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Baseball, politics, religion, evolution, OH MY!

Isn't it amazing just how many pitchers are enjoying unexpected success in the early going this 2008 major league baseball season? I mean you have Cliff Lee, Gavin Floyd, Andy Sonnanstine, Joe Saunders, Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum combining for a 25-4 record. What gives? Well, what gives is that every season there are new faces emerging into the elite status of pitching. However, expect some if not all of these players to come back down to earth a bit. At least to let us know they are human. But one thing is for certain, every season produces a new breed of exciting baseball players, and in Cliff Lee's case, comeback players.

Barrack "Hussein" Obama will be the nominee for the democratic party. Its just a matter of time before Hillary Rodham Clinton folds up her tent. I was wondering whether or not Hillary would use her success in key democratic states as an excuse to run as an independent in the upcoming election. However, money just won't be there. She's better off dropping out soon, getting behind Obama and hoping he loses so that she can make a run in 2012 against McCain or another republican candidate.

I'm getting sick and tired of reading about seperation of church and state arguments when it comes to Christian symbols or prayer in public places. Yet, Muslims and Jews, especially Muslims, are allowed to pray in public and even get special privledges because of their faith. I believe its all a combination of bias against the true religion, Catholicism (and it's Christian branches), political catering to special interest Jews and pondering to Muslims out of subconcious fear of future punishment (ie future attacks).

And speaking of biased views. Nothing has been more blatant an abuse of human intelligence than the natural evolution theory. The entire evolution database has been built on a godless premise and pieced together by special pleading regarding just where each bit of evidence fits in the wouldbe godless scenario. Well, the special pleading really comes in from the outset, abiogensis. There is no possible way that proteins, without any direction, could come together all at once (due to reproductive barriers) and just suddenly form a complex organism (correlating cell structures housing a dna or rna biofeedback system) all capable of either copying itself or reproducing. Yep. I got it. NOT.

Tags: - baseball - OH

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Fantasy Baseball Duds

There are some fantasy baseball studs and there are duds. Thus far, Ryan Howard, Carlos Beltran and Robinson Cano appear to be the biggest stud duds. However, don't panic. If you invested your team's fate, (an early round pick or high priced purchase), do not unload any of these three or any other top tier player. They ower you! Wait it out. Wait until they repay you with some numbers which will jolt your team up several notches in those categories they temporarily have you hurting in.

In fantasy baseball leagues, there's always a fantasy whiz in your league who will pick up a player and drop a play at just the right times. But clever moves like (no moves at all), at least in the case of keeping a Cano, Beltran or Howard, could well pay dividends as the season progresses. One thing I've learned in the past is that if you drop a player who you expect to eventually produce, you pretty much have dropped yourself from contention in any fantasy baseball league. In most cases, the Beltrans, the Canos and the Howards will do what you expect of them. There's no league titles won by having a great April or lost by having a bad April. You draft for seasonal stats and that means when you draft studs, let them play the entire season.

Tags: - baseball - Fantasy Baseball

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Baseball's first month in a nutshell

Baseball is nearing the end of its first month and there are few surprises thus far. The reason for this is simple, its just too early. It won't be until August until the real contenders are revealed. You can expect the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies all to be in contention come August 1. Right now, Baltimore, a team I picked to lose over 100 games, is in first place. Sorry. Aint happening O's.

Notes: There's a little concern in New York as Jorge Posada's season is in jeopardy due to what appears to be a tear in his shoulder. Alex Rodriguez twinked his Hammy last night and the Yankees will continue to have him take it easy for now. The Mets fans and Carlos Delgado have to straighten things out (NOT - this isn't a story folks, I mean who cares?). The Phillie bullpen looks solid so far. The Cards and Larussa are off to a solid start. The Joe Torre curse of starting out slow has reached LA. Barry Bonds isn't playing baseball (I guess he snuck out the backdoor). Other than these tidbits, there's really not much going on. I won't give credit to the phenom pitchers from Cincinnati or S.F. just yet. Let the hitters get the leg cramps fixed and their bats swinging before we tout anyone as another Doc Gooden. May May make many merry.

