Major League Baseball All-Star Break report
Tomorrow, the Major League Baseball All-Star game will be held, and at this point, MLB is about half-way through the regular season. There have been some surprises, disapointments, and "What the Hell" moments that must be addressed. I will give you the scoop on who's looking good, who's looking bad, and my predictions for the second-half of the season. Are you ready? Well, here it comes.
The first division I will address is the A.L. East. The Boston Red Sox currently posess a 3 game lead over the evil New York Yankees. The Toronto Blue Jays are close behind, sitting just 5 games back of Boston. The concern in Boston right now, is their bullpen. It seems to me, that only Curt Schilling who has a 3.60 ERA and a record of 10-3, along with Josh Becket, who also has double-digit victories with an 11-4 record are the two pitchers really pulling the plow for Boston. Everybody else kind of seems marginal. Tim Wakefield is just 7-8, and posseses a 4.05 ERA (better than Becket's 4.75 ERA) . But Wakefield, needs to produce more wins. I think that if Boston wants to fend off the Yankees, and the Blue Jays, they will need to get better pitching. The Yankees, have pitching woes with Randy Johnson, but Mike Mussina, and Chien-Ming Wang, have really stepped it up. The only problem is, I don't expect this Chien-Ming "Who" character to keep pitching well. At the end of the day, "not-so-dandy Randy" will cost them a playoff spot, and the Yankees will be watching the playoffs from their sofas this season while Boston, and their great hitting lineup lead by Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz will be taking the Red Sox to the A.L.C.S., where the puzzling Detriot Tigers will put the wood to them in six games. Randy Johnson will be infuriated with this, embarrassed by his lack of production, and Alex Rodriguez will be living in fear, as his reputation in New York will proceed to get progressively worse. The Blue Jays will just fade off, capturing around 85 wins, short of Bostons 93 win mark.
The A.L. Central is even more close than the A.L. East because of the two teams that are on top of the Division. The Detroit Tigers who are known for their losing tendencies are currently enjoying a 2 game lead over the Chicago White Sox with an impressive 59-29 record. Chicago is 57-31 right now, two games back of Detroit. Nobody else in that divison is going to make a run at it. The Minnesota Twins are 11 games back of Detroit, making their odds of taking the division or of winning the wild card highly unlikely. Paul Konerko, Jim Thome, and Jermaine Dye are hitting the ball extremely well. All three of them have hit over 20 homers this year. Thome has actually hit 30 homers. So, they have a good strong offensive core, along with good pitching from Mark Bueherly, Freddy Garcia, Jose Contreras, Jon Garland, and Javier Vazquez. All 5 of these starters are having fabulous seasons.
But, Detroit also has a great team. Magglio Ordonez, Chris Shelton, Brandon Inge, Marcus Thames, Craig Monroe, Carlos Guillen, and Curtis Granderson all have 10 or more homers this season so far. None have more than 20, which means that Chicago's hitting is a little better (yet Chicago has only 6 hitting with 10+ homers, so you could argue Detroit has a little more depth, but if you think that, you are a retard). Jeremy Bonderman, Nate Roberston, Kenny Rogers, and Justin Verlander all have 10+ wins. So, as you can see, they have great pitching. Now, at the end of the day, the Tigers in my mind will win this Division, and Chicago will take the wild card. In essence, I firmly believe that the wild card is coming out of the Central Division. It's the best Division in baseball, despite having the bullshit Royals farting up fields accross the country. At the end of the day, The Tigers will win the ALCS as well. Why not, I don't see Chicago repeating their success from last year even though they are very capable of doing so. I don't pick repeats, and so the best non-repeat eligble team in the AL right now is Detroit. They'll win the ALCS in six games over the Boston Red Sox.
The A.L. West is very tight and very shitty. All 4 teams in that division (Oakland A's, Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners, and Anaheim Angels) are within 2.5 games of each other. Oakland and Texas are currently tied for the division lead, with Anaheim at 2 games back, and Seattle just 2.5 games back. Who wins this close Division? Well, Oakland has only one starter (Barry Zito with a winning record as a pitcher at (8-6). So Oakland's Pitching is pretty weak. The Hitting in Oakland is decent. Nick Swisher (20 HR), Frank Thomas (19 HR), and Eric Chavez (14 HR), are the best hitters in the east bay, but the rest is not too good. However, the rest of the division is also shit.
The Texas Rangers are also weak in the hitting department. Hank Blalock (12 HR), Gary Matthews (10 HR), Kevin Mench (11 HR), and Brad Wilkerson (13 HR) lead an ok hitting unit. The pitching is also just ok. A little better than Oakland, since Kevin Millwood, Vincente Padilla, and John Koronka all have winning records. But by only 1 or two games each of them. So the pitching is not much more impressive.
