We're Talking Baseball

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

Are Joe Mauer and C.C. Sabathia future Hall of Famers and how much money will Bryce Harper earn during free agency?

These are the three individuals that we'll talk about in this story.

Minnesota Twins first baseman and catcher Joe Mauer retired Friday after 15 seasons. He played his entire career with the same team which is uncommon these days. His career is refreshing because he played for his hometown team.

Unfortunately for Mauer, his career was derailed by concussion issues.

Mauer, 35, was drafted No.1 overall in 2001.

He won an MVP in 2009, three batting titles, appeared in six All-Star Games, won five Silver Sluggers, three Gold Gloves as a catcher and had a career slash line----.306 average, 2,123 hits, 143 HR's, 428 doubles, 923 RBIs in 1,858 games.

So the question remains is Mauer a future Hall of Famer?

I'd say he's borderline because his numbers are good but are they enough to give him a plaque in Cooperstown, NY?

The Baseball Writers Association of America could take his injury situation into consideration and if they ask what if he'd been healthy would his numbers be substantially higher?

Mauer never had any off the field issues and I understand he was polite to the media.

But what do you fans think?

Please send me your comments and I'll mention them on The Sports Exchange (an Internet Radio Sport Talk Show http://www.weinetwork.com/)  which runs Tuesday's and Thursdays from 5-7 pm.

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New York Yankees Pitcher C.C. Sabathia announced that he will retire after the 2019 season.

During his 19th campaign, he'll earn $8 Million from the Yankees in what will be his 11th season playing in the Bronx.

Sabathia's other stops include seven plus years with the Cleveland Indians and he was a rental for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2008.

He won a Cy Young Award with the Indians.

Sabathia currently has a lifetime record of 246-153 with a 3.70 ERA.

He's the majors active leader in strikeouts with 2,986, walks 1,060, complete games 38 and innings pitched 3,470.

There are some milestones he's looking to reach during the upcoming season.

He's four wins away from 250.
He's 30 innings away from 3,500.
He's 14 strikeouts away from 3,000. He will be the 17th player to reach 3,000 strikeouts.

Sabathia also has 12 shutouts and has won a World Series with the Yankees.


What chance does Sabathia have to reach baseball immortality?

In an age of specialization, I would say he has an excellent chance.

Playing in the largest Media Market in the county referring to New York City will definitely enhance his chances considerably.

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Finally, where will Bryce Harper land in Free Agency?

After turning down a 10-year contract worth $300 Million to stay with the Washington Nationals, the question remains which teams would be paying the potential asking price of up to $400 Million that Super Agent Scott Boras could potentially ask for?

The only teams that I think could be possibilities would appear to be the Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants, New York Yankees or the LA Angels.

I don't think the Chicago Cubs would ante up the coin since they snapped their 108 championship drought, thus there is no desperation to make a big splash of this kind. In fact, I see the Cubs ultimately cutting payroll to stay below the luxury tax threshold.

Adding Harper to the Phillies would be an indication that Philadelphia is ready to win now and he'd sell a lot of tickets.

The Giants have an excellent history and San Francisco has treated their superstar players well. They've even endorsed the pseudo Home Run King Barry Bonds, who hit his HR's with Performance Enhancing Drugs.

It's hard to rule out the New York Yankees and pitchers would have nightmares if Harper was in the same line-up as Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton.

The LA Angels would be my dark horse if he's paired with Mike Trout in the lineup.

If teams decided the asking price was too steep, and the market dried up, then I could see the Nationals bringing Harper back to Washington.

Washington had a chance to land Yasiel Puig in a trade with the LA Dodgers but now it's inevitable they'll get nothing.

It's important to note that Harper has never played in a full season nor has he won a playoff series.

The most games Harper has played in a season is 159, at bats are 550, his career batting average is .279, has 184 HRs and 521 RBIs.

Judge for yourself and let me know on the Sports Exchange.

I wouldn't pony up that amount of coin based on seven years worth of work.

Despite being 26-years old, that seems to be too high of a risk for me.

Yet, there is always an owner that would take on such an investment.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at www.scottsports33.com.

He's a member of Detroit Sports Media and is host of the Sports Exchange which can be heard on weinetwork.com.

Too Much Specialization

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
PHOTO BY CANDICE EBLING

Now that the shock of the retirement of former Tigers Manager Jim Leyland has sunk in, the question remains, who will be given the keys to Detroit's Rolls Royce Starting Pitching Staff that President and General Manager Dave Dombrowski has assembled?

