Originally posted by QuezzyThey've already started to drop going from 105 wins to 100 last year so they could easily continue to drop, and I don't know how winning 100 games last year, 105 games in 2004, and 85 in 2003 equals to 3 straight seasons of 100 wins.
Umm...anticipation of this year's results, I guess? Anyway, check this out:
Welcome to the home of the National League's best team, where tradition reigns, expectations are high, the manager's mood tends to hinge on the results of today's game, and the players are conditioned to go along for the ride.
The Cardinals have had a nice run since 2004. They're coming off consecutive 100-win seasons for the first time since they did it three straight years from 1942 to 1944. Last year, they produced a Most Valuable Player in Albert Pujols and a Cy Young Award winner in Chris Carpenter and ranked third in the league in runs scored and first in ERA. The Cardinals scored 171 more runs than they allowed, easily the biggest gap in the majors.
Although the Braves are always a factor and the Mets are attracting plenty of attention this spring, lots of front-office people think St. Louis is still the club to beat in the National League.
I mean, at the end of the day, if you're not impressed than you're not impressed. I just don't know what evidence could possibly lead you to believe the Brewers have a better chance at winning that division than the Cardinals, who have pretty much dominated the NL Central in this decade, even if they haven't won 100 games every year.
I think that it is great watching everyone dump the Padres this year. Last year everyone thought they had the division.
They pulled out the division last year with an awful year. I don't know that losing Loretta and Hernandez will help, but Nevin is gone, Piazza can supposedly still hit, and I'm assuming that Khalil won't get hurt again this season. Vinnie is better at third than Chop-Chop was, and Roberts isn't a better player in the outfield than Cameron.
I'm just scratching my head at what the Padres did that made everone pan them this season. Giles and Hoffman stay, we lose the recently hurt Hernandez, and pick up a number of veterans who were improvements... and we lose the mindshare.
Huh. I dunno. It doesn't even feel like the same team to me, but I don't think they are going to be as bad as everyone else does.
Since I only really follow one team, I'm calling the NL West for the Padres with a 90 win season.
Everyone sees the big flashy moves that the Dodgers and Giants made and falls in love with them. Personally, I still like them in that division, The Cardinals in the Central with my Cubbies in second, the Brewers in third, and the Astros falling to fourth. And like a previous poster said, the Braves until they 'splode. In the AL, I like the Angels in the West, with the A's putting up a good fight, the Indians to overtake the ChiSox late in the Central, and the status-quo in the East. Toronto will challenge, but I think they'll fall short.
WM - While Walker didn't set the world on fire whis his final season, he hit almost 70 points better in the second half than he did the first, an OBP near .400, an a .542 SLG, and I'm assuming he still played pretty damn good defense. That is almost sure to be better than whoever the Cards trot out in right this year.
AL EAST Boston New York (WC) Toronto Tampa Bay Baltimore
Roger's coming home. Believe it.
AL CENTRAL Chicago Cleveland Detroit Minnesota Kansas City
The White Sox won it all with one legitimate power threat and Dustin freaking Hermanson as their closer for most of last year. Thome will be healthier than Thomas, at least. Kansas City won't win 50.
AL WEST Oakland Modesto Texas Seattle
Yawn.
NL EAST Atlanta New York (WC) Washington Philadelphia Florida
Same song, fourteenth verse, gopher style and a whole lot worse.
NL CENTRAL St. Louis Chicago Milwaukee Pittsburgh Houston Cincinnati
The Reds, shockingly, contend for the first three months, then fall out of it when Griffey tears his hammy in the Home Run Derby. The Cubs have a three-game lead in the Wild Card with a week to play, but get swept out the rest of the way.
NL WEST Los Angeles A Whale's Vagina San Francisco Colorado
Yaaaaaawn.
DIVISIONAL Boston over Chicago, 3 New York over Oakland, 4 Atlanta over Los Angeles, 5 New York over St. Louis, 4
LCS Boston over New York, 7 Atlanta over New York, 6
WORLD SERIES
Boston over Atlanta, 6
This will get added at the end of each post you make, below an horizontal line. This should preferably be kept to a small enough size.
