, Molina's pitch calling, overall defense and dependability in throwing out would-be base-stealers (43% in 2013) is what he's best known for.

But with a starting staff of Adam Wainwright, Shelby Miller, Michael Wacha, Joe Kelly, and Lance Lynn, and the offensive production of Carlos Beltran, Matt Holliday, Matt Carpenter, and Allen Craig, there's a pretty good chance the Cardinals could have replicated their season had the Cardinals used a catcher who was half as valuable.

The Los Angeles Dodgers were abysmal to start the season , due in large part to a rash of injuries. It was still somewhat of a surprise that they were in last place in the NL West from May 6 to June 30. That's a span of 50 games, which some teams could not have made up. However, the Dodgers play in the weak National League West and trailed the division leading Diamondbacks by four games on June 30. Despite being in the basement, the Dodgers trimmed 4.5 games off the lead in a little over two weeks.

Kershaw was the steady hand that kept the Dodgers afloat until the cavalry arrived in the form of healthy players and surprises like Yasiel Puig. The left-hander won his third straight ERA title - his 1.83 mark was the third sub-2.00 ERA since 1997 (Roger Clemens, Hou 2005, Pedro Martinez, Bos 2000) - and his third straight WHIP title with a career best 0.915 (only Randy Johnson's 2004 mark of 0.9 was lower since 1995).

Additionally, Kershaw led the league in strikeouts (232) and topped the 200 mark for the fourth straight year. He was also tops in shutouts (tied with 2) and displayed remarkable consistency by starting 33 games for the third straight year. (He started 32 in 2010). He was also among the league leaders with 236 innings pitched, 16 wins, complete games (3), and had a 4.4 strikeout to walk ratio.

The Texan allowed more than three earned runs in a start just three times, while he ranked 57th in the Major Leagues in run support. He had a 2.12 ERA in his eight no-decisions and the Dodgers scored 14 runs in Kershaw's nine losses. Over his final 17 starts, Kershaw was 11-4 with a 1.61 ERA and the Dodgers went from last place, 6.5 games back, to a division crown by 11 games.

Had Kershaw not been on the Dodgers or a pitcher with half his output replaced him in the rotation, it's likely LA doesn't win the division, never mind making it to the sixth game of the NLCS.

Yes, Yankees Fans, It's Okay to Root For the Pirates

Yes, I said it. It is okay for Yankees fans to root for the Pittsburgh Pirates this post-season.  However, I will preface my statement...if you under the age of, oh, 55, it is okay to root for the Pirates. If you are over 55, there's a good chance you still harbor ill will against P-Burgh for the 1960 World Series.

I wasn't born yet, so I have never felt any malice towards the Pirates. That being said, I don't like seeing the film of Bill Mazeroski's home run sailing over Yogi Berra's head and over the brick wall in old Forbes Field.

My brother, 9-years old at the time of the '60 series, was mortified when he learned I rooted for the Pirates against the Baltimore Orioles in both the 1971 and 1979 World Series. I hated the Orioles as a kid; they beat the snot out of the Yankees time and time again.

While there wasn't the animosity that exists between the fans of the Yankees and Red Sox (and some players) today, the Orioles did much more damage to the Yankees in the late 1960's and early 1970's than Boston ever did.

The Orioles won the inaugural AL East title when division play began in 1969, and won it again in 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, and 1979. They won the AL Pennant three times and the World Series once.

But enough about Baltimore, this is about Pittsburgh. This is about a team that had its first winning record in 21 years this season. That's the same length of time since they have been in the post-season. The Pirates lost the NLCS three straight seasons from 1990-1992, twice in the 7th game.

The 1979 team, like the 1971 team, came back from a 3-1 deficit in games to the win the World Series. That was the fifth and final time the Pirates made it to the World Series and won it.

Tonight they enter as the host team for the one game wild card playoff with NL Central division rival Cincinnati. The two teams met in the regular season's final weekend, with the Pirates taking a three game sweep to ensure the first playoff home game since a 7-1 win over the Atlanta Braves in Game 5 of the '92 NLCS. That series ended dramatically with former Pirate Sid Bream just beating a tag at home plate with the winning run after Atlanta rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the bottom of the 9th. (Yes, some young Pirates fans know what it was like to be a young Yankees fans in 1960.) The Pirates also took the season series, 11 games to eight.

Manager Clint Hurdle, one of the front-runners for the NL Manager of the Year award, is in his third year as the Pirates' skipper. Under Hurdle's watch, the team has gone from 72 to 79 to 94 wins. The former Kansas City Royals Sports Illustrated cover boy has only one prior year of playoff managerial experience and that was with the NL pennant winning Colorado Rockies in 2007.

Hurdle's opposing manager, Dusty Baker, helmed the 2002 San Francisco Giants to a World Series title. However, Baker has won only one other playoff series in five additional playoff appearances.

The current squad hopes to get over the next hurdle with a bunch of talented kids and a good mix of veterans, including former Yankees A.J. Burnett and Russell Martin. Burnett led the team in starts (with Jeff Locke), innings pitched, and strikeouts. He is one of four Pirates pitchers that finished with double digit wins, three of which had 10 total, including Burnett.

Martin's numbers were very similar to those he produced with the Yankees. Fans wanted him gone until they saw what Chris Stewart did as a full-time player. Martin came through with walk-off winners in four home games this season and was a big influence on the youngsters.

Pitcher Francisco Liriano, one time known as the "next Johann Santana", looked like his career might done after posting 5+ ERAs in 2011 and 2012. But he resurrected his career in Pittsburgh this season with a career high 16 wins, his most innings pitched (161) since 2010 and his best ERA (3.02) and WHIP (1.224) since 2006. It will be his task Tuesday night to help the Pirates get to the division series when he squares off against the Reds' Johnny Cueto.

