What is you favorite major league baseball team. And your assesment?

[maveric]

AL-Boston Red Sox. All the power money can buy but spotty pitching. Schilling, if he stays healty, will win 18 games. The big weakness here is the Closer position. Keith Foulke is too arratic and should be kept in the setup role.
Sox will come in 2nd to Toronto and make the playoffs as a Wild card.

NL-San Diego Padres. The Pads will surprise you this season. They won the West last year only 2 games over .500. Their problem was power. Petco Park yeilded less HRs than any other ML park the past two seasons. I'm not blaming it on the park but on the players. They signed Mike Cameron, Mike Piazza and Vinny Castilla in the off season to try to get ball over the wall for a change. If Brian Giles and Ryan Klesko stay off the DL, the power numbers will rise significantly.
Jake Peavey may be one of the top three pitchers in the NL. He needs to stay healty or the Pads will fall into the 2nd division. As far as closers go, Trevor Hoffmann is the best in the biz, IMHO. 43 more saves(his last year's total), and he'll pass Lee Smith for the Alltime saves leader.
Padres will win the West again by vitue of aging Dodger and Giant teams and a terrible Rockies team.

Who's your team and how do they fare?

[_testify_]

1. I don't have an AL team

and my NL team is obvious.

We will go 161-1, the only loss coming when Willie Randolph decides to let Julio Franco pitch the last game of the season.

[bigwillq]

2. NY Yankees

If the pitching comes around and they stay healthy, they have a shot at winning the World Series.
If not, they may finish third in the very tough AL East.

[JohnKleeb]

3. ok

Baltimore Orioles: I'd love nothing more to see them make the playoffs but I just don't see it happening, the hitting is above average and would be first rate in any other division that does not feature the Yankees, Red Sox, or hell even the Blue Jays. The pitching especially the starting pitcher and closing though need to be worked on though in the lattter's case, Chris Ray could become a great closer down the line. Their younger players are finally going to show their talent, like Nick Makarkis and Adam Loewen. If Leo Mazzone can work his magic on the Orioles staff who knows what could happen.

[maveric]

4. Hey Kleeb! Toronto is a force to be reckoned with this year.

Check out their roster.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/teams/roster?team=tor
AJ Burnett and Halliday are quality starters and BJ Ryan is a good closer.
The Jays will surprise people this year.

[GalleryGod]

6. I'm not a Padre Fan-just a Tim Stauffer Fan. They sent him to Portland

I went to college with his parents..they are so proud of him!B-)

[JohnKleeb]

7. For sure

Their staff has the potential to be the best in the division however their hiting isn't proven yet however I think they could be more than jsut a spoiler to hte Yankees and Red Sox but a full threat.

[maveric]

9. Glaus, Overby, Vernon Wells, Hilldebrand and Hinske..

can all hit the long ball. Glaus may hit 40-50 this year, if he keeps his ass off the DL.
They have power and pitching.

[JohnKleeb]

11. Damn scares me

I wanted the Orioles to go after Glaus but did Flanny and Angelos listen of course not. The game today looked good though, I think Chris Ray can be a star.

[Bunny]

5. Pittsburgh Pirates.

Major suckage coming up. :(

[deadparrot]

8. Cardinals.

We won 13-5 today. A little more power in the lineup wouldn't be bad, and our bullpen always gives me the frights. But hey, on the upside, Rolen seems to be feeling better. :woohoo:

:party:

[Ekirh]

10. Braves

And right now I'm real worried after watching this first game (Which I had to stop watching due to the storm coming through knocking out my Sat grrrr)

Our hitting has been fine . . but our pitching and defense really really shakey . . .

I'm going to miss Leo :(.

[NJ Democrats]

12. New York Yankees

This will be one of the best offenses ever, scoring over 1000 runs this season. The pitching is spotty: Johnson and Wang should have good years, Mussinia, Pavano and Wright need to stay healthy and Chacon will hopefully do as well as last year. The bullpen is better, but not by that much. Rivira is still the best closer in the game and will be up for Cy Young. If the Pitching is healthy they run away with the AL East and the WS. If they aren't healthy, the win the AL East anyway, but by a game or two. They would still compete in the playoffs, but I'm not sure they would win the WS.
I say, the Yanks go all the way.

