Cleveland Guardians address need for designated hitter

Josh Bell

The Cleveland Guardians won the AL Central Division title in 2022, but it wasn't because they received good production from their designated hitters.

In fact, Cleveland DHs combined to bat .217/.276/.309 with only eight home runs and 57 RBIs last season. That's poor, given that whichever player you put in that spot in supposed to be able to hit.

The Guardians moved to address that weakness Tuesday, signing veteran switch-hitter Josh Bell to a two-year contract worth $33 million. The deal includes an opt-out clause after the 2023 season.

Bell split time between the Washington Nationals and San Diego Padres last season. He was traded to the Padres midseason as part of the blockbuster Juan Soto deal.

He finished 2022 with .266/.362/.422 slash line, with 29 doubles, 17 home runs and 71 RBIs.

In other words, he performed better than all the Cleveland DHs combined. So, yes, I think this is a smart move by Cleveland.

I saw a lot of my fellow White Sox fans melting down on Twitter after this signing was announced. The reaction is somewhat understandable because, hey, the team that whooped your ass in the division last season just got better.

That said, it isn't like the Sox should have bid on Bell. They don't need anymore 1B/DH types, and while Bell is a good player, he wouldn't fit on the South Side of Chicago from a positional need standpoint.

I commend the Guardians for getting better. Of course, the problem from my perspective isn't what Cleveland is doing. The problem is what the Sox aren't doing. So far, Sox GM Rick Hahn gives the impression that he's sitting around watching the world go by.

Bellinger, Haniger also sign

A couple of free agent outfielders signed with new teams Tuesday. Cody Bellinger is joining the Cubs on a one-year, $17.5 million deal. Mitch Haniger is now with the San Francisco Giants after agreeing on a three-year, $43.5 million contract.

These signings also contributed to Sox fan angst, as we all know the Sox need outfielders. Obviously, these moves mean there are two fewer options available on the board, although I'm not sure either one of these two guys would have fit on the South Side.

Bellinger is still a good defensive outfielder, and he could help any club on that side of the ball. He will certainly make the Cubs a better defensive team. The question mark is his bat. Bellinger won the 2019 National League MVP award as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, but he's not been the same hitter the past three years after suffering a shoulder injury. He had a .654 OPS and 78 OPS+ plus last season, meaning he was 22% below league average.

Injuries limited Haniger to 57 games last season with the Seattle Mariners, and again, I'm not a huge proponent of signing injured guys -- although Haniger's production was fine when he was healthy. He had a .736 OPS and a 114 OPS+, meaning he was 14% above league average as a corner outfielder. 

Mainly, I look at these deals and come to the conclusion that it's going to take anywhere from $14 million to $20 million per season to sign a competent starting corner outfielder. The Sox need to do that this offseason, but until proven otherwise, I'm bracing to hear that they "weren't comfortable" going to those lengths for any of the available players.

If that's the case, the Sox should get "comfortable" with finishing second or third in the AL Central again next season.

Dodgers back in the World Series for 3rd time in 4 years

Cody Bellinger

The Los Angeles Dodgers lost the 2017 World Series to the Houston Astros, and they lost the 2018 World Series to the Boston Red Sox. 

Will the third time be the charm?

The Dodgers are National League pennant winners for the third time in four years, after they beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-3, on Sunday in Game 7 of the NL Championship Series.

Los Angeles was down 3-2 after five innings, but it tied the game in the sixth on Enrique Hernandez's pinch-hit solo home run off A.J. Minter. The Dodgers went ahead to stay in the bottom of the seventh, when center fielder Cody Bellinger homered off Chris Martin.

Both Hernandez and Bellinger homered on 2-2 pitches to cap off eight-pitch battles.

The big defensive play, not surprisingly, came from right fielder Mookie Betts, who robbed Atlanta's Freddie Freeman of a solo home run in the top of the fifth inning. If that ball gets out, the Braves go ahead 4-2, and who knows how that changes the game and the strategy moving forward?

Interestingly, the Dodgers won this game without using longtime ace Clayton Kershaw, or longtime closer Kenley Jansen. Los Angeles used five pitchers, none of whom worked more than three innings: Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, Blake Treinen, Brusdar Graterol and Julio Urias.

There aren't any household names among those five pitchers, but that list shows the depth of the Dodgers, and it's shows the diverse way in which Los Angeles built its team.