On contraction: I really believe it is greater than 50-50. Bud has the right to do it this year as long as a 2007 schedule is presented to the Players Association by a date in June. If Tampa didn't have new owners, I'd agree with them being the team to go with the Marlins. But, Twins have an opening in their lease to do it after this year, so that makes them more likely when also considering that ownership for Minnesota would have no problem taking money to leave. As for plenty of places for a team to move, where are they? Portland perhaps? The Carolinas? Boise? They won't go to Vegas and the Yankees/Mets/Phillies will never allow a team to move to Jersey for territorial reasons. And, I am surprised that there is very little concern that this is the last year of the CBA. They had to go to the wire to avoid armegeddon last time, and I can see the 2007 season being negatively impacted as Fehr and Orza try to regain some of the ground they lost on drug testing in other areas while ownership allows itself to believe the MLBPA is weakened and will concede further ground on other issues.
On Clemens: If he ends up in the AL East with either the Red Sox or Yankees, he'll have a 4+ ERA. He wasn't setting the world on fire in '03 when he left the AL.
On why jumping off the Padres bandwagon. A breakdown of last season for the Padres April 11-13 May 22-6 June 10-17 July 8-18 August 15-12 Sept/Oct 16-14
Total 82-80
1 month of better than mediocre baseball in a division that they should have clinched by Labor Day causes doubt to be brought forward.
Originally posted by redsoxnation As for plenty of places for a team to move, where are they? Portland perhaps? The Carolinas? Boise? They won't go to Vegas and the Yankees/Mets/Phillies will never allow a team to move to Jersey for territorial reasons
San Antonio is the latest city to make a push for the Marlins.
Originally posted by WhitebaconWM - While Walker didn't set the world on fire whis his final season, he hit almost 70 points better in the second half than he did the first, an OBP near .400, an a .542 SLG, and I'm assuming he still played pretty damn good defense. That is almost sure to be better than whoever the Cards trot out in right this year.
(edited by Whitebacon on 26.3.06 0017)
Oh when he was healthy yeah he was solid. Problem was when they really needed him, at the end of the season and playoffs, he was broken down and worthless. In September he was out half the games, and when he did play he hit around .260. In the playoffs I guess you could say he played, but he hit .107. No offense to the guy cause he was great, but I think we can get someone to hit .107 in October, yeah.
For the record, my favorite predictions so far have been geemoney's, who thought so little of the Reds he left them out entirely. Not that there's anything wrong with that...
AL East: New York Boston Baltimore Toronto Tampa Bay
I don't know how this'll happen, but it will. The Yankees will somehow manage it and piss everyone off in the process. As for the Baltimore/Toronto swap, I believe in the power of Mazzone... and I think Burnett will get injured at some point, Halladay will randomly get injured again, and Glaus will struggle.
AL Central: White Sox Cleveland (WC) Minnesota Detroit Kansas City
Wake me when Minnesota has hitting. The rest of it shouldn't be a shock to anyone.
AL West: Oakland Anaheim (yeah, I'm not doing the new name thing) Texas Seattle
Oakland's lack of hitting will hurt them in a short series, but its overall pitching depth and bullpen will give them just enough of an edge over a similar Angels team. Texas still needs pitching.
NL East: Atlanta New York Philadelphia Washington Florida
Loria sells the Marlins and moves on to buy the Knicks, thus upping the ante for teams he's willing to wantonly destroy. He gives Isiah Thomas a 12-year extension. Oh, and nothing surprising here.
NL Central: St. Louis Chicago (WC) Milwaukee Houston
Pittsburgh Cincinnati
Had to accurately describe what the division would look like.
NL West: San Diego San Francisco Los Angeles Arizona Colorado
San Diego has just enough front-end pitching, defense, and barely passable offense to win this division. Not that that's saying much, but there you have it.
Originally posted by Guru ZimI think that it is great watching everyone dump the Padres this year. Last year everyone thought they had the division.