;-)

Tags: - baseball - Month

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Hank Steinbrenner is pushing panic button too early

Hank Steinbrenner has to get with the program. His Yankees are 10-10 and just because Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy are off to slow starts, he's pushing the panic button. He is taking after his dad, that's for sure. Today Hank "Chip off the ole block" Steinbrenner stated publicly that Joba Chamberlain cannot be wasted as a setup man and was destined to be a starter this season.

Can somebody tell Hank that he'll have to send Joba down to the minors for about 4 weeks to extend his throwing arm? That the Yankees will only then get about 12 starts from him this season if they did this now? That during the rest of the season, Le troy Hawkins and Kyle Farnsworth would give the pennant to the Red Sox, gift wrapped and all? What a riot! Baseball is definitely back when you start to see homeruns by Chipper "Larry" Jones, Manny Ramirez, Chase Utley, and the usual rantings of a madman in charge of the New York Yankees.

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Baseball Scoreboard

Espn is now providing an embed version of their updated major league baseball scoreboard. As you can see above, it also gives anyone viewing it a button to click for which to save it on their internet explorer browsers. I have it in a sticky post so it will remain on the top of Baseball Etc.

Baseball is off to it's typical cold April, which means many elite pitchers are struggling early on. Roy Oswalt is off to a horrible 0-2 start with an ERA of 9.00. C. C. Sabathia is also off to a horrible start and Erik Bedard appears to have problems with hip inflammation, which can be triggered by damp, cool weather. Its early, so just sit back, relax and watch the 2008 major league baseball season unfold, and don't forget to add the ESPN baseball scoreboard to you browser or blog.

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Opening Day - Let the baseball games begin

Well, it's here. The long awaited start to the 2008 major league baseball season. It's time for the teams to take the field. Time for the C.C. Sabathias, Johan Santanas, Erik Bedards, Josh Becketts and other aces to take to the mound. It's time for the Alex Rodriguezes, Derek Jeters, Miguel Cabreras, Matt Holidays and Albert Pujols to stand at the plate. It's time for the fans to take their seats. It's time for the throwing out of first balls, the national anthem, the 7th inning stretches. It's time for the rookies to shine. It's time for America's greatest sport to begin. Enjoy.

Tags: - baseball - games

Oakland A's 2008 Outlook

The Oakland A's, considering their recent history of possessing some of the best arms in baseball, would seem to be an unlikely candidate to finish with the worst record in major league baseball. But with all of those arms departing, the A's find themselves way short of a starting rotation which can compete and they are also rebuilding from top to bottom.

With the departure of Dan Haren and with Rich Harden's health always in question, this may well become the worst Oakland pitching staff in their franchise history. Besides the fragile Rich Harden, all they really have is Joe Blanton. Blanton is average at best and yielded 240 hits last season. Following him are unproven names like Justin Duchscherer, Dana Eveland and Chad Gaudin. Gaudin will have to improve alot over his performance last season where he yielded over 200 hits and walked 100 more. This is a pitiful looking group of pitchers. Harden, if healthy can be the best in the game. Although he would have to get a few seasons under his belt to reach that level. To put it plainly, they'll stink this year, and they'll probably lose Harden again to the DL. The bullpen consists of proven talent in Keith Foulke, Alan Embree and closer Houston Street. So it should do okay.

When I said the A's were rebuilding, I didn't just mean their pitching staff. Their offense will consist of young names like 1b Daric Barton, 3b Jack Hannahan, rf Travis Buck, cf Ryan Sweeney, c Kurt Suzuki. In fact they don't have one bonified hitter in their lineup. Folks, we won't go any further here. We'll just project the worst record in baseball as Billy Beane finally hits rock bottom in a haphazard rebuilding project. Projected record, 59-103.

