Paging Mr. Pujols

When you think of players who are notoriously slow starters in the game of baseball, such names as Mark Teixeira of the New York Yankees quickly come to mind. But Albert Pujols who many have gone as far as saying will go down in history as the greatest ballplayer to ever play the game when his career is all said and done? Though he's had a few slightly sluggish starts to his standards when kicking off the season, nobody saw the future Hall of Fame slugger who signed a $254 Million pact with the L.A. Angels during the off-season, beginning his new 10-year deal in the worst slump of his distinguished career. Through the first 18-games, Pujols, a 3-time NL MVP and former batting champion, remains homer-less in 2012 and has logged a whopping 4 RBI's this season while hitting an anemic .232 to start the year. At this rate, not even the rally monkey could help Pujols find his swing.


Now hit-less in 19 straight at-bats, spanning over a career-worst five-game stretch, Pujols and the 6-12 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim who many predicted would give the 2-time defending American League Champion Texas Rangers a run for their money in the AL West, have instead found themselves 8.5 games back in the division where they currently own the distinction as cellar dwellers. Meanwhile, the defending champion St. Louis Cardinals who decided to pass on offering Pujols the long-term deal he coveted, seem to be doing just fine without him having been energized by off-season acquisition Carlos Beltran who the team signed to help fill the void Pujols would leave on offense. Unlike Pujols, Beltran has been off to a blazing-hot start, connecting for 5 home runs, driving in 10 RBI's and stealing 5 bases before running into an 0-for-18 skid just recently. But even after taking his slump into account, Beltran is still hitting .033 points higher than Pujols. Currently atop the NL Central at 12-7, it's likely that the Red Birds and their fans have already forgotten about arguably the greatest player to ever don a Cardinals uniform.


Though it's still early, it's hard not to compare the early disappointment of Pujols to Adam Dunn who after solidifying himself as one of the game's premier sluggers for so many seasons, simply couldn't translate his power numbers from the National League to the American League when he relocated from Cincinnati to the south side of Chicago last off-season. Fortunately for the Halo's, Pujols and company still has another 144 games left to help turn the ship and find their stroke. We all know an end to Pujols' home run drought is inevitable, but assuming his struggles at the plate continue, how much longer until Angel fans begin to shower the 9-time All-Star with boo's?

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Jaime Moyer, Baseball's Father Time

For those who have passed their prime in whatever it is that they do but refuse to hang it up just yet, they would tell you that age is just a number. Rockies pitcher Jaime Moyer proved just that on Tuesday night by becoming the oldest player in Major League history to record a win at the age of 49 years and 151 days old, surpassing the previous mark set 80-years ago by Jack Quinn of the Brooklyn Dodgers who won a game at 49-years and 70 days of age. Despite failing to throw a single pitch above the 79 mph mark (87 pitches), Moyer tossed 7 stellar innings while allowing only 6 hits and 2 runs (both unearned) in Colorado's 5-3 victory over the division-rival San Diego Padres. Though Cameron Maybin was Moyer's only strikeout victim of the ballgame against 2 walks, Moyer instead relied on another one of the pitcher's best friend's -- the double-play ball as he induced three twin killing's to help his cause and etch his name into the record books as his wife and kids watched from the stands.

Moyer's magnificent feat which displayed both longevity and perseverance as well as an uncanny love for what he does, would have came days earlier had it not been for a number of costly errors which robbed the lefty from logging a win in either of his first two outings. Back in 1986 when Moyer made his Major League debut with the Chicago Cubs during the Reagan Administration, gas prices were a mere 93 cents a gallon. While the price of gas has since then risen and costs almost $3 more on average today, one thing that hasn't changed is Moyer's will to win. Old enough to be the father of most of his Rockies teammates, the 26-year veteran hasn't let his age stop him from being the most consistent starting pitcher on Colorado's staff thus far, boasting a 2.55 ERA over his first three starts.

What may be an even bigger accomplishment than becoming the oldest pitcher in MLB history to win a game, however, is the road Moyer took to get back onto a big league mound. After missing the entire 2011 season last year due to an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery, Moyer signed a Minor League contract with the Rockies before making the team during Spring Training. Tuesday night's victory marked the first win for Moyer since June 27, 2010 and was win no. 268 of his long-lived career which also saw stints with the Cubs, Rangers, Cardinals, Orioles, Mariners and Phillies before eventually coming to the Mile-High City. Having pitched in four different decades which is something only a handful of players in Major League history can brag about doing, it'll be interesting to see if Moyer can continue to pitch the way he has been to start the season. If so, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he makes a return in 2013 in hopes of becoming the league's first ever 50-year old winner.


