Why You Want an Astros Jersey in Two Years

The Astros have been really bad the past four years. Like, really, really bad. From the 2011 season to today, the Astros have put up a total record of 186-356. The past three seasons they have lost over 100 games (in fact they had double the losses at 162-324), including losing 15 in a row to end the 2013 season. That’s just really unfortunate. They’ll have the number one pick three years in a row with the 2014 first-year player draft next month.

In the 2012 draft, they selected Carlos Correa out of high school, a shortstop. Good pick, and he’s ranked as the 7^th best overall prospect according to mlb.com. In 2013, they selected Mark Appel, a great pitcher ranked as the #14 prospect. Appel actually was drafted in 2012 by the Pirates, but chose not to sign, so they were lucky that they had the chance to get him.

Or were they? The problem with these two picks is that there were other options that were arguably better. In 2012, they surprised everyone by picking Correa instead of taking Byron Buxton, who would go #2 in the draft by the Twins. Correa is a great shortstop with excellent power and is killing it in the minors, but Buxton has everything – power, speed, a deadly arm, etc. Buxton is ranked as the #1 prospect and is supposed to come into the majors in 2015. Correa, however, won’t be coming until 2016.

The same goes with Appel. Once again a fine choice, but they could have also selected Kris Bryant, who is now ranked as the 8^th best prospect, but is killing in the minor leagues. The Cubs needed pitching, but they couldn’t have passed up with Bryant. Once again, Appel is doing fine, but probably won’t come until late 2015.

This year they will go with some pitcher as number one in the draft, and then they will be stacked with pitching in their farm system. They will select from either Brady Aiken, Carlos Rodon, or Tyler Kolek as their pick, all pitchers.

The rest of their farm system sums up the best in the league. Jon Singleton has power, and is the number one first base prospect. Lance McCullers and Mike Foltynewicz are their next two big pitchers, with both probably coming in 2015. They also have speed in Delino DeShields Jr., who has more speed than his Dad, who stole 463 bases in his 13-year career.

The prospects look great, but for now it’s about the present. Surprisingly, they are not as bad as you would think for a team that actually loses more games each season. They have now won seven in a row, and, though still 8 games under .500, is the hottest team in baseball.

It’s no fluke. Things are coming together for them. Dallas Keuchel is 6-2, and looks to get his 7^th win tonight. But it’s all about Jose Altuve and George Springer.

These two guys are going to be all the talk in a few years. Altuve, who is more known for the picture on the right as of now, is the captain of this team and will be for years to come. He currently leads the AL in hits (77), at bats (238), and stolen bases (20), while putting up a .324/.366/.437 line. He’s only 24 years old.

George Springer was the first prospect to come up in this new rebuilding program, and has shown nothing but greatness to the fans. He got off to a slow start at first, but since this winning streak he is batting over .400. He now has 10 home runs and 29 RBI’s in just 39 games. He too is just 24 years old.

They are not there yet. They need Correa and Appel in order to compete. But add one more #1 pick, and this team might become the best team in the AL in 2016. Will they lose 100 games this year? Maybe. But this past week has shown that Springer is good, Altuve is one of the best second baseman in the league, and most importantly, they have potential.

Weekly Sports Update with Brendan Dzwierzynski

I had the chance to talk with Brendan Dzwierzynski of Press Box Opinions about this week in baseball, the first conversation of many to come. 

Brendan: Alright, first off, Who are your three hottest teams right now?

Evan: The three teams that are red hot right now are the Oakland Athletics, the LA Angels, and the Toronto Blue Jays. The Athletics look like the best team in baseball, now the only team with 30 wins. They can hit any opponent and have great pitching. They’re the only team that I’ve seen take advantage of pitchers like Yu Darvish and King Felix Hernandez. 

The LA Angels are a bit surprising to me, but they have really clicked with not only offense as they have been in the past, but pitching has done a lot better since last year. Jered Weaver has an ERA under 3 thus far, Albert Pujols is doing a nice job hitting for most of the power on the team, and Mike Trout has broken out of the slump that he was in at the beginning of May. 

And how about the Blue Jays? They have won 8 of their last 10 and are in first place in the division. They just swept the Red Sox on the road, too, which is still impressive despite Boston struggling this year.

Brendan: Speaking of the Blue Jays, Mark Buehrle has been incredible this year, frankly. 8-1 with a 2.16 ERA? Did you see this coming? I love Buehrle but I never expected this.

