BTW, I think the Mets did a great job shoring up the Bullpen and this might well put them over the top. Philly is no juggernaut.
Hey! Kei Igawa pitched an inning today and didn’t give up a run! I say trade him while his value is high.
It is Ash Wednesday so I didn’t go to a game today, but it sure felt good to drive around doing some errands today and getting to listen to the D-backs on the radio.
Reds fan here. I am actually optimistic that the Reds can compete in the NL Central this season.
Why, you ask?
Because of our pitching, and the way we’ve retooled our offense in to a speed team, shedding the likes of ham-handed hitters like Adam Dunn and the perenially injured Ken Griffey (sorry it never really worked out here, Junior).
We will also be improved on defense.
So, with starters Aaron Harang (whom had an injured/terrible year last season), Edinson Volquez (all-star stud), Johnny Cueto (stud in the making), Bronson Arroyo (had a terrific second half of the season last year) and likely Homer Bailey in the fifth spot, our rotation is better than it’s been in 10 years or more.
The bullpen is solid, anchored by Francisco Cordero, whom should rebound from an off year.
Look for big production from 2nd year players like Jay Bruce and Joey Votto, as well as repeat performances from Brandon Phillips (thanks Cleveland!), Jerry Hairston Jr and Jeff Keppinger, as well as Willie Taveras, and a supporting cast of role players, the Reds are improved.
Let’s go Red leggers!
Edit: Reds come out today with a 7-0 win over the Rays, grand salami by Hairston, 3 scoreless innings by Volquez, 3 scoreless innings by Cueto (3k’s each) and a scoreless 7th by Homer Bailey with 2k’s. Yay!
hehe, I too am looking forward to another great losing season for our San Francisco boys. It’s tough though, we grew up during the days when the Giants were good, the Battle of the Bay in '89 and all that. Ah, the glory days. I can’t change my loyalties after growing up with that. Same with the '49ers, who also suck now.
Aaaaand the Dodgers drop the first game of Spring Training 5-3.
Well, the Royals managed to drop the first game of ST to the Rangers, by a score of 12-7. That’s not as bad as it sounds, though, since much of the problem was caused by oone pitcher’s bad outing and Mark Teahen’s mistakes during his first attempt at playing second base. As the roster shakes out, these issues will resolve themselves.
Don’t lose sight of the fact that opening day of ST is hardly any indicator of the coming season. Just be happy that baseball is back!
Ain’t that the fucking truth…
But as a Mets fan, I think it’s great that John Maine is coming along. He’s the unheralded anchor of that rotation. Other than that, I just hope the terriffic trio in the infield (yes, I’m including Delgado, I have to believe he’ll contribute) does what they always do.
Yes. And spoken like a true Yankees fan, where the supply of hope is sold in $5 balloons out of the back of pickups that have a nitrous tank.
I will always hate your franchise, you buy everything, you upset the competitive balance in baseball, you have the highest profile players (whom are recently exposed as roid monsters) and you have the biggest dick as an owner.
All that said, I am also jealous of your success, despite your demonical player signings.
Hey, in fairness that “biggest dick of an owner” can no longer belong to George. He is retired and in poor health. Hal has done nothing to deserve the title so pick a different owner. I nominate Jerry Jones of the Cowboys for the title.
BTW: $5 balloons? Posh, we use $50 champaign bottles for storing our nitrous of course. 
I’m always excited to have baseball back! With the Indians it’s just all hope all the time. I think we’ll have some gaps in our rotation this year - unless I’m pleasantly surprised. I think our defense is kickass…'cept I’ll never trust Peralta at short. I still pray for my main man Asdrubal to move to short and little Jamey Caroll to go to 2nd but the Front Office never listens to me. I hope Hafner visited a shrink during the off season - there’s nothing keeping his average back but himself.
Go Tribe!
