What I’ve done here is created an “adjusted slugging percentage” if you will.  This takes into account all the different ways a batter can pick up a base.  This goes beyond the original “total bases” statistic which takes into account only hits and extra base hits.  Taking the original slugging percentage, Miguel Cabrera has a sizable lead over Mike Trout, which suggests that he has more power.  This is true; Miguel Cabrera has more home run power than Trout.  We all know that.  However, Trout’s tremendous speed allows him to do a lot more things on the base paths than Cabrera.  There are a few offensive categories in this stat that may have a hint of luck.  For example, hit by pitches, grounding into double plays and reaching on errors may involve a bit of luck from time to time. However, over the course of a 162 game major league baseball schedule, Mike Trout’s speed affects these things. His speed allows him to ground into fewer double plays and reach on errors more often.  His speed changes the game.  Trout’s LD% was 25% and Cabrera’s was 27%.  So, we know they both hit the ball extremely hard.  Hitting the ball hard at somebody in the infield can cause havoc. So does speed.  Speed causes havoc; it simply puts more pressure on fielders.  One bobble and Trout is safe.  One bobble and there is still some time to get Cabrera.  

Now I move onto the exact criteria of this statistic.  A player can pick up a single base by walking, getting hit by a pitch, hitting a single, reaching on an error, stealing a base and taking an extra base when there is a base hit.  A player can pick up 2 bases by hitting a double.   A player picks up 3 bases with a triple.  A player picks up 4 bases with a home run.  In addition to making an out, a player loses an extra base when grounding into a double play.  A player loses a base when getting picked off.  A player loses a base when getting caught stealing.  

With this in mind, I will present my calculations in writing.  I have added up all of these positive total bases, and then subtracted one base for every double play, caught stealing (I used net steals) and pick off.  To make things easier, I multiplied every double by two, every triple by three and every home run by four.  On my graph below, NSB stands for Net Stolen Bases.  XBT stands for Extra Bases Taken.  Once all of these bases are added up, I divided that total number by the number of plate appearances that batter had.  

This statistic takes into account all aspects of a player’s offensive contributions.  Power is involved with home runs and doubles. Triples are a byproduct of both power and speed (mainly speed).  Plate discipline is taken into account with walks.  Speed is involved with things such as reaching on errors, extra bases taken, stolen bases, and double plays grounded into (or, not grounded into).  
 

When combining all offensive contributions, my statistic shows that Mike Trout was more productive then Miguel Cabrera in 2013. The original slugging percentage, which I have presented, does not take into account for speed.  Cabrera had the huge advantage, but when all other aspects are put into play, Trout skyrockets ahead of Cabrera.  Speed matters in so many ways.  Trout is right behind Cabrera purely as a hitter.  But when speed and baserunning is thrown into the equation, Trout is clearly the better offensive player.  
 
Mike Trout's "adjusted slug" is .728. Miguel Cabrera's is .699.  Speed has allowed Trout to gain 171 points on his original slugging percentage.  Cabrera gained just 63 points on his original slug.
 


Created by Nick Rabasco and Aidan Flynn
Graph Below:

 

Are the Boston Red Sox 2013 World Champions without Bobby Valentine? 
 
The 2012 Red Sox season is one we will never forget. Yes, it may be a campaign that we would in fact love to forget.  However, with all that went down in Fenway Park’s 100th year, it makes the 2013 championship that much more special.  After a heartbreaking collapse that saw the Red Sox blow a 9 game lead in September to the Tampa Bay Rays, the Red Sox decided to clean up and pick some new leaders.  They let Theo  Epstein and Terry Francona go, thus starting a new era in Red Sox Nation.  Ben Cherington took over for Epstein, and his first move proved to be an ugly one. 

