Can the Boston Celtics finish what that other Boston team couldn't? Can CP3 & Company continue to surprise the world and give New Orleans more to cheer about? Can the Lakers win thier first championship without Shaq? Can a team other than Boston even compete for the championship in the east? Here are my predictions...
#1 Boston Celtics vs. #8 Atlanta Hawks
The Hawks will be trying to pull off one of the greatest, if not the greatest, upset in NBA playoff history with a series win over the Celtics in the first round of the 2008 NBA Playoffs. It would make for great publicity for the NBA, who already had a great season overall, and it would also give non-NBA fans a reason to watch because they will have a team to root for, because everyone loves an underdog. The problem... the Hawks won't even win a game.
Celtics in 4
#2 Detroit Pistons vs. #7 Philadelphia 76ers
When it comes to the playoffs, the team to bet on is the Pistons. The past six times the Pistons have made the playoffs they have only failed to reach the conference finals once (2002). The 76ers are trying to build a team around thier new AI (Andre Iguodala), but just don't have enough role players to compete with the Pistons.
Pistons in 5
#3 Orlando Magic vs. #6 Toronto Raptors
A playoff series between two of the best players in the nation in Chris Bosh and Dwight Howard should be a good one. Both teams got bounced out of the playoffs in the first round last year, and are looking to make it further. The point guard matchup is the most important and entertaining matchup to watch, T.J. Ford and Jameer Nelson are two of the best young guards in the league. But the edge goes to the Magic over the Raptors because of Reshard Lewis and sleeper MVP Hedo Turkoglu.
Magic in 6
#4 Cleveland Cavaliers vs. #5 Washington Wizards
For the third straight year the Cavaliers and Wizards will meet in the first round of the playoffs. The previous two years the Cavaliers have won both series. Unfortunately for the Wizards, it will be the third straight year they exit in the first round at the hands of the Cavaliers. LeBron James knows how to play come playoff time, and the Wizards don't have that premier scorer in Gilbert Arenas right now. Arenas is currently playing around 20 minutes a game, that's not enough of an impact to carry the bruised up Wizards to the next round.
Cavaliers in 6
#1 Los Angeles Lakers vs. #8 Denver Nuggets
Pau Gasol was the missing piece that Kobe Bryant needed for the Lakers to make a run at the championship. The Nuggets have two of the best scorers in the nation on one team (Carmelo Anthony & Allen Iverson), but don't have the record to show. The Nuggets will win one maybe two games but are just way over matched by the Lakers.
Lakers in 5
#2 New Orleans vs. #7 Dallas Mavericks
After Hurricane Katrina New Orleans didn't even think they would still have an NBA team come 2008. Not only do they have a team, they have the second best team in the Western Conference and one of the best players in the country in MVP candidate, Chris Paul. The problem is they have hardly any playoff experience and will be playing a Mavericks team that knows what it takes to win come April.
Mavericks in 7
#3 San Antonio Spurs vs. #6 Pheonix Suns
At the beginning of the season if you said the Spurs and Suns would play each other in the playoffs nobody would have argued. If you would have told them they would be playing each other in the first round and not in the conference championship, people would have laughed at you. This is in my opinion the best series, and the hardest to judge. Steve Nash will be looking for revenge after getting suplexed last year, and Amare Stoudamire will be on the court, not on the bench that he left when trying to defend Nash last year and got suspended a game. With the addition of Shaquille O'Neal, who knows how to beat Tim Duncan like Ike knows how to beat Tina, Suns will win.
Suns in 7
#4 Utah Jazz vs. #5 Houston Rockets
The Rockets havn't won a playoff series since 1997, and are Yao-less. Ok, so they won 22 games in a row, can they win 4 out of 7? The Jazz reached the conference finals last year and have done nothing but get better. Deron Williams is a premier point guard and Carlos Boozer is one of the games best in the low-post.
Jazz in 6
Apr 18, 2008
NBA Playoff Preview
Apr 15, 2008
Finally!! Gumbel is Canned.
Apr 14, 2008
DUI for Nuggets Melo'
Apr 10, 2008
So who wins the MVP??
KOBE BRYANT- It's about time this man is the front runner for the award. He was robbed two years ago when Nash won his second in a row. The man has been the best basketball CHRIS PAUL- He is having arguably one of the greatest seasons ever for a point guard. Chris LEBRON JAMES- King James is going to win the award plenty of times before he hangs them up but not this season. Lebron should be considered for the award based solely on his numbers, but if that were the case though Kobe would have won the award the last 2 years. KEVIN GARNETT- The only one on my list who has actually won the award. KG is playing out So thats it my picks for MVP. If you think I'm wrong about something or would just like to tell me how much a douche i am for my picks feel free to leave a comment. 
The NBA sure did show some resiliency this year after being on the verge of ruin because a gambling scandal that rocked the foundation of the sport.TV ratings are up and attendance is near an all-time high. So what is it that is responsible for this resurgence? Is it the rise of Boston Celtics from the ashes? Or maybe the extremely tight playoff race in the west. How bout the flurry of blockbuster trades in early February that begun to resemble an arms race between the Western Conference powers? While these all have something to do with it,none quite are as important to the league as the never-ending MVP debate. The race has sure to sparked some debate on talk radio programs and at your office's water cooler. So the question remains who will win? Hit the jump to find out!!
