Rangers Sign Roy Oswalt

The best team in the AL, just got a little better by signing Roy Oswalt to a one year deal, worth 5 to 6 million dollars.  Oswalt last pitched last year with the Phillies and was able to sign with Texas mostly because Neftali Feliz’s injury.  Oswalt should help the Rangers and be a good veteran presence in the rotation for the rest of the season for Texas.  I think he may reach a 4.00 ERA and stay there for a while and he might have a few bad starts getting into the swing of things and adjusting to the AL, but he should be a great number five guy and will be good for the postseason.  This is a big pitching addition for the Rangers midseason too.  Oswalt had a 3.69 ERA last season and he should be around that in the end.  Feliz may be moved back to the bullpen too and could be another great setup guy or even closer again.  Oswalt should continue to solidify his great career so far and he will bring a lot to the Rangers, this is a very good signing for the Rangers.  He won;t overpower you as much as he used to but he can still be very effective and get outs and he will just be a very good pitcher for the most part in Texas.

Giancarlo Stanton: MVP?

You readers may think it’s a bit early for MVP talk, but we’re close to being a third of the way through the season and that’s when MVP talk heats up as far as who’s going to be in the race, and I say why not Giancarlo Stanton?  Many young players have won the award lately, guys like Ryan Howard, Joe Mauer, and Ryan Braun.  Stanton had a bad April but since May he’s carried the Marlins offense for the most part, and he’s an iting player to watch, especially his homers.  He will be great all year and he will be very valuable and his defense won’t hurt them either.  Stanton is going to be a Hall of Fame caliber player one day, as long as nothing happens to him, and he will win MVPs and it will start right now.  He should have huge months like this one a few times this year and he should continue to be a front runner for this award all year and he will improve a ton on his numbers last year and his average and on base will rise a bit too and he could reach the range of a .300 average. Stanton is just so good, he is one if the best players in the NL right now and the main reason the Marlins are winning aside form their good pitching.

Tigers Get Spark in Quintin Berry

A few days ago the Tigers called up speedy outfielder Quintin Berry, to start in center while Austin Jackson recovered from an injury and DFA’d Collin Balester, who could still be a good reliever later this year for Detroit if not claimed.  Berry has been on fire, he’s done everything he showed he can provide a huge spark by using any of his tools, hitting, running, and fielding.  Now he likely won’t stay this good but he could be a useful bench player and a good injury replacement like he is now and if he continues to play anyway as near as he is now, he should stay with the ballclub and I see him helping a lot this year.  His speed is what the Tigers will like the most though, the need a guy who can steal second off the bench or have a small ball play to go along with the sluggers on the team.  If he does end up staying with the club, I’d say you’d have to DFA Don Kelly though, I like Raburn better than Kelly.  Berry will hit decent and just be a good and useful player, plus he reached safely in all five of his first games as a Tiger, the first to do so ever in Tigers history and that’s just a testament to his OBP ability.  I like Berry and him on this team.
A SEPARATE NOTE: The Tigers shouldn’t trade Turner unless the absolute right deal comes along and the reason why is, it’s always good to have an MLB ready arm in the minors like the Rays and later this year he can come up when Smyly is shut down.

MLB Power Rankings: 5-24-12

1. Dodgers
2. Orioles
3. Rangers
4. Nationals
5. Rays
6. Reds
7. Braves
8. Cardinals
9. Blue Jays
10. Marlins
11. Yankees
12. Indinas
13. Tigers
14. Phillies
15. Red Sox
16. Mets
17. Giants
18. Angels
19. Diamondbacks
20. White Sox
21. Athletics
22. Astros
23. Pirates
24. Brewers
25. Mariners
26. Rockies
27. Royals
28. Padres
29. Twins
30. Cubs

Most Valuable SS for 2012

1 Troy Tulowitzki
2 Jose Reyes
3 Starlin Castro
4 Derek Jeter
5 Asdrubal Cabrera
6 Jhonny Peralta
7 Elvis Andrus
8 JJ Hardy
9 Jimmy Rollins
10 Dee Gordon
11 Alexei Ramirez
12 Erick Aybar
13 Yunel Escobar
14 Rafael Furcal
15 Stephen Drew
16 Ian Desmond
17 Zack Cozart
18 Cliff Pennington
19 Ruben Tejada
20 Alcides Escobar

