|
Post by nyjyrk on Mar 7, 2007 22:36:51 GMT -5
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AL
East- 1- Yankees Improved Rotation, dominating line-up, improved bullpen, young arms in AAA that could be ready by mid-season in case of injury. 2- Blue Jays Basically the same team as last year. A full year of Rios could mean trouble for the rest of the league. Scary good defense. 3- Red Sox Unproven "ace", aging Shilling, and Beckett....and that's it. No closer and sub-par bullpen will mean alot of innings for starters. Papplebon back at closer by all-star break out of desperation. 4- Devil Rays. Still have a good line-up when they are all healthy, but still waiting on that staff to mature. If they can get the pitching to improve fast, they could leapfrog the Red Sox. 5- Orioles One of the worst teams in baseball. Benson is gone, and the rest of the staff is still developing. 100 loss season?
Central 1- Tigers Excellent young staff that should get even better. Improved line-up, and dominating bullpen. 2- Twins Top 5 rotations with one of the best pitcher handling managers in the league. Good bullpen, and above average line-up with young and hungry stars. Gardenhire is a baseball genious. 3- White Sox Good but fragile staff, good bullpen and lineup. Only problem in the AL central will be tough. Could miss out on playoffs with 90+ wins. 4- Indians Excellent line-up and bench. Mediocre to poor rotation, poor bullpen. 5- Royals Moving in the right direction, but is in the same boat as the D-Rays. They need to improve the young talent fast in order to contend. I don't see it happening.
West 1- A's (by default) Good hard-nosed linup. Decent rotation. Excellent closer, mediocre bullpen. Sub-par bench. 2- Angels Good core team, but alot of question marks especially at 1B, 2B, and C. Mathews Jr. could be a distraction. Good rotation and closer, noit sold on the rest of the pen. Weak bench. 3- Rangers Alot will depend on Gagne. If he's back to form, they could contend, if not, the rest of the pen can't support him. Good line-up, not-so-good rotation. 4- Mariners Stars surrounded by nobodys. Weak rotation, weak pen, good closer.
NL
East 1- Mets Excellent rotation, excellent closer, good pen, good bench, excellent line-up. Will be the class of the NL this year yet again. 2- Phillies Could be the only team to contend with the Mets. Only weakness I see is the bullpen as a whole. Also, can Gordon keep closing? 3- Braves Slight bounce back from last year, but they just don't have the firepower to beat out the Mets and Phillies. Bobby Cox will get the most out of his team yet again. 4- Marlins How good was Joe Girardi? We'll see. I see them coming back down to earth this year. Too many question marks concerning the rotation and line-up as a whole. 5- Nationals Really will be outclassed this season. Holes at 2B, LF, CF and an unproven if not weak rotation.
Central 1- Cubs Once again, if Prior can stay healthy and Wood can accept his new role they will contend. Revamped lineup looks menacing especially when Cliff Floyd is at 100% health. Good bullpen with Dempster closing until Wood is ready. 2- Cardinals The addition of Kennedy is a plus, but how much does Edmonds have left in the tank? Rotation has a high upside if Wainright and Looper can adjust, if not, look out. Good bullpen with the daily heart attack maker Izzy closing. Excellent line-up, especially if Duncan continues to improve. 3- Reds Pretty good line-up, suspect bullpen. Mediocre to decent rotation if all the cards fall into place. 4- Brewers Good young talent that could leapfrog the Reds and maybe contend for 2nd place if they develop. Other than Cordero, the bullpen is questionable. Pretty good bench. Alot of role guys that could start in case of emergency. 5- Pirates Yong talent could blossom, then again it might not. Pretty decent rotation for the money, but may get overworked due to a poor bullpen. Holes at CF and C. No definite closer. 6 - Astros Time to rebuild. Top heavy rotation especially if Clemmens goes elsewhere. Bullpen is suspect, and Lidge is not reliable. Biggio is 1/2 the player he once was, they overpaid for Lee. No bench. The development of Luke Scott could be interesting to watch.