[Oeditpus Rex]

13. Dodgers

And I don't make predictions. Far too many things can happen over 162 games, as they did last year with some 1,300 player-games lost to injury.

(161 now; lost 11-10 to Atlanta. Hell of a game.)

[Ekirh]

15. Whew . . .

I had to stop watching at the top of the ninth due to damn storm . . . glad to know we did hold on . . but man . . . I thought for sure we were going to blow it.

[Oeditpus Rex]

30. I'm not unhappy about it

They racked up Lowe, but that's not gonna happen too often. And we scored 10 runs and made two comebacks. (It was 8-1 after 4 1/2 and 11-5 after 7 1/2.)

Besides... there's 161 games to go. :woohoo:

[Ekirh]

33. Oh hell yes

I'm ready for the long haul

If anything I'm not competely happy about the win. I mean nice offensive showing . . but three errors (ONE BY ANDREW?) and letting your offense make a game of it isn't encouraging (Not saying your offense isn't good. . . just that our pitching and defense just seemed shaky today. . . just clarifying) . . .

In anycase here's to a fun 06 season.

[azmouse]

16. We're sharing the cellar today.

Dbacks lost to Colorado 3-2

[maveric]

17. The Pads have their number.

I'd rather see the Dodgers contending with the Padres as opposed to the damn Giants. Its a great rivalry down here when Dodger Blue comes to town.

[Oeditpus Rex]

19. I want to see all three of 'em

Hell, throw Arizona in the mix. Ain't nothin' more fun than scoreboard-watching in September. :woohoo:

Screwy-assed schedule, though — Dodgers go to Philadelphia and Pittsburgh before they go to San Diego.

[azmouse]

14. Dbacks

They'll suck this year but we have the best minor league system in baseball. Watch for the Dbacks to make a run for the WS in '07 and beyond!

[greatauntoftriplets]

18. Cubs won today 16 - 7....

Routed the Cincinnati Reds, for whom craphead favored today when pitching the first ball. This is an omen.

:D

[maveric]

20. Bu$h jinxed the Reds.

He's always bad for the home team.

[mvd]

21. Philadelphia Phillies

They always seem to lose their home opener, so I'm not changing my prediction that they'll be the NL wild card.

[YouthInAsia]

42. They got killed today, didnt they? My mom had the game on

but shut it off in disgust when the score was 14-2. Will we ever have a winning team?

[Redneck Socialist]

22. Red Sox

and they beat the Yankees! :7 Ahhh, hope springs eternal.

Pitching looks good, the new infield is a major defensive upgrade over last year, though they've lost some pop in the bats. Look for them to win 95 - 100 games this year and finish ahead of the Yankees. Unfortunately I don't think they are loaded for the WS though.

[maveric]

23. Sox look great this year.

The only thing that scares me is Keith Foulke. He got lit up last year and I fear that he'll travel that path again this season
JT Snow! He'll be great off the bench.

[Redneck Socialist]

24. Foulke

Word is that his head is in the game and that he has been throwing well. We will see. You're right though, if he goes south look for the Sox to lose more than a few games. Timlin could pick up some of the slack and Paplebon (sp?)with some experience might cut it as a closer.

[maveric]

26. I cant believe that the Sox kept Foulke.

There were a couple decent closers on the free-agent market during the off season.
The last good closer they've had was Derek Lowe a few years back. And he bombed the next season. Then they put him back in the rotation where he won 21 games.
Wierd huh?

[Redneck Socialist]

28. If the rumors surrounding Lowe are true he has a serious problem...

with alcohol. He managed to clean up a bit for his comeback year, but reportedly there were more problems out in LA. Sad really.

Supposedly Foulke is healthy so I guess the Sox decided to roll the dice with him. He's the biggest question mark in the lineup for me.

