``Our high expectations were not met,'' McCourt said at an afternoon news conference at Dodger Stadium. ``I like Paul. He has many positive attributes. It was difficult, but at the end of the day, that's my job, to make difficult decisions.''
This could be my chance.
I am ready to take over the mess that DePodesta left, especially since I won't be working for the Yankees after the Cashman re-signing.
I couldn't do any worse than DePo, The Dodgers went 71-91 in the worst division in baseball.
And that is after taking over a team that won the division last year, despite his questionable late-season trades of Paul LoDuca and Guillermo Mota, for Brad Penny and Hee-Seop Choi.
It was a strange trade at the time, Penny was coming off an injury, Choi had nothing going for him except a high On-Base percentage. Meanwhile, they rejected a trade from the Astros (I forget the details) that would have sent Mota to the 'Stros, stating Mota was not for sale.
Losing LoDuca was crazy, he was the clubhouse leader. It made no sense.
All I would have to do is hire a manager, and get this team to .500, and I'm golden until '07.
Yes, manager Jim Tracy was fired Oct. 3, and no replacement has been hired.
I don't think Tracy was the problem, and neither did the Pirates. They hired Tracy 8 days later.
Here's my early thoughts on running the Dodgers.
I'm only going to talk about free agent signings, I'll get to trades later.
We need pitching.
Free agents that should be sought, are first and foremost, AJ Burnett. Burnett is going to be in huge demand, so if getting him is going to tank the budget, keep looking.
I also like Jarrod Washburn, the move to the NL would be good for him. And he is the best lefty under 40 out there.
I like Kevin Millwood for the same reason, the move back to the NL.
In the infield.
Look to get Joe Randa from the Padres at 3rd Base, or even Bill Mueller from the Red Sox.
At 1st Base, look at Kevin Millar from the Red Sox, or Daryle Ward from the Pirates.
Adding an outfielder would be important.
I would start with Brian Giles of the Padres. But I also like Juan Encarnacion, but he may be over priced since he will be in high demand for teams looking for an outfielder.
Let's talk Matt Lawton, he could be an easy sign at $5 mil per year. He'll steal you bases, get about 20 HR's and hit about .280, for 5 mil a year, you could do worse.
As a new GM, I would have to make one really big money trade.
And that would be for Jorge Posada.
I would go after him for sure. I don't know what trades would have to be made, I would have to talk to Brian Cashman, but I'd do everything within reason to make that happen.
Jason Phillips is a good catcher, nothing wrong with him; but bringing a star to the team would energize the city and the team. Plus, Posada is a great leader, and it seems the Yanks are ready to move on. Posada's production was down this year, but that is compared to the Yankee sluggers, and on an off day he is still better than Phillips.
There you go, that is year one of The Fu2rman's regime as Dodger GM.
College Football Coach for Air Force keeps his job after saying...
DeBerry mentioned that the Horned Frogs "had a lot more Afro-American players than we did and they ran a lot faster than we did."
"It just seems to me to be that way," he continued. "Afro-American kids can run very well. That doesn't mean that Caucasian kids and other descents can't run, but it's very obvious to me that they run extremely well."
This was DeBerry's response to the 10-48 ass kicking his team took from TCU.
TCU's QB put up 302 passing yards, completed 20 of 28 passes for 2 TD's and ran 6 times for 42 yards, scoring another TD. TCU also rushed for 4 more TD's.
Essentaially, The Air Force Falcons can't stop the passing game, TCU QB stated "It was like pitch-and-catch"
Seems like those white Cornerbacks can't keep up with black Receivers.
Well, that makes sense.
How many white Cornerbacks can you name in the NFL?
I'll help you, since Jason Seahorn retired, none.
Air Force has other issues to deal with...
Due to post-collegiate service requirements and physical limitations regarding military craft, Air Force is somewhat hindered in its recruitment of football players. Using schemes that minimize those disadvantages, DeBerry is 164-99-1 with the Falcons, guiding them to 12 bowl games.
Pretty impressive.
However, DeBerry should have known better.
I understand his frustration, he is not playing on a level playing field.
Maybe next time he should say something like this...
We have a squad full of young men that have had the honor of serving their country with dignity, becoming good citizens in the country they have heroicly represented, and will be successful components in the fu2r of this great country. These young (read black) men beat us today, but at best, 3 of them will make it to the NFL.
I only hope the rest of these young (again, read black) men have spent time in class to learn something, or they will be a drain on our society. College scholarships for football only last so long.
Would that have been better?