So it begins the never ending debate of who will win. I'm here today to hopefully give you some ammo going into those lunch break skirmishes as I attempt to bring this debate to a halt. I'm going to list my ballot as if I were casting my vote today.
player on the planet the last 7 years. He is averaging 28.4 pts a game to go along with 6.4 boards and 5.5 assists. Not only can the man score anytime he wants he can defend the opposing teams best player with the greatest of ease. He has made 7 all NBA defensive teams, the first team the last 2 years so that argument is moot when brought up in another candidates favor. One might argue that he's on the best team but is he really? It's all speculation up to this point because his team has never been healthy and all been out on the court at the same time. The way he has grown this season as a player is also reason to give this man his due. He has played selflessly and let the game come to him rather than try to force stuff, he now believes in his teammates. Finally the last and greatest reason to give the man the trophy is the fact he is playing with a torn ligament on shooting hands pinky finger. Lebron missed 4 games due to a sprained finger on his non-shooting hand,Kobe's missed none and he's been playing with the injury since late January.
Paul is currently averaging 21.1 pts a game while handing out 11.4 assist a game. While improving his scoring and assist this season his biggest improvement has been elevating the play of those around him. In the 2007 season the Hornets only managed to win 39 games ,this year they have won 55. They have improved so much that they'll be going into the playoffs with the number 2 seed and possibly the 1 if the Lakers lose on Tues to the Kings.He has led a team picked by some to miss the playoffs to the top of the wild western conference and thats is worth the consideration alone. Paul has become the premier point guard in the league surpassing the likes of Nash and Kidd. Any other year Paul would win but CP3 is still young and that will be the knock against him when the voters vote. Their reasoning will be that he has many years ahead of him while Kobe has waited his entire career to reach the pinnacle. When it comes down to he and Kobe are having stellar seasons but when it comes down to it i have to give it to Kobe.
The Cavaliers record is not good enough for the man to win an mvp award. While he does average 30.2 ppg , 7.2 assist and 7.9 rebounds a game, his team is fighting to hang on to the 4th seed in the horrible east unlike Paul and Bryant who have led their teams to the two best records in the best conference. Some people would argue his team lacks the talent of the other contenders which may be true but not entirely. The Cavs did trade for Ben Wallace and some other role players at the deadline that really helped improve their bench. Since the trade Cleveland has gone 12-12 and James' numbers declined slightly. The plus to Lebrons situation is he can takeover games and look great doing it because the talent in the east is very bad asside from the top 3 teams. So a top 3 finish ain't that bad for a 23 year old kid from Akron.
of his mind at his new diggs in Beantown. Garnett has led the Celtics to the best record in the NBA while being one of the best defenders in the league. His stats don't necesarly reflect those of an Mvp or even the other 3 canidates. Garnett is hampered by the fact that he has to share the rock with 2 other superstars meaning his touches are limited but that does not affect his impact he has on the game. KG's only knock comes to from the fact that his team was expected to win so he loses out on the making his team better vote. So now he'd have to win over the voters by putting up some amazing numbers which he did in a sense but not on the scale of the others. He's also missed 9 games in which his team is 4-5 without him so he is rather important. I just dont see him winning it when there are 3 other candidates who have had better seasons and have never won the award.
Apr 9, 2008
The A.P. Predicts the '08 MLB Season
Want to know who each of The A.P. writers predict to win the World Series. Or what if you already know who will win? Do you want to see who will win the Cy Young, or MVP award? What about who will take home this years Rookie of the Year awards? Click to find out...
World Series: Atlanta Braves over Cleveland Indians
AL East: Boston Red Sox
AL Wildcard: New York Yankees
AL MVP: Alex Rodriguez
AL Cy Young: Eric Bedard
AL ROY: Jacoby Ellsbury
AL HR Leader: Alex Rodriguez
NL East: Atlanta Braves
NL MVP: Mark Texiera
SportsGuyJr:
World Series: Los Angeles Angels over Chicago Cubs
AL Wildcard: Detroit Tigers
NL Wildcard: MilwaukeeBrewers
AL East: Boston Red Sox
AL West: Seattle Mariners
AL MVP: Alex Rodriguez
NL East: Atlanta Braves
NL Central: Milwaukee Brewews
NL West: Arizona Diamondbacks
NL MVP: David Wright
NL Cy Young: Ben Sheets
NL ROY:
NL HR Leader:
Apr 8, 2008
Francisco Liriano Rehab Start
Liriano took the mound in the bottom of the first with slight fanfare for what seemed like a crowd of about 75 tops.He started out strong striking out the first batter on about 6 pitches. He started to go deep in the count on the 2nd batter until he got him to ground out to third base. The next batter he faced took a pitch opposite field and tripled. He eventually got the 4th batter of the inning to Fly out to Right.In the second inning he ran in to a bit of trouble and walked the second batter faced. His defense didn't really help him out in the inning as an error lead to prolonging the inning which ultimately led to his high pitch count. He looked to be control of his stuff at this point. Consistently hitting 91-93 on his fastball while occasionally mixing a change up in there at about 81. He seemed to stay away from his breaking ball but that might have been by design because of the weather.In the 3rd inning he flashed some quick reflexes as he deflected a liner off his glove but it ended up going for a hit. Also his defense again let him down . The 4th is when he ran into some trouble getting hit pretty hard and walking one which led to 3 runs on 3 hits. He went on to be yanked after the fourth. Overall i think he looked pretty good but could stand to maybe have another start or two in the minors. He's still walking too many batters ,3 tonight and 2 last Thurs. In the latter parts of his start he began throwing a lot of first pitch balls and looked like he was struggling to hit the strike zone after not missing in the first two innings. The speed was there, I can't speak to his off speed stuff like I said he was avoiding them it seemed. thanks thats our review and be sure to check us out again sometime. Sorry Pics Are so grainy Camera's Zoom was broken.
