So once again, just as in 2009, we have ourselves the best defense in baseball, combined with the worst offense in the league.
The masters of run prevention continue to win at home and lose on the road and score very rarely in both places.
As of right now, they are 11th in Batting Average, 13th in OBP and Slugging, 12th in Runs, and 2 games below .500. Granted, they have yet to have top 10 pitcher Cliff Lee, who has been injured since spring training, but his arrival wont score a single run for this team.
Apparently adding Chone Figgins does not help your offense much, unless he brings Kendry Morales, Vlad Guerrero, Juan Rivera, Torii Hunter, and Bobby Abreau with him from the Angels.
I understand the Mariners felt adding a great glue guy, good defender, and stolen base threat like Figgins would help them score more runs, and I think it will, but he is not a game changer, and never has been. So they essentially have 2 leadoff hitters in Figgins and Ichiro, neither of whom has any power whatsoever, and both of whom are followed in the lineup by decent but powerless hitters in CF Gutierrez and 1b Casey Kotchman, not to mention the other 4 dead bats they have in the lineup as well.
Any team playing Ken Griffey as a DH is not too interested in scoring runs, or taking their team's playoff chances seriously. They have another great defender but zero at the plate in SS Jack Wilson. So in addition to Griffey and Wilson, what do the Mariners do to score more runs? Well, they add .200 hitter Rob Johnson to their everyday lineup, platoon Eric Byrnes, who has been done for 3 years, in left field, and give Matt Tuiasasopo regular starts at corner infield positions.
I expect this team's pitching to be just fine, and it has been, for the most part. Ian Snell is crap and I knew he would be, but he will lose his spot as soon as Lee comes back this weekend. Another problem is an unproven bullpen, coming off career years for everyone. I expect more regression for the Mariners' bullpen than any other in the league. I will be very surprised if Seattle can approach last years' win total of 85 games. But then , the Giants surprise me daily by winning with a dogshit offense. Go figure.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
2010 NL East Preview
Forgot to do my win totals
Phils 96-66: problem area will be, as always, the bullpen. The only thing that can keep down the NL's best offense is the worst pen in the NL. Yes, thats right, the worst pen in the NL. Get Lidge back and at least they can move Madson to 8th inning guy where he seems to thrive.
Atlanta 88-74: problem area: the most inconsistent top tiered offense in baseball, you never know what you will get from them. They have an amazing talent in rookie RF Jason Heyward, but they have an always injured 1b in Troy Glaus and 3b Chipper Jones. They will get minimal production, albeit great defense, out of CF Nate McLouth and LF Melky Cabrera, but they have very weird chemistry, I do not know why.
Mets 80-82: If righty Mike Pelfrey can turn the corner and become a good #2, if the team can hit and SS Jose Reyes stays healthy at the top of the order, and if they can find some pitching after Johan Santana, this team could have a decent bounceback year and hang around until August or September. There is not much potential for them beyond 500 however. Perhaps 1b prospect Ike Davis can give the team a power bat they have yet to find, at least in their new ballpark.
Florida Marlins 78-84: I know everyone is high on this team, but their defense is abysmal, as is their bullpen. They have young pitchers that just dont seem to get going, other than Josh Johnson, and those are the keys to the team. Will Ricky Nolasco or Annibal Sanchez ever produce that they are capable of? If they do, then the team can contend for a wild card. Offense is not a problem. The Fish have a top 5 offensive player in SS Hanley Ramirez. 1b Jorge Cantu can rake, LF Chris Colghan and CF Cody Ross are also very good hitters. The bullpen is horrid, and closer Leo Nunez is going to make every 1 run lead into a major adventure.
Washington 73-89: help is on the way. Megaprospect Steven Strausburg should come up sometime in May or June, giving them essentially one major league starting pitcher (which is better than zero I guess). There is no doubt the team can hit: 1b Adam Dunn should hit 35 + hrs, 3b Ryan Zimmerman is a rising star, SS Ian Desmond is also a huge prospect. Josh Willingham can hit, though his defense is brutal too . Their bullpen problems mirror Philly's, but they dont have the offense or defense to make up for it. Nor do they have Roy Halladay, for that matter. Maybe next year Nats!
Phils 96-66: problem area will be, as always, the bullpen. The only thing that can keep down the NL's best offense is the worst pen in the NL. Yes, thats right, the worst pen in the NL. Get Lidge back and at least they can move Madson to 8th inning guy where he seems to thrive.
Atlanta 88-74: problem area: the most inconsistent top tiered offense in baseball, you never know what you will get from them. They have an amazing talent in rookie RF Jason Heyward, but they have an always injured 1b in Troy Glaus and 3b Chipper Jones. They will get minimal production, albeit great defense, out of CF Nate McLouth and LF Melky Cabrera, but they have very weird chemistry, I do not know why.
