BASEBALL!

[rmackman]

I'm really interested in seeing what happens in Milwaukee. The Brewers have been a 'sleeper' team for the last two seasons. I thought they'd win 85 games last season but the injuries to Sheets, Weeks and Hardy really hurt them.

Here in Miami, I'm excited to see what happens in Year 2 of the Beinfest's Science Experiment. I don't believe this team will contend (4th in the East, 3rd at best). Olsen pitched 80 innings over his previous career high and I expect him to have a tough season. The rotation will probably regress some, but I expect the line-up to stay about the same. A healthy Mike Jacobs and Jeremy Hermida should make up for the expected regression of Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla. Cabrera lost about 30 pounds, I can easily see him hitting 35-40 home runs. Any bullpen will be pretty than what we had last year. The Front Office is finally going with young hard throwing arms instead of aging retreads like Matt Herges and Brian Moehler.

My teams to watch:

-Milwaukee

-Texas

-Cleveland

-Arizona

Top 4 teams:

1) Boston

2) Detroit

3) Toronto (that offense, wow)

4) Los Angeles (NL)

Hey don'g get me wrong I love the Brewers, but every year they're a sleeper. I'm just not excited about it now because they get so many freaking injuries year after year. I'd rather keep my expectations low so that I can be surprised.

[OB33]

You know guys I think a lot of you are overlooking the Nationals, I mean granted there only All-Star left and we have 4 open spots in our rotation, but I mean asides from that we're halfway decent. Right?

Right?!?

[Braden]

Sorry man, I think the Nats will outstink the Royals for worst record this year.

[nwtrailtrekker]

hopefully one of my teams the mariners and blue jays can make the playoffs or atleas be in the race

well....its good to have hope....

[OB33]

Sorry man, I think the Nats will outstink the Royals for worst record this year.

I wouldn't be shocked, I really wouldn't. I'm just hoping that we don't outsink the '62 Mets. But then again, the Nationals have something neither of those teams had:

But that's about it.

[sacker12]

Hopefully, the Braves will rebound from last season. I hope the starting pitchers remain healthy and that the bullpen will not blow as many games this season.

[pcgd]

I think Cardinal fans are the only fans of any of the most recent champions in any sport that haven't become completely insufferable. Lets keep it that way.

That being said, someone mentioned the Cardinals lost alot. I'm not sure what they lost. They brought back the entire bench (not sure if that's a good thing), the infield, the outfield, and much of the bullpen. The major losses were in the starting rotation which was just plain bad in the regular season. Suppan was boarderline terrible the first half (turned it on second half however), Weaver stunk until the playoffs, and Marquis was terrible the entire year. They'll have Carp, with Kid Reyes, Weinwright (closer from the WS), and some combination of Kip Wells (who I like as a retread much better than Ponson or Weaver), Ryan Franklin (see kip wells) and Brad Thompson/Braden Looper (yes that Braden Looper) for the 4th and 5th spot. Although I believe wells' pretty much penciled in at 4. So one of those other 3 will warm the 5th spot until Mulder returns around June. If he's in form, Carp is Carp, Reyes pitches like he can, and the weinner continues over from last season, they could easily have the best rotation in the NL. Its alot of Ifs though and I'll admit that.

In reality, as bad of a team as the cardinals were during the regular season (and they were folks, no need to sugarcoat it) they should be improved in all areas. Having Kennedy in at 2B all season will help, as having Duncan with another year under his belt. Plus, how can you not like getting this group back together on one team?

"In that case how would you like to be touched by an angel"

Its going to be exciting to see if they can pull off the repeat. I can see them winning the division (mainly because its back to Comedy Central) but I'm not sure if they can win the NL or the WS. We'll see in November.

I think the thing I'm most interested in seeing is how the Cubs explain away their total lack of starting pitching. How do you spend 300 million and only end up with Ted Lilly and Jason Marquis as starters for almost a 3rd of it!! I like Lilly, and he'll be a solid number 2 behind one of hte leagues' top pitchers in Zambrano. But in Marquis you have a guy that Leo manzonni (sp?) couldn't figure out in Atlanta. Dave Duncan couldn't figure him out in St. Louis. Now Larry Rothchild is going to figure him out? You mean the guy that blew out 2 of the best pitching prospects in the last 10 years??

They'll put about 6 runs on the board a night. But can the staff hold them under that? They have great relievers...but you'll have to get to them.