Or would that have been way more insensitive?
I'm glad DeBerry apologized, I know he made his comments out of his frustrating year, but you can't say things like that in his position.
Also, I'm glad he apologized because it saved his job.
And a damn good job he's done, considering the hurdles that he has in front of his team.
Peyton is not putting up insane numbers like he did last year, but he is finding a way to win, a la Tom Brady.
Last year Peyton and The Colts put up a ton of points, but never played defense. And they did ok with that. But not good enough to get by Brady's Patriots in the end.
This year, defensive improvements have them undefeated.
The Colts defense has allowed the least amount of points in the AFC, while outscoring everyone except The Chargers.
Unfortunately, The Chargers have no defense, and have given up twice as many points as The Colts, so they under .500, at 3-4.
Peyton and The Colts have everything rolling right now.
They are 7-0, they are scoring plenty of points, and not allowing points.
If you find yourself in Vegas, check the odds on Indianapolis, it may be worth some money.
You read it right. And from the picture, it appears Pete Carroll knew it was coming.
The key letters in BCS of course are BS, 'cause that is what the BCS poll is.
In 2003 USC got edged out of the title game, in favor of (1)Oaklahoma and (2)LSU. When LSU won the game, and USC won The Rosebowl, we had co-champions, you know, the thing the BCS ranking was supposed make a thing of the past.
The BCS has Texas and USC so far ahead of number 3 Virginia Tech, that there is little danger of either team missing the Title Game. That is unless one of them totally tank, so this number 2 rank should only motivate them win.
On top of that, USC is top-ranked in The Associated Press media poll, the USA Today coaches' poll and the Harris Interactive poll.
The Angels just couldn't put together any offense.
I have been listening to Angel fans complain about the umpires every single day since the call that ended game 2.
But it's not the umpires that lost the series, it was the Angels bats, or lack thereof, that lost them the series.
Aside from 2 batters in the 9th inning of game one, all 5 White Sox starting pitchers went the distance. Tonight Jose Contreras felt left out, since he left game one early, he went ahead and pitched a complete game tonight.
That's four complete games in a row by White Sox pitchers!
You can't win if you can't even knock out the starting pitcher.
The Angels ended up with a .175 Batting Average against the White Sox, that will never get it done, not in the post season.
Here are some ugly stats.
Vlad went 1 for 20 Garrett Anderson 3 for 17 Bengie Molina and Chone Figgins 2 for 17 Orlando Cabrera 4 for 20 Darin Erstad 4 for 17 Adam Kennedy 4 for 14
The Angels were outscored 23-11 in the series.
No need to blame anyone else, that tells the tale right there.
I said a few days ago that Mike Scioscia needed to get this team up after the disappointment in game 2 if he wanted to be known as one of the best managers of all time, he didn't do that.
Scioscia is a great manager, but so is Atlanta's Bobby Cox.
And what Cox is showing us all is that you can win your division 14 years in a row, but if you only have one World Series win in that time...
They haven't shown up, for the most part, until the second half in many of their wins.
But until the Notre Dame game, they have won in convincing fashion in the second half.
Notre Dame proved to be a different animal.
Notre Dame was so close to beating SC, that the team, the coaches and their whole sideline was walking out on the field to celebrate their win.
But a Matt Lienart fumble that went out of bounds with 3 seconds on the clock kept SC alive.
On the next, and final play of the game, Lienart spun away from tacklers to find the endzone, securing a 34-31 win over Charlie Wies and his Fighting Irish.
Yikes, best game I've seen in a long time, especially since USC was the ultimate winners of the game.
USC may or may not be the best college team ever, but they have everything going for them.
Every coach, every recruiter, and every school, dream of such a season. USC will have the best recruiting classes for years to come.
Even though this team will be picked clean by the NFL, jump on this bandwagon while you can.
I never thought I would say that after the Angels beat the Yankees.
But here's the problem.
The Angels have not been able to get to the White Sox bullpen.
Mark Buerhle, Jon Garland and now Freddy Garcia, (pictured) have all pitched complete games. And Jose Contreras in game one got pulled in the 9th with one out.
The Angels have only faced the White Sox bullpen for 2/3 of one inning in 4 games.
Neal Cotts came in and faced 2 batters in the game one loss to the Angels.
This is not the way to beat the White Sox.
The White Sox have a great pitching staff, no question, but they are weak in the bullpen. The way to beat the Sox is to get to the bullpen early.