With Wandy Rodriguez out due to injury, the Pirates got a big boost when rookie Gerrit Cole was called up in June. Now, Yankees fans can whine about something. Cole was drafted by the interlocking NY in 2008, but he rebuked them. Cole went to UCLA instead and signed with the Pirates after he was the number one pick in the nation in the 2011 MLB amateur draft.

The 23-year old finished the season with a 10-7, 3.22 record in 19 starts and with 100 strikeouts in 117.1 IP. His performance also helped offset Locke's struggles over the last two months of the season.

The biggest star in the Steel City, though, is outfielder Andrew McCutchen. The 26-year old was the 11th overall pick in the 2005 draft and made his MLB debut in 2009. In five big league seasons he produced a slash line average of .296./380/.489, won Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards, and made three All-Star appearances.

The five-tool player averaged 20 home runs, 25 steals, and 91 runs scored a season. He led the NL in hits last season with 194 and had 185 this year. Yes, he can do it all and usually does.

He's aided in the lineup by slugging third baseman Pedro Alvarez (tied for NL lead with 36 HR), outfielder Starling Marte (41 steals), power hitting second baseman Neil Walker, and veteran outfielder Marlon Byrd, who was acquired at the trade deadline from the Mets.

Seton Hall product Jason Grilli, a veteran of 11 big league seasons got his first gig as a full-time closer at age 36 and responded with 33 saves in 35 opportunities. He averaged 13.3 strikeouts per nine innings and was named to his first All-Star game.

Mark Melancon (he and Jose Tabata are the final two former Yankees on the active roster) was Grilli's main set up man and filled in as closer when Grilli went down for six weeks with a strained forearm. He remained the closer for a short time even when Grilli returned until the veteran was back at or near 100%. The 28-year old appeared in a career high 72 games, saved 16 of them and averaged just fewer than nine strikeouts per nine innings.

Vin Mazzaro, Justin Wilson, Tony Watson, and Bryan Morris have all been solid out of the pen as well.

When it comes right down to it, the Pirates are a fun team to watch and to root for. There are no ghosts of Pirates past in PNC Park and no annoying choruses of "We are Family" (at least I hope not.) So here is one Yankees fan that hopes the Pirates get past the Reds, the Cardinals, and either the Braves or Dodgers (sorry Donnie Baseball, I hate the Dodgers.) and whatever American League opponent they may run into. The city of Pittsburgh has been waiting a long time for this.

NL Rookie Preview '09 - NL Central

We are back to previewing our rookie of the year candidates in the National League. We've already taken a look at the NL East, so today we move to the NL Central.

The division has produced the last two winners - Ryan Braun, MIL, in 2007 and Geovanny Soto, CHI, last year. Jeff Samardzija tops the list of Cubs prospects that could have an impact this season, but he was on the MLB roster for more than 45 days last year, so he's not rookie eligible. The Cubs don't have any other players that are major league ready among their rookies.

The Brewers have J.J. Hardy as their every day shortstop, with their #1 prospect Alcides Escobar waiting in the wings. Hardy is coming off a very good year - .283-24-75 and is making $4.65 million this season. The Brewers don't keep high salaries, which means eventually Hardy could be elsewhere. For now though, he's the man.

The Cardinals have one of the rookie of the year favorites in Colby Rasmus, Baseball America's #3 prospect in all of baseball. The 22-yr old opened eyes when he 29 home runs at Double-A in 2007. Last season, his first in Triple-A, Rasmus was bothered by injuries and hit just 11 home runs with 36 RBI.

He could see significant playing time in all three outfield positions for the Cards this season. Rasmus also has speed, he's topped double figures in steals each season in the minor leagues and is an above average outfielder with a strong arm.

Among those battling for the Cardinals closer role are second year player Chris Perez and Jason Motte, who stood out in a 12 game appearance last season. Motte struck out 16 batters in 11 innings and is the anti-Rick Ankiel. That is, he was a catcher in the Cards system prior to converting to pitcher in 2007.

The Pirates are a franchise that is always infusing youth, and lack of salary, into their lineup. Dan McCutchen, part of the Xavier Nady-Damaso Marte trade with the Yankees, is competing for the back end of the rotation and could be a bullpen option as well. But it's the other McCutchen that everyone is waiting on.

22-yr old outfielder Andrew McCutchen hit .283 in his first full season at Triple-A last year. McCutchen is a spark plug type of player that could eventually develop some power as well. He hit 9 home runs last season and stole 34 bases in 52 attempts. He also showed some patience at the plate in garnering 68 walks.

McCutchen has the dreaded 5-tool tag that many players find hard to live up to. But McCutchen is expected to be an every day centerfielder. Of course, Nate McLouth may have something to say about that.

The Astros roster is filled with veterans. Players like Hunter Pence (3rd year) and J.R. Towles (2nd year) are the exceptions. The Astros top prospect is catcher Jason Castro, who was selected in the 2008 amateur draft out of Stanford, but won't have an impact on the lineup for at least a couple of years.

The Reds had a rookie rampage last season. Outfielder Joey Votto was the runner up to Soto in last year's ROY vote. Pitchers Johnny Cueto and (2nd year player) Edinson Volquez (who finished 4th in the voting despite not being eligible) and outfielder Jay Bruce (5th in the voting) should have an impact on the Reds lineup for years to come.

Though no rookie should have an impact this season, 2008 1st round pick, Yonder Alonso, could be pushing Votto as first base before you know it, and New Jersey native and Rutgers grad Todd Frazier could be competing for the starting shortstop job next season.

Ranking the NL Central ROY candidates

1. Colby Rasmus
2. Andrew McCutchen
3. Jason Motte