West 1- Dodgers Scary line-up if Ethier and Martin play to potential. Excellent rotation, good bullpen. Good bench. Good manager. 2- Padres Good line-up, only questions are at 3B and if Marcus Giles can stay healthy. Good mix of talent and styles in the rotation. Pretty decent pen with the hammer of Hoffman closing yet again. 3- Rockies Yes you read this right. Alot of talent that nobody's heard of. Good young staff that has figured out (by last year's account) Coors field. Matt Holliday is the most underated player in the league. 4- Giants Getting old....VERY old. Can Zito pitch up to his contract, or will he continue to decline? Pretty decent rotation otherwise. Not much of a bench, so keep your fingers crossed the none of the geriatrics crew get hurt.Other than Vizquel and Molina, not much defence. Not much speed either. Look for station to station baseball with alot of 6-4-3. 5- Diamond Backs Top heavy rotation, not much of a bullpen. Many holes in the line-up. Alot of good scrappy guys, but I don't see them climbing out of the cellar.
Those are my opinios. If you don't like them, oh well. Feel free to discuss.
|
|
|
Post by strosfan4ever730 on Mar 8, 2007 17:42:07 GMT -5
6 - Astros Time to rebuild. Top heavy rotation especially if Clemmens goes elsewhere. Bullpen is suspect, and Lidge is not reliable. Biggio is 1/2 the player he once was, they overpaid for Lee. No bench. The development of Luke Scott could be interesting to watch.
I have to disagree with this. First of all its not really time to rebuild, they have 2 players (biggio and ausmus) that are soon retiring, and thats counting biggio who i believe has about 2 or 3 decent years left.
Carlos Lee doesn't even have to be good, he just has to make people think he is so that pitchers will accually pitch to Berkman, who i believe will have a breakout season and hit 50 homeruns and drive in 150. Last year he had 100 walks and was walked almost one out of every 5 or 6 AB's. Opposing pitchers can not do that again this year, if they do Lee or Scott will make them pay.
They're starting rotation is their weakest point but the bullpen is good. Qualls, Wheeler, and Spring are good relief guys, all who have closed games in the past 2 seasons when lidge was struggling or hurt and did a decent job. Lidge has lost his confidence, and if he gets it back this year, and that is a big if, they will have a dominating closer and 2 or 3 pretty good guys in the bullpen to set up for him in the 7th and 8th.
Im interested in scott too, the 3-4-5 part of the lineup with Lee, Berkman, and Scott will produce some runs, especially with Burke hitting leadoff, and Everett possibly hitting behind him. both of which have speed which causes pitchers to focus on them, if one of them is on base, and they forget about Berkman or Lee or Scott they could give up some huge hits.
Anyway i would put them at 2nd-4th place in the NL central definatly in front of the Cubs (no pitching) the brewers (to young, and not great hitting or pitching, just average).
|
|
|
Post by strosfan4ever730 on Mar 8, 2007 17:46:59 GMT -5
also, Carlos Lee had about 40 home runs and 115 RBI's last year, put those two together in lineup and its a pick your posion situation. They only make each other better.
|
|
|
Post by tomservo on Mar 8, 2007 18:10:33 GMT -5
A little bias there maybe?
Blue Jays are certainly improved but I don't see them taking any higher than 3rd unless they get career years out of the lineup.
Yankees have improved too, but you still have question marks on your staff in Pavano and Igawa (if you doubt Matsuzaka there is no way you can reasonably expect this guy to win five games). Wang is good but will struggle to maintain the numbers he put up last year. The bullpen is good because of Rivera, but who's going to get them there, Kyle Farnsworth? He had one good year, and has been largely mediocre outside of that. The lineup is what it is but may have trouble creating runs outside of the long ball. And don't expect ARod to step up his game.
The Red Sox are a more balanced team. And the rotation is just as good if not better than the Yankees. Schilling will win 18 games, Matsuzaka at least 20 (8 solid years in Japan and a brilliant performance in the WBC doesn't equal unproven). A closer look at Beckett, though his numbers are mediocre, shows an incongruity in his stats. He a large number of spectacular starts, and some poor ones. He will still win many games. Wakefield will also be his consistent self. The bullpen, though lacking big names has great young arms like Delcarmen, Lester, Hansen as well as older guys like Timlin (very consistent) Pineiro, Donnelly, and Taverez who can eat up innings.