Tags: - baseball - Oakland

Texas Rangers 2008 Outlook

Take heart Texas Rangers fans. Your team will not finish in the cellar in the 2008 major league baseball season. The reason for this is simply because the Oakland A's are rebuilding and the Rangers will finish 3rd by default.

Now I'm not mocking this Rangers team. It would be nice if they went out of their way to add a much needed ace to their pitching rotation. But their rotation of Kevin Millwood, Vicente Padilla, Jason Jennings as their top 3 starters possess experience and they all should all improve their performances over last season. Kason Gabbard and Luiz Mendosa look to fill out a rotation which will be better than Oaklands this season. In the bullpen the Rangers have the experience of Eddie Guardado, a decent pitcher in Joaquin Benoit and Japanese pitcher Kazuo Fukumori to set it up for new closer C.J. Wilson. It doesn't promise to be a great bullpen, but it should get the job done. Now this pitching staff is what I would consider adequate enough but it is one ace shy of being considered good.

The Texas Rangers lineup doesn't look to score its usual runs. Next to proven hitters like Matt Young and Hank Blalock, the Rangers will be relying on names like Marlon Byrd, Milton Bradley, Josh Hamilton and Ian Kinsler to contribute to their offense. Even though this team is mediocre at its best, and it doesn't seem to be committed to winning any time soon, it will prevail in securing a 3rd place finish in the woeful AL West with a record of 66-96. Now if that Rangers fan who yelled at me last season for picking them to lose 92 games is reading this, you guessed it, I'll be close again this year.

Los Angeles Angels 2008 Outlook

The Los Angeles Angels are a team which always seem to be in contention, but always come up short. Last season, they fell to the Red Sox, losing 3 straight in the first round of the playoffs.

The Angels will have their work cut out for them in 2008. Their ace John Lackey will miss the entire month of April and 18 game winner Kelvim Escobar may be out for the season with a shoulder tear. So to start out, their rotation will rely heavily on Jon Garland and Jered Weaver. Weaver may emerge this season as an elite and will be a nice number 2 behind John Lackey. Young pitchers Joe Saunders and Ervin Santana will fill out the rest of the rotation. So if they can get through April still standing, a rotation of Lackey, Weaver, Garland, Saunders and Santana may be good enough to keep them in the hunt. Their bullpen will be just fine with one of baseball's top closers in Francisco Rodriguez and two solid setup men in Scott Shields and Justin Speier. All in all though, the temporary absence of John Lackey and the questionable status of Escobar will set the Angels back a bit as they struggle early on.

The Angels lineup has lacked punch of late and they needed another bat to compliment Vladimir Guerrero. Tori Hunter was signed during the off season and this should help run productivity. With Chone Figgins, young talent like Erick Aybar, Howie Kendrick and Casey Kotchman, there is now a nice blend of speed, power, veterans and youth. Garrett Anderson and Gary Matthews Jr. however, are experiencing health setbacks this spring so there are some question marks in their batting order.

You have to think that a team with this many injury woes this early on in the season will struggle. And struggle they will. I'll still pick them to have a winning season and even be in the race down the stretch. But the injuries to Lackey and Escobar as well as health concerns with Anderson and Matthews make me feel that Seattle is in better shape and will finish ahead of the Angels. Expect a 84-78 second place finish in 2008 for the Los Angeles Angels.

Tags: - baseball - Angels

Seattle Mariners 2008 Outlook

Seattle Mariners 2008.

The Seattle Mariners took a big step for an immediate run at the AL West title by trading a future superstar prospect. That prospect, center fielder Adam Jones is now starting in center field for the Baltimore Orioles. What did Seattle get in return? A solid ace in Erik Bedard who went 13-5 with a 3.16 ERA and 221 strikeouts with the Orioles in 2006. He is now nearing age 29 and the prime of his career. Will this addition be what the Mariners needed to get atop of the Western Division? We'll soon see.