The only hope the Angels have is that they face Contreras again tomorrow, hopefully he is tired from his long outing on Tuesday. And then Buerhle is tired and then Garland...etc. you get the idea.
But I wouldn't count on it.
I just hope the Halo's can put together some hits.
It seems they are in fact deflated from the umpire ending the game on them in Wednesdays defeat. Just for the record, the Ump didn't cost them the game, he just ended the game. The chance of the Angels scoring a run against The Sox was pretty slim anyway.
They have no offense to speak of.
The Sox have outscored the Angels 17-8 so far.
Vlad has 1 hit in 16 at bats, Anderson has 2 hits in 16 at bats, B. Molina is 2 for 13, Figgins-1-14, oh, I could go on.
This is a team that needs to pick up a bat tomorrow if they want to play any more this season.
I will now say, Scioscia is not yet in the class of a Joe Torre, he is not showing that he can pick up his team in the tough times.
But please, Mike Scioscia, prove me wrong, win this damn series!
All I've heard since last nights bad call, I don't think I need to clarify the play in question, is how the Angels were robbed, the umpires decided the game, we need instant replay, etc. etc.
Here's a question, did I whine about the questionable call on Robinson Cano supposedly running out of the baseline, and getting called out? I mean that would have loaded the bases for Bernie Williams, instead it was the 3rd out, didn't the umpires affect the outcome of the game? Maybe, we'll never know.
But did I cry about it? Did I even mention it?!
No! I blamed Hideki Matsui for going 0-5 and stranding 8 baserunners. Read it here.
1. If one bad call decides the game, you didn't score enough runs.
2. Josh Paul should have tagged Pierzynski, just in case, you see this all the time! Josh Paul needs to take some responsibilty for the loss.
3. Pitcher Kelvim Escobar gave Pierzynski second base. He put him in scoring position! Escobar needs to take some responsibility for the loss.
4. Lastly, Mike Scioscia didn't go out and calm Escobar down, he should have had a quick meeting on the mound, got the team together, and battled for the last out.
I think Mike Scioscia is a great manager, however, one thing that bothers me about him, is he constantly runs out on the field to whine to the umpires. Anyone that knows me has heard me say that over and over. And now it came back to bite him and his team in the ass.
Bahb said it pretty well, and I'll let his comment sum this up....
Bahb Damf said... Here's how we can all know whether or not the Angels will win the Penant. If they whine and cry about that umps stupid effing call last night, then they will lose.If they admit that they gave up a stolen base and a hit after the call and that that's what caused them to lose, then they will win.
I have said so many times that Brian Cashman needs to be fired, and the humble Fu2rman needs to take the helm as GM of The Yankees.
Well, it's time.
Cashman's contract is up, and it just so happens, I am available.
Here's my plan.
First of all, Cashman has taken his unlimited budget and squandered it. And finally some of his mistakes are fixable.
I do not resign Bernie Williams, Kevin Brown, Tino Martinez, Tom Gordon, Alan Embree, or Ruben Sierra. That just cut $39 million out of the payroll.
I do make sure to sign Hideki Matsui and Robinson Cano to new contracts, I want both of those guys around, even though Matsui was basically a no-show in the playoffs this year. He's too good to let go.
I would look to deal Gary Sheffield, but there is not a better right fielder out there at the moment, and not many teams could afford him anyway. So he stays.
The Yankees need a Center Fielder, a set up pitcher/heir to Mariano Rivera's throne as a fu2r Closer, a younger Catcher, that doesn't cost $11 million per year, and starting pitching.
I would also like to trade Mike Mussina, Randy Johnson, and Carl Pavano, but nobody would be able to afford them.
Under my reign, it goes like this...
Let's talk free agents.
I would sign Chicago White Sox First Baseman Paul Konerko. Great power, and a great glove, and only 29 years old.
Then I pick up the Orioles Closer BJ Ryan, he is less interested in a closers job, and more interested in winning a World Series. Ryan would be the set-up man, but in '07 he would have the closer job, on the most celebrated team in sports history.
Next you gotta get The Marlins AJ Burnett. Other potential choices would be Jarrod Washburn, (which would give you a Lefty) and Kevin Millwood, all three will go for about the same money, but I go with Burnett just based on age. Burnett and Millwood are a little bit of an injury risk. I considered Millwood and Washburn due to their success in the American League, (Burnett is a National Leaguer, and it seems to be hard for them to make the transition). I'd still go for Burnett, his strikeout count, WHIP, and ERA are all solid, even adjusted against the DH.
Last, I go after Angel Catcher Bengie Molina.
