East - Atlanta Braves - I'm guessing that they are pretty upset about not winning the division last year for the first time in 38 seasons...they'll bounce back.
Central - Chicago Cubs - No brainer here! I mean, they are 3-1 against in Las Vegas for winning the World Series...by far the best odds of anyone.
West - San Francisco Giants - Barry Bonds, feeling youthful and revitalized from his latest steroids injections, hits 80 home runs this season while playing 124 games.
NL East - Phillies - pretty good pitching, good hitting, and solid character guy (Aaron Rowand). What's not to like?
NL Central - Cardinals - Tony LaRussa is a winner and finds ways to keep his teams winning. Just because they are inferior talent-wise doesn't mean they won't win. Just watch and see.
NL West - Dodgers - Solid team through and through. Looking to build on the successes of last year.
Wild Card - D-backs - Young and talented. A great combo for any team.
cant bet agains the braves, bobby cox is too good, and if mike hampton is anywhere close to as healthy as everyone says then theyre gettin close to having that classic braves dominating rotation.
the brewers better make the playoffs this year after two straight years of talk of how good all that young talent they have is. although, picking up suppan was key. his record in miller park is lights out and he is as durable as any starter in the league, exactly what the crew needs to combat sheets' injury problems.
besides, prince fielder will be wearing pinstripes in a few years so they better get it done now
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"In big games, the action slows down for him where it speeds up for others. I've told him, 'I'll trade my past for your future.'" -Reggie Jackson on Derek Jeter
East - I like Phillies, they have the best infield in baseball, and an up and coming rotation. I don't know how you could pick the Mets with their terrible rotation, and I think ATL is just too outclassed in this division. Atlanta, Philly, and NYM could all win every other division in the NL.
Central - No brainer? Please, first of all it's the Cubs, second of all it's the Cubs, and third of all it's the Cubs. The biggest problem for them, aside from spending millions of dollars on middle relief, is that if they don't produce there will be hell to pay. I like Zambrano to have a big year but after that the rotation is all question marks. I can't see Soriano going 40/40 again and the rest of the division has improved as much as the Cubs have (sans STL). Both Central divisions are probably the toast of their leagues, and I think I got to give this one to Houston in a close race. Cubs and Brewers fight it out for the wild card, that's what I'd love to see.
West - Dodgers or Giants? Another great rivalry that could make this race more exciting. Barry says he feels good but that could blow up faster than his swollen knees. Diamondbacks are rebuilding and Randy's swansong will be so-so. Have fun watching 4 hour games with Double D on the mound Arizona fans. I think the Dodgers will win this division. Zito is overrated and Penny is underrated, though he did faulter down the stretch last year. Furcal is a stud and Nomar is up and healthy again. If Juan rebounds from being a Cub (which is probable) he could get 25+ triples in Dodger stadium.
Going to be an exciting year nonetheless.
-- Edited by moonraker717 at 21:41, 2007-02-28
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bobby cox outclassed????? come on now, the guy is as good as it gets and he has some youth that is a year older and some new power pitching and you know theyre gonna be good offensively with the jones and francoeur revitalizing after a little bit of a sophmore slump.
a little love for the diamondbacks, i mean they do have brandon webb, livan hernandez, randy johnson and now doug davis in the rotation, theyre lookin alright. they may more thana few offensive struggles though
and nobody is giving any love to the padres who were a playoff team last year
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"In big games, the action slows down for him where it speeds up for others. I've told him, 'I'll trade my past for your future.'" -Reggie Jackson on Derek Jeter
Bobby Cox is a great manager sure, but the talent in this division is leaps and bounds above the rest of the league. I think Atlanta could win every other division in the National League, just not their own.
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i dont know, i think they look pretty good in their division. i mean florida is just in a free fall out of control, some great talent but not enough consistency and depth to put them where they have been in the past, although they do always find a way of making a world series run, releasing everyone, then finding talent to make another run, but im not counting on it. the mets are talented too, but if pedro and glavine show their age, the rotation can struggle, the nationals are in a similar spot to the braves with talent but a lot of young guys and not signing soriano didnt help. the philies are a team i like. ryan howard is just a beast in the middle of the line up and jimmy rollins controls the top of that line up.
overall the division is talented, especially in the NL but to say that there is more talent on any one of those clubs than the braves, especially when some of that phenominal brave talent is a year older, im just not buying that. all things pretty equal, bobby cox is the x factor.
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"In big games, the action slows down for him where it speeds up for others. I've told him, 'I'll trade my past for your future.'" -Reggie Jackson on Derek Jeter
Anonymous wrote: Brewers will make the playoffs....finally
Brewers in the playoffs? Better hope that the wild card race is weak...
The Brewers have one of the best starting rotations in the NL with Sheets, Capuano, Suppan, Vargas, and Bush, along with a strong bullpen with Cordero, Turnbow, and Wise, among others. They also have some of the best young talent in the NL, with Weeks at second, Fielder at first, Hardy at short, and Hall in center. I am not saying the Brewers are the favorite for the NL central, but with that kind of pitching staff, and a young and talented team, you cannot rule them out of winning the central.
