Spring Training

[Jedi Master Carr]

Since almost every team has opened its Spring Training camps I figured I ask people who they think will win the World Series this year. Being a Red Sox fan I will not make a prediction problaby because I am biased and would pick the Red Sox and would rather not jinx them. Instead I will list the contenders for the title and why I think they could win it.
Ny Yankees As much as I hate them I have to admit that they have a chance at reapeated but I think it will be difficult for them. A fourpeat has only happened a couple of times and has not happened in over 30 years so that is one obsticle the other is age since they aren't getting any younger and finally their offense is not very productive and will not put up the numbers that Oakland, Boston, and Texas will. Still they do have the pitching and will be there all season.
Boston Will be with the Yankees all season and it is too hard to predict who will win that division. The Red Sox have the potetial of having the best line up in baseball with the addition of Ramirez. Their problem is pitching, sure they have the best pitcher in baseball in Martinez but the question is who will start after him. They have 9 guys in camp competing for the rotation including ex yankee David Cone, so it is impossible to predict who will win each spot and that will determine their chances all season.
Chicago White Sox
The White sox have a very good team and now have an ace in David Wells the main indegredit they lacked last season. I think they will have a good year but they still have mostly a young team minus wells, and Thomas so it is difficult to see how they will fare in the postseason.
Oakland The A's are another team that has an incredible offense. They have the best leadoff hitter in Johnny Damon and one of the best all around hitters in Giambi so they will compete but will they fold like they did last October that is the question.
Atlanta The Braves have a good team but like the Yankees are getting old especially their starting pitching and this may be their last harrah. I think with the Mets losing Hampton they will have little compettion in the East and have a good chance at getting to the World Series.
St. Louis The Cardinals are anothing intruging team who have the pieces of a championship team. They know have improved their pitching and have an incredible lineup especially if McGwire is healthy and they could easily march to the world series and steal the crown.
Of course there are other teams including Texas, Colorado, S.F. Cleveland, and the dodgers which make this season so wide open. It will be an interersting to see which team comes out on top.

[Doc Milo]

Here are my predictions:

American League:
East: Yankees -- Addition of Mussina gives them the best staff in the AL with Mussina, Pettitte, Clemens, El Duque and whoever rounds out the rotation (looks like they're giving a rookie a shot at it.) And their line-up will score enough runs to win.

Central: White Sox -- A good, young team. With the addition of Wells, they should be able to hold off Cleveland.

West: Seattle -- They had good pitching and a decent bullpen. With the addition of Jeff Nelson, their bull-pen will be that much stronger. The only problem they may have is offsetting the loss of ARod at short.

Wild Card: Cleveland -- For me, it was a toss up between Cleveland and Oakland. I think, however, that Oakland's youth and inexperience, and greater expectations after what they accomplished last year will have an adverse affect on them, and they will crumble under pressure in the stretch run; pressure they didn't feel last year because no one expected them to do what they did. The Red Sox will be all punch, but will lose a lot of games 9-8.

National League:
East: Mets -- As a Yankees fan, I have a difficult time picking the Mets to win anything. The loss of Hampton, IMO, will be minimal. Hampton was over-rated for most of last year. Losing Hampton only means the Mets will have to make up 15 wins. The addition of Appier, if he returns to form, should give them at least 12 of those wins, and if Glendon Rusch pitches in better luck, he will provide more than the three additional wins the Mets will need to duplicate last year. Atlanta, I think, will fall off pace as well. Traschel will offset the loss of Bobby Jones, one mediocre pitcher replacing another. The only thing the Mets have to guard against is an off-year by Al Leiter.

Central: St. Louis -- I see no reason why they shouldn't be able to duplicate what they accomplished last year, but this pick is only because they won last year, and I know very little about the NL Central.

West: Dodgers -- I pick them every year. One of these times, I'm bound to be right.

Wild Card: Atlanta -- The West is the most competitive division, but because of that, they will pick each other apart, especially with the new unbalanced schedule. Atlanta is still good enough to get the Wild Card in the NL.

