Finally Baseball is here! 2009 Edition, (April thread)

The Game Room
1

This is it, today starts the season.

I like my Yankees, the starters look great and the bullpen looks great. The hitters will be good until A-Rod returns and then maybe great. The problem is Boston and Tampa both look good. I think these might well be the three best teams in the AL.

I don’t have a good feel for the AL Central, there is something about the Twins I like but it is hard to quantify.

West: The Angels look like even with some pitching injuries they will run away with the West.

The Yanks have one advantage, they will get the best mid-season acquisition this year. It will be A-Rod getting back to them.

NL:
East: Mets have holes that Sheffield does not fill. I still think the Phillies have the edge. Atlanta looks ready to contend at least and the Marlins are my pick for the team that could surprise. I think the Mets will finish second though. I just don’t trust their starters.

Central: Cubs and only the Cubs.

West: I’m picking Manny & the Dodgers and giving 'Zona the outside shot.

The two Eastern divisions look like they’ll be very exciting and the AL Central can go almost anyway.

Jim (by request cross-posted from here.)

2

After the Rays came together so suddenly last year, I’m wary about making any predictions at all. Still, I’ll go with Boston in the AL East - I’ll pick the Rays to have a hangover, or sophomore slump, and fall back a bit. The Sox were only 1 inning away from the pennant last year with all their injuries, and that problem is unlikely to recur so badly this year. Plus, the staff is even deeper now. The Yanks just have too many holes to win it.

White Sox again in the Central, also based on depth of talent. Cleveland just doesn’t have the pitching, and Mauer’s absence will kill the Twins.

Angels in a weak West again.

3

I didn’t know about Mauer, that is a big hole. How long will he be out?

What holes to you see on the Yanks?

4

I have the same feeling about the Twins. No matter how bad things look, the Twins always have a few guys that make you think, they could do this.

But why wouldn’t you trust the Mets starters and the vastly underrated John Maine? I worry about their always shaky bullpen and the inclusion of K-Rod is not going to change that. But I still think they take the NL East.

I think the AL East will be a three-way slugfest between the Yanks, Red Sox and Rays and we won’t know the winner (and the Wild Card, because you know one of the three will take it) until the end. But if I had to pick, I’d say it’s going to be the Red Sox.

The AL West will probably be a tossup between the Angel and the A’s and while I’ve always liked the A’s, the Angels will take it.

As for the other two NL divisions, the Cubs won’t break a sweat winning and neither will the Dodgers.

Just for fun, here’s what the Yahoo baseball experts say:

AL East: 3 of 4 pick the Red Sox, 1 vote for the Rays
AL Central: 3 of 4 pick the Indians, 1 vote for the Twins
AL West: 2 pick the Angels, 1 vote for A’s, 1 vote for Rangers
NL East: 2 for the Mets, 2 for the Phillies
NL Central: All 4 pick the Cubs
NL West: 3 of 4 pick the Dodgers, 1 vote for the D-backs

For the World Series, 3 of 4 pick the Red Sox with 1 picking the Cubs.

EDIT:

Unknown. Could be a week, could be a month.

5

The Yankees are old and will have many breakdowns during the season. The Red Sox will win.

6

AL East.

  1. Tampa Bay
  2. Boston
  3. New York
  4. Baltimore
  5. Toronto

Tampa has gotten even better this year and Boston has the pitching depth to last a season. It will be interesting to see how Sabathia does in a non-contract year when he’s has the NY media breathing down his neck. Last year, he got off to a bad start. In Cleveland, that was easy enough to turn around. In the glare of the NY spotlight, this may not be as easy.

AL Central

  1. Minnesota
  2. Kansas City
  3. Cleveland
  4. Chicago
  5. Detroit.

If Mauer is healthy soon, the Twins are going to win the AL Central. I’m picking the Royals to surprise and be better than expected. But, I think KC, Cleveland, and Chicago will all be around the .500 level and the Tigers will fire Leyland by the All Star game and will be a mess all year.

AL West

  1. Oakland
  2. Texas
  3. Los Angeles
  4. Seattle

Believe it or not, I"m not picking the Angels. Too many pitching injuries. Oakland has some pitching injuries as well, but they’ve got a lot of young pitchers who could surprise. The Rangers are going to be a player as well in the West. The Rangers improved in mid season last year and they could surprise in the West if Oakland falters. I expect Oakland, Texas, and LA to be within a few games of each other all the way until September.

NL East.

  1. Florida
  2. Philadelphia
  3. Atlanta
  4. New York
  5. Washington

This will be the most interesting division in baseball this year. I’m picking the Marlins with all that young talent to emerge on top. The Phillies are also going to be right there and this race will go down to the last week of the season. I’m also quite impressed with the Braves this year. The Mets are going to be a disappointment and Gary Sheffield isn’t the answer to any of their questions.

NL Central.

  1. Milwaukee
  2. Cincinnati
  3. Chicago
  4. Houston
  5. Pittsburgh

The Reds are much improved and I like their move to younger players and away from the Dunn/Griffey type of team. Still, I think the Brewers are going to take this division although pitching is a question mark.

NL West.

