LineupMag

The 2008 MLB All-Star break has arrived and like always everyone gives out their mid-season awards as if they even mattered. So I?ve decided to give out the useless and meaningless awards myself as an excuse to talk baseball. I am not a biased person and I am a big stat rat so you?re going to get some in-depth answers as to who I believe the first half award winners are. So here they are the LineupMag's 2008 useless MLB mid-season awards. I like to reward MVP awards to position players since they?re in the lineup everyday and I only accept pitchers who are having ridiculous seasons. I have created a point system where players are rewarded on the position they play and where they stand in the stat categories I feel are most important. Those categories are OPS, Offensive Win %, Adjusted Batting Runs, Extra Base Hits, and Total Bases. The leader in that category will get 5 points, second place will get 4 points, third will get 3 points, ETC. As for position points I placed the positions in order of importance and scarcity, 8 points for catcher, 7 for 2nd base, 6 for shortstop, 5 for centerfielder, 4 for third baseman, and 3 for 1b, LF and RF. Stats you might not recognize are Offensive Win % and Adjusted Batting Runs. Offensive Win% is a measure of a player's value based on the number of runs a team would score if all batters on the team had the same number of 'runs created' as that player. Adjusted Batting Runs is a measure of a batter's ability to contribute more runs than the average batter in the league, adjusted for the batter's home ballpark; created by Pete Palmer, Total Baseball. I am a huge fan of OPS (On Base Plus Slugging) as the tell all tale for best hitter. OPS judges the ability to get on base and rewards you for extra base hits, unlike batting average in which walks aren?t counted and homeruns are just as good as singles. Note: Incase you were wondering by RBI?s and runs scored are not apart of this system, its because those stats are too team driven and don?t tell much about the individual player. Homeruns are not a part of it because they are accounted for in OPS, extra base hits, Adjusted Batting Runs, Extra Base Hits and Total Bases. NL MVP - Here are the leaders of each category with amount of points rewarded next to the player?s name. The top 5 OPS leaders in the NL in order are 5-Lance Berkman, 4-Chipper Jones, 3-Albert Pujols, 2-Patt Burrell and 1-Dan Uggla. The top 5 Offensive Win % leaders for the NL in order are 5-Chipper Jones, 4-Albert Pujols, 3-Lance Berkman, 2-Matt Holliday, and 1-Patt Burrell. The top 5 Adjusted Batting Runs leaders in the NL in order are 5-Lance Berkman, 4-Chipper Jones, 3-Albert Pujols, 2- Hanley Ramirez, and 1-Patt Burrell The Top 5 Total Bases leaders in the NL in order are 5-Lance Berkman, 4-Chase Utley, 3-Hanley Ramirez, 2-Ryan Braun and 1-Nate Mclouth. The Top 5 Total Bases leaders in the NL in order are 5-Lance Berkman, 5-( tied with Berkman) Nate Mclouth), 3-Chase Utley, 2-Ryan Braun, 1-Dan Uggla. Total points leaders ? 23-Lance Berkman 13-Chase Utley 10-Albert Pujols The results are Lance Berkman by a land slide, I know his team is in last place in the NL Central but the award is Most Valuable Player not best player on best team. He is the only player in the top 5 of all of those categories while leading 4 out of the 5. The position points wont even make a difference because of his dominance in all those categories. Berkman is the first half MVP and shouldn?t be punished because the rest of his team isn?t getting the job done. The 32 year old Berkman also has 22 HR, 73 RBI and a career high 15 SB?s and still has 69 games remaining on his season to improve those numbers. AL MVP- The top 5 OPS leaders in the AL in order are 5-Milton Bradley, 4-J.D. Drew, 3- Alex Rodriguez, 2-Ian Kinsler and 1-Kevin Youkilis. The top 5 Offensive Win % leaders for the AL in order are 5-Milton Bradley, 4-Alex Rodriguez, 3-J.D. Drew, 2-Ian Kinsler, and 1-Grady Sizemore. The top 5 Adjusted Batting Runs leaders in the AL in order are 5-Milton Bradley, 4-Ian Kinsler, 3-J.D. Drew, 2-Justin Morneau, and 1-Josh Hamilton. The Top 5 Total Bases