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The 7 - Baseball - A's luv
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CRZ
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#1 Posted on 31.3.02 0916.47
Reposted on: 31.3.09 0918.20
Why's everyone picking the A's to take the AL West? Did the Mariners leave the division?

I mean, the A's are my local homeboys and all but even our local papers don't expect any better than the wildcard for Oakland...mostly because the pitching is still good enough to offset the loss of Giambi to the New York checkbook.
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Quezzy
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#2 Posted on 31.3.02 1036.13
Reposted on: 31.3.09 1039.30
The A's did lose Giambi but they still have a decent lineup, Justice helps fill the void a little bit, and the the guy replacing Giambi at first is supposed to have a lot of potential. Then they have the best starting pitching in the majors and Koch, who may not be as good as Isringhausen but will be good enough. Johnny Damon didn't have a good year last year, so losing him doesn't hurt them much offensively compared to last year, but it could hurt defensively. And the other Giambi, Jeremy, is improving.

The Mariners on the other hand, first of all Ichiro could hit a sophmore slump, and even if he doesn't have a slump his numbers could still be done because of a) pitchers have a better idea of how to pitch him and b) defenses have a better idea of where to play. And the rest of the Mariners team had career years last year. There's no way Boone, Cameron or the pitching staff will be able to match last year and Edgar Martinez is 39.

Also the AL West is very competetive I could see any of the four teams making the playoffs, so they are going to beat each other up so much that I doubt there will be many games between them. If one team can just get hot at the end of the season then they can probably pull ahead.

Just for the record the so called "experts" at ESPN.com made their predictions and 12 picked the Mariners while only 4 picked the A's (Also 4 picked Mariners to go to World Series and 3 picked A's). They probably know what they are talking about more than the Weinerville population.

odessasteps
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#3 Posted on 31.3.02 1512.41
Reposted on: 31.3.09 1514.36

Well, I think Seattle will slip a little (duh), while Oakland, even without Giambi, will be stronger, mainly due to their pitching.

I think they are 1 and 1A in the American League and think Oakland will nudge them out for the division.

cfgb
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#4 Posted on 31.3.02 1627.23
Reposted on: 31.3.09 1629.01
Call me crazy, but I really don't think Oakland is going to land a playoff berth, let alone 2nd. The Rangers are going to be a tough team to contend with - what with the additions of Gonzalez and Everett to that already unstoppable lineup. Plus Chan Ho Park was a brilliant addition.

Oakland resembles the Atlanta Braves circa 1992 right now - with tons of great pitching and not a great line up. Unfortunately, I think you have to be an all around team these days, and that isn't going to cut it.

Should Texas fail to grab the wild card spot - I suspect Boston will.
Texas Kelly
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#5 Posted on 31.3.02 1853.17
Reposted on: 31.3.09 1855.54
With Giambi gone, Oakland's going to have to rely on pitching in order to get back to the playoffs as a wild card (where they will fall to my Yankees yet again). Fortunately for them, Oakland's pitching scares the hell out of me (and should scare the hell out of the rest of the American League). The tandem of Hudson, Mulder and Zito is without a doubt the best starting threesome in the league.

I have Mulder in my fantasy league and thank the Lord above I'll never have to face off against him.
They lost too much offense in the offseason to overtake Seattle... but they'll sneak in on the strength of their staff.

Oh, and the Mystique & Aura Foundation will be accepting Yankee converts throughout the season free of any dues, so c'mon and join. :)
LordOfTheSmarks
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#6 Posted on 1.4.02 0010.29
Reposted on: 1.4.09 0017.44
The Mariners had too many players have career years last season. Additionally, their staff is weaker. In theory, 40% of their starts will come from Paul Abbott or James Baldwin.

The Athletics pitching is phenomenal, and they still have good hitting. Their pen is relatively deep. Overall, they're the better team, but it should be a good race.

And hopefully Jeremy Giambi has learned to slide.
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#7 Posted on 3.4.02 0158.50
Reposted on: 3.4.09 0159.02
cfgb, I have to disagree with you, Chan Ho is a fine pitcher, but if you look at his home/road stats, you'll see that he benefited greatly from pitching at Chavez Ravine. Also, even if he does pan out, the Rangers will still be on the short end of many 11-12 slugfests simply because they don't have any decent pitching depth.
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#8 Posted on 3.4.02 1029.54
Reposted on: 3.4.09 1043.10
The A`s are my wild card pick too. That pitching rotation is incredible, and yeah they`ll miss Giambi but the AL West overall should be tough. The Angels upgraded their pitching and the Rangers have that scary middle of the lineup (but I don`t think Chan Ho Park, John Rocker, and Todd Van Poppel are enough to get them into the playoffs).

I have Cory Lidle and Barry Zito on my fantasy team. Last year I had Mulder and Hudson (I got them off the waiver wire after the season started!).
pieman
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#9 Posted on 3.4.02 1509.35
Reposted on: 3.4.09 1512.14
What kind of maroons do you play with? Waiving Hudson and Mulder? eh.
Spiraling_Shape
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#10 Posted on 3.4.02 1647.08
Reposted on: 3.4.09 1648.59
What kind of maroons do you play with? Waiving Hudson and Mulder? eh.

Well they were undrafted last season, and therefore out there as free agents. No one waived them, I was just crafty enough to realize they were out there.
LordOfTheSmarks
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#11 Posted on 3.4.02 1928.12
Reposted on: 3.4.09 1929.01

    Originally posted by Spiraling_Shape
    Well they were undrafted last season, and therefore out there as free agents. No one waived them, I was just crafty enough to realize they were out there.


OK, what kind of maroons do you play with that (at least) Huddy went undrafted? I can understand Mulder, but Huddy? Can I join this league and get free money?
Spiraling_Shape
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#12 Posted on 3.4.02 2240.31
Reposted on: 3.4.09 2245.19
Maybe I drafted Hudson and picked up Mulder along the way. I forget actually, it was a year ago.

And no money, we just use Sandbox for fun.
chuckc14
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#13 Posted on 4.4.02 1338.37
Reposted on: 4.4.09 1345.37
Well, the big three look pretty impressive after the first series with a high powered Texas offense. Our middle relief and closers need A LOT of work, though. I hope the starters are in shape. They're gonna have to give us around 100 pitches a game to avoid our inconsistent relief pitching.

I was NOT happy when we picked up David Justice, but it seems to be working out so far! Good to see some fellow A's fans in Wienerville! Jason Giambi...you suck!!
Big Bad
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#14 Posted on 10.4.02 1325.45
Reposted on: 10.4.09 1328.12
Here's an interesting fact about Justice: except for his rookie year and the strike in 1994, he's been in the playoffs every year of his major league career. Good omen for the Athletics.
CRZ
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#15 Posted on 10.4.02 1346.58
Reposted on: 10.4.09 1347.02
...because the A's had NO CHANCE IN HELL of making the Playoffs otherwise? ;-)
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