Diamond-Theory.com

Nelson Figueroa made the Dominican Republic 2-0 with a complete game, 1 ER victory against Mexico.  Figueroa struck out eight en route to the 7-1 win.  This win makes the Dominican squad the only undefeated team left.  They will play Venezuela next in the double round-robin tournament. 

Mexico, coming off a solid victory against Venezuela, will have to defeat Puerto Rico next to stay in the game.  The Dominican Republic can make it 3-0 with a win against Venezuela tomorrow.

Venezuela and Puerto Rico face off in today's other game.

Mexico, behind their legend Vinny Castilla, defeated the host Venezuela in the second game of the Caribbean Series, 7-2.

The Mexican team is probably the thinnest with regards to talent, but has shown over the years an ability to play big.  Venezuela, on the other hand, has yet to show consistency in international competitions like this one.  Look for this loss to light a fire. 

Mexico will play the Dominican Republic next, while Venezuela will look to rebound against Puerto Rico.

The Caribbean Series, a conglomeration of the major leagues of Latin America, got underway on Margarita Island, Venezuela Tuesday.  The Dominican Republic took down Puerto Rico 2-1in a well-pitched game between the rivals. 

The series is made up of the champions of each of the winter leagues.  Facing off in this year's competition will be: the Leones del Escogido, champions of the Dominican Winter League; the Naranjeros de Hermosillo of the Mexican Winter League; Puerto Rico's Indios de Mayaguez; and Venezuela's champion Leones de Caracas. 

While the teams play in their country's colors, it is important to note that these are not the same international All-Star teams we see in competitions like the World Baseball Classic.

That does not mean, however, there is no patriotism at play in the competition.  The Domincan team is looking to impress after a disappointing showing in last spring's WBC.  The Puerto Rican squad is looking to build on its international success.  And both teams are trying to avoid losing to Venezuelan, last year's champion. 

Venezuala takes on Mexico, next.

Full coverage also available at MLB.com.

The Hall of Fame votes are in, and a few things have become clear:

1). Baseball writers should not be the only ones voting.

Denying Robbie Alomar, for whatever reason, proves that the baseball writers are incompetent. The voting system needs to be revamped, with an expanded pool of voters including former players, notable baseball figures, statisticians, and writers. Too many players are being passed over by a group of guys that are so good at their job that they papered over the most scandalous story in the sport for decades. These guys do not know what they are doing.

2). This has become a popularity contest.

It has been for a while, but it is becoming more and more clear that how nice the guy is has become more of a factor than how good the guy was. So Robbie Alomar spit in an umpires face. He has apologized. This crap started when a few guys voted against Eddie Murray because he wasn’t “likeable.” Who cares? Could he play? This fact helps prove once again that the writers are not capable of deciding this themselves.

Barring something crazy, Albert Pujols is the National League MVP.  Enough said.

Prince Fielder could fill-in or sneak in, as could Raul Ibanez.  And Hanley Ramirez is having another good year.  But Pujols is on another level right now.

Hat tips to Chase Utley and Brad Hawpe.

The race in the American League is much more interesting.  Normally, the award goes to the guy with the biggest numbers.  But quite often it goes to a guy with good numbers that are outside the norm for someone playing his position.  Think Jeff Kent, or Jimmy Rollins.  This year, Joe Mauer has to be the front-runner.  Teammate Justin Morneau may have better overall numbers, but the production Mauer is getting out of the catcher's spot is special.  And based on that, he's probably in the lead.

Mark Teixeira and Kevin Youkilis are having good years, as is Ben Zobrist.  They're in the second tier, but by no means out of the race. 

Hat tips to Torii Hunter, Jason Kubel, Russell Branyan, and Adam Lind.

The Trade:

Indians send Ryan Garko to the Giants for Class A lefty Scott Barnes.

On Paper:

The Giants are trying to make a wildcard push and need some help with the bats.  The Indians are trading for parts.

Best Case Scenario for the Giants:

Garko puts more players in their correct spots in the lineup and the Giants, with their pitching, produce enough runs to win.

Best Case scenario for the Indians:

Barnes becomes a big league starter.

Worst Case Scenario for the Giants:

Barnes is a diamond in the rough and Garko is Travis Ishikawa plus a few years.

Worst Case Scenario for the Indians:

Barnes never makes it.

Bottom Line:

The Indians always seem to have a glut of talented hitters with no position to play.  With Andy Marte ready to go and Matt LaPorta on his way, Garko was expendable.  What the Indians got was the Number 9 prospect in the Giants system and a potential solid lefty.  Barnes hasn't yet made the jump to AA ball, where the real test comes, but he's put up respectable numbers to date.  As for the Giants, they get a solid, but not game-changing, bat.  His OPS+ is 114, which makes him the second best bat in that lineup behind Pablo Sandoval.  As the Giants lack any sort of offense threat outside of the Panda, Garko is a marked improvement.  What will probably happen is Garko and Travis Ishikawa, who is breaking onto the scene nicely in San Francisco, will go into some sort of platoon.  Garko may even see some time in the outfield just to stay in the lineup.  While this is no blockbuster, both teams seem to have won out.  The Indians don't have to pay Garko (he's arbitration eligible this offseason) and get a decent prospect, and the Giants deal from an organizational strength and get some offense.  We'll see who "wins" when all is said and done with young Scott Barnes.