leaders in the AL in order are 5-Ian Kinsler, 4-Josh Hamilton, 3-Grady Sizemore, 2-Jermaine Dye and 1-Justin Morneau. The Top 5 Extra Base Hits leaders in the AL in order are 5-Ian Kinsler, 4-Brian Roberts, 3-Aubrey Huff, 2-Josh Hamilton, 2-Grady ( tied with Hamilton) . Total points leaders - 18-Ian Kinsler 15-Milton Bradley 10-J.D. Drew 7-Alex Rodriguez 7-Josh Hamilton Ian Kinsler wins the AL mid season MVP award by 3 points over his teammate Milton Bradley and that?s without counting position points which would have increased his lead by 2 more points. Kinsler like Berkman isn?t on a first place team but plays a position that historically doesn?t have much offense and his team is 4 games over .500. He?s also batting .337 (which leads the AL ) with 14 homers, 58 RBI and 23 SB. Now on to the pitchers and the mid season Cy Young awards! With the pitchers I like to keep it simple as far as deciding who the best really is. The only untraditional thing I do with the pitchers is stay away from wins and losses because to many times that depends on the pitchers offense, defense and bullpens that follow them. Here are the stats I like to look at for the Cy Young: ERA, WHIP, K/BB Ratio, Quality Starts and Batting Average Against. I will also reward an extra bonus point for each complete game just because of how valuable complete games are in this era of going deep into bullpens. NL Cy Young - The top 5 NL ERA leaders in order are 5-Edison Volquez, 4-Tim Lincecum, 3-Dan Haren, 2-Johan Santana, 2-Carlos Zambrano ( tied with Santana). The top 5 NL WHIP leaders in order are 5-Dan Haren, 4-Cole Hamels, 3-Ben Sheets, 2-Dave Bush, 1-Brandon Webb. The top 5 NL K/BB Ratio leaders in order are 5-Dan Haren, 4-Ben Sheets, 3-Cole Hamels, 2-Randy Johnson, 2-Brandon Webb (ties with Randy Johnson). The Top 5 NL Quality Starts leaders in order are 5-Dan Haren, 5-Tim Lincecum ( tied with Dan Haren), 3-Tim Hudson, 2-Johan Santana, 2-Edison Volquez ( tied with Johan Santana ). The top 5 NL Batting Average Against leaders are 5-Dan Haren, 4-Ryan Dempster, 4-Edison Volquez ( tied with Ryan Dempster), 2-Cole Hamels, 1-Oliver Perez. Points leaders - 23-Dan Haren 11-Edison Volquez 9-Tim Lincecum The mid season Cy Young award winner with leading 4 of the 5 categories is Dan Haren by a landslide and the complete games wont make a difference at all. The big offseason trade to get Haren has been working out for the D-Backs who although are under .500 they still lead the NL West at the break. Haren?s 8-5 record would fool you into thinkings hes not having much of a great year but that goes back to run support and other variables that go into a win/loss record for pitchers and the exact reason why we don?t take that into affect in this system. AL Cy Young - The top 5 AL ERA leaders in order are 5-Justin Duchscherer, 4-Cliff Lee, 3-Shaun Marcum, 2-John Danks, 1-Roy Halladay The top 5 AL WHIP leaders in order are 5-Justin Duchscherer, 4-Roy Halladay, 3-Shaun Marcum, 2-Cliff Lee, 1-Ervin Santana. The top 5 AL K/BB Ratio leaders in order are 5-Roy Halladay, 4-Cliff Lee, 3-Jamie Shields, 2-Josh Beckett, 1-Mike Mussina. The Top 5 AL Quality Starts leaders in order are 5-Zach Greinke, 5-Jeremy Guthrie, 5-Tim Wakefield, 2-Mark Buehrle, 2-Cliff Lee, 2-Ervin Santana (3 way tie for 1st and 4th) The top 5 AL Batting Average Against leaders are 5-Justin Duchscherer, 4-Shaun Marcum, 3-Gavin Floyd, 2-Tim Wakefield, 1-Greg Smith. Points leaders - Justin Duchscherer- 15 + 1 CG= 16 Cliff Lee- 12 + 1 CG= 13 Shaun Marcum- 10 Roy Halladay- 10 + 7 CG= 17 The AL mid season points Cy Young award winner is Roy Halladay by one point, but since Justin Duchscherer leads 3 of the categories and only lost by one point I?m going to call it a split decision. Both of these aces might not be on first place teams but have carried their teams into contending for a playoff spot. Halladay?s 7 complete games in this era of rare complete games put him right at the top of the points system. Duchscherer?s ERA of 1.82 (the only one under 2 for a starting pitcher this year) along with his WHIP of .865 proves his dominance and that he?s deserving of this split decision.

