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Reputation:94
Level:All-Star
Since:Aug 18, 2006
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1 Rays and Orioles are in the same dvision and they're not tied for first place. Do you even watch baseball?
2. 2005, The Marlins had to part ways with underachieving Carlos Delgado, Paul Lo Duca, Mike Lowell, among others. That began their rebuilding. The Rays started their "rebuilding project" years ago when they started getting rid of bums like Ben Grieve and Julio Lugo and started pulling in Scott Kazmir, Edwin Jackson, Carlos Pena, and a few others years ago. The White Sox have not done much of any rebuilding. They still have the same group of guys around with a few subtractions and additions.
The A's is probably the only year by year rebuilding project on that list.
3. "
Same thing was said about the Diamondbacks and Padres the past few seasons when the Giants were actually good.
Pitching does win championships, but don't count on the Rays, O's, A's, White Sox or Marlins being there in the end."
4. "
Badenhop has been a disaster, same with Andrew Miller. They account for much of the high ERA for the Marlins starting pitching along with Vandenhurk. Nolasco was decent in 2006 before he started pulling injuries in 07. He actually is a fairly solid pitcher.
5. "The Rays do have
Once you get past Daisuke and Beckett, the Rays rotation is actually deeper and more reliable than the BoSox. People knew the Rays would be a much more improved team in 08. What the Rays lack is experience and leadership.
6. "Reality just hasn't set in yet."
For the sports writers maybe. At least Peter Gammons sure can break down a teams success. You guys should listen to him before writing these asinine articles.
The Marlins are a particular case of a team outperforming its suspect starting rotation. Sure, Scott Olsen (3-0, 2.06) is a nice third-year starting pitcher breakout, and Mark Hendrickson (4-1, 3.68) is enjoying a renaissance. But you cannot trust young Andrew Miller (1-2, 7.94), Ricky Nolasco (1-2, 5.13) and Burke Badenhop (0-2, 8.36) to be much more than their erratic selves. "Scott Kazmir coming off the DL to add to a rotation of James Shields (3-1, 2.54), Matt Garza (0-0, 7.62), Andy Sonnanstine (3-1, 5.28), Edwin Jackson (2-2, 3.86) and Jason Hammel (2-1, 4.32). But, honestly, folks, do you really see them challenging the Red Sox in earnest before 2009?"
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Reputation:94
Level:All-Star
Since:Jul 3, 2007
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I could see the A's contending this year, and 80 wins for the Rays, altho no contention considering the teams they have to play regularly.
Pitching wins championships, and guess what guys, the A's can pitch. Blanton's going to continue turning into a front of the rotation pitcher, and Dana Eveland, Chad Gaudin, and Greg Smith look promising. But once the bats get cold, wins are going to be hard to come by, they'll start losing 3-1 ballgames. If the A's are going to seriously contend, the hitters will need to hold up there end, which means that Bobby Crosby has to start being the hitter he can be, Daric Barton needs to have a ROY candidacy, and Jack Cust has to continue his transition from pinch hit HR threat to 25 HR threat. All this with contributions from Travis Buck.
The Rays. the past couple of years, theyve been hitters who could score twelve runs after 3 innings and have to fight uphill late in the game. But this team finally has arms. James Shields is a diamond in the rough, and Edwin Jackson and Jason Hammel look like they could be worthwhile investments down the road. Imagine if Matt Garza does turn into what he was going to turn into with the Twins. In fact, imagine what happens when Scott Kazmir gets back. However, this division has some serious bats, namely between those two teams, I forget their names(lol). Can the young guns tame them? I doubt that they'll be able to do a good enough job to be contenders this year, but 80 wins is absolutely in the cards.
The Orioles, I do not welcome them as contenders, I think they are idiots who almost intentionally transformed themselves from a juggernaut into a low-fund farm focused project. The Marlins did the same thing, and it almost worked, but then they traded one of the two guys they were going to build the team around. The White Sox?Rotations too shaky, unknown quantities in the bullpen. Theyre gonna find themselves leaning on their offense this year, and like all offenses, it will disappear at times.
So my contenders are Oakland and Tampa, my pretenders are Baltimore, Florida, and Chicago.
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Reputation:94
Level:All-Star
Since:Apr 17, 2008
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I'm sorry, but I just don't see Oakland contending for a full year. They can't rely solely on their pitching staff, as solid as it's been thus far. Harden is a huge risk and a half to go down for 2-3 months as usual. And adding anyone (seriously, anyone) to that lineup can be considered an upgrade. They pretty much had no choice but to sign Frank Thomas for next to nothing. Blanton is solid, but I don't see any other pitcher in that rotation being very consistent.
The Rays, however, have a much better chance of making a push for the playoffs this year. Their lineup is scary even with the departure of Delmon Young to Minnesota and with Rocco Baldelli stuck in DL purgatory. Evan Longoria has arrived, and Kazmir is about to rejoin the team. The pitching is young, but there's enough talent there to compete. I think they'll finally break up the two-horse race that's been the AL East for too long. Look out, Boston and New York.
The Orioles are a joke and their luck is about to run out. They should just trade Brian Roberts to the Cubs already.
The Marlins have an extremely dangerous lineup but unlike their Florida AL counterpart, their pitching will not hold up. They need Josh Johnson back, and badly, if they have any hope of staying in the NL East race. They won't be able to hold of the Mets, Phillies and the Braves for too much longer. Fourth place is the most realistic destination for them.
The White Sox are an interesting choice, though. The acquisitions of Carlos Quentin and Nick Swisher will prove to be strokes of genius. However, they're going to have to either trade Crede for some pitching now, or else train Josh Fields to play second base and get rid of Uribe. Josh Fields is ready to make a huge impact on this team, and they need him now. They have to do something.
My contenders, then, would be Tampa Bay and Chicago. The posers are Oakland, Baltimore and Florida.
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Reputation:94
Level:All-Star
Since:Nov 20, 2006
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"1 Rays and Orioles are in the same dvision and they're not tied for first place. Do you even watch baseball?"
Actually, when the day started, the Rays and Orioles were each 14-11, both tied for first, percentage points ahead of Boston who was 15-12.
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Reputation:99
Level:Superstar
Since:Feb 12, 2007
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1 Rays and Orioles are in the same dvision and they're not tied for first place. Do you even watch baseball?They were tied going into last nights game...which is when this article was written yesterday before those games...so yes they were tied for first place in the same division.
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