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It isn't looking good for the Sox this season. Not only are the Yankees looking unbeatable (by all MORTAL teams), but Cleveland is playing KC. I'm not sure who to root for, but it seems most realistic to hope the Chi-Sox just completely fall apart to assure the sox of a wildcard spot. As for the Red Sox, I think they'll keep playing mediocre baseball and unless another team plays horrible baseball the sox may be going home earlier than anyone had hoped. We're looking at injuries (Youkilis, Graffinino) bad--but tested--relief pitching, and potentially good--but untested--relief pitching as well. A manager who says he won't use any of that potentially good pitching in key situations... leaving us with, well, bad relief pitching. What we need: Great starting pitching. BIG bats. Many runs. Poor play from our opponents, nearly flawless play in the field and LUCK from teams like KC, TOR, BAL and NY. A run in the 1st... good start.

7-5 Yanks.

Ortiz has been more valuable to his team than Mariano. How, without a SINGLE reliable reliever, can you explain that the sox have won as many games as the Yankees this year? By getting considerable leads. Who is to thank for most of those considerable leads? .300, 46, 140. that's who. How does he do it? Does he just knock around random single after random single, with an occasional 2 run shot thrown in for good measure? No. He comes up at the crucial part of the game... you know, the times when everyone watching turns to their friend and says "this is the crucial part of the game"... and gets it done. Sometimes it is with a 1st and 2nd double to clear the bags. Sometimes it is a solo shot to win the game. Sometimes it is a flair single to right to score the guy from second. Sometimes it is drawing a walk to give Manny a shot. Sometimes it is a sac fly to get the crucial tying run in from 3rd. Sometimes it is answering immediately after the other team rallys to tie it up with a majestic home run. He does it at home. He does it on the road. He does it against righties, he does it against lefties. The guy has just been valuable and at NO time this year has anyone said "boy, I wish ortiz was a better fielder" because in the American League.. IT DOES NOT MATTER. Olerud is a better first baseman than Ortiz. Olerud is a better first baseman than most first basemen in the league. So it would be less valuable to the team if Ortiz demanded that he play first. Don't penalize a guy for doing what's best for his team. A-rod's fielding is more a factor of pitcher and hitter than it is of spectacular fielding. At third they hit it, you react. Mueller and A-Rod have similar numbers, which--to me at least--leads me to believe that A-rod's defense is easily replaced. Therefore, it is of little value. It doesn't add much to a discussion about value. If you can find defense like A-Rod's everywhere, then you won't need to pay a high price for it. Don't let the fact that A-Rod WAS a shortstop with a good glove fool you into thinking this guy is Brooks Robinson. He's not Brooks Robinson. He's Bill Mueller. He's barely Eric Chavez. He's an above average fielding 3rd baseman with one HECK of a bat. His speed is insignificant, it basically gets him more singles and that's it (look at XBH's, Runs, and notice there is little difference). As both of these guys know, it don't take speed to trot around the bases after a HR.

Totally agreed. A-Rod isn't even the most valuable YANKEE, let alone the most valuable player in the league. If you're not the most valuable player to your team, then you're not the most valuable player to your league. This year, Manny has been off. The Sox starting pitching has sucked. Their relievers have sucked more. They are shoddy on defense and constantly dealing with injuries. Despite that they have stayed in first place for most of the season in front of the highest paid team in world history. The one and only constant point for the sox has been Ortiz. He's easily the most valuable player on the Red Sox. Rivera is the most valuable player on the Yankees.

Foulke wasn't valuable this year at all. If it puts Hansen on the mound when Foulke would have been on the mound earlier then I'm all for it.

I am willing to bet that they will protect Ortiz one way or another. Either that, or they'll use Ortiz to protect someone else.

I'm pretty sure that was a joke. Also, I am pretty sure the Sox would never pay him 7 years 100 million dollars. Just a hunch, but I doubt they would.

Wonder if we'll see Hansen tonight... I bet we will.

awful D

2 2R HR tonight, along with 2 hits and 4 runs scored in a game the sox absolutely HAD to win. He's clutch, he's consistent, he manages to get XBH without speed and he has 20+ more RBI's than A-Rod does.

Seriously, the dude is an absolute monster at the plate.

Why dis the 20 RBI's that Ortiz has that A-Rod doesn't? That's a run he drives in (i.e., picking up his teammates) every eight games that A-Rod doesn't drive in. So in eight games ortiz averages one more rbi than A-rod. Over the course of a season that's HUGE. In Runs Created A-Rod is a bit better, although i really think that's because of Ortiz's lower GIDP numbers (Ortiz is SLOW) and A-Rod's SB's. . However, Ortiz still has more XBH (85) than Rodriguez (71). ARod has been hit by a pitch much more often (15 to 1) than Ortiz, which certainly helps the OBP. Of course, with the tying run on third, I want Ortiz up due to his higher sac fly totals (9 to 2). Ortiz leads the league in Runs, Homeruns and RBI, not to mention walks, and SLG. A-Rod is something like 17th in Range factor and 18th in Zone Rating (meaning he's a largely average 3rd baseman in those terms). You also concede clutchness, which means that only the fielding is the difference and A-rod isn't much better than your average MLB third baseman in that category. I'll take the 20 RBI's rather than average fielding any day of the week. Especially with a 200+ mill payroll; you can buy an average 3rd baseman. .

That's such a convincing statistic I can't believe nobody mentioned it earlier. But I checked the stats, and Ortiz currently has an OPS of 1.018 (.397 OBP, 621 SLG), which means that A-Rod is NOT the only guy in the AL with an OPS over 1.000

2-2 in the top of the 9th

However, a weak fly to left is NOT pretty good. Damnit.

Seriously??? Millar? Well, I'll have some faith. 2 HR is pretty good.

