MLB Power Rankings

Through 7/29

1. Tampa Bay Rays (63-43)
2. St. Louis Cardinals (62-41)
3. Pittsburgh Pirates (62-42)
4. Oakland Athletics (63-43)
5. Boston Red Sox (63-44)
6. Atlanta Braves (61-45)
7. Detroit Tigers (59-45)
8. Los Angeles Dodgers (56-48)
9. Baltimore Orioles (58-48)
10. Cincinnati Reds (59-48)
11. Texas Rangers (57-49)
12. Cleveland Indians (57-48)
13. Arizona Diamondbacks (54-51)
14. New York Yankees (55-50)
15. Kansas City Royals (51-51)
16. Washington Nationals (52-54)
17. Seattle Mariners (50-55)
18. Colorado Rockies (51-56)
19. Philadelphia Phillies (49-56)
20. Chicago Cubs (48-56)
21. Los Angeles Angels (48-56)
22. Toronto Blue Jays (48-57)
23. New York Mets (47-56)
24. San Diego Padres (49-58)
25. San Francisco Giants (46-58)
26. Minnesota Twins (45-57)
27. Milwaukee Brewers (44-61)
28. Chicago White Sox (40-63)
29. Miami Marlins (40-64)
30. Houston Astros (35-69)

MLB Midseason Awards

My opinions on who's been the best in the Big Leagues.

American League MVP:

1. Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers
2. Chris Davis, Baltimore Orioles
3. Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox

National League MVP:

1. Paul Goldschmidt, Arizona Diamondbacks
2. Yadier Molina, Saint Louis Cardinals
3. Carlos Gonzalez, Colorado Rockies

 American League Cy Young:

1. Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners
2. Hiroki Kuroda, New York Yankees
3. Max Scherzer, Detroit Tigers

National League Cy Young:

1. Jeff Locke, Pittsburgh Pirates
2. Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers
3. Patrick Corbin, Arizona Diamondbacks

 American League Reliever of the Year:

1. Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees
2. Grant Balfour, Oakland Athletics
3. Joe Nathan, Texas Rangers

 National League Reliever of the Year:

1. Jason Grilli, Pittsburgh Pirates
2. Edward Mujica, Saint Louis Cardinals
3. Craig Kimbrel, Atlanta Braves

American League Manager of the Year:

1. John Farrell, Boston Red Sox
2. Terry Francona, Cleveland Indians
3. Joe Girardi, New York Yankees

 National League Manager of the Year:

1. Clint Hurdle, Pittsburgh Pirates
2. Mike Matheny, Saint Louis Cardinals
3. Walt Weiss, Colorado Rockies

American League Gold Gloves:
C - Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins
1B -  Brandon Moss, Oakland Athletics
2B - Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox
3B - Manny Machado, Baltimore Orioles
SS - Yunel Escobar, Tampa Bay Rays
OF - Alex Gordon, Kansas City Royals
OF - Michael Brantley, Cleveland Indians
OF - Dayan Viciedo, Chicago White Sox

National League Gold Gloves:
C - Russell Martin, Pittsburgh Pirates
1B - Anthony Rizzo, Chicago Cubs
2B - Darwin Barney, Chicago Cubs
3B - Chase Headley, San Diego Padres
SS - Pete Kozma, Saint Louis Cardinals
OF - Carlos Gomez, Milwaukee Brewers
OF - Domonic Brown, Philadelphia Phillies
OF - Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh Pirates

American League Silver Sluggers:
C - Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins
1B - Chris Davis, Baltimore Orioles
2B - Robinson Cano, New York Yankees
3B - Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers
SS - Jhonny Peralta, Detroit Tigers
OF - Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels
OF - Adam Jones, Baltimore Orioles
OF - Nelson Cruz, Texas Rangers
DH - David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox

National League Silver Sluggers:
C - Yadier Molina, Saint Louis Cardinals
1B - Paul Goldschmidt, Arizona Diamondbacks
2B - Brandon Phillips, Cincinnati Reds
3B - David Wright, New York Mets
SS - Jean Segura, Milwaukee Brewers
OF - Michael Cuddyer, Colorado Rockies
OF - Carlos Gonzalez, Colorado Rockies
OF - Domonic Brown, Philadelphia Phillies

Justin Verlander...All-Star?