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MISSION 16W
So it begins the journey for the cup or mission 16W as some would like to call it. I'll be honest I haven't watched much hockey this year but I was fortunate enough to catch a few gems. Here is a quick run down of the first round match ups.
1.Montreal (47-25-10) vs 8.Boston (41-29-12)- Montreal having won all 8 regular season meetings i don't see why they would have any trouble here. Assuming the 20 year old rookie goaltender
can hold up under the pressure of the playoffs look for Montreal to coast and win the series 4-12.Pittsburgh (47-27-8) vs 7.Ottawa (43-31-8)-Expect the Pens to light up to score board and win this series going away. Despite having lost the season series 3-1 I like the match up of Malkin and Crosby against this defense. The Penguins are poised to make a run this year and will be determined to make a run for the cup this year their time is now! 4-0 Penguins.
3.Washington (43-31-8) vs 6.Philadelphia (42-29-11)- The rebirth of a rivalry?? I think so back in the hey day of the NHL these two teams were division rivals,and what a nasty rivalry it was. Now in the modern era these teams only play 4 times a year instead of 8 since realignment knocked these two teams apart. Expect this series to be physical and hotly contested and I'm only talking about the fans right now. With a 7 game series on the horizon and both teams as hot as Barry Melrose on the bench. Lest we forget that the big O will be making his playoff debut and probably with some new hardware to go along with it.I ultimately see the home team winning each game so I have to give the edge to Washington. 4-3 Capitals.
4.New Jersey (46-29-7) vs 5.NY Rangers(42-27-13)- The Rangers come into this game holding a 7-1 season series advantage and are looking to continue their dominance of the Devils through the first round. The Devils have not won a game in regulation since March 15th and Scott Gomez the former Devil will be suiting up against his former team for the first time in the playoffs so look for him to be a key in the Rangers fore check. That being said i still believe New Jersey has the best goaltender in the game and in the playoffs that means everything. I like the Devils in 6.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
1.Detroit(52-21-7) vs 8. Nashville (41-32-9)- The Red Wings have the top attack in the conference and top power play backed up by a not to shabby D(ranked 8th). This series will be over before Nashville even steps foot off the plane. Detroit is healthy again plus they have not lost in their previous 9 this team is focused on 1 thing and that's bringing Lord Stanley back to Hockey Town USA. 4-0 Detroit.
2.San Jose(49-23-10) vs 7. Calgary(42-30-10)- The San Jose Sharks 
are under a lot of pressure to get it done this year. Calgary on the other hand lacks offense,aside from the spectacular numbers put up by Jerome Ignilia he scored 32pts more than the second leading scorer on the Flames. San Jose led the league in wins at home but also put together 2 winning streaks of nine on the road so they can win anywhere. I like the Sharks 4-1.
3. Minnesota (44-28-10) vs 6. Colorado (44-31-7)- Minnesota is making their first appearance in the playoffs since coming to the twin cities. Colorado is also back in the playoff after missing them last year for the first time in 12 years. The Avalanche are 5-0-1 in their last six and everyone is catching fire at the right time. Forsberg in particular is looking like his old self again which spells trouble for the Wild. Minnesota gets the edge in the net but they lack a true superstar on the offensive side of things. 4-2 Colorado wins it in a tough battle.
4.Anahiem (47-27-8) vs 5. Dallas (45-30-7)- The defending cup champs begin their title defense with the Dallas Stars. Anaheim is 20-5-1 since the return of Selanne to the lineup. The Ducks 
have struggled as of late to put up some goals and it could ultimately be the end of their title defense in the first round. Dallas brings Brad Richards ,the 2006 Conn Symthe winner ,and have a solid defense so if they can manage to score on Giguere they will be primed to win against this offensively challenged Ducks team. Take the Ducks in 7, they pull it together in the crunch.
Read more!