May and Gonsolin were drafted and developed by the Dodgers; both are products of the 2016 draft class. Treinen was a free-agent acquisition. He was coming off a down year with Oakland in 2019, but he found new life with the Dodgers. Graterol was acquired from the Minnesota Twins in a three-team blockbuster last offseason -- the same deal that brought Betts to Los Angeles and had the Dodgers sending pitcher Kenta Maeda to Minnesota.

And Urias was signed as an international free agent out of Mexico at age 16. Now 24 years old, the left-hander finished the game Sunday with three perfect innings. Frankly, it would have been foolish for Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to go to Jansen, although the veteran right-hander was warming up in the bullpen when the game ended.

Urias was cruising, and there was absolutely no reason to believe he couldn't protect that one-run lead. Protect it he did, and now we'll see how the Dodgers fare against the Tampa Bay Rays in the World Series.

The Rays are making their first World Series appearance since 2008, when they lost to the Philadelphia Phillies. The Dodgers are attempting to win the World Series for the first time since 1988, a remarkable drought when you consider the overall success of the organization.

Los Angeles will turn to Kershaw in Game 1 on Tuesday night. Tampa Bay will counter with right-hander Tyler Glasnow.

Mike Trout, Cody Belllinger win 2019 MVP awards

Mike Trout

Over the past eight seasons, here are Mike Trout's finishes in the MVP voting:

2012: 2nd
2013: 2nd
2014: 1st
2015: 2nd
2016: 1st
2017: 4th
2018: 2nd
2019: 1st

I used to be one of the people who thought the MVP should come from a playoff team, but even though the Los Angeles Angels stink, Trout is so far and away the best player in the American League that he shouldn't be denied the award.

This season, Trout batted .291/.438/.645 with 45 home runs and 104 RBIs and had very little help with the Angels. He missed the last 19 games of the season with an injury, and even that didn't matter in the voting.

Trout got 17 of the 30 first-place votes, while Alex Bregman of the Houston Astros got the other 13 first-place votes to finish second. No doubt, Bregman garnered the votes from the guys who want the MVP to come from a playoff team.

Former White Sox infielder Marcus Semien, now with the Oakland Athletics, finished in third place.

In the National League, Cody Bellinger of the Los Angeles Dodgers got 19 first-place votes to win the award. He beat out last year's winner, Christian Yelich of the Milwaukee Brewers, who got 10 first-place votes.

The other first-place vote went to third-place finisher Anthony Rendon of the Washington Nationals.

Yelich had a higher batting average than Bellinger (.329 to .305), a higher on-base percentage (.429 to .406) and a higher slugging percentage (.671 to .629). Can you tell I was partial to Yelich in this race? I don't think he had as much help with the Brewers as Bellinger had with the Dodgers.

But, to be fair to Bellinger, he had more homers than Yelich (47 to 44) and more RBIs (115 to 97). It's also true that Bellinger is a superior defensive outfielder, and he was healthy for the whole season.

Yelich missed the Brewers' last 18 games with a fractured kneecap, and voters apparently were not as forgiving toward him as they were to Trout. Bellinger played it out to the end, and his team won a league-best 106 games. That was enough to push him over the top.

White Sox representatives help American League win All-Star Game

White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito entered Tuesday's All-Star Game in the fourth inning and immediately walked Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman on four pitches.

None of the four pitches were anywhere close to being a strike, and Giolito's 3-0 pitch was so high it almost sailed over catcher Gary Sanchez's head.

I nervously shifted a little bit in my seat as I watched on TV. The American League was clinging to a 1-0 lead at the time, and as a fan, I never want a Sox pitcher to be the reason the AL loses the game.

Fortunately, Giolito made a nice recovery. He struck out Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Cody Bellinger, who is the best player in the National League this season, on a 2-2 changeup for the first out. Four pitches later, Giolito was out of the inning.

He induced a grounder to third base off the bat of Colorado's Nolan Arenado for the second out. Pittsburgh first baseman Josh Bell then grounded out to second, stranding Freeman at second base.

Giolito threw only 13 pitches. He preserved the 1-0 lead, and the AL went on to beat the National League, 4-3, for its seventh straight victory in the midsummer classic. The AL has won 19 of the past 23 games -- a string of dominance reminiscent of what the NL did when I was a kid.

Sox catcher James McCann also contributed to the victory, singling in his only at-bat in the seventh inning. The hit to right-center moved Oakland third baseman Matt Chapman, who had walked, from first to third with nobody out. Chapman eventually scored when Xander Bogaerts grounded into a double play. That was part of a two-run inning that gave the AL a 4-1 edge.

