2010 MLB Season Discussion

[Cephius]

Hard to believe since it's snowing outside but pitchers and catchers are reporting this week! Baseball is back!

Should be a very interesting season. Seattle has gone all in, the Rays/Red Sox/Yankees are getting set for another battle royale, the Mets are trying to become relevant again, the NL West is wide open, the Twins are moving into a new (open air!) ballpark.. lot going on!

Favorites this year? Teams who had the best offseason? What are you looking forward to seeing?

[Absolutely Virtue]

Ladies and gentleman, your Washington Nationals!

No really!

Signed Marquis to bolster the lineup, may also add Chien-Ming Wang for a bargain price. Add them to John Lannan, a now-healthy Scott Olsen, Ross Detwiller, Craig Stammen, and eventually Strasburg. Rotation starting shape up, infinitely better than last year.

Underrated lineup probably looks like this:

1. Nyjer Morgan CF (no longer hurt, great range, decent leadoff)
2. Christian Guzman SS (only because we can't shoot him)
3. Ryan Zimmerman 3B (silver slugger, gold glove)
4. Adam Dunn 1B (not as bad a fielder as you'd think)
5. Josh Willingham LF (solid, glad we didn't trade him)
6. Elijah Dukes RF (please, please finally meet your potential)
7. Pudge C (or Jesus Flores, if he's healthy)
8. Adam Kennedy 2B (meh, but a definite defensive upgrade)

Bullpen also reworked (brought in Capps, Bruney, and some other veteran types- Eddie Guardado!). And oh yeah, Bryce Harper in the draft. This team is definitely going in the right direction.

Of course we won't win the world series, and likely won't even be able to legitimately compete in the NL East. But we're going to win more games. I figure 70-75 wins is reasonable, and 81 is probably the upper limit. Should be a fun season.

[Olo401]

The Rays? Really? I just don't see them competing with the Yanks & the Sox this year.

The Yankees look like they may be unstoppable with all the bats and pitching they have, but I'll be the first to admit that Boston's starting rotation is better. If this ultimate defense thing that Theo put into place works, and if they can bring power to the plate especially in Fenway, it could turn out to be an interesting season in the AL East.

All that objective shit aside.. you know where I stand baby!

http://lp.imageg.net/prod?set=key[na...tomback.chain]

[Akiyama]

Braves are gonna own all you bitches with our dangerous lineup including Troy Glaus (who used steroids imo)

no, I kid. Incoming 3rd or 4th place because we couldn't get a good power bat. I just hope Heyward is ready. D:

And news says Jair Jurrjens to have MRI on shoulder. GOODY. Incoming need for a visit to Dr. Andrews

[Kyo]

Nice to see a new thread, about time, pretty excited about things getting back in action.

[Cephius]

I definitely expect the Nationals to compete this year. That's bad news for the Phillies and Mets, who are used to facerolling them 18 times a year. Their rotation and bullpen got an upgrade, and their lineup was never bad. I expect them to sign Dunn to a contract extension at some point, if they have a good year he'll be the star of the team.

I think the Rays can bounce back too, they still have a solid rotation and a core of good young talent (Longo, Upton, Crawford, etc), I think they had too many injuries last year and their bullpen was a mess. They might not have the pitching of the Red Sox or the offense of the Yankees, but they have a decent middle ground. They could push both those teams.

[Orph]

NL East: Phillies, Marlins, Braves, Nationals, Mets
NL Central: Cardinals, Brewers, Reds, Cubs, Pirates, Astros
NL West: Rockies, Dodgers, Giants, Diamondbacks, Padres
NL Wild Card: Marlins

NL Champion: Phillies

AL East: Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, Orioles, Blue Jays
AL Central: Twins, White Sox, Tigers, Royals, Indians
AL West: Rangers, Angels, Mariners, A's
AL Wild Card: Red Sox

AL Champion: Yankees

World Series Champion: Phillies

[Delirium]

Going out on a limb...Albert Pujols wins MVP.

[Akiyama]

I definitely expect the Nationals to compete this year. That's bad news for the Phillies and Mets, who are used to facerolling them 18 times a year. Their rotation and bullpen got an upgrade, and their lineup was never bad. I expect them to sign Dunn to a contract extension at some point, if they have a good year he'll be the star of the team.

I think the Rays can bounce back too, they still have a solid rotation and a core of good young talent (Longo, Upton, Crawford, etc), I think they had too many injuries last year and their bullpen was a mess. They might not have the pitching of the Red Sox or the offense of the Yankees, but they have a decent middle ground. They could push both those teams.

lol, tell me another funny one. D:

The Nats problem last year wasn't their hitting. They were a good hitting club. Heck, their starting pitching decent at times. It was their bullpen and their fielding that murdered them. I don't think they'll be as terrible as last year, but I do expect them to be in dead last once again behind either the Mets/Marlins/Braves. Phillies are clear-cut #1 in the NL East, but after that.. I dunno. The Mets won 70 games last year with a Minor League team, the Marlins have some good talent, and the Braves.. I don't know. Their line-up is still soft.

