MLB - 2006 Season!

[Imran Siddiqui]

Seo was dealt to the Dodgers. Why? Who knows. Though dealing Cameron to the Pads for Nady is turning up roses so far. I know why they WON'T sit Zambrano. It's because they dealt Kazmir for him in an earlier front office, but just count your losses and leave the table. Should have dealt Zambrano before Seo.

[Arrian]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Oops... as you can tell, I like talking baseball .

Btw, I forgot to add, Reyes has BETTER start taking more walks or hitting more. His OBP is not good. Especially not for a leadoff hitter (a bone to LoA: what the Red Sox are doing with Youklis in the leadoff spot is brilliant... you want your leadoff guy to have a high OBP, so he can get driven in by the boppers behind him).

Yes, Reyes is killing that offense where he's batting. The scary thing for Mets fans is how guys like him typically don't suddenly learn to draw walks.

One of the best things about the Yanks acquiring Damon is that, despite his being overrated as a leadoff guy, it removes ANY temtation Torre had to put Cano in the 2 hole. I like Cano, and I think he's got a shot to be a pretty good player, but I sincerely doubt he'll EVER be the type of hitter you want hitting 2.

As for the Red Sox, yes, the Greek God of Walks is doing his thing, and lucky for them because Mark Loretta has a sub-.300 OBP in the 2-hole. Now, given that Loretta has put up very good OBP's in the past, I understand putting him there. Seems to me that once Coco is back, he ought to bat 1st, Youk 2nd and Loretta can drop way back in the order. I'd prolly go:

Crisp (L)
Youklis (R)
Shrek (L)
Manny (R)
Nixon (L)
Lowell (R)
Varitek (S)
Loretta (R)
Gonzalez (R)

-Arrian

[Arrian]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Seo was dealt to the Dodgers. Why? Who knows. Though dealing Cameron to the Pads for Nady is turning up roses so far. I know why they WON'T sit Zambrano. It's because they dealt Kazmir for him in an earlier front office, but just count your losses and leave the table. Should have dealt Zambrano before Seo.

No kidding. It's the same reason Jaret Wright will keep getting starts (at least until another bad signing, Pavano, shows his face).

-Arrian

[Imran Siddiqui]

Even if the Yanks didn't get Damon, I don't see them hitting Jeter in the leadoff. Torre doesn't like to do it apparently.

[Arrian]

Except that he did it all last year, and did it very well (.389 OBP, IIRC). If they don't get Damon, who leads off?

-Arrian

[Arrian]

It's possible I'm underrating the Tigers. One thing that jumps out at me as unsustainable:

Mike Maroth:

WHIP - 1.25
ERA - 1.78

Um, no. On the other hand, Bonderman's ERA should prolly go the other way (WHIP under 1, ERA nearly 4).

-Arrian

[OzzyKP]

Originally posted by Arrian
Yeah, the Tigers are definitely surprising... but I'd have to say that the Reds are an even bigger surprise. NOBODY (that I'm aware of) thought the Reds would contend. They still probably won't (pitching?), but hey, what a start. Good for the Tigers: an old, noble franchise that's been awful for far too long.

-Arrian

Tigers vs. Reds in the World Series

[Arrian]

Hey, I'm willing to believe that the Tigers could contend this year. Maybe. But the Reds? No friggin' way.

-Arrian

[Imran Siddiqui]

He did it last year because there was no one else who could fit that. Before that he put in players like Kenny Lofton in the leadoff spot. The leadoff hitter otherwise would be the person that comes in for CF. Was there a CF on the market last year that wasn't a "leadoff type"?

[Arrian]

Umm... who really was on the market? Crisp was acquired via trade and the Sox had to give up quality for him. Not an option for the Yankees, as they've decided to quit stripping their farm system for at least a little while. Ditto, then, for Cameron (and really, what's his career OBP? .335?).

Damon was really the only option. Pre-Damon, Jeter led off... quite a bit, even when Kenny Lofton was around (he often batted ninth, as I recall).

-Arrian

[Arrian]

Anyway, the temptation to bat Cano #2 was real for Torre, I think, because Cano has a fairly high batting average and because he makes a lot of contact.

-Arrian

[Ned]

Originally posted by Guynemer


What exactly is the record you are talking about here? Because the '84 Tigers led wire-to-wire, swept the ALCS, then won the World Series in 5.

Did the Yanks sweep the series as did the Sox?

[Ned]

BTW, it does appear that last's year's best teams, the White Sox and Houston, are the two best this year as well. While anything can happen, I would not be surprised to see back-to-back World Series involving these two teams.

[Arrian]

I still think Houston has some holes. They're counting on a lot of rookies in their rotation, no? Are they going to score enough runs? Last year they barely did.

I do think the White Sox are solid, and stand a good chance of making it deep into October again.

-Arrian

[Ned]

Arrian, I think the Rocket will rejoin the team after the All Star Break. With him, they have the best pitching in the NL.