Justin Verlander earns 20th win.

[Little Slide Rooter]

I knew this guy was good, but I didn't realize that this year, he'd made his way into the baseball elite. he's 20-5 with a 2.38 ERA 0.90 WHIP and 48/218 BB/K. He could easily win 23, although 25s a bit of a stretch with roughly a month left in the regular season. They say he might be the 3rd guy to win MVP and Cy Young in the same year, along with Bob Gibson and Dennis Eckersley. I know Curtis Granderson and Adrian Gonzalez are the to 2 in MVP talks, but going by the true meaning of MVP, take Granderson and A Gon off their respective teams, and they're still likely playoff bound, but take Verlander off the Tigers, and they're probably a .500 team at best.

 

With a guy like him on the mund for 2 games, they could be able to upset the Yankees or Red Sox in a 5 game series. 7 game series, not so much.

 

Oh, and he's a free agent in 2015 8-)

 

ETA: i meant for this to be in general baseball discussions.

Edited August 28, 2011 by Little Slide Rooter

[JimSorgi]

You must've not paid attention to him the past three years. He's been elite for quite awhile.

[javy knows my name]

Verlander's been in my top five favorite players for about 5 years now

[Little Slide Rooter]

You must've not paid attention to him the past three years. He's been elite for quite awhile.

 

true, but this season, he's entered a whole new level. I remember that he and Jeremy Bonderman were supposed to form a pretty amazing 1-2. Bonderman my or may not be still playing professional baseball.

[KingKongvs.Godzilla]

You must've not paid attention to him the past three years. He's been elite for quite awhile.

 

Yeah. He's also been the Tigers' best pitcher since his rookie year.

 

Verlander has been must see pitching for a long time now. The fastball and curveball combo has always been off the charts as an MLB pitcher, and he'd be a must watch even if he sucked. This is just him doing what he does as he's also entering his prime. I said a couple years ago that I expect him to get HOF talk when it's all said and done, and I think he'll make good on my bs. One of the most electric power SP arms we'll all ever see.

 

Verlander + Upton in 2015!

Edited August 28, 2011 by KingKongvs.Godzilla

[sneakypower]

he's been pretty impossible to hit this year

[mcgoobs]

This season will likely be very comparable to his 2009 season, it's just his ERA is now on the favorable side of his peripherals.

[Little Slide Rooter]

You must've not paid attention to him the past three years. He's been elite for quite awhile.

 

Yeah. He's also been the Tigers' best pitcher since his rookie year.

 

Verlander has been must see pitching for a long time now. The fastball and curveball combo has always been off the charts as an MLB pitcher, and he'd be a must watch even if he sucked. This is just him doing what he does as he's also entering his prime. I said a couple years ago that I expect him to get HOF talk when it's all said and done, and I think he'll make good on my bs. One of the most electric power SP arms we'll all ever see.

 

Verlander + Upton in 2015!

 

The 2015 team will be pretty awesome with those 2, Wilson, Fielder, Kemp, and 2 time MVP Starlin Castro.

[Clem Fandango]

They say he might be the 3rd guy to win MVP and Cy Young in the same year, along with Bob Gibson and Dennis Eckersley.

 

Poor Willie Hernandez and Sandy Koufax and Roger Clemens and Denny McClain and Vida Blue and Rollie Fingers.

[KingKongvs.Godzilla]

They say he might be the 3rd guy to win MVP and Cy Young in the same year, along with Bob Gibson and Dennis Eckersley.

 

Poor Willie Hernandez and Sandy Koufax and Roger Clemens and Denny McClain and Vida Blue and Rollie Fingers.

 

Don't forget Pedro Martinez.

[SouthSideRyan]

Pedro never won MVP

[KingKongvs.Godzilla]

Pedro never won MVP

 

Completely missed it.

[Clem Fandango]

Pedro never won MVP

 

Completely missed it.

 

He probably should have

[TruffleShuffle]

Good move by the padres to save a couple mil and draft matt bush instead of verlander.

[KingKongvs.Godzilla]

Good move by the padres to save a couple mil and draft matt bush instead of verlander.

 

[NCCubFan]

You must've not paid attention to him the past three years. He's been elite for quite awhile.

 

Yeah. He's also been the Tigers' best pitcher since his rookie year.

 

Verlander has been must see pitching for a long time now. The fastball and curveball combo has always been off the charts as an MLB pitcher, and he'd be a must watch even if he sucked. This is just him doing what he does as he's also entering his prime. I said a couple years ago that I expect him to get HOF talk when it's all said and done, and I think he'll make good on my bs. One of the most electric power SP arms we'll all ever see.

