Manny Retires From Baseball His Own Way

(Originally published 4/15/11 in "The Montclarion")

 

Manny Ramirez, who struggled through one week with the Tampa Bay Rays before retiring after a second failed drug test, will likely see his reputation of being one of the best hitters of the last 20 years tarnished by controversy. 

Manny Ramirez always wanted to do his own thing in his own way. Whether it was climbing the left field wall and high-fiving a fan in the crowd after making the last out in an inning, or his sudden need to use the bathroom through a door in the Green Monster, Manny Ramirez was just being himself. “Manny being Manny,” as the popular saying goes. He may have topped all his other antics with the sudden news that he is going to retire from Major League Baseball at age 38.


The thought that maybe he left the game because he couldn’t keep up any more, his bat speed had slowed down or because he wasn’t the same player without steroids are all reasonable, but the real reason for his retirement was due to a likely 100-game suspension for performance-enhancing drugs. This is the second time Ramirez has been caught illegally using them and the third time he’s been caught since the steroids issue became public in 2002. Rather than face the inevitable 100-game suspension and lose out on most of his $2 million contract with the Rays, Ramirez decided to call it a career.

Manny Ramirez, who struggled through one week with the Tampa Bay Rays before retiring after a second failed drug test, will likely see his reputation of being one of the best hitters of the last 20 years tarnished by controversy.

Assuming he hasn’t blown all of his money, Ramirez has enough to live a happy retirement doing whatever he chooses. His decision to use steroids again may be arrogant, ignorant, conceited, stupid, or a little of each, but he had nothing to lose. His career was virtually over. He could have tried and padded some of his stats to appease the Hall of Fame voters, but the numbers aren’t going to be the reason he gets in or out. His numbers are amazing, but they’re tainted.

If Ramirez wants to get into the Hall of Fame he, along with all the other cheaters, have to hope that Barry Bonds gets elected. Mark McGwire, Alex Rodriguez and Ramirez have no chance of getting in if the homerun leader doesn’t get the nod. The League wouldn’t be able to leave Ramirez out while letting the others in, but at the rate the voters are leaning, none of these players are going to make it.

It’s comical that Ramirez thought he could get away with using steroids again. After his last failed drug test and 50-game suspension in 2009, he was bound to get tested more frequently and be under a more watchful eye. Everyone saw the effects and how poorly he played when he was off steroids, but suddenly he was able to find his stroke?

The “Mannywood” that once lived in Los Angeles faded into the desolate stadium that the Rays currently play in known as Tropicana Field. You never know what to expect from Ramirez. I picked him in the last round of my fantasy baseball draft just to see if he could do anything this year and surprise everyone like he routinely does. Instead, he did something we all really shouldn’t have been too surprised about.

Spring Training Calls for Another Chapter of Yankees-Red Sox

(Originally published 2/16/11 in "The Montclarion" -- online only)

The Yankees' weakness may be at the back of the rotation, where they are banking on arms like Freddy Garcia to come through.

The biggest free-agent signing the New York Yankees made this 2010-2011 off-season was the $35 million setup-man Rafael Soriano, a move made to tighten up their bullpen as well as give the team an outlet to a future closer if he holds up in the New York spotlight and follows up with the great year he had last season. But other than Soriano, and other than having to retain their own (Jeter, Rivera), the Yankees’ only big move was the signing of catcher Russell Martin to a one-year contract, and bringing in Pedro Feliciano on a two-year deal to be their lefty specialist.


Their rivals, on the other hand, have taken a more aggressive approach and have recruited a couple of superstars. The Boston Red Sox traded a few prospects for first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, a lefty that’s bound to take advantage of Fenway Park. Boston also signed Carl Crawford, the most coveted position player in the free-agent market with a tremendous amount of speed, agility, and power. Boston was also more conventional than the Yankees with their signing of ex-White Sox closer, Bobby Jenks, to a $12 million contract over two years – half the price, per-season, than Rafael Soriano.

So did the Boston Red Sox surpass the Yankees and Tampa Bay this season as the top team in the American League East?

Games aren’t decided on paper, but if they were, the Red Sox would have the early edge. Sure, they lost stars Adrian Beltre and Victor Martinez, but Beltre only produced during his contract year (again) and is invisible every other season, and Martinez’s future is either as a first baseman or a designated hitter, something Boston has covered.

The Yankees’ only significant loss was the retirement of Andy Pettitte, but with that came the revelation that the Yankees’ starting rotation is only a notch above the New York Mets and probably of equal caliber if Johan Santana was healthy – not a good thing for Yankee fans.

C.C. Sabathia, Phil Hughes, AJ Burnett and two unidentified yet unnerving back-end rotation pitchers is being compared to Boston’s rotation that consists of Josh Beckett, Clay Buchholz, John Lackey, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Jon Lester, a rotation that has a few aces and number two-caliber pitchers. Sabathia can only pitch so much, and the Yankees are hoping recently-acquired Bartolo Calon and Freddy Garcia can pitch like it was 2005.

Boston’s first six lineup spots tops the Yankees’ lineup through the same order, but tails off with the bottom three projected lineup spots, which is where the Yankees’ lineup remains solid and reliable. But which heart of the order would you rather face?

Boston is projected to have Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez and Kevin Youkilis batting 3-4-5 while the Yankees are projected to have Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano as their 3-4-5 hitters. I’d give it a push, at this point, before the season begins; either lineup could produce just as well as the other, though Teixeira is known to not show up until one month of the baseball season has passed.

