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Maybe the Red Sox are asking for "something real" because they are afraid of selling another team asset and falling into an 86-year title-less abyss.

Larry Lucchino, who is in charge of the negotiations, and was spoken of recently as "one of the most unreasonable people I have ever dealt with...", reportedly is asking for two of the Cubs' best prospects as compensation for Theo Epstein.

The Cubs really just want to give cash in exchange for Theo, speculating around $3-5 million dollars.

Unfortunately, the Red Sox sold Babe Ruth to the Yankess, and that didn't work out so well.





While we're here, we may as well share an interesting tidbit from Scott Lauber's reporting today: when Billy Beane almost went to Boston in 2002, Kevin Youkilis was potentially going to part of the compensation going back to Oakland.

Just a few weeks ago, it was a widely believed that baseball's Final Four would include the Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies and a team the Phillies would defeat. After Chris Carpenter pitched himself into eastern Missouri and southern Illinois folklore last night, the Final Four is quite unexpected: Rangers, Tigers, Brewers, and Cardinals.

Adrian Beltre and Mike Napoli are a dynamic duo for the 2011 Rangers.

There are four playoff games today, which should be great fun to follow. In anticipation of the excitement, we thought it would be fun to check in on the players in the postseason to see which batters have the lowest strikeout to extra base hit ratio.

Dissecting the raw data from Fangraphs, we find that only four players in this year's postseason average fewer than one strikeout per extra base hit: Adrian Beltre, Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina, and Victor Martinez.

See if you can win a beer on that bit of knowledge.

Photo by J. Meric/Getty Images

Below are the top 100 from this year's postseason teams:

2011 Regular Season K/xBH Leaders in Postseason
1 Adrian Beltre, Rangers: 0.82
2 Albert Pujols, Cardinals: 0.88
3 Yadier Molina, Cardinals: 0.94
4 Victor Martinez, Tigers: 0.98
5 Ian Kinsler, Rangers: 1.01
6 Shane Victorino, Phillies: 1.05
7 Miguel Cabrera, Tigers: 1.14
8 Robinson Cano, Yankees: 1.19
9 Ryan Braun, Brewers: 1.21
10 Chase Utley, Phillies: 1.24
11 Michael Young, Rangers: 1.34
12 Prince Fielder, Brewers: 1.41
13 Ryan Theriot, Cardinals: 1.46
14 Yuniesky Betancourt, Brewers: 1.47
15 Jimmy Rollins. Phillies: 1.48
16 Eduardo Nunez, Yankees: 1.48
17 Josh Hamilton, Rangers: 1.52
18 Allen Craig, Cardinals: 1.54
19 Mike Napoli, Rangers: 1.55
20 Endy Chavez, Rangers: 1.58
21 Mark Kotsay, Brewers: 1.59
22 Matt Holliday, Cardinals: 1.60
23 Evan Longoria, Rays: 1.60
24 Nick Punto, Cardinals: 1.62
25 Carlos Ruiz, Phillies: 1.66
26 Lance Berkman, Cardinals: 1.66
27 John Mayberry, Phillies: 1.67
28 Mark Teixeira, Yankees: 1.67
29 Justin Upton, Diamondbacks: 1.68
30 Rafael Furcal, Cardinals: 1.70
31 Jerry Hairston, Brewers: 1.70
32 John Jaso, Rays: 1.71
33 Henry Blanco, Diamondbacks: 1.75
34 Miguel Montero, Diamondbacks: 1.76
35 Johnny Damon, Rays: 1.77
36 Don Kelly, Tigers: 1.78
37 Ben Zobrist, Rays: 1.78
38 Geoff Blum, Diamondbacks: 1.80
39 Andy Dirks, Tigers: 1.80
40 Casey Kotchman, Rays: 1.83
41 Yorvit Torrealba, Rangers: 1.86
42 Sam Fuld, Rays: 1.88
43 Aaron Hill, Diamondbacks 1.89
44 Hunter Pence, Phillies 1.91
45 Jhonny Peralta, Tigers: 1.94
46 Brennan Boesch, Tigers: 1.98
47 Ramon Santiago, Tigers: 2.00
48 Matt Joyce, Rays: 2.00
49 Nelson Cruz, Rangers: 2.00
50 Raul Ibanez, Phillies: 2.04
51 Corey Hart, Brewers: 2.07
52 Gerald Laird, Cardinals: 2.11
53 Elvis Andrus, Rangers: 2.11
54 Jesus Montero, Yankees: 2.13
55 Ryan Roberts, Diamondbacks: 2.13
56 Wilson Valdez, Phillies: 2.16
57 Alex Rodriguez, Yankees: 2.16
58 George Kottaras, Brewers: 2.17
59 Domonic Brown, Phillies: 2.19
60 Curtis Granderson, Yankees: 2.19
61 Rickie Weeks, Brewers: 2.23
62 Julio Borbon, Rangers: 2.25
63 Jon Jay, Cardinals: 2.25
64 David Murphy, Rangers: 2.26
65 Gerardo Parra, Diamondbacks: 2.28
66 Chris Young, Diamondbacks: 2.28
67 Russell Martin, Yankees: 2.31
68 Placido Polanco, Phillies: 2.32
69 Nyjer Morgan, Brewers: 2.33
70 Alex Avila, Tigers: 2.34
71 Nick Swisher, Yankees: 2.36
72 Mitch Moreland, Rangers: 2.36
73 Skip Schumaker, Cardinals: 2.38
74 Derek Jeter, Yankees: 2.38
75 Ben Francisco, Phillies: 2.47
76 Delmon Young, Tigers: 2.50
77 Desmond Jennings, Rays: 2.57
78 Tony Cruz, Cardinals: 2.60
79 Corey Patterson, Cardinals: 2.66
80 Carlos Guillen, Tigers: 2.67
81 Casey McGehee, Brewers: 2.67
82 Ryan Howard, Phillies: 2.69
83 Daniel Descalso, Cardinals: 2.71
84 Jorge Posada, Yankees: 2.71
85 Magglio Ordonez, Tigers: 2.73
86 Brett Gardner, Yankees: 2.74
87 David Freese, Cardinals: 2.78
88 Andres Blanco, Rangers: 2.80
89 Sean Rodriguez, Rays: 2.81
90 Juan Miranda, Diamondbacks: 2.82
91 Lyle Overbay, Diamondbacks: 2.84
92 Ross Gload, Phillies: 2.88
93 Carlos Gomez, Brewers: 2.91
94 Paul Goldschmidt, Diamondbacks: 2.94
95 Andruw Jones, Yankees: 2.95
96 B.J. Upton, Rays: 2.98
97 Cody Ransom, Diamondbacks: 3.00
98 Brandon Guyer, Rays: 3.00
99 Sean Burroughs, Diamondbacks: 3.00
100 Ryan Raburn, Tigers: 3.00

