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Thread: A stroll around the majors

  1. #1
    Posting in Dynarama M2's Avatar
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    A stroll around the majors

    NL Central

    Don't look now, but this division has got some quality. What we don't know yet about the Reds is what kind of road team they are. Technically their pitching should do well outside the GAB, but we won't really know until the team gets more frequent road action.

    The Brewers are the hottest team in baseball at the moment. Rumors of their early demise turned out to be false. The Cardinals offense is wildly outscoring its fairly paltry OPS. No team can maintain that for long. However, the starting pitching looks great. Shelby Miller is apparently for real. The bullpen? Not so much.

    Starling Marte and Travis Snider are playing well enough to make Andrew McCutchen part of an actual major league OF for the first time in his career. Yet the overall offense is still blah and the pitching isn't likely to look all that great after Wandy Rodriguez and A.J. Burnett cool off.

    The Cubs have collected a pack of out machines at the plate. The pitching has been stingy with the HR so far, and with baserunners too. It's going to need to keep it up because if the arms slump at all, this team loses well over 100 games.

    NL East

    Apparently Justin Upton is every bit as Benihana suspected he would be. But the rest of the Braves' offense might be problematic. If Atlanta has a weakness, that's it. The team's pitching has been spectacular.

    Matt Harvey, holy crow can he pitch. Unfortunately after him and Jon Niese, the rotation takes steep downhill slide. John Buck's big month will end soon, leaving David Wright as a lonesome man in the Mets lineup. The Phillies are currently being undone by Cole Hamels and Roy Halladay. If those two don't get right it doesn't matter what the rest of the does.

    In a rational world, when a team is as bad as the Marlins there would be serious discussion about folding the franchise.

    Meanwhile the Nats' ability to conquer the known universe (and Bryce Harper looks like he wants to do exactly that) seems bounded by the team's not-very-good bullpen.

    NL West

    Scary to think where the Dodgers would be right now if they hadn't traded for Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez. The infield is particularly dire. Given how bad the offense has been, this team really can't afford the Greinke injury.

    We all knew the Padres offense was going to be bad even with Chase Headley, and Headley's barely played this season. We didn't know the pitching would be this bad, and that means game over for this team. Colorado has a few really good players having really good seasons. Whether you believe the pitching will hold up is a faith-based exercise, but you can't win in Denver without offense and they've got offense.

    The Giants' offense continues to be better than people generally think it is (despite Brandon Belt, who needs to be smacked) and the pitching continues to be a bit worse. We'll find out in the next month or so whether Matt Cain is having actual problems or if this is just a sluggish start.

    Didi Gregorius for ROY? Why not? Won't be long before Josh Collmenter takes Brandon McCarthy's spot in the AZ rotation.

    AL West

    Wait until the Astros' offensive stops overachieving. That's right, this team can and will get worse. So far 16 pitchers have taken the mound for this team. I'm going to set the over/under at 35.

    The Angels seem to have themselves a starting pitching problem. That likely means the majority of the barbs directed at this team will go toward the lineup, which has been pretty good. Bartolo Colon was the lone bright spot in the A's rotation and he just got injured (though Dan Strailly did quite well in his first replacement start). Fortunately the A's are suddenly an offensive juggernaut, led by the world's greatest leadoff hitter ... Coco Crisp.

    Waiting for the Mariners' new marketing campaign - "Avert your eyes Seattle." Or they could try - "Look! Over there! Soccer!" Seems like years of offensive offense will be continuing. The starting pitching is thin too. The Rangers have a surprisingly blah attack so far, but the pitching has been excellent. Yu Darvish might be the Ichiro of Japanese pitching imports.

    AL Central

    Minnesota has no business contenting for anything with its current rotation, but Joe Mauer is being mildly awesome so far and that might be enough to keep this team relevant in this division.

    Detroit is supposed to win this division in a walk and it very well might, but it's got a few gaping holes in the lineup. However, the starting pitching looks kind of awesome. Kansas City has some starting pitching too thanks to the slew of new arms it added. The early returns on James Shields and Wade Davis have been excellent. The problem with the team seems to be too many kids not getting the job done at the plate.

    Continuing what seems to be a trend in this division, the ChiSox are getting pitching while the offense struggles. Alejandro De Aza needs to start getting on base.

    No team in baseball has a bigger gap than Cleveland between what its getting from the top and bottom of its rotations. Simply put, the Indians don't have enough non-toxic pitchers. On the bright side, Mark Reynolds, Michael Bourn and Nick Swisher are all looking like good pickups.

    AL East

    Did you think it was going to be easy to kill the Yankees? Of course they successfully plugged a lineup ravaged by injuries. The pitching is a bit thin, but this division is pretty bad. No reason why the Yankees can't win it again.