Justin Verlander was recently named to the 2013 American League All-Star Game roster. Why? There are two reasons.

Reason 1: His reputation.
Justin Verlander (probably correctly) is considered by many to be the best pitcher in baseball. It's been a near-unanimous opinion since his MVP season two years ago.

Reason 2: Jim Leyland picked the players.
This is one of the many reasons why I hate the Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

There are more reasons to NOT pick him, however.

Reason 1: What Dan Uggla is to All-Star hitters/fielders, Verlander is to pitchers.
The 2012 All-Star Game was a lame one, with virtually no suspense. Justin Verlander's first inning is a huge reason why. He gave up 5 runs (only one fewer than AL had hits for the game) and put his team out of contention, eventually screwing his own Detroit Tigers out of homefield advantage (though that didn't have any impact on the World Series).

Reason 2: He has a 1.36 WHIP
For those of you who don't know what a WHIP is, just know that not only is 1.36 not very good, it's actually kind of bad.

Reason 3: Other people deserved it.
I hate bringing up snubs because it's hard enough to pick players for this game, but when there's Hiroki Kuroda out there, with a .77 lower ERA and .33 lower WHIP, it's hard not to do this.

Verlander has a decent ERA, a mediocre WHIP, and a good amount of strikeouts. He's not All-Star material this year, especially with guys like Hirok out there.

Everything Wrong with Libertarianism Summed Up in One Person

Edward Snowden. He's the man who recently leaked the information about the NSA listening in on American citizens' phone calls. He did so, he says, in defense of the Constitution; he believes that what the NSA was doing is illegal, and he sees himself as a sort of whistleblower for the federal government.

As expected, the government wasn't as understanding. He's been condemned largely by both democrats and republicans, though he has been praised by some. Republican senator with libertarian sensibilities, Rand Paul of Kentucky, reportedly agrees with Snowden's decision. No surprise there, either.

Snowden's dodging of the American justice system has shown the true hypocrisy of libertarianism. They're all for defending the Constitution until they can benefit from the opposite. If Snowden is trying to defend the Constitution, there's no denying that he should be adhering to the legal system that the same document created. Even if he wanted to argue that a charge of espionage by the federal government is virtually impossible to win, there is precedent to say otherwise; the Pentagon Papers actually proves to be a great comparison.

Snowden, in his libertarian logic, has sought refuge within nations that are by no means breeding grounds for liberty. He's been in Communist China and he's been in discussion with Communist Cuba as well as Russia, seeking asylum from an American justice system that has every right to charge him for espionage.

The childish libertarian philosophy extends beyond Snowden, however. I am still amazed that at this day and age libertarian economics exists. Are we truly to believe that if libertarians are okay with Snowden avoiding justice, that they'd be okay with their own "screw the poor" attitude if they were any less fortunate? This may sound somewhat trivial but I argue that it is not; libertarianism has far too many holes in it to be a growing political movement.

What I Don't Get About All the LeBron Hatred

LeBron James has been the most hated person in professional sports since the Decision on July 8, 2010. He joined the Miami Heat to team up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, with the intention of winning multiple championships. As of tonight, he has now won multiple championships.

There are multiple things I don't get about all the hatred that has been going his way. The first one is that LeBron is far from the first person to try to do this. Does anyone remember when Karl Malone gave up on his hopes of having the most points all time to join up with Kobe Bryan, Shaquille O'Neal, and Gary Payton on the Los Angeles Lakers? While it's true this team lost to the Pistons in the NBA Finals, there is another recent example of this kind of thing. While the Boston Celtics traded for Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett in 2007, the situation was still somewhat comparable. This team of course won the Finals that year, with the help of the emerging Rajon Rondo.

Another thing I don't get about all the hate is why 100% of it is directed at LeBron and none of it at ESPN, for airing the Decision. If I had to take a guess, I'd bet it was ESPN's idea, and they approached him. LeBron, being a young man who wasn't fully matured at the time (he's been a celebrity since he was in high school), said yes, and at the very least chose to donate the proceeds to charity. The 2013 LeBron James would not have done the TV special. He wouldn't have used the oft-criticized phrase "taking [his] talents to South Beach." Would he have done the "not 6, not 7, etc.?" Probably, but he would have said it in a different way; you can't expect someone to say his team isn't going to win a championship. He wouldn't have done that awkward event in Miami with Bosh, Wade, and all the smoke. Okay, he might have still done that. But the point is that he's changed and matured a great deal since that, to a point in which most of the hate is unjustifiable.