Right when Bobby Valentine arrived in Fort Myers in 2012, he sought to change the entire culture of the Red Sox.  He banned alcohol in the clubhouse and basically set some strict rules for the team after the disaster in 2011.  The players did not seem to respond in a positive manner and it became evident that the relationships within the clubhouse were distant.   The coaches did not get along with other coaches and more importantly; the players did not seem to get along with each other and the coaches.  Early in the season, Valentine made a mistake while speaking to the media.  Fan-favorite Kevin Youkilis was thrown under the bus by his manager when Valentine said that he did not see the same fire or passion that Youkilis had shown in the past. Other players were not happy with the way he handled this.  Most notably, Dustin Pedroia famously stated “that’s not the way we do things around here.” Youkilis was then traded a few weeks later to the Chicago White Sox.  As the season progressed, it became more and more clear that the players were not happy at all with the way Bobby Valentine was running things.  It was said that a group of players including Pedroia and Adrian Gonzalez furiously went to ownership to express their feelings on their manager in late July.  The Red Sox kept on losing and it eventually led to one of the biggest trades in the history of baseball.  On August 25, Ben Cherington sent
Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett and Nick Punto (obviously the center-piece of the deal) to the Dodgers in exchange for James Loney, Allen Webster, Ivan De Jesus, Rubby De La Rosa and Jerry Sands.  In doing this, Cherington was able to dump over $250 million. 
The Red Sox would go on to lose 93 games and finish in last place, 26 games behind the Yankees.  The Dodgers would not make the postseason either, but 2013 told us exactly why this trade was made. 

Knowing all of this, it is not surprising that the Red Sox fired Bobby Valentine right after the 2012 season.  Cherington now had a second chance to make the right choice in picking
the manager of the Boston Red Sox.  Sure enough, his decision could not have been more perfect with John Farrell.  On the other side of things, the trade opened the door for Cherington to make an abundance of tremendous signings.  Koji Uehara, Shane Victorino, Mike Napoli, David Ross, Ryan Dempster, Stephen Drew and Jonny Gomes were all added for a lower price than Gonzalez, Crawford and Beckett combined.  At the trade deadline,
Cherington also made a move for veteran and former Cy Young award winner Jake Peavy.  All these new players went along with a core of Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz and Jacoby Ellsbury.  John Lackey bounced back with a tremendous year and all the questions were answered with him.  They got surprisingly good performances out of guys like Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Daniel Nava and Felix Doubront.  The only thing that
would stop this team was health issues and fortunately, those were extremely limited.  The Red Sox saw Joel Hanrahan, Andrew Baily and Andrew Miller go down with season ending
injuries.  However, the depth of the bullpen proved to be of utmost importance.  Guys like Junichi Tazawa, Craig Breslow and Brandon Workman went along well with Uehara and really solidified the bullpen.  The Red Sox were able to finish tied for baseball’s best record with 97 wins, and ultimately won the World Series after a magical postseason run.  
 
Now I will lay out a few interesting scenarios as to why the Red Sox may not have had a 2013 of this magnitude without the Bobby Valentine hiring in 2011.  The Red Sox were also
looking at managerial candidates such as Pete MacKanin, Sandy Alomar Jr. and Tory Lovullo.  With a manager other than Valentine at the helm during the 2012 season, I do not believe there would have been as many issues.  Bobby seemed to be a “do it my way” kind of guy instead of being a player’s manager.  This style turned many guys against him and this could have been avoided.  Let’s say manager X was hired instead of Valentine. Manager X probably never would have made the Youkilis comments and who
knows, maybe he doesn’t get traded.  Also, I highly doubt the players would have been so furious with manager X that they would have felt the need to go talk to ownership in the middle of the season.  Boston finished out the year with a 7-22 record in September and October. In my opinion, without all of the chaos within the clubhouse that Ben Cherington would not have been as motivated to make such a big trade in August.  The trade proved to the Red Sox and their fans that they were giving up on 2012 and essentially giving up on Bobby Valentine because they were clearly planning to start fresh in 2013.  Keeping Crawford, Gonzalez and Beckett may have won the Red Sox a few more ballgames down the stretch.  This could have potentially got them to a fourth place finish and a record closer to .500, which would not have made the season seem as bad.  Also, if the Red Sox ended up keeping those players, they would never have signed everybody that they did in the offseason of 2012-2013.  There would not have been as much panic with manager X, and Cherington and ownership would not have been so quick to make the trade. 
My final point includes the big name and experience that came along with Valentine.  He had already had a lot of managerial experience and was unlikely to change his style based on one bad season.  Had Cherington gone with a first year manager (like many of the other candidates were), I do not believe he would have been so quick to completely revamp the roster and manager again.  He would have stayed with his guy for another year and I think he would have kept the three he traded to the Dodgers in order to try and build around them.  Things got so ugly with Valentine that they realized he was not the guy that was going to lead this team.  I also believe Crawford, Gonzalez and Beckett were so unhappy with the Red Sox and Valentine that they wanted no part of being there and were happy to
be sent off away from the mess.  And knowing that, the Red Sox were willing to dump those three and completely restart.  They restarted indeed and of course it led to one of the greatest Red Sox teams in history. After 2012, there were plenty of reasons to worry and panic about the Red Sox, but as time went on, Red Sox Nation learned not to worry, because every little thing turned out alright.  