Some would argue the four best. Toronto, after all, has lost just Burnett, who last year wasn’t even as good as the average Blue Jay pitcher. Last year they had the second best Pythagorean projected record in the AL - better than Tampa pr New York - but did poorly in one run games, and that doesn’t even consider an offense that scored fewer runs than its total numbers would predict. Even a moderate bounch back just in less bad luck puts them around 92 wins. It’s quite conceivable the AL East could again have four teams at 10 over .500 or better.
I don’t see anyone in the Central or West that good. Baltimore’s in for a very long and dreary season.
Didn’t Marge Schott own the Reds? :dubious:
I think the Angels will end up with more wins then the Jays but that will have much to do with the Angels playing their western rivals and the Jays playing the East. It is also too early in the Spring for serious predictions (that will largely be wrong in my case).
Hey, don’t apologize to KC - apologize to Detroit, who finished in last last year.
Yeah, he’s a pretty typical 5-6 spot hitter. Streaks of HRs then nothing for weeks. If the guys in front of him get on, he will get a lot of RBIs, he likes to get 4 or 5 in one game on a homer and 2 doubles, then one for the rest of the week on 10 Ks and a walk.
And without Holliday, if they move him to a 3 or 4, it might be a great season.
So let’s see. Pre-preseason thoughts on the New York Mets. They return their entire lineup more or less intact, which means that from an offensive standpoint, they are probably going to be marginally worse. Jerry Manuel may or may not make good on his promise to bat Luis Castillo leadoff and Jose Reyes third, but in any case he seems grimly determined to waste as many at bats as possible on Castillo and his shiny 77 OPS+. The outfield corners are huge question marks - there’s no conceivable way that Fernando Tatis can repeat what he did last year, and Dan Murphy and Ryan Church are concerns due to inexperience and injury, respectively. A lot of eggs are being put in the Dan Murphy basket, and he has a good chance of continuing to be successful, but he’s barely got 1000 professional at bats so the chance of a dip in performance over last year is pretty good.
Reyes and/or Wright could theoretically improve over last year; both are young enough to have further growth in them. Counting on Delgado to repeat last year’s performance is probably not unreasonable, but neither is it a sure thing.
So I’m assuming there will be a modest amount of slippage from the 799 runs scored of last year, but they’ll still be one of the top five offenses in the National League barring catastrophic injury.
I think the pitching stands to improve from last year. Santana and Perez return, and by now you know what both will give you. Also returning from last year is Mike Pelfrey, who took a pretty big step forward last season; he doesn’t strike out enough guys to be an ace, but as a #4 he’s as strong an option as most teams have. John Maine returns; he may or may not be awe-inspiring but will almost certainly be an improvement on what the Mets were throwing out there in the last third of 2008. The fifth starter thing will be an issue, but it was last year, too. So the rotation is likely as good or better than last year.
Leaving the bullpen. Rodriguez and Putz make the bullpen a whole lot better, in a whole lot of ways. Either would have been the best guy in the pen by a wide margin down the stretch last year; their arrival pushes Feliciano and Duaner Sanchez into situational roles rather than high-leverage appearances, puts Brian Stokes where he belongs as a potentially respectable middle-inning eater, and hoepfully limits the amount we have to see guys like Jon Neise or Carlos Muniz. Also, Aaron Heilman is gone, hopefully for all eternity. The bullpen improvement is a huge one, much more significant than the modest expected decline in offense.
I’d say they’re looking at 92 wins with an upside of 95; I’d expect a very close race with the Phillies, who haven’t improved at all (Ibanez for Burrell is basically a wash, and the Phils haven’t made any other moves), ending with the Mets on top by a game or two. Let the Mets add a really strong #2 starter or power bat in a corner, though, and I think the advantage shifts toward Queens in a more notable way.
Excellent analysis and I also expect the Mets to make a move before the season is out for a starter or bat in the outfield.
I refer you to the termination of Joe Torre.
My Red Sox still need some power off the bench, but other than that, this season is looking to be very good.