Play Ball

[Guard Dog]

Spring has come again and the 2010 MLB season is just three weeks away. All the camps are in full swing and Grapefruit and Cactus League games come to me everyday on my XM Radio. There is a lot going on coming into this season. Bobby Cox will retire and finish a Hall of Fame career. With the steroid era now thankfully behind us slugging percentages were way down last year (go figure), the new key skill is speed and OBP. We should see more steals, more agressive base running, and more attention to defensive fundamentals. In short, better and more interesting games. Also we now have the USA's first female pro baseball player. Eri Yoshida who spent last year with the Kobe 9 Cruise in Japan, will begin her second season in the Arizonal Fall League. And to top it off she is nice to look at too.

 

Here are my predictions for the 2010 Season

 

AL EAST

 

Yankees - Still loaded w/ cash & talent, but also one year older.

Rays - A revamped bullpen starring Rafael Soriano = more wins. The middle of the order is strong with Pena and Longoria. Good enough to be the Wild Card team.

Red Sox - The best team to not make the playoffs. Pitching is stong 1-4 but Victor Martinez is about all of their offense.

Orioles - Going nowhere but up, but they have along way to go to catch the Big 3.

Blue Jays - Cutting payroll, trading talent, riding a greased pole into the cellar for the next few years to come.

 

AL Central

 

Twins - Took a big hit yesterday losing closer Joe Nathan but there is a lot to like about this team. Should walk away with the AL Central

White Sox - Best rotation in baseball, no doubt. Too bad there are no bats to support them. Look for lots of 1 run losses.

Tigers - Hmmm starting Rookies at 3B and CF huh? Looks like GM is not the only home team whose stock is tanking.

Royals - Not a bad team... just not a good one either.

Indians - Should be out of contention by the end of May. They are still paying salary of players long since gone.

 

AL West

 

Angels - The lost a lot of talent over the offseason. But they are still the best in the west.

Rangers - They can win this division IF Harden & Hamilton stay off IR, IF Smoak finds his stroke again, IF their young pitching staff gels, IF the Angels stumbel, IF, IF, IF

Mariners - Much improved. young and strong with a few choice veteran leaders. But still probably a year away.

A's - Very young. Very, very young.

 

NL East

 

Phillies - Not just good, scary good. Great pitching, hitting to match, excellent defense. In a 7 game series they could beat any team in the world right now.

Braves - Bobby Cox goes out a winner with Prado, Jones and McCann powering a tough offensive line up. But they become even more dangerous once power hitting phenom Jason Heyward joins the team.

Marlins - Lowest payroll and third best record in the NL. Too bad all they'll get is a comfy seat on the coach come October.

Mets - Great pitching staff but where is the offense? Beltran & Wright barely had 100 RBIs between them last year. Good hitting only helps if someone is on base. Jason Bay should improve their luck but the Mets have a way of breaking hearts.

Nationals - Great, you've got Strasburg. What else? Nothing.

 

NL CENTRAL

 

Cardinals - This team is a little schizo, what they are good, they are really good. But when they are not... Pitching is still solid with Carpenter and Wainright and having Pujols playing for you never hurts.

Cubs - Finally have a new owner who wants to win. Too bad he can't play RF or lead off. Looks like the streal will extend to 107 years.

Brewers - Has the talent to win the Central but so far has not been able to put it all together.

Reds - Prediction: Dusty Baker will be the first manager to get fired this year.

Astros - Good manager, bad team. They do have a good farm system so the rebuilding period will be short. But this year will suck.

Pirates - The misery continues.

 

AL West

 

Rockies: Any team in the division could win it (except the Padres) but the Rocks return their entire team from last year.

Giants: Last year they were top five in every pitching category but bottom three in all offensive catagories and dead last in runs scored. Pitching wins championships but offense wins games.

Dodgers: Interesting fact, the dogers had four player with over 90 RBIs last year, not one was named Manny. I think he is now crossing the T in BUST.

Diamondbacks: Having Brandon Webb & Conner Jackson will make them better... just not good enough.

Padres: Hmm, can anyone other than Kelverin name more than 3 guys on this team? Me neither.

 

Thats my $.02 what do you guys think? We had a pretty good thread going last season, lets do it again!

[Hurlshort]

I'm fairly excited about the Giants this season. Hopefully they will be able to come up with a bit more power to go along with the stellar pitching. I also think the Dodgers might take a step back, which will give them a better chance at the division.

[Kor Qel Droma]

I'm far too ignorant when it comes to the rest of league, so I'll just give a quick shout out to the Cubbies. Hopefully they can at least sweep the Astros this season.

[Volourn]

"Beltran & Wright barely had 100 RBIs between them last year. Good hitting only helps if someone is on base."

 

It doesn't help when 3 of your 4 main players miss a huge part of the season. Believe me, if Beltran, Wright, and Reyes play a full season, these two will have 100 rbis easy.

 

 

"not one was named Manny. I think he is now crossing the T in BUST."

 

Right... Because, a guy who turns a team from so-so to playoff team and even championship contender is considered a 'bust'. Let's not forget he did miss 50 games last season. He would have had 100rbis otherwise. *shrug*

[mr insomniac]

Blue Jays - Cutting payroll, trading talent, riding a greased pole into the cellar for the next few years to come.

Sigh.

 

Sad that they couldn't get it done while Doc was still in town. Wish him well in Philly. Thank Christ he didn't go to the Damn Yankees or the Sox.

 

At least the Jays appear to have improved at the GM position.

 

Sigh.

