For as long as I can remember I've loved baseball. I've been to more than half of the stadiums of MLB. I made it to see the Expos in Olympic Stadium, the Tigers in Tiger Stadium, and the Indians in Municipal County Stadium. It seems as time has gone on one thing has become more common; the pre-season also-rans. In the current league set up; one that allows the Yankees and Red Sox (along with the Mets among others) to spend to their hearts content, more and more teams have no chance before the season even starts. This is the biggest problem in baseball. (Followed closely by steroids and a weak commissioner)
AL East:
Red Sox - Defending Champs
Yankees - Highest Salary in Baseball
Rays - Young, Cheap, Out of the Race by August
Jays - Got Rolen (7 time Gold Glover) and Eckstein (World Series MVP) and have no shot before camp breaks
Orioles- Traded Bedard. 10 straight years of sub .500 play looks to make it 11.
2 of 5 are contenders
AL Central:
Indians - A game from the World Series last year. Hafner returning to form and a good second baseman and improvements in the corners of the outfield make them contenders.
Tigers - Challanged the Indians last year and added a big bat and a back end pitcher. Bullpen leaves questions but they'll be right there.
White Sox - Trying not to repeat their 90 loss 2007 and 4th place AL Central.
Twins - Traded their ace for only the prizes of cash and prizes. The prizes are a handful of likely zonks.
Royals - They last made the playoffs in 1985. Trivia Bonus Question: 10 points to anyone who can tell me the Royals colors.
2 of 5 are contenders
AL West:
Angels - Looking to repeat at division champs.
Mariners - Haven't made the playoffs since 2001 but have had a couple 90 win seasons and won 88 last year. Adding Silva and Bedard in the off-season should at the very least make them wild card contenders.
Athletics- Have been consistent contenders in the West. After last season they are looking to bounce back from their sub-par season.
Rangers - It's been since 2000 since the Rangers made the playoffs.
3 of 4 are contenders (being generous).
AL Overall: 7 of 14 are contenders.
NL East:
Phillies - Defending East Champs. Return most of their core. Should be right there again.
Mets - One of the highest payrolls in baseball. Added Johan and should be at the top again if they can avoid one of those titanic disasters at the end of the season.
Braves - Poised to finish third and right around .500 again.
Marlins - Advanced AAA team.
Nationals - Montreal South.
2 of 5 are contenders.
NL Central:
Cubs - Have their best shot in years for a run. Steve Bartman is banned from attending games lest Moises Alou murder him.
Brewers - The Brewers looked really good to start last season. Almost made the playoffs. I attribute it to the fact the Indians played a few home games there. I think the luck carries over and they challange the Cubs and for the wild card.
Cardinals -Tough to put a finger on. I'm going to guess third but it could be as low as 5 or as high as second.
Reds - Adding a closer to a bullpen of awfulness isn't an answer. Also, Griffey is due for a big injury year.
Astros - They have no leadership. They'll be near the bottom.
Pirates -16th year of sub .500 ball on the horizon. Where is Andy Van Slyke indeed.
3 of 6 are contenders.
NL West:
Diamondbacks- Adding Dan Haren to the winningest National League team from last year has to make the D-backs the favorite to win the division and compete with the American League in the WS.
Padres - Cy Young winner Jake Peavey and Chris Young make a good start to the rotation but if Greg Maddux still has it and Mark Prior can get healthy, look out National League.
Rockies - World Series runner-ups. The offense is still there from the most incredible baseball run ever. They lost some of the pitching they used during that run. Those losses will become exaggerated in Coors Field over 81 games. Still should contend.
Dodgers - Solid pitching and slowly developing offensive prospects means the Dodgers struggle in this deep division.
Giants - No Bonds. No hope.
3 of 5 are contenders.
NL Overall: 8 of 16 are contenders.
What it comes down to is: there are 15 teams out of the 30 in MLB that matter when the season starts. Sure, there might be a surprise or two, but accounting for the annual let downs, the numbers stay just about the same. As an Indians fan I've had plenty of years in each of the situations, even just in recent memory. Good years (90's) bad years (early 2000's) surprises (2005) and let downs (2006). I guess I would say, the most disappointing thing is that there is very little competition. I'm not saying that over 162 games there aren't games where a bad team beats a better team; I'm just saying that we all know over the long hall there are some teams that have no shot. All you can do is pray that you're not rooting for one.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
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6 comments:
Hey,
I have to disagree with a couple of teams here. The Blue Jays, at this point, could be called a contender. Yes, they probably won't make the playoffs, but their record the last few years has been steady, and who knows about the Red Sox with their pitching injuries.
The Braves are certainly a contender in the NL East. I don't think you can write them off just yet. Many see it as a 2 team race between the Mets and Phitins' because of their rivalry, but don't count out the Braves.
- James
Your post was very well written, but I think there are only 6 teams that could win it all this year. The Red Sox, Yankees, Indians, Tigers, Angels and Mets. Last year Colorado blew the doors off everyone in the NL playoffs and got swept by the Red Sox. Badly. And I'm a Cardinals fan saying this
James, to call them a contender I would need to be of the belief that they can make the playoffs. Even if they finish ahead of the Red Sox of Yankees (and behind the other) it doesn't seem likely they will make the playoffs with the improvements in the West and Central.
Anon, I wrote it with that in mind as well. I guess I consider you to be a contender if you can make the playoffs (to be generous to MLB and in light of the Rockies last year and the Cardinals of a few years ago).
I find it interesting that at least one of your World Series contenders won't make the playoffs. I think I'd say that the D-backs and/or Padres could be contenders if they find some pop in their bats.
I disagree with you on some of the issues, but simply stated you can never tell.
Case in Point would you have put the Rockies on this list as a contender simply 1 year ago, I highly doubt it, neither would I.
Shawn, I agree with you. Like I said in the post there will be a surprise or two and a let down or two that will average out to half of the teams mattering after 40 games.
Just a heads up, I will be traveling here soon so this will be my last comment until at least 8 PM and likely closer to 10.
BSR might be back around and he might not. He's been doing the whole not sleep thing so we'll have to see.
Either way keep posting and I'll be back to answer when I can.
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