Evan: Yeah I didn’t really either! Last year he put up fine numbers, but nothing like this year. He’s not much of a strikeout pitcher, but his low WHIP has covered that up. Plus the Blue Jays have a great offense and put up good run support for him.

Brendan: WHIP is a highly underrated stat (Walks/Hits per Inning Pitched). Alright, on the topic of pitchers, who are your top three in the game right now, in terms of performance this season. I think you can definitely make the argument for Buehrle.

Evan: WHIP is a great stat, and the guy with the lowest WHIP is Johnny Cueto. He’s only 4-2 but he’s been phenomenal. He is 2nd in ERA only to Jeff Samardzija, who can’t get a break this year. He leads the MLB in ERA and ERA-plus, which adjusts for ballpark effects. Don’t let an 0-4 record deceive how good he is. The other guy I’d say is in the top three is Adam Wainwright, who already has seven wins and right now is my favorite for NL Cy Young. Shout outs to Buehrle, Sonny Gray, Felix Hernandez, and Yu Darvish as well.

Brendan: Samardzija has been phenomenal, it’s really a shame his team can’t score at all for him. You could argue he’s had an even better season than fellow Chicago (albeit White Sox) player Jose Abreu.

Evan: He probably has been, especially since Abreu (like much of the White Sox team) is on the DL. It’ll be interesting to see if the Cubs want to trade Jeff. The Yankees have been interested in him and other Cub pitcher Jason Hammel.

Brendan: I love seeing Samardzija in Cubby Blue, but frankly a trade wouldn’t be too surprising to me.

Evan: They would have to get something really good out of it. The Cubs need pitching as their farm system is already stacked with hitting. The Blue Jays and Red Sox have pitching that the Cubs could use. I also heard that the Marlins could be interested because they have lots of young pitching, but that would be a long shot. I would hate to see Samardzija go. I hate to have him go and him become the next star. Its just like what happened with the Cubs when they chose not to resign Greg Maddux.

Brendan: Then again, look at Ryan Dempster. He was older, but he had a great first half a couple of seasons ago, then was traded away before pitching decently but not great until his retirement.

Evan: Matt Garza too. That’s mostly what the Cubs have been doing is sign these guys to one year contracts or trade them with their expiring contracts. So far, it’s worked, but Jeff might not be worth these prospects because he’s that good.

Brendan: Alright, last question: season ends right now, who is the MVP?

Evan: NL it's Troy Tulowitzki without a doubt. He already has a 4.7 WAR (Best in the MLB) and leads almost every offensive category. 

AL is a bit tougher, but two guys that stand out to me are the 3-4 guys in the Tigers lineup, Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez. Both have had incredible months, and up until recently, Martinez had more home runs that strikeouts. I would probably go Cabrera just because V-Mart is a DH, and Cabrera is having just as good of a year. That being said, both NL and AL are subject to change come September.

Brendan: Statistically speaking, Jose Abreu’s basic power numbers are pretty great so far, you could make a case for him. When he’s back from the DL, he may not be hitting as well, but those numbers are very impressive. Alright my man, anything else for this week?

Evan: Both Abreu and Masahiro Tanaka have done very well, but as you said, injuries hurt. Hopefully the Red Sox can snap out of their slump, and be sure to check out the A’s vs Tigers series this week. Nice to talk with ya!

You can find more conversations with Brendan and I throughout the year. Brendan is the writer of the sports blog Press Box Opinions, and can also find more from him here.

Jeff Samardzija - Stay or Go?

Jeff Samardzija has been the best pitcher in the National League so far. And yes, I say that even with competitors like Adam Wainwright and Johnny Cueto. Samardzija won’t win the NL Cy Young though, I bet Wainwright will. Why won’t he win it? Well, he needs to win first.

That’s right. The pitcher with the best ERA (1.46), tied for best in WAR among pitchers (2.7), best in ERA+ by a longshot (266, Mark Buehrle and Cueto are tied in 2^nd with 198), and number one in all of the adjustment pitching (that is, adjusted pitching runs and adjusted pitching wins), probably will end up 3^rd or 4^th in the voting. That is, if he keeps it up like this AND (more importantly) he stays with the Cubs.

