General Chat / MLB Chat

Yes. I see them going to the World Series. Then they will play the Red Sox. Then they will lose. The curse will be over. I wish...but maybe it could happen!

1967.

I think it is very wrong that SoCal people are allowed to have two teams.  That's not how it works!

EXCUSE ME?!!?!!

Do not ever, EVER assume I am a dodger fan because I live in SoCal. Of all people I would think you would know better, Moon.

May all Dodger fans (also being Raider nation) rot painfully in hell.

It's three teams actually. Which isn't a lot different than two New York teams and Philadelphia and Baltimore in terms of actual distance between them. And those teams all get enough support from their region to justify their existence. The Rams, Raiders, and Chargers was a bigger deal since there are less football teams but they broke that up.

Anyway, it's too bad about the Angels. All of those wins in a row, all those free agents and they might not even make it to the playoffs. My A's have been keeping me happy for awhile and I hope it stays that way.

Then again Ed for all anyone knows the A's may not make the playoffs either, which has to be a little aggrivating since all three AL west teams have played so valiantly, the A's and Angels as usual and the Rangers playing with even more heart and soul. One of these years all four teams are going to play well and someone's going to finish in last place with 85 wins. Of course, the first place team will have 88 or so.

Anyway, forget about the Yankees being a dream team--the Cardinals have a knack for making good teams look bad and bad teams look like children this year. Hopefully we can score some runs in the 9th...

Stupid Red Sox. Moonie and Kai can rejoice...

At least Oakland finally lost.


http://mlb.mlb.com/N...recap&fext=.jsp

Zito to the cubs!? Please say it 'aint so.

What? Where the heck does it say that?


Also, in a bit of sad news, Ugueth Urbina's mother has been kidnapped in Venezuela. That really sucks.

Also, damn, the Marlins are only 2.5 games off the wild card chase! Wow! They and the Astros were counted out a month ago, but they've been roaring back! Can we see history repeat itself?

Zito to the Cubs? I have not heard anything about that, but if true....wow.


My Astros have been on quite a run lately. We are actually hitting. Hopefully we keep it up.

Sure thing. We'll trade Zito for Kerry Wood.

Which makes me wonder, which rotation would you rather have?

Mark Mulder (17-4 3.79 124SO)
Tim Hudson (10-4 2.84 75SO)
Barry Zito (10-9 4.58 132SO)
Rich Harden (9-5 3.69 138SO)
Mark Redman (10-10 4.50 85SO)

or

Kerry Wood (7-6 3.30 120SO)
Mark Prior (4-4 4.87 96SO)
Carlos Zambrano (12-8 2.94 155SO)
Greg Maddux (13-8 3.70 120 SO)
Matt Clement (9-12 3.44 179SO)

I'd rather have the cardinal's line up.

Ed - if you mean this year alone I'd probably say the A's. Your boys are in a(n annual) heated pennant race, but they would easily take second in any other division given the opposition. Remember, in today's multitude of divisional matchups, which are good for the game, can nevertheless distort a team's strength based on record alone, since much of their season can be more intense then other teams in a strong division. No offense Ed but although your offense scores enough runs, there aren't many lineups less noteworthy in the big leagues. It's all about timely hitting and strong defense for those guys, and the rest is up to your remarkable pitching staff.

However, as far as in the long run I really can't say. Both Zito and Prior are having years that neither of them should really have at all in their careers with their stuff. I may give the benefit of the doubt to Zito on this one since he pitches in the American league where an off year is just that, and is no need for alarm. However, the Cubs may have to start feeling uneasy, especially since Prior has limited playoff experience. On the flip side, guys like Harden and Zambrano, who also have great stuff, are having career years and it cannot be known whether they will continue to perform like they have this year. If so, I would call the two staffs rather even and would have to take the Cubs, since if Maddux keeps pitching like he has this year for two or three more years, that means they Cubs have two pitching coaches for a little longer, which can only help the rest of the staff improve on already massive talent.

Now then. Did somebody say the Cardinals? Check this out. (Using Ed's formula of course.)

Chris Carpenter (14-5 139 so 3.51)
Jason Marquis (13-4 110 so 3.59)
Jeff Suppan (14-6 91 so 3.98)
Woody Williams (10-7 112 so 4.06)
Matt Morris (14-8 108 so 4.63)

Not too shabby themselves...still can't win without pitching, no matter how terrifying your lineup is. (And trust me, I just witnessed it first hand.)

