East – Yanks – They bring back the same team that struggled against Lee in the ALCS (less Andy Pettite). You can almost see them trading Banuelos for a quality lefty to fill in that 2nd/3rd spot. There is no pressure, a better rotation than credited, and better bullpen than rival Red Sox.
Wildcard – Red Sox - They made some great signings to make up for the losses of Martinez and Beltre…but the issues they had last year haven’t really been addressed. Papelbon is still closing games and that’s not a good thing.
Central – White Sox - They made a great push last year and have good young arms. I see Pavano taking his big payday and doing a “Pavano” this year and mailing it in sometime in the next 2 weeks.
West – Texas - You could have picked almost anyone in the West and had an argument given its fairly wide open. But picking Seattle is sort of like picking the handicapped kid for a pickup basketball game. It’s a nice thought, makes them feel good about themselves, but you don’t really expect for it to translate into a win for you.
Yanks beat White Sox
Sox beat Rangers
Yanks beat Sox
In The NL
MVP – Albert Pujols (makes a case for mo’ money)
Cy Young – Clayton Kershaw (he’ll settle down after a loss tonight)
East – Phillies ARGUABLY best staff in baseball…remember that San Fran can still pitch. They should win the division easily.
Central – Reds – They have the most keeping it real second basemen in the game, last year’s MVP, and a dude who throws over 100 MPH. I’m in
Wild Card – St. Louis They have good pitching and although they lost Wainwright, they still have a good enough rotation to compete. If Pujols is going to win the MVP...they need to get into the playoffs.
West – Giants They still can’t score runs, but not many in the West can. All they have to do is make the playoffs. No one wants to face this team there.
Giants beat Reds
Phillies beat Cards
Giants beat Phillies
And in the highest rated WS of all time – Yanks beat Giants
Homer picks. You must be extremely optimistic with the Yanks starting pitching, which has not been addressed and is a much bigger problem than the Redsox having Papelbum close the 9th. At least the Redsox have Lester and Buchhulz at the top of their rotation. I'd say 3-5 their starters are pretty much even with the Yanks. Burnett is not going to magically put it together. Even at his best he was still madly inconsistent. Which Hughes will show up? The one that pitched the 1st half of last year or the second half? Nova is unproven and your fifth starter consist of journeymen has-beens. CC is the only constant in that rotation until proven otherwise.
ReplyDeleteUnless the Yanks pick up a very good starter, this team will not make it far in the playoffs as the wildcard. Redsox improved their bullpen this year with the addition of Jenks. If Papelbum falters, they trade him for SP help and bring in their closer in waiting in Bard.
The AL MVP goes to Gonzalez. He hit 40 in one of the worst home run hitting parks in baseball and with absolutely no protection. Now he goes to one of the best hitting ball parks with an vastly superior lineup. Dark horse candidate is A-Rod or Nelson Cruz of Texas. If Cruz stays healthy, he will put up better stats than Hamilton.
I think the AL Cy Young will go to either Verlander or Felix again. I don't think Felix will suffer as badly with the run support. If Verlander has a good 1st month(a month in which he notoriously suffers) he wins the Cy Young.
Kershaw will not win the Cy Young. He doesn't pitch deep into ball games nor has shown signs that he will. His stats are a bit misleading that way. The Cy Young will go to someone on the Phillies. Halladay is the obvious pick.
I agree with your Pujols pick.
Surprisingly I agree with your Giants WS pick. I'm not on the Philly bandwagon.
Buster Olney is that you?
ReplyDeleteAnon...I'll admit that the Yanks pick is a bit homer-esque, but very defensible. The Yanks bring back the same team that was favored to go to the series last year. A-Rod is in better shape. Jeter seems to have fixed his swing. Granderson turned it on late last year and in the playoffs looking like a different hitter. Cano is entering his prime. CC is in a contract year. They have solid 8th and 9th inning guys to close games. Burnett isn’t dealing with the Posada drama and can’t possibly be as bad as he was at the end of last year. With Banuelos and the other young arm (forget his name now), they have some trade bait for a legit 2nd starter. You have to think they’re better than Texas without Lee, better than Chicago or Minnesota (who they own), leaving only the Red Sox. I respect the Sox are a very good team, but a playoff game at Yankees Stadium has a weird way of eating up a shaky bullpen and really young and inexperienced pitching.
ReplyDeleteI like the Nelson Cruz pick as a legit sleeper for the MVP, and although Gonzalez hit in a pitchers’ park…don’t forget he’s a left handed hitter in right handed hitters’ park. Fenway is 389 to center, 420 deep right center, 380 right center, and 302 at the pole. Unless he plans on pulling pitches to the right corner…those aren’t very inviting dimensions for a left handed power hitter.
The Kershaw pick was more of a, “I refuse to pick a Philly” and the AL is wide open. Felix is an easier pick but I was just trying for something different.
Oh, and the addition of Bobby Jenks is a joke. You can't be serious with that. The boy had about a 4.5 ERA last year to follow up a near 4 ERA the year before. That's trending in the wrong direction. Add that to said hitters' ball park, he may be playing in Pawtucket by the All Star break.
ReplyDeleteIt's not a joke though. Those stats are a bit misleading because he had to rebound from a horrible 1st two months of the season last year. The fact that he lowered his ERA a full two points after that shows how much better he pitched after May. Also he pitched in a very hitters friendly ball park in US Cellular Field, so pitching in Boston won't be that much of a difference. Jenks no longer has the pressure of being the man. Instead he will be pitching the 7th on a regular basis. Bard gets the more high pressured 8th. It should work out in his favor not having to carry the burden.
ReplyDeleteAs for the argument of A-Gon being a lefty, it doesn't really hold because Ortiz is a lefty and he thrived in that ball park. Gonzalez has the ability to hit in all directions. He also has the luxury of being surrounded by elite hitters for once in his life. He thrived in one of the worst hitting ball parks in baseball. Boston even with the dimensions is a major upgrade from Petco. While I like your Cano pick, I think A-Gon is the goods this year.
Also, I forgot about Lincecum. He can still win it again. Dark horse for NL Cy Young could also go to Greinke if he can get his shit right. At least he has a much better offense backing him up.
Going back to the Yanks, I think their offense will be fine. Downright scary. But we've all seen what they've done with elite offenses only to falter in the playoffs because their pitching wasn't up to par. Until the Yanks get that proven ace to backup CC, they won't go very far with that rotation. Also Chicago has a very underrated and good pitching staff. Danks, Buehrle, Floyd and Jackson. Those names don't jump at you but they're all capable pitchers that can eat innings and shut you down on any given day. Their bullpen is also very good. I agree with what you said about Minny, we own them. Doesn't matter what they do. As for Texas. they still have quality arms in Wilson and Lewis(owned the Yanks in the playoffs). They have an extremely strong bullpen and an offense to match the Yanks and Redsox. So I wouldn't dismiss them so quickly.
Shank is that you?
ReplyDeleteYeah, sorry about that. The name part won't come up for me here at work for some reason, so I can't post Shank in the "comment as" section.
ReplyDeleteDamn, thought we had a new commenter on here.
ReplyDeleteGet back to work, asshole! Why are you writing 1000 word comments on this stupid blog?
ReplyDeleteWork? This is work.
ReplyDeleteI just stare at my desk, but it looks like I'm working. I do that for probably another hour after lunch, too. I'd say in a given week I probably only do about fifteen minutes of real, actual, work.
You're fired.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Shank! That's just the type of worker who would fit right in here!
ReplyDeleteIncluding all the bloggers @ PTU.
ReplyDelete