Texas Two Step
It has been 20 years since the last championship was won by the boys from Lawrence. A program so rich in tradition that the Championship bears the name of a legend of sorts on campus. Yes sir,the 2008 Kansas Jayhawks are you NCAA men's basketball champions. Bill Self did something Ol' Roy could never do and that's deliver a championship.Despite mysteriously being there and rooting for his former program (the team that beat him 2 days prior in the final 4) Ol' Roy sat and watched as the Jayhwaks erased a 9 point deficit with a little over 2 minutes to play.The Jayhawks not so much took the game back as they were let back in to the game by the atrocious foul shooting of Memphis.With about 1:45 to go and Kansas down Bill Self decided to try his luck and put a bad free throw shooting team on the line(61.2 percent on the year). The plan worked, even though Memphis had shot a respectable 70.5 percent from the line in the tournament their bad shooting finally caught up with them. As in their only other loss of the season the Memphis Tigers couldn't sink a free throw to save their lives. Shaq would of been the best free throw option for the Tigers had he been on the court last night. Trailing by 5 at the half Memphis came out behind the strong second halves of Douglas-Roberts and Derrick Rose to seemingly put the game away,but when the Jayhawks began to foul Memphis kept laying the bricks like they we're going out of style. With the score 62-60 the Jayhawks got the rebou
nd on a Douglas-Roberts miss from the charity stripe with about 23 seconds left in regulation. Unexpectedly Sharrod Collins took the dribble coast to coast attempting to sneak one by the Memphis d for a shot at tying the game but to no avail, he missed badly on a contested layup.So with a 2 point lead and 10.8 seconds left Kansas fouled the super freshman Derrick Rose and put him at the line to ice the championship, Memphis fans everywhere held their collective breathes. After the first one clanked off the rim the pressure was on and the kid came through. With a 63-60 lead now and Kansas' only chance to send this game to OT was to sink a miracle 3 all Memphis had to do was foul and inexplicably they did not. I don't wanna beat a dead horse here cause the whole college game night crew couldn't leave it alone but WHY, why did you not foul ?What was going on through Capilarri's head? I mean come on a middle school coach would of fouled in that situation. Even still after Chalmers nailed the most clutch shot in Kansas Jayhawks history the Memphis Tigers had time to draw up a play to get at least a look at the basket and what do you know that genius lets his players inbound without so much as a inbounds play.The tigers tossed up a lame duck shot.Headed to overtime ,dejected and clearly in a state of disarray after watching the lead slip away,Memphis was on the ropes. What happened next was just five minutes of Kansas beating up on a lost team that had given up soon as the ball was tipped. In the end Bill Self finally lost the tag of best coach to never win a title and sent Lawrence,Kansas into pandemonium. Sad thing is no one saw this extraordinary comeback because the game was seemingly over with 2 minutes to play and lack of star power put this game of the radar for most. I'll be really interested to see the ratings numbers for this game when the come out. Till next time we're ghosts.Apr 7, 2008
AL East Preview
1. Boston Red Sox- You cant predict against the Sox coming off of their World Series title last year. They've have became the AL Heavyweight and with the starting pitching becoming thin in the AL, the Sox probably have one of the deepest pitching staffs in the league. With Manny being in a sort of contract year, look for his numbers to explode this year. And with the best closer in the AL, this team will win 90+ games and hope to make a run to defend their World Series Crown.
2. New York Yankees- The final year in Yankee Stadium! You thought the Cubbies had motivation being their 100 year anniversary, what about the Yanks in their last year? Id call that motivation. All though they didn't really make any off season moves with bringing most of their players back, the Yankees will be better with their young players growing and their pitching staff only getting better. Robinson Cano is my pick to win the AL hitting title, and you know A-rod will put up his normal numbers, so look for this team to carry the Playoff streak into the wild card spot this year.
3. Toronto Blue Jays- The Blue Jays, the team that I believe can make some noise in this AL East division and maybe in the playoffs but like every other team, they need to stay healthy. This team has really started to grow, with Vernon Wells becoming an All-Star Center fielder and Alex Rios becoming a premier slugger. The Blue Jays also acquired the scrappy and reliable David Eckstein, and other proven guys like Shannon Stewart, Marco Scutaro, and Scott Rolen (Who is starting the season on the DL). They also have the Big Hurt who will be such an asset to that lineup as the DH. The X-factor for this Blue Jays team is AJ Burnett. I think he is destined for a huge year and he is my surprise pick for the AL Cy Young. Although, they will be a lot better, they just wont be at that next level this year.
4. Tampa Bay Rays-This Tampa Bay team is the team that I am looking forward to the most to watch(well except for the Offense of the Tigers). Even though they took off the DEVIL in their name, you cant help but like this team for what they are trying to do. They are just filled with young talent up and down the lineup with BJ Upton and Carl Crawford getting better every year.
5. Baltimore Orioles-A lot of preseason articles have this team fighting with the San Fran Giants as one of the worst teams in the league. Well like all the other articles, I agree. This team will struggle to win 60 games, but at least the management of this team has finally started to rebuild with getting rid of Miguel Tejada,Jay Gibbons, and Eric Bedard. All though they still have players that work hard all around, like Brian Roberts, they ll get better, just not this year.
Apr 5, 2008
AL Central Preview
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Cleveland (89-73)- This is the same Cleveland team that came within one game of the World Series.They return the deepest pitching and best staff this side of the AL (minus maybe the Jays) and can put a lineup out on the field every game that can score runs.Their pitching staff if healthy(something C.C. Sabathia did for the first time in a few years) will be the best in the bigs to go along with their already amazing bullpen. The only question mark is whether the arms of C.C. and Carmona can handle another 200 + inning campaign. I should also mention that Borowski is getting up there so his reliability to close out games is a concern.On the offensive side of things they return pretty much the same line up sans Kenny Lofton who was the sole off season departure.Travis Haffner is hoping to bounce back from a pedestrian like season of .260 avg and 24 hrs.The previous 4 seasons he averaged .311 avg and 34 hrs.With a whole season already under his belt look to second year man starter Asdrubal Cabrerra( 2nd base) to add some pop to the top of this line up.
