BASEBALL 2005!! Predictions, general chat..

TenMan said:
So it's the All-Star break... how are everyone's predictions so far?
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I was off on my Cleveland prediction, I gues I thought their young talent would start making some noise this year. I'm off on the Giants, I expected some injuries with their old roster but not this many injuries. I think the Yanks have most of us fooled but I would still not count them out yet. The Cards look to be on pace to be in the WS as I expected.
 
TenMan said:
So it's the All-Star break... how are everyone's predictions so far?
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Just look at mines for your self.
So far I am only 2 and 1/2 games off for the braves, I am way off for the Seattle and Cleveland but I still think cleveland has a chance. I am dead on with Boston, Cardinals and the Padres though. So far I think my predictions are the best so far.
 
I haven't posted in here for a while. But im still for the twins. I guessing the turn around for them agains the white socks will be in august when they have another series against them. My prediction is the twins win the series and the white socks will steadily go down hill from there. Just my thoughts, many will disagree, but Im still hoping. At least twins still have it for the wild card, unless im mistaken (haven't looked in a while).
 
Who do you all think are the most suprising teams at the All-Star break (the good the bad and the ugly)?

NL-The Good: The obvious choice would have to be the Nationals. Who'd a thunk it that the Nationals (formally the Expos) would be in first at the All-Star break? I figured they'd be the Expos, just in a different uniform and ballpark. Although, I don't see them holding on and eventually conceding the division to those resiliant Braves (if they can stay healthy throughout the second half).

NL-The Bad: Expected to run away with the NL West, the Dodgers are definately a disappointment. Not to say that the abundance of injuries hasn't played a huge factor in their downward spiral, but the team just hasn't played up to their expectations. Luckily they're in a bad division so their chances of winning the division are still decent.

NL-The Ugly: The Rockies not only have horrible pitching, but their offense hasn't compensated for it's lack of pitching. Helton is having a horrible year (for him anyways) and one bright spot, rookie Clint Barmes goes and gets himself injured like a dumbass. Luckily this is a really young team who could possibly be good sometime in the future if they can just get some decent pitchers which they haven't really done since they became an expansion team.

AL-The Good: Once again, the obvious choice are the White Sox. I had no idea they had such a good team. They have a lot of really good players that are performing way above their expectations (Garland and Buehrle to name a couple). Ozzie Guillen seems to have really sparked this team and their performance shows that. Will easily win the division.

AL-The Bad: The Yankees. Despite over 200 Million dollars in salaries they are playing well below expectations. Bad offseason moves along with an aging team the Yankees just can't seem to find their rythem. I think they are a few good moves away from a division title or at least a wild card spot (center fielder, a couple of pitchers). Look for them to make a run in the second half and make the playoffs in one way or another. Bad first half or not, never count the Yankees out.

AL-The Ugly: The D-Rays, worst team in baseball of course. Unless of course they are playing the Yankees. Obviously a franchise not in it to win it. It seems this team is on the long road to know where. Any players they have that ARE any good I'm sure will be traded away before the deadline (ie Cantu and Crawford). Just a bad all around team. Expos anyone?

My predictions for the second half:

NL East Champs: Atlanta Braves
NL Central Champs: St. Louis Cardinals
NL West Champs: San Diego Padres
NL Wild Card: Wasington Nationals

AL East Champs: Boston Red Sox
AL Central Champs: Chicago White Sox
AL West Champs: Anaheim Angels
AL Wild Card: New York Yankees
 
natedogg said:
Made a couple of revisions.
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I like um. The Nationals and Yankees are definitely the surprise teams of the year... (IMO). Still, for a Cardinal championship. The potential, drive and talent are there... but can they stay healthy? Let's hope (for Red Bird fans) so.
 
One surprise is my boy Andruw Jones tearing it up. I'm a HUGE AJ fan and I'm so glad he's having a monster year so far. He's one of the nicest and hardest working guys in the game. Some people think he's a slacker but all you hear from teammates and coaches is how he constantly plays hurt and works harder than anybody in the cages and taking flies.

GO ANDRUW!
 
not_big_enuf said:
... Some people think he's a slacker but all you hear from teammates and coaches is how he constantly plays hurt and works harder than anybody in the cages and taking flies.

GO ANDRUW!
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Some think he's a slacker b/c all they see is what ESPN or your local sports director puts on the news... him lolly-gaging on fly's and running the bases.
 
That's just how Andruw plays. He plays the outfield different than other guys. When the ball comes off the bat, he knows immediate where it's going to be and sprints there, then he eases up at the end. Most guys play need to put on the gas because they don't read the ball like he does.