[taught_me_patience]

25. Giants!!!!

If Bonds plays 120 games, they'll win the division and get bounced from the playoffs in round 1. Pitching is way underrated.

[maveric]

27. Huh! Do you think that he'll get any pitches this year?

Arent the Giants the oldest team in MLB?
Go Padres!

[Oeditpus Rex]

29. Pitches?

I'm wondering about playing time. His elbow's not sound, and a couple innings ago he was limping in the outfield after a ball got past him for a double. Stayed in the game, though.

[taught_me_patience]

31. They'll have to pitch to him

with Alou and Anderson behind him. Both are old but can still produce!

[maveric]

32. He's 1-3 today so far. has a double.

Peavey isnt giving him much to hit.

[maveric]

34. Padres are up 4-1 in the 7th. Bonds is 1-3, No homers.

Piazza and Khalil Greene have each homered for the Pads.
Peavey is once again masterful.

[leftofthedial]

35. Colorado Rockies

ownership shell game--classic "quadruple-A" team (again)

they are young and not very good anywhere except first base

awful bench, although when you consider how weak most of the starters are, they have decent depth (most of the starters would be utility players in any other organization)

starting pitching is mediocre if everyone stays healthy and has a career year

bullpen is okay if everyone stays healthy


fourth place--somewhere between 65 and 75 wins (81 is a wet dream for this team)

[maveric]

36. Padres beat the Giants 6-1.

Jake Peavey pitches 8 innings, 4 hits 1 run, 5 strikeouts.
Piazza homered as did Khalil Greene.
Bonds was 1-3. No homers.

[GOPisEvil]

37. Cardinals. We've got a good team, but some things scare me.

First off, depth on the mound, particularly starters. Second base is a hole. So is right field. How'd we let Reggie Sanders and Mark Gruzielanek just walk? But, I think the Cards are a solid team, and should challenge for the division again.

[WildEyedLiberal]

45. Cuz the Royals paid them more than they were worth

The Royals can afford to throw cash at decent/good players like Grudzielanek and Sanders because there's no way they're going to sign any A-listers.

That said, I'm not too worried about the Cardinals. I think especially Reggie's presence will be missed, but we'll easily win the division again. Besides, Rolen seems to be back in full form - did you see today's slaughter? I was in class and had to miss it, but damn!

I get to go to the new stadium on April 28th! :bounce: I can't wait to check it out.

[reyd reid reed]

38. Cubs

And they got off to a great start...a walk, a single, a double, a triple and a home run in the first inning. Not to mention scoring on an error. And that was the only home run -- that scored three, the other 13 runs were small ball.

Weird game, though...I actually felt sorry for Dunn at one point. Ball was bouncing this way and that and doing funny things, on and off the field...foul ball bounced off the top of a fan's head and caught another one in the nose (either that or he landed on the back of a seat).

Lee dropped a ball. Had it, stepped off the base -- and dropped it.

We all know why, though.

ANYWAY...since I AM a Cubs fan, I'm not gonna predict anything. We'll see.

That's the fun part, though.

One down, 161 to go.

[SaveElmer]

39. Minnesota Twins...will win the strong AL Central...

Off season pick ups are underrated. Castillo at second is a huge upgrade. Rondell White at DH still has alot of pop in that bat and will provide some much needed power.

The Twins pitching rotation top to bottom is probably the best in the league.

But the biggest reason is the resurgent M&M boys...

Mauer and Morneau are going to have breakout years...

After not having a 30 home run player since the late 80's, the Twins are likely to have 3 this year!!!

[Magrittes Pipe]

40. Favorite: Cincinnati Reds. Assesment: fucking hopeless.

:(

[recoveringdittohed]

44. Cincinnati Reds

Hitting very offensive, pitching even more offensive. We might as well have left * in the game after he threw out the first ball today (Cubs won 16-7) :-(

[YouthInAsia]

41. Toronto bluejays. I dont know how they'll do, I only like their

uniforms. I know, loser.

[CatholicEdHead]

43. Twins

I am not sure how the roster changes will affect the team this year. I see them as finishing third or higher.