  1. Arizona
  2. Los Angeles
  3. San Francisco
  4. Colorado
  5. San Diego

The Dodgers play in a pitcher’s park and don’t have any pitching. They’ve also got Manny who is likely to melt down at any point during the season and be a distraction. The D-backs have almost the same team as last year, but with more experience. They’ve got to cut down on the strikeouts. Still, I love the 1-2 pitching combination of Brandon Webb and Dan Haren. The Giants have pitching, but nothing else.

Playoff predictions.

AL wild card is Boston. AL champion is Tampa

NL wild card is Philadelphia. NL champion is Philadelphia. Marlins crumble in the playoff pressure.

World series champion is Tampa Bay.

I’m sure these predictions will be good for a laugh by the time we get to the All Star game!

7

dale, aren’t you missing a team in there somewhere? Someone in the NL Central, I’m thinking… :wink:

8

Most notably the bullpen, aside from Rivera. Infield defense, without A-Roid (I think he’ll be out for more of the season than currently reported) and with Jeter not covering much ground anymore. Offensive depth. Corner OF defense. But then, I’m biased.

BTW, even when Mauer comes back, it’ll be a while longer before he gets comfortable again. The kidney surgery he’s probably over, but a back problem can linger and recur, especially for a catcher.

9

The AL East will be pretty much the same as last year. Tampa and Boston are much better teams than New York (older than you think) and Toronto (can’t hit.) Baltimore is just terrible and coud finish sixth in this division.

I like the Indians in the Central, as does everyone else. I don’t think Mauer will be out long, but the Indians have a lot of guys with the potential to do much, much better than 2008.

My unusual pick is in the West; I think Oakland will win. I don’t think the Angels are really all that good a team; their 100 wins last year was really, really flukey. The A’s have added some talent, and I see them winning a weak division.

In the NL, I think the Phillies remain better than the Mets. Chicago will win the Central easily. It is possible that, somehow, the entire NL West will miss the playoffs (would any of those teams win 75 games in the American League?) but I’ll pick LA because apparently there’s a rule that someone has to win the division.

10

Yeah, hey…

I think my Cards are going to make a credible run at the NL Central this year. Carp and Wainwright appear to be healthy, and Wellmeyer, Lohse, and Pinero look to round out a solid starting rotation. The bullpen is a little iffy, but should be better than last year. They blew 30-odd saves last year and still stuck with the pack till September. An improved bullpen should help a ton. I’m worried about Schumaker at 2B, but by most accounts he’s turned into a serviceable fielder. I wish they didn’t have to rely on a rookie at 3B. Greene looks like he’s found his way at the plate again, so he should bring more offense at SS than Izturis. Not the greatest infield for a groundball pitching staff, but they shouldn’t embarass themselves.

They have loads of offense, and a starting rotation that will give them a chance to win most games. I doubt they can knock off the Cubs, but they’ll make it a fun summer in St. Louis.

11

My picks:
AL East: Rays
AL Central: Twins
AL West: Angels
NL East: Mets
NL Central: Reds
NL West: Dbacks

12

LOL, I did forget the Cardinals. Kinda funny from a football Cardinals fan. I’ll put them in a tie with Chicago, right behind the Reds.

13

I’ll echo Bayard and add that if Ludwick can repeat last year’s performance and a healthy Chris Duncan can finally be a consistent hitter (although a liability in the outfield) that provides Albert some protection, then the Cards could have a monster year. That supposes that the starting rotation lives up to its promise and the bullpen improves, but hey, we haven’t played a game yet, so the fanatasy continues!

14

The Bullpen is actually quite strong. Watch out for Phil Coke and the killer slider he picked up. He is better than Marte. If Bruney stays healthy his stuff is great. A top setup man. The Yanks have two lefties for a change in Coke & Marte. It is good to see. The 3 kids are all very good and there is depth on the farm including to good long guys they decided to leave behind as Veras, Albaladejo and Ramirez are that good.

Infield Defense has improved as Teixeira is a vast improvement over Giambi at 1st. Cano is still improving, Jeter might be a bit worse but not drastically and Ransom os a good 3rd baseman and A-Rod should be back on schedule.

I will sadly concede corner outfield defense. However Nady is actually a bit better that Abreu at least and Garner will get more balls that Melky did. Of course once he catches them, like Damon he won’t be doubling anyone up.

Offensive Depth is solid once A-Rod returns. The bench has Swisher and Melky to add some real pinch hit capability for the first time in a while.

The Starters will erase a lot of flaws in the offense.

15

Hell, we’ll be lucky if we start Tuesday.

16

Indians lose 9-1.

Welcome to the 2009 season.

17

Reds lose a tight, rainy opener to the Mets 2-1. Both Harang and Santana pitched well enough to win, and the Reds bullpen aside from a sixth inning blunder was impeccable.

The Reds pitching looks to be sparklingly good this year.

18

Phil Coke’s a decent enough prospect but the guy’s 26 and has pitched fourteen innings in the major leagues. I’d hold off a little bit on declaring him a big plus.

19

A thrilla from Godzilla! And the Yanks are coming back. 6-5 now. Sabathia was awful today, they’re charging…

20

and a double-play… a dagger to the heart…