Jim Rice and Ricky Henderson, along with Veteran's Committee selection Joe Gordon, were inducted into the Hall of Fame Sunday. 

Tony Kubek entered the broadcaster's wing, and Nick Peters entered as a sportswriter.

As anyone who has ever been to Cooperstown for an induction knows, it was probably a fun place to be.  Though it did not approach the ungodly 70,000 people mark the Gwynn-Ripken induction knotted, a solid contingent of 21,000 was on hand to welcome the foursome into the Hall. 

There has been plenty written about them, so I'll just leave you with some stats.

Ricky Henderson's career numbers:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/henderi01.shtml

Jim Rice's Career numbers:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/riceji01.shtml

Joe Gordon's career numbers:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gordojo01.shtml

One last note.  Travis wrote an article on where Ricky ranks among the game's best, so check it out:

http://diamond-theory.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=141:rickey&catid=37:numbers&Itemid=57

The Trade:

The Cardinals trade for Matt Holliday, giving up prospects Brett Wallace (3B), Shane Peterson (OF), and Clay Mortenson (RHP).

On Paper:

The Cardinals get what LaRussa has long wanted (generally: another bat behind Pujols; specifically: Matt Holliday).  The A's make a standard All-Star for top prospects trade they have become known for.  The A's also kick in part of the remaining balance on Holliday's contract.

Best Case Scenario for Cardinals:

Holliday continues his recent tear and the Cards see another M3 combination in the 3-4-5 slots.

Best Case Scenario for A's:

Wallace becomes the Major League hitter everyone expects while Peterson and Mortenson fill in their respective rolls.

Worst Case Scenario for Cardinals:

See Mark Mulder for Dan Haren and Co.

Worst Case Scenario for A's:

Wallace flops, never becoming the hitter the A's expect, and they lose the draft picks they (may) have received for Holliday.

Bottom Line:

Oddly enough, the team trading for the prospects seems to have the best worst scenario here.  Even if Holliday plays to his career numbers for the rest of the season, the Cardinals still lose if they can't parlay the acquisition into a multi-year deal, though a WS ring would dull the pain should they get one.

Wallace is a concensus hitter, but the Cards have nowhere for him to play - while listed as a third baseman, he is a first baseman / DH long term.  He will be a good fit in an A's system that seems to spawn hitters like him.

Much has been made of Holliday's drop in production this year and of the Cardinals' need to protect Pujols.  What hasn't been talked about much is the protection the Cards will provide Holliday - being sandwiched between Pujols and Ludwick (50 HR combined) is a big jump from Scott Hairston and Jack Cust (28 HR combined).  Also note: Holliday's "lackluster" 12 home runs place him third on the Cards.

Since the last posting on rookies, a name has popped up in the National league and is making some noise.  Dexter Fowler is slowly having a good rookie season.  So good that I think he's tied himself with the leader all season, Colby Rasmus.  Rasmus still leads the big power numbers, but Fowler has similar percentages and is near the league lead in stolen bases.  This could come down to the wire.

Andrew McCutchen still has some work to do if he wants in the race, and a bunch of other names have popped up as potential contenders as we head towards the finish line.  Casey McGehee has come on strong with the Brewers, as has Travis Ishikawa for the Giants.  Both are showing off some power potential.  Gerardo Parra may not be the most flashy of the candidates, but he's having a good year. 

The lone pitcher I'd say has any chance is J.A. Happ with the champs.  If he has a few good starts between now and next time I post about this, I'll stop slighting him in my rankings.

The Pirates have another potential contender to watch for in Garrett Jones.  He only has 49 ABs, but he's hit 7 homers, a triple, and three doubles in them.  He keeps that up and he might be the dark horse winner.

Still got to go with Rasmus, but in a close race.

In the AL, there is still no qualified bat.  Brett Gardner is in contention, as are Gordon Beckham and Nolan Reimold.  They are all having decent seasons, but I think the winner in the AL will most likely be a pitcher.

As for pitchers, Rickey Romero, Brad Bergeson, and Jeff Niemann are having good campaigns as starters while Andrew Bailey is havng a good run in relief. 

It's also close, but I'll go with Bailey again.

The debate in St. Louis recently has hinged on whether or not the Cardinals need to get a bat to protect Albert Pujols.  I do not think they need to trade for one, and here is why.

The Cardinals are a middle of the road offense in the National League, which usually means they need a bat.  But this is a team that has effectively had a hole at third and has missed significant playing time from three of its major offensive contributors from last season: Ryan Ludwick, Troy Glaus, and Rick Ankiel.  A full season of a healthy Ludwick, Ankiel, and Glaus and this would be a ridiculous argument.  The only reason we're even talking about getting a bat is that there have been injuries.  But Ludwick is back and appears back to form, Ankiel can be put in a platoon now with Colby Rasmus playing all the time, and the Cardinals have traded for Mark DeRosa.  There really aren't any holes to fill, especially not when DeRosa comes back.