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I pick this team as my sleeper every year
I rememba in 2009 when I premature ejaculated over their 12-1 start. Hopefully their new stadium is what they expect it to be, but them for getting rid of the best logo in baseball.
Season doesn't start till March 28th, but spring training begins soon and baseball should be infinitely more entertaining than this ty NBA season we have. I'm ing psyched for the new season, and so should most baseball fans. It's not just about the Phillies, Yanks, and Sawx anymore. The Tigers, Brewers, Angels, Marlins, Rangers, Rays, and other teams all have a shot.
Besides their gay new logo, the Marlins made a plethora of changes everywhere that has them looking like a possible contender in 2012.
For starters they signed Ozzie Guillen as Manager, who has a good track record and will fit perfectly in this Hispanic market. He brings excitement and holds his players accountable (are you listening, Hanley?).
The starting rotation as of now looks like this:
Josh Johnson...the guy is an amazing talent, but nagging injuries have been frustrating.
Mark Buehrle...great lefty, familiar with Ozzie Guillen too.
Anibal Sanchez...one of the best young and underrated pitchers. He's been damn good for 4-5 seasons now.
Ricky Nolasco...unheralded righty who is as solid is they come. He chews up innings like it's nobody's business and keeps the bullpen fresh.
Carlos Zambrano...Has had a couple rough years, but this is our #5 guy in the rotation--I think anybody would take that.
4 righties and 1 lefty. Could be a problem against teams like Philly, but we'll see...
In the pen we move Leo Nunez (or w/e the his name is now) to setup, now that we signed Heath Bell as closer. We still have Randy Choate, who was arguably the best lefty specialist last year---dude destroyed lefty batters. Webb and Mujica improved greatly from their horrible starts last year.
The lineup is full of good young bats and a TON of team speed. Not sure exactly how the order will shake out, but it should be exciting nonetheless:
CF - Emilio Bonifacio...Bonerface is one of the fastest guys in the MLB, and his bat came around finally last year.
SS - Jose Reyes...NL Batting Champ last year
3B - Hanley Ramirez...assuming he'll accept his position at 3rd, he has nowhere to go but up after an awful 2011. Another former batting champ, he should benefit most from Ozzie's managing.
RF - Mike Stanton...King of Mountain. Future superstar and unquestionably my favorite player in baseball.
1B - Gaby Sanchez...good young hitter who had a minor sop re slump in 2011, but hits for power and is a good young talent. Needs to work on D though.
3B - Logan Morrison...LoMo had a torrid start and finish to 2011, but was anemic in the middle. He needs to be more consistent, but when on his game he's an XBH's machine.
2B - Omar Infante...needs to improve all around, as he too had a down year last season. Was very clutch with the Braves in 2010, and had a few moments last year as well but did not perform up to par.
C - John Buck...Not gonna lie, he blows. His defense is 'decent' on his best days and his bat leaves something the be desired. Hopefully Brett Hayes can pick up some of the slack.
Some of our bench guys:
Gregg Dobbs - Great and clutch veteran PH'r. Can hold the fort down for short stints at 3B when Hanley inevitably gets injured.
Chris Coghlan - Was our leadoff guy before he got injured last year, and was hitting above .300 for awhile. Fast on the basepaths too.
Bryan Petersen - promising young bat, did a decent job in the outfield last year too. He will start many games this year.
Last but not least, they have a gorgeous new ballpark that's in Miami--not way out in the sticks. It's also a hitters park, so no more 430-ft flyball outs every game.
I pick this team as my sleeper every year
I rememba in 2009 when I premature ejaculated over their 12-1 start. Hopefully their new stadium is what they expect it to be, but them for getting rid of the best logo in baseball.
