MLB - 2006 Season!

[Arrian]

Yeah, I'm sure that was it. Nobody who's hitting .300 goes 0-4.

-Arrian

[Lawrence of Arabia]

[Lawrence of Arabia]

'Carl Pavano is a true genius. think about it..this guy is a pure genius. He's getting paid millions to chill out in Tampa and throw rehab starts every now and then. If he wants to go on the DL for another few months, he just has to slip and bruise his other ass cheek. This guy has the right idea--I mean how many people get paid millions to play some catch in Florida. No pressure, lots of fun, and a nice fat pay check.'

'Kevin Brown must have filled him in on how to stick it to the Yankees while collecting their money'

[Lawrence of Arabia]

http://www.quizsoup.com/red-sox.php

[Imran Siddiqui]

I think you must have been a really rich man right about now if you predicted the Cincinnati REDS would have the best record in baseball on May 3rd!

[Guynemer]

Or the Tigers would have the 3rd best (or possibly the 2nd best by the end of the night)!


I mean, holy ****ing jesus tap-dancing christ!

[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

[Arrian]

Originally posted by Lawrence of Arabia
'Carl Pavano is a true genius. think about it..this guy is a pure genius. He's getting paid millions to chill out in Tampa and throw rehab starts every now and then. If he wants to go on the DL for another few months, he just has to slip and bruise his other ass cheek. This guy has the right idea--I mean how many people get paid millions to play some catch in Florida. No pressure, lots of fun, and a nice fat pay check.'

'Kevin Brown must have filled him in on how to stick it to the Yankees while collecting their money'

Quoted for muther'effin' truth.

-Arrian

edit: or it might be that he actually has a disk problem in his lower back, and it wasn't a "bruised ass" at all, but rather an aggravation of that disk issue. If that's the case, he's not a genius - he's a guy I feel bad for, 'cause disk problems are no fun at all.

[Ned]

I haven't posted on this site for about a year. This time last year I was noting the record start for the White Sox. They were clearly last year's best team and joined the 27 Yankees as the only other team in history to lead wire-to-wire and have such a good record in the playoffs. That team was good, one of the best ever, in fact.

But this year's team seems better, if that is possible. They lost a very good defensive centerfielder, but have added Thome's power. The pitching staff may even be stronger on paper, but Garland is off to a slow start this year. It is not surprising, therefore, that the team had its best April ever and now sports, as it did for most of last year, Baseball's best record.

Given that the American League is stronger than the National League (at least in the last few years), the real surprise this year and the second best team is Baseball through the first month of the season is the Detroit Tigers. The only problem they have is that they share the same division with the White Sox. One of these two teams will be the wild card, making it harder for that team to win out.

I also find surprising that most of the rest of the American League teams appear to be average, at best.

Finally, the Cubs look good this year. But the problem THEY have is that they are in the best overall division in baseball after the first month of the season. I don't recall such a hot start by a whole division. What going on in the NL Central?

[Guynemer]

Originally posted by Ned
I haven't posted on this site for about a year. This time last year I was noting the record start for the White Sox. They were clearly last year's best team and joined the 27 Yankees as the only other team in history to lead wire-to-wire and have such a good record in the playoffs.

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.

[Imran Siddiqui]

He's making it up as he goes along . "One of the best ever"? I scoff!! Scoff I say!

[Arrian]

The 2005 White Sox were an very, very good team. "One of the best ever" is overstating the case, but one can perhaps forgive our friends from Chicago for going a little nutty after their first WS Championship in 88 years.

The 2006 WS are showing that '05 wasn't a fluke (I'll admit, I thought it was). The pitching remains excellent, and Thome being healthy is a huge boost for the offense. Huge. You have to like that team's chances. They were build on pitching, defense, and dingers (the part much of the media tends to leave out). They've got the pitching, they traded away some of the defense (Rowand), and they look live they've added ~30 dingers (I figure Thome, if he stays healthy, will hit around 40. I've no idea what Rowand hit, but I guessed ~10).

That being said, it's early May. I don't think the WS are gonna fall apart, but there are other good teams in the AL (indeed, in the AL Central, even) that can certainly challenge them.

The Indians
The Yankees
The Red Sox
The As

In no particular order. Those teams are all solid. Not without weaknesses, sure, but solid.

Imran, you gotta like your Mets, no?

-Arrian

p.s. Apologies to any offended Tigers fans, but I'm not convinced they'll hold up. They may well manage to finish above .500, though, and thus could certainly be "hanging around" late in the season. I'd be shocked if they made the playoffs.

p.p.s. And no, I'm not drinkin' the Blue Jay kool aid.

[Imran Siddiqui]

The White Sox have been outstanding so far this year. The hitting is clicking very nicely. Thome to that lineup jumpstarted both him and the WS early this year. Dye is the underrated piece of the lineup. Look at his stats, they are absolutely eye popping at this stage of the game, and Crede & Iguchi are hitting well too. Podsednik and Brian N. Anderson are stinking it up, however, though Pods does have 8 SB.

The only concern is the ERA of Garcia and Garland. Garcia has won games, but has got to get that number down. Garland seems to want to prove last year was a fluke for him. A 7.11 ERA on such a good team won't cut it.

Imran, you gotta like your Mets, no?

Indeed. I'm also liking the way the other NL East teams have started this season . No other first place team has more than a game and a half over the second place team, except in the NL East where the damage is 5 games back for the Phils (2nd place). Though the Phils have won 5 in a row (include one over the Braves). It is STILL VERY EARLY, but I'm enjoying it.

Wright is living up to expectations put on him last year (except for that one 3 error game). Carlos Delgado has been JUST what the offense needed. A great bat in the middle of the lineup. Beltran has finally gotten comfortable. His average may not be that hot, but he's getting walks (OBP of .408) and is hitting for power (SLG of .552) and 3 SB with 0 CS. And Nady has been quite a suprise! I know he was considered an uber-prospect in San Diego before disappointing (like Sean Burroughs did over there), but it seems NY has helped him realize his promise. Glavine is pitching like he hasn't for 5 years as well, and Pedro is Pedro. Bannister is doing very well for a rookie. And the bullpen has, for the most part, been very well with Sanchez, Bradford and Heilman pitching very nicely.

Are there concerns? Hell yeah. Zambrano is a train wreck. And Bannister is out for 15 days with a hammy pull, bring in John Maine from the minors (we'll see how he does). Frankly I think Heilman should be in the rotation instead of Zambrano. Wagner has blown 3 saves, though he's been good in the other games. And Cliff Floyd is REALLY sucking balls right now. And Kaz Matsui ("waste of money" in Japanese) is making $8mil and doing jack.

[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).

[Arrian]

So do I, Imran. Keep it up. I'll talk Mets, Yanks, Sox, whatever. Of course, I'm most knowledgeable about the AL East.

I actually thought the Mets would be weak on starting pitching this year. Didn't they trade away a pretty good pitcher (Seo? Can't remember name...)? Glavine is old and thus a resurgence like this didn't seem likely (but neither did resurgences from Maddux and Mussina, but it's happened so far). Plus Reyes the on-base challenged up at the top of the lineup. Yikes. Good to see them doing well, though. No team, particularly in the NL (IMO), is without flaws.

-Arrian