If they do not win the central however, which it is very possible that they don't, because the NL Central is going to be one of the toughest divisions in baseball, they will have a good chance to win a spot in the wild card race if it is weak or not.
NL East: I'll change it up and say the Phillies. Howard and Utley can carry that offense, and I like their rotation with Myers, Hamels and Garcia. I honestly could see any of these teams winning it though... Tough call.
NL Central: I just do not understand the optimism from Cubs fans (aside from the fact that they are just Cubs fans, and they are optimistic no matter how good their team is). They think the team will be good just because they spent $8 gajillion this off-season, but you have to look at what they actually spent it on. Re-signing Ramirez was their best move. Soriano won't be worth half of his bloated contract, and in three years they will regret that one for sure. The real joke is when you look at the pitchers they threw cash at. Ted Lilly and Jason Marquis??? Lilly has been maybe average over his career. Marquis is coming off a season where his ERA was over six! Prior can't be counted on for anything. Zambrano is great, and Rich Hill is promising, but who else do they really have?
I'm still leaning towards St. Louis in the division, but I think the Brewers will be very close and could easily take it. The Cubs pitching isn't good enough to keep them in it, and Houston seems pretty average in both pitching and offense.
NL West: I like the Dodgers here too. Their starting rotation looks great. Don't sleep on the D-Backs though. If they don't arrive this year, it will be very soon. They have a ton of young talent and an awesome starter in Webb.
It's not everyday you come accross a 40/40 guy. Soriano was worth every penny of that deal and then some. Not to mention he's gonna be playing center field, and from all indications picking it up fast. If he adjust anywhere close to as good in center as he did in right last year then he will be a heck of a center fielder. Lilly and Marquis will be how they have been their entire carreers, solid middle of the rotation starters, compliment that with Zambrano and a Mark Prior who if he is healthy is a premier starter in the league, there is plenty of reason for optimism
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"In big games, the action slows down for him where it speeds up for others. I've told him, 'I'll trade my past for your future.'" -Reggie Jackson on Derek Jeter
Marquis has also averaged 200 innings a season over the past two years. Being that he will be the 4th or 5th starter in Chicago that's a bonus in that it will save the bullpen. Last year the Cubs only had one pitcher throw 200 innings last year. Marquis has had great years, so he could break out again, but more importantly it was important for the Cubs because he is durable and will save the bullpen.
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"In big games, the action slows down for him where it speeds up for others. I've told him, 'I'll trade my past for your future.'" -Reggie Jackson on Derek Jeter
Anonymous wrote: Brewers will make the playoffs....finally
Brewers in the playoffs? Better hope that the wild card race is weak...
The Brewers have one of the best starting rotations in the NL with Sheets, Capuano, Suppan, Vargas, and Bush, along with a strong bullpen with Cordero, Turnbow, and Wise, among others. They also have some of the best young talent in the NL, with Weeks at second, Fielder at first, Hardy at short, and Hall in center. I am not saying the Brewers are the favorite for the NL central, but with that kind of pitching staff, and a young and talented team, you cannot rule them out of winning the central.
If they do not win the central however, which it is very possible that they don't, because the NL Central is going to be one of the toughest divisions in baseball, they will have a good chance to win a spot in the wild card race if it is weak or not.
They have maybe one of the better rotations. Let's think about it: Sheets is great but completely unreliable because of his health. Vargas has only been over .500 twice in his career with a career ERA just under 5. Bush is under .500 for his three year career and was only one game over last year. Granted, he did have some tough years Toronto, and his ERA isn't bad for a back end of the rotation starter, but he is more someone to give you innings and fill a day than to depend on for wins. So you're left with Suppan and Capuano as two guys in your rotation that you are confident will give you a great chance to win everytime they step onto the mound. Compare that with some of the rest of the league and its nothing to brag about. Does the rotation and pen for that matter have potential? Absolutely. And the great thing is, a lot of these guys are still young that if they get it figured out they will be good for some years to come, assuming the Brewers can resign them. But as of right now, the Brewers staff has a lot of potential and lot of maybes and hopefullys. Im just not ready to put all my eggs in the basket that they will come through. Maybe, but we'll see.
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"In big games, the action slows down for him where it speeds up for others. I've told him, 'I'll trade my past for your future.'" -Reggie Jackson on Derek Jeter
YankeeNation12 wrote: It's not everyday you come accross a 40/40 guy. Soriano was worth every penny of that deal and then some. Sure he stole 41 bases last year, but it was the first year he got 40 since 2002. He also was caught stealing 17 times last year, so that takes away from his stolen base value somewhat.
More importantly, he has a very mediocre career OPS of .835, and the only year he ever approached .900 was last season. He'll need to average over .900 for the duration of his contract in order to justify it.