I think whether or not the Erik Bedard deal will put them over the top all rides on how well Felix Hernandez does coming off of a season of setbacks and under achievements. The rotation looks to be Bedard, Hernandez, Jarrod Washburn, Miguel Batista and Carlos Silva. Washburn is coming off of a disappointing 10-15 season while Carlos Silva seems to be a good fit in this rotation. Its a rotation which looks to be very competitive and which pitches very deep into games. This will help their bullpen which is a bit unsettled. The Mariners need to know that Brandon Morrow, who has been sidelined by biceps tendinitis, is healthy enough to pitch to start the season. He threw recently with no ill effects so it appears to be the case. They also need to find out whether Derek Lowe and/or Chris Reitsma can come back from their respective elbow surgeries. The thing that will help is the fact that their starters can go deep into ballgames. So I'm guessing that all they'll really need is one solid setup man for J.J. Putz.

The batting order will be missing Jose Guillen who is now a member of the Kansas City Royals. Brad Wilkerson isn't what I call a good replacement either. But their lineup still has alot of talent with Ichiro Suzuki, Jose Lopez, Raul Ibanez (21/105), Adrian Beltre (26/99), Richie Sexson, Yuniesky Betancourt and Kenji Johjima. Jose Vidro looks like the DH. Hey, its not the prettiest offense, but it will get the job done. They have perhaps the best table setter in baseball in Ichiro Suzuki, alot of good young hitters like Lopez and Betancourt as well as some contact and power hitters with experience. Jose Vidro can really play an important role, but even if he can't I expect this Mariners team to get the better of their foes more often than not and emerge on top of a less than stellar division. Look for a 87-75 record and a trip to the playoffs.

Tags: - baseball - Seattle

Kansas City Royals 2008 Outlook

The Kansas City Royals remind me so much of the Mets of the late 70's. They seem to come up short bidding or trading for big name players, then end up acquiring a star nearing the tail end of his playing career. Jose Guillen in this case. The Royals also, like the Mets of the 70's, seem to have young prospects who do not live up to their billing. Remember the Lee Mazzilli and Steve Henderson era?

Okay, but this is about the Royals and their new manager Trey Hillman. What you have here is a pretty dull team I'm afraid. Starting with their biggest weakness, their rotation, you see that they couldn't afford a big time free agent pitcher a few years ago, so they signed Gil Meche as their ace. He's a good third starter on teams like the Mets or Yankees, if that. Brian Bannister is a finesse pitcher who performed well last season, but he's not a lights out pitcher. You need pitchers who can throw an occasional goose egg every now and then and I just don't see that dominance in their top 2. Zach Greinke is a good looking prospect but he's too young to expect much from at this early point in his career. The last 2 spots are up in the air between Brett Tomko, Jorge De La Rosa, Kyle Davies and John Bale.

Although it's not a great rotation, it isn't necessarily bad either. But it sure won't be good enough to lift the Royals out of the cellar, especially considering their weak offense. The bullpen looks to be busy this year and will have Ron Mahay, Yasuhiko Yabuta to serve as their primary setup men for closer Joakim Soria. Soria was lights out in 64 appearances last year, getting 21 saves in 24 chances. He's a good looking young pitcher. Jimmy Gobble will setup as a lefty and Hideo Nomo will make a nice long reliever.

Their offense features cf David DeJesus, a respectable .300, 100 runs type player, rf Jose Guillen who will miss the first 2 crucial weeks serving a suspension, Mark Teahan who needs to up his power numbers a bit and raise his BA a bit higher than .284 to be a real impact player. There's little more after those three. Tony Pena at ss needs to get on base much more than his .284 OBP of last year, Mark Grudzielanek is getting old fast, who at 38 has undergone 2 knee surgeries in the last year. Alex Gordon at 3b looks like a prospect of the 70's Mets, all hype but little production, but there is a steady hitter at first base with Ross Gload. Their catcher will be John Buck, who has yet to establish himself as a consistent hitter. All in all, this offense is weak and with a shaky pitching rotation which lacks lights out leaders, you have to expect this team to finish last once again with a record of 60-102. At least I do. Until they earn a better projection.

