The 5.5 Hole

This has been well covered by now, and probably forgotten after Wednesday night's greatness, but Jose Reyes broke a cardinal rule of competition. The Mets didn't do it, Jose Reyes did it. And he didn't break an unwritten rule of baseball, he broke a written rule of sports and of people dedicated to being the best.

Reyes would have won the batting title regardless with Ryan Braun throwing down an 0-5 night, but when he took himself out of the game after his bunt single, Reyes showed how concerned he was and how focused he was on personal success. The Mets weren't playing for anything. Their game was over well before the drama and intrigue of Wednesday night's masterpieces. Yet the fans came to the park to see Reyes and possibly bid him farewell.

In looking for a huge offseason contract, Reyes may very well leave the Mets. And if he does, the city of New York will have one final memory; Reyes walking off the field after a first inning single at his own request. I'm not going to make the Ted Williams comparisons. That's been done enough. I'll simply say that true competitors want to be on the field until the final the out of the season.

Jose Reyes has always seemed like a likable guy. He's always seemed to play hard. He may be injury-prone, but he always tried. Now, I question his commitment. I question his focus. The Mets could have said "no, you're playing," but ultimately, Reyes had to make this decision, and he made the wrong one.

From the Office of the Commissioner, Allan H. "Bud" Selig:

Dear Teams,

Let me first start by making a simple request; if I mandate something and it is unpopular, please do not tell the press about it. Take some responsibility yourself. However, if I mandate something and it is popular, please direct all media requests and praise to my office.

I'd like to take a moment to clarify some happenings from September 11, 2011. Now some may accuse us of simply looking for profit on this day. I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of a monetary gain from our agreement with New Era, but I can tell you all, the league needs money. But for the sake of explanation, and this is to be the response from all teams, we were trying to present a uniform uniform -- The double word is my favorite part of the argument.

I'd like to take a moment to point out New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon. While he has allowed his players to hurt my feelings and throw me under the bus, he did not put up a fight when told first responder hats could not be worn. You should all take note. I can only wish the rest of the league's owners had the same, healthy fear of my wrath.

Finally, I am thoroughly disappointed with Joe Torre. Mr. Torre was supposed to be able to convey the league's ban on silly hats with a sense of authority. As one to have worn these hats in the past and robbed baseball of additional profits (neither confirmed or denied) from New Era, it seemed fitting to make him the face of our ban. Yet, Mr. Torre failed to exude the confidence that a message from myself, the commissioner, deserves.

So for future reference gentlemen, we are a business and we do enjoy profit. But when approached by media, we should convey a league approved response. This has been a tough time for me. I have feelings too, and the Mets players were allowed to trounce all over those feelings with the truth.

- Bud Selig, your commissioner and voice of reason

It is now September 12th. The mourning, tributes, and moments of silence will have to wait another year for most. Though for the victims, the families of the victims, and those in and around the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001, the remembrance is year round. A small token here and there can change a person's outlook. It can take feelings of sadness to pride and feelings of hatred to feelings of unity.

But Major League Baseball chose money over tribute. The cash registers were ringing in the heads of MLB executives when they once again (they tried this when the Mets returned to play in 2001) told players, the Mets players especially, they could not wear first responder hats. That while they could wear them during pre-game, they were obligated to wear the New Era hats that the entire league was wearing. That even though this was a team, much like the Yankees who were on the road, representative of New York's loss and recovery, they could not put down the New Era brand for one day ten years after the last time it was done.

Today the world can go back to capitalism personified. Baseball, New Era, and all other profiteering organizations can seize any opportunity they want to make a dollar today. But yesterday was not about money or contracts. Yesterday was not about exposure or marketing. It was about tribute.

Major League Baseball failed in that respect. Bud Selig failed in that respect. Joe Torre failed in that respect. And they should all be ashamed.

Already working to extend their current 3.5 game lead in the terribly uncompetitive National League West, the Giants may have just delivered the knock out blow.  After Carlos Beltran agreed to waive his no trade clause, the Mets shipped him off to the Giants for a Minor League starter with an ERA hovering near 4.00 and a $2.5 million salary dump. 

Beltran is in the final year of his contract and will likely become a free-agent next season unless the Giants re-work the deal (unlikely).  However, the contract probably doesn't matter much to San Francisco right now.  This looks to be a 3-month rental trade for the play-off push.

