AL East

Ok, last post I wanted some $hit talking. This post, let's talk turkey. I am going to take Boston taking the division and the Yankees maybe squeaking by with the wildcard if they trade for a pitcher (any pitcher) at the deadline. Tampa Bay looks worn down, so I am going to call them out this year. Over the next few years with some cash infusion, they are gonna be in. (Funny it took TB this long to realize that if you win, people come to your games).

Bostons pitching is super strong. Pedroia would/should be an MVP candidate. They just need to realize that unlike the Yankees who can afford it, rewarding your catcher for past performance is stupid and irrational. I know he is the Captain, but the Sox do have some catchers waiting in the wings.

New York's pitching is finally gonna kill George, which I dont like. Hank is a cheesepoof. Thank god for Mussina, but would you bet your playoffs on him? Once again, ARod, Jeter, and Moustache are all underperforming but making 20M+. I admit as a Yanks fan, it is an affront to baseball to see money wasted like this. How much is Posada making?

Tampa Bay is actually really good just like the AZ Diamondbacks are good. Average age 24-25. Just need time.

Baltimore sux again. I love Peter Angelos!!!!! With him as an owner, all the AL should be proud. Remember when the O's were good? Its fading.

Toronto. Dont know what to say. The pride of Canada in the 80s-90s is now hit mediocraty. I say move them south to NC or something.

Teams I would love to see in the AL East - Washington or Phillies. Just a pipe dream though.

The one positive out of this mess for Toronto is that it looks like this will definitely mean the end of that overrated, egotistical douchebag...JP Ricciardi. I didn't buy this guy's act when he first showed up, and I certainly don't now. Assembling a team that has one of the top ten in payroll, and is also one of the third oldest in the majors, and that still doesn't do any better than the one in place when he was hired...what...8 years ago? What a talent! :rolleyes:

Oh, and enough with the injuries excuse! You don't get to blame injuries when every single free agent you sign is INJURY PRONE.

As fore the East...Boston wins it, Tampa and New York will fight it out for second place, and maybe the wild card. Baltimore played surprisingly well for long enough, it's time of them to implode.

That is what kills me. Both Toronto and Baltimore have great traditions in the East. Unlike the Royals who are simple victims of finance, the O's and Jays throw money at problems without any thought. I am not an expert on Toronto, but I do know alot about Baltimore. Up until 96, they were always competitive. Then Angelos bought them and thus began the Bell era. They gave him the 2nd biggest contract for 4 years at the time. A year after, he was joking with ESPN on the golf course about how he was making 15M a year and retired. He is the reason that player retirement insurance now exists.

I guess it comes down to ownership. There are too many owners now that either own the team for prestige only (O's and Marlins) or groups who by them as an investment.

Boston takes the division. I grew up loving the Sox, but they're really turning into Evil Empire v2.0. I'm finding the AL East disheartening.

I think Tampa takes the wildcard. Yes, they're slumping right now, but everyone's entitled to a bad month or so and their team chemistry seems to be something else.

It'll be close though, because the Yankees are putting together their usual post ASB surge. I don't know enough about the team to be sure what they need to make the required push. Pitching sounds like a good start, but why ARE their big stars underperforming? I wonder if there's some sort of leadership or morale issue within the clubhouse.

Hank really needs to let dad run things a few more years. That rant of his after Wang got hurt just made him look like a whiny brat. Not really the image his father spent thirty years throwing together.

The Orioles and Jays....well, ditto on what everyone's saying. Baltimore's been struggling for a few years now. Toronto could usually be counted on for third place, but with the Rays finally making a credible run they're going to have trouble competing.

Quote:

---

James Shields is on pace to pitch 215 innings - the same as he did last season.
Andy Sonnanstine is on pace to pitch 201 innings this season - also the exact same number as he pitched in 2007 (MLB and minors combined)
Edwin Jackson, however, is on pace to pitch 192 innings. Jackson has never pitched more than 161 in a season.
Matt Garza is on pace to pitch 168 innings when the most he's pitched in the past is 135.
Scott Kazmir is on pace for only 133 inning because he spent so much time on the DL to start the season. His arm should be relatively rested and I'd guess he'll end up with much more than 133 innings but well shy of the 206 he pitched last year.

---

From here

What's Tampa going to do with the starters?

I'm a Yankees fan, but yeah, Boston takes the AL East and the Yankees maybe, just maybe, inch into the WC. The Twins are gonna make it interesting though, and maybe Oakland as well. Although Beane seems to be starting the restocking process.

The Yankees may need a pitcher but who's available and what's the asking price? I'm not in favor of giving up the farm to get some rental players when the Yankees can get them through Free Agency anyway.

I'm pretty much in line with what everyone has been saying here, and being a big Baltimore fan, I'm not that pessimistic about them just yet. No one in the world could have thought they were going to compete this year right? I like what they did dealing Tejada and Bedard. They got some pretty good players back and if they play their cards right they should be competetive in a few more years. I don't have any faith that Angelos will let that happen, and I actually hope that they play bad the last half. The last thing we need is Angelos to think that if he buys one or two free agents that he can have us in the playoffs!