Tags: - baseball - Royals

Chicago White Sox 2008 Outlook

Chicago White Sox 2008 Outlook

The Chicago White Sox outlook for 2008 doesn't look all that promising. There seems to be too much excess baggage on this team. There appear to be too many older position players or players who aren't as durable or reliable as they once were.

With Javier Vasquez as their ace, and Mark Buehrle, they do have two solid starters. But it tails off drastically from there with aging and inconsistent Jose Contreras and young inexperienced John Danks and Gavin Floyd. Should Contreras bounce back from a shaky 10-17 season a year ago, and Gavin Floyd pitch to his promised potential, this rotation may be effective. That's may-be which means maybe. Can't bank on maybes. Their bullpen is loaded with some strong throwers like Scott Linebrink, Octavio Dotel and Matt Thornton. These three do tend to struggle with their controls though. Their Closer Bobby Jenks is coming off of a 46 save season and is a solid stopper. All in all it will boil down to the 3,4 and 5 of their rotation.

Their batting order will consist of alot of talent mixed with a few youngsters. Their lineup is projected to be speedy Jerry Owens, Orlando Cabrera, Jim Thome, Paul Konerko, Jermaine Dye, Nick Swisher, Joe Crede, A.J. Pierzynski and Alexei Ramirez. They also have Juan Uribe, Carlos Quentin and Josh Fields which gives them depth on their bench. The questions here are whether Thome, Dye and Konerko can avoid injuries and whether their lead off batters can set the table for which for them to knock in runs. There's no doubt that this team will the potential to score runs. But will there be enough runs? The real key this season will be just how well Jerry Owens and Orlando Cabrera can set the table. If they get on base, they'll score and the White Sox should win games.

On paper, this team really doesn't look that bad. However, all they'll need to happen is one long DL stint for a Jim Thome or a Dye and they'll have trouble keeping up with their competition. The main weakness on this team is the reason the White Sox will have trouble outscoring their foes. The starting pitching just doesn't look deep enough and its almost a given that they'll suffer key injuries to Vets in their lineup. I'm picking them to play from behind all season and to finish with a record of 72-90.

Tags: - baseball - White Sox

Minnesota Twins 2008 Outlook

Minnesota Twins 2008 Outlook

The Minnesota Twins shifted gears a bit by trading away their franchise pitcher for talented youth from the Mets farm system. Carlos Gomez will likely start this season and this speedy player will be something exciting to watch. The Twins acquired Delmon Young from Tampa Bay to play left field.

Whenever you trade away your ace with little left in the rotation afterwards, it signals a long term plan. And that appears to be what the Twins are doing. They do have some offense with one of the best hitting catchers in baseball history in Joe Mauer and 2006 MVP winning first baseman Justin Morneau looking to bounce back from a mediocre 2007 campaign. They also have Michael Cuddyer in right field, another study hitter. Brendon Harris looks to do well at second base. But they have alot of question marks in other positions such as Michael Lamb at third base, Adam Everett at shortstop, Craig Monroe and Jason Kuel at DH, as well as the youth duo in left field and center field. They'll hit at times, but it really looks like the Twins may have trouble scoring enough runs to play .500 baseball this year with their pitching rotation in doubt.

Speaking of their pitching rotation, the Twins will be hoping that Francisco Liriano can come back from surgery and Boof Bonser can bounce back from a disappointing sophomore season. Scott Baker looks seasoned enough to become a consistent winning pitcher and even earn the ace role while newly signed Livan Hernandez adds a bit of depth to this rotation. Depth I feel they may just need should something go arry in this, for now, shaky rotation. The bullpen looks so-so with guys like Rincon, Guerrier and Crain, but they do have a reliable closer in Joe Nathan.

I'm thinking that even though the Twins are hoping to rebuild and win at the same time, it just won't be that easy. Losing Santana will cost them greatly as they end up with a 73-89 record and look forward to the future.