By: Nick Rabasco

 As a diehard Red Sox fan, I have to admit I was skeptical of Ben
Cherington spending $13 million per year over three seasons on the Flyin’
Hawaiian this offseason.  Shane had been a very solid and above average player in his days with the Philadelphia Phillies (averaging about a 108 wRC+ over 7 seasons). 
However, he took a major step down in 2012 with the worst season of his
career.  He posted a slash line of .255/.321/.383 with a career low 93 wRC+. 
His walk rate was only 8% and he had a career low ISO of .128.  At 32 years of age, I 
believed he would continue his decline.  In Shane’s defense, he did have to move
from hitter friendly Citizens Bank Park to pitcher friendly Dodger Stadium
midway through the season.  He was even worse in his time with L.A.  

As we sit here entering September of 2013, Shane Victorino has
absolutely proven me wrong.  His value to this Boston club has been extremely important and in my opinionoverlooked by many.  He is overlooked because a majority of his 2013 value comes from his defense, which leads me to my main question. Is Shane Victorino really the fifth best outfielder in all of baseball for 2013? According to Fangraphs, he is, as they have him listed with a 4.9 WAR.  This puts him ahead of some huge names such as Carlos Gonzalez, Jose Bautista, Shin-Soo Choo, Adam Jones, Josh Hamiltion and Justin Upton.  Let’s dig a bit deeper into the numbers to analyze further. 

I’ll bring up the fun part first…offense.  Victorino has no doubt had a tremendous offensive season, batting mainly out of the two spot for John Farrell. 
This still holds true even with him only playing in 102 games to this point in the year. According to wRC+, Shane has been an even more productive player than Jacoby Ellsbury, mainly because of a 30 point advantage in SLUG and ISO. One thing that does not go Shane’s way is walk percentage.  He’s walking just 5% of the time this year! With that said however, he doesn’t strike out (just 12%).  Obviously a few more walks would be beneficial however a player with his kind of speed that doesn’t strike out a lot and puts pressure on defenses can be sufficient.  He uses the speed when he’s on first base as well; stealing 18 bags while being caught only 3 times.  

There are 22 outfielders that are behind Victorino in WAR, but have a higher wRC+ than Victorino.  This is where defense comes into play in a big way.  With the all-star Ellsbury already manning centerfield at Fenway, Victorino was asked to play what is in my mind the toughest right field to play in all of baseball.  Right field at Fenway is very spacious and includes many different quirks.  You have Pesky’s pole, which is just 302 feet away from home plate, which then jets all the way out to the bullpens which are 380 feet away from the plate.  The Red Sox lead the American League in triples this season, and that is not all that surprising considering many of them come from looping around the warning track and fence in right field.  Shane, however, has been up to the challenge.  He currently leads all big league outfielders in defensive runs saved (DRS) with 24.  He has just 3 miscues in the outfield to go along with 10 assists.  His UZR (Ultimate Zone Rating) is astounding this season at 25.4 in right field.  Victorino has been able to track down balls that others simply cannot get too.  I also believe that John Farrell has an effect on his outfield play, as
the Red Sox have been known for using various shifts in the infield and
outfield.  Simply put, more often than not, Victorino is in the perfect position to make a play before the pitch is even thrown.  