I love baseball. I hope everyone is ready for a month of pictures of pitchers throwing towels, throwing fake throws, and pitching in the bullpen! The excitement of spring training...catch it!

[Cyclopsis Joe]

Hate to break Tank's little heart, but the Mets ain't gonna win the East this year.

It's time to get out the tomahawks.

[Shumway]

I'm waitinng to see how badly that $50 mil for Gary Matthews blows up in my Angels' faces. He might have a decent year, but I doubt he'll warrant that 5-years for 50 million. I'm also anxious to see if Kotchman can rebound from mononucleosis(I think) and take over at first base again. If he doesn't, I'd honeslty like to see Robb Quinlan get a lot of playing time this season.

I'm also hoping a big bat arrives in Anaheim sometime during the season.

[fiasco!]

The Tigers lost one really key player from last year's team, Jamie Walker...and that stings a bit. He was gold out of the bullpen, but I like Wil Ledezma taking his spot as our lefty specialist. I've been pretty high on Ledezma since we got him from Boston in the Rule V draft. He's always been pretty solid out of the bullpen and really picked it up last year after he was taken out of the rotation.

The acquisition of Gary Sheffield seems to be a win-win situation to me. He's playing for a player's manager in Jim Leyland. I don't expect to see 45 homers out of him, but I don't think 35/120/.300 is out of the question. Honestly, though, I hope they have him batting 5th, behind Maggs, for protection purposes. I hear they might bat him 3rd, but I really think Carlos Guillen is built for that spot.

With the combination of Guillen and Sheffield surrounding Maggs in the batting order, this has the potential to be a very fierce lineup. Granderson needs to build on the patience he showed in the playoffs and continue that trend. I'm guessing he won't come anywhere close to the amount of strikeouts he had last year. His patience in the playoffs was a great catalyst for the team, plus his combination of speed and power from the leadoff slot is a great weapon to have.

I would have liked to see the team go after a third baseman in the offseason. While i like Brandon Inge's hustle and work ethic, I'm still not sold on him. His defense has improved tremendously, but alot of his spectacular plays are the result of him being out of position in the first place. It's nice to have his kind of athleticism on the team, but i have a weird feeling that we are going to see him revert back to being a typical number 9 hitter. I hope he proves me wrong.

I have absolutely no issues with our rotation, as it will be totally solid for years to come. I could take or leave the Jose Mesa signing, I think he'll be a non-factor. Jonesy is another year older, hopefully that translates to another year wiser. Andrew Miller should be with the big club by mid-season, and I think only good things can be expected from him.

All in all, I like the Tigers chances this year.......I haven't said that in years.

[BaltimoreFan]

I was really hopeful for the O's this season but after Benson has a rotator cuff injury and out for the year I don't know if we can really compete, but anyways GO O's!

Yea, that injury really hurts IMO. I was expecting another 4th place finish, but I thought we'd finish at or just above .500 for the first time in a long time. Benson's injury really messes up the young pitching staff. I thought he was solid vetern that would take some of the pressure off the young guys. Bedard will be fine, but I'm worried about Cabrera and Loewen. I thought it would be best if they were number 3 or 4 in the rotation to start out the year. I kind of like the signing of Steve Trashcel, but we already had a fifth starter in Jaret Wright. I know feel we have to very unreliable starters at the end of the rotation (not that Cabrera and Loewen are really reliable). Personally I'd have rather had Hayden Penn and Garrett Olsen battle it out for the last rotation spot in spring training. They'd both most likely be unreliable, but at least there would be hope they'd turn it around late in the season. O well, Benson wasn't a great pitcher so it can't possibly hurt as much as I think it does.

[KevinMcD]

I was really hopeful for the O's this season but after Benson has a rotator cuff injury and out for the year I don't know if we can really compete, but anyways GO O's!

Yea, that injury really hurts IMO. I was expecting another 4th place finish, but I thought we'd finish at or just above .500 for the first time in a long time. Benson's injury really messes up the young pitching staff. I thought he was solid vetern that would take some of the pressure off the young guys. Bedard will be fine, but I'm worried about Cabrera and Loewen. I thought it would be best if they were number 3 or 4 in the rotation to start out the year. I kind of like the signing of Steve Trashcel, but we already had a fifth starter in Jaret Wright. I know feel we have to very unreliable starters at the end of the rotation (not that Cabrera and Loewen are really reliable). Personally I'd have rather had Hayden Penn and Garrett Olsen battle it out for the last rotation spot in spring training. They'd both most likely be unreliable, but at least there would be hope they'd turn it around late in the season. O well, Benson wasn't a great pitcher so it can't possibly hurt as much as I think it does.

