MLB Thread

[Lowerdeck]

Eh, you all know how I feel.

Boston better beat New York this year. Or at least the Twins. Someone.

[DMN in the House]

It's going to be interesting now, to put Gagne under the microscope and see if he is the best closer in baseball.

←

They wore Gagne out. Reports in LA papers are saying that his arm is overworked.

I'm more worried about getting Bradley back. He'll lead us through the playoffs, even if we don't have a decent starter... but... there's always...

LIMA TIME

[Guest Wrestling_Man]

Boston better damn well win, if not them, then St. Louis.

I hate seeing the Yankees win all the time.

←

[Billy Castillo]

Astros just won 5-3. Phil Garner *has* to get at least a nomination for manager of the year. Either that, or Jimy Williams really was that lousy of a skipper.

[DMN in the House]

St. Louis is going to get beaten.

[Big Tuna]

St. Louis will likely do what Seattle did when they won 115+ a few years back, choke!

And Boston will win!

[Billy Castillo]

Hell...didn't the Astros sweep them,too?

[DMN in the House]

Boston will never win a World Series, as long as they have to go through the Yankees to do it. The Yanks are in their heads.

[Miami Vice]

Prediction Time!

Redsox over Angles in 5

Twins over Yankees in 4

Astros over Braves in 4

Cardinals over Dodgers in 4

Redsox over Twins in 6

Astros over Cardinals in 6

Astros over Redsox in 7

Notes:

- Clemens will win every decision

- Oswalt will win every start

- Vlad will be awsome

- Manny will be awsome

- Schilling will make it look like 2001

- Bagwell is surprise MVP, beating out Oswalt because of his game 7 late inning game winning home run in Fenway!

[DMN in the House]

If you really think that St. Louis will sweep LA, you haven't been following the Dodgers.

They just find ways to win, and they never give up. 53 comeback victories this year.

Well, that, and I fully expect St. Louis to choke.

[sahyder1]

Angels/Red Sox

I prayed long and hard as an Angel fan to find a way to avoid the Red Sox in the first round.....but it didn't work. The Angels seem to be able to knock around the Yankees but the Red Sox do cause us problems. Schilling and Pedro is a huge bonus for the Red Sox but Washburn and Colon have matched up pretty good against the Red Sox in their careers. The key is here to win Game 2 off of Pedro. The Angels managed to knock him around a bit this year but overall Pedro has given the Angels (or pretty much anyone else) a lot of problems(9-1 2.12 for his career) over the years. I really do think that the World Series champ is coming out of this series. Angels in 5

Twins/Yankees.

My how the might have fallen. None of the other 3 AL playoff teams fear the Yankees the least bit. Steinbrenner has to be asking "$180 million.....and this is the pitching staff I get?" The Yankees better be thankful that they managed to avoid the Angels in the first round. The Red Sox and the Angels are pretty much the only two teams in the league that a true Yankee fan would fear. That being said, this has to be Johan Santana's coming out party. The Yankees MUST win Game 1 in order to have any chance in this one because after Mussina this pitching staff is suspect at best. Last year they lost all 3 of their Game 1s but Petitte picked them up nicely in each of the Game 2s, don't expect the same from Lieber.

Twins in 5

Astros/Braves

I'd be the first to admit that I didn't expect the Braves to be anywhere close to the playoffs. Who would've thought that the "Future Ace" would finally come around after 8 years in the bigs. Unfortunately (or fortunately since I have always hated the Braves) that won't be enough. Atlanta's pitching just doesn't scare me, especially going up against Clemens and Oswalt. Who would've thought a little over a month ago that the Astros would even find themselves in this situation. The streak the Astros have been on is really quite remarkable. People better start paying attention to Brad Lidge because this guy can flat out pitch. Look for the Astros to finally win their first ever playoff series.

Astros in 3

Dodgers/Cardinals

Ever since the Cardinals opened up their big lead in the Central I've been thinking of them as the Mariners were a couple of years. Team goes out and has a huge regular season but goes nowhere in the playoffs. Neither one of these teams posess a very good pitching staff and it should be a slugfest all series long. The key here is whether Weaver can pitch the big game in prime time? Getting out of New York was the best thing that could happen to this guy.

Dodgers in 4

...and just for kicks.

LCS

Angels over Twins in 5

Dodgers over Astros in 7

World Series

Angels in 6

Here's what I had predicted at the start of the year.