A majority of viewers pay much more attention to the offense.  However, defense plays a big role as well.  Limiting the opposition in runs scored due to terrific defensive play can make the difference in whether a team makes the postseason or not.  Therefore, with Victorino’s unbelievable defense and terrific offense, he is one of the best outfielders in
all of baseball for 2013. 

By: Nick Rabasco

Nick Rabasco's 2013 Predictions
Playoff Teams in bold

AL East: 
Rays, Blue Jays, Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles
AL Central: 
Tigers, Indians, White Sox, Royals, Twins
AL West: 
Rangers, Angels, Athletics, Mariners, Astros
NL East: 
Nationals, Phillies, Braves, Mets, Marlins
NL Central: 
Reds, Cardinals, Pirates, Brewers, Cubs
NL West: 
Giants, Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Padres, Rockies




WC: Blue Jays over Indians; Cardinals over Dodgers
ALDS: Blue Jays over Tigers, Rays over Rangers
NLDS: Giants over Cardinals, Nationals over Reds
ALCS: Rays over Blue Jays
NLCS: Giants over Nationals
WS: Giants over Rays

American League Leaders:
Offense
AVG: Joe Mauer, Robinson Cano, Mike Trout
HR: Adam Dunn, Jose Bautista, Evan Longoria
RBI: Albert Pujols, Evan Longoria, Jose Bautista
OBP: Joe Mauer, Mike Trout, Ben Zobrist
SLG: Evan Longoria, Jose Bautista, Albert Pujols
OPS+: Evan Longoria, Mike Trout, Joe Mauer
WAR: Mike Trout, Evan Longoria, Robinson Cano

Pitching
W: Jered Weaver, RA Dickey, Justin Verlander
ERA: Felix Hernandez, Jeremey Hellickson, Justin Verlander 
K: Felix Hernandez, Justin Verlander, Yu Darvish
K/BB: Jered Weaver, Felix Hernandez, James Shields
IP: Felix Hernandez, Justin Verlaner, CC Sabathia
ERA+: Felix Hernandez, Justin Verlander, Jeremy Hellickson 
WAR: Justin Verlander, Felix Hernandez, Jeremy Hellickson

National League Leaders:
Offense
AVG: Joey Votto, Adrian Gonzalez, David Wright
HR: Giancarlo Stanton, Matt Holliday, Matt Kemp
RBI: Matt Kemp, Joey Votto, Ryan Braun
OBP: Joey Votto, Adrian Gonzalez, Buster Posey
SLG: Matt Holliday, Matt Kemp, Giancarlo Stanton
OPS+: Joey Votto, Matt Kemp, Matt Holliday
WAR: Joey Votto, David Wright, Matt Kemp

Pitching
W: Cliff Lee, Adam Wainwright, Clayton Kershaw
ERA: Clayton Kershaw, Cliff Lee, Stephen Strasburg
K: Stephen Strasburg, Clayton Kershaw, Cliff Lee
K/BB: Cliff Lee, Adam Wainwright, Stephen Strasburg
IP: Cliff Lee, Matt Cain, Clayton Kershaw
ERA+: Cliff Lee, Stephen Strasburg, Clayton Kershaw
WAR: Cliff Lee, Clayton Kershaw, Stephen Strasburg

Awards

AL MVP: Evan Longoria
AL CY: Felix Hernandez
AL ROY: Wil Myers

NL MVP: Joey Votto
NL CY: Cliff Lee
NL ROY: Gerrit Cole

Aidan Flynn's 2013 Predictions
AL East
1. Toronto Blue Jays: 93-69
2. Tampa Bay Rays: 92-70
3. Boston Red Sox: 85-77
4. New York Yankees: 79-83
5. Baltimore Orioles: 74-88