Detroit (87-75)- The Tigers what is there to say but watch out!! This team has the capabilities to score 900 plus runs to go along with some stout talent at the top of their rotation, BUT( there is always a but) this teams achilles heel will be the ability to hold on to leads once their starters give way to the pen. Jim Leyland will have fun all summer juggling the line up that is so deep they could field 2 teams that would still finish better than the Marlins. Depth is not their problem, at least not in the batters box the real problem is their bullpen.As much fun as Leyland will have with his lineup he will have an equally disturbing time having to go to his pen. With no fresh young arms in the pen to go along with an already creaky Todd Jones this will be a ticking time bomb. Fernando Rodney while showing signs of being on the right track has an entirely bloated era for a set up man and factor in that their best relief option is busy on the DL again from another marathon session of Guitar Hero, this team will struggle to close out the close ones.They do have some extra depth on the bench so its not entirely out of the realm of possibility that they can trade some for some bullpen help.On the offensive side they will score ,no doubt, their offense alone will win them about 60 games but the other 25-30 games needed to win the division will have to come in close fought games and I just don't see them coming out on top in many with the current situation. Miggie to go with Ordonez is gonna to be a fearsome 1-2 punch imagine how many RBI 's Cabrera will get when the people ahead of him will actually be on base.Read more!
Apr 4, 2008
AL West Preview
The Anaheim Angels, or Los Angeles Angels, or the Los Angeles but still has Anaheim in its name Angels will win this division.... but it wont be easy. They have won the division 3 of the last 4 years and will make it 4 of 5 this year. Who will give them a run....?
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (93-69) - The Angels signed Torii Hunter and Jon Garland in the offseason. So, they added another good bat to an already good line-up, and another good pitcher to an already good rotation.
Pitchers: John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar will start the season on the DL, they are both shelved until mid May. That hurts the Angles considering these two pitchers accounted for 37 of the 71 wins the Angels' starters got last year. Young pitchers Ervin Santana and Jered Weaver will have to pick it up a little bit until Lackey and Escobar return from the DL. Joe Saunders will most likely be a starter until their return, who is a quality replacement. As for new comer Jon Garland, the team is now relying on him a little bit more than than they expected when they first signed him. As long as the Angels can keep the lead going into the later innings they will be fine, with a bull-pen anchored by Francisco Rodriguez and Scott Shields (also on 15-day DL), they won't blow many leads.
Batters: The best outfield in the majors resides in Los Angeles of Anaheim (???). Gary Mathews Jr., Torri Hunter, and Vladamir Guerrero make up the all-star trio that will hit plenty of home runs and also rob plenty of home runs this year. Then you add in the always reliable Chone Figgins, who had a career year last year, and is only getting better. Then throw in the future faces of the franchise in Howie Kendrick and Reggie Willits, this team can't lose.
Seattle Mariners (88-74) - Seattle did this off-season what they were supposed to do. They got pitchers to help take the pressure of winning off Feliz Hernandez's shoulders. They also added a couple role players in Brad Wilkerson and Miguel Cairo. This team is headed in the right direction.
Pitchers: Felix Hernandez is now the face of this franchise, and last year all the pressure was on him to win ball games. This year they went out and got him some help. With the acquisition of Eric Bedard and Carlos Silva they make this pitching rotation very good. Bedard was 13-5 with a 3.16 ERA last year on a very, very, very bad, Baltimore Orioles team. With Bedard not even being the "ace" of this staff, he will win 20 games this year. Closing out ball games will be a problem for awhile. JJ Putz is starting the season on the DL, and the majority of the bull-pen is young and unproven.
Batters: Ichiro Suzuki, Richie Sexson, Adrian Beltre, Raul Ibanez, Jose Vidro, and Kenji Johjima. All of these players are all-star caliber players, they make up 2/3 of the Mariners line-up. This team will score runs. The questions are can Sexson hit for average, and can Ibanez get his power back. Also, if Wilkerson can bring his numbers up from recent years, and Yuniesky Betancourt can keep improving, this team just might prove me wrong and slide past the Angels for the division title.
Oakland Athletics (76-86) - This team was destined to fail when the traded away Dan Haren, and Nick Swisher for unproven minor leaguers. Haren was the "ace" of your staff and young, and Swisher who has been one of your best hitters the past three years. But look at the bright side, at least you finished 3rd!!!
Pitchers: With Haren gone, Rich Harden reclaims the "ace" role once again. He is a great pitcher and will have an above average year, but the rest of the rotation? Joe Blanton has only been a .500 pitcher the past 3 years. Justin Duchscherer is a starter for the first time in his 6 year career. Lenny DiNardo has onlt started 27 games and is 9-13 in those contests. And Dana Eveland (who they acquire din the Haren trade) has only made 6 starts, and is 2-4 with a 7.55 ERA.
Batters: Bobby Crosby hasn't lived up to his hype. Mark Ellis is average, Dan Johnson hasn't lived up to the numbers he put up his rookie year (2005, and those numbers weren't that great). And Jack Cust finally had a good year last year, after 7 tries. The only thing this team has going for them are the three young ball players that will be good. Kurt Suzuki has half a year under his belt and he will be a premier catcher in the league. Daric Barton will compete with fellow teammate Ryan Sweeney for Rookie of the Year honors. Out of 8 positions, they have 3 bright spots.