That singing of Trashcel may end up helping us alot. We could have Bedard, Cabrera, Loewen, Wright, Trachcel. If we have the space we could have Penn/Olsen in the bullpen and they could develop there and get some MLB experience. But who knows we still over a month until opening day, mabye we get a pleasant suprise in a young pitcher.

At least our lineup looks good so far.

[TFoA]

Hate to break Tank's little heart, but the Mets ain't gonna win the East this year.

It's time to get out the tomahawks.

I've got mine out already. The Mets will pay for doing a horrible imitation of the Chop when they celebrated the NL East title like they broke down the Berlin Wall.

But yeah, in all seriousness, the Braves should be better defensively and pitching wise, but the one thing that scares me is offensive production. I know we've got Chipper, Andruw, and Jeff Francoeur, but other than those three and Brian McCann, I really don't see that much offensive production coming out of our bats this year. So yeah, if we make it to the playoffs with this offense then it's a miracle.

But if the Mets don't make it, then this will already be an OK year.

[CC97]

Hate to break Tank's little heart, but the Mets ain't gonna win the East this year.

It's time to get out the tomahawks.

The Mets will pay for doing a horrible imitation of the Chop when they celebrated the NL East title like they broke down the Berlin Wall.

Kinda like how the jays paid for that imitation of the chop in '92? What happened after that?

[TFoA]

Hate to break Tank's little heart, but the Mets ain't gonna win the East this year.

It's time to get out the tomahawks.

The Mets will pay for doing a horrible imitation of the Chop when they celebrated the NL East title like they broke down the Berlin Wall.

Kinda like how the jays paid for that imitation of the chop in '92? What happened after that?

Playoffs since then? (post Joe Carter miracle)

[BB61]

I hate to break all of your little hearts, but uh...

...I think considering that man's tomahawk chop is a little more lethal than those of the Braves and Mets, I doubt either of you guys have to worry about winning the East this year.

[CC97]

Hate to break Tank's little heart, but the Mets ain't gonna win the East this year.

It's time to get out the tomahawks.

The Mets will pay for doing a horrible imitation of the Chop when they celebrated the NL East title like they broke down the Berlin Wall.

Kinda like how the jays paid for that imitation of the chop in '92? What happened after that?

Playoffs since then? (post Joe Carter miracle)

Kelly Gruber mocks Atlanta chop, Jays win World Series twice in the 12½ months that follow. You can't ignore that

[Cyclopsis Joe]

Hate to break Tank's little heart, but the Mets ain't gonna win the East this year.

It's time to get out the tomahawks.

The Mets will pay for doing a horrible imitation of the Chop when they celebrated the NL East title like they broke down the Berlin Wall.

Kinda like how the jays paid for that imitation of the chop in '92? What happened after that?

Playoffs since then? (post Joe Carter miracle)

Kelly Gruber mocks Atlanta chop, Jays win World Series twice in the 12½ months that follow. You can't ignore that

Here's something you can't ignore:

We've won our division since then. How bout your Jays?

(Also, you're egg-sucking Canadians, you automatically lose at everything)

[BaltimoreFan]

I was really hopeful for the O's this season but after Benson has a rotator cuff injury and out for the year I don't know if we can really compete, but anyways GO O's!

Yea, that injury really hurts IMO. I was expecting another 4th place finish, but I thought we'd finish at or just above .500 for the first time in a long time. Benson's injury really messes up the young pitching staff. I thought he was solid vetern that would take some of the pressure off the young guys. Bedard will be fine, but I'm worried about Cabrera and Loewen. I thought it would be best if they were number 3 or 4 in the rotation to start out the year. I kind of like the signing of Steve Trashcel, but we already had a fifth starter in Jaret Wright. I know feel we have to very unreliable starters at the end of the rotation (not that Cabrera and Loewen are really reliable). Personally I'd have rather had Hayden Penn and Garrett Olsen battle it out for the last rotation spot in spring training. They'd both most likely be unreliable, but at least there would be hope they'd turn it around late in the season. O well, Benson wasn't a great pitcher so it can't possibly hurt as much as I think it does.