Attempting to take advantage of a clear opening in the division, the Blue Jays acquired a legitimate, although atypical, ace in RA Dickey and other All-Star talents in the form of Josh Johnson, Jose Reyes, and Mark Buehrle. Overall, the Blue Jays boast an exceptional amount of talent on both the offensive and pitching ends, and should make a run at the divisional crown. The Rays have a top-3 rotation in the game, even with the loss of James Shields. Their offense is a bit questionable, but I like the offensive core of Evan Longoria, Ben Zobrist, Matt Joyce, and eventually, Wil Myers. The Red Sox actually spent the most this offseason, adding over $80 million over the winter months. While I think the Sox will definitely rebound from their forgettable 2012, the mediocrity on the pitching end and injury concerns prevent them from ultimately reaching the postseason. The Yankees are the Yankees, I know, I know, but their pitching depth, or lack thereof, age, and injury concerns are all major question marks. I seriously doubt the position players' ability defy the laws of aging and if that happens entirely, their season could turn ugly fast. The Orioles probably lucked themselves into a playoff spot last year. Not to take anything away from what they did, but it just isn't sustainable. They do have some good pieces (Jones, Wieters, Machado) but I don't trust their pitching and playing in the AL East shouldn't do them any favors.

AL Central
1. Detroit Tigers: 95-67
2. Chicago White Sox: 83-79
3. Cleveland Indians: 81-81
4. Kansas City Royals: 78-84
5. Minnesota Twins: 64-98

The Tigers possessed one of the most well-rounded rosters in the Majors last year, and that was with bad luck from Max Scherzer, a shaky bullpen, 600 PAs from Delmon Young, and the absence of Victor Martinez. The bullpen situation still isn't resolved but the rest of team looks poised to run away with the worst division in baseball. Their staff is crazy deep and could produce two genuine CY contenders in Scherzer and Justin Verlander. The White Sox, Indians, and Royals all suffer from mediocrity syndrome. The White Sox probably won't have the same pitching and don't have quite the offensive firepower of the Tigers. The Indians have a nice lineup, which was augmented by offseason acquisitions Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn. Still, the pitching is just downright awful and should prevent the Indians from being anything more than a .500 team. I know the Royals are the "hot" pick right now, but I don't see it. Their pitching is almost as bad as the Indians. Luis Mendoza? Ervin Santana? Even Wade Davis and Jeremy Guthrie? Does that even sound like a playoff team. To me, it screams mediocrity. I do like the bullpen (Kelvin Herrera might be this year's Chapman) and some of their young players (especially Perez and Moustakas), but still can't look past the starting pitching. Speaking of bad rotations, the Twins' should be pretty terrible as well. Joe Mauer and his pretty little swing should be the only thing keeping Twin Cities residents from coming through the turnstiles.

AL West
1. Texas Rangers: 91-71
2. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: 87-75
3. Oakland Athletics: 83-79
4. Seattle Mariners: 75-87
5. Houston Astros: 56-106

Talk of Texas' demise is bit quick in my opinion. They only lost Josh Hamilton, and the acquisitions of Lance Berkman and AJ Pierzynski should at least minimize his loss. Add in improvement from Yu Darvish, some at-bats to Jurickson Profar, and I still see the Rangers as a threat to win the pennant. Everyone knows I adore Mike Trout, but he himself can't make up for the pitching deficiencies of the Angels. I just don't trust that staff at all, and could very well see them falling out of the playoff race. For now, the offense is enough to get it done. Oakland, like Baltimore, will probably regress, but given that their 2012 was more skill-based than lucky, they shouldn't experience quite the same fall. Cespedes, Reddick, platoon advantages galore and the continued development of that young staff should keep them above .500. Seattle probably won't compete this year in the ultra-competitive West, but I love their farm system. Mike Zunino, Taijuan Walker, Danny Hultzen, James Paxton, Brad Miller, Nick Franklin, Brandon Mauerer, and Carter Capps could all see time in the bigs this year and in 2014, they could all be on the field at the same time. Astros fans, you can keep trying to convince yourself 2013 is a nightmare, but this year is going to be flat-out ugly.

