Forget almost everything that I wrote on my last blog. Seems that most of my baseball predictions are coming apart like a pair of 15 year old jeans.
Who thought the Yankees would reel off a 24-9 record coming out of the All-Star break with the dreadful pitching staff they had during the first half? New York has chainsawed almost 10 games off of the 14 1/2 game deficit they trailed the Red Sox back in June. Not only are the Yanks breathing down the Sox back, they are neck and neck for the Wild Card with, of all teams, the Seattle Mariners.
I mentioned in my last blog that I thought the AL Wild Card team would come out of the AL Central as Detroit and Cleveland were jockeying back and forth for supremacy of that division. Well, neither team is lighting it up in the last couple weeks, even the Royals are only 12 1/2 games back at this point.
My National League predictions are just as proposterous. I said the Cubs would bypass the Brewers in the NL Central. Well they were able to tie Milwaukee for one day before sliding back into second place, maintaining that position even though the Brewers have been doing their best to give the division away to the lowest bidder.
St Louis, the defending World Champions, have been hanging around all season, mired between last and third place in the NL (comedy) Central. With a decimated pitching staff, injuries, and Albert Pujols having a relatively down season at the plate, the Cardinals began what will probably be their biggest road trip of the season and what will most likely define their season. Winning 12-4 in Milwaukee Tuesday night pulled the Redbirds within 4 1/2 games of the Brewers and put St Louis is serious contention. Everything is riding on the next 6 games, (2 more in Milwaukee and 4 in Chicago against the Cubs) and if the Cardinals have the heart of a champion, it will be on full display this week. Gonna keep a close eye on this one through the weekend.
I still think the Padres or the Dodgers will take the NL West. I really don't think Arizona has the experience down the stretch to hang on.
I am not a big fan of the heat and really looking forward to high school football again this year. I will once again be covering our neighbors in Dexter and South Haven for the Traveler. Also looking forward to ACHS having a turn around season under 2nd year head coach Darren Wegner. Go Bulldogs and Dexter/South Haven Cardinals!!
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
What were They Thinking
A few tidbits from the recent Major League Baseball trading deadline which ended yesterday.
Kansas City traded closer Octavio Dotel to the Atlanta Braves for right-handed starter Kyle Davies. On the surface, this is a trade the Royals had to make since Dotel is a free-agent at the end of the season. But to only get Davies, who is 4-8 with a 5.76 ERA and was headed for AAA.
I would have liked to have seen the Royals hang on to Dotel until the end of the season with a possiblity of re-signing him for next year if, for nothing else, to bolster a young, talented bullpen that has shown remarkable improvement over last season. Davies will start Friday for Kansas City against the Yankees in New York. Welcome to the American League, Kyle!!
St. Louis definitely had me scratching my head as they acquired Joel Pineiro from the Red Sox for the proverbial "player to be named later". Pineiro was so ineffective for Boston that they sent him down to AAA Pawtucket a week ago. I don't know what the Cardinals see in this guy although I suppose they had to do something with their pitching staff in such dreadful disarray. Maybe Dave Duncan can work his magic with this guy. Heaven knows, the last couple moves (Mike Maroth and Kip Wells) have been total busts for the defending champs. Perhaps GM Walt Jocketty should have waited a couple days as former Cardinal, Matt Morris became available and was traded from San Francisco to Pittsburgh in the most confusing trade of the year so far.
It's anybody's guess if any of the trades will affect the standings the rest of the season. My predictions with two months of baseball left are:
AL EAST- Boston will continue to rule the East. They are much too deep and talented, especially in the pitching department. New York will miss the post-season for the first time in 12 years.
AL CENTRAL- Detroit and Cleveland will stay neck and neck down the stretch with the second place team securing the Wild-Card berth. This division will continue to be the toughest division in baseball for years to come.
AL WEST- Even though the Angels have struggled lately, they will coast into the post-season with a good, but not great pitching staff. Seattle is too young and Oakland isn't putting on their annual second-half run that they have been known for the last few years.
