A Look at My PreSeason Picks
At the midpoint of this years baseball season, I figured I'd take time out and look at how my picks from the beginning of the season are looking.
For the American League, I took:
Yankees, White Sox, and Angels for the divisions and the Rays as my Wildcard
I don't look too balla right now, but I am still actually confident about my picks panning out. The Angels are currently in first in the West, and though they don't look like a lock, in a shaky division, if they continue to play well at home they'll finish at the top. The White Sox are 3.5 games back of the Tigers in 2nd, but the AL Central is perhaps the most mediorce division in baseball this year. The Sox have the deepest pitching staff in the Central, so if the bats come around, I put them ahead of Tigers. And both the Yankees and Rays are getting hot, the problem is, neither team has been able to beat the Red Sox head to head this year. The Red Sox have all the pitching in the world, so it appears the only chink in their armour may be their closer Papelbon, who had a poor July going into the break. If he continues to struggle, the Sox might blow enough games to let both teams back in it. Let's hope they do so I can look right. 
Roy Halladay being the C.C. Sabathia of last year--not going to happen. If anything, I think he's headed to Phillies, who already have that division wrapped up. If they do get him, it's simply to bolster that playoff rotation and make them almost unbeatable in 7 games. Sure if he went to another team that figures to be in a close race...the White Sox, Yanks, Cards...he would be the piece that puts em over the edge, but of those teams, the Cards are the only ones who have a chance, and LaRussa is never too fond of selling the future for the now, especially when the now is in first place.
At the midpoint of this years baseball season, I figured I'd take time out and look at how my picks from the beginning of the season are looking.
For the American League, I took:
Yankees, White Sox, and Angels for the divisions and the Rays as my Wildcard
I don't look too balla right now, but I am still actually confident about my picks panning out. The Angels are currently in first in the West, and though they don't look like a lock, in a shaky division, if they continue to play well at home they'll finish at the top. The White Sox are 3.5 games back of the Tigers in 2nd, but the AL Central is perhaps the most mediorce division in baseball this year. The Sox have the deepest pitching staff in the Central, so if the bats come around, I put them ahead of Tigers. And both the Yankees and Rays are getting hot, the problem is, neither team has been able to beat the Red Sox head to head this year. The Red Sox have all the pitching in the world, so it appears the only chink in their armour may be their closer Papelbon, who had a poor July going into the break. If he continues to struggle, the Sox might blow enough games to let both teams back in it. Let's hope they do so I can look right.
The National League was a much bigger crap shoot than I thought. I picked the:
Mets, Cubs and Dodgers for divisions and the Cards as my wildcard.
While I was right about the Dodgers, who have the best record in baseball, I couldn't have been more wrong about the Cubs and Mets. Currently, these are just two bad teams. The Phillies are taking the East for sure, their only forseeable competition is probably the Marlins. As for the Central, the second half could go either way for the Cubs and Cards. It's no question that one will be the wildcard winner and one will take the division....determining which one does which will come down to whether or not Pujols gets hotter or the Cubs bats get colder. I don't see the Brewers pitching holding up in the second half.
Mets, Cubs and Dodgers for divisions and the Cards as my wildcard.
While I was right about the Dodgers, who have the best record in baseball, I couldn't have been more wrong about the Cubs and Mets. Currently, these are just two bad teams. The Phillies are taking the East for sure, their only forseeable competition is probably the Marlins. As for the Central, the second half could go either way for the Cubs and Cards. It's no question that one will be the wildcard winner and one will take the division....determining which one does which will come down to whether or not Pujols gets hotter or the Cubs bats get colder. I don't see the Brewers pitching holding up in the second half.
Other Stories
Roy Halladay being the C.C. Sabathia of last year--not going to happen. If anything, I think he's headed to Phillies, who already have that division wrapped up. If they do get him, it's simply to bolster that playoff rotation and make them almost unbeatable in 7 games. Sure if he went to another team that figures to be in a close race...the White Sox, Yanks, Cards...he would be the piece that puts em over the edge, but of those teams, the Cards are the only ones who have a chance, and LaRussa is never too fond of selling the future for the now, especially when the now is in first place.
Pedro rejuvinating the Phillies rotation--eventually. Pedro is one of the coolest players to ever take the mound. I doubt he's going to provide them with a bunch of wins and strikeouts as a back end starter, but his being there will make everyone else pitch better, and in the playoffs, there are alot of situations in which you can use a tested guy like him. Just like El Duque with White Sox in 05, Pedro can suck all year in the regular season, but still be raw enough to come out of thepen, get a big strike out in game 7 of a playoff series, and then smoke a cigar afterwards.
Pujols and the triple crown--I hope so. He currently has homeruns and RBI wrapped up, but in batting average, he'd have to catch Sandoval, Beltran, and Ramirez in front of him. Baseball certainly needs a clean power hitting hero, but I want Pujols to reach the level of Bonds 02-07. While I love that Pujols is dominating, I just want baseball to have a player who has simply taken over. Pujols is approaching that level, and a triple crown will cement his already sick ass legacy.
1 comment:
Having rechecked my picks, I am doing well in the American League. Boston is going to win the East, Angels in the West, Wildcard going to the East runner up. That will most likely be the Yanks, but I haven't done my homework to see how many games the Yanks have against the Rays and the Rays dominate the Yanks. As for the Central I still do not want to jinx the Sox, so I won't pick them. But with a tough schedule to start the 2nd half, the Twins may be in good shape.
In the NL I too am all jacked up. East may still go to the Mets but it looks unlikely since none of them can stay healthy. So maybe the Phils will take it, if their starting staff can find a solid fifth starter. In the Central, the Cubs have not been singing 'Go Cubs Go' and the Cards have the lead. But they have hung around despite horrible performances by all not named Derek Lee. So maybe they have something in store, I stick by them. The Diamondback are not winning the West, what a dumb pick. Depsite me kind of predicting Manny not being a force for the Dodgers this year (50 game suspension) I underestimated how good the rest of the team was and they have dominated. But on a lighter note, when I told you to beware of the Giants it seems I was onto something. They will win the wildcard in the NL.
So not a horrible year of picks but just a little off.
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