They pulled out the division last year with an awful year. I don't know that losing Loretta and Hernandez will help, but Nevin is gone, Piazza can supposedly still hit, and I'm assuming that Khalil won't get hurt again this season. Vinnie is better at third than Chop-Chop was, and Roberts isn't a better player in the outfield than Cameron.
I'm just scratching my head at what the Padres did that made everone pan them this season. Giles and Hoffman stay, we lose the recently hurt Hernandez, and pick up a number of veterans who were improvements... and we lose the mindshare.
Huh. I dunno. It doesn't even feel like the same team to me, but I don't think they are going to be as bad as everyone else does.
Since I only really follow one team, I'm calling the NL West for the Padres with a 90 win season.
First, not a big fan of the rotation- Shawn Estes? Chan Ho Park? Woody Williams? Sure, Petco will help, but I don't know if those guys can win consistently behind Peavy.
They've got a solid closer in Hoffman and set-up man in Linebrink, but after that, I don't see much.
Their offense should be improved (shouldn't be hard-they were 14th in runs last year). But with Piazza and Castilla a year older, can they be counted on to produce over a 162-game season? Their outfield is solid, but doesn't really have a lot of power (unless they Adrian Gonzalez starts at first and Klesko is in the OF).
It wouldn't surprise me to see them finish 2nd or so, but I don't see a big improvement this year. Then again, they're your team Guru, so you probably know a lot more about them than I do.
Originally posted by TheCowFor the record, my favorite predictions so far have been geemoney's, who thought so little of the Reds he left them out entirely. Not that there's anything wrong with that....
Whoops. Fixed it.
(edited by geemoney on 26.3.06 1409) College, sports and more!: Experience It
Originally posted by TheBucsFanI just don't know what evidence could possibly lead you to believe the Brewers have a better chance at winning that division than the Cardinals, who have pretty much dominated the NL Central in this decade, even if they haven't won 100 games every year.
(edited by TheBucsFan on 26.3.06 0052)
You could've asked last year what evidence there was that the White Sox would win the division over the Twins who had dominated the conference for years. And yet the Twin fell off the face of the earth and White Sox won. The Twins were even a favorite to win the World Series by many experts.
I don't think the Padres will be awful but they did just BARELY finish over .500 and it's not like they improved a WHOLE LOT. They'll be in it in but I think the Dodgers will win.
Why are all the Boston fans obviously biased against the Mets? Do they hate them just for the 86 Series or do they hate the Yankees but can't make fun of them because they are good every year, so the make fun of the Mets instead?
Originally posted by TheCowWake me when Minnesota has pitching.
Buh?
That's the one thing we DO have. I mean, I don't have much stock in Radke's arm any more, but Santana is one of the top two or three pitchers in the majors, Silva's really coming along if his control gets a touch better, and Liriano and Baker are easily among the best young pitchers in the league. Add to that the fact that Jesse Crain is coming off a top notch season as a middle reliever/spot starter, Joe Nathan is an all-star closer, and we're returning some of our better relievers this year, I'd say the Twins are doing great as far as pitching is conserned.
Our big problem is that we can't produce runs for crap. Stewart, Mauer and Hunter are decent hitters, but everything else is pretty up in the air. Morneau put up huge numbers in the minors, but he's been injured and inconsistant in the majors, and everybody else is either a defensive starter, a old journeyman, or a "hitting prospect" like Morneau.
So yeah, the pitching is fine. Wake me up when we can get a guy who can hit 30 HRs in a season.
Tonight I wanna ruin my life, I wanna throw it all away, In a spectacular way
Originally posted by WhitebaconWM - While Walker didn't set the world on fire whis his final season, he hit almost 70 points better in the second half than he did the first, an OBP near .400, an a .542 SLG, and I'm assuming he still played pretty damn good defense. That is almost sure to be better than whoever the Cards trot out in right this year.
(edited by Whitebacon on 26.3.06 0017)
Oh when he was healthy yeah he was solid. Problem was when they really needed him, at the end of the season and playoffs, he was broken down and worthless. In September he was out half the games, and when he did play he hit around .260. In the playoffs I guess you could say he played, but he hit .107. No offense to the guy cause he was great, but I think we can get someone to hit .107 in October, yeah.