There are certainly times he doesn't run ground balls out though, I'll give you that ;) But of course, I've seen a couple other guys do that occasionally too.
 
I wasn't doggin' him at all. AJ came into the league at a very impressionable time in my youth so he's always gotten a nod from me. But at the same time I was taught old school run your balls off or go home baseball.
 
natedogg quote

AL-The Good: Once again, the obvious choice are the White Sox. I had no idea they had such a good team. They have a lot of really good players that are performing way above their expectations (Garland and Buehrle to name a couple). Ozzie Guillen seems to have really sparked this team and their performance shows that. Will easily win the division.

How could you say Buehrle has pitched above expectations? He has been one of the most consistent pitchers in the last 5 years!
there is no question the white sox will win the central, only question is by how many games. (I guess I should tell you I am a white sox season ticket holder!) lol
 
He's been nowhere near this good the last 5 years. He's never won 20 games and his ERA has never been this low. He IS pitching above expectations so far. Not to take anything away from him at all, he's still a very good pitcher.

ketchup head said:
natedogg quote

AL-The Good: Once again, the obvious choice are the White Sox. I had no idea they had such a good team. They have a lot of really good players that are performing way above their expectations (Garland and Buehrle to name a couple). Ozzie Guillen seems to have really sparked this team and their performance shows that. Will easily win the division.

How could you say Buehrle has pitched above expectations? He has been one of the most consistent pitchers in the last 5 years!
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Wins and losses aren't everything. Ranked first last year in CG's, Starts, 3rd in qualtiy starts, 200+ innings every year, always goes at least 6 innings, best pickoff move in the AL , doesn't walk anybody, His teams are always in the game when he pitches.
 
I don't think the yankees will get the Wild Card. If the twins do end up losing it to the white soxs (shudders; mainly since the white soxs have claimed they are going to beat the twins like this for years) they will most likely get the wild card. The yanks aren't even second for it and I dont see them turning around. Its great to finally have them see you can't always buy a team, sometimes team work is better than a bunch of high $$ players. jmo thought.
 
BTW, have guys been paying attention to the Oakland A's lately, they are on fire, they're pitching staff has surprised me lately. If they had kept either Mulder or Hudson I'd say they could be the surprise of the 2nd half, they still may be the way they're playing, they're traditionally a great 2nd half team too.
 
Iron Warrior said:
BTW, have guys been paying attention to the Oakland A's lately, they are on fire, they're pitching staff has surprised me lately. If they had kept either Mulder or Hudson I'd say they could be the surprise of the 2nd half, they still may be the way they're playing, they're traditionally a great 2nd half team too.
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The A's are almost always in contention, but that darn east coast AL is tuff... O and thank you Oakland for Mulder. Go Cards!
 
Game OVER in the NL East. It was fun watching those Nationals up there, giving the Braves all they could handle. Now they'll have to be content to fight for 2nd. Unbelieveable. Braves need players to step up, they get 7 rookies who do what needs to be done and Andruw Jones (my favorite MLBer) goes CRAZY and pulls out a TON of games for them while their big money players are on the DL. BRAVO!
 
not_big_enuf said:
Game OVER in the NL East. It was fun watching those Nationals up there, giving the Braves all they could handle. Now they'll have to be content to fight for 2nd. Unbelieveable. Braves need players to step up, they get 7 rookies who do what needs to be done and Andruw Jones (my favorite MLBer) goes CRAZY and pulls out a TON of games for them while their big money players are on the DL. BRAVO!
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Seriously who didn't see this coming? The Braves always pull it out. I think you could give Bobby Cox five 8th grade girls, three senior citizens and a rubber chicken, and he could still win the division.
 
I certainly DID. Hell yeah... I actually said in another thread on a different board that you could give Bobby: 3 cows, 2 couches, 7 goats, and hit Ben Grieve at 4th and he'd win the division. Bobby and John are simply brilliant minds. Players LOVE to play for Bobby and gets the best out of them. It's apparent as people come to ATL, have amazing careers, then go somewhere else and just never repeat what they did under Bobby.

