The 2011 All-Division Team, Part 1: AL East

Jose Bautista highlights a stacked division yet again.

Part 1 of 6: American League East

Here again for the second year in a row is the Cubs Insider All-Division Team, back for 2011.  This year the posts will be divided into six; one for each division, going East to West in both leagues.  In this first installment of my ramblings, I'll be going over the best (most valuable to his team's season performance) of the Orioles, Blue Jays, Rays, Yankees, and Red Sox by position.  Runners-up are listed in no particular order and any player who has won the award again after winning it last season is noted as such.

C Matt Wieters, BAL
After 2010 award winner John Buck departed Toronto for Florida last offseason and Jorge Posada was effectively benched indefinitely from the Yankees' signing of Russell Martin, there was not a clear favorite to take the throne in this division.  In his third season, Wieters blossomed at age 25, earning his first trip to the All-Star Game and capping off another forgettable Orioles season with a little hardware for himself, his first Gold Glove award.  A 4.0 WAR and 22 homers don't hurt either, and a notably decreased strikeout rate (which was already low to begin with) show that these probably won't be the last of awards for the South Carolina native.  Competition: Kelly Shoppach (TB), Russell Martin (NYY), J.P. Arencibia (TOR), Jarrod Saltamacchia (BOS).

1B Adrian Gonzalez, BOS (2nd, first with Red Sox)
A-Gon narrowly had the best season of his career despite playing in a drastically better lineup in 2011 than ever before.  That speaks to Gonzalez's consistency no matter who his teammates are, whether they're on base or not.  The fact is Gonzalez was an excellent fit for the Red Sox with his opposite-field power for the Green Monster and he proved it with an All-Star selection, Gold Glove, and Silver Slugger.  There's certainly talent at the position in the division with Mark Teixeira blasting 39 homers in the Bronx and Adam Lind holding his own north of the border, but Gonzalez fit right in with the established Red Sox core and got them deep into the playoffs.  Competition: Casey Kotchman (TB), Mark Teixeira (NYY), Adam Lind (TOR), Derrek Lee (BAL).

2B Robinson Cano, NYY (2nd)
Critics will argue that Dustin Pedroia's combination of power and speed both contributed more to the Red Sox, but I make the argument that if Pedroia goes down for a month in the regular season, I see the Red Sox surviving in the standings more than I do if the Yankees were to lose Cano.  On an aging team where Cano is one of only three starters under 30, Cano is great lineup protection for Teixeira, especially this season as Alex Rodriguez had a dismal year.  Competition: Ben Zobrist (TB), Dustin Pedroia (BOS), Robert Andino (BAL), Aaron Hill (TOR).

3B Evan Longoria, TB 
In a group with Mark Reynolds, Alex Rodriguez, Kevin Youkilis, and Longoria, I would have thought this running would come down to the wire.  Instead, this choice was rather easy.  Despite a .244 batting average, Longoria's OBP that's over 100 points higher and 31 home runs helped him win the running.  Besides, he'll always be remembered this season for one of the biggest hits of the year, the walk-off homer against the Yankees to win the AL Wild Card away from the Red Sox.  Competition: Kevin Youkilis (BOS), Alex Rodriguez (NYY), Mark Reynolds (BAL), and Brett Lawrie (TOR).

J.J. Hardy's career is back in
full swing (pun intended).

SS J.J. Hardy, BAL
Perhaps Hardy has found a permanent home on his third team in as many years, as a breakout season saw consistent power throughout on his way to an incredible 30 home runs from the shortstop.  I want to believe it isn't a fluke, and I have confidence that it is not.  But no matter how the Orioles were doing this season, Hardy was the team MVP in being a model power hitter; never great at getting on base, but a decent contact hitter and defender nonetheless.  Competition: Derek Jeter (NYY), Marco Scutaro (BOS), Reid Brignac (TB), and Yunel Escobar (TOR).

