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!

Hot Stove Buzz #2

It's been a very busy week of transactions, and here on Day 3 of the Winter Meetings we find ourselves with a whole bunch of players in new uniforms.

-The Padres have acquired Jason Bartlett in a trade with Tampa Bay for two relievers.  After losing Miguel Tejada to San Francisco, the Padres have their starting shortstop.  Bartlett had a very down year in 2010, surprisingly only hitting .254.
-The Cubs want Matt Garza, and are one of four teams going after him.  The Rays, on their end of the trade, want prospects according to Tim Dierkes of mlbtraderumors.com.  I think that these prospects are definitely going to be pitchers, preferably relievers.  Unfortunately, the Rays are unloading a lot of their guys and it kind of looks like rebuilding all over again.  They had a nice three year run in winning with a star-studded team, but their small market limitations have caught up to them.
-The Orioles acquired Mark Reynolds in a trade with the Diamondbacks.  Interestingly, the Orioles have been very active on the hot stove this offseason, something we don't usually see from them.  They are now also looking into acquiring Kevin Gregg and J.J. Hardy or Brendan Ryan.  Sounds like Buck Showalter brought that winning stuff to the air in Baltimore and the front office is finally picking up the slack and getting some deals moving.  This should be a memo to other perennially bad teams that don't have front offices willing to go after who they need.
-Who knows what is going to happen with Cliff Lee?  Lee's agent just left the hotel in Florida where the baseball Winter Meetings are, and this is annoying to general managers.  Specifically, the Yankees and Rangers' respective GMs would like to know if they are going to be dishing out $100+ million or not.  No biggie, though.
-The Nationals signed Jayson Werth to a 7 year deal worth $126 million.  Many in the baseball community consider the 8 year, $136 million deal from the Cubs with Alfonso Soriano to be one of the worst contracts of the 2000s considering Soriano, coming off a 40 homer-40 steal season, has never hit more than 33 homers or stolen more than 19 bases with the Cubs.  But let me make an argument to call this one a bad contract, right off the bat (no pun intended.  With Jayson Werth, we are looking at a guy that is 32, has 120 career homers, has 87 homers and 251 RBI in the last three years, but only had 33 homers and 155 RBI in his career before that.  Werth averaged 29 homers and nearly 18 steals from 2008-2010, so far the highlight years of his career.  Alfonso Soriano, on the other hand, had averaged more than 37 homers a season from 2002-2006, the five years before the signing, and had averaged more than 34 steals a season from 2001-2006, the six seasons before the signing.  Soriano was 30 when he was signed, two years younger than Werth.  In his four seasons on the Cubs, Soriano has averaged only 26 homers and 13 steals per season.  He's hitting for a low average now, has virtually no speed, is a minus defensively, and has a bat that can only be counted on for 20 homers a season.  With four years still remaining on Soriano's contract, he has gone from being a 40-40 player to a 20-5 player.  If Werth is 32, has only proven himself for three seasons, and had less talent to begin with, how long will it be before the Nationals realize they made a big mistake?  Werth was a late bloomer, so he probably has three more elite seasons.  But after that, who knows.  These elite contracts with huge salaries towards the end snuff out trade talks extremely fast, as the Cubs could tell you.
-Adam Dunn decided to come to Chicago, but to the wrong side.  The Sox signed Dunn for four years, $56 million.  This is a great signing because it fits the White Sox.  With a great hitters park in US Cellular Field, Dunn could hit upwards of 45 homers in 2011 and beyond.  The Tigers were the main competitor to get Dunn, but they were less aggressive after their signing of Victor Martinez because Martinez can play first base.  The Nationals weren't too happy about the signing, so they are forced to look for other options.  Sox GM Ken Williams tried to get Dunn at the trade deadline but a potential deal never materialized, so he was stuck with Manny Ramirez.  The Sox may deal some of their main guys like Carlos Quentin so it's good that whatever happens the Sox have a definite guy to bat cleanup everyday.
-Paul Konerko, also of the White Sox, signed a new deal with the Sox for three years and $37.5 million.  On MLB Network today, A.J. Pierzynski said that he knows for a fact that Konerko took a discount for coming back to his 'hometown'.  Now with Adam Dunn, these two make a great combo in the middle of the lineup that can be counted on for 75 homers.  Now that there is some big pop.

-Finally, Derek Jeter signed with the Yankees.  Of course, the Yankees overpaid with $51 million for three years, but Jeter still wasn't happy about it.  “To hear the organization tell me to go shop it when I just told you I wasn’t going to — if I’m going to be honest with you, I was angry about it,” said Jeter.  He can't complain about the money, though.  For a guy that in 2010 batted .270, his worst since his rookie season in 1995, hit only 10 homers, and stole only 18 bases, more than $15 million a year is out of the question.  The majority of that money is from respect for the Yankees all-time hits leader.  Personally, I think he should shut up and take the money.  I have no sympathy for a guy fighting over millions that don't even matter and are just a sign of respect.  If he's so generous and as great a guy as the media makes him sound, he wouldn't care about the money at this point.  But if anyone is dumb enough to give him that money, he should take it.
-Mariano Rivera signed for two years and $30 million with the Yankees.  And the reason you didn't hear nearly as much about it is because Rivera had the dignity to agree to a reasonable contract.  He didn't disrespect himself and the Yankees by making things difficult when there really were no other competitors in landing him.
-Aubrey Huff resigned with the Giants, being one of the key role players in the World Series run.  He only got a modest $22 million over two years, and although he is 33, he may have been able to get more money elsewhere.  Luckily for San Francisco, he signed before he could take any real time to examine other offers. 
-I'm going to go ahead and call a contract a bust.  Jorge de la Rosa, owner of a career 5.02 ERA, earned a two year, $21.5 million contract to stay with the Rockies.  De la Rosa only has a career K/BB ratio of 1.75, and I see another Oliver Perez contract in the making.  I'm sure De la Rosa is a great guy and all, but he's got to work on his control before I'm sold on a big contract for him, or even sold on him being anything more than a perennial #5 starter.
-This is very old news, but it needs to be stated.  Victor Martinez signed with the Tigers for $50 million and four years, a good signing because now you could see him at first base, catcher, or even DH.

-A.J. Pierzynski resigned with the White Sox for two years and $8 million.  He very nearly went to the Dodgers, but the deal fell through and he ends up with the Sox.

-Lance Berkman signed with the Cardinals for just one year and $8 million.  But with Albert Pujols at first base, where will he play, you wonder.  That's right, the Cardinals signed Lance Berkman at age 34 to do something he hasn't since 2007: play the outfield.  Try not to laugh.  There are going to be some 'Puma Moments in that outfield.

-Javier Vazquez got a year for $7 million from the Marlins.  The reason he only took only year is because he needs to rebuild his stock, something he can do in 2011 with his return to the NL.  His stock dropped significantly after a bad 2010 with the Yankees, and he wants to have a year this year similar to his 2009 with the Braves and then get a big multi-year contract to probably finish out his career.