Texas Rangers (70-92) - This team did nothing in the offseason to help them contend in their own division. They let Akinori Otsuka go, they traded for Josh Hamilton (great life story) but he is not enough to help. This team will be at the bottom, and if they don't find help from somewhere, they will be at the bottom for awhile.
Pitchers: Kevin Millwood leads this staff, but in his two years with the ball club he is 26-26, if your so called "ace" is a .500 pitcher what does that say about the rest of your staff? Vincente Padilla was only 6-10 last year, then got hurt, as usual. Jason Jennings is with his 3rd team in as many seasons. He has had 2 winning seasons in his 7 year career, and they were his rookie and sophomore seasons. Kason Gabbard is the only thing this staff has going for them. He pitched very well with Boston last year but stunk the place up after being traded to the Rangers. He could end up having an ok year this year, which is probably a good year if he were on a better team. They're two young star pitchers (Kameron Loe, and Brandon McCarthy) are starting the season in Triple-A. With the bull-pen being young, and Eddie Guardado, who hasn't pitched a full season since 2005, closing games for you, it could be a long year for the Rangers.
Batters: They have a bunch of young players that have been to all-star games in the line-up. But they just don't have enough role players. Michael Young has been the only consistent thing on this ball club. He has been to the All-Star Game every year since 2004. Hank Blalock has been to the All-Star Game in 2003 and 2004 but hasn't put up the numbers from those years since. Ian Kinsler is a rising star, getting better every year, and has quickly become one of the best second baseman in the majors. Newly acquired Josh Hamilton will help this squad out a little bit, he hits for average, and will provide more power to the line-up. Their next best player is starting the season in Triple-A (Jarrod Saltalamacchia).
Apr 3, 2008
NL Central Preview
Chicago Cubs (92-70) - No, I'm not picking them because it is their 100th year anniversary of thier last World Series win, nor am I picking them because I feel sorry for them. I think this year their team is better than it's been for the past handful of years.Pitchers: They no longer have the distraction of Carlos Zambrano's contract issues that went on for half the year in 2007. Issues that led to Zambrano carrying a 6.91 ERA after the first two months of the season. Ted Lilly had his best season of his 10 year career in 2007, his first with the Cubs. Lilly went 15-8 with a 3.83 ERA. If he can continue that success this year, it means nothing but good things for the Cubbies. Rich Hill had a good year (11-8 3.92) to follow his rookie season. He now has the experience after 1 1/2 years of pitching in the big leagues. And to finish the rotation you have the young and reliable Jason Marquis, and the old and injury riddled Jon Lieber. But before the end of the year Lieber will be on the DL and the young Carlos Marmol will be Chicago's fifth starter.
Batters: Any line-up with Aramis Ramirez, Derrick Lee, and Alfonso Soriano is dangerous. Then you add "The Riot" (Ryan Theriot) into the mix, who isn't nearly as talented as the others but brings more heart to every game than all three of them combined. Then bring over, literally, a ballplayer (Kosuke Fukudome) with the skills of Ichiro and the power of Hideki Matsui, and this line-up is one of the best, if not the best, in the National League.
Milwaukee Brewers (89-73) - This team is very young and is destined to win many central division championships. But thier problem this year is they are "too" young and overmatched by Chicago. If they can keep competing and not fall-off towards the end of the year, like 2007, they will give Chicago a run for the division and will compete for the NL Wild Card.
Pitchers: If Ben Sheets can stay healthy this year, unlike the past three seasons, he will compete for the Cy Young Award. Sheets is a great "ace" for this staff and will help set the tone for the rest of the rotation. Jeff Suppan is the leader of this staff. Even though he is entering his 14th big league season he is one of the most reliable pitchers in the league. He has not had a losing season since 2002, and has had 30+ starts every year since 1999. The pitcher that will make or break this staff is Yovani Gallardo. He is currently on the DL after arthroscopic knee surgery, but is scheduled to return to the team towards the end of April. If he can continue from where he left off last year, the Brewers might have one of the best pitching duos in the league in Sheets and Gallardo. And if Eric Gagne can pitch like he used to, the Brewers wont look stupid for letting Francisco Cordero go.
Batters: Prince Fielder... every team wants him, the Brewers have him, the question is whether or not Ryan Braun can protect him. If Braun can't, they really don't have a nyone else that can handle that duty. So it's sad to say, but Fielder's season will depend on Braun's season, and the Brewers season will depend on Fielder's season... You do the math. With Johnny Estrada gone to the Nationals, The Brew Crew downgrade in offense with Jason Kendall, but do upgrade in defense. JJ Hardy and Rickie Weeks make a very nice double play duo up the middle and aquiring Mike Cameron in the offseason lets Bill Hall play third base and Ryan Braun left field. The positions each were supposed to play when coming up to the majors. If Tony Gwynn Jr. can hit half of what his father did, this team can go somewhere.
