Baseball 2006: It's our year!! AL Only
First off I'm going to bitch about fantasy baseball. It's what I do. However, I want to thank you all for letting me draft 6 number 1 starting pitchers. But HOWEVER, not a single one of those pitchers got a win in their teams opening day game. In fact, all of those teams lost AND one of the pitchers got injured. Thank you CC sabbatical and your "growing" abdomen pain. Fatty. Yet, I won the draft. That's 12 fantasy drafts in a row I won. You guys need to stop sucking.
Anyway, it's baseball preview for the AL. NL is up next, because everyone loves the NL. Well, none of you do. But whatever.
AL East
1) Yankees - There's not much more I can say about this team you haven't already heard. Incredible offense, solid bullpen, and the starters.....ehhh....you just don't know. But any rotation that features a Big Unit in the one hole and a Wang in the three hole (think about it) is ok in my book
Wins: 94
2) Red Sox - I'm not sold on this squad this year, but they should still finish in 2nd. I feel like the injury bug is gonna bite and bite hard. If everyone stays healthy, the could contend with the yanks, but I don't think that's gonna happen.
Wins: 86
3) Bluges - This team is my under-the-radar in the playoff hunt for this year. Two really good pitchers when healthy (roy toy and Burnett), upgrades at 1B, 3B, and C, solid bullpen, and a really under-the-radar talent waiting to bust out (Rios). If this team can sneak into the wild card spot, no one wants any part of them in the postseason. But if halladay and burnett can't stay healthy, they have no chance
Wins: 84
4) Devil Rays - They won't finish in last place for the first year ever!! Good young hitting and a potential star in Kashmir. I'm sure Las Vegas will grow to love this team once they move there.
Wins: 71
5) Orioles - There's some talent on this team, but it just doesn't make any sense to me. This squad is mediocre at basically everything and excels at nothing.
Wins: 68
AL Central
1) White Sox - Everyone still considers last year's team a fluke. And well, it's hard to argue with it. But somehow, this team is elite. There's no reason to think they won't be as good if not better than last year. A really good starting rotation, better than average bullpen, very balanced and solid lineup, and a totally insane spic manager.
Wins: 95
2) Indians - They just aren't there yet. In fact, I think last year's team was better. Losing Coco hurts more than you'd think. Also, some key pitching losses (Millwood, Howry) are gonna cost them. They had the best bullpen in the majors last year and I don't think they can do that again. Could they make the playoffs? Sure, I think they could. But no team that starts Casey Blake is any real threat.
Wins: 86
3) Twins - Defense and pitching....yes, we get it. However, you need SOME offense and they don't. It's not the worst of all time, but it's not good. They might linger for a while but be a non-factor at the end
Wins: 80
4) Tigers - You want good young pitching? Look no further. Wanna see consistently good pitching? Quickly look away!! To be fair, no one has any idea what to do with this team. You look at the depth chart individually and think, "well none of these guys are terrible". But THEN, you look at it all together and think, "yeesh, isn't there more?" Well, there's not.
Wins: 72
5) Royals - Worst team in baseball. Might be the worst team in the international league. I say this for 2 reasons.
1 - Scott Elarton was the Indians 5th/spot starter last year. He's the Royals' "ace".
2 - One of their players is currently on the 15-day DL with "lack of stamina". They haven't even started the season!!! Your...head...X...plode
Wins: 14
AL West
Has anyone else noticed that NO ONE cares about the west division in either league? It's true, just read my preview.
1) Something Angels of Somewhere - They'll win this division b\c they should. Then they'll lose a 4 game series to the Yankees/White Sox. Can't we just fast forward?
Wins: 89
2-4) A's, Rangers, Mariners
And no one cares.
AL Cy Young - Halladay: I think he's back, for good.
Others: Santana, Best "Sock"? (Red and White), Dick Hardon
AL MVP - A-Job: The crop seems thin this year. Be on the lookout....
Others: Vlad the Impaler, Jim Thome, Mel Novak, Peyton Manny.