Mets 80-82: If righty Mike Pelfrey can turn the corner and become a good #2, if the team can hit and SS Jose Reyes stays healthy at the top of the order, and if they can find some pitching after Johan Santana, this team could have a decent bounceback year and hang around until August or September. There is not much potential for them beyond 500 however. Perhaps 1b prospect Ike Davis can give the team a power bat they have yet to find, at least in their new ballpark.
Florida Marlins 78-84: I know everyone is high on this team, but their defense is abysmal, as is their bullpen. They have young pitchers that just dont seem to get going, other than Josh Johnson, and those are the keys to the team. Will Ricky Nolasco or Annibal Sanchez ever produce that they are capable of? If they do, then the team can contend for a wild card. Offense is not a problem. The Fish have a top 5 offensive player in SS Hanley Ramirez. 1b Jorge Cantu can rake, LF Chris Colghan and CF Cody Ross are also very good hitters. The bullpen is horrid, and closer Leo Nunez is going to make every 1 run lead into a major adventure.
Washington 73-89: help is on the way. Megaprospect Steven Strausburg should come up sometime in May or June, giving them essentially one major league starting pitcher (which is better than zero I guess). There is no doubt the team can hit: 1b Adam Dunn should hit 35 + hrs, 3b Ryan Zimmerman is a rising star, SS Ian Desmond is also a huge prospect. Josh Willingham can hit, though his defense is brutal too . Their bullpen problems mirror Philly's, but they dont have the offense or defense to make up for it. Nor do they have Roy Halladay, for that matter. Maybe next year Nats!
Thursday, April 15, 2010
White Sox
With the major league's most overrated starter in Jake Peavy, along with the biggest bunch of underachievers (Andruw Jones, Alex Rios, possibly Carlos Quentin), this team will have a bottom 5 AL offense. I was never under the impression they would be good, but watching them play would make any baseball purist vomit.
Their defense is below average at ss, 1b, and 3b. Their outfield cannot hit (outside of Quentin, whose career year 2 years ago seems light years away). Juan Pierre is a cool dude and all, but he sucks. Alex Rios is not a cool dude, and sucks.
You may ask, "Ryan, why is Alexi Rios not a cool dude?"
Thank you for asking. A few years ago I was enjoying a $9 mojito in the Skydome Hard RockCafe, watching batting practice at about 330 pm or so. Alex Rios is fielding fly balls. He turns around, looks at me, and throws a ball off the plexiglass window. It is what a moronic 11 year old would do. and this is a $15 million dollar former all star. He will never hit like he used to, he is a lazy jerk who sucks at baseball. What kind if dude throws a baseball at fans, even if protected by a window? In retrospect, I wish that ball had hit me in the face.
I could have used the money.
Their defense is below average at ss, 1b, and 3b. Their outfield cannot hit (outside of Quentin, whose career year 2 years ago seems light years away). Juan Pierre is a cool dude and all, but he sucks. Alex Rios is not a cool dude, and sucks.
You may ask, "Ryan, why is Alexi Rios not a cool dude?"
Thank you for asking. A few years ago I was enjoying a $9 mojito in the Skydome Hard RockCafe, watching batting practice at about 330 pm or so. Alex Rios is fielding fly balls. He turns around, looks at me, and throws a ball off the plexiglass window. It is what a moronic 11 year old would do. and this is a $15 million dollar former all star. He will never hit like he used to, he is a lazy jerk who sucks at baseball. What kind if dude throws a baseball at fans, even if protected by a window? In retrospect, I wish that ball had hit me in the face.
I could have used the money.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Angels
Once again, the Yanks shred the Angels. Dont let the final tally confound you, it was an asskicking. The Angels hitting will come around, Im sure. Brandon Wood sucks but the rest of them are fine. The pitching is becoming a problem. The pen was mediocre to begin with, gone are the dominant days of Scot Shields and Frankie Rodriguez. The loss of John Lackey looms larger every single day, due to the continued ineffectiveness of Ervin Santana. Also worth noting are :
a: Joe Saunders sucks and always has, his record neevr indicates his true value, and eventually, maybe now, it will come back to Earth.
b: Matt Palmer sucks, obviously, though he is probably just a space filler for Scott Kazmir who also kinda sucks, but is less sucky then Palmer and Saunders by far.
c: Jered Weaver is good, but if he is your ace, you better have some insanely deep staff. The Angels do not have an insanely deep staff. They have a solid 1-5, nothing near All-Star caliber though.
d: Losing Chone Figgins will hurt just as much on defense as on offense. He is a glue guy, an OBP guy, a gold glover, a base stealer, and an igniter. He hits from both sides, takes pitches, and does every single thing a winning team needs. He is replaced by yet another highly-touted (and most likely future flameout like the rest) Angels minor leaguer.
