Letters to the Editor
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Pecking order
I know the Braves are the chic pick in the NL East... I just get a kick out of how the standard applied to the Mets regarding age and injuries doesn't apply to the Braves.
The Braves' most important player is 36 and hasn't played in 150+ games in five years, their (currently-DL'd) ace is over 40 (as is another starter), and they're also counting on a guy who hasn't pitched since 2005. (And Tim Hudson isn't exactly a spring chicken either).
If these were the Mets and you summed them up this way for a bunch of sportswriters, they'd be falling over each other to be the first to bury them. Meanwhile, if you told them that the Braves had two of the very best young players in baseball, their third-best player was 30, they had arguably the best pitcher in baseball (age 29), two 26-year old starters who won 15 games each last year, and that they actually improved their depth from a season in which they had none and still scored 800 runs, those same writers would start drooling.
It's the national media pecking order, same as it's ever been - the Braves, fashionable; the Mets, gauche.
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Haplo's right
Yeah that's what I was going to write, too. Braves are very, very old, especially their starters.
Thanks for picking the Brewers, though, you are right there.
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Reds better than you think...
Yes, maybe Dusty will screw it all up, but he seems to have found a team of people that he can work with. What you shouldn't overlook this season is how drastically improved the Reds starting rotation is this year over last.
Harang is still one of the most underrated starting pitchers in the majors, Arroyo is solid and should be better than last year. Fogg is a stable veteran and then between Cueto and Volquez you have two guys who each could find them selves as the teams ace by 2009. If these guys stay healthy, the Reds will be the team to beat, their starting rotation is one of the strongest in the NL. The Reds also have Cordero, one of if not the best closer in the NL throwing 44 saves in '07, who the Brewers will be sorely missing, and Weathers who last year notched over 30 saves last year, as Cordero's set up man.
Plus, the Reds have all the offensive potential with Phillips (30/30) Griffey, Dunn, etc and an extremely deep bench in both the outfield and infield.
It's the toughest division in MLB with 6 teams and the Reds have (again this year) the toughest and most lopsided schedule with many long road trips. If the Reds defense can hang in there, and injuries do not destroy them, they will win the Central division or at least the Wild card which I figure to come out of the Central this year.
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Mets preview kinda off
As King basically pointed out, it's basically the same Mets team, plus Santana...but not even a nod to hello, the new best pitcher in the league? The potshot at Oliver Perez was lazy: the guy was 3.56/1.31 in 29 starts last year...that's not inconsistent, that's a pretty good big league pitcher. And I don't understand the remark about a lack of depth in the hitting lineup...because they don't have another Wright, Beltran, and Reyes on the bench?
Honestly, what's truly worrisome about the Mets is Willie still doesn't know how to handle his bullpen.
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I Think You Should Pick
Every game, every day for the whole season.
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also...
King wrote... "Cincinnati's farm system is in the process of spitting out Jay Bruce, Joey Votto, Johnny Cueto and Homer Bailey, the last of whom went from hot prospect to horrible bust in the space of nine starts last year."
Of these farm system prospects, only Cueto made the opening day lineup. Baker correctly sent Bailey down to AAA before the bell rang. It was a bad move to bring him up last year, more for PR than to win games, he clearly wasn't ready. I think in time Bailey will be the next Brandon Webb, but that might take a few more years.
Baker could have started Bruce and Votto, but then he would really be starting out with a very young team and instead he did the right thing, breaking camp with Hatteberg playing first and Patterson in CF. Bruce and Votto will undoubtably get time in this season and will be starters in '09.
A small market team, the Reds are walking the fine line of playing for a pennant while rebuilding the team. It worked for Sweet Lou and Trader Jack, let's see if Johnny B. Baker can do the same.
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Giants underrated
Zito will bounce back and pick up another Cy Young, and Randy Winn will hit 40 homers batting clean-up. The team will win the West easily and go all the way to the World Series.
Ok, April Fool's.
Seriously, though, I wonder whether the Giants would be competitive even in a AAA division.
Sad times for us San Francisco fans ...
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I Don't Know About The Theory
That a division with more teams is tougher.
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That May Be
Anal retentive sports analysis.............You have a 1 in 6 chance of winning a 6 team division and 1 in 5 of winning a five.
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Dodgers?
I gotta say, I'm a little surprised you didn't pick the Dodgers to win the west. They being a team that I vaguely follow (I blame Delillo) which also has the added bonus of employing an outfielder (André Ethier) who shares his name with my favourite Canadian Bob Dylan wannabe, they seemed kind of...close (but then again maybe they weren't?). I dunno, I figured that the hiring of Torre might be one of those "calming influence" type of things that could translate into a few more wins.
Actually, what is your take on the effect of the baseball manager? Is it a glorified role, or do you think they can significantly improve a team? I concede that they can actively hurt a team (a boneheaded use of the bullpen or overworking pitchers for example), but I haven't really thought too much about the positive role they can play in winning a significant number of more games.
p.s. after looking at the NL this year, man I wish my Blue Jays weren't in the AL East...I think they stack up pretty well against ANY NL team. Sigh...3rd place it is again...