Buster Olney, sent off a tweet a earlier today saying:

"Gerry Davis is the home plate umpire. In his career, Sabathia is 6-0 with a 2.19 ERA when Davis is the home plate ump."

Well, that is interesting and all, but what does it even mean? Sabathia is clearly a very good pitcher, but does a 2.19 ERA with a certain umpire behind the plate tell us anything, when an entire season's worth of ERA can be misleading?

As a quick illustration, using CC Sabathia and another fine, young pitcher, the Ray's Jeremy Hellickson...

2011 Pitching Stats
CC Sabathia: 8.7 K/9, 2.3 BB/9, 147 ERA+
Jeremy Hellickson: 5.6 K/9, 3.4 BB/9, 126 ERA+

By those numbers, one would say that CC Sabathia had a better season. What were their ERA's this year?

2011 Earned Run Average
CC Sabathia: 3.00
Jeremy Hellickson: 2.95

Hmmm?

To get more to the point, here a perspective on what Buster Olney was trying to illuminate.

Opponent Batter Stats (Career)
Justin Verlander: .235/.300/.361 and 2.96 K/BB
CC Sabathia: .246/.306/.373 and 2.78 K/BB

Opponent Batter Stats (w/ Gerry Davis)
Justin Verlander: .314/.345/.431 and 2.00 K/BB
CC Sabathia: .214/.278/.291 and 2.88 K/BB

Let's give Gerry Davis a chance before quoting stats.

Again, what does this tell us? I don't think much, except that it's almost pointless to discuss such small sample sizes. I'd expect the cumulative statistics of the batters they face tonight will be closer to their career numbers than their past experiences with Gerry Davis. In fact, I'd expect future results to be closer to their career numbers if anyone shy of Enrico Pallazzo was behind the plate.

Enrico Pallazzo, on the other hand, played to the crowd.

Friends and visitors, let's try something a little different today.


