MLBRT 6/27/2024

The questions and discussion…  

1) ) If you could build a team around a present MLB shortstop right now, who would you take? Why?

The Yankees Anthony Volpe.

Last year his numbers were sort of underwhelming, but he excels on defense and in fact won the Gold Glove as a rookie.

However he shows excellent promise with the bat and has already shown that improvement to a large degree this season as he is currently slashing .266/.323/.402. Indicating that he has taken huge steps since last season and that dedicated work is a sign of a player who is committed to getting better.

Volpe is a complete player on the field as an a Gold Glove defender, an excellent base runner who can take a base at will and has some pop in his bat. As a leadoff batter setting the stage for the Yankees’ sluggers in MVP candidates Juan Soto and Aaron Judge. He gets on base often enough that he is currently on track to score 110 runs. In addition so far this year he is on track to hit 28 doubles, 14 triples, 12 HRs, drive in 56 runs and steal 30 bases with 52 walks.  

With Volpe as the center of the infield he is a player that a team can build around and be sure he will be there for the next 15 years as the leader of the team’s infield defense and as a leadoff hitter who can set things up right from the first at bat of games by getting on base early to let the Yankees big boppers drive him home and give the starting pitchers a lead that will let them go out and attack the opposing teams hitters.  

And if there is one intangible that should be noted about Volpe it is that there is no such thing as playing under the radar in New York and on the Yankees… a place that has been known to swallow shortstops whole… and the 23-year old Volpe is more than holding his own and should do so on an improving basis for the rest of his career making him the ideal shortstop to build the team around.  

2) People can say whatever they want about Barry Bonds’ MLB career and his place in the story of the game but not since Willie Mays was there ever a player who combined the skills of excellent power and exceptional speed as there was in Bonds and the game of baseball.

With that in mind…

Om June 23, 2003 Bonds stole second base and became the first player to have 500 home runs and 500 stolen bases thereby becoming the inaugural member of a very exclusive club. So exclusive that to this date no other MLB player has achieved the feat.

Is there a player in MLB today who has any chance of joining Barry Bonds in accumulating 500 HRs and 500 stolen bases? Why or why not?

The player who once upon a time had the best to equal Bond’s accomplishment was Mike Trout. By 2019 at age 28 he had already reached 318 HRs and 200 SBs putting him on track to easily get to between 500 and 600 home runs and most likely get to at least 400 stolen bases. He would need to have a couple of years here he stole bases like he did when he first broke into the majors when he was at times among MLB’s leaders in that category and in fact actually lead the majors with 49 SBs in his second year in the majors. However injuries have currently put a halt to his years of high production and those injuries have also probably made him reaching even 400 stolen bases a distant possibility meaning joining Bonds in the 500 HR/500 SB club an impossibility.

The only other players  that I think could even have a remote chance of equaling Barry Bonds’ accomplishment are Mookie Betts and Ronald Acuña Jr.

Betts, who is now 31 years old, has 262 HRs and 181 SBs. In his first ten years in the majors he has averaged 25 home runs and 17 stolen bases. To even get near 500 and 500 he would have to  the minimum keep up that pace and then do it for another ten years and even then he might surpass 500 home runs but would still only maybe have about 360 stolen abases. Betts is a long shot possibility at best and in my opinion won’t get there to equal Bonds’ feat.  

Acuña is 26 years of age and in his first six years in the majors had accumulated 161 home runs and 180 stolen bases giving him an average of 26 HRs and 30 SBs per year. He is currently out for the season with an injury but still added another 4 home runs and 16 stolen bases to his totals giving him 165 HRs and 196 SBs for his career. To reach the 500/500 club he would need to keep up his averages for his first six years in MLB for at least the next ten years (which would put him at age 36) and at that point he would have 496 stolen bases… adding another 4 to his totals would be a no-brainer considering he stole 73 bases in 2023… so reaching 500 steals would be a strong possibility. However even if he averaged 26 HRs a season he would still only reach about 425 home runs for his career. He would need to have a couple of years where he equaled his output for the 2023 season when he became the first player ever to reach 40 home runs and 70 stolen bases. If he could put a couple years of 35 plus HRs up then, yeah, I would give him a real chance to join Barry Bonds in the 500 HR/500 SB club.

3) Baseball, as with sports in general, is a subject upon which various feats and accomplishments  of the players can be debated ad Infinitum by the so-called experts and the fans in general of the game.

With the great Willie Mays’ death various sports sites have revived the age old discussion, “Who is the greatest baseball player of all time?”

In your opinion which player would you choose? Why?  

While I don’t think there is a “correct” answer to this question I would say the field is probably narrowed down to Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds and Willie Mays.

Barry Bonds was in this conversation even before he started breaking home run records and putting up .500 on-base percentages and as the all-time leader in home runs and among the leaders in most other statistical categories he has to included in the conversation. 

Hank Aaron was the most consistent as an offensive producer that probably ever played the game and was no slouch on defense.

Babe Ruth, who played in the non-integrated era, was head and shoulders better than any other player when he played and was also a decent defender.

I’m assuming this conversation essentially involves only offensive every day performers, but a case could be made for pitchers such as Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens to join the discussion.

But overall I’m going with Willie Mays.

He was arguably the best defensive center fielder/outfielder ever with his 11 Gold Gloves as a testament to that reality. And his offensive production is among the best ever numbers by any player who ever played in MLB.

Willie is my pick by a slight edge over the Babe.

4) On Wednesday (6/19) the Baltimore Orioles announced that right-hander Kyle Bradish will miss the rest of the season following elbow surgery. Bradish joins fellow starters John Means and Tyler Wells, both of whom required their own elbow surgeries last month, who will be on the IL for the 2024 season.  Added to the Orioles starting pitching woes is that  right-handed starter Dean Kremer is also missing from the rotation due to a strained triceps. Presently he is participating in minor league games in rehab starts however his return to the Orioles is cloudy due to the fact that in his last rehab start he was unable to get out of the first inning of the game, throwing 39 pitches in 0.2 innings and giving up five runs.

Will the Orioles’ starting pitching injuries derail the team keeping pace with the Yankees in the AL East and worse possibly missing the playoffs? Why or why not?

The Orioles played the Yankees last week and took two out of three from the arguably best team in the game at that point. Yes, it should be noted that the Yankees are in a bad stretch right now but still to go against the Yanks with the injuries to their rotation that they had and take the yanks down two out of three shows the orioles can still win games even with the injuries they have sustained to their pitching staff.  

Add to this I expect the Orioles under their new owner to be big players at the trade deadline and will add at least one starter to the team.

I think the Orioles will be, at the minimum, a Wild Card and still have a real shot at taking the AL East.

5) Along  with the Orioles it could be said that every MLB contender for the playoffs could use an infuse of talent into their starting rotations…

If you are the GM of a MLB team looking for starting pitching this season who are the top three pitchers that you would target? Why?

I would target…

The Tigers Jack Flaherty… 2.92 ERA, 0.972 WHIP and 108 Ks against just 13 walks.

Rockies Cal Quantrill… 3.50 ERA, 1.30 QHIP however his strikeout to walk rate is a tad shaky with 64 Ks to 34 walks. Still he would be worth adding as rotation depth as a fourth or fifth starter.

White Sox Erick Fedde… 3.23 ERA, 1.13 WHIP with 91 Ks against 25 walks.

Extra Innings…