You have to think long-term too when you are handing out such a lengthy contract. In eight years Soriano is going to be a 39 year old guy who can't run and has a fraction of the power he has now... and he'll be making $18 million that year.
So the Cubs might have overpaid a bit for Soriano, who cares? They have the money to do it. Even if he only hits .260 with 35 homers and 25 stolen bases, it's still an upgrade over last year. He has put up huge numbers in the past and still has the potential to. The Cubs will be better with him than they were without him.
The Yankees and Red Sox throw too much money at people all the time, and they seem to be doing alright.
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"It's the fans that need spring training. You gotta get 'em interested." - Harry Caray
But money can be good and bad. Yes it brings in good talent and it gets you to the post season every year, but that isnt the goal for the yankees or the red sox. to win the world series it sometimes takes more. When the Yankees were dominant in the late 90's and early 2000s it was anchored by jeter, oneil, posada, williams, martinez, rivera, etc. a lot of those guys that were key to those world series titles were guys were guys that knew their role and were either picked up by the yankees early in their careers and developed or were prospects fo the yankee farm system.
If I remember correctly, the Orioles used a "spend a ton of money at whoever was a free agent" strategy back in the nineties. If I recall correct, it didn't work out too swell for them.
If I remember correctly, the Orioles used a "spend a ton of money at whoever was a free agent" strategy back in the nineties. If I recall correct, it didn't work out too swell for them.
Who did they get?
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"It's the fans that need spring training. You gotta get 'em interested." - Harry Caray
And that's a perfect example, Brady Anderson hit 50 home runs one year then never did anything and albert belle was a good player, a lot of scandal, but a good player none the less and they couldnt win. this is also when my guy mussina, who everyone is hating on in the starting rotation topic, was getting 18 wins a year. it shows, spending money does not equal winning when it counts. world series teams have the x-factor beyond money.
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"In big games, the action slows down for him where it speeds up for others. I've told him, 'I'll trade my past for your future.'" -Reggie Jackson on Derek Jeter
The MAN wrote: They were always throwing money out to the likes of Albert Belle and Brady Anderson.
Neither of those players are as dynamic as Soriano.
I'll give you that the Cubs were throwing around money when they brought in Lilly and Marquis for inflated salaries. But Soriano is worth the money until he proves otherwise. Likewise, Lilly and Marquis probably aren't worth the money until they prove otherwise.
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"It's the fans that need spring training. You gotta get 'em interested." - Harry Caray
as much as I dont want to admit it, I think Schilling could take Mussina. Schilling just has that kinda dirty back country look that he would just be able to rough someone up, whereas Mussina is about as clean cut as it comes.
As for Soriano, its not common you find a guy with his power and speed at the top of the line-up, the fact is, he has proven himself to be worth the money when you put the contract in perspective to other guys out there getting big money. It's not that they over-paid for him, that was his market value and that depends on other players and what they get as much as it does Soriano.
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"In big games, the action slows down for him where it speeds up for others. I've told him, 'I'll trade my past for your future.'" -Reggie Jackson on Derek Jeter
cubsfan42 wrote:The Yankees and Red Sox throw too much money at people all the time, and they seem to be doing alright.
So do the Mariners, Orioles, Phillies, Rangers, Giants, Blue Jays, and dare I say, the Chicago Cubs. Where has it all gotten them?
Not to mention teams like the Mets and Dodgers only recently made the playoffs, but have been dropping cash like its hot for a long time.
Having money doesn't guarantee you anything. If it did how do you explain the success of teams like the As and Twins?
Who ever said that having money guarantees anything? No one. I'm pretty sure that all teams have some money and give more than a player deserves to get him on their ball club at some point or another. I said the Red Sox and Yankees because they are notorious for it. All teams do it to some extent.
Likewise, no one ever said that not having a huge bankroll means you're going to suck. So the As and Twins success is explained by the fact that they have good players who they have developed.
The Cubs aren't guaranteed anything because they dished out truck loads of cash. I'm just saying that it's not uncommon, as others also pointed out.
Some teams do well buying their success and others don't. Some clubs have less money and can stay competitive, others can't.
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"It's the fans that need spring training. You gotta get 'em interested." - Harry Caray
On the flip side of that, maybe you do need money. The Twins and A's always make the playoffs but never beyond that. Teams like the Yankees and Red Soxs are consisdered dissapointments without a world series title. Maybe you do need some money for that.
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"In big games, the action slows down for him where it speeds up for others. I've told him, 'I'll trade my past for your future.'" -Reggie Jackson on Derek Jeter
I think money certainly doesn't hurt...no one is going to be upset with the fact that they have millions and millions to spend but obviously you can't just throw it at just any player. Doug Melvin and Gord Ash, the front office guys in Milwaukee are probably two of the better ones in the leauge but if you don't have the money there is only so far you can go a la Oakland or the Twinkies
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