AL East

1) Boston

2) Toronto

3) New York

4) Tampa Bay

5) Baltimore

All the talk this offseason has been about the AL East and rightfully so, this division added in 3 of the 4 best available players out there. With the Yankees Starting pitching is a question mark for the first time in a long while. After Mussina and Vazquez, I don't see this rotation competing with the Red Sox staff. Contreras really needs to earn his bucks this year. Acquiring Brown with his injuries and contract with his age might prove to be a problem but the Yankees were left with pretty much no other choice. Well, the Yankees still haven't won a World Series since they started plucking into acquiring the big name players(see Giambi, Jason).

The Red Sox have faced major criticism for passing up on A-Rod but this team has made all the right moves this offseason. Getting Schilling gives them arguably the best 1-5 rotation in all of baseball. Keith Foulke is probably the biggest acqusition of the offseason. The bullpen blew a ton of games last year and having one of the best in the business pitching the 9th(sometimes 8th) has to be a good sign for the nation. A lot of people are worried about how Nomar reacts to the way he was treated this offseason but I don't see it like that. Nomar is a pro and once the season starts he should be all business, especially since it's a contract year.

Most see this division as a 2 team race for the AL Pennant. I hate to disagree.  Although all the talk this season has been about New York and Boston, but the Jays are a significantly improved team from last year. This team won 86 games last year and with the return of a healthy Hinske and a significantly improved rotation there's no reason the team adds to that. On a team with Delgado, Wells and Halladay, Ted Lilly, Miguel Batista and Pat Hentgen are the keys. Their offense can hang with the big boys but these 3 need to give the Jays what they haven't had in quite some time now. Depth in the rotation. These guys don't need to win games, they just have to make sure they don't lose them. This team has the ingredients to be the sleeper team this year. A lot depends on how they do in their 38 games against the Yankees and the Red Sox.  Remember the name Alexis Rios. Expect him up at some point this season. He's potentially Rookie of the Year material. Dustin McGowan is another name that's been brought up a lot. Some consider him to be potentially better then Halladay.  If they fall out of contention by the deadline expect to see Delgado moved for prospects and then the two sides negotiate in the offseason.  Wouldn't surprise me one bit.

Going into this season Lou Pinella has said that Tampa will not finish last in the division The Devil Rays roll out what is arguably their best squad ever. They have great speed up top with Crawford and Baldelli and decent hitting in the middle of the lineup with Huff and Cruz Jr.  The pitching will be their major problem.If Zambrano, Hendrickson, Halama and Moss are able to have decent years this team has an outside shot at 4th place in the division.

If the O's can keep everyone healthy they have a decent enough team. Unfortunately for them they play in the East. I don't see them finishing better then 4th  Ponson, Lopez and Ainsworth have their work cut out for them having to face the offenses that are gonna be thrown their way in this division. Expect Javy Lopez come down to earth.

Bold Prediction

The Jays hang with the Yanks and the Red Sox and edge out New York for 2nd place. O's face injury problems and Lopez comes back down to earth leading to Tampa finishing 4th in the division.

AL Central

1) Minnesota

2) Kansas City

3) Chicago

4) Cleveland

5) Detroit

The Twins need to find a way to replace Guardado and Hawkins. Those 2 have been solid for the Twins last few years pitching the 8th and the 9th leading a bullpen that had been a huge assett. The rotation has holes and I'm not quite sure they have the depth in the bullpen this year to get the job done. There's gonna be a lot of pressure on Radke, Santana and Lohse to carry this team. The offense looks very good. Local boy Joe Mauer should help pack the stands. He's got a very good arm and eventually should be a great hitter. It wouldn't shock be one bit to see him hit around .300 this year.

The Royals are looking good offensively. Berroa, Beltran, Sweeney, Juan Gonzalez should put up a lot of runs at the top of the order.....especially considering the pitching in this division. The starting pitching is a huge concern as I don't really see that one guy who you'd call an "ace" The bullpen will get overworked. They have the guys down there in Grimsley, MacDouglal, Leskanic and Sullivan who should get the job done.

I don't see the White Sox finishing better then 3rd. They have great hitting in the middle of the order with Frank Thomas, Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Lee. Konerko needs to have a comeback year to take the pressure off the big 3. Like everywhere else in the division pitching is a concern. Do not expect to see the Loaiza of 2003. Behind him and Buehrle there isn't much in the rotation. They are gonna miss Colon a lot.  Expect Koch and Marte to eat up a lot of innings this year.