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Zito Revitalized?

After being swept in their season opening series against the division rival Arizona Diamondbacks, the San Francisco Giants hit the road for Colorado's Coors Field to take on the Rockies where they looked to avoid their first 0-4 start since 1950. Despite losing the trio of games in the desert to kick off their 2012 campaign, it wasn't the offense that had struggled as they lost all three games by a mere one run, but rather their pitching. With Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner all failing to get San Francisco into the win column, it was up to the veteran Barry Zito to make sure this year's Giants squad wasn't the first to fall to 0-4 in over half a century.

Little did we know that Zito wouldn't only log the Giants' first win of the season on Monday, but he would do so in shutout fashion as the former Cy Young Award winner with the Oakland A's hurled his first complete-game shutout in a Giants uni and his first since April 18, 2003. With backup catcher Hector Sanchez behind the dish, Zito gave up just 4 hits while allowing 0 walks and striking out 4 before San Francisco's offense did the rest of the work as the Giants routed the Rockies by a final score of 7-0. Pablo Sandoval led the way with an early 2-run home run in the first, followed by an RBI knock and an RBI groundout by Sanchez and Angel Pagan in the third. Shortstop Brandon Crawford would put the finishing touches on a near perfect day with a bases-clearing double in the fifth.

For Zito who watched most of the 2011 season from the dugout while on the disabled-list nursing a foot injury, the dominant outing was a great sign following a disappointing spring training and couldn't have come at a better time. Had I been told prior to the season that the Giants' first win would be a Barry Zito shutout in Coors Field of all places, I simply wouldn't have believed it. But after watching Zito make quick work of the opposition in the first few innings, there was little doubt in my mind that he couldn't go the distance and pitch arguably his best game since donning the orange and black. Zito's stellar work on Monday should be a tremendous motivation booster and should do wonders to his confidence. But before we declare that the Zito of old has somehow returned over night, let's all just hold our breath and hope it's a sign of good things to come from the 33 year old lefty who's in his sixth year with the ballclub after signing that seven-year, $126 Million mega deal during the 2007 winter meetings.

And with the Giants' young stud Buster Posey back and in need of some rest every few days until he's 100%, don't be surprised if Hector Sanchez is called upon to catch Zito from here on in a similar way that Eli Whiteside was during games that former Giant Jonathan Sanchez pitched. It seems that the two have already built a lasting relationship and gel pretty well together. After all, if it's not broken, don't fix it.

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Giants extend Cain, Prepare to kickoff 2012 season without Vogelsong

With the health of Ryan Vogelsong one of the biggest concerns heading into the 2012 season as he's expected to begin the year on the disabled-list, one less situation the Giants organization and their fans will have to worry about is the future of All-Star pitcher Matt Cain. After extending the contracts of Tim Lincecum, Jeremy Affeldt and Javier Lopez during the off-season, the team saved the best and biggest for last by offering Cain a mega deal.

Prior to the signing, Giants fans were praying to the Baseball Gods every night before bed that they'd wake up to the news of Cain agreeing to a new deal with the ball club. Though it took a little longer than many would have hoped, those prayers were answered just days before the start of Opening Day when both sides agreed to a 5-year, $112.5 Million contract. The deal which locks Cain up until the end of the 2017 season, includes an option worth $21 Million for 2018 and is the most lucrative contract in MLB history issued to a right-handed pitcher, surpassing the previous mark held by the Dodgers' Kevin Brown (7-years, $105 Million).

Cain, already a 7-year veteran, has become a fixture in the Giants' rotation and is currently the longest-tenured Giant having made his Major League debut with the organization back in August of '05. The first of many homegrown talents of the pitching variety which the Giants have become famous for the past several years now, it was Cain who paved the way for other young studs such as teammates Tim Lincecum and Madison Bumgarner who together have formed one of the most formidable starting rotations in all of baseball for what looks to be many years to come.

Looking passed his sub .500 career win-loss record of 69-73, which to his credit has been an indication of receiving the Major League's lowest run support over the last five seasons (3.7), Brian Sabean and company instead looked at more significant stats such as innings pitched. Having reached the 200 innings plateau for the fifth consecutive season in 2011, Cain is among an elite class of hurlers to have achieved that feat in five straight years. The others being Roy Halladay, Dan Haren, Mark Buehrle, C.C. Sabathia, James Shields and Justin Verlander. Still at the youthful age of 27, Cain has already achieved so much on the mound being the workhorse that he is, but even he would tell you that there's still room for improvement.