Now with an extra 1st baseman, and cather...
Deal Jorge Posada to a team that could use a big name to help fill seats, The KC Royals come to mind.
Trade Posada for Catcher John Buck (he'll be the backup Catcher), and pitcher Zack Greinke. Greinke is a 22 year old pitcher that has had little success in KC, but he gets zero run support, but has so much potential. He would be a work in progress, but I think the risk is worth it. If Greinke could study under the Veterans in NY, and have some of the best coaching, he would become a great pitcher.
The most predictable move, and the one I can see Cashman trying to make, is getting Johnny Damon to play Center Field. He would be a great pick-up, but he dissed the Yanks by saying he didn't want to play for them. But as we all know, money talks, and bullshit walks. Well, let bullshit walk, Damon can go elsewhere. Plus, he throws like a girl.
Deal Jason Giambi to Anaheim, sorry, LA of Anaheim, in exchange for Darin Erstad (who will play Center Field) and Dallas McPherson. Money-wise, it is a wash.
I would take the risk of injury prone McPherson and make him a DH. He could then be the backup 3rd baseman, and if you need to sit Derek Jeter, A-Rod would play Short-Stop and McPherson plays 3rd.
Of course the Angels may not go for that.
No worries, deal Giambi and either Chien-Ming Wang, Shawn Chacon, or Jaret Wright to the Twins for Starting Pitcher Johan Santana. The Twins need an big bat in the lineup. They would need a solid pitcher in return, Wang or Chacon would be the best choice, since money is a concern. And since Ruben Sierra is a cheap DH, he'll be a Yankee for one more year. Here's my Yankee starting lineup...
Rotation
Mike Mussina Randy Johnson AJ Burnett Carl Pavano Jaret Wright
Bullpen
Mariano Rivera-Closer BJ Ryan-Set-Up Aaron Small Chein-Ming Wang/Shawn Chacon Al Lieter Tanyon Sturtze
1st Base
Paul Konerko
2nd Base
Robinson Cano
3rd Base
Alex Rodriguez
SS
Derek Jeter
LF
Hideki Matsui
CF
Darin Erstad
RF
Gary Sheffield
DH
Dallas McPherson
I just saved the Yankees almost $34 million.
What so you do with that money?
Rebuild the farm system that has been raped by Cashman to try to win a title over the last 5 years!
The most important thing to note is...
You cannot simply buy a ring, you have to build a team, work the chemistry, develop players.
Look at the late 90's Yankees, they were mostly out of the Yankee farm system, with big contracts to fill the holes.
Seriously, the only player that impressed me in this post-season was rookie Robinson Cano.
The Yankees were able to force a game 5 in Anaheim in the best of 5 series against the Angels.
Tonight both teams took a shutout into the 6th inning, and that is when the scoring began.
The Angels picked up 2 runs when Juan Rivera walked and was sacrificed to second. Then consecutive doubles by Chone Figgins and Orlando Cabrera gave them a two run lead. In the Yankee's half of the inning they picked up one run with a Gary Sheffield single that scored Alex Rodriguez.
The pivotal play came in the seventh inning.
After rookie, (and quickly becoming one of my favorite Yankees)Robinson Cano scored to tie the game, Derek Jeter hit into a fielders choice that made for a close play at the plate.
John Lackey and Bengie Molina of the Los Angeles Angels argue a call with home plate umpire, Alfonso Marquez. While Molina argued briefly that he had tagged Jorge Posada, Posada said he knew his leading leg was on the plate before the catcher touched him with the ball. (AFP/File/Nick Laham)
Molina can argue that call all he wants, but the replay shows that he may have tagged Posada with his glove before he touched the plate, but Molina had the ball in his throwing hand and not in the glove. It was a great call by Marquez.
Then we enter the eighth inning, and from the PA you hear the all too familiar sound of Metallica's 'Enter Sandman'. What all Yankee fans know is that Enter Sandman is Mariano Rivera's entrance song.
And he was lights out.
Rivera pitched the eighth and ninth, he gave up zero runs, zero hits, and struck out two.
Both teams should be getting ready to land in Southern Cal as I type this, and this series is now a one game winner take all.
Ahh, just the way it should be, the best teams, fighting it out right down to the last game.
Not bad, the guy that is not Heisman frontrunner Matt Leinart, or Reggie Bush.
Let's just look at the NFL for one minute.
Who is going to get Leinart,Bush, and White?