LeBron left the team that gave him his start and was so good to him? No one batted an eye when Shaq signed as a free agent with the Lakers despite taking the Magic to an NBA Finals. No one bats an eye when players leave their universities that bring them so much fame after one year, even when they are taking less money than they'd be getting at Kentucky. Does it make a difference that LeBron James is from Ohio? I don't know, maybe. This is a guy who had spent his entire life in Ohio, never even going away to college or anything; I think it was about time he thought for himself and not for a bunch of people trying to live vicariously through him.

And now you want to hate him for saying he's going to win again. And this is different from Steph Curry saying the Warriors are going to win how? This is what we call bulletin board material, here, people, and guys like Durant, Paul George, and Chris Paul should be prepping to shove those words right back in his face. Otherwise, the casual fan shouldn't be using these words against his character; I don't want a player on my team who doesn't say he'll win another championship. It's not like he's saying this while playing for the Pistons or something.

I also think it's pretty damn funny that so many people who hate LeBron for going to Miami to win were wanting him to go and team up with Carmelo to win or to team up with Rose and Boozer. Hypocrisy at its finest.

15 Things We Learned from Game 6 of the NBA Finals

The entire series has been educational. We've learned that Mike Miller is occasionally capable of running without wincing in pain, we've learned that Danny Green is the best 3-point shooter in the league, that Tony Parker is very clutch, and that Dwyane Wade truly was faking injuries the entire postseason. Last night was the most educational yet, however, and this is what we all learned:

1. Mike Miller only needs one shoe to score. This was an awesome moment although it really wasn't that big of a deal.
2. Chris Bosh can defend perimeter jumpers. Even if you want to complain that the last one was a foul, the one he had earlier in the overtime period was as athletic a play as I've ever seen.
3. The Spurs need Danny Green. Despite having an off night, they still could have won, but it's clear how important he is.
4. LeBron James plays better with Dwyane Wade out. I think it's probably a combination of him being great off the dribble, having more space to work with, and being less likely to pass with D-Wade out. Most of the 4th quarter comeback happened this way.
5. Tim Duncan is still a god. While he was somewhat quiet in the second half, his first half was the best performance by anyone we've seen all series.
6. Ray Allen still has it. If the Heat go on to win the series, that 3 by Allen to force overtime will go down as one of the greatest shots in NBA history, and rightly so. Allen, at the end of his career and despite being a bench player, had a shot that Robert Horry or Michael Jordan would have been jealous of.
7. The Spurs play so much better when they go big. We saw it at the end of regulation, when Duncan wasn't in and the Heat cleaned up on the offensive boards.
8. LeBron James is clutch. It's been a misnomer for a while to say that he's not clutch; he undoubtedly brings his game up a notch during crunch time and has been outstanding with the Heat when they are facing elimination.
9. The Spurs should attack Mike Miller every possession on offense. I've said this for a while, but Miller's five fouls (admittedly one or two were more than questionable calls) show me that Miller doesn't have the speed or quickness to move his feet and stay with anyone. He relies on his body to slow down the offensive player, and that's where the foul is called.
10. Referees hate Manu Ginobili and I can't blame them. I'm not referring to the no-call at the end of overtime; I cannot possibly complain about that call, considering Ginobili committed one of the worst traveling violations I've ever seen. I'm referring to a few minutes earlier in the game when he was quite literally tackled to the ground after getting a rebound. He threw the ball away to Tony Parker right before he hit the ground but there was no call. Even if that's incidental contact, if the player with the ball hits the ground and either has a traveling violation or has to throw the ball away in desperation, that's gotta be called. Him not getting calls may have something to do with him being the worst flopper in history since either Reggie Miller or Allen Iverson. Good for the refs; that stuff has to stop.
11. Danny Green's transition defense is LeBron James' kryptonite. This is probably going too far, but the play he made on James that was completely CLEAN was incredible.
12. Tony Parker can flop with the best of them. The Ray Allen offensive foul was a good call. Parker clearly flopped but Allen also clearly pushed off. TP3 got another call in similar fashion, exaggerating it with his head going back. Still, though, those were both rightly called fouls. Sometimes you have to exaggerate when you know you should be getting a call, I guess.
13. Tiago Splitter isn't as bad as everyone has said he is. He may not be great, but he had some great buckets in the fourth quarter against tough, aggressive defense.
14. The referee's union should probably try and persuade ABC to not let Van Gundy call games. He's never once been satisfied with a referee's call and he lets everyone watching the game in their living rooms know about it.
15. The word "clutch" is overused by announcers and probably everybody. I don't know how clutch a 3 by LeBron James is after he bricks the first one in a way that it barely hits the rim. He was fed the ball and he made it the second time. I argue the same thing with Kawhi Leonard's free throws. It would have been clutch if he made both, but the announcer still claims it's clutch that he made his second after missing the first. Whatever.