Tags: - baseball - Twins

Cleveland Indians 2008 Outlook

The Cleveland Indians are coming off of a successful 2007 campaign which was thwarted by the Red Sox. This season, the Indians will be facing questions regarding their pitching depth and several key position players as well as the improving competition for their division with Detroit's beefed up team.

Last season the Cleveland Indians pitching staff had a great 1-2 in C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona, both candidates for the Cy Young Award in 2007, with Sabathia getting it. Was last season a fluke for Carmona or is he the real thing? Even if he does perform at that level again, as well as Sabathia, you don't have anyone else who is reliable. That may well hinder this Indians team from not only reaching last season's win total, but also from being able to out duel the Tigers for the division crown. They'll need either Paul Byrd, Jake Westbrook or Cliff Lee to pitch above themselves, or young talent Aaron Laffey to surprise in order to seriously contend at reaching the heights of 2007. And I just don't think any of them will. A solid bullpen featuring 2 Rafaels (Perez and Betancourt), newcomer Masahide Kobayashi and Joe Borowski will keep the Indians competitive late in games.

The offense has talent but question marks also. There's Grady Sizemore and Victor Martinez as sure things, but then there are alot of questions. Can Asdrubal Cabrera get the job done at second base? Can Travis Hafner bounce-back as the designated hitter? Can Ryan Garko excel? What about Johnny Peralta's glove? David Dellucci's health? Can Franklin Gutierrez produce in right field?

Face it. This team isn't a sure thing by any stretch, but they definitely have enough talent to compete as they answer some of those questions favorably, some unfavorably. I just have a feeling that they'll take a temporary step back before they return to the top in a year or two. Look for a decent 90-72 finish as the Cleveland Indians search themselves in 2008.

Tags: - baseball - Indians

Detroit Tigers 2008 Outlook

The Detroit Tigers bolstered their team with acquisitions of Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis from the Florida Marlins in the trade of the year. They also added Jacques Jones to play left field. However, this team does have a few blemishes.

We won't deal with those blemishes yet. First off, they have one of the best managers of baseball in Jim Leyland. Their offense is loaded with Curtis Granderson (although he'll miss the first few weeks with a broken finger), Placido Palanco, Edgar Renteria, Miguel Cabrera, Gary Sheffield, Magglio Ordonez, Carlos Guillen, Ivan Rodriguez, and Jacques Jones. What a lineup no matter how you write it! This team as you may know by now will score the most runs in Major League Baseball this season. No problems here.

The starting rotation is solid, but it isn't unbeatable either. Yes the acquistion of Dontrelle Willis may help them. But that's if Willis can find his command and not struggle as he did a season ago with the Marlins. Maybe this change of ball clubs will work for him. The Tigers do have Justin Verlander as their ace. He'll be followed in the rotation by Jeremy Bonderman, who seemed to struggle a bit last season yielding too many hits. Kenny Rogers will begin his 20th season and that doesn't promise much success in the 4 slot. Nate Robertson isn't very good as their number 5 pitcher. So based on last season's numbers, they really only have one solid pitcher in Verlander. But you have to expect Bonderman and Willis to perform well and that's about all the Tigers will need to capture the division. If their top 3 pitch well, Rogers and Robertson should be adequate enough.

The Tigers bullpen is in flux because Fernando Rodney will begin the season on the disabled list and Francisco Cruceta won't be ready. Todd Jones isn't getting any younger and it looks like this bullpen is up in the air. Are the question marks in the starting rotation and the bullpen enough to pick the Tigers below the Indians? No. Leyland will piece together areas that need fixing and the Tigers will end up 101-61.

Tags: - baseball - Tigers

Baltimore Orioles 2008 Outlook

Baltimore Oriolges 2008 Outlook.

It's never easy forecasting last place teams. There's always room for pessimism. That is the case here for manager Dave Trembley and his Baltimore Orioles. Regardless of how much potential their young players have, it just seems that the organization never commits long term to anyone. Take manager Lee Mazzilli and pitching coach Leo Mazzone for example. They weren't given a fair chance to get the job done. Now the O's have departed with Erik Bedard, one of the best pitchers in baseball and a great veteran shortstop Miguel Tejada, in a rebuilding project. The O's will build around Nick Markakis and highly touted outfielder Adam Jones, whom they acquired in the Eric Bedard trade.