Well first of all, the first draft picks today would be Green Bay and Houston, both of which have very young recently drafted QB's, Houstonis playingDavid Carr, and Brett Favre has his just drafted (Aaron Rodgers) replacement on his bench.
So where does Leinart fit in?
Baltimore.
If they continue on the path they are on, they would be able to draft Lienart.
But Green Bay and Houston would draft before them.
Currently, both teams could use Bush or White, so expect them to go before Leinart, and then Leinart goes to Baltimore.
That would be the best situation for Matt Leinart, picked 3rd, in the first round, by Baltimore.
Maybe Leinart knew something more than we did when he decided not to be drafted by the 49er's in last years draft.
I mean come on, would you rather be the number one draft pick Ryan Leaf, or 6th round, 33rd draft pick Tom Brady?
Who has had the better career?
Have you even heard of Ryan Leaf?
Leinart with the Ravens would fill that QB hole they've had forever. They don't have a marquis Receiver, but with Jamal Lewis at Running Back, and a very formidable Defense, Baltimore would be a great fit for Leinart.
One thing is for certain, USC will be picked clean by next year's NFL draft.
So us USC fans must relish this very special team that we have the privilege of watching this year.
If you have read the Miss Eyre and Fu2rman blog, you know my friend G. Escobar is home from his second tour of Iraq.
Now, G grew up in Anaheim, graduated from an Anaheim High School, the whole 9 yards, so he's obviously an Angel fan.
We went to a bar in Anaheim to watch the 2nd Angel/Yankee game.
Of course, I was the only Yankee fan in the place.
Then 3 cute blondes roll in, and G starts talking to them. One says she's a Yankee fan. Of course G is disgusted, and says, go sit with my friend The Fu2rman!
I say, Come on over here, this is the Yankee section!
So she sits down in G's seat, and we start talking. All the while I'm thinking, thanks G, cute blonde, hot little bod, I owe you one G!
Then I notice someone around me has some bad BO.
Teddy, a guy that G and I know is on the other side of me. He works construction, and looks like he came from work to watch the game.
My thought of course is, I hope she doesn't smell him as much as I do, she may think it is me that smells!
Then I think about it, Teddy has been sitting next to me for about 15 minutes. I better confirm this.
So I lean over to Teddy, and ask him, so how's work?
I wasn't listening to a word he said, I was only interested in confirming his maleodor, and convincing him to go somewhere else.
Well I confirmed one thing, it was not Teddy that smelled.
I turned my attention back to Blondie, and the smell seemed to be gone.
Maybe it was someone that was standing behind me, and now he's gone, I'm golden, Blondie won't think it was me, game back on.
So I start chatting her up again.
Then she reached for her beer, and damnit if I didn't get a whiff of that awful BO again.
It was her! It was Blondie that stunk!
WTF!
How does a good looking person go out, dress up, look good, and still totally disregard personal hygiene?
Well except the fact that Houston and Atlanta play their first game later tonight.
Yanks beat the Angels White Sox beat the Red Sox Cardinals over the Padres
Any surprises there?
Of course there are, The Yankees got to my Cy Young winner, Bartolo Colon early. But he came back to pitch a great game. He was simply outpitched by Mike Mussina. It was an easier win than I expected.
However, the amazing Yankee offense couldn't score any more runs after the 2nd inning, that should be a concern. The Yanks have about as potent an offense as you could ever want, and now they have a full bullpen Al Leiter gives you a lefty to go to. The key to Yankee success is getting their starter deep in the game, once you get into the 6th inning, you can throw Leiter, Embre, Sturtze, Felix Rodriguez or Mendoza. I know, none of those names instill fear in you, but then you have Tom Gordon in the 8th, and The Great Mariano Rivera in the 9th.
The Angels are no slackers in the bullpen either, the Donnelly/Shields, and Frankie Rodriguez is something to be feared.
One of these teams is going to start putting runs on the board, the one to do that first, will win.
The White Sox crushed the Red Sox, 14-2, the big concern here is that usually when a team destroys another, they pretty much have shot their wad, to put it a porn reference to it.
The White Sox are going to have to keep knocking out the starting pitchers of the Red Sox. The Red Sox have the worst bullpen in the playoffs, so if you can get to them early, the Red Sox will fall.
Oh, the poor Padres, they were almost good with Jake Peavy, but he got rocked for 8 runs. And now he's hurt, and out for the season. Sorry Pad's have a nice time enjoying the best weather in the country, 'cause there will be no reason to leave San Diego as the post season rolls on.
Pastorius said... Fu2rman, There may be one closer in history who deserved to win the Cy Young; Mike Marshall of the 1972 Dodgers.