NL East
1. Washington Nationals: 99-63
2. Atlanta Braves: 89-73
3. Philadelphia Phillies: 80-82
4. New York Mets: 71-91
5. Miami Marlins: 61-101

Washington is the best team in baseball. Hands down, no questions asked. It wouldn't surprise me if they won 100+ games and ran away with the division, pennant, and World Series. Bryce Harper is special and could produce an age 20 season similar to his AL counterpart, Mike Trout. Strasburg could dominate, especially without the innings limit over his head this year. This team is the real deal. Atlanta made some interesting moves this year, first and foremost with the acquisition of Justin Upton. I like the lineup and the defense is off-the-charts, but doubt the starting pitching's ability to succeed over 162 games. The bullpen, on the other hand, has no doubts. Kimbrel, O'Flaherty, Venters...they're loaded. The Phillies are in decline phase and will probably continue until they change their philosophy. Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels are still good, but everything else, from the rest of the rotation, to the lineup, to the bullpen, are all questionable. The Mets knew they weren't going to be competitive when they dealt the reigning CY winner, but the haul they got back was more than solid. A revitalized system could be producing all-star talents as soon as next year. Miami may have killed baseball in the city, but they did get some quality talent in the various trades they made throughout the year. However, this year, I see very little reason to throw Giancarlo Stanton a strike all year. It's going to be bad.

NL Central
1. Cincinnati Reds: 95-67
2. St. Louis Cardinals: 90-72
3. Milwaukee Brewers: 82-80
4. Pittsburgh Pirates: 79-83
5. Chicago Cubs: 73-89

I think the Reds are like the Nationals, just a lesser version. They both excel in multiple facets of the game. I really like Shin-Soo Choo in the leadoff spot, a place where they got absolutely no production last year. If Joey Votto is healthy, he could make a run at a second MVP. People still don't understand how good he is. The Cardinals are solid all around team and there might not be a more important player than Yadier Molina. The progressions he's made with his bat are for real and he should also be a shortlist MVP candidate. After the top two, he rest of the division lays in mediocrity. Milwaukee has some good bats, but the pitching is suspect. Pittsburgh has Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker, and practically nothing else. Prepare for losing season number 21 this year. Chicago won't do a whole lot this year, but Epstein and co. know what they're doing. Jeff Samardzija is a burgeoning ace and Starlin Castro is a future superstar. They won't win the World Series this year, but could very well in a couple of years.

NL West
1. San Francisco Giants: 88-74
2. Los Angeles Dodgers: 87-75
3. Arizona Diamondbacks: 84-78
4. San Diego Padres: 76-86
5. Colorado Rockies: 64-98

Color me unimpressed with the Dodgers' enormous spending spree. They'll certainly benefit from a full year of Adrian Gonzalez, Hanley Ramirez, Josh Beckett, and of course, Nick Punto, but I just don't see it coming together for them. Handing money out like its candy can only work for so long, and dishing it out to the always average Brandon League and a fat Korean import in Hyun-Jin Ryu should be a sign of recklessness. The Giants might not have the most talented team, but they are a perfect fit  in their ballpark. They also happen to have the reigning MVP in Buster Posey, who is superstar in his own right. The pitching is always there, so if they get contributions from guys not named Posey, they should be in good shape. As for the Diamondbacks, they faced a lot of scrutiny for their "grit-first" mentality when acquiring players. Despite this, they still have a strong and deep staff that should keep them in plenty of ballgames. I like Adam Eaton, Paul Goldschmidt, and Miguel Montero a lot, and they all should anchor a surprising D-Backs lineup. They could pounce on the division crown if the Giants don't hit and the Dodgers succumb to their high-priced expectations. The Padres have a rather uninspiring team as of now, but could make a things interesting in a year or two with that farm system. Austin Hedges (catcher) and Max Fried (pitcher) are the real deal. Colorado has some nice pieces in Tulowitzki, CarGo, and Fowler, but may god bless the pitchers that have to make Coors their home for a living. The place isn't quite the disaster it was in the 90's-00's, but still ranks as the worst pitcher's park in the game. Until they find any semblance of quality pitching in that park...good luck.