TenMan said:
Seriously who didn't see this coming? The Braves always pull it out. I think you could give Bobby Cox five 8th grade girls, three senior citizens and a rubber chicken, and he could still win the division.
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TenMan said:
Seriously who didn't see this coming? The Braves always pull it out. I think you could give Bobby Cox five 8th grade girls, three senior citizens and a rubber chicken, and he could still win the division.
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13 years running if I'm not mistaken. They own the NL East.
 
natedogg said:
13 years running if I'm not mistaken. They own the NL East.
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Yes, the Braves own the NL East, but the problem is they struggle past that. How long are the Braves management and fans going to accept finishing at the top of the division, but not making into the WS? Or are they just happy to be there considering the injuries and other issues the Braves seem to over come each year? Or does the entire Braves organization work for Bobby Cox?:think:
 
to be fair, the braves never had huge payrolls in those years.
Now their payroll is somewhat higher

top 20
1 New York Yankees $208,306,817
2 Boston Red Sox $123,505,125
3 New York Mets $101,305,821
4 Los Angeles Angels $97,725,322
5 Philadelphia Phillies $95,522,000
6 St. Louis Cardinals $92,106,833
7 San Francisco Giants $90,199,500
8 Seattle Mariners $87,754,334
9 Chicago Cubs $87,032,933
10 Atlanta Braves $86,457,302
11 Los Angeles Dodgers $83,039,000
12 Houston Astros $76,779,000
13 Chicago White Sox $75,178,000
14 Baltimore Orioles $73,914,333
15 Detroit Tigers $69,092,000
16 San Diego Padres $63,290,833
17 Arizona Diamondbacks $62,329,166
18 Cincinnati Reds $61,892,583
19 Florida Marlins $60,408,834
20 Minnesota Twins $56,186,000
 
12 Houston Astros $76,779,000

Jeff Bagwell makes $18,000,000 of that
pretty good for an injured .265 hitter who doesn't hit more than 30 homeruns anymore
 
CEDeoudes59 said:
12 Houston Astros $76,779,000

Jeff Bagwell makes $18,000,000 of that
pretty good for an injured .265 hitter who doesn't hit more than 30 homeruns anymore
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You gotta like his nickname though...Jeff "Brown Paper" Bagwell. :lol:
 
I believe he is a good guy, but no longer a good baseball player. In fact I heard - his back is so messed up he can't even lift weights anymore (not even curls or light bench). He is listed at 6-0 185 now - that got to be the small three or cleanup hitter in the league by far.
 
Incorrect. The Braves payroll was actually quite high in comparison to the rest of the league in those year. In 1995, they had the 4th highest, in 94 2nd highest... etc etc.

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CEDeoudes59 said:
to be fair, the braves never had huge payrolls in those years.
Now their payroll is somewhat higher

top 20
1 New York Yankees $208,306,817
2 Boston Red Sox $123,505,125
3 New York Mets $101,305,821
4 Los Angeles Angels $97,725,322
5 Philadelphia Phillies $95,522,000
6 St. Louis Cardinals $92,106,833
7 San Francisco Giants $90,199,500
8 Seattle Mariners $87,754,334
9 Chicago Cubs $87,032,933
10 Atlanta Braves $86,457,302
11 Los Angeles Dodgers $83,039,000
12 Houston Astros $76,779,000
13 Chicago White Sox $75,178,000
14 Baltimore Orioles $73,914,333
15 Detroit Tigers $69,092,000
16 San Diego Padres $63,290,833
17 Arizona Diamondbacks $62,329,166
18 Cincinnati Reds $61,892,583
19 Florida Marlins $60,408,834
20 Minnesota Twins $56,186,000
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yeah, but the thing is, there were quite a few teams clumped together with a couple million being separating them. now you have the bottom-feeders literally being outspent 5-6x by the top teams. the top tier teams are literally 3-4 times as much as MANY teams.

much more spread out nowadays.
 
NL Central- cards are running away with it....

NL East- Braves again

NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES = Braves/ Cards - 6 games Cards over braves
 
Yep, I'd love to say my Braves will win it and move on to the World Series but the Cards are just too tough all around.

bigGUNS04 said:
NL Central- cards are running away with it....

NL East- Braves again

NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES = Braves/ Cards - 6 games Cards over braves
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yankees3 said:
I was waiting for this. I figured it would be a Sox fan that said it. I'm not gonna worry about it til around the All star break. Thats usually when they start to pull away from the rest of the division.

Washington isn't looking too shabby. It wouldn't suprise me if they didnt have the worst record in the majors (Pittsburgh will. McClendon is a horrible manager and they don't have much in the way of talent)
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Who is the girl in your avatar dude?
 
asap nutrition said:
I gave these on another board and I was ripped for it. I don't care so here goes:

NL east champs:Braves
NL Central champs:Stl Cardinals
NL West Champs:San Diego Padres(or maybe Giants)

AL East champs:Boston
AL Central Champs:Cleveland Indians(look how wrong I am so far)
AL West champs:Seattle Mariners(I still think they will win the west)
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Well the only thing I may end up being wrong is Seatle Mariners. So far San Diego, Braves, Boston, and Cardinals are in first place. The INdians are only 4 and a half behind the White Sox for first place. Seems linke my guesses was right for the most part over 5 months ago.
 
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