2009 MLB season discussion*

[Trichocyst]

Brian McCann abuses Philadelphia pitchers.

[Kyo]

Smashing the phillies right now 4-0.

[Akiyama]

Yeah. I'll admit as a Braves fan, I got giddy, but I don't expect this all year. IIRC, the Braves destroyed Brett Myers last year anyway.

[Viq]

AL East:
Sox
Yanks - WC
Rays
Jays
O's

AL Central:
Twins
Indians
Royals (what now, bitches?)
White Sox
Tigers

AL West:
A's (I went there)
Angels
Rangers
Mariners

NL East:
Phillies
Mets - WC
Braves
Marlins
Nats

NL Central:
Cards
Cubs
Reds
Brewers
Astros
Manatee C.C.

NL West:
Dodgers
Giants
D'backs
Rockies
Padres

[Trichocyst]

This brings back bad memories of going to opening day 2006 when the Cardinals torched us 13-5 including a Scott Rolen grand slam. Ugh.

[Bregor]

NL Central:
Cards
Cubs
Reds
Brewers
Astros
Manatee C.C.

I lol'd.

Also, good game so far tonight. Jeff Francoeur is probably the hardest guy in the world to project what he'll do this year. I hate buying into the cliche' of "he's changed his stance/approach/sleep habits/car insurance/etc" but there's just no way he can be as bad as he was last season. It wouldn't surprise me to see him go 25/100/.290, or 12/60/.230 with a few stops in the minors.

[Akiyama]

No kidding. Frenchy is so hard to predict, it's not even funny. You want consistency? Fuck you.

[Kang]

That was a very good opener. Shafer had an awesome game in his MLB debut.

[Kurp]

AL East: Red Sox
AL Central: Twins
AL West: Angels

NL East: Mets
NL Central: Cubs
NL West: Dodgers

Wild cards: Yankees, Cardinals. (Sorry, Phillies.)

[pohibaba]

AL East: Yankees
AL Central: Twins
AL West: Angels
AL Wild Card: Red Sox

NL East: Mets
NL Central: Cubs
NL West: Giants (Homer pick)
NL Wild Card: Phillies

[Cephius]

FUCK YEAH BASEBALL IS BACK!

God it felt like spring training went on for-fucking-ever this year. So pumped to get into the 2009 season. I think I already gave my predictions earlier, but just wanted to mention a few things I think are going to happen.

I think the As are going to compete with the Angels for the first time in awhile. They brought in a bunch of veteran talent, I think it'll help their offense a lot. I could see the halos slipping as well, they lost a few superstars in the offseason and didn't replace them. A lot of their talent is old, too.

I think the KC Royals (yes, the royals) will be competitive in the Central this year too. I can see the Twins and Tigers slipping, and the Royals/ChiSox battling it out for first place in the central. I like the Royals young talent, if they can ever get a rotation that can give them innings I think they're a threat. Soria is an underrated closer as well.

I can see the Dodgers running away with the NL West, but they seem to be a popular pick this year. I don't think that division improved any over last year when it was one of the worst in baseball.

And about the NL east... I can't agree with everyone picking the Mets/Phillies. I just don't think these teams are that good. No one gives Florida any credit after the good year they had last year. The Mets have a very suspect rotation after Santana, and while their offense is solid, there's a bunch of question marks (Delgado, Murphy, Sheff) in there. The Phillies rotation is nothing to write home about either sans Hammels, and again you question if Rollins is going to bounce back or if Howard is going to put up the numbers he did last year. I actually would not be surprised if you see Atlanta and Florida at the top of this league at some points this season.

[Kurp]

I had a tough time picking between the Angels and A's. It should be a really good race.

I'm an AL Central guy and have always been. I'm not buying into this crazy Royals thing. They'll be better than the last few years, but I think they're destined to the 4 or 5 spot, depending on how bad the Tigers turn out. W.Sox/Royals in the top two spots seems way far fetched to me.

[Cephius]

I had a tough time picking between the Angels and A's. It should be a really good race.

I'm an AL Central guy and have always been. I'm not buying into this crazy Royals thing. They'll be better than the last few years, but I think they're destined to the 4 or 5 spot, depending on how bad the Tigers turn out. W.Sox/Royals in the top two spots seems way far fetched to me.

I think the Tigers will be this year's Seattle. Firesale after a few months and they'll slip into oblivion. It may be asking a lot for the Twins to slip so far, but I think Mauer being out is a big blow and their young talent (especially their OF) is good but still have some developing to do offensively. For some reason I love the Royals this year, but yeah, they could easily be just as bad.

[fren.]

6 hours!

Sabathia, Wang, Burnett to start the three games. Mmmmm. I hope sopcast/tvants works, fuck!

Not that it means much, but PECOTA has Pettitte finishing with better numbers than every Sox pitcher except Beckett and Smoltz.

[Akiyama]

I agree with the Royals, but disagree with the Twins. They have a nice, young starting rotation and if Liriano is as good as he was at the end of last year, then that's a stud #1 pitcher. Missing Mauer is huge, though. I think it'll be a close division all year, but the Indians offense is actually *really* good. Gotta remember they scored 800+ runs last year with both Hafner and Victor Martinez either missing a huge ton of games, or just sucking complete donkey balls.

Agreed about the NL West. Their rotation really isn't that good at all, what with losing Lowe especially. He was underrated out there. Getting Manny was good, but their pitching will need a good season from Clayton Kershaw. I think he's a 12-14 game winner, especially out in the light-hitting NL West.

Your assessments of the NL East are good, but I dunno. I could see the top 4 teams finishing in any order to be completely honest. I feel the Braves have the deepest pitching rotation in the NL East, but little hitting. The Phillies/Mets both have good hitting, but limited in pitching outside of their studs. The Marlins have a good hitting club, and a young rotation, so that helps too. The Nats are just the Nats, and I dont' think they have the pitching to compete at all. Shame Adam Dunn had to end up there.

I predict the Yankees going 2-1 to start with AJ losing his first start.

[fren.]

"Beckett-Lester-Smoltz" are too much to handle and plus they have Tazawa" (the Japanese dude they signed who never pitched in the Japanese "majors")

Gammons is a fucking fruitcake.

[Viq]

AAAaaaaaannnnnndddddddd no baseball for Sox and Rays today. GG Ma Nature

[Cephius]

"Beckett-Lester-Smoltz" are too much to handle and plus they have Tazawa" (the Japanese dude they signed who never pitched in the Japanese "majors")

Gammons is a fucking fruitcake.

He's right about the Sox rotation but everyone seems to take Beckett being healthy as a granted. He clearly wasn't right last year and who knows if he bounces back from that. The Sox lineup is good but Ortiz is old and the 7/8/9 would worry me were I a Sox fan.

Gammons is the biggest homer fruitcake though, agreed!

[Headspace]

LET'S GO REDS

[Kyo]

Brave's to the world series! Incoming aki to shit on my dreams.