AL Playoffs: Yankees will march through to the World Series again.
NL Playoffs: Dodgers will have a difficult time, but sneak on in.

World Series: Hey, I'm a Yankees fan. How can I pick anyone else? Yankees in a fourpeat. Dynasty continues. :)

[Jedi Master Carr]

I disagree with Seattle first Oakland has an awsome lineup and a solid pitching staff that will make them one of the better teams in baseball. Seattle lost too much there is no way they can lose their best player and be better than they were last year I think they will struggle to win 85 games. And then Cleveland, I doubt they will win the wild card there pitching staff is poor and many of their postion players are getting old sure they added Gonzalez but he is not that good anymore and Burks is getting old and like Seattle will probably win 85 games. As far as the Red Sox go I think they will be more than all punch first they have Pedro who will win 20-25 games easily and also Boston has one of the better bullpens in the American league which will help keep the scoring down so I doubt they will be in too many 9-8 games. Sure the other starters are question marks but I think they will be enough to at least win the wild card. Another thing to factor in is that they are now playing in an unbalanced schedule where all the teams play more games in their own division. Sure that does mean Boston will have to play NY more but it also means they will feast on the other teams Baltimore and Tampa Bay both stink and both will be flirting with losing a 100 games, Toronto lost Wells and now they lost the pitcher they aquired from chicago for the season and will be an under .500 team. All of this will help Boston as well as the Yankees and I see both teams above 90 wins.

[Doc Milo]

Of course, I disagree on Seattle. They lost Griffey Jr. the year before last; everyone said the same thing then, How can they lose their best player and compete? Well they did better than compete last year. Of course, losing Griffey Jr. one year and ARod the next is tough, but a lot depends on who replaces ARod, and if their starting pitching can get them to the sixth and seventh innings with a lead. Their bullpen should be able to handle shutting down the opposition after seven, at the very least. I don't see them as a powerhouse offensive team. But then again, the Yankees in the last five years haven't been an offensive powerhouse; they pitched well enough to win. I think Seattle can do that as well -- even without ARod. Pitching is still the name of the game.

As for Oakland, I still need to be convinced that last year wasn't a fluke for them. And the Red Sox, well, I see them as a Pedro pitches they win, then they pray... But all it will take is two others of their patchwork starting rotation to produce and they can be right there. They will be the competition for the Yankees in the East -- both teams should feast on the weaker teams of the division, and Boston's rotation is still going to be better than Toronto's, Baltimore's, and Tampa's.

A wild horse I see in the National League is Milwaukee. They will be better than last year, have a new ball park, and just might surprise a few people. Enough to win? I don't think so. But still enough to compete into late August, early September.

[RHJediKnight]

Okay, Sports Illustrated predicted Boston to win it all last year, and they didn't. They could have though, during the first couple months of the season it looked like Boston was going to fulfill that prediction, and they might have too if their offense didn't suddenly sputter out and all those injuries didn't happen. Ah well, there's always this year...

I think this year is the one. The Yankees have a good team, but I don't think they can win four years straight. The Red Sox will fight the Yankees for first place in the AL East all this year, but the Sox will come out ahead and go on to the World Series, which they'll win in 6.

Oh yeah, I'm a Red Sox fan in case you didn't notice. :D

[Jedieb]

I haven't had the time or the inclination to look at team lineups and rotations. My wife tried to look into getting me tickets for a BAltimore V. Yankees game but EVERY single Oriole/Yankee game at Camden Yards has already been sold out! If I did have to make any predictions they'd go like this;
1) Most big market clubs (Yankees, Mets, Braves) will continue to dominate with the ocasional aberration like Baltimore or Los Angeles continuing to stink up the joint.

2) The Cubs will crush the hopes of the Wrigley faithful yet again.

3) Braves lose in the palyoffs AGAIN.

4) Small market teams will continue to get crushed. But 1 or 2 will make a run only to see their limited resources run out on them in August and September. Even if they make the playoff they will face an early exit.