Anything tek, anything...

1,2,3 ohhh yeah.

I like this guy.

Did Hall just swing at that? I couldn't tell. It looked like he was stretching or something.

This guy throws some serious heat.

don't get too excited yet y'all. Let's see what he can do. C'mon Rent!

maybe it was this: "Close and Late" (Avg, OBP, SLG, OPS) (AB/R/H/HR/RBI/SO) A-Rod: (.300, .424, .542, .967)(70AB/ 14R/ 21H/ 4HR/ 12RBI/ 19SO) Ortiz: (.319, .425, .764, 1.189) (72AB, 18R, 23H, 9HR, 28 RBI, 15 SO) Or this: (weird stats) Runners On: A-Rod (.297, .402, .548, .950)(279AB, 88R, 83H, 20HR, 94RBI, 42 BB, 65 SO) Ortiz: (.313, .426, .579, .1005) (259AB, 82R, 81H, 16HR, 105 RBI, 56BB, 37SO) That's with 20 FEWER at bats, and 14 MORE walks.

Ortiz is about to break the record for most home runs hit by a lefty Red Sox and most home runs hit by a DH. He is, therefore, putting up the greatest season by a DH EVER, which to me, is worthy of discussion in the MVP discussion. Is A-Rod's season the best ever by a 3rd baseman? Is it the best since the DH era started? I don't know the answer, just asking... Also, the same argument--that DH's don't field so they shouldn't win the MVP--should be extended to pitchers as well. Pitchers don't hit, and they only pitch every 5 days. Therefore, lets remove: Dennis Eckersley (1992) Roger Clemens (1986) Willie Hernandez (1984) Rollie Fingers (1981) Vida Blue (1971) Denny McLain (1968) Bob Gibson (1968) Sandy Koufax (1963) Don Newcombe (1956) Bobby Shantz (1952) Hal Newhouser (1945, 1944) Spud Chandler (1943) etc., From the list of MVP winners. Also, the same argument says that DH's shouldn't win MVP awards in division, league or world series either, since they don't play the field. So, all the pro-A-Rod folks on here: who SHOULD have won the MVP in the ALCS last year? I thought Ortiz's 2 game winning hits were pretty impressive and worthy of the award. Who was more deserving? As Ortiz says "I never saw anybody win the MVP because they won the Gold Glove and hit .230. You win the MVP because you help your ballclub, you win games whenever your team needs it and because you put up some numbers." You all are saying that if Ortiz had gone out and played mediocre defense all year then he might deserve the MVP, but since the sox have better 1st basemen Ortiz doesn't deserve the MVP.

I don't think this is an issue of BIAS, this is a legitimate argument. But I'm glad to know that you're capable to taking a non-biased point of view, while the rest of us are completely biased and subjective. If you took A-Rod out of the lineup you would be taking out the only consistent player on that team? Are you kidding me? Jeter is hitting over .300 with over 100 runs. Sheffield has 102 RBI. Giambi leads the league in OBP. Matsui has 110 RBI. So A-Rod has done well all year... so what? You said that Manny, Varitek and Mueller are having very solid seasons... are their seasons MORE solid than, say, Sheffield, Giambi and Matsui? Look at the numbers, obviously not. Tek has had a great year, as has manny but look at RBI's, HR's, OBP and OPS. There is little difference at all, if any it favors the Yankees. I'm so sick of all these "poor Yankee" arguments about A-Rod. The fact of the matter is this: The yankees have had a disappointing year. They could have had the same disappointing year if you put Bill Mueller at 3rd for them. They haven't been hurt by their offense (currently they are 2nd in Average, 3rd in Runs, 3rd in hits, 3rd in total bases, 2nd in Home runs and 3rd in RBI. Not to mention the fact that they are 2nd in walks, 3rd in Slugging and 2nd in OBP). So don't give me the argument that without A-Rod the Yankees would be a weak offensive team. Maybe CONSISTENCY isn't their strength. Giambi sucks this week? That's okay, Matsui is hot. Jeter struggling? Okay, Sheffield is on fire. I'm not saying that Ortiz should necessarily win the MVP. A-Rod is extremely deserving and if he wins I won't be disappointed. However, Ortiz has done everything possible to win the award. He has knocked in more runs than A-Rod, the same number of HR's. He comes through in the clutch and, yes, like you said, an RBI in the 1st is, in theory, as valuable as one in the 9th, or 10th. But if you're at home and hit a walk-off home run, that run is not one that the opposing team has a chance to make up later in the game. They can't bunt a runner over, they can't sacrifice, or squeeze or anything. It is an exclamination point and a nail in the coffin. Finally, and this has little to do with the voting but A LOT to do with value: Ortiz: $5,250,000 A-Rod: $25,705,118 Now, if your argument is that A-Rod is better because of his FIELDING, then my argument is: do you think you could get equal or better fielding for the remaining 20,545,118 dollars difference? I think you probably could get someone who would be as effective in the field for that amount of money. if I were starting a team I would EASILY choose Ortiz over A-Rod, knowing that with the remaining 20 million dollars not only would I get the same offensive output, but I could easily make up the difference in fielding, while ALSO adding some value offensively. The sox are a more balanced team, but the only reason they can be balanced is because they have Ortiz and Manny. The yankees are a top heavy team, Jeter, Rod, Sheffield, Matsui and Giambi have carried them this year (in varied forms). So, again, A-Rod is deserving. Ortiz is deserving. I don't much care who wins, but don't pretend that the Yankees would not be anywhere without A-rod. Look at the stats first.. Look at the RBI's, and the HR's, the OBP and the Runs scored and then come back and say that it has been ALL A-Rod to the same degree that the Sox have been ALL ortiz. Offensively, at least, Ortiz is more valuable.