The Anaheim Angles are weaker still. Vladamir Guerrerro is the only good hitter for the Angles with 18 Homers. The pitching is pretty weak outside of Ervin Santana who has a solid 10-3 record. They have weaker hitting and pitching than both Texas and Oakland. So, count them out.
In Seattle, only Raul Ibanez (20 HR), and Richie Sexon (16 HR) are hitting well. Nobody else impresses me. Ichiro Suzuki is doing his thing, and he plays good defense, but his hitting is not as good as those guys are. He's a contact hitter with a decent batting average, but I guess his Sushi diet is holding back those long balls since he only has 6 Homeruns. The Pitching is horrid. Only Gil Meche has a winning record among starters, and he has the best combo of wins and ERA on the team. So, you know that can't be good.
Overall my prediction goes like this. Oakland will win the division because they have the best hitting-pitching combo of any team in the division. Texas won't win the divsion because they lack the explosive hitting abilities that Oakland has. Plus, I hate Texas. As far as the Angels go, the pitching is crap, the hitting is weak, and the "Rally Monkey" just pisses me off. The Mariners are not any better. Their best pitcher is named after the organ of a fish, and the two best hitters have ugly names, so I that leaves Oakland to take the division. A.L. West Champs: Oakland A's.
N.L. East: This division is horrible. The only good team in this division is the New York Mets. They'll take the divsion hands down. No more questions. However, the real question is can they win the World Series? Well, they can. The 53-36 Mets have a great team. Carlos Beltran (25 HR), Carlos Delgado (22 HR), and David Wright (20 HR) leads a pretty impressive hitting squad. The pitching is also good with Tom Glavine, Pedro Martinez, and Steve Traschel kicking ass. This is a good team, who will win the N.L.C.S. and contend for the World Series Title.
N.L. Central: Slightly better divison than the N.L. East, but still not to strong. The St.Louis Cardinals (48-39) have a 4 game lead over the Cincinnati Reds, a 5.5 game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers, and a 6 game lead over the Houston Astros. Who will win the division? The answer is not simple but I will break down the teams and give you my analysis. Albert Pujols has 29 Homeruns and is clearly their best hitter. A couple other players like David Eckstein, Juan Encarnacion, and Scott Rolen are also hitting well, but it's really only Pujols who possesses the big numbers. Jason Marquis (11-4) and Chris Carpenter(7-4) are pitching well for them but nobody else really is eye-popping.
The Reds are also good. Austin Kerns (16 HR), Adam Dunn (28 HR), and Ken Griffey Jr (18 HR) are the three best hitters on this team. The Reds overall have better hitting than St. Louis. Their pitching is not as good. Only Bronson Arroyo (9-6 with a 3.12 ERA) and Aaron Harang (9-6 with a 3.70 ERA) can pitch. Everybody else is weak. The lack of pitching is not good.
As far as Milwaukee and Houston. They have moderate chances of catching up with St.Louis, but they have their work cut out for them. Houston can't score, and the Brewers are still young.
The Division Champs will once again be the St. Louis Cardinals.
N.L. West: This division is horrible, yet competitive. The San Diego Padres (48-40) have a 2 game lead over the L.A. Dodgers. 3.5 game lead over the Colorado Rockies and the San Francisco Giants. The Arizona Diamondbacks are 5 games back.
For San Diego, only Khalil Greene (12 HR) and Adrian Gonzolez (13 HR) can hit. So as you can see, that sucks. Only Chris Young (8-4) and Chan Ho Park (6-4) are pitching well. Jake Peavy (4-8) is in a slump, and if they want to get better, Peavy better step up. Otherwise he'll just "Peeve" them.
The Dogdgers only have Nomar Garciaparra and J.D. Drew for Hitting. Other than that, nothing. The Pitching is ok. Brad Penny (10-2) leads the way. He has been pitching well. Derek Lowe is (7-5 with a 3.88 ERA). But Penny's 2.91 ERA is just scary. Otherthan that, the pitching is not much better.
The Rockies will fade away as the season goes on, The Diamondbacks have to many problems, and the Giants will hang in their and perhaps make a run, but at the end of the day. San Diego will win this crappy Division, and then lose in the NLDS.
So, Who wins the NLCS? Easy, the Mets. Who wins the ALCS? The Tigers. Who wins the World Series? The Mets. Despite losing Homefield advantage in the All-Star Game, the Mets will beat Detroit with experience, better hitting, and luck. Yes America, I said it. The Mets in 2006! That is right. It's crazy, outlandish, and ridiculous. But I think that the Mets will win the World Series since they have the easiest route to the World Series of any team, and the experience to do it.