[Orph]

4. Adam Dunn 1B (not as bad a fielder as you'd think)

Adam Dunn was one of the worst fielders in all of baseball over the last 3 years.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index...r-2007-9-dunn/

[Absolutely Virtue]

The Nats will be a much-improved defensive team. Take it from a guy with season tickets in left field, you DO NOT want to see Dunn in the outfield. But he's moved to 1B, and worked hard. No one will ever confuse him for a gold glove, or even a + glove, but we shouldn't have the same adventures in the outfield we had last year.

We'll also have a full season of Morgan in center, which a godsend for this team. Add in Adam Kennedy, and that's immediately much better up the middle. Again, not going to win any awards, but some of us aren't fortunate enough to a) live in a town with a baseball team with a payroll in the hundreds of millions, or b) fucking douchey enough to root for an out of town big payroll team.

The bullpen is definitely a question mark, and might still not be right. Capps wasn't exactly setting the world on fire in Pittsburgh, and there are a lot of journeymen fighting for spots. But we Storen (picked #10 last year) should also figure into that mix. He pitched well in AA last year, and in the Arizona Fall League. I bet he makes the roster by the all star break.

[Cephius]

lol, tell me another funny one. D:

The Nats problem last year wasn't their hitting. They were a good hitting club. Heck, their starting pitching decent at times. It was their bullpen and their fielding that murdered them. I don't think they'll be as terrible as last year, but I do expect them to be in dead last once again behind either the Mets/Marlins/Braves. Phillies are clear-cut #1 in the NL East, but after that.. I dunno. The Mets won 70 games last year with a Minor League team, the Marlins have some good talent, and the Braves.. I don't know. Their line-up is still soft.

Maybe I should clarify.. when I say "compete" I mean actually win around half their games instead of going well into triple digits on the loss side. They are quite obviously a long way away from competing for a playoff spot, lol. Though, not that far!

[Akiyama]

I could see the Nats getting anywhere between 65-70 wins.

[Pringles]

Predicting Hughes to win the 5th starter for the Yanks and Joba raging quietly and making subliminal snipes to the media about being back in the pen.

Also I could see the Nats with a 70 win year this year. Wouldn't be surprised if Stratsburg makes a start or two towards the end of the season to give him some taste for the majors.

[Headspace]

Looking forward to the Reds ultra old left side of the infield.

[Trichocyst]

Can't wait for baseball season. I'm happy so many Phillies spring training games will be broadcast. I'm also sick of the snow and the cold.

[fren.]

I was waiting until tomorrow to start this, dammit.

http://i47.tinypic.com/2vkaw7l.jpg

Goddamn, look at that.

and baseball season starts when MLB The Show is released.

[Moss]

Braves are gonna own all you bitches with our dangerous lineup including Troy Glaus (who used steroids imo)

no, I kid. Incoming 3rd or 4th place because we couldn't get a good power bat. I just hope Heyward is ready. D:

And news says Jair Jurrjens to have MRI on shoulder. GOODY. Incoming need for a visit to Dr. Andrews

Come on Akiyama, have a little more faith than 3rd or 4th place. My biased self will predict 2nd behind the Phils. And yes, it's all about Heyward.

[Soa]

AL East
Yankees
Red Sox (WC)
Rays
Orioles
Blue Jays

AL Central
Twins
White Sox
Tigers
Royals
Indians

AL West
Mariners
Angels
Rangers
Athletics

NL East
Phillies
Braves (WC)
Marlins
Mets
Nationals

NL Central
Cardinals
Cubs
Brewers
Reds
Astros
Pirates

NL West
Rockies
Dodgers
Giants
Diamondbacks
Padres

MVP's - Albert Pujols, Arod
CY's - Roy Halladay, Felix Hernandez
Managers - Bobby Cox, Ron Gardenhire
World Series - Yankees vs Phillies rematch

Just a note, my predictions last season were pretty far off so I don't expect it to be perfect this year either.

[Cephius]

I mentioned it in the first post but the Twins moving into an open air stadium is going to be hell (frozen over?) in April and October. When was the last time a game got snowed out? Heaven help them if they make it to the World Series. Ice Bowl!

Anyway, some reflections projections and predictions:

Best Offseason: Seattle
Worst Offseason: Mets

Likely to Turn it Around: Nationals
Guaranteed to Still Suck: Pirates

Nastiest One-Two Punch: King Felix/Cliff Lee
Nastiest Three-Four Punch: Mark Teixiera/Alex Rodriguez

World Series Favorite: Yankees/Phillies
World Series Dark Horse: Rangers/Giants

Please God, Don't Trade him to the BoSox: Adrian Gonzalez
Please God, Don't Trade him to the Yankees: Cliff Lee

Division Winners:

AL:

East: Yankees
Central: Twins
West: Mariners
WC: Rays

NL:

East: Phillies
Central: Brewers
West: Giants
WC: Cardinals