Offensively, there's some pop and potential in their batting order. With guys like Nick Markakis, who belted 23 homers and drove in 123 runs last season, Melvin Mora, Brian Roberts, Aubrey Huff, and Adam Jones, you will see run production. But not enough to fight back from the huge deficits their pitching staff will establish early and often throughout the season. Unfortuntely, even if the Orioles score alot, they are doomed to fail until they build their pitching staff.

That staff looks to feature Daniel Cabrera as their ace. Folks, he went 9-18 and is just plain wild in the strike zone and out of the strike zone. He's got good stuff but he doesn't locate it right. I personally would designate Jeremy Guthrie (7-5 and 3.70) as their ace. Maybe Cabrera would take note and learn from this good young pitcher. Youngsters Adam Loewen, Troy Patton and Garrett Olson look to fill out a very inexperienced pitching rotation. This is how you rebuild though. You let them play. I like that. It's better than just throwing some also rans in there for the sake of filling out the rotation. Let's see how they do. The bullpen will consist of question marks. George Sherrill is their closer and if his performance last year is an indication, he must throw hard. He had 56 K's in 45 innings of work. They have side-armer Chad Bradford who can be effective. Jamie Walker, Dennis Sarfate, Danys Baez and Matt Albers will all have to chip in and try to stop the damage that their inexperienced starting rotation will cause.

Face it. This division is loaded with teams who can hit and pitch, and there's just going to be too much competition for this rebuilding squad. Expect a season with peaks and valleys, but deep will those valleys be as the Orioles post a 64-98 record. But they're rebuilding, so enjoy the peaks and expect the valleys.

Tags: - baseball - Orioles

Tampa Rays 2008 Outlook

Look out American League Central and West. Because there are going to be four .500 teams over in the East. That's right. I'm predicting that the Tampa Rays, formerly named the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, will play .500 ball this baseball season.

The biggest reason I'm picking them to play .500 is that there's just too much talent on both sides of the diamond. First off, they have outstanding talent in their top three pitchers with Scott Kazmir, James Shields and newly acquired Matt Garza. That's three solid starting pitchers. Kazmir and Shields are top of the line pitchers and Garza isn't far away. They'll have to fill in the the rest of this rotation with any of the following pitchers. Edwin Jackson had a horrid year, but he's young and many great pitchers started off their careers with records similar to his 5-15 of last season. He pitched for the Dodgers a little bit in 2005 and showed some promise. Andy Sonnanstine had a great spring and may fill in a spot. But he may well be headed to the bullpen eventually, because two highly touted prospects, Wade Davis and David Price may be called up to start pitching in the rotation. Jason Hamel will also battle for a spot. However, with Kazmir missing his first few starts, both Sonnanstine and Hamel will likely start the season in the rotation.

The bullpen is somewhat improved over last season. It will all boil down to newly signed Troy Percival getting the saves. Dan Wheeler and Al Reyes will be adequate late inning relievers and you may very well see Andy Sonnanstine provide effective long relief when needed.

The Tampa Rays lineup will score runs. That is certain. However, I feel consistency comes through experience and the Rays will go through yet more growing pains. But it will be worth it. Of course there is experience in Carl Crawford, and perhaps Cliff Floyd. But the potential is there with guys like Carlos Pena, B.J. Upton, Akinori Iwamura and Young rookie 3b sensation Evan Langoria. Just look for some inconsistencies at times when you piece together a lineup of rookies and second year players who still need to learn. All in all though, this lineup should score some runs. Especially if Cliff Floyd can contribute in rf and Johnny Gomes produce as their DH.

This Tampa Rays team has the potential of reaching 3rd place should Toronto suffer enough injuries to their injury prone lineup. Both Toronto and Tampa are teams on the verge of developing solid pitching rotations which can change the equation in the AL East for years to come. But for this year, look for a major improvement as the young arms carry the Rays above .500 with a 82-80 record.