LF Sam Fuld, TB
'Super Sam' walked onto a weak field of incumbents by taking left field in 2011.  Early on the season, however, Fuld made a real impact on the Rays.  Despite getting nearly a full season's worth of at-bats, his defensive WAR exceeded his offensive WAR.  Making highlight reel catches and clutch hits on a daily basis, the scrappy little former Cub even inspired a Super Sam cape promotion at Tropicana Field.  Competition: Nolan Reimold (BAL), Brett Gardner (NYY), Carl Crawford (BOS), Eric Thames (TOR).

CF Curtis Granderson, NYY
I didn't think it was possible, but my man Curtis failed to get enough love in the MVP consideration, finishing only fourth in voting after a 40-25 season as a by-product of his revamped swing built with Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long in late 2010.  Granderson did have the benefits of the insanely short porch in right field at Yankee Stadium and good lineup protection, but brought a swagger-factor to the 2011 Yanks.  Oh, and led MLB in runs scored, proving that the Grandy Man Can.  Competition: Jacoby Ellsbury (BOS), Adam Jones (BAL), Rajai Davis (TOR), and B.J. Upton (TB).

RF Jose Bautista, TOR (2nd)
Was there really any doubt?  Joey Bats finished off his second season in out-of-nowhere stardom much like he did his first.  Bautista added 43 homers to his stat sheet like it was no big deal.  Most impressive to me, however, is his 132 walks to 111 strikeouts, resulting in an OBP of .447, nearly 150 points higher than his batting average!  Regardless of being a big slugger who often gets pitched around, 132 walks is a thing of beauty.  And after the Black Blue Jays ended another spending-October-on-the-couch season, he got to play dress up to display the Jays new threads.  Competition: Matt Joyce (TB), Nick Swisher (NYY), Nick Markakis (BAL), and J.D. Drew (BOS).

DH David Ortiz, BOS
If the designated hitter's role is known as a low on-base, high power and strikeout batter, which it often has been, then Ortiz is the anti-DH.  Getting on base nearly 40% of the time, Big Papi's late career demise of 2008 and 2009 has recovered to the extent that Ortiz is still a very smart hitter who knows how to take a few pitches.  He does strike out plenty walked nearly as much in 2011, and a new team could replenish his systems after the bad spiral the Sawks' season took.  Competition: Jorge Posada (NYY), Vladimir Guerrero (BAL), Johnny Damon (TB), and Edwin Encarnacion (TOR).

SP Ricky Romero, TOR
Yet another interesting piece the Jays have found, this 26-year-old Los Angeles native completed his third season in the big leagues and already is the definite ace of his team.  Romero doesn't give up many hits, just walks and strikeouts mostly.  Ironically, his 2.92 ERA and 15 wins were the 'stuff' of aces, and yet his 26 homers allowed wouldn't suggest an ace and was 11 more than the year before.  This kid has a lot of good years to come however.  Honorable mention to James Shields, who made this decision extremely tough.  Competition: C.C. Sabathia (NYY), Josh Beckett (BOS), and James Shields (TB), and Jeremy Guthrie (BAL).  

CP Mariano Rivera, NYY
'Mo', now 41-years-old, just struck out 60 and walked eight in 2011.  If that doesn't tell you all you need to know, maybe his .897 WHIP or his 1.91 ERA will.  Rivera is still the best at the position in the league and might as well pitch himself to the grave.  I hate the thought of handing double-digit millions to closers, but Rivera is the exception to the rule.  Just unbelievable.  Competition: Kevin Gregg (BAL), Kyle Farnsworth (TB), Jonathan Papelbon (BOS), Frank Francisco (TOR).

Well that's all I have for now.  Back with more soon.  I hope everyone is having a nice holiday weekend!

