BOOO! Take your DH and stuff it!
And by “anything can happen”, you’re including the Reds in this conversation, yes?
OK, nevermind.
My predictions.
AL
East: Rays
Central: Twins
West: Rangers
Wild Card: Red Sox
NL
East: Phillies
Central: Brewers
West: Dodgers
Wild Card: Marlins
World Series. Rangers vs Phillies.
Ya know…totally forgot about how good their pitching has been.
Now you just need to score.
(Sounds like high school :p)
You know, that part comes so naturally that I forget I do it, my friend.
Heh.
Don’t leave out OBP. OBP is the reason that BA doesn’t mean squat. If you know OBP, you can safely ignore BA.
Pedro Martinez has signed with the Phillies for the rest of this season.
Oh, I know. You can say that when you have other statistics available, BA is not nearly as valuable as OBP, OPS, etc. My point was simply that if BA was the only statistic you had, and there was a large discrpancy you could still derive value from it.
That horse be dead now.
The only division I know well enough to make a prediction is the NL East. I think it’s the Phills – they have their problems, but I just don’t think anyone else in the division can put the pieces together.
That was a good game last night. The All-Star game is the only exhibition game in all of sports I find myself caring about. Frikkin’ Carl Crawford.
–Cliffy
Anyone believing the Astros as serious contenders in the NL Central? 7-3 in their last ten games and an impressive shutout of the Dodgers last night. The NL Central is bunched up right now with the Astros, Brewers, and Cubs all withing a couple of games of each other.
Not without some moves, I’m afraid. There are just too many holes in that lineup. But I’ve been wrong about them before, and the starting pitching is definitely good enough (where did this Wandy R. come from? I have him on my fantasy team so no complaints, but damn…).
The Reds could have been in the discussion but now with Bruce out and them already having so much trouble scoring even in that ridiculous park I feel pretty safe counting them out.
So it’s probably down to the Cards, Brewers, and Cubs… and I don’t really feel safe picking any one of them. My heart says the Cards have enough, especially if Glaus comes back at some point and DeRosa recovers from his wrist injury well. If they could make a move for an OF to end the Ankiel/Duncan situation then they’d be in a much stronger place.
How sad is it that the Blue Jays started Devid Dellucci in left field tonight? Seriously, they needed this guy and couldn’t have just given the job to someone already on the farm, like Buck Coats or Randy Ruiz or maybe one of the beer vendors? Is Ricciardi even TRYING anymore?
Dangerous Dave’s now 12 for 63 this year with zero homers. Holy moly, this is the guy we needed. And being 35 years old and three years removed from his last good year, so much upside!
For fuck’s sake. What is it with Ricciardi and aquiring useless, hurt, old left fielders that he liked five years ago? Last year it was Wilkerson AND Stewart AND Mench, and now Dellucci. News flash; just because a guy was good years ago doesn’t mean you should overlook his pathetic inability to play major league ball in 2009.
God willing, Ricciardi will be fired soon. His dismissal cannot come soon enough.
Look, Rick, it’s not that I don’t feel for you. I do. But at least your village idiot will be gone soon. You’ll get some smart guy in there, someone with the ability to understand baseball in the ways Ricciardi was supposed to when he arrived, and soon this will all be but a memory.
Whereas I’m pretty sure we’re stuck with Omar Minaya forever.
Well, Albert picked up pretty much where he left off. Two solo homers tonight.
I have a feeling most of his homers from here on will be solo. Right now, if i had to face him with the bases loaded, i’d think about an intentional walk.
Ludwick has been nuts lately, though, hitting over .400 this month. He’ll cool off eventually, but for now, it sure is nice having him in the cleanup spot.
De Rosa is supposed to be back this weekend. His wrist is still fubar until he has surgery, but he intends to try to play with it and have the surgery in the offseason. We’ll see how long that lasts.
I really haven’t the faintest as to who will win the NL Central.
Maybe it’s the “wonder of baseball” but I cannot predict anything with these teams anymore. Some days the 'Crew look like all stars (hitting homers, scoring runs) then they will hit games like today and get blanked.
The Reds pitching is great…sometimes. Their hitting is great…sometimes.
The St. Louis Pujols’s are doing well enough on his back…but if the rest of the team is nix…they’re dead.
Great duel today between Sabathia and Verlander. Particularly great because the Yankees won…
Good duel, results sucked.
If you have an all-star closer on your team (who oh, by the way, is only the MLB record holder), why not use him?
The Crew are up 5-1 on a gem of a pitching day by Parra and they don’t put in Hoffman. Why? I understand that they are up enough to merit bringing in someone else and not really worry about blowing it. But overall anyone know why?
Also: I can hear “let’s go Brewers!” chants. Man it’s a far cry from the 90s)
I don’t know if someone has yet…but mad shout outs to MLB network for being awesome.
Popping in and out of games…good rapport with each other…overall awesome.
I love being able to watch every night.