Postseason

AL WC: Tampa Bay over Los Angeles
ALDS: Tampa Bay over Toronto; Detroit over Texas
ALCS: Tampa Bay over Detroit

NL WC: St. Louis Cardinals over Atlanta Braves
NLDS: Washington Nationals over San Francisco Giants; Cincinnati Reds over St. Louis Cardinals
NLCS: Washington Nationals over Cincinnati Reds

World Series: Washington over Tampa Bay in 7; WS MVP: Bryce Harper

Awards:
MVP: (winner in bold)
AL:
1. Mike Trout (.309/.386/.512, 27 HR, 55 SB, 8 WAR)
2. Evan Longoria
3. Miguel Cabrera
NL:
1. Joey Votto (.324/.431/.550, 28 HR, 108 RBI, 7.5 WAR)
2. Bryce Harper
3. Troy Tulowitzki

CY: (winner in bold)
AL:
1. Max Scherzer (220 IP, 255 K's, 2.75 ERA, 2.60 FIP, 7 WAR)
2. Yu Darvish
3. Matt Moore
NL:
1.Clayton Kershaw (230 IP, 235 K's, 2.45 ERA, 2.65 FIP, 7 WAR)
2. Stephen Strasburg
3. Madison Bumgarner

ROY: (winner in bold)
AL:
1. Jurickson Profar (.270/.330/.410, 3.5 WAR)
2. Chris Archer
3. Wil Myers
NL:
1. Trevor Rosenthal (2.50 ERA, 80 IP, 110 K's)
2. Jedd Gyorko
3.  Adam Eaton

Author's Awards (NOTE: These are not real awards!)
Breakout Player Award 
AL: 
1. Matt Moore (200 IP, 230 K, 2.90 ERA, 6 WAR)
2. Salvador Perez
3. Jason Kipnis
NL: 
1. Bryce Harper (.292/.366/.531, 36 HR, 125 RBI, 24 SB, 7.5 WAR)
2. Brandon Belt
3. Jeff Samardzija

Slugger of the Year Award
AL:
1. Miguel Cabrera (.328/.408/.569, 34 HR, 120 RBI, 7 WAR)
2. Jose Bautista
3. Albert Pujols
NL:
1. Joey Votto (.324/.431/.550, 28 HR, 108 RBI, 7.5 WAR)
2. Giancarlo Stanton
3. Ryan Braun

ALL MLB Team: 
(1st team listed first and bolded, 2nd team listed second and not bolded)
C: Buster Posey, Salvador Perez
1B: Joey Votto, Albert Pujols
2B: Robinson Cano, Dustin Pedroia
3B: Miguel Cabrera, Adrian Beltre
SS: Troy Tulowitzki, Starlin Castro
OF: Bryce Harper, Ryan Braun
OF: Mike Trout, Matt Kemp
OF: Giancarlo Stanton, Jose Bautista
DH: Billy Butler, Edwin Encarnacion
SP: Justin Verlander, Yu Darvish
SP: Max Scherzer, Matt Moore
SP: Clayton Kershaw, Felix Hernandez
SP: Stephen Strasburg, Cole Hamels
RP: Craig Kimbrel, Kelvin Herrera
RP: Aroldis Chapman, David Hernandez

By Aidan Flynn

Obviously, there hasn't been a whole lot of content going up here at BTP lately. Nick and I both play baseball for our schools and to say the least, our schedules have been packed. In addition, I have started a gig over at Bosoxinjection.com, which has taken up much of the time I have had to write. While that is no excuse and we certainly could have at least warned you of the declining content, we hope you understand our situations. This blog is just a hobby for us and while we certainly enjoy doing it, we obviously have other commitments. 