The rebuilding prrocess continues in Cleveland. They need to stay away from the injury bug or a last place finish is not that far out of the question. Sabathia needs to find a way to show that last year was no fluke as there isn't much else avaialbe on the rest of the pitching staff.

Pudge is a good fit in Detroit. He calls a great game and he's just what the Tigers need with their young guys in the rotation. He's going to help the development of Maroth and Bonderman a great deal. If they manage to keep guys healthy they have a pretty interesting middle order lineup with Higginson, Pudge and Young. Sadly there isn't much else.

Bold Prediction

This division stinks. Nothing bold to predict here.85 wins probaby wins this division. The Tigers win 70-75 games and actually edge out the Indians for 4th place.

AL West

1) Anaheim

2) Oakland

3) Seattle

4) Texas

Arturo Moreno has brought a brand new attidude with him to Anaheim. He's quickly becoming a PR giant. The team is beginning to attract more and more LA "refugees." The Angles acquired two of the biggest bats available on the market and will send out one of the league's best offensive lineups this year. Glaus, Erstad and Vlad are all coming off of injury riddled years but seem to be in good health as the season rolls closer. Sciosca has tons of room to make changes to the batting order. Don't be surprised to see him experiment with putting Glaus or Salmon in the 2 slot behind Erstad at points in the season. The bullpen is loaded yet again and Donnely should be back healthy soon enough. Aaron Sele looks to be the odd-man out of the rotation right now.

The A's will once again rely on their deep rotation. Don't be surprised to see Harden moved to closer at some point in the season if Arthur Rhodes struggles. The bullpen overall doesn't impress me too much but then again this is Oakland and the depth in the rotation will easily cover for that.  The A's are expecting Crosby to be a Rookie of the Year candidate but he has some big shoes to fill in Oakland.

I don't see the M's finishing better then 3rd in this division. Their pitching staff doesn't match the top two in the division. Barring any major injuries they should score a lot of runs though. Edgar is 41 now so keeping him healthy will be a major task.  Expect Ichiro's #s to tail off a bit this year. Freddy Garcia needs to regain his form from 2001 as a 41 year old Moyer can not be expected to be the Ace of the staff again

What can I say. These are the Rangers. It doesn't make any sense to me how paying one of the best players in baseball to play for another team is good for a team. That's what Hicks believes so we'll let him ponder this. The Rangers should still put up a lot of runs. Soriano, Blalock, and Teixeira should mesh in nicely together. I'm expecting a big year from Fullmer in Texas.  The piching will once again be horrible and once again land them in last place.

Bold Prediction

Seattle actualy tails off enough that the Rangers are able to surpass them.

Divisional Playoffs

Angels over the Jays in 4

Red Sox over the Twins in 3

ALCS

Red Sox over the Angels in 7

Cy Young- Roy Halladay

Honorable Mention: Barry Zito, Pedro Martinez and Johan Santana

MVP- Garrett Anderson

Honorable Mention: Carlos Delgado and Vernon Wells

AL Rookie of the Year- Alexis Rios*

Honorable Mention- Joe Mauer and Bobby Crosby

* This is me going on a limb here. OFcourse for this to happen one of the Jays OFs need to go down.

NL East

1) Philadelphia

2) Florida

3) New York

4) Montreal

5) Atlanta

Philly fans have a lot to be excited about this season. They have a very good lineup and a great pitching staff. Like the Red Sox they've gone out and filled their biggest need which was the bullpen. Wagner is one of the best is the business and there's no reason why he doesn't get around 45 saves. Adding Worrell pretty much makes it a 7 inning game and when you have a staff of Milwood, Wolf,Padilla Myers and Milton that should be more then enough. There's no way Burrell hits .209 again. He should rebound well.

The Marlins win the World Series and head into this season as an underdog again. Losing Pudge and Lee is gonna be huge. Hee Sop Choi has yet to prove himself at the major league level although Castro's got great potential for power. The Marlins have no lefty in the bullpen to go up against the likes of Thome and Floyd late in the games. I'm not too big of a fan of having Oliver in the rotation either. Burnett probably won't be back until early June and the Marlins are gonna need big #s from him.