The first two projected lineup spots are what give Boston the lead. The Yankees have Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher as the 1-2 hitters while Boston has a much younger and leaner top two hitters with Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia. If Derek Jeter were a few years younger I would give it to the Yankees, but he isn’t as quick as Ellsbury is in center field, and loses some flare when it comes to attempting to steal a base. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Granderson batting leadoff with Jeter hitting two if Jeter doesn’t get off to a fast start; at this point in his career he‘s more of a contact hitter than a speed threat.*

When the season ends Boston may be the division champion, but there’s no disputing that the Yankees will be close behind and should definitely secure a wild card spot. From there the Evil Empire can topple Red Sox Nation in the playoffs, because regardless of the year, importance of the game or timing of the series, the Yankees and Red Sox always play each other well, and if it comes down a New York/Boston series – as it seems like it does every season – it can go either way.

*Projected lineups were referenced from rotochamp.com as of Feb. 13, 2011; lineups this early are never permanent and are based off of pure speculation.

An Inside Look at the MLB Postseason

(Originally published 10/6/10 in "The Montclarion"; this isn't a column but a special for that week's specific issue on the MLB postseason)

The 2010 MLB season is over and the playoffs are about to begin. The Pittsburgh Pirates sit at their rightful place at the bottom of the league, next to the Washington Nationals and Seattle Mariners. But at the other end of the spectrum we have the Philadelphia Phillies posting the best record in the major leagues, the New York Yankees returning (yet again) to the playoffs and the 20-year-old Bobby Cox bringing his Atlanta Braves to a familiar place, squeezing in with a Wild Card birth on the last day of the season.

Yankee’s third baseman Alex Rodriguez hopes to lead his team back to the World Series in the 2010 playoffs.

Since removing the ‘devil’ from their name, the Tampa Bay Rays have been impressing everyone. They’ve been a team for only a dozen years, but find themselves atop the monstrous AL East with the best record in the American League.

They’re hosting the Texas Rangers in the American League Division Series, opening with Cliff Lee for the Rangers and David Price for the Rays. Lee is a more established pitcher and will demand millions this off season for his services, but he’s been struggling mightily since joining the Rangers, while David Price has been stellar for the Rays.

The jovial Rays have been limping recently, but should pose a huge threat for the Rangers. The Rays pitching outmatches the Rangers, and although Texas has Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz in their lineup, the Rays have Carl Crawford, BJ Upton and Evan Longoria to name a few. The edge in every aspect points towards the Rays. If the series reaches four games, it’s a disappointment for them. They should take this series easily.

The Minnesota Twins are back in the postseason, and they find themselves in an unfortunate yet familiar situation as well, playing the Yankees. They haven’t fared well in the past, and that trend doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon.

Yankee castoff Carl Pavano will be pitching the first game of the series; that alone should highlight the way this series will go, but Pavano hasn’t been having too bad of a year. That being said, the Yankees have CC Sabathia, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira and many more. The Twins have Joe Mauer but are playing without Justin Morneau who’s out of the series recovering from a concussion. The Yankees are most likely going to be meeting the Rays in the American League Championship Series, winning this series against the Twins as easily as the Rays are going to beat the Rangers.

From there it becomes a dog fight. If the Championship series does end up being the Rays versus the Yankees, it’ll be a showdown to the final game. The Rays outdid the Yankees in the regular season, winning 10 out of 18 games, but the Yankees are a more established team. When it comes down to the wire there is a much greater chance for the Yankees to be clutch than the Rays, but anything is possible. Neither the Twins nor the Braves will be able to beat both powerhouses in the American League. Getting to the World Series for them is going to be a huge uphill climb.

The Braves reach the playoffs for Bobby Cox’s last year before retiring as manager. They face a tough task against the San Francisco Giants, and sit as a weak team coming into the playoffs. Their lineup is average and their pitching is good, but the Giants are throwing Tim Lincicum and Matt Cain on the hill for the first two games. Derick Lowe and Tim Hudson have to be just as good as the Giants rotation to keep the Braves in the series. Splitting one of the first two games would be an advantage to the Braves, who would then bring it back to Atlanta to possibly close out. But being as the Divisional Series is a best-of-five format, they don’t have much breathing room if they can’t win one against the Giants pitching staff. This series will feature a lot of low scoring games. If it does go to five games, expect one of the premiere pitchers for both clubs to return, possibly for game four as well.

The feel-good story of this season belongs to the Cinncinatti Reds. Led by Joey Votto, the Reds surprised almost everyone by taking the National League Central Division that most figured would easily belong to the St. Louis Cardinals. But they open on the road against the powerhouse Phillies. This series is going to run pretty similar to the Rays/Rangers series. The Phillies have Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and a rotation that can feature three aces. Regardless of which game it is, the Phillies are going to have either Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt or Cole Hamels on the mound. It may not be luck that got the Reds to the playoffs, but they’ll need some to get past Philadelphia.

The winner of the Braves/Giants series will most likely go against the Phillies, which is a scary thought. The Phillies shouldn’t waste much energy and should be more refreshed than either of the other teams. Though the National League Championship series will be more competitive, they will still be the overwhelming favorite to reach the World Series for the third straight year. If the Reds manage to win against the Phillies, the Championship Series will be an even match. The Giants or Braves will be favored over the Reds, and will probably beat them if they get through, but any of those three teams will be less than likely to take down the team representing the American League in the World Series. The National League may have home field advantage (courtesy of winning the All-Star Game for the first time in 13 years) but the National League’s best shot at winning lies with the Phillies, and even they will have a close match with what will be the Yankees or the Rays.

The playoffs bring high adrenaline and a nostalgia for teams that’s unlike anything during the regular season. Though certain teams should win easily, it’s anybody’s game.