 

Wells really needs to have a comeback year, so that maybe... just maybe... they can trade that contract away and put the money to better use. Cito's known for not giving the young kids a chance to play, and sticking with his favourites day in, day out. How else can one explain Millar's presence in the lineup on any given day? But Cito won't have much choice this year. There's a bit of a logjam at first with Ruiz/Lind/Overbay all capable of playing there. Would have liked to see Overbay gone to clear this up. Maybe it's not too late for that. Apart from all that, they need some of those young arms to get/stay healthy and return to form.

[Darth Drabek]

Nice work GD, but I think you swung and missed on one division.

 

The Mariners are going to win the AL West this year. The moves they've made are in perfect accord with post-steroid era baseball's emphasis on pitching and defense. They won't score a ton of runs, but they will win a bunch of games.

[Guard Dog]

Well, we are a week into the season, they Rays had a great opening series against the O's then had trouble with the Yankees. Kudos to Sabathia for almost throwing a perfecto, then almost a no hitter. Girardi said he was pulling Sabathia in the 9th no matter but if the no hitter was still on and he did, he might as well not return to New York.

 

Hey Volo, how about that Mets-Marlins series. Ouch. So far the Fish are hot, so long as they score more runs than the bullpen can choke on.

[Volourn]

"Hey Volo, how about that Mets-Marlins series"

 

Means nothing. Let's talk after 162 games. Besdies, people expect the Mets to suck so we can't do worse than what's expected. *shrug*

[Killian Kalthorne]

Unless the Cubs get to the series I pretty much ignore baseball.

[Hurlshort]

I'm heading out to the Giants game on Wednesday. Normally the Pirates are an easy win, but they seem to have a decent squad this year.

[Enoch]

Nationals - Great, you've got Strasburg. What else? Nothing.

They have Ben's Chili Bowl in the stadium. Who needs quality baseball when you've got a chili half-smoke??!

[Killian Kalthorne]

Its been a while since I had good chili.

[mr insomniac]

Good back and forth game between the Jays and White Sox tonite in the Jays home opener. Not the result I wanted though. Frasor blows another save in the 9th. Lind strikes out in the 11th with a runner on second. Sox bullpen was unconscious tonight, not giving up a hit after the 6th inning. Bah. Oh well, Jays are still off to a good start.

 

EDIT: On second thought, I'm not gonna feel bad about Frasor. I'll blame the Jays "new" play-by-play guy Buck Martinez mentioning, in true saying-no-hitter-in-the-8th-inning fashion, that the Jays have the best home-opener record in the history of baseball, with a now .735 winning percentage (25-9). Being a former player and manager and announcer forever you'd think he'd know enough to shut up until the game is over.

Edited April 13, 2010 by mr insomniac

[Kelverin]

Padres: Hmm, can anyone other than Kelverin name more than 3 guys on this team? Me neither.

 

After tonight's 17-2 thrashing some of the braves players/fans might.

[Deraldin]

EDIT: On second thought, I'm not gonna feel bad about Frasor. I'll blame the Jays "new" play-by-play guy Buck Martinez mentioning, in true saying-no-hitter-in-the-8th-inning fashion, that the Jays have the best home-opener record in the history of baseball, with a now .735 winning percentage (25-9). Being a former player and manager and announcer forever you'd think he'd know enough to shut up until the game is over.

 

Don't watch much baseball, but I catch the occasional part of a Jays game. Only saw the first 6 innings tonight. Why, why would he say something so stupid?!

[Guard Dog]

Well, one thing we know for sure about the Rays is they are better than the Orioles. Not as good as the Yankees apparantley, but better than the O's. Another win in Baltimore 9-1. BJ Upton homered two times. Little scrawny BJ Upton. Cool.

 

BTW did anyone see Obama after throwing out the first pitch (weakly... again) for the Nats? He was talking about being a White Sox fan all his life to Nats radio commentator Rob Dibble and then could not name a single White Sox player and could not even pronounce Commiskey Park right. God, what an utter jackass.

[Oblarg]

The Orioles got Tejada back, so I'm happy (being from Maryland), but I doubt they'll do particularly well. Their batting is always solid, but they really can't pitch.

 

No matter how terrible they are, I still cherish my foul ball I got at Camden Yards hit by Brian Roberts.

Edited April 16, 2010 by Oblarg

[Hurlshort]

The Giants are off to a strong start. At the game I went to yesterday I watched them get three homers, one was inside the park! Their fourth pitcher in the rotation also got 11 strikeouts, which is pretty sweet.

[Enoch]

The Nats currently have their first winning record since April of 2008!

[Oblarg]

The Nats currently have their first winning record since April of 2008!

 

It won't last long.

[Hurlshort]

The Nats currently have their first winning record since April of 2008!

 

It won't last long.

 

What a ray of sunshine.

 

The Nats are a solid team this year. I think they will flirt with .500 for most of the year.

[Guard Dog]

I watched my nephew play last night for the Lexington Legends, the Astros class A farm team last night. How freaking COOL is that?

 

Rays and Fish both lost last night but the legends won and my nephew went 1-3 with a walk and an RBI. So all in all it was a great night.

Edited April 21, 2010 by Guard Dog

[Kelly L]

Thank you for the post.

Hi guys, Im a newbie. Nice to join this forum.

[Guard Dog]

Sitting in my hotel room watching the Twins-Indians game on the tube. Twins are sucking todayn

[mr insomniac]

Jays beat the Rays woot. It's tough to be too elated about anything this early in the season, but it's always better to stay close to the division leaders, especially in the AL East. Hell, Boston hasn't even started playing well yet, and you know that's gotta change.