Tags: - baseball - Tampa Rays

Toronto Blue Jays 2008 Outlook

The Toronto Blue Jays, managed by John Gibbons will seek to give the Yankees and Red Sox a run for their money this season. With the additions of Scott Rolen and David Eckstein, experience and infield defense shouldn't be a problem. And if Rolen remains healthy along with Frank Thomas, scoring shouldn't be a problem either.

The lineup looks to be David Eckstein, multiple tool star Alex Rios, Vernon Wells, Scott Rolen, Frank Thomas as DH, Lyle Overbay, Aaron Hill, Reed Johnson and veteran catcher Gregg Zaun. The lineup looks strong and it could produce alot of runs. But that's only if Rolen and Thomas can remain healthy. That's a big if though.

The pitching staff is respectable with Roy Halladay, A.J. Burnett and Dustin McGowan leading the way. They will be followed by Shaun Marcum and Jesse Litsch who have looked good early in their careers. In fact, this starting rotation has the potential of really being consistently good. The bullpen should be effective if B.J.Ryan can regain his form after suffering injuries last season and undergoing ligament replacement surgery. Jeremy Accardo and Scott Downs should do a decent job as should Casey Jansen. This whole pitching staff looks to be good enough to do their part in bringing a pennant back to Toronto.

Oh, but there's just a problem with that last statement. You guessed it. It's just that the Yankees and Red Sox are equally loaded with talent and then some. Sure, on paper and in terms of potential, the Blue Jays look like they can make a run. But you play the games on the field. And even though I like this Blue Jays team alot, especially their starting pitching, I feel that their lineup won't remain healthy enough. I think there will be injuries and the Jays won't be able to score consistently enough to hang tight with those elite teams. Unless they go through a year of remarkably good health, expect the Blue Jays to go 84-78 and finish 3rd in the AL East.

Tags: - baseball - Blue Jays

Boston Red Sox 2008 Outlook

It's time to take a look at the defending world champions of baseball, the Boston Red Sox. There were not many changes made, and that's no surprise. After all, they did win the World Series. But there are a few areas of concern in the Red Sox pitching staff.

The Boston Red Sox must replace Curt Schilling in the rotation, at least until the All Star Break. They'll be adding Clay Buckholtz, who looks like another Jonathon Papelbon, strikeouts and all, to their rotation. He and Jon Lester will both some wiggle room for improvement, but I feel they'll be adequate in terms of keeping the Red Sox in half of their starts. But it will take a few years before they begin to dominate and win consistently. So the only real consistent winners in the rotation will be Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka. Tim Wakefield should pitch adequately enough to win half of his decisions. What's missing is the experience of Curt Schilling. At least for the first half.

In the bullpen, the setup men and closer look solid with lefty Hideki Okajimac and hard throwing righty Manny Delcarmen setting up Jonathan Papelbon. Papelbon may be the best closer in the majors. However Julian Tavarez and Kyle Snyder are concerns as both have control issues and they might hurt the Red Sox in the middle innings. Especially since Terry Francona mentioned he'll have both Jon Lester and Clay Buckholtz on short pitch counts. This spells trouble in several games.

The offense is great. Rookie of the year 2b Dustin Pedroia will lead it off followed by 1b Kevin Youkilis, dh David Ortiz, lf Manny Ramirez, 3b Mike Lowell (coming off a fabulous season), rf J.D. Drew, c Jason Varitek, young speedster cf Jacoby Ellsbury and ss Julio Lugo. Only Julio Lugo needs to perform better while the Sox hope to continue getting productive years from Ortiz and Ramirez. They will. But will it be enough to overtake a hungry and determined Yankees team? I'm saying no. I think they'll just miss this time, finishing the season with a 95-67 record, but keeping their hopes alive for a repeat trip to the World Series by winning a wild card spot.

Tags: - baseball - Red Sox