Yeah their logo was sleek and bad-ass. I could live with the new one if they got rid of that fruity orange though. Just keep it black and teal, let the got-ass Dolphins rock the orange. Unless you're going solid Orange like The U, then it looks stupid.I pick this team as my sleeper every year
I rememba in 2009 when I premature ejaculated over their 12-1 start. Hopefully their new stadium is what they expect it to be, but them for getting rid of the best logo in baseball.
Talent on paper is pretty special. I think it will be the intangible things that will determine how successful they'll be this season. Will Hanley be a clubhouse malcontent with the position move he publicly was unhappy with? He had a pretty subpar season last year for him and now he may or may not be on board with what's best for the team. Will there be other guys unhappy with their roles like Coghlan and LoMo, if they aren't everyday players? Will Zambrano's temper cause distraction at some point? Will Josh Johnson stay healthy?
The other thing is they play in a pretty compe ive division. Phillies lose Howard for at least part of the year but with that pitching staff, they should still be division contenders. Braves also have a strong pitching staff that will make them tough. And the Nationals may be prepared to turn the corner. They acquired Gio and Edwin Jackson and there's a possibility they add both Strasburg and Harper to the roster at some point this season. If Ryan Zimmerman returns to form and Harper lives up to the hype, that could make their offense fairly potent if Morse and Werth and Desmond do what they're capable and Ramos finally comes around. A lot of nice young talent on that team. However, it's likely they're not ready just yet this year to really compete.
Marlins should be interesting to watch though. That top of the line-up with Reyes, Bonifacio, Ramirez is about as good as it gets with talent and speed.
Agree on the Nats, they have some scary talent if and when things come together. The division is tough for sure, but I'm not sold on the Braves improving from last year.
The Marlins speed this year could rival their 03 and 04 teams when we had Pierre and Castillo at the top of the order--that made them so dangerous those years and was quite the luxury.
Btw bro, good offseason for Detroit. What's the o/u on how many games they win their division by? 20? 25?
AL Central is horrible, probably worse than last year and last year it was already god-awful. And Tigers took advantage, but I'm not sure the Tigers can improve on the 50-22 record they had last year against AL Central teams. Like the Washington Nationals, the team that might be the scariest in the AL Central might be the Kansas City Royals. They have loads of young talent and added a couple veteran arms to the rotation.
If Tigers are healthy all season long, they should win the division comfortably. They won the division by 15 games last year. And I think they widened the gap a little more. 20 games might be a little too y. How about an O/U of 16 1/2? Even as bad as it the division is, some other team has to finish at or slightly above .500, don't you think? I mean it's pretty sad if no other team does like last season. So I expect at least one other AL Central team to finish say at 82-80, and it would take 99 wins to get the over. Sounds about right.
If the Royals--despite their improvements--are the most dangerous threat to Detroit, then the Central is even worse than we all thought.
I think Minnesota could surprise a little if Mauer rebounds and Morneau comes back strong, but all in all Detroit could very well be in cruise control with 50 games to go in the season.
The East has 4 compe ive teams, the West has the Rangers and Angels (and Oakland could surprise too). One could argue that outside the O's and Mariners, the next 3 worst AL teams are in the Central.
With that advantage I think Detroit wins 102 games this year and takes HFA.
Team Stocks NL: Last Years Win Total
Mets - down: <77 wins
Marlins - up: >72
Brewers - MAJOR down: <96 wins
Reds - up: >79
Dbacks - slightly down: <94 wins
Giants - slightly up: >86
Dodgers - down: <82
Rockies - up: >73
Mets could challenge for the worst record in MLB history this year.