I don't know what the future is for BTP, but we will try to finish up the positional rankings and post our preseason predictions in the next week or so. After that, I know I can't promise much because of my other writing commitment in addition to playing baseball on practically a daily basis. Once again, we apologize for any inconveniences we may have brought and hope you've at least enjoyed our content up till now. Thanks

Our first team preview for the Deuces Wild Podcast. Enjoy

2/1: Lefty Grove has the highest winning percentage among 300 game winners, sitting at 68%
2/4: Albert Belle is the only player in ML history to hit 50 or more home runs and doubles in the same season. He accomplished the feat in 1995 with 50 HRs and 52 2Bs
2/5: Mariano Rivera's most valuable season (going by B-Ref WAR) was his 1996 campaign, in which he was 4.8 WAR. Ironically, this season was one in which he only saved 5 games
2/6: Ty Cobb is the youngest player to reach 3000 hits (34 years, 245 days old)
2/8: Babe Ruth is the only player to amass over 2000 hits, walks, runs scored, and runs batted in in his career
2/11: Only Sparky Anderson and Tony La Russa have won WS in two different leagues
2/12: Vic Power was the last first baseman to lead league in triples when he hit 10 in 1958 
2/13: Eddie Gaedel is best known as being the 1951 publicity stunt in which the 3'7" Gaedel had a Major League at-bat for the St. Louis Browns. A more obscure fact about Gaedel is that he wore the number 1/8
2/14: Darin Erstad is the only leadoff hitter in MLB history to have 100 RBI in a season (exactly 100 RBI in 2000)
2/18: In order to stay cool, Babe Ruth put a cabbage leaf in his hat for every game, changing the leaf every two innings
2/19: Joel Youngblood was the first and only player in Major League history to have hits in two different cities for two different teams on the same day. On August 4, 1982, Youngblood had a single for the Mets in the afternoon, was traded to the Expos and got a seventh inning single at night
2/20: Ken Ash is the only player in big league history to win a game on one pitch. He accomplished the feat on July 27, 1930, for the Cincinnati Reds
2/21: The only way to get a ground rule triple is if a fielder deliberately touches he ball with his hat or mask (ie, tries to catch it) or throws his glove  intentionally and touches a fair ball
2/22: The last player to drive in over 100 runs while hitting less than 10 home runs in a season was Hall of Famer, Paul Molitor. Molitor drove in 110 runs for the 1996 Twins with only 9 home runs
2/25: In 2012, Clayton Kershaw led all pitchers in pickoffs with 12
2/26: In yesterday's Grapefruit League game between the Boston Red Sox (SS) and Toronto Blue Jays, Red Sox pitchers did not throw a single ball through the first 4 innings on just 31 pitches.  Knuckleballer Steven Wright threw the first 2 innings (14 pitches, 14 strikes) and Allen Webster threw the 3rd and 4th innings (17 pitches, 17 strikes)
2/27: Located in Louisville, Kentucky at the Louisville Slugger Museum, the world's largest baseball bat is 120 feet long and weighs over 68,000 lbs
2/28: Of players to bat at least .300 last year, Salvador Perez was the only player to  have a BABIP less than .300

The other day, I experienced a mid-day epiphany of sorts and came up with the idea to try a podcast for the website. This podcast will aim to just discuss baseball on a more personal level to our audience and get you more daily baseball coverage. With Spring Training fully under way, we figured this podcast would be a good tool so that we could preview every team in baseball. We will go through these rankings in alphabetical order, so tomorrow, we will begin with the Arizona Diamondbacks. As I said, these podcasts will try to be completed on a daily basis, so that you, the audience, gets a more dedicated and informative view on the happenings in Major League Baseball.

We are rookies when it comes to this stuff, so if we are leaving stuff out (not baseball stuff, just podcast etiquette stuff), we would greatly appreciate the response. I personally am not sure how all this will turn out, but I think its a fun project for both ourselves and our audience and we both look forward to beginning this with the team seasonal previews.

Once again, if there are any comments -positive or negative- that come with the podcast, we are all ears and are willing to do anything that can improve the process. Please remember, this is a process for us, and we will learn on the job just as we hope you can learn from us. Thank you and we hope you are as excited for this as we are!

Aidan Flynn

P.S: The above file is basically me saying all of this in audio form; let me know if it works/doesn't work, because this is how we're doing the podcast. Thanks!