Too early to talk MLB?

cybsball20 · 01-31-2008, 12:38 PM

Originally Posted by ISUboi12

i noticed that the yankees play the university of south florida and virginia tech before spring training... is that normal?

Yeah, the teams down there often play local college teams. The Red Sox normally play Boston College in Fenway as well...

mwitt · 01-31-2008, 12:38 PM

Originally Posted by clonerules

the braves will be sending 8 or 9 legitimate 4th or 5th starters to spring training, so if mike cant throw, they have the depth this year to overcome his loss. as far as the bullpen goes, peter moylan was in the top 5 last year as far as the numbers go for relief pitchers..add in the fact that mike gonzalez should come back and b ready to go in early june, and i feel that the bullpen is solid!! and if he or peter cant get the job done, we always have will ohman

Mike Gonzalez is good when healthy. Moylan had a good year, but relief pitching is the most volatile position in sports. Moylan is pushing 30, and he hadn't done a thing in his career since last year. There are a ton of relievers who pull a great year out of a hat and can never duplicate it. We shall see.

mwitt · 01-31-2008, 12:39 PM

Originally Posted by cybsball20

The only team that has worse middle relief then the Braves is the Mets who might have the worst in baseball...

In baseball? I don't know, the Rays and Orioles' bullpens are pretty awful. The Braves bullpen has potential with Mike Gonzalez and Peter Moylan. Potential doesn't mean a thing once the season starts, though.

CloneFan65 · 01-31-2008, 12:41 PM

Originally Posted by trevn

That all said, the D-Backs, Rockies, and Dodgers will all be very evenly matched, but I see the Dodgers pitching depth being the reason they win the division. Either way, it should be a fun year to watch the NL West (the most competitive division in baseball IMO).

Not only the most competitive, but probably the best division top to bottom. Other than the Giants the whole division should be in the playoff hunt until the end. And there's no division with more quality arms. It'll be a fun season.

clonerules · 01-31-2008, 12:42 PM

Originally Posted by cybsball20

The only team that has worse middle relief then the Braves is the Mets who might have the worst in baseball...

as much as i respect your opinions, especially when it comes to baseball, i am gonna have to disagree. the braves finished in third behind the padres and the cubs last year in team pitching. call me a homer, but i just dont c it...

cybsball20 · 01-31-2008, 12:46 PM

Originally Posted by mwitt

In baseball? I don't know, the Rays and Orioles' bullpens are pretty awful. The Braves bullpen has potential with Mike Gonzalez and Peter Moylan. Potential doesn't mean a thing once the season starts, though.

Salas and Dohrmann are pretty solid and Wheeler has POTENTIAL to be good again, but we'll see... The Orioles, well their bad, but they do have a couple of decent lefty specialists...

CloneFan65 · 01-31-2008, 12:46 PM

Originally Posted by cybsball20

I think the Tigers might have something to say about that... Any lineup with a Hall of Famer batting 9th is pretty scary...

And they just signed a former 22 game winner as their number 4 starter.

jdoggivjc · 01-31-2008, 12:56 PM

Originally Posted by trevn

That all said, the D-Backs, Rockies, and Dodgers will all be very evenly matched, but I see the Dodgers pitching depth being the reason they win the division. Either way, it should be a fun year to watch the NL West (the most competitive division in baseball IMO).

Weren't you the one that late last year were commenting about the issues that the Dodgers organization was having? Something to the effect that the older players such as Kent were feeling threatened by the up and coming players or vice versa and it was causing some kind of disharmony (and eventually was what blew the Dodgers' playoff chances)? I'm not saying the Dodgers don't have the deepest team in the NL West, and I'm not saying they haven't put the issues to bed, but team chemistry issues will always trump depth, and if the players on the Dodgers haven't learned to "know their role and shut their mouths," so to speak, then it could be a long year at Chavez Ravine.

cybsball20 · 01-31-2008, 12:57 PM

Originally Posted by clonerules

as much as i respect your opinions, especially when it comes to baseball, i am gonna have to disagree. the braves finished in third behind the padres and the cubs last year in team pitching. call me a homer, but i just dont c it...

The Braves top guys in appearances last year were Moylan (very solid) then Yates (5.18 era, .251 baa, 1.44 whip) and Villarreal who they lost. I don't think they added anyone great, I could be wrong...

mwitt · 01-31-2008, 01:02 PM

Originally Posted by cybsball20

The Braves top guys in appearances last year were Moylan (very solid) then Yates (5.18 era, .251 baa, 1.44 whip) and Villarreal who they lost. I don't think they added anyone great, I could be wrong...

Mike Gonzalez will be key.

jdoggivjc · 01-31-2008, 01:03 PM

Originally Posted by cybsball20

I think the Tigers might have something to say about that... Any lineup with a Hall of Famer batting 9th is pretty scary...

Originally Posted by CloneFan65

And they just signed a former 22 game winner as their number 4 starter.

And for all of us Twins fans out there, this is exactly why the Twins didn't trade Santana to the Red Sox or the Yankees for players that are going to help us in the near term or hold onto him in hopes that we would be in the race at the end of the season. With all of the Tigers' free agent signings (on a team that was pretty good to begin with) and how stacked the Indians are, we were not going to compete for the AL Central and likely not the Wildcard in 2008 and probably not for 2009. At this point it's better to punt (and this kind of punt is one of those "field coverage" punts that pins the opponent inside the 10) and start playing for 2010 than to go head-on with teams that you know you are going to lose out to in the near term and then have your short-term decisions also affect your long-term ones.

Clones85' · 01-31-2008, 01:44 PM

Originally Posted by jdoggivjc

Umm... Have you looked at your pitching staff? Smoltz's, Glavine's Hampton's, and Hudson's rookie seasons weren't exactly 5 years ago. Chipper Jones ain't exactly a young one, either. Francoeur intrigues me - last year was the first year he actually put any kind of numbers up. Was that an anomaly, or has he finally learned how to be productive in the Major League batting box? One season of good (but not great) numbers won't exactly convince me.

I will admit, Texiera, Escobar, and McCann are all interesting pieces.

Interesting.... I wonder how a guy puts up numbers in previous seasons, when it was his second year in the league and his first year he didn't come into the league until after the all star break. In that year he batted .300 w/ 14 bombs. The key to the Braves season is to keep the guys healthy. Chipper, Hampton, Hudson, Smoltz all have to stay healthy in order for them to make a run. They have a lot of young talent w/ Francouer, McCain, Escobar, Johnson, and Texeria

drmwevr08 · 01-31-2008, 02:02 PM

Anyone else a fan of B'more, Toronto or Tampa (right) and wanting to see them play but not at all concerned about the playoffs cause you aint makin it?

I vote for realignment!

CrossCyed · 01-31-2008, 02:30 PM

If the purported Joe Crede/Matt Cain deal goes down, the White Sox become relevant again.

Of course, reports have said either Cain or Noah Lowry....and the two aren't quite the same....

Iastfan112 · 01-31-2008, 03:44 PM

Brewers in the Central, the Cubs made the most flashy acquisitions but overall the Brewers are just full of young talent, quite a bit of which now has experience under its belt. Should be an interesting race but I think the Brewers are better. Mmmmm Cory Hart