Most Valuable 3B for 2012

1 Miguel Cabrera
2 Evan Longoria
3 Adrain Beltre
4 Ryan Zimmerman
5 Alex Rodriguez
6 David Wright
7 Hanley Ramirez
8 Pablo Sandoval
9 Brett Lawrie
10 David Freese
11 Aramis Ramirez
12 Kevin Youkilis
13 Placido Polanco
14 Chase Headley
15 Chipper Jones
16 Juan Uribe
17 Ryan Roberts
18 Mike Moustakas
19 Scott Rolen
20 Kyle Seager
21 Pedro Alvarez

Most Valuable Second Baseman for 2012

1 Robinson Cano
2 Ian Kinsler
3 Dustin Pedroia
4 Brandon Phillips
5 Ben Zobrist
6 Dan Uggla
7 Rickie Weeks
8 Howie Kendrick
9 Chase Utley
10 Dustin Ackley
11 Jemile Weeks
12 Neil Walker
13 Omar Infante
14 Daniel Murphy
15 Danny Espinosa
16 Jose Altuve
17 Aaron Hill
18 Kelly Johnson
19 Freddy Sanchez
20 Jason Kipnis

The Most Valuable First Baseman

1 Albert Pujols
2 Joey Votto
3 Adrian Gonzalez
4 Prince Fielder
5 Mark Teixeira
6 Paul Konerko
7 Eric Hosmer
8 Freddie Freeman
9 Lance Berkman
10 Ryan Howard
11 Carlos Pena
12 Todd Helton
13 Adam LaRoche
14 Justin Morneau
15 Bryan LaHair
16 Paul Golschmidt
17 James Loney
18 Ike Davis
19 Justin Smoak
20 Edwin Encarnacion

Tigers Quarter Mark

THE IDEA: Famous Tigers Manager Sparky Anderson said you will know a lot about your team after 40 games, that’s true a lot of the time, but not always as proven by the 2011 Tigers
THE LOOK SO FAR: They are 20-21 through 41 games, but last season they struggled like this too and they have some slow starters that are starting to hit and pitch better such as Fielder, Young, Valverde and Scherzer.  Now just Avila and Peralta plus the bottom of the order, which it will sort out and the Tigers will win at least 90 games, very likely more and along with the line-up the bullpen will get a bit better at least and some acquisitions could boost the team a lot.  The rotation is really taking shape and the five arms in it, I like a lot.  This team is still good, they just need to put it all together for a few game and it will all take off, just like last year.  They might have already done that with Verlander and Scherzer’s great games and we will see if they can build a winning streak on this road trip, which could turn them around.
WHO’S HOT?
Miguel Cabrera: Average will rise and so will OBP, but he’s here for being the top offensive performer like usual and being above average, slightly, at third base.  He’s done what everyone’s expected and more, and he will do even better too.
Austin Jackson: He is hitting like 2010 again and with power, and that is the real Jackson and his defense is as good as usual
Andy Dirks: His will cool down a little bit but his power will stay and he will still hit very well.  He can stay in LF and may be able to keep starting and he’s been great
Justin Verlander: You know why he’s here
Drew Smyly: He wills struggle some, but for the most part he’s a dominant lefty and that’s what he will develop into too and he will be very useful this year
WHO’S COLD?:
Jose Valverde: Will warm-up
Prince FIelder: Not cold but will warm-up
Alex Avila: Will warm-up
Ryan Raburn- Second half will be his
Delmon Young- Will warm-up, do decent
Jhonny Perlata: Will warm-up
RECAP: Boesch will also be a big and good factor and the first 40 games aren’t that telling this year, this tigers team will heat up and June and July could be some of it’s best months.

MLB Power Rankings: 5/19/12

1. Dodgers
2. Rangers
3. Orioles
4. Braves
5. Cardinals
6. Rays
7. Nationals
8. Yankees
9. Blue Jays
10. Tigers
11. Marlins
12. Phillies
13. Red Sox
14. Angels
15. Mets
16. Giants
17. Indians
18. Diamondbacks
19. Reds
20. Athletics
21. Brewers
22. Pirates
23. White Sox
24. Astros
25. Rockies
26. Mariners
27. Royals
28. Cubs
29. Padres
30. Twins