What manager gets to make up a line-up card with Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder and Victor Martinez?

While it's too early to predict who will be sitting in the Tigers Dugout, there is one thing that I hope the next skipper does differently to the now departed Leyland.

Fox Analyst Tim McCarver, who is retiring after the World Series hit a bulls eye when he said "that today's managers are prisoners of pitch counts."

This is so true and it's coming from a man that is a Hall of Famer, who caught two players that also have plaques in Cooperstown, NY.

Steve Carlton and Bob Gibson were legendary performers.

McCarver was Carlton's personal catcher. He was behind the plate when Gibson defeated the Boston Red Sox in the 1967 World Series then back again as runner-ups when the Tigers defeated the Cardinals in the 1968 Fall Classic.

McCarver has also been awesome broadcaster. I've learned a lot by watching and listening to him. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame winning the Ford C Frick Award in 2012 which is in the Broadcasters Wing.

I totally understand a manager's desire to protect his pitchers. But a pitch count, please.

Also, we're in the day of the five man starting rotation therefore there is an extra day's rest between starts, thus I would think that complete games should still be common. The only time a four man rotation exists is in the playoffs.

These athletes spend more time in the weight room, have modern day medicine and trainers that work with them. By no means am I talking about steroids. I'm talking about technology and more resources to keep them healthy.

I hope the new manager realizes that by having more complete games that it reduces the dependency of the bullpen.

Once upon a time there were two and three inning saves. Nobody can tell me that these can't be a part of baseball again as they once were.

Going through five relief pitchers in two innings makes me sick especially when the starter is having success. For that matter using that many pitchers in a short period still makes me ill and while I understand managers using strategy, there is the fine line of over managing.

Baseball is easy to second guess and I'm not here to do that. I'm just trying to put things in perspective and any manager that has any kind of success in baseball to me is alright in my book.

I've said it before that one of the greatest athletes in pro sports Michael Jordan played it briefly, got smart by trading his cleats for sneakers and won more championships on the hard wood.

Need I say more?

If I'm an old school traditionalist, then I'm guilty as charged.

If I'm a purist then I'm guilty as charged.

There is a reason that my beard and hair is gray.

I've seen a lot and figure to see plenty more before I'm done breathing both in life and in sports.

In the meantime, I'm not asking for much.

Even former Texas Rangers CEO and Hall of Fame Pitcher Nolan Ryan tried to have his team more conditioned to go deep into games.

During the Tigers 4-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox, there were a couple games that starters could have completed.

One that comes to mind is Game 2 when Detroit had a 5-1 lead and Max Scherzer was pitching a gem.

Max told Leyland he was finished, got pulled and the bullpen which is been a problem for Detroit all-season imploded thus the Tigers lost 6-5 in what turned out to be one of two key turning points in the series.

We've seen complete games from Justin Verlander. There is no reason to think we can't see a few more. I'm not saying a lot more but a few more from Verlander photographed in the dugout and others.

There is no crime in having a fresh bullpen.

I realize that today's owners have a lot of money invested into these young players.

But please tell me if Joba Chamberlain of the New York Yankees or Stephen Strasburg of the Washington Nationals have had the stellar careers they were expected to have.

Last year, the Nationals cost themselves a chance to advance deep into the playoffs because they had an innings count on the young hurler.

In 2012, Strasburg had a 15-6 record with a 3.16 ERA in 159.1 innings as Washington had a 98-64 mark.

This season, his numbers regressed as he went 8-9 with a 3.00 ERA in 183 innings as the Nationals completed an 86-76 season.

Manager Davey Johnson retired and it will be interesting to see what happens how a new pilot sails with Strasburg.

Strasburg has a career record of 29-19 with a 2.96 ERA in 434.1 innings.

Chamberlain was considered a projected starter but has never been able to fill that role. He is a free agent and I have a feeling that while the Yankees let very few of them get away, Chamberlain could be pitching elsewhere in 2014.

Just as it will be when the Tigers hire their new manager.

I have a feeling that one of Dombrowski's key questions during the interview process is how he handles a pitching staff.

One piece of advice I have for the Tigers is to keep Pitching Coach Jeff Jones since he has the respect of the pitching staff and has won with it.

Other than that, Dombrowski doesn't need any advice from us since he's had a great track record for many years.

The only thing he has left to accomplish is win a World Series for an owner that's is 84 before time runs out on Mike Ilitch health wise.

I'm pulling hard to get this championship as are so many others.