St. Louis Cardinals (86-76) - Yes, they traded away Scott Rolen & Jim Edmonds, and let David Eckstein walk. But any team that Tony La Russa is coaching, Albert Pujols is batting, and Chris Carpenter is pitching, is going to finish above .500 and will pretend to compete. I know Carpenter isn't pitching until after the All-Star Break... but he is still pitching, I didn't say pitching a whole season.Pitching: Adam Wainwright is the interim "ace" of the staff since Carpenter is shelved until the All-Star Break. Wainwright has good stuff, but has only showed it during the Redbirds run at the World Series in 2006, and that was out of the bullpen. Last year in his first full season as a starter he went 14-12 with a 3.70 ERA. He had little run support last year but will have even less this year. If the Cardinals are still in contention when Carpenter returns that will be a great thing for Cardinal fans, because Carpenter will be healthier and more energized than most pitchers in the league. Question marks for the rest of the staff. Kyle Lohse hasn't pitched a full season since 2003, due to performance or injury. Anthony Reyes was 2-14 with a 6.04 ERA last year, it can't get much worse for him. Todd Wellemeyer hadn't started a game in his 5 year career until La Russa aquired him last year. Mark Mulder and Joel Piniero are on the DL until late April (Piniero) and late May (Mulder).
Batters: Albert Pujols is always reliable, he has played at least 143 games every year of his 7 year career. But a minor injury in his left elbow could be problems. If it gets worse he has no option but season ending surgery. And that's when the St. Louis Cardinals have a season ending day. The Cardinals have 5 outfielders on the roster (Skip Shumaker, Ryan Ludwig, Chris Duncan, Rick Ankiel, & Brian Barton), only one of them has played opening day and/or a full season (Duncan). Ankiel will have a great year and will replace the offense of Jim Edmonds, Troy Glaus will not replace anything of Scott Rolen. Cesar Izturis is a great defender, but can't hit the ball. This team will win games because La Russa can play small ball when it counts.
Houston Astros (83-79) - They made a big move in aquiring Miguel Tejada, and it will help thier offense big time, but they did nothing to help out thier pitching. I think that's what is going to hurt them in the long run.
Pitchers: Roy Oswalt, Cy Young candidate, and he will have the run support this year that he didn't have last year. Brandon Backe hasn't pitched a full season as a starter since his first year as a starter, with the Astros, when he showed so much promise. In 2005 he was 10-8 with a 4.76 ERA, he has only made 13 starts combined since due to injury. If Backe can get back to '05 form and grow from thier, it's good news for the Astros. Wandy Rodriguez has pitched three years for the Astros and has posted one .500 season and two losing seasons, question mark. Shawn Chacon has been ineffective his whole career (43-58 4.98 ERA), and now pitching in Minute Maid Field with a short left field fence will only make the numbers worse. Chris Sampson, 22 career starts, 9-9 with a 4.05 ERA, question mark. Jose Valverde is a great pick-up for the closing role, but you can't record a save when your team is losing.
Batters: Lance Berkman, Carlos Lee, & Miguel Tejada is a great trio for the 3,4,5 spot in the line-up. Put a very good and only getting better Hunter Pence in the 2-spot and you have a top of the line-up opposing pitchers will dread. But if you get no runs out of those four spots, then what? Geoff Blum has never had over 52 RBI's in a season, and has only hit over .262 twice in his 10 year career. Ty Wigginton is not consistent, Michael Bourn isn't proven, Brad Ausmus is a defensive catcher, and Kaz Matsui is shelved until further notice. They have a great core, but not enough role players.
Cincinnati Reds (75-87) - The only thing this team did in the offseason was aquire a closer in Francisco Cordero. But the problem I have with that is... if your not winning ball games, don't you think there are other problems besides your closer. The GM couldn't of possibly said, "If we had a closer that wouldn't have blown as many saves last year, we would have made the playoffs." Just a thought. You kind of realized this GM didn't know what he was doing when he hired Dusty Baker, I guess he never watched Baseball Tonight.Pitchers: Bronson Arroyo, he would be a good #2 and a great #3, but he just doesn't have the stuff to be the "ace" of a staff. I like Aaron Harang, he's got good stuff and he knows how to win ball games on a team that does not give much run support, 16-6 with a 3.73 ERA last year. If anything he should be the so called "ace" of this staff. Josh Fogg signed in the off season from Colorado, where his numbers were mediocre, and since he was pitching in Coors Field I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. But Fogg will have better numbers than Arroyo at the end of the year. I have no clue why Homer Bailey is starting the season in the minors. He is the only hope the little bit of Reds fans have anymore.
Batters: Adam Dunn and of course Ken Griffey Jr. are the offense of this team. But with the aquisition of Corey Patterson, he will help by getting on base before Dunn & Griffey launch. Edwin Encarnacion is coming along nicely, a little slower than the Reds wanted, but he will have a solid season along with Brandon Phillips who is awesome with the leather and good with the wood. Ryan Freel will pick up time whenever someone gets a day off because he plays everywhere, you got to love watching this guy play.
Pittsburgh Pirates (72-90) - I think I am going to be wrong with this prediction. They have a lot of young talent, but it's just hard for me to put them above anyone. A team that has 3.5x more 100 loss seasons (7) than 100 win seasons (2) is just destined to finish last. One of those 100 win seasons came prior to man's first flight, the other, only six years after. The last 100 loss season? 2001.
Pitchers: Zach Duke has not lived up to his high expectations he showed in 2005 by posting an 8-2 record with a 1.81 ERA, since he is 13-23 with a 5.00 ERA. Matt Morris is getting old, his numbers were ok with the Giants last year (7-7 4.35), but horrible with the Pirates (3-4 6.10). Tom Gorzelanny had a great year for a Pirate. He had 14 wins last year with an ERA under 4.00, if he had been on another team he probably would have won 20 games. Paul Maholm has been nothing to write home about but just entering his 4th season he has shown some promise. Ian Snell had a good looking ERA last year (3.76) but did not show in the win column (9), but that is due to the run support he had.