Samardzija has yet to get a win this season. He is 0-4 thus far, but do not judge him based on his record. Twice has his games been blown by relievers, and the offense has given him only 2 runs per game, the 2^nd worst in the MLB. On one day where the Cubs’ offense blew up for 17 runs, pitcher Travis Wood literally apologized to Jeff, and wished that he could give some of those runs to him.

As bad as the Cubs relieving system has been over the past five years, however, the middle relievers and closer Hector Rondon have been good up to yesterday, where they blew a 2-run lead and a Samardzija win. Much of the struggles come from the offense. It’s weird – though the Cubs do have a bad offense, they can throw up 5 or 6 runs a game at times, but NEVER for Samardzjia. He has not one a game since last July, and it’s been 15 straight decisions where he has yet to get a win.

Note: That’s what’s exciting about the Cub prospects coming up, like Javier Baez and Kris Bryant. The “big four” as they call it in their minor league system, are all hitters. In fact, there’s little pitching in the minor league system, and they might have to resort to the best hitter in the upcoming 2014 First Year Player’s Draft (more on that later). But the problem isn’t pitching, it’s hitting. They have decent enough pitching to make it to the playoffs. As for relieving, well…

That’s why Jeff Samardzija is such a valuable asset to this ballclub. He’s 29 years old, and while for most players he’s towards exiting his prime, Jeff is actually just entering it. He didn’t pitch in college – he played football at Notre Dame (in fact, he was the best wide receiver on that offense behind Brady Quinn). So instead of wasting some arm then, his arm feels like he’s 25 or 26.

He is becoming an ace and a very good pitcher, having a consistent fastball that can hit 95 in the 7^th inning, and a slider with great control. The only problem is that the Cubs offense always sucks when he is pitching!

So as the Cubs are still yet to become contenders, and probably won’t become a serious one until 2016, Jeff is trade bait with an expiring contract. If he goes to the market, he will be the best pitcher for the market and can be the answer to a contending team.

If I were Jeff, I would want out of Chicago. Yes, he loves Chicago, and he’s been great for the city and the Midwest, but losing is very frustrating. One of the big responses to Jeff in staying was if the Cubs could sign someone big in the offseason like Masahiro Tanaka, but that obviously failed.

If I was Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer, I would do anything to get Samardzija to stay. The problem is money, of course. This past offseason, Homer Bailey signed an extension worth over $100 million, and Jeff is going to want even more because guys like Bailey can get big extensions. But it might be worth it, as he’s right now the best pitcher in the National League (or at least the most underrated).

Five teams that have become interested in Jeff are the Yankees, Blue Jays, Red Sox, Braves, and Rangers. All of these teams have good ties with the Cubs organization, especially under the Epstein era. If Samardzija goes, they need to get something HUGE out of it. The Blue Jays have some pitching talent in Aaron Sanchez and Marcus Stroman, so do the Red Sox in Henry Owens (pictured right) and Allen Webster. The Braves have some but not enough for just prospects, and the Rangers and Yankees have no young talent to offer anymore.

So if they had to trade Samardzija, they would have to get someone BIG, and they would need to be an official starter by the start of the 2015 season.

It’s a tough year for everyone that has some relationship with the Cubs, and it’s been a tough road to rebuilding. If they keep Samardzija, the rebuilding period ends quicker. If they trade him away, they add another year into the rebuilding period. I don’t know if Cub fans have another rebuilding year in them, but if it means more winning in the future, then so be it. 

The Red Sox Need to Come Together

The Tigers looked like kings against the Boston Red Sox, sweeping them on the road. That, or the Red Sox are not looking good at all.

Jacoby Ellsbury is gone, Jarrod Saltalamacchia is no longer the starting catcher, Stephen Drew is still a free agent, and their replacements have been… disappointing. Jackie Bradley Jr. has been great in center field, but is hitting only .205/.303/.299. A.J Pierzynski was one of the big sleepers that Bill James has wanted to use this year as Boston’s Senior Advisor on Baseball Operations. He seemed like a cheap way to replace Salty, but his OPS .634, the worst in his 17 year career.

Rookie star Xander Bogaerts hasn’t put up any all-star qualities, either. I love that he can put up an OBP 100 points higher than his batting average, but despite him being able to walk well, he has yet to put up any staggering offensive numbers. To be fair, he’s still only 21 years old, but Boston needs more out of him.