I'm sure that in a perfect world that when Commissioner Bud Selig retires after next season, he'd love to hand the World Series Trophy to Ilitch. I doubt that anyone will debate this or the fact it will take some time for Dombrowski to get this hire right.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com.

History At Old Orange Bowl Location

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
PHOTOS BY CANDICE EBLING

I've seen a lot of great football games featuring the Miami Dolphins and Miami Hurricanes, but in all of my years of covering baseball, this is the first no-hitter I've ever seen in person.

Of all places, it happened on the site of the Historic Orange Bowl Location.

On Sunday September 29, 2013, a crowd of 28,315 at Marlins Park saw Tigers Cy Young Award Winner Justin Verlander throw six scoreless innings.

He was relieved by Doug Fister in the seventh inning. Rick Porcello entered the game in the eighth, retired the side and had two strikeouts. He was relieved by Luke Putkonen in the ninth.

This was a tune-up for the Tigers as Detroit prepared for the playoffs.

The fans got more than they bargained for as the story in this game was Marlins right-handed pitcher Alvarez Henderson. He threw a 1-0 no-hitter against the Tigers and it was the fifth in Marlins history.

The winning run came on a bases loaded wild pitch by Putkonen that allowed Giancarlo Stanton to score from third base. Stanton originally reached base with a single.

Henderson had one walk, four strikeouts, hit Prince Fielder with a pitch then cruised to improve his record to 5-6. He threw 99 pitches and 66 were strikes.

The Marlins swept the Tigers as they improved to 62-100 while the Tigers dropped to 93-69.

It was a very unusual game in the sense that Alvarez was facing a pitcher that has two no-hitters himself speaking of Verlander.

The Tigers were resting most of their star players, but by no means am I taking anything away from the kid's accomplishment.

I didn't pay much attention to the pace of the game as I was working on a story and was dealing with technical issues getting online.

My photographer Candice Ebling sent me a text message that she was debating switching positions about the potential no-hitter, but opted to stay put by the Tigers Dugout.

That's when I started taking notice to what could be history.

Indeed that became the case.

Alvarez became the 282nd pitcher in MLB History to throw a no-hitter and he's likely to have some mementos sent to the Baseball Hall Of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.

Alvarez, who was born on April 18, 1990, became the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter in the final game of the season since Mike Witt in 1984 when he did it for the California Angels.

When no-hitters are thrown, in many instances it's by a pitcher that we've never heard of.

Alvarez's career record is 15-23 with a 4.25 ERA and 176 strikeouts.

He was acquired by the Marlins along with six other players from the Toronto Blue Jays in a 12-player trade where five players went North of the Border. Three of the key players sent to Canada include Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle.

Since the Alvarez no-hitter, these words have become more common for the Detroit Tigers. In Game 5 of the American League Division Series against the Oakland A's, Verlander went into the eighth inning with one.

In Game 1 of the American League Championship Series in Boston versus the Red Sox, Anibal Sanchez took to the Tigers into the sixth and the bullpen carried a no-hit bid into the ninth inning. The Tigers were two outs away from making history. Detroit won the game 1-0.

In Game 2 of the ALCS, Max Scherzer took a no-hitter in the sixth inning before it was broken up against the Red Sox. The Tigers bullpen imploded in a 6-5 loss to Boston.

Nonetheless, these masterpieces don't happen often and they do indeed sneak up.

What made Alvarez situation so unusual was that he was sitting in the on deck circle when the freak play occurred and the celebration was as different as it could be.

But only in baseball just when you think you've seen everything, something else dazzles in amazement.

Who knows what this kid will accomplish in his career, but on this one autumn afternoon in South Florida, he dominated the headlines all over the country before the playoffs.

He did it starting against one of the best pitchers in baseball, Justin Verlander and one of the best teams.

During this series, Miami couldn't have asked for a better result at the gate with the Tigers.

During the Friday Night September 27th, 3-2 win, 26,992 showed up as the capacity for Marlins Park was 72.1% full.

On Saturday Night September 28th this was another positive result at the gate as 28,750 (76.8%) saw the Marlins prevail in 10 innings 2-1.

But for those that saw this finale, this is a day that they'll be talking about for years knowing they saw a youngster make a name for himself.

It will be interesting to see what future final games of the year will be like for the Marlins.

Now the question remains, how long will Alvarez remain with the team?

If you're a Marlins fan, the way they have fire sales with star players which has outraged the fan base, I'd find it hard pressed to see them get excited.

But they cheer them when they come back. Just ask Miguel Cabrera.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com.