October 18th, 2012 at 5:00 PM
By Brian Cheli
Welcome back baseball fans to the ongoing debate over this year’s American League MVP. This second feature on the AL MVP race focuses on more advanced baseball metrics, specifically “Wins above Replacement”. While this statistic has validity in certain discussions, it should not have as much bearing on the deliberation of the Most Valuable Player as it currently does. Instead, alternative sabermetrics and other factors should be used in place of WAR that are much more justified in baseball.
Since the innovation of sabermetrics in the mid 1990’s, the theory of “new school” has opposed traditional thinking to create an ongoing “war” in the baseball world. The most recurring statistic that "new school" pundits have adopted in order to evaluate the Most Valuable Player is Wins above Replacement (WAR). The idea behind the WAR framework is that people would like to know how much better a player is than what a team would typically have to replace that player. One starts to do this by comparing the player in question to an average Major League player at their position in a variety of situations. They are then compared to a theoretical Triple-A player and the two results are added together. WAR attempts to measure every aspect of the game that a player is involved in and is broken down in to six categories. The categories of WAR are weighted relatively equally and include:
Read more... Join the Conversation... October 15th, 2012 at 6:32 PM
By Brian Cheli In a game that is centered around statistics,
baseball pundits have always had a hard time determining the true make-up of an MVP. That may be because there isn’t a perfect indicator of a player's value in
baseball: some will argue batting average and runs batted in, others will claim the importance of being a five-tool player, and still there will be those that have other intangibles mixed in to their thoughts. As it happens in the
American league, Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels and
Miguel Cabrera of the
Detroit Tigers are vying for the
American League MVP and are representing each approach to a tee. Trout is lobbying a convincing case for the “new school” MVP winner, while Cabrera represents the “old school” winner. Both have an incredibly strong resume’ for the season, but after careful consideration,
Miguel Cabrera should be the clear cut favorite to be the
American League Most Valuable Player because of what both “schools” of thought can offer. The first piece in this two-part special looks at the history of the game to determine why Cabrera should be the MVP, and the latter part consists of the questioning of
WAR (wins above replacement) and attempts to use different statistics of
sabermetrics to further prove the case for Cabrera.
Read more... Join the Conversation... September 17th, 2012 at 3:45 PM
By Charles Pollock 
The A.L. Wild Card playoff game is on Friday, October 5th. If the Angels are going to be playing in that game, they need a strong finish over their remaining fifteen games.
The Angels enjoy their second to last off day today, a welcome rest as they take on A.L. West leading Texas tomorrow. They begin a nine game home stand with three games against Texas, Chicago, and then Seattle. These nine games will be the last home games for the Halos this season.
As of today, the Angels trail Baltimore by 2 1/2 games for the second A.L. Wild Card spot. The Orioles start a three game series at Seattle tonight.
The Angels have no remaining games against Baltimore and must rely on other teams like Seattle to beat the O's. All the Angels can do is keep winning and hope for the best. Halos manager Mike Scioscia understands the importance of winning these last two weeks.
"The only thing we can control is how we play. I think these last 25, 30 games, we've seen glimpses of the way we can play, but we need to bring it for the last fifteen. As we get down into these last couple weeks, we might be in a situation where we need some help, but the best way for us to pressure other teams is to keep winning. Hopefully, we're going to keep doing that."
Read more... Join the Conversation... September 12th, 2012 at 4:00 PM
By Charles PollockIt always hurts to lose, but Tuesday's loss was gut-wrenching for the Los Angeles Angels. They lost to the division rival they are trying to catch in a tight playoff race. Not only that, the Halos had every opportunity to win the game but couldn't manage a clutch hit when it mattered most.
Down 6-3 in the bottom of the ninth, Angels catcher Chris Ianetta drew a leadoff walk from Oakland A's closer Grant Balfour. Mike Trout then fouled off a few tough pitches before walking as well. Torii Hunter and Albert Pujols proceeded to hit back to back RBI singles, knocking Balfour out of the game.
With a 6-5 ballgame and runners on first and third with nobody out, A's manager Bob Melvin relieved his closer. Jerry Blevins, who had only one career save, stepped on the mound in a seemingly dire situation. He kept his cool though, striking out Kendrys Morales and then inducing a game ending 5-4-3 double play with Howie Kendrick at the plate.
It was a rare save opportunity for Blevins and he made the most of it.
"So far, it's the best moment of my career, and the most exciting," Blevins said. "It even triumphs my debut."
Read more... Join the Conversation... September 10th, 2012 at 6:30 AM
By Charles PollockZack Greinke (5-2) pitched seven strong innings and won his fourth consecutive decision in Sunday's 3-2 victory over Detroit. Trout provided early run support for Greinke, hitting a leadoff home run for the second day in a row.
Ernest Frieri collected his 18th save of the season Sunday, effectively closing the book on a bad weekend for the Tigers. The Angels pitching staff held the powerful Detroit lineup to only five runs in 27 innings en route to their second straight series sweep. An enthusiastic Frieri commented on the Angels playoff hopes after Sunday's victory.
"We're playing like everybody expects us to play. The first day I came here, I believed we were going to make (the playoffs). Now, I'm 100 percent sure."
The Halos have been riding this confidence of late, winning six straight and 15 of their last 18 games. With Sunday's win over Detroit, the Angels (77-63) improve to a season best 14 games over .500, and just one game back of Baltimore (78-62) for the second wild-card spot.
Despite the Angels red-hot play of late, they have no time to relax. The Halos will need to reload for a crucial four game series against the Athletics.
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