ESPN baseball boy Buster Onley came out with his preseason picks of playoff teams and our Reds were not one of them. I believe he has the Phils/Cards/Dbacks as divisional winners with the WC being the Nationals and Braves I think...
ESPN baseball boy Buster Onley came out with his preseason picks of playoff teams and our Reds were not one of them. I believe he has the Phils/Cards/Dbacks as divisional winners with the WC being the Nationals and Braves I think...
Wow I am surprised. This is something I would expect out Tim Kurkreyn (sp). Btw I hate him more then I hate Mark May on the football side of espn. Buster on the other hand seemed to always have a good head and something good to say. I respect his opinion and I hope the reds prove him wrong in a big way.
These analysists are all using WAR which if you are into that it makes sense but that doesn't take into acount the presence of Albert in a lineup or the absence of Larussa and dave duncan in the dugout
Is there a link? Did he give an explanation to his reasoning?
He probably is reasoning that the Cardinal have an uncanny history of success even when they shouldn't have. Just look at last year, they loose their #1 or #2 however you want count Wainwright and still end up winning the whole thing.
They loose Albert this year but get Wainwright back. They loose their manager and pitching coach. They probably still make out okay in the end. Most teams I would write off if their #1 pitcher went down for the whole year. I would also believe that many teams would struggle if they lost their best position player, manager and pitching coach, but for some reason I think the Cards will be just fine. I hope I am wrong.
We only live in patches. - H. G. Wells
I dont agree, but until we prove we can win consistantly, and the Cards seem to, they are going to be the favorite. We both have big changes this coming season, but they have to be worked out on the field.
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He probably sees an offense that will lead the world in strike outs and a team with no legitimate lead off hitter or clean up hitter. Any team banking on Scott Rolen to produce has no chance of winning a division.
When I see the 2016 Reds, I see a 100 loss team and no direction.
lost - lose
loose - tight
1.) The Reds' didn't lead the league in strikeouts last year. Weren't really even all that close.
2.) Lineup construction is way over-rated. You can think of a million different theories on how to put together a line-up, and after the first inning, it's doesn't matter.
‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Matthew 25:40
Not shocked to see the Cards ahead of the Reds for reasons already mentioned. I guess I am just surprised to see him mention BOTH the Braves and Nats over the Reds. I realize their rotations might be better than ours, but the Reds offense and bullpen should easily make up any differential.
These picks make no sense. If the Braves and Nationals are truly good teams, but the Phils are going to take the division, wouldn't you think they would beat up on each other, along with the Marlins? Their only pansy in the division is the Mets.
The Reds, on the other hand, might be in a fight with the Cards and Brewers, but also get to play a lot of games against the Cubs, Pirates and Astros.
In the West, I suspect the Diamondbacks and Giants will beat each other up pretty badly, and the Dodgers won't be Astro-level bad. And after the Reds sent 5 all stars (I'm kidding) to the Padres, they won't be so bad either.
The Reds have a better team than last year + softer schedule = more wins & playoffs.
Agreed - it definitely makes sense to pick St. Louis over us given their superior pitching + a league-leading offense that shouldn't miss too much of a beat, but I think we have an advantage over two good Atlanta and Washington teams because of our comparatively weaker division/schedule.
They went through this on MLB Network's Hot Stove and based on WAR the c
St. Louis should win. I don't see it just because you can't figure the value of a guy in a lineup until you see what happens when you take them out.
I don't buy the fact that St Louis has a better rotation. Wainright's coming back from TJ, very likely to have control problems and limited innings. Carpenter got beat like a drum until he magically figured things out down the stretch, I'd say he regresses a great deal this year. Lohse and Westbrook are, well Lohse and Westbrook, average at best. Garcia is the lone pitcher that will stand out. THEN you subtract one of if not THE best pitching coach and you get a recipe for disaster.
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