The Yankees certainly could take the east, that's not a bad prediction, but if you think the Devil Rays will win more than the Sox I question your sanity.
|
|
|
Post by geebus on Mar 8, 2007 18:24:29 GMT -5
The Astros are all bench players
Orlando Palmeiro Jason Lane / Luke Scott Mark Loretta Mike Lamb Eric Bruntlett Humberto Quintero
I fail to see where your information has been right, but when you get the chance send me some of what you've been smoking.
|
|
|
Post by strosfan4ever730 on Mar 8, 2007 18:28:15 GMT -5
Scott will defiantly be starting and I wouldn't be surprised to see Quintero starting at C either. I would like to see Loretta play at shortstop instead of the .200 hitter in Adam Everett. I know his defense is great but his bat really weighs down the lineup.
|
|
|
Post by geebus on Mar 8, 2007 18:38:09 GMT -5
Shortstop and catcher are the two places I'd rather see defensive players in. I like the experience of Ausmus over Quintero, and Everett is probably the best defensive shortstop in the NL.
Btw, over the past three years Biggio has put up some of his best personal numbers, granted they're not the numbers of the late 90's, but he is still as good as ever. He is the anchor of the team and one hell of a leader. He is the first one on the field and the last one out of the clubhouse, we should all aspire to have that kind of passion about something.
|
|
|
Post by nyjyrk on Mar 8, 2007 18:41:53 GMT -5
Honestly guys, the Astros will suck. It's not that I hate them, but the guys you pointed out being good (other than Luke Scott) suck. Lorretta sucks, Everett sucks, Lamb sucks, Palmiero is average at best.
Again, it's not that I hate the Astros, they just suck.
|
|
|
Post by geebus on Mar 8, 2007 18:51:44 GMT -5
Try This
AL
East Blue Jays Red Sox Yankees Orioles Devil Rays
Central Twins Tigers Indians White Sox Royals
West Angels A's Rangers Mariners
NL
East Braves Phillies Marlins Mets Nationals
Central Astros Pirates Cubs
Cardinals Brewers
West Padres Dodgers Rockies Diamond Backs Giants
|
|
|
Post by tomservo on Mar 8, 2007 18:53:16 GMT -5
Pirates #2 in NL Central is a bold pick
|
|
|
Post by geebus on Mar 8, 2007 18:58:19 GMT -5
Honestly guys, the Astros will suck. It's not that I hate them, but the guys you pointed out being good (other than Luke Scott) suck. Lorretta sucks, Everett sucks, Lamb sucks, Palmiero is average at best. Again, it's not that I hate the Astros, they just suck. Way to lose my respect. the people you say suck you don't watch play. Everett is the best defensive ss in the league. Lamb, Lorretta and Palmiero are bench players. Just because Steinbrenner didn't give them 120 million dollar contracts dosen't mean they suck. They do their jobs.
|
|
|
Post by strosfan4ever730 on Mar 8, 2007 21:42:18 GMT -5
Honestly guys, the Astros will suck. It's not that I hate them, but the guys you pointed out being good (other than Luke Scott) suck. Lorretta sucks, Everett sucks, Lamb sucks, Palmiero is average at best. Again, it's not that I hate the Astros, they just suck. Way to lose my respect. the people you say suck you don't watch play. Everett is the best defensive ss in the league. Lamb, Lorretta and Palmiero are bench players. Just because Steinbrenner didn't give them 120 million dollar contracts dosen't mean they suck. They do their jobs. I like Lamb, he is one of my favorites and he's a good baseball player too. and of all those people, Palmiero is the worst. Loretta and lamb are the best, and yes everett sucks at HITTING. And if you think lamb sucks, check out these stats: AB-381 2B-22 Home runs-12 BA-.306Thats a pretty good bench player.
|
|
|
Post by nyjyrk on Mar 8, 2007 22:23:37 GMT -5
Excuse me for having an opinion.
Everett is a good defensive SS, but not the best in the league. Omar Vizquel is still the best fielder in the league. Hands down. I would put Khalil Greene ahead of Everett as well.
....and yes I do see Astros games when they play the Cardinals. I get Fox Sports Midwest here.
|
|
|
Post by strosfan4ever730 on Mar 8, 2007 22:25:30 GMT -5
its fine that you have an opinion, i was just showing you the facts. And do you accually watch the 'stros games? I know i get TBS but i don't watch the braves games.
|
|
|
Post by nyjyrk on Mar 8, 2007 22:43:43 GMT -5
I watch Cardinals games. They play the Astros quite often.
|
|