The first division I will address is the A.L. East. The Boston Red Sox currently posess a 3 game lead over the evil New York Yankees. The Toronto Blue Jays are close behind, sitting just 5 games back of Boston. The concern in Boston right now, is their bullpen. It seems to me, that only Curt Schilling who has a 3.60 ERA and a record of 10-3, along with Josh Becket, who also has double-digit victories with an 11-4 record are the two pitchers really pulling the plow for Boston. Everybody else kind of seems marginal. Tim Wakefield is just 7-8, and posseses a 4.05 ERA (better than Becket's 4.75 ERA) . But Wakefield, needs to produce more wins. I think that if Boston wants to fend off the Yankees, and the Blue Jays, they will need to get better pitching. The Yankees, have pitching woes with Randy Johnson, but Mike Mussina, and Chien-Ming Wang, have really stepped it up. The only problem is, I don't expect this Chien-Ming "Who" character to keep pitching well. At the end of the day, "not-so-dandy Randy" will cost them a playoff spot, and the Yankees will be watching the playoffs from their sofas this season while Boston, and their great hitting lineup lead by Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz will be taking the Red Sox to the A.L.C.S., where the puzzling Detriot Tigers will put the wood to them in six games. Randy Johnson will be infuriated with this, embarrassed by his lack of production, and Alex Rodriguez will be living in fear, as his reputation in New York will proceed to get progressively worse. The Blue Jays will just fade off, capturing around 85 wins, short of Bostons 93 win mark.
The A.L. Central is even more close than the A.L. East because of the two teams that are on top of the Division. The Detroit Tigers who are known for their losing tendencies are currently enjoying a 2 game lead over the Chicago White Sox with an impressive 59-29 record. Chicago is 57-31 right now, two games back of Detroit. Nobody else in that divison is going to make a run at it. The Minnesota Twins are 11 games back of Detroit, making their odds of taking the division or of winning the wild card highly unlikely. Paul Konerko, Jim Thome, and Jermaine Dye are hitting the ball extremely well. All three of them have hit over 20 homers this year. Thome has actually hit 30 homers. So, they have a good strong offensive core, along with good pitching from Mark Bueherly, Freddy Garcia, Jose Contreras, Jon Garland, and Javier Vazquez. All 5 of these starters are having fabulous seasons.
But, Detroit also has a great team. Magglio Ordonez, Chris Shelton, Brandon Inge, Marcus Thames, Craig Monroe, Carlos Guillen, and Curtis Granderson all have 10 or more homers this season so far. None have more than 20, which means that Chicago's hitting is a little better (yet Chicago has only 6 hitting with 10+ homers, so you could argue Detroit has a little more depth, but if you think that, you are a retard). Jeremy Bonderman, Nate Roberston, Kenny Rogers, and Justin Verlander all have 10+ wins. So, as you can see, they have great pitching. Now, at the end of the day, the Tigers in my mind will win this Division, and Chicago will take the wild card. In essence, I firmly believe that the wild card is coming out of the Central Division. It's the best Division in baseball, despite having the bullshit Royals farting up fields accross the country. At the end of the day, The Tigers will win the ALCS as well. Why not, I don't see Chicago repeating their success from last year even though they are very capable of doing so. I don't pick repeats, and so the best non-repeat eligble team in the AL right now is Detroit. They'll win the ALCS in six games over the Boston Red Sox.
The A.L. West is very tight and very shitty. All 4 teams in that division (Oakland A's, Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners, and Anaheim Angels) are within 2.5 games of each other. Oakland and Texas are currently tied for the division lead, with Anaheim at 2 games back, and Seattle just 2.5 games back. Who wins this close Division? Well, Oakland has only one starter (Barry Zito with a winning record as a pitcher at (8-6). So Oakland's Pitching is pretty weak. The Hitting in Oakland is decent. Nick Swisher (20 HR), Frank Thomas (19 HR), and Eric Chavez (14 HR), are the best hitters in the east bay, but the rest is not too good. However, the rest of the division is also shit.
The Texas Rangers are also weak in the hitting department. Hank Blalock (12 HR), Gary Matthews (10 HR), Kevin Mench (11 HR), and Brad Wilkerson (13 HR) lead an ok hitting unit. The pitching is also just ok. A little better than Oakland, since Kevin Millwood, Vincente Padilla, and John Koronka all have winning records. But by only 1 or two games each of them. So the pitching is not much more impressive.
