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Just some rumblings around baseball as of Memorial Day.

Joe Mauer is in the middle of what may be one of the finest seasons ever for a catcher.  He's hitting over .430, and already has hit more home runs then he had all of last year.  Despite the fact that he has only played in 23 games so far, his efforts have to merit some MVP consideration already.

Raul Ibanez is in the middle of a career year.  Triple crown talks could soon start if he continues this pace, as he is currently leading the National league and all of baseball in home runs, leading the NL in RBI's, and is currently third in batting.  This coming from a 36 year old who has never made an all-star team.

Zack Grienke continues to be the best pitcher in all of baseball.  He leads all of baseball with a microscopic .82 ERA, and is second in the American League with 7 wins on an otherwise mediocre Royal club.  The mediocre part of the Royals may soon change, and both Joakim Soria, and Alex Gordon have just recently taken prlimery rehab steps, and both should return by the end of June.  Look for Kansas City to be contenders in a weak AL Central, if they can keep healthy.

Chris Carpenter is back.  After missing virtually all of the past two season due to injury problems, Carpenter has finally returned to the Cardinal rotation, and looks better then ever.  So far he's made three starts, and in 15 innings of work has yet to allow an earned run.  He's 2-0, and could we see him reestablish himself as the ace of a Cardinal pitching staff that is already second in the NL in ERA.

The AL East is already looking like the toughest division in baseball.  The Red Sox, and Blue Jays are trying to establish themselves as the best team in baseball, while both the Yankees and Rays have appeared to have rightened their respective ships, and are quickly moving up the standings.  Both the Rays and Yankees have been doing it with their offense, as balls are flying out of Yankee Stadium at a record pace, while Evan Longoria, Jason Bartlett, and Carl Crawford are leading what may be the most potent offensive in baseball, as the Rays lead all teams in runs scored, and have a +41 run differential, tops in the AL.

Most people probably couldn't name the team with the best record in the American League.  That team would be the Texas Rangers, and they have been doing it for the most part without the help of Josh Hamilton, who is only hitting .237 on the year, and has been slumping as of late.  Ian Kinsler, Nelson Cruz, and Michael Young have been doing the majority of the work.  In addition the Rangers have also managed the reserect the careers of both Hank Blalock, and Andruw Jones.  Blalock already has 11 HR's on the year, and Jones is hitting a solid .290 in part time duty, and is already only 2 RBI's short of his total from last year.  Kevin Millwood, and Matt Harrison are leading what has been a decent rotation, and Frank Francisco has been lights out, with 10 saves, and an ERA of 0.

The loss of Manny Ramirez has hurt the Dodgers, but it hasn't crippled them.  The Dodgers have been doing it with pitching and defense.  They have the best ERA of any team in baseball, and are third in the NL in team defense.  Randy Wolf, and Chad Billingsley make up what's quickly becoming one of the best one two pitching combos in baseball, while Clayton Kershaw continues to make progress.  This combined with perhaps the best bullpen in baseball, as Ronald Belisario, Ramon Tronsco, and Jon Broxton have all been solid.  If Manny returns to his old form, look for the Dodgers to be favored to win the NL pennant come playoff time.

David Ortiz is having a year he would like to forget thus far.  His batting average is now below the Mendoza line, and he is clearly in the lineup on a name only basis.  Ortiz has been the face of the Red Sox for the last five years, and they will give him every opportunity to prove he can still hit, but you have to wonder how long Terry Francona is going to be willing to put up this.  Look for the Red Sox to drop Ortiz in the batting order at the very least.  Others having forgetful years thus far include Brian Giles, Geovany Soto, Chris Young, Jhonny Peralta, and Adrian Beltre.

The Washington Nationals are without question the worst team in baseball, but hope is on the way.  The June 5th draft is just around the corner, and Stephen Strasburg appears to be the consensuses number one overall pick barring Scott Boras asking too much money from the Nats front office.  This is a pick the Nationals must make though if they are to be a successful franchise.  Considering the Nationals made a bid for Mark Teixeria, before eventually settling on Adam Dunn I fully expect the Nationals to take Strasburg regardless of how much Boras asks for him.  I wouldn't expect him to be put in the majors from day one, nor do I think he is ready after seeing him pitch in the Mountain West championship game, but the kid does have some nasty stuff, and could be up before the season is over.  Expect his starts to be like that of Mark Fidrych, Fernando Valenzuela, and Dwight Gooden.  Although Washington has horrible pitching, their offense is pretty good, and the addition of Strasuberg could give them another solid block in which to build a winning baseball team around.

The New Yankee Stadium is looking more and more like Coors Field east.  Earlier today Mark Teixeria hit a broken bat home run, which at first looked like a routine fly ball to left.  It will be interesting to see if the Yankees change the field dimensions in the off season, as the house that billions of dollars built has also proven to be one of the toughest parks on extra base hits that aren't home runs.

We're about a third of the way through the season thus far, and the contenders are starting to separate themselves from the pretenders.  The trading deadline could be interesting with the big price obviously being Jake Peavy.  Currently he is far too pricey for virtually every team, but come the deadline if a team like the Cubs feels they are only one pitcher away from putting themselves in real contention, the price for Peavy may become much more reasonable.  A situation like Sabathia's is unlikely as Peavy still has three years left on a deal that is sit to earn him $11 million a year, and San Diego is expecting the other team to take all of Peavy's contract.

There's a full slate of games scheduled for Memorial day tomorrow.  The two best match ups are scheduled for the same time, as the resurgent Yankees travel to Arlington to take on the first place Rangers, while the Cardinals and Brewers met in a battle of aces as Chris Carpenter will take on Yovani Gallardo in a game that will determine first place in the NL Central in another 2:05 game.


-- Edited by pmoehrin on Sunday 24th of May 2009 11:16:50 PM