Thats what is so sad about the Orioles. I saw some of my best Yankee games in Balmore btw. Angelos didnt care. Now that DC has a team again, that will eventually strip at least 50% of fans away from the South side. In turn, Angelos will most likely sell the team soon because he only owns it for monetary reasons. One can only hope. Cal Ripken could probably get a good investment group and buy them eventually. He already has a few minor league teams. How cool would that be? Remember, G. Steinbrunner does not own the Yanks but just controls the group.

Something needs to be done for sure. Baltimore used to be a great place to play baseball. Everyone who played there always loved it and if they were willing to pay the price just about any FA would have signed there. They could easily compete, they just don't. For all the bad signings and trades that they have made, there has been just as many times where they should have made a move and didn't.

Boston will win the East followed by Tampa. I think they will get their stride back and come in a distant second. I think that the Yankees age will catch up to them, and I don't think the wild card will come out of the east this year.

I predict

1: Boston
2: Tampa(Wild Card)
3: New York
4: Baltimore
5: Toronto

I think Tampa will hold together, and New Yorks vets will fall apart. Baltimore is actually not doing bad this year, and Toronto is not awful, so watch out for them

I predict

1. Tampa
2. Yankees (WC)
3. Boston
4. Baltimore
5. Toronto

Yanks go from WC to WS champs!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RickD

I predict

1. Tampa
2. Yankees (WC)
3. Boston
4. Baltimore
5. Toronto

Yanks go from WC to WS champs!

---

SIMILAR to your last year prediction,NO ? i guess you ARE NOT from the Nostradamus blood line ;)

One day it will be true! It's part of my long range plan! :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RickD

One day it will be true! It's part of my long range plan! :D

---

So you are really Hank then ;) btw Everything is nearly true one day/hypothetically EVEN the Cubs winning ;)

The Royals are also the victims of lousy ownership and management. The were a good franchise at one time. Glass has the ability to turn that team into a winner, but consistently pockets his profit sharing and cries poor.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by robinhoodnik

The Royals are also the victims of lousy ownership and management. The were a good franchise at one time. Glass has the ability to turn that team into a winner, but consistently pockets his profit sharing and cries poor.

---

Royals are in the midst of building ( a la Brewers of say 3/4 years ago) they have a decent manager now & some solid units like Greinke/Soria/Gordon & Butler ONLY problem is they are in the toughest division in Baseball (even tougher than the East) with the Tigers,the youthful Indians & a nasty-underated Twins team :eek:

I really don't think that there is a team out there these days at the MLB level who can honestly say that they can't afford to win. It's just an excuse to squeeze more money out of the better run teams.
MLB oughtta be able to vote out an ownership group based upon success. If you don't have a winning, or at the minimum, break even season for five straight seasons, you're out, and MLB arranges the sale of your franchise for you.
It's just idiocy to give away money to owners who don't want to put forth the effort that better run franchises do. I'm with G. Steinbrenner (gag, retch) on this point.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FRENCHREDSOX

Royals are in the midst of building ( a la Brewers of say 3/4 years ago) they have a decent manager now & some solid units like Greinke/Soria/Gordon & Butler ONLY problem is they are in the toughest division in Baseball (even tougher than the East) with the Tigers,the youthful Indians & a nasty-underated Twins team :eek:

---

They've been rebuilding since about 1990. Enough with their whining already. They've been run like a 5 year old kid's lemonade stand. Of course they can't win when they behave like a double a team.

Agreed!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by robinhoodnik

I really don't think that there is a team out there these days at the MLB level who can honestly say that they can't afford to win. It's just an excuse to squeeze more money out of the better run teams.
MLB oughtta be able to vote out an ownership group based upon success. If you don't have a winning, or at the minimum, break even season for five straight seasons, you're out, and MLB arranges the sale of your franchise for you.
It's just idiocy to give away money to owners who don't want to put forth the effort that better run franchises do. I'm with G. Steinbrenner (gag, retch) on this point.

---

Boo...

where were you on the non-sports related thread when it came to "how can we tell people how to spend their money?"

This is the same thing

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by filihok

Boo...

where were you on the non-sports related thread when it came to "how can we tell people how to spend their money?"

This is the same thing

---

I dunno, probably figuring out how to make more money?;)

Look, IMO, baseball is a business, if you run a business poorly, you're out of business. Why should MLB operate differently?
If a retail chain fails, do the remaining retailers have to give that company money to keep it open and losing money? Not that I'm aware of.
Businesses fail, and if they have valuable assets remaining, are bought by other successful businesses. MLB ought to retain the right to insure that all teams are run profitably and competently (in light of it's federal protection), with the best interests of the league as a whole the guiding principle. If a group can't uphold that bargain, replace them.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CatKnight

Boston takes the division. I grew up loving the Sox, but they're really turning into Evil Empire v2.0.

---

Uhm...how so? Their three starting All-Stars (If you count Papelbon as a 7th or 8th inning reliever) are all still near-minimum salary guys.