Tigers 5, Yankees 3
Series tied 1-1
Heroes: Max Scherzer silenced the Yankee bats and his critics who claimed his inconsistencies suggested he couldn't pitch well under playoff pressure, by throwing 6 shutout innings, carrying a no-hitter through 5. On the offensive side, Miguel Cabrera knocked in the first 3 runs of the game, with a 2-run homer in the top of the first and an RBI single in the sixth.
Goat: Derek Jeter went 0-5, leaving 5 runners on base and making a defensive error that lead to the Tigers's 2-run 6th inning.
Surprise: Joe Girardi pinch hit for Brett Gardner with Eric Chavez in a situation similar to leading an ill-equipped gladiator out to slaughter in the coliseum.When I saw Chavez digging in, I actually thought, why wouldn't the Yankees pinch hit for him here? Lo and behold, they were using him as a pinch hitter. He looked so over-matched that I thought, at least a strikeout is better than a double play. Chavez had no chance the way Benoit was throwing strikes.
Outlook: Even if CC Sabathia wins the battle of the aces in Game 3 vs Verlander, we like Rick Porcello over A.J. Burnett and Doug Fister in a rematch win Ivan Nova. (Pick: Tigers in 5)

The Yankees made it close in the end, but came up short.

Brewers 9, Diamondbacks 4
Brewers lead 2-0

Plate coverage, balance, eyes, power, ... Braun has it all.

Hero: Ryan Braun has been playing at an elite level his entire career, but over the last month he has been brilliant. One place scouts and stats can agree is around Ryan Braun hitting superlatives.
Goat: Brad Ziegler entered a tie game in the 6th inning, with Jerry Hairston on second base. He opened his appearance by balking Jerry Jr over to 3rd, then things got worse, a lot worse: balk, walked Yuni Betancourt, made an error fielding a bunt, intentionally walked Mark Kotsay, single, single, single, taken out of the game without retiring a batter.
Surprise: Kirk Gibson left Ziegler out there for so long.
Outlook: Home field advantage may mean more than we give it credit, but the Brew Crew looks ready to wrap this series up sooner than later. (Pick: Brewers in 3)

Upton wants to keep playing this year. #swag

Cardinals 5, Phillies 4
Series tied 1-1

Cliff Lee was outdueled by a few bullpen arms.

Heroes: The Cardinals bullpen delivered six scoreless innings, allowing only one hit from the fourth inning on. Fernando Salas, Octavio Dotel, Marc Rzepczynski, Mitchell Boggs, Arthur Rhodes, and Jason Motte kept the Cardinals in the game, after their quick 4-0 deficit turned into 4-3, a 4-4 tie, then the Cardinals' eventual 5-4 winning margin.
Goat: Tony LaRussa pushed Chris Carpenter to pitch on short rest, something Carp had never done before. It burned their best starter, taxed their bullpen, and may end up as a Pyrrhic victory.
Surprises: Cliff Lee seemed to be in his usual control the whole night, but after all, he gave up 5 earned runs and 12 hits. Vance Worley looked like a good piece for October.
Outlook: The Cardinals are a dangerous, experienced team, but the Philles are a much more polished team of legendary World Series heroes. (Pick: Phillies in 4)

There are a couple of AL games this evening, should be fun!

The playoffs begin today. Since my favorite team, the Chicago Cubs, tanked and haven't been competitive in years, all I can do is watch and fight my jealous feelings.

We're not really into gambling over here, but anticipating the future and guessing what we can expect is fun. When handicapping the postseason, there are a few things to consider: strength of lineup, rotation, bullpen, health, bench, and on and on.

For accuracy, there's only one way to get the process started, and that's by calculating the ex-Cub factor.

The Farns was better at fighting than pitching.

At times, late at night, with sleepy, half-damp eyes, Cubs fans lie awake at night and wonder, where their team's gone wrong. We remember the days of Corey Patterson swinging at the first pitch, although it was invariably over his shoulders. With haunted hearts, we stare at the ceiling, hoping to sleep without remembering any of the 75 back-breaking home runs Kyle Farnsworth gave up in a Cubs uniform.

This restless existence follows us, from the tribulations of prized import, Latroy Hawkins, through the history lessons of June swoons, September collapses, black cats, and competitively pointless Summers.

Last season, the San Francisco Giants overcame the presence of Mike Fontenot on the roster and Mark DeRosa in the dugout to win their first World Series championship since moving to California.