Competitive Balance in Economics

There are 30 MLB teams.  By the rules and nature of baseball, all teams have an equal shot to win.  By the rules and nature of business, some teams are favored more than others.  In today's world, the industry that is professional sports is a business.  As unfortunate as it is, this means every team in MLB has different odds to win.  Since their is no salary cap in baseball, it's all about the revenue.  And a team's success or failure in generating revenue can and most likely will dictate their ability to win.  If you're a serious baseball fan, chances are you've heard of Billy Beane, GM of the Oakland Athletics.  The reason Beane is famous is because of his groundbreaking theories about baseball economics, revolutionary thoughts that have become relevant with the big contracts and free agency dogfights of modern baseball.  If Beane were the GM of the New York Yankees, he would not be characterized as the godfather of modern baseball economics.  Oakland is a tiny city compared to the other jumbo markets of baseball, making Beane's job much harder than a GM in a bigger city.

Small market teams have it tough.  Most small market teams put a strong emphasis on building from within their own system, putting a lot of work in the scouting and development department.  When these teams come up with big prospects they are unable to sign them to extensions and they are lost to the big market teams.  Even if they are able to sign the player to an extension, what happens if the team is losing?  The team has no choice but to rebuild, which means sending the prospect-turned-star to the big market teams.  There are a few ways for it to happen, but in the end, the star ends up with the big market teams more often than they should.

Prime examples of this can be found on the current big market teams.  Remember that super rotation the Phillies will put out on the mound in 2011?  Let's see where those guys came from.  Roy Oswalt was a huge star in Houston, nearly setting the franchise wins record before being traded.  Roy Halladay was a big star in Toronto, a well-publicized one at that.  Halladay took home the 2003 AL Cy Young Award, while Cliff Lee took home the same award in 2008 with Cleveland.  While Lee struggled with injuries during times in Cleveland, it was clear even before 2008 that he had the capability to be an elite pitcher.  Cole Hamels, the fourth man in this super rotation, is the only product of the Phillies system.

Red Sox GM Theo Epstein, clearly in control of a big market team, snagged two of baseball's best players from small markets this offseason.  Acquiring Adrian Gonzalez out of San Diego and Carl Crawford from Tampa Bay, he has now dealt a huge blow to both franchises.  Without Gonzalez, the Padres are no longer a playoff contender and without Crawford, the Rays aren't either.  The word 'disappointment' can't even begin to describe how fans must feel this winter in San Diego and St. Petersburg, respectively.

Let's read down the current Yankee lineup.  At catcher we have Russell Martin, just acquired from the Dodgers.  At first base we have Mark Teixeira, big time power first baseman for the Rangers before being dealt to two pit stops in between.  Teixeira isn't the only name here with an enormous contract.  At second base and shortstop, we have Robinson Cano and Derek Jeter, respectively.  There are two genuine Yankees; good for them.  At third is, and I know its been a while, the most hyped prospect in the history of baseball- with the 1995 Seattle Mariners.  In right field we have Nick Swisher, who got his fame launching bombs out of the Oakland Coliseum.  In center, the five tooled Curtis Granderson came from Detroit.  In left is Brett Gardner, one final genuine Yankee.

The Yankees World Championship team of 2009 featured only two full season homegrown starters, while the top two (C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett) came from Cleveland and Toronto, respectively.  The Yankees, not surprisingly, have been to the World Series more than any other team and have won more than any other team.  From 2001-2010, a ten year stretch, 15 different teams made the World Series, with only the Yankees, Giants, Phillies, Red Sox, and Cardinals having been more than once.  Many baseball experts interpret this to mean that competitive balance in baseball is higher than it ever has been, but I don't think this is exactly the case.  Don't get me wrong- competitive balance is certainly high and we've seen a lot of small market success stories recently, but the problem is sustaining the team that got them there.

The surprising but lovable 2003 Marlins team that upset the Yankees to win the World Series was an example of how these teams can win, but can't be sustained in a market like Southeast Florida.  The 2003 heroes of ace Josh Beckett, center fielder Juan Pierre, second baseman Luis Castillo, starter Brad Penny, starter Carl Pavano, first baseman Derrek Lee, and third baseman Mike Lowell were all off the Marlins by 2006, signing with or being traded to the Red Sox, Cubs, Twins, Dodgers, Yankees, Cubs, and Red Sox respectively.  Franchise faces from 2003 third baseman Miguel Cabrera and ace Dontrelle Willis would both be gone just a season later in a trade to Detroit.  In fact, Cabrera and Willis were the only players on the 2006 Opening Day roster remaining from the 2003 team.