5) The Winnah? Yankees, Doc and Jedieb rejoice!

[jjwr]

This'll be the Rex Sox year.....Pedro finally has some offense behind him and win 30(won't lose those 2-1 games now)....course I don't care for baseball but I'm from Vermont therefore I've gotta for the Red Sox and Vermonters hate New Yorkers(by law) so I gotta go against the Yanks

[Jedi Master Kyle]

Go Expos! :)
They won't win anything this year, but they will be entertaining. They're #2-5 batters are as good as anyone's.
Jose Vidro
Fernando Tatis
Vladimir Guerrero
Lee Stevens

and the rest of the batters all have potential to be very good hitters, but who am I kidding?

[Doc Milo]

Well, it's coming up on the Official "half-way" point (although the teams have played half their games already) in the baseball season, and I thought it would be interesting to see how we did in our Spring Training picks so far. Here's how I did:

American League:
East: Yankees -- They're .5 games ahead, one game in the loss column and having a tougher time than I expected. They seem, though, to have recently hit their stride and I believe they will open up some room from now to the end of the season; but it will be a tough fight with the Red So -- who are a lot better than I thought they'd be.


Central: White Sox -- They've been a disappointment from the beginning of the season. Have flashes where you see the team I thought we'd see this year, but not consistant enough. I don't see this pick going anywhere. Wells, injured now, seems to be going through the motions when he was healthy, waiting to be traded.

West: Seattle -- I thought they'd be good, but this good? The loss of Griffey one year and ARod the next hasn't fazed them at all. Ichiro Suzuki seems to have quieted everyone's concerns about the loss of such offensive players.

Wild Card: Cleveland -- So far, they're either in the Wild Card position or leading the Central division. Who would have thought the Twins would be there this late in the season. I think everyone seems to have overlooked the Twins pitching...

National League:
East: Mets -- Well, I picked the Mets, and now they're not only not going to even make the playoffs, they may well finish in last place! Overall, probably my worst pick during Spring Training. This team can't hit a lick, and can't pitch consistantly enough to win the close games they must play because of their total lack of offense.

Central: St. Louis -- The Cubs leading the Central? The Cubbies? Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see the Cubs win. If the Yankees don't win it all this year, I'll be rooting for the Cubs to take it all. But who would have picked them? Another "who would have thunk it." Just like the Twins in the AL.

West: Dodgers -- Hey, they still got a chance. Good pitching led by Kevin Brown and Chan Ho Park, and a good offense led by Gary Sheffield and Paul LoDuca. But Arizona looks pretty strong too...

Wild Card: Atlanta -- They're either in the Wild Card position or the East leaders. Philly has also been another surprise sitting atop the NL East for most of this half season. Don't know if Philly can hold off Atlanta. Hope so, though.

Overall I picked between two and four, depending upon any given day with Atlanta and Cleveland. Not too bad, I don't think...

My revised picks:
AL
East -- Yankees
Central -- Twins
West -- Seattle
Wild -- Boston

NL
East -- Atlanta
Central -- Cubs
West -- Dodgers
Wild -- Arizona

[Jedieb]

Pretty amazing season so far, huh Doc? Who could have predicted the Cubs, Bonds, or Seattle? Can you believe that a Cubs V. Red Sox World Series is a plausible scenario at this point? If there was one team besides the Yanks that I'd like to see win it all it would have to be the Cubs. Hell, I'd wouldn't even mind seeing the Red Sox finally break the Ruth curse. I think the best thing that could happen to baseball would be a Cubs and Red Sox World Series. I think such a "Heartbreakers" World Series would be much more appealing to the country than last year's Subway Series.