As usual, the 2011 postseason is peppered with lovable losers.


The relationship between fans of the Chicago Cubs and Arizona Diamondbacks has a kinship brought on by many, many Chicagoans who moved to the desert or migrate between the two markets. To put it in East Coast Biased terms, Arizona is like New York's Florida. Aaron Heilman is the former Cub eyesore that can be seen in their bullpen. The other two players are two of the more benign former Cubs one could ask for. Henry Blanco is a blog favorite, for his ability to maintain a colorful appearance while throwing out opposing base runners. Xavier Nady is a well traveled, professional hitter who's out with a broken hand, anyway.

It's good for Detroit that there's no ex-White Sox factor.

Dave Dombrowski and Jim Leyland of the Detroit Tigers appear too savvy to fall victim of the ex Cub curse. Looking through their roster, I couldn't find a single player. The closest influence from Cubdom that I could is about as remote as Easter Island. Their Triple-A manager, in Toledo, is Phil Nevin, who hit 12 home runs in 67 games, as a 35 year old first baseman, outfielder, and emergency catcher for the terribly unlucky 2006 Chicago Cubs.

The stench of stale beer hovering over the Milwaukee skyline has just the slightest hint of former Cub skunk, as the Wrigleyville neighbors, 90 miles to the north, carry no fewer than four former Cubs on their active roster. The most prominent is their third baseman, Casey McGahee. Jerry Hairston acts as their mild-mannered utility player, while the rotation has more than enough awful from the likes of Sergio Mitre and Latroy Hawkins. Who can forget the communal venom spewed at Hawkins after he blew leads for the 2004 and '05 Cubs? The 2011 Milwaukee Brewers are an excellent team, from top to bottom, but they'll have quite more than a few ex-Cub demons to overcome if they're going to have a championship parade.

One reason why I am so upset with the Cubs.

The New York Yankees look to have a roster devoid of ex-Cubs. On the other hand, their manager, Joe Girardi, grew up a Cubs fan, went to school at Northwesters, and had to different stints as a player with the Cubs. When it comes to winning, however, he has been through this before. He's been a winner in multiple places, with varying roles, and different supporting casts. As a manager, perhaps his famed and often ridiculed binder serves as the crutch that grounds him away from his Cubbie past. To his side, this season, he's added long time Cubs pitching coach, Larry Rothschild. To this day, seeing Larry Rothschild in a Yankees uniform harms my Cub fan sensibilities. He's a prime example of the Cubs tanking this season by choosing their less expensive minor league pitching instructor to join their less expensive triple-a manager in the Major League dugout.

At first glance, it looked like Ruben Amaro constructed a Philadelphia Phillies team with no former Cubs. Digging a little deeper, we realize that Ross Gload is still on the team. He made his Major League debut as a member of the Northsiders on August 31, 2000. He went 0-4 with 2 strikeouts, showing he was right at home with the 2000 Cubs team that would go on to lose 97 games.

Speed doesn't slump, unless it swings like a power hitter.

Where you may least expect to find prominent ex-Cubs is 275 miles south on I-55 in Busch Stadium. Only this year, the St. Louis Cardinals have the aforementioned Corey Patterson, former closeted Cardinals fan Ryan Theriot, and Miguel Batista, who way back when Harry Caray was calling the games, pitched for the forgettable 1997 Cubs. Much like Gload in 2000, Batista did his part for the 94-loss squad by allowing 61 batters to reach base in 36 and third innings.

The current media and saberhead darling Tampa Bay Rays have as many ex-Cub cooties as any team out there. This is to be expected, as they traded Matt Garza to Chicago for a slew of players in the offseason. Of those guys, Brandon Guyer and Robinson Chirinos contributed at the big league level this season, while Sam Fuld became The Legend of Sam Fuld. His legend grew, when filling the shoes of embarrassed castoff, Manny Ramirez early in the year. In the bullpen, they have Kyle Farnsworth and Juan Cruz. To make matters worse, manager Joe Maddon's right hand man is former Cub outfielder, Davey Martinez. These elements would traditionally portend a negative outcome for the team, but it's tough to bet against the Amazin' Rays and their secret super boy, Matt Moore, these days.

Josh Hamilton may be an ex meth head, but he's not an ex-Cub.