Dustin Pedroia too has had the lowest OPS of his career, Mike Carp’s is down 200, and Jonny Gomes’ is down by almost 50. Shane Victorino is battling injuries. Mike Napoli has yet to hit a home run since he blasted one off Masahiro Tanaka on April 22. So the only two players that have been living up to expectations are David Ortiz and Koji Uehara.

Why did the Tigers trounce them to sweep? Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez have both batted .375 in the month of May, and Cabrera has had 24 RBI’s in that span. They are arguably the best 3-4 hitters in baseball right now. Dusty and Big Papi need to challenge that.

This was the best offense in creating runs last year, and now they are 16^th in runs scored. They are 4^th in OBP at least, but let’s compare them to another team that gets on base, like the Oakland Athletics. Oakland is 2^nd in OBP, but they are also 2^nd in runs scored. That’s because they are 5^th in batting average with RISP (Boston is 17^th), and are 6^th in average against right handed pitchers (Boston in 21^st).

So yes, Boston offense, be like Oakland’s offense.

Though the offense has been the key problem for the Red Sox, pitching has also been an issue. Losing Ryan Dempster has been more of an issue than expected because they lack an extra man in the starting rotation. John Lackey has been doing fine, but his last start put his ERA above 4. Jake Peavy has been quite a disappointment, and Felix Doubront is still proving that he will forever be a career 4.50 ERA pitcher.

And what about Clay Buchholz? At this time last year, Buchholz was running against Max Scherzer for Cy Young, and he was winning. Yes, injuries set him aside, but he still finished with an ERA under 2. Now his ERA is 6.17 in 8 starts, and his WHIP is the highest on the team (minus Mike Carp, who pitched just one inning, and he’s not even a pitcher).

So why have the Red Sox become a mediocre team that’s now lost 4 in a row, the first time that’s happened since 2012? I think it’s a mental game. Everything worked together for them last year. They were problem-solvers last season, and they have yet to be like that this season. They have about 4 ½ months to do so.

There’s no Ellsbury on this team anymore and they need to start realizing that. Lucky for them, the AL Central has been quite a disappointment this season, and they are still in 2^nd place. There is time to change, but they need to do it soon before they are completely forgotten about.

My solution? Draw more walks, but stop relying so much on Bogaerts to do so. Get another starter, or find some solution to Clay Buchholz’s problems. Find a 3-4 combo like Miggy and V-Mart in Detroit, and watch how Oakland plays baseball, because man is that special. Tie those things together, and they can easily win the division again.

Five Teams on the Rise

For the next week or so, I’ll be talking about these teams and some of their players. Some of these teams have yet to make any severe impact this season, while others are off to a hot start. Here are five teams that I think are on the rise for May and June, some teams that can take control of their division, some that can make a statement that they are really improving, and one team that might be able to prove that they are the best overall.

1.   St. Louis Cardinals: 20-20

This might seem like a surprise to some people of why the Cardinals have only a .500 record as of today, but two factors prevent them from going up. One of them is now their lack of hitting in scoring position. One of the reasons why I had them winning the NL pennant last year was because they hit an incredible .330 with RISP last season, which is something that hasn’t been done since the early 1970’s. They are now batting just .239 on the season with RISP.

To be fair, guys like Matt Holliday, Matt Carpenter, and Yadier Molina have been hitting over .300 still. Allen Craig, however, is batting only .212 with RISP after batting over .400 last season. Why is this change? There are too many factors to find a true answer to it.

One answer might be the fact that the team is still finding out “who  they are” as General Manager John Mozeliak put it. It’s a much different starting lineup than last year – no Carlos Beltran, David Freese, or Pete Kozma. Plus a lot of people are moving to different positions, so the only two players that remained in their place from last season are Holliday and Molina. This is something that every team finds out eventually, especially a team like the Cardinals.

Should Cardinal fans be worried? No. They are still in 2^nd place in the division anyways. With Jose Fernandez likely to be out for the season now (more on that below), Adam Wainwright has a great chance to win Cy Young this season. They’ve only had 14 home games so far this year, but they finish the month having  13 of 16 at home. The Cardinals will be in first place by the All-Star break.

2.   Boston Red Sox: 20-19

It’s a little surprising that the World Champs are in the same position as the Cardinals. But in the AL East, it’s still up for grabs for every team, as Baltimore leads the division with only a 20-18 record.

So far, they’ve been playing some great ball, and have lost some games that they should have won. But their hitting is starting to heat up. David Ortiz hit two home runs last night, the second time he’s done that already this season. He’s now batting .305 with a .992 OPS, and has hit 11 home runs while driving in 25.