Steroids in Baseball

            As an American—as a man brought up on the Bill of Rights and habeas corpus as much as I was on baseball—I have a number of problems with the MLB’s investigation into the Biogenesis program. Biogenesis director Tony Bosch has agreed to cooperate with Major League Baseball as it wishes to pursue suspensions in twenty MLB players including Alex Rodriguez and the Milwaukee Brewers’ Ryan Braun.

            Major League Baseball’s evidence comes completely in two forms as of now: Bosch’s testimony and acquired handwritten documents. No Major League player has ever been suspended for PEDs without failing a drug test, and there is no reason to believe that this investigation would be able to obtain that kind of evidence. A number of questions are raised with the documents themselves, as Braun has stated that his name was on strictly for pursuing legal advice from Bosch last season after he had failed a test—a test that did not see him suspended due to a successful appeal. These documents, as unprofessional as they may be, would likely found permissible in a court of law, but the area is gray in whether or not they are reliable.

            In the realm of “beyond reasonable doubt”—a concept that still seems to confuse and puzzle juries today—there is always the possibility of Rodriguez, Braun, or Melky Cabrera buying PEDs for someone else’s use, as improbable as this explanation may be. This, while still violating the law, would not find them worthy of suspension in Major League Baseball’s eyes.

            Bosch’s testimony itself may bring up more questions than answers, as it is clear that he is testifying in order to get the MLB to drop the civil suit it has against him. This is certainly something that a good lawyer hired by these athletes can and will pick apart, in addition to things like the lack of signatures on the documents and no seeming way to trace any money Biogenesis received to these players.

            With all these questions having been raised, Major League Baseball may still be able to suspend these athletes. Since they are a private organization not pursuing criminal charges against these players as of now, they do not need evidence beyond a reasonable doubt to suspend. While this could outrage the MLBPA and lead to perhaps more lawsuits, it appears that Major League Baseball would be acting within legal boundaries to perform such an action. Just because no one has been suspended without failing a drug test does not mean that this cannot happen; it just means that the MLB has not pursued a case with as much zeal as the one right now.

            Then why the federal investigation? Why put Bosch under sworn testimony if these athletes do not see the same protection against Major League Baseball’s steroid witch-hunt as an alleged murderer or rapist would get from the prosecutors? The lack of hard evidence may very well find these athletes not guilty in a criminal court, but that will not necessarily keep them from facing 100-game suspensions.

            I have little doubt in my mind that most if not all of these players are guilty of using performance enhancing drugs, but that is not the point of this investigation. The MLB had no doubt about Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and numerous other ex-players but was unable to do anything there except waste tax dollars on hearings and investigations that lasted years. This is no different, save for the fact that these players are still playing. The reliance on federal help is still there, and the hard evidence isn’t.

            This scandal has additionally proven to us all that Major League Baseball’s anti-drug policy has utterly failed. Players like Yankee first baseman Mark Teixeira—teammate to alleged Biogenesis clients Alex Rodriguez and Francisco Cervelli—have remarked upon the strictness of the MLB’s anti-drug policy and how baseball still apparently has a PED problem. It seems as if Major League Baseball should devote more time to adjusting its current policy than attacking its players without any hard evidence.