Maybe the FAN BASE reminds you of the Yankees...though the real ones are still waiting for the other shoe to drop and for something to happen to take the last two WS trophies away...."I told you!!! They were just stringing me along!"

Boston is not the evil empire, they are a team with a good number of home grown players and more to come

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RedsoxRockies

Boston is not the evil empire, they are a team with a good number of home grown players and more to come

---

What's silly is the TEE isn't the TEE anymore....look at their team*! Despite the All-Star game shenanigans it's difficult to work up any long lasting enmity against them....I still have some to spare on Tampa Bay for playing Sweet Caroline after the last Sox sweep!

*Betemit? Ponson? Molina? Sexson? Their rookies are scuffling. Giambi finally earning his paycheck and having a sense of humor! Their announcers are smart at times and much less annoying or boring than many many other announcers.

Jeez. How can you call the Yankees Teh Eebil Empyre when the king has stepped down and has been replace by the court jester and the stableboy?

... and yes, I was referring to George Steinbrenner and his get, Hank and Hal.

Quote:

---

Teh Eebil Empyre when the king has stepped down and has been replace by the court jester and the stableboy

---

As a Yanks fan I agree in some ways, but the torch must be passed. Hank (jester) is a jackass and I agree. But like his Dad, he will not allow the Yankees to fade or go average on his watch. Too much pride. As for the Stableboy, you may want to reconsider. He is now in 90% control of all NY financials. He will remain behind the scenes, but is/will be the true manager of the Yanks. In 5 years, I guarantee we will be talking about the other Stein.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RedsoxRockies

Boston is not the evil empire, they are a team with a good number of home grown players and more to come

---

Don't start the home grown crapola. The Yankees have had just as many home grown players if not more in their recent history.

There are many outside of NE that look at Boston in the same boat with the Yankees and thats just a fact. The Sox payroll has consistently been top 4 now for years by a landslide in some cases. The Yankees however are despised more so and given the dba 'Evil Empire' because they consistently have had a payroll 60-80 million dollars higher than the #2 payroll in the league. That is a VERY significant increase. Although they've had alot of 'home grown' (I loathe that word) they also had more big dollar FA signings than anyone by a landslide. For them however, alot of those signings haven't worked out as well as they have hoped, which is why their payroll grows so high. They can afford to make more of those big dollar mistakes and still win than anyone in the league.

And I really don't like the knocks on Toronto. This is a team thats spent alot of money trying to be competitive in this division. What people call mismanagement because they've overpaid in some instances I call necessity. Cmon now, BJ Ryan was the top pursued closer of that FA class....does anyone believe Toronto had the same chance of landing him for equal compensation? No, they had to pay more. Sadly, alot of Toronto's moves haven't worked out. Vernon Wells...maybe a roid product...ran into injuries and derailed after getting his contract. Some say that contract was way overvalued but he was a young CF'er with alot of upside who had proven himself...again, had to overpay to keep him.

Now Baltimore on the other hand....they've wallowed in the kiddie pool for too long. I don't remember the last big FA signing they've made.

We haven't signed a decent FA in a long long time. We have the money and all they would have to do is put a decent product out on the field and the fans will come. There really is no excuse for why that can't compete on a regular basis.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dickay

Now Baltimore on the other hand....they've wallowed in the kiddie pool for too long. I don't remember the last big FA signing they've made.

---

tejada lol

Big FA. He was a good player, but he wasn't anything big. Especially when we didn't have any team around him at all. I still don't think he was ever as good as he was made out to be.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TheNamelessPoet

tejada lol

---

I thought about tejada but couldn't recall if he was a FA or not when Balt. got him. Thats how long ago it was!! I think he was with Oak. prior when they got him...and I'd classify him as a big one.

Having just gotten back from seeing all four games of the Orioles-Tigers series at Camden Yards, I have to give Baltimore credit for having been far more competitive this year than anyone (including me) expected. Saturday night's game was great, though not for the pitchers lol. Luke Scott's walkoff shot in the 10th was an absolute bomb; it sailed well over my head in the right field pavilion area and landed out on Eutaw Street.

Sure, Angelos is an idiot, but they did make two good trades with Tejada and Bedard and probably would have made another with Roberts except for Angelos' interference. They have picked up some good young arms that need time to develop. Wieters will be catching for them in another year or so which will fill one hole but they need improvement badly at SS and the two corner IF positions. I expect to see Sherrill get traded for infield help and perhaps another young arm.

I like the Orioles as a team to improve the next couple of years, but with some bumps in the road with their young guys.

Its gonna be a rough road for a while, but they will get better if they continue to make smart trades like they have been doing.

I actually didn't mind the BJ Ryan signing...but AJ Burnett. And then, after signing him, to use the fact he's always hurt as an excuse...THAT WAS A KNOWN PROBLEM WHEN YOU SIGNED HIM, JP! And, when moving Glaus, in part because of his injuries, to get Scott "Ow, I'm down again!" Rolen back...the contract Wells got was nothing short of ridiculous. Oh, and Gregg Zaun is NOT a full time starting catcher, so stop paying him like one!