Playoffs
White Sox over Angees in 4
Yanks over Tribe in 5
White Sox over NYY in 6
posted by The Diddy @ 4/05/2006 11:19:00 AM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Break of Dawn
After milleniums of crusades, holy wars, inquisitions, and speculation, one thing has finally and at long last been confirmed--there is a God, and he's taken control of scheduling for Major League Baseball. For proof one need look no further than the Detroit Tigers and their schedule. They're now 2-0. The God of scheduling blessed them this year with the Royals. And for that, I think Him. Of course, I'm reminded of December 1997. That year, the mighty Flat Rock Rams began their Huron League schedule with two quick wins and went into Christmas vacation sitting atop the Huron League. I still have the newspaper clippings to prove it. Alas, it would not last. It could not last. Do the Tigers of 2006 have the same fate in store? Only time will tell. But, for now I urge all Tiger fans to clip those standings from the paper and savor this moment. 3 full days in and there are only 4 undefeated teams left in baseball. And while these Tigers don't have to face the Red Devils of Grosse Ile next, their two game season-opening set with the Royals is now over, as is most likely their undefeated season. But until then I will pay my respects to the God of scheduling for allowing Tiger fans like myself to relish in this false sense of hope and accomplishment, if only for a few fleeting hours.
Break of Dawn
Break of Dawn
After milleniums of crusades, holy wars, inquisitions, and speculation, one thing has finally and at long last been confirmed--there is a God, and he's taken control of scheduling for Major League Baseball. For proof one need look no further than the Detroit Tigers and their schedule. They're now 2-0. The God of scheduling blessed them this year with the Royals. And for that, I think Him. Of course, I'm reminded of December 1997. That year, the mighty Flat Rock Rams began their Huron League schedule with two quick wins and went into Christmas vacation sitting atop the Huron League. I still have the newspaper clippings to prove it. Alas, it would not last. It could not last. Do the Tigers of 2006 have the same fate in store? Only time will tell. But, for now I urge all Tiger fans to clip those standings from the paper and savor this moment. 3 full days in and there are only 4 undefeated teams left in baseball. And while these Tigers don't have to face the Red Devils of Grosse Ile next, their two game season-opening set with the Royals is now over, as is most likely their undefeated season. But until then I will pay my respects to the God of scheduling for allowing Tiger fans like myself to relish in this false sense of hope and accomplishment, if only for a few fleeting hours.
Break of Dawn
Why must you open up old wounds?
And they're 3-0 now. Something we never had to deal with.
I agree with pretty much everything you said. And your sly inclusion of a reference to Take That's "Back for Good" made me happy in my pants.
I agree that Coco will certainly be missed, and will be missed more than it would seem when looking at his trade on paper. His numbers last season weren't staggering: .300, 16 HR, 86 R, 69 RBI, 15 SB; but they were certainly solid numbers for the #2 hole (my favorite hole). And Coco was full of all of those intangibles that sports fans/writers/announcers like to talk about so much: good locker room presence, great work ethic, and a charismatic personality. Plus, he has the coolest name in baseball (with insane Milton Bradley a close second).
That said, I still like the trade that Shapiro made to send Coco out when his trade value would be highest. (I think Coco is likely to be consistently good for a long time, but I don't think his numbers will ever significantly improve over his 2005 stats.) The Red Sockies were desperate to replace Damon, and Coco was apparently the only one they felt could really fill the gap. So the Indians were able to set the trade terms and I think it worked out well for the Indians in the long term and for the Red Sex in the short term. Everyone's hugging.
But replacing him with Jason Michaels, who didn't even become a regular starter in Philly? Granted, Phillies management isn't exactly great at evaluating talent, but it's still disconcerting. But at least we have right field locked down with... ummm........... Casey Blake.
*cough*
And we still have Aaron Boone at 3B. I think it could be worse, right? At least he's decent defensively.
And we still have Ben Broussard platooning at 1B. Ugh. I like the addition of Eduardo Perez as the other platooner, but Broussard is worthless.
Huzzah for the probable improvement of Vicki, Jhonny, and Grady (he's so adorable!), but all in all it's hard to believe that the offense is much better than last year's. And the loss of Millwood and Howry certainly hurts the quality of our pitching staff.
I'm excited for this season, but I think we've got to wait another year or two before we finally have it all put together.
I think the whole operations lies in the bulging pants of theBlog.net's favorite Indian: Kaz Tadano.
Break of Dawn
Where are the NL predictions? I only ask the question because I have nothing much better to contribute at this point. I really have no interest in the National League at all.
Break of Dawn
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