And it's the smartest move they could have made.  Aaron Rowand, who will most-likely be going to the bench to make room for Beltran, has been a serviceable Major League outfielder throughout his career.  However, he is sitting on a .244 average with 4 home runs and 20 RBI's.  Beltran on the other hand is hitting .289 with 15 home runs and 66 RBI's. The adjustment shouldn't be too tough for Beltran either.  The Mets' Citi Field play similar to AT&T Park in San Francisco. 

For 3 months and $4 million, the Giants have acquired a player with 60.9 WAR for his career, 616.5 RAR (Runs Above Replacement), and a career walk-to-strikout ratio of 1.38.  After losing Buster Posey for the year, Freddy Sanchez for a good chunk, and dealing with an anemic offense, the Giants may have just moved themselves from World Series hopeful to legitimate World Series contender.

As for the team in their rear-view, the Diamondbacks sat idly by while their competition got better.  Stephen Drew is lost for the season, their bullpen is showing signs of reverting back to last year's travesty, and their offense is inconsistent.  Without a big move before the deadline (and really who's out there?), there is little chance of the Dbacks catching the Giants.

Carlos Beltran may only be a rental, but he is a Lamborghini-type rental, rented by a teenager during spring break to pick up girls. 

Up to the time of his injury, Jose Reyes was the hands down, stop even debating, foregone conclusion, lock for the National League MVP. Now though, Andrew McCutchen is giving him a run for his money. And here's the biggest difference; McCutchen is playing for a first place team (as of end of play on Friday).

Let's take a quick look at their stats coming into Saturday, then we will jump into the meat and potatoes of our discussion.

Jose Reyes:

Andrew McCutchen:




Jose Reyes' batting average blows McCutchen out of the water, but how about the on-base percentages?  McCutchen is sitting on a .390 OBP while Reyes has a similar .398.  Reyes has more hits and more stolen bases, but McCutchen has more walks and more home runs.  But here's the kicker, McCutchen has 24 more RBI's than Reyes.  Jose Reyes has accounted for 97 runs between RBI's and runs scored.  McCutchen has accounted for 110. 

Really, these two players are so evenly matched, the normal stat line doesn't do this debate justice.  It's like picking between scrambled eggs or an omlet.  It's like choosing curly fires or straight cut.  Forget about the large gap in batting averages for a minute and just look at those stat lines.  Reyes and McCutchen have the exact same amount of doubles.  Reyes has 11 more triples, but McCutchen has 11 more home runs.  The difference between slugging percentage is only .021.  And the difference between OPS (slugging percentage plus on-base percentage) is just .030.

Let's take a look at Fangraph's WAR rating for each of these two.  Not suprisingly, they both rate at a 5.2 WAR for the 2011 season.

So what distinguishes these two talents.  Their position in the field?  Maybe.  Andrew McCutchen's defense in the outfield has given him an 8.3 Ultimate Zone Rating by Fangraphs.  This rating measures the runs above the MLB average saved by defense.  (The MLB average used for the purpose of this stat is 0).  Jose Reyes is currently rated 1.0.  However, this stat can be somewhat misleading.  If we use career averages, McCutchen's three years and Reyes' eight years, we get a much different picture.  Jose Reyes' UZR for his career is 17.6.  However, McCutchen's is only -6.7.

The true test of an MVP candidate's impact on the game are not just the statistics he puts up.  They are the intangibles.  Andrew McCutchen is leading a Pittsburgh Pirates team that lost 105 games last season to first place coming into Saturday.  Jose Reyes is the best player on a Mets team that is so deep in financial problems some might consider them the Junior Varsity version of the Dodgers.  McCutchen is 24 years old with many more productive years ahead of him.  Jose Reyes is often viewed as injury-prone and at 28 years old, likely has about six good years at shortstop left.

McCutchen hits for power and average.  He draws walks.  He is well-liked.  While Jose Reyes is having a great season, is well-liked himself, and has had a productive major league career to date, the very definition of Most Valuable Player precludes him from consideration in my book.  The Most Valuable Player is the player that contributes the most to his team and provides the most value.  Jose Reyes is absolutely the MVP of the Mets.  Hands down.  But, Andrew McCutchen is the MVP of the league.

History tells us a team's record has little to do with the MVP voting, but in this case preference points need to be awarded.  The Pirates have, for eighteen years, been a team so deep in disappointment, their opponents could almost guarantee themselves a series win each and every time out.  Andrew McCutchen has helped turn that around.  He has helped the Pirates climb to the top.  Whether they stay there or not is up in the air, but 91 games is a pretty good sample size when gauging success.

Jose Reyes may be earning himself a fat paycheck after this season, but McCutchen may be earning much more; Success and pride for a team that's been missing those two things for almost two decades.