The Marlins have become known for frequently executing a relatively modern tactic known as the firesale.  The firesale is an instant rebuilding strategy, seen in small markets who have an excellent young core of winning players with low salaries who have yet to cash in a big contract.  The small market team must commit to a firesale because, with lower revenue the market generates than big market teams like the Yankees, the team is not in a financial position to keep the players long term once they become free agents and demand large contracts.  If the players are traded before they hit free agency, then the team can rebuild using the prospect returns from those trades instead of getting nothing back.  The disassembling of the 2003 squad was the second most famous such firesale, the most famous being after the 1997 World Champion Marlins were disassembled to become an 108-loss team just the very next season, setting a record for the most losses in a season following a championship.

No team can execute a firesale better than the Florida Marlins, but this raises a question.  How many other teams would need to execute a firesale?  The answer is not many.  The 1997 Marlins won the World Series with the 5th highest payroll in the league, a very rare figure for them, and fell to 27th the very next year.  The Marlins started new players at all eight position player spots!  Meanwhile, the 1996 Yankees won the World Series with some of the key players being shortstop Derek Jeter, closer Mariano Rivera, and ace Andy Pettitte.  The Yankees next won the World Series in 1998, and by then power hitting catcher Jorge Posada had joined the key players.  In 2009, eleven years and around $488 million later, Jeter, Rivera, Pettitte, and Posada all remained despite Pettitte's three year trip to Houston.  That's alarmingly close to the $581 million the Marlins have spent on players in the entire 18-year history of the franchise!  The Marlins clearly can't compete with that.

An overarching point here is that while many teams have made the World Series in recent years, the small to medium market teams aren't able to sustain the success.  Dynasties are not a thing that can be built by teams like the Marlins.  So it should be not surprise that the team that won six out of eight American League pennants from 1996-2003 was the New York Yankees.  Imagine if the Marlins had signed Moises Alou to a big contract extension after he helped them win the 1997 World Series, and the Marlins were able to take advantage of Alou's 225 career homers after 1997.  Who knows what the Marlins could have done with him as the center foundation for all of their young talent?  Unfortunately, we will never know.

The Florida (soon-to-be Miami) Marlins have hope.  In 2012, the gleaming new retractable roof stadium in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood will open, reinventing the entire franchise.  The new stadium will the kind of revenue the Marlins have never seen, and they will finally be able to sign at least one franchise player for a long time.  For other teams, like the other Florida team in the Tampa Bay Rays, such hope is not so easy to come by.  So for the other financially struggling small to medium market teams out there (the Pirates, Reds, Padres, Royals, Brewers, Diamondbacks, Mariners, Blue Jays, Athletics), I have some advice.  Don't trust the system; you can't just lay back, play a bunch of rookies and expect a turnaround.  Especially for the Royals and Pirates, a big change is needed if the young players are all duds.  A reinvented scouting and development department is in order, and the team should not be satisfied with the prospects until they are making a difference at the major league level.  For some teams, like the A's, a lack of revenue is hurting the franchise's potential.  In this case, every effort must be done to make the team relevant in the community.  This means having unique promotions to get the fans in the current ballpark and get the fans excited about the team's future.  Also, an increased focus on community outreach from the players should be involved; the community needs to know this isn't an organization utilizing the city, it's an organization representing the city.  Eventually, enough attention should be focused so that the government will help fund a new stadium.

To all small market teams out there, good luck.  Because although winning out of a small market may not be a huge challenge, sustaining it sure as hell is.  And although the Marlins have made the playoffs only twice and have never won their division but won the World Series twice since 1993, I hold more respect towards those accomplishments than I do for the Yankees' 17 playoff appearances and five championships during the same time frame.  After reading all this, I hope you do too.