The Official 2007 MLB Thread

[Baron]

Who was touting the Cards? They were so mediocre last year and they're worse now. They'll be out of the race by August. I hate to say it but the Cubs are the strongest team in that division, along with the Brewers. Arizona looks kinda scary to me (as a Dodger fan) and they could be really good if all their young talent pans out. Most of those young guys aren't even very risky, despite their age. Young, Drew, Quentin, Jackson - all of them are well seasoned. Plus Webb is the best pitcher in the league. Cleveland is the most interesting team in the AL to me - they were victimized by bad luck last year (this is based on "pythagorean record" which uses runs for and against to project expected w-l) and they should be just as strong or stronger this year considering the age of their core. Hafner, Sizemore, Peralta, Marte, Martinez, Sabathia, Lee - they're loaded.

 

[ruben]

Eh, the cub's offfseason has been (like everything else about that team) overhyped.
Soriano's amazing, but other than that...


Cleveland's been "unlucky" for the past few years, I thnk it's cause they're decidely average at every postion (besides Hafner, no big threats).
Oh, and because they can't catch the ball. They don't have a plus defender on the team, and they're ptichers aren't big strikeout guys.

KC will surprise a lot of people, I'm not saying they'll win the division, or even that they won't finish last, but they should be 10-15 games better than last year, and that's a hell of a jump.

 

[gehrig]

The Phillies should be the favorites to come out of the NL this year. Very good #1 and #2 starters, great acquisition of Fred Garcia as the #3, and solid win-now pickups to round out the rest of their staff. Also led the NL in ops last year, although they do play in a nice hitting park

 

[shoreman1782]

Alright, fine, the Phillies might be good. I'm blaming you guys for jinxing them if they suck.

 

[aportnoy]

Meet the Mets, meet the mets, step right up and greet the Mets...

 

[whnay.]

Originally Posted by aportnoy

Meet the Mets, meet the mets, step right up and greet the Mets...

Booooooooo!

 

[JBZ]

Originally Posted by aportnoy

Meet the Mets, meet the mets, step right up and greet the Mets...

Who will pitch, who will pitch, tell me, tell me, who will pitch?

 

[dkzzzz]

Yawn

 

[mrpologuy]

Kenny is out till July due to blood clot surgery. That is not good news. Can we get this thread pinned because it will be going on every day till October?

 

[kwiteaboy]

Originally Posted by ruben

Eh, the cub's offfseason has been (like everything else about that team) overhyped.
Soriano's amazing, but other than that...


The Soriano signing was one of the worst in baseball history. At best he's worth ~3-4 wins above replacement level, and that's projectable for the next two seasons. Thereafter, the Cubs will be lucky if he's league-average. His skillset (huge out-making machine) is not a good one to sign to a huge long-term contract. I feel bad for Cubs fans with this signing, and when that's coming from a Mariners fan, you know you've had a bad offseason.

PECOTA picks AZ to win the World Series. The NL West is going to have a huge turnaround this year from where they were two years ago.

 

[ruben]

Uh, people have been predicting Soriano's demise every year since he came into the league.

 

[kwiteaboy]

He was never that great in the first place.

His career average is .280 and his career OBP is .325. He's 31 and signed through age 38. He doesn't have a skillset that will continue to improve as he ages. Basically he has a fast bat with little contact ability, and his batspeed will likely start to decline in the next two seasons (as it does as players get older [barring chemical intervention, of course]), leaving him with below league-average offensive ability and ~$100 million left to be paid.

This says nothing of his sub-par defensive ability, either.

Good fantasy player, not good if you want your team to win ballgames.

 

[kwiteaboy]

Felix Hernandez, in his last start as a 20 year old: 8IP, no runs, 12 Ks, 12 groundouts.


WOW.

Go Mariners!

 

[Tokyo Slim]

Originally Posted by kwiteaboy

Felix Hernandez, in his last start as a 20 year old: 8IP, no runs, 12 Ks, 12 groundouts. WOW. Go Mariners!
Just got back from the game... should have some decent pics.

 

[Tokyo Slim]

Here's a few.