The Texas Rangers are in better sx-Cub shape than they were last season, when they reached the World Series. In last year's postseason, Josh Hamilton, who is a not-really-ex-Cub-for-a-day, was terrible in the first round, dominated the League Championship Series, then struggled again in the Fall Classic. I'm thinking the official ruling should be that he's not even an ex-Cub, since he never once suited up for them at any level. In that case, they still have role player Andres Blanco, who should have minimal impact, and relief pitcher Clay Rapada shuffled his act on to Baltimore.

The science behind this study is nonexistent, but if the baseball gods are real, and they hold a curse over Cub players for life, we would be smart in expecting a Detroit and Philadelphia World Series to be won by the Tigers.

When Leo Nuñez was placed on the Restricted List for a personal reason late last week, people expected it was a family emergency or visa problem. In actuality, he was involving himself in the process of reassuming his own identity, after posing as a childhood friend to be a younger, and therefore more appealing baseball prospect. The best insight on the story is from Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald.

Leo Nuñez's real name is Juan Carlos Oviedo.


In the long run, this may not be a big deal. Miguel Tejada and others who've lied about their age never had to pay any real stiff penalties.

I feel like Juan Carlos Oviedo will be better than Leo Nuñez, at least for a year or two, because he won’t have this laying on his conscience any longer. The Marlins have a decision about his third year in arbitration, but they should offer it to him. All 30 teams should be interested in this guy to handle the 7th, 8th, or 9th.

As an exercise, we could look to see who may be in the market for a top-tier relief pitcher. An examination:

Marlins

We haven't handed out any hardware since August 1st, when Justin Upton, Clayton Kershaw, Hideki Matsui, and Justin Verlander won Player of the Fortnight for their on-field contributions at the end of July. With less than two weeks left in the regular season, who is playing at the top of their games?


NL Batter of the Fortnight
Pablo Sandoval, Giants

We like our Panda big.

People around the game have begun to notice that Pablo Sandoval has regained much of the weight he lost in the offseason.

It may not matter, seeing as he leads the National League over the past 14 days in Slugging Percentage and wOBA, while swatting 4 home runs and striking out only 4 times.

Honorable mention: Lance Berkman, Jason Bay, and Carlos Lee

NL Pitcher of the Fortnight
Ian Kennedy, Diamondbacks

Ian Kennedy won his 20th last night.

After last night's triumphant 8-inning, 1-hit, 1-walk, 12-strikeout performance against the Pirates, a D'backs catcher was quoted by Bob Nightengale "He's f......Cy Young. I don't care what other people think. He is the Cy Young.''. We won't go that far, anonymous D'back catcher, but Ian Kennedy is f...... Player of the Fortnight. In the heat of the NL West pennant race, the Diamondbacks won all three of Kennedy's starts in the past two weeks. Over 21.3 innings, Kennedy leads the NL with a 0.80 FIP, and second in the league in SIERA and K's.

Honorable mention: Clayton Kershaw, Javier Vazquez, Brett Myers, and Yovani Gallardo

AL Batter of the Fortnight
Mike Napoli, Rangers

Napoli can hit.

These awards are usually open to some interpretation. Rarely does a performance jump off the page like Mike Napoli's past two weeks. His raw numbers are rare: .514/.585/.914, with a .629 wOBA and 307 wRC+.

Honorable mention: Adrian Beltre, Jacoby Ellsbury, Desmond Jennings, and Marco Scutaro

AL Pitcher of the Fortnight
Doug Fister, Tigers

Trading for Doug Fister may be the best acquisition of the year.

After flying much of the season under the radar, the Detroit Tigers have been distinguishing themselves from their competition over the past couple of months. Over the past two weeks, Justin Verlander cemented his Cy Young status by winning road starts in Cleveland, Chicago, and Oakland, giving up four, zero, and zero runs in each game. Even with that success, Verlander's teammate Doug Fister takes the Player of the Fortnight award. Limited to just two starts, Fister was second in the league in ERA, first in WPA and Batting Average Against. As time passes, the Tigers look more and more like championship contenders when stacking up their playoff 1-2-3 punch of Velander, Fister, and Max Scherzer against the likes of Boston and New York.

It's interesting how much we suffer from mainstream media's East Coast Bias, as expectations seem highest in New York and Boston, while the best rotations are in Detroit and Anaheim (Jered Weaver, Dan Haren, and Ervin Santana). Is it too early to expect a Tigers/Angels ALCS?

Honorable mention: Justin Verlander, C.J. Wilson, and Jered Weaver.