First of all, Dejan over at the Post-Gazette just wrote that Jeff Karstens was the first half’s MVP. That activates the hilarity unit. He had a few lucky starts and that makes him a MVP? The guy certainly has the mental attitude to be a starter but not the stuff. He’s only a starter because someone has to start and it might as well be him. But I’m not really sure who would be a good first half MVP for this group. Maybe McCutchen. Also, Neil Walker ending up at 2B and doing a good enough job to get rid of Iwamura is a gaffe as well while the whole Dana Eveland mess was a good move by the Pirates. And his logic for it seems kind of convoluted. Also a guy who spent half the first half of the season out with an injury shouldn’t be a goat.
Then there’s Arthur Rhodes. He was part of the Jason Kendall trade mess. Kendall was traded to the Athletics after the 2004 season for Mark Redman and Arthur Rhodes. A few weeks later, Rhodes was flipped to Cleveland for Matt Lawton. Lawton was traded later that summer for Jody Gerut who played less than 10 games with the Pirates before getting injured and then leaving the team. Anyways, Rhodes is going to be playing in his first All-STar game this year at 40 years old. Pretty cool.
Tags: Arthur Rhodes, Dejan, Pirates