    The Red Sox are pitching out of their minds right now. They'll need to keep it up because the lineup is packed with low OPS danger signs. The Rays have low OPS danger reality in their lineup. They can't afford David Price's early struggles or mediocrity from the artist formerly known as Fausto Carmona.

    The Orioles have a rotation problem, but they're playing better baseball than last season. Chris Davis will cool off, but Adam Jones might be in for a huge 2013.

    And almost everything has gone wrong for Toronto. You can't solve the problems when everything is a problem.
    I'm not a system player. I am a system.

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  4. #2
    Titanic Struggles Caveat Emperor's Avatar
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    Re: A stroll around the majors

    "Look, over there -- Soccer!" should be on a shirt with the Mariners logo.
    Cincinnati Reds: Farm System Champions 2022

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    *BaseClogger* (04-23-2013)

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    Re: A stroll around the majors

    I thought going into this season, the Yankees had the worst Yankees team they have had in 20 years. Boy was I wrong. They plug in players and they keep on chugging along. There is something about that uniform that cannot be quantified. The nature of that franchise seems to have a winning atmosphere that players thrive off of.

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    Flash the leather! _Sir_Charles_'s Avatar
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    Re: A stroll around the majors

    Quote Originally Posted by MikeThierry View Post
    I thought going into this season, the Yankees had the worst Yankees team they have had in 20 years. Boy was I wrong. They plug in players and they keep on chugging along. There is something about that uniform that cannot be quantified. The nature of that franchise seems to have a winning atmosphere that players thrive off of.
    Yep. Sucks doesn't it. :O)

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  9. #5
    Posting in Dynarama M2's Avatar
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    Re: A stroll around the majors

    Quote Originally Posted by MikeThierry View Post
    I thought going into this season, the Yankees had the worst Yankees team they have had in 20 years. Boy was I wrong. They plug in players and they keep on chugging along. There is something about that uniform that cannot be quantified. The nature of that franchise seems to have a winning atmosphere that players thrive off of.
    That and Brian Cashman is excellent at his job.
    I'm not a system player. I am a system.

  10. #6
    Member Tom Servo's Avatar
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    Re: A stroll around the majors

    The Giants are getting work done even while Matt Cain has struggled mightily and Buster Posey has started slow.

    The Yankees are unbelieveable, any other team acquires Vernon Wells in 2013 and they would get 2012 Vernon Wells. The Yankees acquire him in 2013 and get 2006 Vernon Wells.

    I really think Kansas City will stick around in the AL Central race, though that is perhaps more indicative of numerous holes the Indians, White Sox, and Twins have.

    The Rockies have shocked the hell out of me so far, but granted the 2006 Reds had a great April and we saw all the good it did them. It seems Dexter Fowler is developing a power swing, which could be a good or bad thing depending on how homer-happy he becomes.

    As much as we complain about our injury woes, at least we aren't Arizona. They've already lost Adam Eaton, Jason Kubel, and Aaron Hill to DL stints, three talented guys they had pencilled in as starters as the season approached.
    Last edited by Tom Servo; 04-23-2013 at 03:24 PM.
    “I don’t care,” Votto said of passing his friend and former teammate. “He’s in the past. Bye-bye, Jay.”

  11. #7
    Et tu, Brutus? Brutus's Avatar
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    Re: A stroll around the majors

    When you have a $200+ million payroll, your misses are mitigated with being able to go out and acquire a replacement.

    I don't want to take away all credit from Cashman, but he has an open checkbook to go out and get players. It's not a terribly difficult proposition.
    "No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference." ~Tommy Lasorda

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  13. #8
    Pitter Patter TRF's Avatar
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    Re: A stroll around the majors

    Mets: Dillon Gee is better than he's been, Neise isn't as good as he's been. So a wash there.

    Rangers. Darvish is a freak.

    The Marlins may be bad, but the Astros are far worse. I so want to watch them play each other this year.

    Brewers may be hot, but it is only a matter of time before that defense starts reminding their pitching who they are.

    I picked up DiDi on my fantasy team. Got Harvey last year. I'm a prophet.
    Dubito Ergo Cogito Ergo Sum.

  14. #9
    Flash the leather! _Sir_Charles_'s Avatar
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    Re: A stroll around the majors

    Quote Originally Posted by TRF View Post
    The Marlins may be bad, but the Astros are far worse. I so want to watch them play each other this year.
    I don't. It's bad enough watching ONE of them play. Against each other?!? That's a game that'll never end. Between the errors, the futility, the horrific pitching, the mental mistakes and everything else it'll be the extra inning game that never ends. And besides...I've already watched "The Bad News Bears" when I was a kid. No need to see the re-run.


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