The Mets can surprise people. It all depends on the start they get though. If they can have a good April and a decent May or vice verca this team will give the Marlins a run for their money for second place in the division. A slow start is gonna lead them to pack it in like the last couple of years.  I really like what they've done with their lineup. Matsui and Reyes should provide great speed up top clearing the way for the big bats. I'm expecting a huge year from Floyd and the Mets are going to need him healthy. Glavine, Leiter and Trachsel should provide consistency at the top of the rotation but after that is anyone's guess

After years of domination on top of this division this is the year it all goes down for the Braves. The lineup doesn't impress me too much and injuries are going to be a factor. I'm not a big fan of the pitching staff either(Thomson, Ramirez, and Jaret Wright :lmfao: wrap it up behind Hampton and Ortiz). The franchise has lost the glamour it had in the 90s. Smoltz is the only holdover left on that staff from the "glory" years and his health should be a concern.

Poor Expos. So much talent has roamed Olympic Stadium over the years but baseball keeps screwing the team over. Given all that this should be an exciting young team to watch. Expect Vidro to be moved by the tradeline. Other then Delgado he's going to have the highest value on the market. The rotation has some potential but the trips to Puerto Rico will lead to their downfall yet again.

Bold Prediction

After years of winning the division the Braves finish 4th. The Expos have nothing to play for except themselves and don't be surprised if they manage to survive Puerto Rico and give the Braves a run for their money late. 

NL Central

1) Chicago

2) Houston

3) St. Louis

4) Cincinatti

5) Pittsburgh

6) Milwaukee

All offseason the talk has been about Steve Bartman and that damn ball. It's a new season now. I was pretty sure that they would persue Pudge in the offseason but I ended up being proven wrong here. The rotation should be fun to watch all season long and this should be one great division race. Getting Patterson back for a full season should ignite the offense yet again. With Farnsworth, Borowski, Hawkins and Wellemeyer this should be a very good bullpen. Expect Sosa to hit 50-55 homeruns and the Cubs to be playing ball in October.

The Astros are going to make this race interesting. 1-5 this is definitely one of the best rotations in baseball. Given that they play in a pretty good hitters ballpark their offense isn't too bad either. Berkman and Bagwell need to have good seasons to ease some pressure off of the rotation. The big question however is can Dotel take over as closer?

What has happened to the St. Louis Cardinals? The lineup is still pretty good as they have some guys around Pujols but I don't think they'll manage to score that much against the Cubs and the Astros and the pitching isn't half as good as the other 2. This could end up being one long season for La Russa and company.

Other then Kearns, Dunn and Larson is there really a reason to watch the Reds? Griffey is injured yet again but they're going to need him back rather quickly to keep people interested in the team. The pitching is just awful. Corey Lidle was let go by pitching hungry Toronto in the offseason and he aces this staff here. Claussen would probably be the #1 guy on this staff right now.

Boy, are the Pirates glad the Brewers are in this division. This team is just awful. They have no pitching and pretty much no hitting. Very little to get excited about at PNC this year.

The Brewers. What can I say? After Sheets is there really anyone on this pitching staff? Is there anyone in their lineup this year? Sexson was their one marquee player. Let's see how Overbay and Spivey do in this environment

Bold Prediction

Sosa hits 50-55 Homeruns. The Cubs and the Astros battle all the way.  Depending on how long Prior manages to stay healthy there can be four 20 game winners in this division(Prior, Wood, Pettite and Oswalt).

NL West

1) Los Angeles

2) San Diego

3) San Francisco

4) Arizona

5) Colorado

This is the year the Dodgers finally win this division. The rotation is easily the best in the division and the offense should manage to put up enough runs to win this time. The acquisition of Ventura seemed to have lit the fire under Beltre, let's see how it translates to a full season. They will attempt to go after Delgado but he'll likely cost them Edwin Jackson, and I'm not sure the Dodgers are willing to trade him. Especially since Delgado can walk in the offseason. 

Wow, the Padres have a very good hitting lineup. If the pitching(which is a problem with most of the division) holds up this team could be headed to the playoffs. Giles-Nevin-Klesko is a very good 3-4-5 and the best in the division. Asking David Wells to ace the staff is a bit of a stretch given his back and age but Lawrence, Peavy, Hitchcock and Eaton all need to have very good years for this team to play to it's potential. Hoffman's health is once again going to be a concern

Barry Bonds and steroids. You'll be hearing this all summer long. Expect Feliz to take over at SS at some point in the season. I don't see them moving Alfonzo to the bench but Feliz is too good to be sittign all season. The starting pitching will be a concern. Schmidt is a proven ace but after him Reuter and Jerome Williams have to hold their own ahead of Tomko and Hermanson. Is Nen healthy?