Some things have still remained constant. Jon Lester leads the starters with a solid 2.75 ERA, and Koji Uehara is, while not as godly as last season, is still a solid closer.

What’s up? Why have they not gotten off to a hot start like last season? They had some injuries to start the season, like Shane Victorino, but he’s back and healthy. But this team can go cold and choke at clutch moments. They’ve been in 19 games where the difference is two runs or less, and have gone 10-9 in those games. They are batting just .243 with runners in scoring position (but hey that’s better than the Cardinals!).

Remember when they almost got no-hit by Yu Darvish? That was not fun to watch. The team that had arguably the best offense behind Detroit last season is now just in the middle of the pack. But here are some reasons why the Red Sox can get back up:

·         They can get on base. They always have been able to, but this season they have a team .338 on base percentage. Get that clutch hitting up and draw some walks, then the runs will start to come in.

·         Clay Buchholz has been nothing compared to his work last year. Felix Doubront finds himself in the same position as he was before. However, they have some options to deal with this. Some of their guys in the bullpen can go more than just an inning, like Chris Capuano.  Their two top prospects (now that Xander Bogaerts is in the MLB) are pitchers Henry Owens and Allen Webster, who, if they so choose, could come up in June.

·         A couple of home games are coming their way, and if the take it to their advantage, they will be in first place in what is now just an ok AL East.

Like the Cardinals, there should be no worries here. They have gone 7-3 in their past ten games, and will start to make their way up, so long as some pitching and hitting remains steady.

3.   San Diego Padres: 19-21

Color San Diego my dark horse, but I think they are a much better team that a team that’s two games under .500. They have won four in a row now, and so far Andrew Cashner and Huston Street have had their best seasons of their careers. Cashner is really starting to become a solid ace that could be a star in a few years.

The problem is hitting. Like the Marlins last year, they are dead last in every offensive category, including a depressing .222/.277/.343 batting average. Carlos Quentin is coming back from the DL now, so that does bring some power into their game. And yes, that Carlos Quentin, Dodger fans. 

Who needs to step up? Well arguably every starter minus Seth Smith, who has a very good .336/.422/.582 slash line. So far Yonder Alonso, Chase Headley, Will Venable, and Jedd Gyorko are batting under .200 (Headley is batting exactly .200). That can’t happen! Headley was third in the MVP voting a few years back, and Gyorko showed young talent last year.

It might just be me, but I don’t think this team will continue to bat as poor as they are now. I’m not saying that they will be the best hitting team in the west, but get their hitting up and there’s no doubt that they can pull an above .500 record. The fact that they are only 2 games under .500 and are the worst offensive team means that they are doing something right.

4.   LA Angels: 21-18

A couple of setbacks have put the Angels out of first place. First was the loss of Josh Hamilton, where it looked like he could actually have one of the best turnaround seasons in the past 25 years. Now Mike Trout is struggling in May, and his batting average has dipped below .300. But we know that will change.

Albert Pujols haters will hate, but he actually is providing good power to the team that needs it without Mike Trumbo or Hamilton. No he is not worth $240 million, but I blame the Angels for making such a lucrative contract than Pujols himself. He’s 34 and he is on track to hit at least 30 home runs this year and have close to a 5.0 WAR. Some teams would die for that!

What really is changing is the way they have been pitching. Trading Mark Trumbo might have been tough, but they got Tyler Skaggs, who was one of the most highly touted prospects a few years ago (and he’s still just 22!). Garrett Richards, Jered Weaver, and C.J Wilson have been solid starters to allow opponents to just a .228 average, which is the 3^rd best in the MLB.

I say this team is on the rise because they have the potential to win 90 games this year with decent enough pitching. It took three years to ride the Angels bandwagon, but now it might start its engines again.  

5.   Oakland Athletics: 25-16

That being said about the Angels, there is no way they can win the division the way the Athletics have been playing lately. It’s tough to hit home runs in Oakland, so what do they do? They draw walks and get some clutch hitting to drive in runs. Plus their pitching is stacked with one of my favorite players right now, Sonny Gray, as well as Scott Kazmir, who has done an incredible job in filling the role that Bartolo Colon did with the A’s.