Team Stocks AL: Last Years Win Total
Yankees - slightly down: <97 wins
Rays - slightly down: <91
Red Sox - slightly up: >90
Orioles - up: >68
Indians - up: >80 wins
Twins - WAY up: >63
Angels - up: >86 wins
Mariners - up: >67
The Royals position players are loaded with talent. Eric Hosmer will be a stud in the MLB. Reminds me a lot of Will Clark. He'll put up 30 HRs this year. And I heard on a broadcast last year that some MLB scouts think Salvador Perez is the best catching prospect in the MLB over the past decade. And they're loaded with young starting pitchers too. It's just that well, they're young. They brought Bruce Chen back, and for some unknown reason, his 80 MPH fastball is enough to be effective in the big leagues. It boggles the mind, but he always seems to pitch effectively. Added Jonathan Sanchez, who I really like despite his ups and downs with the Giants. I'm telling you, the Royals are loaded. It's just that they're young.If the Royals--despite their improvements--are the most dangerous threat to Detroit, then the Central is even worse than we all thought.
I think Minnesota could surprise a little if Mauer rebounds and Morneau comes back strong, but all in all Detroit could very well be in cruise control with 50 games to go in the season.
The East has 4 compe ive teams, the West has the Rangers and Angels (and Oakland could surprise too). One could argue that outside the O's and Mariners, the next 3 worst AL teams are in the Central.
With that advantage I think Detroit wins 102 games this year and takes HFA.
Minnesota is a wild card because Mauer and Morneau are such great hitters. But they lost a lot of depth in their line-up losing consistent producers Cuddyer and Kubel. And the health of Mauer and Morneau is what will likely be their downfall. I heard rumors there's a serious concern Morneau will never fully recover from his concussion symptoms. And there's also a feeling that Mauer will have to switch positions because if he stays at catcher, durability will be a huge concern. And if he switches positions, his value as a hitter goes way down because he hasn't proven to be a power hitter except for that one year, and definitely not in his new home ballpark. And beyond all that, their pitching sucks. Rotation, bullpen, all of it. Their pitching is bad.
I hope you're right...it'd be nice to see the Royals as compe ive. Hasn't been the case since the days of Brett and Saberhagen. They've had as bad a run as the Pirates it seems.
Royals traded talent away. Pirates have always been .500 so they don't get worthwhile draft picks & waste money on over the hill tix sellers
2011: 72-90
2010: 57-105
2009: 62-99
2008: 67-95
2007: 68-94
2006: 67-95
2005: 67-95
2004: 72-89
2003: 75-87
2002: 72-89
2001: 62-100
2000: 69-93
1999: 78-83
1998: 69-93
1997: 79-83
1996: 73-89
1995: 58-86
1994: 53-61 (strike)
1993: 75-87
Ayyyyyyyy!
We in that thang fo sho dis season! Cant wait to go to walmart and get da freshest in stock reppin dat #7 all day errrday s!
me and homeboi's celebrated the world series victory early yesterdayy. dis is us doin our thang outside da club yesterday #305gang
75-85 wins is playing sub .500 baseball junior.
I hope that was a troll post
The Pirates have had only 4 seasons with at least 75 wins in the past 20 years, including only 1 in the last 13 years and at no point did they eclipse 79 wins.
Care to try again, junior?
The Pirates
Overall (9882-9774 W-L)
50.2%
o NewcastleKEG......I want to play a game.
For the last few months you have spread your ty takes, like a virus, to various parts of this forum. Well today, you must stop the spread of something else if you want to survive my little game.
By opening this door you have triggered the timer set for 5 minutes. This task may seem daunting at first, but trust me it isn't as bad as it looks. Like your terrible sports takes, tear gas is spreading through this room as we speak. You must find three keys to open the lock in front of you. Where are these keys you ask? In the giant pile of poop below you. Since you're head is full of ty sports opinions I felt this would be an easy obstacle for you huhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuh If you do not hurry, you will find that this gas will begin to give you a headache, the same thing you have given your fellow posters when forcing them to read you're god awful opinions on spurstalk. Be quick and you will walk out that door to your freedom.
Live or die NewcastleKEG.......make your choice.
*click*
Nicely done sir. I am here to simply quench the boards thirst for knowledge. Love & kisses
I have liked the Marlins offseason. The Marlins/Phillies games are going to be fun.
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