As my memory serves, he appeared in 110 games, saving close to 50, and posted a 1.20 ERA.
That's the most dominant closer ever, if not Eric Gagne.
Based on those numbers, Mariano Rivera is definitely deserving of the Cy Young.
I did some checking on Mike Marshall. I have to correct a few things, first you are referring to the 1974 season, and he did in fact win the Cy Young.
Also, I will show his exact numbers momentarily.
We must also keep in mind that the game was different then, the role of the set-up man was not yet defined, closers then would average 2 innings per game, and would enter the game in any situation.
Today, with the set-up role defined, closers only see one inning of work per appearance, except in that occasional situation when they finish the 8th inning, and then close the 9th. Today, unless a closer hasn't worked in a while, they won't get in the game unless there is a save opportunity.
So saying that...
Here are the numbers, Marshall '74 vs. Rivera '05.
I'm going to throw out a bunch of stats here, so to simplify, I'll put Marshall in Red, and Rivera in Yellow.
Games 106/78 Innings Pitched 208.3/78.3 Saves 43/21 ERA 1.38/2.42 Stikeouts 143/80 Strikeouts per inning 1.025/.687 WHIP (Walks+Hits per Innings Pitched) .87/1.18 Batting Average Against .177/.238 Record 15-12/7-4
As you can see, Rivera has the edge on Marshall on many of those stats, twice as many saves, a better ERA and batters had less success against him. The others, you can chalk up to less opportunity to rack them up, i.e. less innings pitched, of course less strikeouts.
But I still say, no Cy Young for Rivera.
I'm glad Marshall got the award and all, but it was a different time.
He was not a closer by today's standards.
He logged almost 3 times the innings because he didn't sit in the bullpen if there was no save opportunity. And like I said in the last post, one element that today's closer never has, is Marshall's 15 wins.
Actually, by today's standards, a closer shoud not factor in too many decisions, every loss means a blown save, and many wins only mean he blew a save at home, and his offense bailed him out in the bottom of the 9th. The top 10 closers this year averaged 8 decisions, Rivera has 11, that's a little high.
I agree that Marshall was a deserving Cy Young winner, but again, he was not like today's closer.
Now let's talk Eric Gagne real quick.
I'd put Gagne right next to Rivera. Not ahead.
He's amazing, without a doubt, but so is Rivera.
If Gagne was healthy, and he and Rivera were both free agents, and I had the opportunity to sign one of them, I have to admit, I would sign Gagne.
But not because I think he is better, but only because he is almost 30 years old, and not about to turn 36 like Rivera.
I was serious, there should be an award for the most dominant closer, by today's standards, and it should be called the Mariano Rivera Award.
I know what you are all thinking, of course the Fu2rman is going to say A-Rod deserves it, he's a Yankee fan.
Well, you're right, but let me show that I come to my decision based on reason, and not my love of the Yankee's.
My favorite player is Mariano Rivera, I've said that many times. His name has been thrown into the hat as a Cy Young candidate.
I say, that is totally wrong!
A Cy Young winner should never be a closer. Even though Rivera is the most dominant closer ever, he doesn't deserve a Cy Young.
Once Rivera retires, I propose the Mariano Rivera Award, for thebest closer of the season!
However, a Cy Young winner should be able to put up a stellar ERA, 15-20 wins, a low WHIP (walks+hits per innings pitched), and rack up a fair amount of Strikeouts.
We should not even be talking about Rivera, we should be talking about Bartolo Colon of the Angels, Johan Santana of the Twins, and maybe Mark Buehrle of the White Sox.
I'll leave it at that.
Just like a closer should not win the Cy Young, a DH should never be considered for the MVP, unless he absolutly destroys everyone in all the Batting stats.
And David Ortiz did not do that.
We'll look at the basic stats, Batting Average, Homeruns, RBI's, Runs, and Stolen Bases.
I'll put the numbers side by side, Ortiz in Red Sox Red, and A-Rod in Yellow, since I can't do pinstripes.
If A-Rod never took the field to play defense, you would have a good race, but he does, and does it well.
A-Rod, in 159 games has made only 12 Errors, and has a .971 Fielding Percentage.
With stats like that, he should also be in the running for a Golden Glove.
So on top of A-Rod being an outstanding defensive player, he has a better Batting Average, 1 more HR, more Runs scored, and actually finds time to steal bases, but trails in RBI's.
If Alex Rodriguez loses this award to David Ortiz, the award is meaningless.