Jim Edmonds hit .211 in the NLCS, where's the scathing criticism of him? Eckstein hit .200, and he was the sparkplug of your team. Grudz hit .227. Reggie Sanders hit .167. Mabry and Rodriguez went zero for the post season. The only guys on your team that did anything against the Astros offensively were Pujols and Molina. Where were all these guys when you were trying to get back to the World Series? Nowheresville.
Originally posted by TheCowWake me when Minnesota has pitching.
Buh?
That's the one thing we DO have. I mean, I don't have much stock in Radke's arm any more, but Santana is one of the top two or three pitchers in the majors, Silva's really coming along if his control gets a touch better, and Liriano and Baker are easily among the best young pitchers in the league. Add to that the fact that Jesse Crain is coming off a top notch season as a middle reliever/spot starter, Joe Nathan is an all-star closer, and we're returning some of our better relievers this year, I'd say the Twins are doing great as far as pitching is conserned.
Our big problem is that we can't produce runs for crap. Stewart, Mauer and Hunter are decent hitters, but everything else is pretty up in the air. Morneau put up huge numbers in the minors, but he's been injured and inconsistant in the majors, and everybody else is either a defensive starter, a old journeyman, or a "hitting prospect" like Morneau.
So yeah, the pitching is fine. Wake me up when we can get a guy who can hit 30 HRs in a season.
Yeah, I goofed. Totally meant to say hitting there. Fixed it.
The discussion herein sold me on the Cards. The Cubs will nab the Wild Card. Houston could get a boost from Clemens. Milwaukee is still a few years away. Pitt is the NL's Kansas City. So what does that make Cincy?
Cubs over White Sox in 7
I am a huge cubs fan. I live and die with them. But no. No. Unless they go NUTs in the midseason aquisition (rent-a-player) market.
It would be sweet though - NO! NO! Out! Out!
Dreaming is a sick thing.
I hate you
We'll be back right after order has been restored here in the Omni Center.
AL East Yankees Blue Jays Red Sox Orioles Devil Rays Thoughts: My apologies to the haters, but the Yanks do it again. Toronto will contend for the first three-quarters of the season, and stay in first for at least a combined two months. However, with all the hype the team's getting due to off-season moves and improved pitching, I still get the feeling that the hitting will drop right into the crapper. They still retain second place in the division, but miss the Wild Card by four games. Boston will show what they showed last year: while the team's talented, they've just seemed to lose that fighting spirit. WHERE IS YOUR FIGHTING SPIRIT?! (/Hideki) The Orioles will stay play horrible, while fans scratch their head and ask why the team plays so horrible. Tampa Bay will exist.
AL Central Indians White Sox Tigers Twins Royals Thoughts: Cleveland, as a team, gained enough confidence late last season to know that a play-off run is possible. It'll be a struggle, yet again, except this year they won't fall short. The Island of Misfit Toys will continue to contend, but fall just short of the Wild Card. The Tigers will win enough games to have one of their players cut a promo against Edge from the crowd at a WWE PPV in the Fall (translation: they won't win TOO many games). The Twins and Royals make room in the basement. Scratch that: The AL Central is the Twins Mom, and they'll live in her basement until they save up enough money for a big-name free agent. The Royals will reside somewhere deep in the Earth's core. And, after an incredible disappointment last season, the Royals will finally do it...and go down in history as the worst team in the history of not only Major League Baseball, but professional sports in North America as a whole. GO POWDER BLUE! DO YOU BELIEVE IN THE OPPOSITE OF MIRACLES?!
AL West A's The The City of Angels Angels of Anaheim(W.C.) Mariners Rangers Thoughts: The Mariners newest acquisition surprises the sports media and scares the rest of the division to death...for the first month and a half. The Rangers continue to disappoint. The A's/Angels battle is every bit the gunfight it was last season, albeit this time with a slightly different result. The Angels win the Wild Card.
