My Friends And Colleagues Know Nothing
Yesterday a very interesting question started bouncing around in the MLB FanHouse Google group, and it's one that brought a lot of surprising answers. The question was, if you were starting your own baseball franchise, and could pick any one current pitcher and batter to start your team with, who would you pick?
I liked the question so much that I even started texting other friends with it as well, to see what they say. I didn't quite get all the answers. Here's a recap of who picked who.
- PostmanE - Clay Bucholz and David Wright
- Josh Alper - Brandon Webb and David Wright
- PostmanR - Cole Hamels and Jose Reyes
- Matt Watson - Jake Peavy and Chase Utley
- Mullet - Johan Santana and Manny Ramirez
- Will Brinson - Cole Hamels and David Wright
- Andrew Johnson - Brandon Webb and Justin Upton
- Jon Bois - Brandon Webb and Hanley Ramirez
- Pat Lackey - Jake Peavy and Chase Utley
- Nick Dallamora - Fausto Carmona and Hanley Ramirez
- Panger -
ErvinJohan Santana and Lance Berkman - JoeyMac - Johan Santana and Chase Utley
- My friend Bill - Johan Santana and Alex Rodriguez
Fifteen people answered this question, and of those fifteen, only two of them know what they're talking about. Who are those two people? Why they would be Silvio and I. Here are our picks.
- Silvio - Jake Peavy and Albert Pujols
- Fornelli - Brandon Webb and Albert Pujols
The question I have for the other thirteen people who answered this question now is: How the hell can you choose any other hitter in the league right now than Albert Pujols?I get the variety in the pitchers chosen, because there are a lot of good pitchers in the game today, and they tend to be streaky. What I don't get is how anybody in their right mind can choose David Wright or Hanley Ramirez over Pujols. Don't get me wrong, they're both good players, as are all the other guys named, but none of them are Pujols.
He's the most feared hitter in the game, why would you want anybody else?
So far this season Albert is hitting .355/.505/.601, with eight homers and 27 RBI. No, that isn't a misprint either, he actually has an OBP of .505. He's on base over half the time.
This isn't exactly a new trend for Albert, either, as in his career he's a .332/.423/.620 hitter, and has averaged 40 home runs, 123 RBI, and 85 walks a season. He's already been walked 41 times in 2008, so I'm guessing that he's going to go well over his career high 0f 99 last season.
Also, did I mention that he's a Gold Glover at first base? And that he's still only 28?
Hanley Ramirez, David Wright, and Chase Utley are all going to have nice careers when things are said and done, but I'll guarantee you they won't come close to anything Albert is going to do.
I'd love to hear what the rest of you think in the comments.
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7 comments:
I actually meant Johan... it was a typo. Remind me never to respond to one of your emails while driving my car.
In fact, remind me never to respond to your emails, period.
"In fact, remind me never to respond to your emails, period."
Ok, but I'm sending the reminder in an email.
Now that Tom has declared I am smarter than a few people, I don't think I have anything else to live for.
Hold your head up high!
The fact that his elbow is about to explode doesn't scare you?
No, the fact that his elbow is about to explode and he's still putting up these ridiculous numbers should scare everyone else.
He'll have it fixed in the offseason anyway.
I disagree with this.
"And that he's still only 28?"
He's 28. David Wright is 25. Hanley Ramirez is 24. Justin Upton is 20. Relative to this group, he is old.
"Hanley Ramirez, David Wright, and Chase Utley are all going to have nice careers when things are said and done, but I'll guarantee you they won't come close to anything Albert is going to do."
That's either not true or not relevant. It's not true if you're talking about from here on out. And it's not relevant if you're talking about their entire careers. If you're starting a team today, you don't get the 290 homers he's hit. Those don't help you.
I'm not sure who I'd take- maybe Wright, possibly Upton. Maybe even Pujols. Either way, picking those other guys is entirely reasonable, IMO.
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