well since its safe to say worst trade in last 5 years was the Scott Kazmir for Vic Zambrano... I want to thank the mets for being so stupid. As for the fish best trade?...... The Pierre trade is looking great considering we got 3 pitchers and Pierre is crappy and overpaid. The Delgado trade is looking ok now that Jakes power is starting to really get going but the trade is still 3 years from really telling us if we really did rape the mets. The Hanley trade I think needs those other prospects we got to shine for us to take the advatange because as great as Hanley is right now Beckett and Lowell combo have been huge for the sox.

Where you voting for Uggla because he's a marlin or did you actually feel he was the best 2B the NL had to offer? Because although I am a Marlins fan and an Uggle fan I personally voted for Utley because he is hands down the best 2B. I know people across the country are not all like me and they vote for some one they like and not someone who is deserving. So who did you vote for and why?

If Josh can come back and do what he can do, then thats just as good as trading for a high priced pitcher and giving up a lot of prospects.

I agree Hanley might be the best player in baseball and Uggla ( Utley is way better but I think Utley will ultimatey be bets hitting 2B ever) might be this generations Ryan Sandberg in the making, but we have learned no one on the marlins is ever untouchable. I mean even Hanley's big contract was deceiving considering that contract doesnt mean he cant be traded.

Does anyone have any word on if this is his call up year?

One note on Jericho I havent read anything on it but I have been sensing a heel turn with this obsession on HBK and not drilling JBL with the chair making the crowd boo him. I would love to see him defend the Intercontinental Title more but outside of Jeff Hardy there is no one good enough to match up with him at that level. Thats ofcourse assuming guys like batista, HBK, etc. will never compete for that title. So I am rooting for a heel turn I love Jericho as a heel and even his little mic work he did last night had the tone of voice he uses when hes a heel it just didnt have anything funny to say. In fact he hasnt been funny in a couple of weeks already

As for Cena/Triple H I read last September Triple H really wanted to begin a fued with Cena where Trips would be the heel and it would lead up to a confrontation with Cena at Wrestlemania. That obviously fell through when Cena tore his pec and it became a 6 month reign for Orton. So I wouldnt be surprised if this Cena/Triple feud last 3-4 months and leads HHH into becoming a heel

