MLB 2011!!

[SlowwHand]

I thought the Rangers had this one. Oh, well. They're doing fine.

[EPW]

Enjoy it while it lasts.

[SlowwHand]

What do you think will happen when Hamilton comes back? The Rangers aren't scared. Finally, they have a good team, with the best minor league in baseball.
I'm going to enjoy it for a long time.

[EPW]

What do you think will happen when Hamilton comes back?

DUI three days later. And Ron Washington will be arrested for purchasing cocaine from an undercover agent sometime during the season. You know in your heart its going to happen.

[Arrian]

On the one hand, leading the division is nice. On the other, yikes the pitching! CC will be fine. Burnett's ERA is a bit deceptive - he's actually pitched pretty well. But after that it's smoke & mirrors. Hughes to the DL with a "tired arm." Nobody seems to know what's wrong, but he's missing ~4mph on his fastball. The kid was throwing BP out there. I hope it's just b/c he threw a lot of innings (for him) last season, not a serious injury. Replacement: Fatolo Colon, fer goodnesssakes (who, shockingly enough, has looked decent, but come on, an ERA under 5 would be a minor miracle)! Then you have Nova, who has some promise but can't be counted on. Zombie Freddie Garcia rounds out the rotation (and, to date, has been the only starter other than CC to turn in a really good start). At least the bullpen is good. Oh, wait, what's that you say? Soriano has had two huge meltdowns already and Feliciano's shoulder is shredded? Not to worry, surely the offense will overcome! Oh, Jeter (year 1 of 4 year contract) looks like a corpse and Gardner looks like a pumpkin?

Of course, some of this will improve. I think Gardner will improve a great deal, and a number of guys will see their batting averages climb (though I really do worry that Jeter's D-O-N-E). They're 9-5 despite all of the above, so some things are going right. ARod (hopefully the recent injury is as minor as they say) has been tearing the cover off the ball. Russell Martin has been really impressive. They do seem to have, for once, constructed a good bench. Nice to have the Ghost of Eric Chavez to back up ARod.

-Arrian

[Imran Siddiqui]

CC is already fine . An ERA+ of 165 is pretty good.

The reason the Yankees are where they are is because of their great hitting. A team OPS+ of 124 is quite impressive (it is still early though .

[Demonbinder]

Could both the Cubs and White Sox have had a scandal in back to back years? Article says White Sox in 1919 got the idea from Cubs the year before.

http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/news/story?id=6396358

[-Jrabbit]

This just crossed my desk...

Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Wed, April 20, 2011 -- 5:25 PM ET
-----

Major League Baseball Takes Over Operation of Los Angeles Dodgers

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig said Monday that he would appoint someone to oversee all operations of the Los Angeles Dodgers because of his "deep concerns" about the state of the marquee franchise.

But two people with knowledge of the situation said that he is also strongly considering forcing the sale of the team by invoking his "bests interests of baseball" powers to wrest the team from Frank McCourt, the owner since 2004, who he believes has mismanaged the franchise while enriching himself.

Selig said in a statement that he informed McCourt of his decision, which he said was made to "protect the best interests of the club, its great fans and all of Major League Baseball."

Read More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/21/sports/baseball/21dodgers.html?emc=na

[SlowwHand]

Get 'em, Bud.

[EPW]

...who he believes has mismanaged the franchise while enriching himself.

I don't see the problem??? If you buy the team why shouldn't you be allowed to mismanage it?

[Ming]

Maybe they should take over control of the Cubs... they make money and don't win either

[OzzyKP]

Isn't that the case with a lot of teams? Isn't the Royals owner notoriously stingy?

[Arrian]

There's stingy and then there is treating the team as one's personal ATM machine.

McCourt would've gotten away with his crap if it wasn't for the divorce. Once the shenenigans became public, it was like blood in the water.

-Arrian

[Demonbinder]

Dubious record: The Cubs have been 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 5-5, 6-6, 7-7, 8-8, 9-9 and are now 10-10 this season. They are the first team in MLB history to reach .500 10 straight times to start a season. (from Elias Sports Bureau).

[SlowwHand]

The Cubs are special.