The NL got two in the eighth on a two-out, two-run single by the New York Mets' Pete Alonso, but New York Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman struck out the side in the ninth to wrap up the AL win.

What about Jose Abreu, you ask? Well, he grounded into a double play in his only at-bat in the bottom of the eighth, but at least he hit it hard (103 mph exit velocity) -- right at NL shortstop Paul DeJong.

So, it wasn't a perfect night for Sox representatives, but it was a good night. Giolito and McCann contributed, and the AL won. I'll take it.

Astros beat Dodgers' best pitchers, take 3-2 lead in World Series

Alex Bregman

Five hours, 17 minutes of baseball.

Game 5 of the 2017 World Series was both exhilarating and exhausting, even for those who are not a fan of either team.

The game ended at 12:37 a.m. CDT Monday, when Alex Bregman's RBI single off Kenley Jansen in the bottom of the 10th inning lifted the Houston Astros to a 13-12 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

With the win, the Astros lead the series, 3-2. Monday is a travel day, and Game 6 is Tuesday night in Los Angeles.

The plot twists and turns in this game were many. The Dodgers scored three runs in the first inning off Houston's Dallas Keuchel and led, 4-0, going into the bottom of the fourth inning. The Astros responded with four runs off Clayton Kershaw to tie the game.

Not to be outdone, Cody Bellinger put the Dodgers back in front, 7-4, with a three-run homer in the top of the fifth inning. Kershaw had a lead for the second time, and for the second time, he could not hold it. He allowed two men to reach base in the bottom of the fifth before he was removed from the game. Jose Altuve tied it at 7 with a three-run homer off Kenta Maeda.

From the seventh inning through the ninth inning, 10 runs were scored -- five by each team. The Dodgers scored three runs in the top of the ninth off Houston's Chris Devenski to tie the score at 12 and force extra innings.

Neither team could put the other away until Bregman's single capped a two-out rally in the bottom of the 10th.

So, what do we make of all this? First and foremost, the Astros beat the best pitchers the Dodgers have to offer in a critical Game 5.

Kershaw is widely considered the "best pitcher of his generation," and who are we to argue? But he was on the mound with a four-run lead, and then a three-run lead, on Sunday night, yet the Dodgers did not win. Los Angeles scored 12 runs in a game started by Kershaw. 12 runs! It wasn't enough.

That is huge.

And Jansen, widely considered the best relief pitcher in the game -- the Mariano Rivera of this generation -- lost the game in the bottom of the 10th. Sure, he worked a scoreless ninth, too, but stretching him for a second inning backfired on the Dodgers.

Los Angeles now trails in this series, and Kershaw won't be able to make another start. Jansen, who was considered invincible after being unscored upon in the NLCS against the Cubs, has now been scored upon by the Astros in each of his past three outings.

Worth noting: The Dodgers have played 13 postseason games this October, and Jansen has appeared in 11 of them. Fatigue? Sure looks like it.

And Jansen isn't the only one.

Brandon Morrow also was unscored upon in his four NLCS outings against the Cubs, covering 4.2 innings. But Sunday, he threw six pitches and gave up four earned runs. He was summoned to protect an 8-7 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning. One pitch later, it was 8-8, courtesy of a 448-foot home run by George Springer.

Very quickly, the Dodgers' one-run lead became an 11-8 deficit.

Morrow has appeared in 12 of Los Angeles' 13 playoff games. He has very little left in the tank.

As we've noted, the Astros are not without their bullpen problems. Closer Ken Giles is not the closer anymore. He's been so bad that Houston did not use him in Game 5. They used Devenski instead, and he couldn't get the job done -- he doesn't have much to get right-handed hitters out with at this point. Yasiel Puig hit a two-run homer off him in the ninth inning. Austin Barnes had a hustle double and scored the tying run on a two-out single by Chris Taylor.

What do those three men have in common? All right-handed hitters, and Devenski's changeup isn't as effective against them as it is against lefties.

So, both bullpens in this series are in trouble. Who has the advantage for Game 6? On paper, it's the team with the better starter going to the mound. That is clearly the Astros, as they have Justin Verlander lined up to pitch. The Dodgers will counter with veteran lefty Rich Hill.

Verlander, who was acquired from the Detroit Tigers just before the Aug. 31 waiver deadline, has appeared in 10 games with the Astros. Houston is 10-0.

Astros fans have to like their chances. Or, maybe Verlander is due to lose. Nothing would be shocking in this unbelievable World Series, where up is down and down is up.