Betting on Baseball Betting on the game of baseball has historically been a third rail issue for the league, its players and even its fans. Of course everyone knows about the infamous problems Pete Rose got himself into by betting on the game and how he was made an example of by Major League Baseball and denied entry into the hallowed halls of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. But I must confess today, I have benefitted directly from someone who betted on baseball and more specifically ?against? the Florida Marlins. You may have a hard time finding bigger fans of the Florida Marlins than JC and myself even as JC boycotts going to see them live on the grounds of their current organization and their decision to trade Cabrera amongst other things. Well having said that, the love for baseball and the love of the Florida Marlins were largely instilled into both JC and I by JC?s father. It is important to bring him into the conversation because it was he who bet ?against? his own team. The History of the Bet Back in 1997, JC Perez Sr. decided to bet against his own team?s odds of ?winning the World Series.? He told me if the Marlins win the World Series he would take everyone, (JC & his family and my family and I of course) to Disney World. Now I know this doesn?t truly stack against Pete Rose?s famous transgressions but nonetheless it was important to me because If I won this bet it would have meant that I was getting two of the biggest things I could ever ask for?the first triumphant Florida Marlins World Series Championship Series and well, a trip to my favorite place in the world, Disney. My memory is not the greatest and I don?t remember the stipulations on my end of the bet had the Marlins not won the World Series. Luckily for me Renteria would famously single into center field to score Counsell and send the entire city of Miami into euphoria and me on a trip to Disney. Well it would seem that I have already had my perfect ending but what if I could relive it once more. That is exactly the opportunity JC Perez Sr. has given me again! 81 Wins? I have yet to mention how much Senior dislikes Disney, although he did enjoy the trip as he relished in the Marlins World Series victory. But trust me when I say he does not want to go again today, tomorrow or the next day but yet he still happened to make a critical blunder while watching a Marlins? telecast with JC Perez Jr., Stephanie Diaz and of course myself to witness it. He said, ?If the Marlins Win 81 games I will take you all to Walt Disney World.? With disbelief about to set in on me, I quickly answered??you?re on!? And just like that it?s like ?97 once again, with the same old group all hoping for different reasons that the Marlins can achieve this plateau. Tough Road The Marlins have only had 4 seasons where they won 81 games or more: 2005- 83-79 (.512) 2004- 83-79 (.512) in 16 Seasons! 2003- 91-71 (.562) 1997- 92-70 (.568) The Marlins are having a tough road trip that has brought their record to 31-25 (.554) and are 1 ? games behind the Philadelphia Phillies for 1st place in the NL East. To reach 81 wins they would need go 50-56 (.472) the rest of the way. Do You Believe? Sure there are holes on this team that even a fan can?t deny but the Marlins have shown an incredible ability to battle back in games with their bat and if they can find some rhythm in their pitching staff not even greatness they can beat up on the mediocre teams of the MLB and battle it out in the NL East and reach the 81 Wins. In essence, I Believe. The question of course is simple, do you? How many wins do you predict for the Marlins this year? Make sure to leave comments about the latter and while you are at it I have a special request. I haven?t told JC Perez Sr. what he gets if the Marlins don?t reach 81 wins. If I see a good idea come up from one of your comments I will make that the prize and announce it right here on my blog. Also make sure to read the follow up blog post at the end of the MLB regular season. I Hope you enjoyed this edition of Ralph?s Hot Corner?make sure to check back often!

Its funny how the media and a lot of people have said this team is going to make a move for starting pitcher and that they need to do it if they want to make a playoff run. The reason why I think thats funny is why make those moves when you have Gaby Hernandez and Chris Volstad waiting for the call up? I mean sure blah blah blah they might not be ready yet but whose to stay the trade would work better then these 2 blue chips?

I wish I could report that a contract has been signed, but I can't. Or if it has, I don't know about it. Does anybody know anything, has there been anything written in the last week or so, about where we stand. The last thing I read was a few weks ago that talked about 1 big company declining to even put in a bid...and then silence. One member here mentioned that Hunt was picked, but I don't know what that means. Anyway, if anyone knows anything, post please. Not only do I know nothing about the contract I dont believe anything anymore until I see ground broken for the stadium. We have been teased to many times for to many years

Their new stadiums look real nice from the pics that I saw, hopefully we can be lucky enough to get one for our fish

Hanley is something else isnt he!!! Its great to know we have the best all around SS playing in our very own backyard!!!