Wood better pick it up fast, especially in the field, or this team will be 7 games back by the end of the month. Oaklands pitching and pen are fantastic, as are Texas', so its going to be a race all year.
Seattle sucks. A blind retard knows this.
a: Joe Saunders sucks and always has, his record neevr indicates his true value, and eventually, maybe now, it will come back to Earth.
b: Matt Palmer sucks, obviously, though he is probably just a space filler for Scott Kazmir who also kinda sucks, but is less sucky then Palmer and Saunders by far.
c: Jered Weaver is good, but if he is your ace, you better have some insanely deep staff. The Angels do not have an insanely deep staff. They have a solid 1-5, nothing near All-Star caliber though.
d: Losing Chone Figgins will hurt just as much on defense as on offense. He is a glue guy, an OBP guy, a gold glover, a base stealer, and an igniter. He hits from both sides, takes pitches, and does every single thing a winning team needs. He is replaced by yet another highly-touted (and most likely future flameout like the rest) Angels minor leaguer.
Wood better pick it up fast, especially in the field, or this team will be 7 games back by the end of the month. Oaklands pitching and pen are fantastic, as are Texas', so its going to be a race all year.
Seattle sucks. A blind retard knows this.
Monday, April 12, 2010
MAriners
Sea outscored by 50 runs last year and was above 500
guess the luck is evening out this year.
learn to hit
take griffey out of the lineup. Defense may save runs but they dont work counts, take pitches, get into pens.
They cant score
Chone Figgins didnt bring Abreau and Morales with him, apparently.
guess the luck is evening out this year.
learn to hit
take griffey out of the lineup. Defense may save runs but they dont work counts, take pitches, get into pens.
They cant score
Chone Figgins didnt bring Abreau and Morales with him, apparently.
things I have learned so far today
1. The Royals are awful but maybe they will score more this year, if only because Podsednik can create a little havoc on base, and Billy Butler may become an all star.
2. The Cubs will destroy lefties this year, especially shitty ones. With Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Byrd, Soriano, and Nady, they can rake southpaws.
3. The Rangers work counts like a 4th grade t-ball player. They swing at balls, they swing at first pitches, they dont care. They dont get into other teams bullpens, same as last year. If they have any designs on winning the west, this will have to change, else the pitching will have to allow 3 runs per game.
4. The Twins new ballyard sure played small. Mike Cameron crushed a ball and it stayed below the warning track. It would have been a homer anywhere else.
5. Houston will be lucky to win 68 games. They are horrendous. They have almost no pitching, they have no defense. and they have no offense either.
6. Max Scherzer may have a tough time moving from NL to AL, which should suprise nobody, as we see it all the time.
2. The Cubs will destroy lefties this year, especially shitty ones. With Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Byrd, Soriano, and Nady, they can rake southpaws.
3. The Rangers work counts like a 4th grade t-ball player. They swing at balls, they swing at first pitches, they dont care. They dont get into other teams bullpens, same as last year. If they have any designs on winning the west, this will have to change, else the pitching will have to allow 3 runs per game.
4. The Twins new ballyard sure played small. Mike Cameron crushed a ball and it stayed below the warning track. It would have been a homer anywhere else.
5. Houston will be lucky to win 68 games. They are horrendous. They have almost no pitching, they have no defense. and they have no offense either.
6. Max Scherzer may have a tough time moving from NL to AL, which should suprise nobody, as we see it all the time.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
2010 AL Central Preview
Since the season has already commenced, I will just do the win totals and standings, along with the keys.
1st Minnesota Twins 87-75
keys: Jon Rausch, bullpen must step up with loss of Joe Nathan
2nd. Chicago White Sox 82-80
keys: defense must improve, top tier bullpen must hold slim leads from middling offense
3rd. Cleveland Indians 80-82
keys: development of young players must continue so that 2011 is the year they contend
4th. Detroit Tigers 78-84
keys: staring pitching
5th Kansas City Royals 68-94
keys: worst lineup in the AL, horrid pen aside from closer Soria.
1st Minnesota Twins 87-75
keys: Jon Rausch, bullpen must step up with loss of Joe Nathan
2nd. Chicago White Sox 82-80
keys: defense must improve, top tier bullpen must hold slim leads from middling offense
3rd. Cleveland Indians 80-82
keys: development of young players must continue so that 2011 is the year they contend
4th. Detroit Tigers 78-84
keys: staring pitching
5th Kansas City Royals 68-94
keys: worst lineup in the AL, horrid pen aside from closer Soria.
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