 

Verlander + Upton in 2015!

 

The 2015 team will be pretty awesome with those 2, Wilson, Fielder, Kemp, and 2 time MVP Starlin Castro.

Maybe BTTF2 actually gets it right. :D

[WeGotWood98]

 

The 2015 team will be pretty awesome with those 2, Wilson, Fielder, Kemp, and 2 time MVP Starlin Castro.

 

Meh on actually going out and getting Matt Kemp. COF pretending to be a CF so he can get CF money. It's not even that he's not a good or very good player, but I think the Cubs can do better.

 

In fact, I see that BJ Upton is a FA in the same season as Kemp. Now that's a CF that plays CF extremely well year in and year out, and he's got a bat himself. Kemp is the better offensive player, but I don't think the gap is so overwhelmingly huge. Plus if you're paying for a CF, why not pay for someone who's really good at playing CF defensively?

[WeGotWood98]

Or maybe in 2013 look at David Wright instead, if Ramirez isn't here.

[imb]

 

The 2015 team will be pretty awesome with those 2, Wilson, Fielder, Kemp, and 2 time MVP Starlin Castro.

 

Meh on actually going out and getting Matt Kemp. COF pretending to be a CF so he can get CF money. It's not even that he's not a good or very good player, but I think the Cubs can do better.

 

In fact, I see that BJ Upton is a FA in the same season as Kemp. Now that's a CF that plays CF extremely well year in and year out, and he's got a bat himself. Kemp is the better offensive player, but I don't think the gap is so overwhelmingly huge. Plus if you're paying for a CF, why not pay for someone who's really good at playing CF defensively?

 

yes, the offensive gap is overwhelmingly large

[CubmanPi]

I don't think pitchers should be eligible for the MVP. Isn't the CYA basically the MVP award for pitchers? Voters have a hard enough time comparing the value of two position players. There's no way pitchers should be in that mix as well.

[davearm2]

I don't think pitchers should be eligible for the MVP. Isn't the CYA basically the MVP award for pitchers? Voters have a hard enough time comparing the value of two position players. There's no way pitchers should be in that mix as well.

"The voters are too dumb to figure it out" seems like a poor rationale for deciding unilaterally that the most valuable player in any given year can never be a pitcher.

[WeGotWood98]

yes, the offensive gap is overwhelmingly large

 

Fine true enough. OTOH despite that Upton has been the more consistent and well rounded player...throwing in baserunning and defense. Not to mention hes the same age, plays the same position better, has played in the tougher division, has won in that tougher division, and won't be getting franchise money to play a position he's not really suited for in the long term. It's just a more sensible move to me, if they're going to chase a CF bat.

[CubmanPi]

I don't think pitchers should be eligible for the MVP. Isn't the CYA basically the MVP award for pitchers? Voters have a hard enough time comparing the value of two position players. There's no way pitchers should be in that mix as well.

"The voters are too dumb to figure it out" seems like a poor rationale for deciding unilaterally that the most valuable player in any given year can never be a pitcher.

Fine, allow me to re-state.

 

Pitchers are more valuable than position players. Change the name of the MVP to remove the confusion and acknowledge that the CYA and MVP are equivalent-level awards for pools of candidates which do not overlap. Having a CYA yet still considering pitchers for the MVP basically de-values pitching altogether.

[imb]

I actually have a soft spot for Upton, but come on.

 

He's a better fielder, but his only consistency with the bat is that it's consistently worse than Kemp's. I'm fine with Upton as a fall back or something, but he doesn't really get me excited, unless he's going to repeat 2007, which looks like a fluke now.

 

If we sign Kemp, he's probably in a corner (with Jackson in CF) anyway. I don't want to end up with a Jackson, Upton, Colvin OF because we wanted to save 7 million a season or whatever.

[TruffleShuffle]

I actually have a soft spot for Upton, but come on.

 

He's a better fielder, but his only consistency with the bat is that it's consistently worse than Kemp's. I'm fine with Upton as a fall back or something, but he doesn't really get me excited, unless he's going to repeat 2007, which looks like a fluke now.

 

If we sign Kemp, he's probably in a corner (with Jackson in CF) anyway. I don't want to end up with a Jackson, Upton, Colvin OF because we wanted to save 7 million a season or whatever.

 

i'd take that if the upton is justin.