NL EAST- Atlanta positioned themselves to make a run at the New York Mets by acquiring Dotel and slugger Mark Texiera from the Royals and Rangers respectively. This division is up for grabs between the Braves, Mets, and Philadelphia Phillies. The team that can shore up it's pitching staff down the stretch will win the division. Though not a Braves fan, I think they will run down the Mets for the East Crown.
NL CENTRAL- Gonna go out on a limb here and say the Cubs will pass the Milwaukee Brewers. The Braves lost their ace, Ben Sheets, a week ago and even before he went down to injury, they were losing ground to the Cubs. Chicago is too deep and with Kerry Wood apparently coming back from injury, the Cubs have all the pieces in place to make a run at a World Series. Don't count any team out with Lou Piniella at the controls. St. Louis has too many holes to make a serious run at defending their championship.
NL WEST- You can pick from Arizona, San Diego, and Los Angeles to win the wild, wild NL West. Personally, I like the Padres again with the Dodgers taking the Wild Card out of this division.
And as crazy as this sounds, I like the Red Sox and Cubs to meet in the World Series in October.
Now that would be a series to remember.
Kansas City traded closer Octavio Dotel to the Atlanta Braves for right-handed starter Kyle Davies. On the surface, this is a trade the Royals had to make since Dotel is a free-agent at the end of the season. But to only get Davies, who is 4-8 with a 5.76 ERA and was headed for AAA.
I would have liked to have seen the Royals hang on to Dotel until the end of the season with a possiblity of re-signing him for next year if, for nothing else, to bolster a young, talented bullpen that has shown remarkable improvement over last season. Davies will start Friday for Kansas City against the Yankees in New York. Welcome to the American League, Kyle!!
St. Louis definitely had me scratching my head as they acquired Joel Pineiro from the Red Sox for the proverbial "player to be named later". Pineiro was so ineffective for Boston that they sent him down to AAA Pawtucket a week ago. I don't know what the Cardinals see in this guy although I suppose they had to do something with their pitching staff in such dreadful disarray. Maybe Dave Duncan can work his magic with this guy. Heaven knows, the last couple moves (Mike Maroth and Kip Wells) have been total busts for the defending champs. Perhaps GM Walt Jocketty should have waited a couple days as former Cardinal, Matt Morris became available and was traded from San Francisco to Pittsburgh in the most confusing trade of the year so far.
It's anybody's guess if any of the trades will affect the standings the rest of the season. My predictions with two months of baseball left are:
AL EAST- Boston will continue to rule the East. They are much too deep and talented, especially in the pitching department. New York will miss the post-season for the first time in 12 years.
AL CENTRAL- Detroit and Cleveland will stay neck and neck down the stretch with the second place team securing the Wild-Card berth. This division will continue to be the toughest division in baseball for years to come.
AL WEST- Even though the Angels have struggled lately, they will coast into the post-season with a good, but not great pitching staff. Seattle is too young and Oakland isn't putting on their annual second-half run that they have been known for the last few years.
NL EAST- Atlanta positioned themselves to make a run at the New York Mets by acquiring Dotel and slugger Mark Texiera from the Royals and Rangers respectively. This division is up for grabs between the Braves, Mets, and Philadelphia Phillies. The team that can shore up it's pitching staff down the stretch will win the division. Though not a Braves fan, I think they will run down the Mets for the East Crown.
NL CENTRAL- Gonna go out on a limb here and say the Cubs will pass the Milwaukee Brewers. The Braves lost their ace, Ben Sheets, a week ago and even before he went down to injury, they were losing ground to the Cubs. Chicago is too deep and with Kerry Wood apparently coming back from injury, the Cubs have all the pieces in place to make a run at a World Series. Don't count any team out with Lou Piniella at the controls. St. Louis has too many holes to make a serious run at defending their championship.
NL WEST- You can pick from Arizona, San Diego, and Los Angeles to win the wild, wild NL West. Personally, I like the Padres again with the Dodgers taking the Wild Card out of this division.
And as crazy as this sounds, I like the Red Sox and Cubs to meet in the World Series in October.
Now that would be a series to remember.
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