Batters: Jason Bay slipped a little last year, but he will get back on track, he is an all-star caliber player and will carry this team. Jack Wilson had the 2nd best year of his career in 2007 and will continue to produce. Xavier Nady had a break out year in 2007 with 20 HR and that number will only go up, he is one player that can make this team better. The others? Freddy Sanchez, if he can hit over .300 for the 3rd straight year, the other big guys will hit him in. Adam LaRoche's numbers were down last year, after the Bucs paid big money for him. If he can play like he did in Atlanta it will give this team a huge boost. Nate McClouth is going to be the dark horse on this team. He battled through spring training for that center field position, and he is going to do anything he can to keep it. Watch out for a great year from McClouth and the Bucs.
NL West Preview
1. Arizona Diamondbacks(91-71)- The D-Backs will repeat the success they had last year with the best 1-2 punch in the NL West in Brandon Webb and new pitcher Danny Haren. Webb, assuming he stays healthy, is my pick for the NL Cy Young award stealing it away from division foe Jake Peavy. The pitching of the D-backs will try to carry them again, as their offense needs to put together some big innings and manufacture runs. They had a -20 run differential last yea with their young and energetic lineup that will only get better with Stephen Drew returning from a strong year. This team wants to win, and look for them to be popping the bottles when they get the NL West Pennant.2. Colorado Rockies(89-73)- In this past NFL season, the Detroit Lions were labeled as "God's Team". Well as the Rockies try to prove their World Series run wasn't a fluke, they will be labeled as the MLB version of "God's Team" this year. The Rockies set a franchise record last year with a combined ERA of 4.32 and with this young offense coming back especailly in Coors Field and the veteran leadership of Todd Helton, I look for this team to compete with the D-Backs and especially the NL Wildcard.
3. Los Angeles Dodgers(88-74)- The team of much talent that has never acheived to their full potential just brought in Ex-Yankee skipper Joe Torree which seems to be a perfect fit. With their strong veteran lineup with Jeff Kent and Andre Ethier really coming around with the beast that he is. I think these Dodgers will compete and it will come down to the last week of the season for the playoff hopes but I just dont think they can put it all together in this first season under Torre with an interleague schedule that consist of the Yankees, Tigers, and Indians.
4. San Diego Padres(85-77)- The San Diego Padres are the typical National League team, with difficulty scoring runs anchored by Khalil Greene (Yes, he is still white) and Adrian Gonzalez who could lead the league in many categories this year. Both of these 2 need to have real huge seasons to be competitive in the NL West, and of course the bringing back the reigning NL Cy Young award winner in Jake Peavy who led the NL in wins, E.R.A. and strikeouts and i dont see why he wont be able to do it again. I just dont see the Padres able to score enough runs behind their great pitching to get them into the playoffs.
5. San Francisco Giants(59-103)- Does anybody else miss Barry Bonds?
I tried watching this team on the 3rd opening day of the year, and it was downright unbearable. Yeah yeah they love not having having the distraction of Bonds but he carried their offense and put fans in the seats. Nobody on this team hit over 20 homeruns last year and I dont see anyone doing it this year either with Benjie Molina anchoring their lineup in the clean up spot. Even though they did acquire Aaron Rowand and still have Barry Zito and the young Tim Lincecum,coming back after a strong rookie season, trying to carry their rotation, I do not see this team winning 60 games which would be an accomplishment.Apr 2, 2008
NL East Preview
Here at the Almonte Proxy we're gonna be previewing each and every division in baseball to go along with our season predictions.So first up is the wildly competitive National League East.It goes a little something like this.
- Atlanta 94-68 (This team is being overlooked big time with a deep rotation and an productive offense (3rd in NL in runs in 07)to go along with it they are my team to beat in the east.)
- Philadelphia 90-72 (Reigning NL East champs but I'm not convinced of this teams pitching at all remember last year Brett Myers was banished to the bullpen before the All Star break so don't expect big production from their #2 and with Brad Lidge closing games they're sure to blow a few leads.I'll be fair though they have the offense to make up for shaky pitching this is why they finish 2nd.)
- New York 85-77 (Surprise, that epic collapse at the end of last season was a sign of more bad news to come for fans.With a suspect rotation behind Santanna and an aging offense around two young studs expect this team to falter again when it counts.)
- Washington 82-80 (You read that right the nats will finish above .500 but not enough to make any postseason noise. With young talent in the field they should be competitive for the years to come especially with this kid. But anytime you cut ties with the years previous opening days starter and give the rotations 1 spot to a spring training non roster invitee things will get ugly.)
- Florida 64-98 (what like this prediction is a surprise to anyone give me a break, Arod makes more than the entire team. I will give them this they have a stud in Hanley Ramirez but lets be real its only a matter of time before he is jettisoned for the sake of saving money.They also have Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin {the centerpiece of the Dtrain/Cabrerra deal} but they're yet to be a proven commodity in the senior circuit.)
Thats my view on how things will shake out this season please feel free to drop us a line in our comments section.
Read more!To The Beginning of Many
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