Wednesday, July 13, 2005

MLB Mid-Season Report

AL East - I’ll start off by saying that Tampa will be competing next year rather than this and the only thing to look forward to in Tropicana is when the young guys start coming up after they deal their more seasoned players (none of which is as good as Delmon)…Boston would be counting down their magic number right now if their pen hadn’t been so bad and Foulke’s injury doesn’t help things. Watch Theo go out and get some arms very soon and The Sox should cruise into the post-season and Manny could get that MVP nod (he really is smokin‘ right now…The Orioles are levelling off but Lee Mazilli has done a great job and that infield is awesome. They have a great chance to hold onto the second spot in this division…watch out for Palmeiro‘s 3000th hit (he might have robbed David Segui of a Gold Glove but you can‘t deny the rest of this guys career) …Well, I’ve already gone on the record by saying the Yanks won’t make the playoffs and until they get some speed or their pitching picks it up big time, they will continue to run hot and cold and that’s not good enough in that town…Toronto are brewing some nice players this year and have progressed nicely (watch Russ Adams now that he’s batting leadoff) but losing Halladay for a month will hurt. He has been the best in the AL so far.

AL Central - The White Sox are a great team. Speed, defence, power, great rotation, great bullpen, what else is there? They also have some guys they can deal to make themselves stronger and some nice looking prospects in their minors. If they continue being smart they could win it all…Minnesota haven’t been as good as many expected with Morneau seemingly needing to be hurt by someone in order for him to really crank it up and Santana lacking some of the sharpness of last year. Jesse Crain continues to make me look like a genius with his performances but this is a team that could click at any time and go deep into October but they need to get going soon…Cleveland were struggling early but now their hitters are coming through (can someone give some kudos to Hafner) they are definitely in the race and now Wickman is healthy (for now) that pen is strong…Detroit probably don’t have enough in the tank this year to mix it up in the race for the playoffs but they can definitely be big spoilers with Ordonez back, Shelton looking like he could be a great hitter for a good few years and Jeremy Bonderman really emerging as a true ace. Their big problem could be Percival who is definitely on the decline and they might be wishing they kept Urbina…KC are bad, real bad and I fear for Zack Greinke’s future (BE STRONG YOUNG MAN!!)

AL West - Anaheim (I’ll call them Anaheim until they get their name to something that’s less of a mouthful) haven’t really got it going on all cylinders but they still have all they need to beat anyone in the league and their rotation has been in good hands especially Colon who has been dominant for much of the year…Texas have been given some real fight in their rotation from Kenny Rogers (see what I did there) who is having a career year but its that infield lead by Mark Teixeira and that pen that is driving them…Oakland have been hot recently and have gotten over .500 but I still don’t know how they expect to win consistently with that offence, their pitching is good but not THAT good…Seattle are blooding some young’uns but their pitching has gotten very ordinary over the last couple of years. Not even Pat Borders can save their season…Say Adrian Beltre’s name then look about you. If they aren’t laughing then they’re probably a Mariner fan.

NL East - I’m still waiting for the wheels to fall off The Nationals but I’m also enjoying watching Livan Hernandez pitch, he deserved the Cy more than Clemens last year (one of a few) and is having a good run at it this year…I still don’t like Nick Johnson and I don’t care what anyone says…There are two reasons why Andruw Jones is playing centerfield. First his defence is legendary out there and secondly he is so hot that if anyone could stand near him they would burst into flames…Atlanta have done a great job of bringing in their youngsters to patch up the team through injuries and once they get their big starters back it could be another division title….Florida should be scoring more runs than they are, Pierre and Lowell have been almost non-entities this year and that line-up is stacked but if they want to really compete they need Beckett to be healthy, Penny to be consistent and Mota to stop pouting…I’m fed up with the Phillies, I’ve tabbed them to be among the best in the league the last two years and they have made me look like a fool. What they’ve got isn’t working but in Utley, Rollins and Howard (damn he takes some vicious cuts) they have the building blocks of a contender but they also have some good players who will be passed their prime when those youngsters peak so I say trade Wagner. Trade Thome. Trade Lieberthal and eat his salary. Trade Abreu while his stock is sky high...The Mets ran into Dorothy on the Yellow Brick Road and told her how they’d be leading The East if only they had a bullpen…I’m still looking for Cliff Floyd in The All Star Game but I might have to look for him in MVP voting…this division is stupidly tight.

NL Central - The Cards are winning this division at a canter and its hard to see who will challenge them. This could be the first of many MVP seasons for Pujols…The Cubs define the ‘if they stay healthy’ maxim better than anyone. Wood and Prior would win 30 games each if they avoided the DL for a year (I can say that because it will never happen). Maddux could win 15 games AGAIN (do you people realise how amazing a career this guy has had?!?!) but it will be tight…Derrek Lee won’t win the triple crown but he’s still had a truly amazing season so far…Houston have done so well to be as good as they have been and it really is testament to their pitching with Clemens and Oswalt continuing to be strong and Lidge is just filthy in the pen (they should ban that guy as he is just unfair). Taveras has done a fine job at the top of the order and Berkman’s return has been key but they really don’t have many bullets in that order, even in Ten-Run Field (I know its not Enron any more but I love that name)… Milwaukee is such a fun team this year with Carlos Lee leading those kids (including the heavily tooled Rickie Weeks) around the bases and Sheets and Doug Davies have given Turnbow (where did he come from?) enough leads to look good and there are more youngsters on the way...who will be at first next year for The Brewers? Fielder or Overbay?…Pittsburgh will be better in the second half especially if Zach Duke continues at his current pace and Oliver Perez got better as the weather got warmer but other than that there really isn’t much to look for in Pittsburgh…Cincinatti are well on their way to recording a bazillion K’s and there is no such number as a bazillion which says all you need to know about that line-up but they do score runs just not enough to help their pitching (they'd need Ruth and Aaron batting behind Rickey to do that).

NL West - Jake Peavy (I love that kid) has lead The Padres to the top of The West and no one else has come close to them. This is their division unless something drastic happens…Right now Arizona have gotten the better out of the Randy Johnson deal but their bats have cooled off after an early run and they won’t catch San D…I still don’t rate DePodesta as a GM, he has taken apart a winning team built on pitching and defence and has gone to a more offensive based scheme and now they just don’t seem to have the same cohesion. Admittedly they’ve had injury problems but even with the likes of Gagne I’m not sure they’d be good enough but you can bet he‘ll panic again at the deadline…What happens when you lose a seven time MVP and your best pitcher doesn’t perform? You become The Giants. They are old and full of holes and the big question is will/can they shift the oldies for prospects?…..What happens when your hot rookie gets injured and is out for the year and your only other hitter worth mentioning is playing nowhere near what you’d expect and you play in Coors? You stink up the joint...We should all be amazed how well Jeff Francis is doing in his rookie year.

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