Historically an unfortunate victim of poor run support including the 20 of Cain's first 30 career starts in which the Giants scored two runs or fewer in, you would think a player of Cain's stature had enough of the torturous style of baseball that San Francisco tends to play. Wrong. Following the busy 2010 season which saw Cain put in plenty of work on the mound during both the regular season and in the postseason where he hurled another 21.1 scoreless innings in San Francisco's title run, many believed the excessive number of innings pitched would have put a toll on the right-hander's throwing arm the following year. Instead, he would log a career-low in ERA (2.88) while being named to the All-Star squad for the second time in his career. If you're one of those baseball fans who firmly believe that pitching wins games then the Giants appear to be in good shape for many years to come.

However, one predicament the front-office could find themselves in several years from now is what exactly they'll do when the contracts of Lincecum, Cain, Posey and Bumgarner all expire around the same time and if they'll be able to afford re-signing them. But until that time comes, we'll enjoy the ride for the time being.

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Miami's tough off-season

Is there any team in the NFL that's had a more depressing off-season thus far than the Miami Dolphins? After failing to land such QB's as Peyton Manning, Alex Smith and Matt Flynn, the Fish instead had to settle for the much less appealing David Garrard who sat out the entire 2011 season to undergo surgery on a herniated disk. Prior to their 6-10 finish just a season ago, Miami appeared to be in the running for the first overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft and the chance to potentially take super-prospect Andrew Luck when the team got off to a dismal 0-7 start. However, a late surge towards the end of the year would knock the Dolphins out of the 'suck for Luck' campaign Miami fans were so desperately hoping they'd still be in come season's end.

Despite missing out on Luck, there still appeared to be a light at the end of the tunnel for the Dolphins organization who Peyton Manning was first linked to once he hit the free-agent market after being released by the Indianapolis Colts. Their chances of landing Manning were dealt a huge blow, however, when GM Jeff Ireland traded Pro-Bowl wide-out Brandon Marshall to the Chicago Bears in exchange for two third round draft picks. Having gotten rid of their best player on offense practically for a pack of peanuts, the team failed to lure Manning who just days later would inform the franchise that they were no longer on his list of desired destinations. With Manning no longer in the picture, Ireland and co. were forced to explore other options at the quarterback position with both Matt Flynn and Alex Smith being possible candidates. But just like Manning, the two would decide to sign elsewhere as Flynn flocked to Seattle and Smith re-signed with the 49ers.

Miami's misfortune would lead to them inking 10-year veteran David Garrard who missed all of last season due to injury. To his credit, Garrard has put up decent numbers since being named Jacksonville's starting quarterback in 2007, but he's seen little success aside from an 11-5 finish in '07 before being bounced in the playoffs. With Garrard now on board and playing for the Jaguars' inner-state rivals, I'm not sure Miami doesn't already have a solid QB in Matt Moore. After stepping in for the injured Chad Henne, Moore started the final 12 games of the season, winning half of them and showing progress as the season wore on. Adding Garrard to the mix doesn't hurt Miami, but they definitely didn't come out as winners this off-season and it wouldn't surprise me if they were in the same position next year. With everyone and their brother wanting to play for other Miami based sports teams such as the Miami Heat and the newly named Miami Marlins, the Dolphins on the other hand are stuck on the outside looking in as the team in town that nobody wants to play for. And as long as Jeff Ireland is pulling the strings as the team's GM, that might not change for years to come.

Disgruntled Dolphin fans expressed their disinterest in the way their team's been run the passed several years by protesting outside of the team's headquarters in Davie, Florida with paper bags over their heads and signs directed to the general manager that read, "Fireland." Since the retirement of Dan Marino following the 1999 season, the Dolphins franchise has experienced a never-ending QB carousel, having gone through 16 different starting quarterbacks without striking gold. With that number likely to increase this year now that Garrard's aboard, another tally might be added in another year or two if Miami goes after a quarterback with the likes of Texas A&M's Ryan Tannehill who the team hasn't ruled out the chances of drafting just yet with the 8th overall pick. But even with a decent quarterback, more needs to be done in order to turn around what was has become one of the laughing stocks of the NFL back into the proud franchise they've been known to be. Regardless of who his starting quarterback is in 2012, recently hired head coach Joe Philbin should have a full plate of tasks to overcome in hopes of turning the franchise around.

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