NL East Braves Phillies (W.C.) Mets Nationals Marlins Thoughts: Soriano provides the Nationals with a bat and RBIs, but doesn't provide the runs needed to take the East. The Mets continue to fill people with hope, and continue to disappoint, though won't have an awful season by any stretch of the imagination. The Phillies come out of nowhere and grab the Division in the second half, but settle for the Wild Card. The Braves have us all groaning when they win. The NL East. AGAIN. The NL East will be the most competitive Division in MLB this year, with almost every other team seeming to be able to overtake Atlanta during the season...with the exception of the Marlins. Nobody loves the Marlins.
NL Central Cardinals Astros Pirates Cubs Reds Brewers Thoughts: The Cardinals WILL still be the team to beat in the National League, while all year fans and writers diagnose them with a severe case of Braves Disorder - a sickness that causes a team to dominate their division year after year then not get it done at the big dance...and that becomes the story in September and October. At times the Astros will be exciting to watch, but it'll be clear by mid August that they're not getting into the playoffs. The Pirates improve, but not by much. The Cubs, Reds, and Brewers wrap up what will be a fairly uneventful and/or uninteresting division.
NL Futility West Padres Dodgers Diamondbacks Rockies Thoughts: Wait, did I say the NL Central is going to be uninteresting? I take that back. Worst Division in MLB for the second year in a row! WOO HOO! The Padres go to the playoffs again, somehow, and Bud Selig holds a press conference in October saying "no, really, re-alignment. We need to consider it again." L.A. is in first for the first three months, falls back, and is never heard from again. The Diamondbacks...have a beautiful stadium. People will continue to talk about the hitter-friendly Coors Field, and not even mention the fact that the Rockies play there. The Rockies don't win a single away game this year. Okay, slight exaggeration. They'll win three. Most positive sign/banner seen at Coors Field this coming July: "At least we're not KC." Being held by one of the six fans still using their season tickets.
Disclaimer: There is a pathetic level of analysis in these picks, and are made simply for fun. Don't take them to be intended as gospel, because they're certainly not.
(edited by Deputy Marshall on 27.3.06 1038) TO BILL BRASKY!
My LiveJournal, where you can read tons of stuff that you don't give a crap about.
Originally posted by redsoxnationCleveland: Finish in the mid 80's in wins as I can't see Bob Wickman having consecutive good (or healthy) seasons.
Two words for ya': Fernando Cabrera.
I am scared shitless by the amount of people picking the Tribe this year. Being in the Cleveland area, I am always frightened by high expectations for the team. Just look at '87, when they had high expectations and lost 101 games. At the same time, I am kind of ticked to see folks touting them in the AL, only to get pounded out in the World Series. Regardless...
AL East Yankers Red Sox Blue Jays Devil Rays Orioles
AL Central TRIBE Pale Hose Motor City Kitties Twinkies Kansas City - the name itself is a joke.
AL West United States Angels of California in Los Angeles at Anaheim Oakland Texas Seattle
NL East Atlanta Philadelphia Florida NY Mess Nationals
NL Central Cardinals Brewers Fuzzy Cubbies Astros Pirates Reds
NL West San Diego Los Angeles San Francisco Colorado
World Series: Cleveland over Atlanta. Revenge for '95.
AL East New York Toronto Boston Tampa Bay Baltimore
Three-team race, right to the end of the season.
AL Central Chicago Minnesota Cleveland Detroit Kansas City
AL West Anaheim Oakland Seattle Texas
NL East Atlanta New York Philadelphia Washington Florida
I'm still wary of the Mets. If, IF they put it all together, they can win the division, but if Pedro still has toe problems, and the bullpen doesn't come together, and the hitting doesn't show up...
NL Central St. Louis Houston Chicago Milwaukee Cincinnatti Pittsburgh
NL West Los Angeles San Diego San Francisco Arizona Colorado
AL Wild Card: Toronto NL Wild Card: New York
AL Playoffs: NY over Anaheim Chicago over Toronto
NL Playoffs St. Louis over NY Atlanta over Los Angeles
NLCS: St. Louis over Atlanta
ALCS: NY over Chicago
World Series: Cards over Yankees in 6.
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NEW YORK - Just a few days into the season, baseball already has produced a startling statistic: The average salary dropped for the first time in nearly a decade.
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