Yeah the Cardinals are scary to everyone, even the Yankees. But you have to say that those win totals are pumped up a little bit by the offense backing them up. Mid 3s to mid 4s is not much to get excited about. The defense and the offense is what makes them so great.

And about the A's, if you look at the stats and not the names they are more than capable offensively. They're 5th in the AL in Home Runs (above the Twins and Angels), 6th in Batting Average (above the Yankees, Twins, and Rangers), 5th in On Base Percentage (above the Angels, Twins, and Rangers), 5th in Hits (above the Yankees, Twins, and Rangers). The names don't matter, what matters is the production and the A's more than hold their own with any of the division leaders in offensive production - except Boston but they're leading everyone else by a mile. In fact, there's not one major offensive stat in which they are not ahead of at least one of the major contenders. Just cause you don't hear the names every day doesn't mean they aren't getting it done. And I'd also like to add that the A's are leading the AL in Fielding Percentage, Fewest Errors, and Assists (by a lot). You're right about timely hitting and good defense being the key but they are remarkably consistent with the timely hitting this season you must admit.

There's three divisions. They would take the central no contest, they are taking the west, and in the east, well the east has The Yankees and the Red Sox so they'd be number three - but so would everyone else. Seriously, they're in a division with Texas and Anaheim both of which are in contention for the wild card, how can you say they would be second in the central? And they're this good with the fifth lowest payroll in MLB. Oh yeah, and our AAA team won the championship last year too and is the favorite to win it again this year so we've got more players on the way. Seriously. No respect for the A's.

Oh and you could say Zambrano is having a career year now in his third full season but you can't really say that about Harden seeing asthis is his first full season. Not to mention he was quite good in limited duty last season. I hate to play the part of the rabid fan (well just a little bit) but in this case we've got the goods to back it up - and we didn't outspend everyone else to get it (little dig at the Yankees and the 'no pity from me cause you stole our closer' Red Sox).

Well, I've always respected the A's, but I also don't mind taking potential higher payroll of your hands, so you can say it's 5th lowest! (see: Foulke).

Funny thing is, if the standings stay the same, the Red Sox and A's would hook up again in the ALDS...right? If we went in front of the Yankees, and you and the Twins stayed the same, then it would be you and the Yanks, and we'd face the Twins?

Think so....fun!

Kai

Well by line up, I meant batting order....

The cardinal's pitching hasn't been spectacular in recent years, and I can still see it being somewhat of a problem. They've finally stepped it up though, and everybody can see the results. While I envy the A's rotation, and the Astro's too (at least when they had Dotel), I'd much rather stick to the uncanny offense and defense... Makes the games more fun.

Ed: I don't know what I said about the A's as far as playing in another division, but I meant to say pretty much what you said there. I meant to point out that, say, if they played in the central, they would definately finish in first, because their numbers would be even higher then they are now, because they would play more games against weaker teams. Yeah, something like that.

I just hope we can hold off Boston and take the division

Hey guys.

Let's give a big hand to Kevin Brown for being a complete douche!



...do you get it. Hand. Heh, heh.

well the sox are only 2.5 games back of the yanks, and currently on a 10 game win streak with a series against the yankees coming up.

penguinBOB, i agree with you completely that the astros have a really good bull pen, however they havent been doing that well lately, so nothing to envy. they were doing great at the begining of the season but things seemed to go downhill after pettitte went on the dl for the second time. they still have the rocket, oswalt, and munro, but theyre not winning as much as they should be. also, correct me if im wrong, doesnt rotation usually refer to starters? and wasnt dotel a closer? w/e thats just a stupid detail

yeah, whatever... Astros should be doing much better than they are, the cubs too. At the beginning of the season, I thought it would be a tight race, but stuff happens.

Sorry Micool, I mis-read that. Here's a new question though. Who's going to take the NL wild card? Cubs, Giants, Padres, Astros, Marlins are all right in there. I don't watch the NL enough to make an informed pick. The Cubs seem like they've been unhealthy this whole season. The Padres continue to amaze me by winning again and again without anyone really notable. I haven't checked the stats there but I bet they've got some unsung heroes in their lineup too. The Marlins and Astros have been making a late charge and given the guys on the Astros they should have a better record than they do. And the Giants have had some awful picthing but when Barry Bonds gets on base almost every at bat now and JT Snow hitting over 400 for the last month since being injured they're looking a lot better now than they were early in the season. It could be any of them.