So far, they are 2^nd in OBP, but also have a team ERA that’s the 3^rd best in the MLB (2.99), and have the best WHIP (1.11) and batting average allowed (.219). Plus they don’t have that one star player that costs a fortune. That’s how the Billy Beane system works, and man does it work in Oakland.

Every team should be afraid to face Oakland, because their ability to be so patient at the plate is staggering, averaging 3.91 pitches per plate appearance per at bat. Their OBP from the 7^th inning on is at .348, and .342 with runners in scoring position.

I watched them take apart both King Felix Hernandez and Yu Darvish, two players that might go 1-2 in the AL Cy Young voting this year. As one writer put it, Hernandez and Darvish were not having bad outings, but the A’s just had good plate appearances.

I put Oakland on this list not because I think they will rise in their division, as they already are in 1^st place, but I think they will be the best team in the AL by the end of the season. Detroit might have a better record, but Oakland might be the team you don’t want to play.

Shout outs to the LA Dodgers and the Washington Nationals as well, as they are beginning to rise as well. Tomorrow I will be looking at five teams on the decline. Don’t agree with my list? Email me at statsbuddy42@gmail.com for any questions/comments/concerns, I’d love any feedback.

Paul Goldschmidt Will Win NL MVP

The Arizona Diamondbacks are one of the worst teams in baseball this year. It’s mostly because of pitching, as towards the beginning of the year they had over a 7.00 team ERA, the league’s worst. They still have a team ERA of 4.84, which is now the second-worst in baseball. Hitting has been fine. But this was a pitching staff that almost allowed a three-run blast to Cubs pitcher Travis Wood, and he almost hit another one out in his next at-bat. 

The main reason why these guys are struggling is because of injuries, which is unfortunate. Patrick Corbin, who had a 14-win season last year at age 23, brought so much hope to this ball club. Some other injuries occurred before the start of the season, and suddenly projections for the D-Backs just dropped.

It always sucks when your team cannot compete just because they were injured all year. But if they lost Paul Goldschmidt to injury, they might as well just tank the season.

I projected Paul Goldschmidt to win the NL MVP award this season, after being the runner-up in 2013. What is going to hurt for him this season is how he is on one of the worst teams in baseball now.

At only 25 years old, Goldschmidt led the NL in home runs (36), RBI’s (125), slugging (.551), OPS and OPS+ (.952 and 161), as well as total bases (332) and intentional walks (19) in the 2013 season. He also finished with a 7.3 WAR.

In a little more than a month of baseball, Goldschmidt has played 37 games, had 166 plate appearances with 151 at bats, and has put up 52 hits, including 13 doubles. All of these stats lead the National League. He also has a 1.5 WAR to start off the season, which tied for 7^th best among position players in the NL. He holds a .344/.384/.570 line, and has hit 7 home runs while driving in 23.

Despite Troy Tulowitzki having the start of his career, and Giancarlo Stanton being on track to hit over 50 home runs, I think that Goldschmidt has a good shot at winning the MVP. Part of me relies that statement on the high probability that Tulowitzki and Stanton getting injured at some point this season (like they regularly do), and because Paul is a fantastic, consistent, and clutch player.

He’s what everybody wants in a first baseman. He’s got power, he can draw walks, he can hit with runners in scoring position, and he’s one of the best defensive first baseman in the game. He’s also being paid just over $1 million this season, so his Wins Above Salary is much higher.

His strikeout rate is a bit high, as he has struck out 33 times already, almost once per game. But while a 3.0 K/BB ratio is high for the start of the season, he has shown that he can get on base, so that stat might have to be played out for us to tell. He can also steal relatively well, and has averaged about 17 steals over the past three seasons.

Right now, he is on track to hit over 50 doubles and hit almost 40 home runs, which is mind boggling! The last person to hit over 50 doubles and have at least 35 home runs was Alex Rodriguez when he was just 20 years old in 1996 (A-Rod finished with 54 doubles and 36 home runs that season, finishing 2^nd in the MVP race). He would finish with another 30-100 HR-RBI season at least, which is still quite an accomplishment.

The guy can do anything, whether it is a walk off home run, a diving stop at first, or stealing 2^nd to put himself in scoring position. He can do things that first baseman wish they could do. Despite playing on a team that might lose 100 games this year already, they would be out of the water already if they lost him. That’s why Paul Goldschmidt is the perfect first baseman, and this year will be his first MVP trophy. It will probably be the first of many as well.