The D-Backs are a far cry from their championship team. Schilling is gone and I'm not sure Webb can handle being the #2 starter for a full season. Will RJ make it through the season healthy? After those 2 there's nothing left on this pitching staff and that will be a huge concern.  Acquiring Sexson was big but this offense has gotten old rather fast. Having Finley, Alomar and Luis at the top of this lineup doesn't excite me one bit.

The Rockies have some good prospects coming up but for now they just sit back and watch. Walker's health will be a concern all year long but Helton and Preston Wilson should have good years. Playing at Coors is a great opportunity for Burnitz to salvage his career.

Bold Prediction

The Giants fall to 3rd in the division. There's an outside chance that Arizona can finish 5th.

Divisional Playoffs

Astros over the Phillies in 4

Cubs over the Dodgers in 5

NLCS

Cubs over the Astros in 6

Cy Young- Mark Prior

Honorable Mention: Kerry Wood, Randy Wolf, Roy Oswalt

MVP- Sammy Sosa

Honorable Mention: Barry Bonds and Albert Pujols

NL Rookie of the Year- Edwin Jackson

Honorable Mention- Kaz Matsui and Khalil Greene

World Series

Red Sox over Cubs in 7

Everyone wanted this a year ago, they'll get it this year.

[naiwf]

Div Series

*Angels over Red Sox in 5

*Twins over Yankees in 5, and I will REJOICE!

*Astros over Braves in 4

*Cardinals over Dodgers in 4

LCS

*Angels over Twins in 6

*Astros over Cards in 7

World Series

*Astros over Angels in 6, though I'd rather see Anaheim win it because I don't want Clemens to get another ring.

[grind your soul]

7-0 Cards in the fourth.

Yeah go Dodgers

[Greg The Smooth]

The Sox dominated the Angel's today. Glaus was the only Angel's player that has me scared at all. Sox in 4 at the most.

[thuganomic]

If Yanks don't win tonight, it's all over.

Fuck Jon Lieber......he threw up when he started the all-star game, how the fuck can he handle the pressure of Yankee Stadium against Brad Radke, who's been on fire?

The sad thing is, I don't even know who we can sign this off-season to ease the pain.

:'(

If they lose, however, I shall be rooting for the Dodgers and/or the Angels.

[Big Tuna]

Red Sox played an awesome game today, too bad I didn't get to see it live

KEEP THE FAITH!

[Magus978]

Twins take Game 1, 2-0 over the New York Yankees. Santana got out of trouble when he needed to, and the Twins did just enough to win.

[reyrey619]

If Yanks don't win tonight, it's all over.

Fuck Jon Lieber......he threw up when he started the all-star game, how the fuck can he handle the pressure of Yankee Stadium against Brad Radke, who's been on fire?

The sad thing is, I don't even know who we can sign this off-season to ease the pain.

:'(

If they lose, however, I shall be rooting for the Dodgers and/or the Angels.

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[Guest Bluesman]

If Yanks don't win tonight, it's all over.

[Slimg]

I have been telling people the twins would take the series for awhile now but the only thing is when will the Twins decide to start Santana again? I'd say game 5 (if needed). Only 2 times I would start Johan after the 1st game is

[*] The twins are up 2-2 and need a win to take the series.

[*] The Yankees go up 2-1.

By doing the first option then Johan gets enough rest to come out and win.

I don't expect the yanks to go up 2-1 though because either Radke will win or the twins will take a game at home.

This was most likely the most important game 1 of the Divisional Series.

There isn't much to say about Sox/Angels. Tonight will be tough for Colon. Yes Pedro hasn't been doing well but I have a feeling he will break this and win a game. Even if he doesn't the Angels go to Boston to play a game. I had the pleasure of being in Boston this year and I got to watch the Red Sox take on the D-Rays. Even though it was the D-Rays and the Sox were winning by 13 the crowd was into it. I don't think the Angels can steal this series.

Again not too much to say about St. Louis and the Dodgers. St. Louis will easily take this series. The bats are too strong. If the Dodgers were facing anyone else in the playoffs they would win but St. Louis just seems unstoppable so far this year.

Astros/Braves

Are the Braves underrated? I'd say yes. But I doubt they will win the series. They won more games than Houston but there is too much behind Houston that can power them through. If the Braves can take both homes games there is a slight chance they will pull out the series but I just can't see that happening. I don't think the Braves will be able to win at Houston either. Houston needs to win one of the games in Atlanta and the series is over.