That singing of Trashcel may end up helping us alot. We could have Bedard, Cabrera, Loewen, Wright, Trachcel. If we have the space we could have Penn/Olsen in the bullpen and they could develop there and get some MLB experience. But who knows we still over a month until opening day, mabye we get a pleasant suprise in a young pitcher.

At least our lineup looks good so far.

Yea, I do kinda like the Trashcel. In fact when I read the article about Benson injury and saw the list of remaining free agents, I immediately wanted us to sign him. It's just that I really liked the idea of having Benson in the rotation. I heard alot of trade talk involving Benson and I was deadset againt it. Benson really isn't an ideal #2, but I thought it'd be nice to have an experienced guy up there to take the pressure off Cabrera and Loewen. Cabrera so inconsistent I thought it might help him to pitch 3rd. Also I think some people are expecting too much from Loewen. I thought it'd be better for him to spend the year 4th so he can develop. I really don't like Jaret Wright (mostly because I think it was a bad trade). However I didn't really mind because most teams send crap out in the fifth spot anyway, so it wouldn't hurt too much. There was some upside since he had success under Loewen. Now he's most likely moving up to the 4th spot. Trashcel is a decent 5th starter, but his near 5.00 ERA is sure to rise in the AL. So I guess my biggest worry is that we now have two number 5 starters in the rotation. With two other question marks ahead of that.

It may seem like I'm overreacting a bit but I just felt that Benson was a very important part of this team. I'm sure it will all work out though. At least one of Wright Trashcel, Penn or Olson should surprise me. I mean last season Loewen didn't seem anywhere near ready to pitch in the majors (and his contract said he had to be in the bigs this season). Plus we have the best pitching coach in baseball. It will be interesting to see how things look at the end of March.

[rams80]

I think Cardinal fans are the only fans of any of the most recent champions in any sport that haven't become completely insufferable. Lets keep it that way.

That being said, someone mentioned the Cardinals lost alot. I'm not sure what they lost. They brought back the entire bench (not sure if that's a good thing), the infield, the outfield, and much of the bullpen. The major losses were in the starting rotation which was just plain bad in the regular season. Suppan was boarderline terrible the first half (turned it on second half however), Weaver stunk until the playoffs, and Marquis was terrible the entire year. They'll have Carp, with Kid Reyes, Weinwright (closer from the WS), and some combination of Kip Wells (who I like as a retread much better than Ponson or Weaver), Ryan Franklin (see kip wells) and Brad Thompson/Braden Looper (yes that Braden Looper) for the 4th and 5th spot. Although I believe wells' pretty much penciled in at 4. So one of those other 3 will warm the 5th spot until Mulder returns around June. If he's in form, Carp is Carp, Reyes pitches like he can, and the weinner continues over from last season, they could easily have the best rotation in the NL. Its alot of Ifs though and I'll admit that.

In reality, as bad of a team as the cardinals were during the regular season (and they were folks, no need to sugarcoat it) they should be improved in all areas. Having Kennedy in at 2B all season will help, as having Duncan with another year under his belt. Plus, how can you not like getting this group back together on one team?

"In that case how would you like to be touched by an angel"

Its going to be exciting to see if they can pull off the repeat. I can see them winning the division (mainly because its back to Comedy Central) but I'm not sure if they can win the NL or the WS. We'll see in November.

I think the thing I'm most interested in seeing is how the Cubs explain away their total lack of starting pitching. How do you spend 300 million and only end up with Ted Lilly and Jason Marquis as starters for almost a 3rd of it!! I like Lilly, and he'll be a solid number 2 behind one of hte leagues' top pitchers in Zambrano. But in Marquis you have a guy that Leo manzonni (sp?) couldn't figure out in Atlanta. Dave Duncan couldn't figure him out in St. Louis. Now Larry Rothchild is going to figure him out? You mean the guy that blew out 2 of the best pitching prospects in the last 10 years??

They'll put about 6 runs on the board a night. But can the staff hold them under that? They have great relievers...but you'll have to get to them.

I love baseball. I hope everyone is ready for a month of pictures of pitchers throwing towels, throwing fake throws, and pitching in the bullpen! The excitement of spring training...catch it!

Here's why I'm most pessimistic about the Cardinals. Their starting pitching is sooo awful that they NEED Isringhausen to come back right away because otherwise they are toast in the starting rotation (sans Wainwright). Repeat...they "NEED" Izzy.

I have this massive vision of doom when I think of that.