The Anaheim Angles are weaker still. Vladamir Guerrerro is the only good hitter for the Angles with 18 Homers. The pitching is pretty weak outside of Ervin Santana who has a solid 10-3 record. They have weaker hitting and pitching than both Texas and Oakland. So, count them out.
In Seattle, only Raul Ibanez (20 HR), and Richie Sexon (16 HR) are hitting well. Nobody else impresses me. Ichiro Suzuki is doing his thing, and he plays good defense, but his hitting is not as good as those guys are. He's a contact hitter with a decent batting average, but I guess his Sushi diet is holding back those long balls since he only has 6 Homeruns. The Pitching is horrid. Only Gil Meche has a winning record among starters, and he has the best combo of wins and ERA on the team. So, you know that can't be good.
Overall my prediction goes like this. Oakland will win the division because they have the best hitting-pitching combo of any team in the division. Texas won't win the divsion because they lack the explosive hitting abilities that Oakland has. Plus, I hate Texas. As far as the Angels go, the pitching is crap, the hitting is weak, and the "Rally Monkey" just pisses me off. The Mariners are not any better. Their best pitcher is named after the organ of a fish, and the two best hitters have ugly names, so I that leaves Oakland to take the division. A.L. West Champs: Oakland A's.
N.L. East: This division is horrible. The only good team in this division is the New York Mets. They'll take the divsion hands down. No more questions. However, the real question is can they win the World Series? Well, they can. The 53-36 Mets have a great team. Carlos Beltran (25 HR), Carlos Delgado (22 HR), and David Wright (20 HR) leads a pretty impressive hitting squad. The pitching is also good with Tom Glavine, Pedro Martinez, and Steve Traschel kicking ass. This is a good team, who will win the N.L.C.S. and contend for the World Series Title.
N.L. Central: Slightly better divison than the N.L. East, but still not to strong. The St.Louis Cardinals (48-39) have a 4 game lead over the Cincinnati Reds, a 5.5 game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers, and a 6 game lead over the Houston Astros. Who will win the division? The answer is not simple but I will break down the teams and give you my analysis. Albert Pujols has 29 Homeruns and is clearly their best hitter. A couple other players like David Eckstein, Juan Encarnacion, and Scott Rolen are also hitting well, but it's really only Pujols who possesses the big numbers. Jason Marquis (11-4) and Chris Carpenter(7-4) are pitching well for them but nobody else really is eye-popping.
The Reds are also good. Austin Kerns (16 HR), Adam Dunn (28 HR), and Ken Griffey Jr (18 HR) are the three best hitters on this team. The Reds overall have better hitting than St. Louis. Their pitching is not as good. Only Bronson Arroyo (9-6 with a 3.12 ERA) and Aaron Harang (9-6 with a 3.70 ERA) can pitch. Everybody else is weak. The lack of pitching is not good.
As far as Milwaukee and Houston. They have moderate chances of catching up with St.Louis, but they have their work cut out for them. Houston can't score, and the Brewers are still young.
The Division Champs will once again be the St. Louis Cardinals.
N.L. West: This division is horrible, yet competitive. The San Diego Padres (48-40) have a 2 game lead over the L.A. Dodgers. 3.5 game lead over the Colorado Rockies and the San Francisco Giants. The Arizona Diamondbacks are 5 games back.
For San Diego, only Khalil Greene (12 HR) and Adrian Gonzolez (13 HR) can hit. So as you can see, that sucks. Only Chris Young (8-4) and Chan Ho Park (6-4) are pitching well. Jake Peavy (4-8) is in a slump, and if they want to get better, Peavy better step up. Otherwise he'll just "Peeve" them.
The Dogdgers only have Nomar Garciaparra and J.D. Drew for Hitting. Other than that, nothing. The Pitching is ok. Brad Penny (10-2) leads the way. He has been pitching well. Derek Lowe is (7-5 with a 3.88 ERA). But Penny's 2.91 ERA is just scary. Otherthan that, the pitching is not much better.
The Rockies will fade away as the season goes on, The Diamondbacks have to many problems, and the Giants will hang in their and perhaps make a run, but at the end of the day. San Diego will win this crappy Division, and then lose in the NLDS.
So, Who wins the NLCS? Easy, the Mets. Who wins the ALCS? The Tigers. Who wins the World Series? The Mets. Despite losing Homefield advantage in the All-Star Game, the Mets will beat Detroit with experience, better hitting, and luck. Yes America, I said it. The Mets in 2006! That is right. It's crazy, outlandish, and ridiculous. But I think that the Mets will win the World Series since they have the easiest route to the World Series of any team, and the experience to do it.
posted by Ben Parker at 12:58 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home