[Jedi Master Carr]

It would appeal to me:) since I'm a big Red Sox fan. What is really weird is how they are hanging around without their best two players (Nomar and Pedro) and two other stars are on the DL. If they can just hang in their for another month they will finally have everybody back and I think they will win at least the wild card beyond that who knows the season has been so odd it unbelievable. You mentioned the Twins I never thought they would have been in 1st this late with their payroll and players they are obviosly the surprise of the year. The Cubs aren't far behind and I think they have a legitimate shot at getting to the World Series. In the American League the Mariners just look unbeatable right now (that could change) and they will probably take the whole thing. Other things could happen in the second half and the postseason though that could change that.

[Doc Milo]

Bite your tongue Jedieb! :)

Red Sox in the World Series -- NEVER NEVER NEVER!!!! :)

Actually, I can see it being very good for the sport to have such a series. Interest would be very high, I'll admit that much.

And the Red Sox do remind me of the 1996 Yankees in the respect that they lost major cogs of their team (Nomar and Pedro) and haven't folded, still hanging near the top and challenging. (In '96, I believe Bernie was out for a while in the beginning of the season, then Cone went down with the aneuerysm -- when Doc Gooden stepped up big time for the Yanks...) The Red Sox courage and guts this year remind me a lot of that Yankees team...

Oh, yeah. I've been taking "baseball trips" each summer for the last few years. And so far, the best place, I have to say, to watch a game would have to be Wrigley Field. We loved it so much, that we went there two years in a row! This year, though, San Diego and LA.

[Darth23]

So exactly what is the Curse on the Red Sox, anyway? And how do they lift it?

I know it has something to do with Babe Ruth.... :p

[Jedi Master Kyle]

Something like the Bosox sold Ruth to the Yankees for next to nothing, and that was in like 1844 and the Red Sox haven't won the world series since then.

[Jedieb]

That pretty much sums up the curse. I don't know what the exact amount was ($250,000?) but it ended up being the worst deal in baseball history. Ruth was a dominating PITCHER and World Series ace for the Red Sox. People forget Ruth was headed for the Hall of Fame as a pitcher before he became primarily an outfielder and slugger. The Red Sox, despite the likes of Ted Williams and Yaz, have never pyschologically recovered. And they've been CLOSE so many times. Losing to the Reds in a Game 7, poor Bill Buckner, and my all time favorite Red Sox crusher; BUCKY DENT!!!! I love it when the Yankees beat the Red Sox, but I just feel pity when someone else does it.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Except it wasn't 1844, it was 1919. The owner of the team needed the money to produce a musical called No No Nantee. He was a terrible owner who knew nothing about baseball, and after selling Ruth he got rid of every good player the team had and the team stunk for nearly 20 years until Yawkee bought the team in the 30's and built it up by bringing in legends like Jimmy Foxx and developing young talent like Ted Williams, Bobby Doreur(sp), Carl Yazstrimiski, Carlton Fisk, Fred Lynn and Jim Rice. They made it to the World Series 46,67,75,and 86 only to lose every time in 7 games. They did play in the best world series ever in 75 and lost to one of baseball's greatest teams the Big Red Machine. I don't even wanna think about 86 and I feel sorry for Buckner it wasn't all his fault the Red Sox bullpen fell apart that day walking the bases loaded and the game was already tied when he made that error so in reality the game was blown before that.

[Doc Milo]

Very true, Jedi Master Carr. Buckner gets a lot of heat for that error. But the fact is, the game was turning anyway -- like you said, it was already tied. And didn't that happen in game six? (If I remember correctly.) So the Red Sox still had a chance to win it all in game seven that year...

Ahhh, '86 -- a Yankees fan nightmare! Mets vs. Red Sox. I couldn't decide who to pull for.

[Jedieb]

Yep, the Mets won the series in 7 and Buckner's infamous error was in game 6. I didn't know who to root for as well because I hated the Mets, still do. I was also living in WNY, New Jersey at the time so more than a few of friends were Mets fans. Those were dark times....

[Jedi Master Kyle]

I wasn't sure of the exact date, but I knew it wasn't 1844! I was exaggerating! :lol:
Exaggerating as in the Yanks paid $6 for Ruth. And some tobacco.