Delia... Does it look like Brett put on some weight? He said he worked out this winter, unlike other winters. He looks a bit heavier! That ain't all bad!? :)
Interesting story. on CBS......Scott Proctor making a comeback with the SF Giants. The popular story was that Joe Torre blew out his arm in 2006-2007 but Proctor now admits he was a heavy alcholic during that time who often binge drank until he passed out. He says Mariano constantly tried to get him to change his lifestyle and take care of his body and Proctor finally stopped drinking in 2009 while rehabbing from TJ Surgery.
He pitched last year in Korea and added a splitter. Reports say he looks good so far in ST.
Yeah he pitched in September a couple of years ago. He was the one who gave up the game-winning HR to Longoria on the last day of the season to knock the Red Sox out of the playoffs.
Detroit has knocked the Yankees out of the playoffs the last 2 seasons and the scary thing is they look even better this year than ever before..
Look at the lineup and the rotation......only question mark is the bullpen but losing Valverde is addittion by subtraction. They really should have signed Rafael Soriano but they are still a scary team.
Austin Jackson Omar Infante Prince Fielder Miquel Cabrera Victor Martinez Tori Hunter Andy Dirks Alex Avila Johnny Peralta
Verlander, Fister, Scherzer, Sanchez & Porcello/Smyly in the rotation.
fishjam, you just gave the Tigers the kiss of death, you know the team that looked the best on paper has only won the series 4 times in the last 20 years.
But every one has different opinions on who should be favored. For example, I'm watching MLB right now and they showed PECOTA which has the Yankees winning the East. Then Mitch Williams gave his prediction of the Yankees finishing 4th with Tampa and Baltimore finishing 1st and 2nd. Harold Reynolds then said the Jays will win the East and agreed the Yanks and Sox will be 4th and 5th.
Yup, there are surprises every year and there are always many teams capable of winning it all every season. That is the beauty of baseball. It's a true team sport and there is a lot of parity. 2 great players dont make a Championship team in baseball. Look at a league like the NBA. There see s to be dynasties all the time. The Heat right now, the Bulls in the 90s, the Lakers/Celtics in the 80s.
You don't see dynasties in MLB anymore which makes the great Yankees dynasty from 96-01 so great.
fish, so true last year no one was drinking the Kool Aid with the Nats, now this year everyone is on the band wagon. I'm interested in seeing if the Rays will miss Shields and Upton, or whether the Yanks will miss Swisher and Martin, or if the Jays are really a good team, or if the O's can win all those one run games again. It should be interesting. So far in the spring I like the Yanks pitching and their young outfielders.
Ramirez is very impressive. Sits 93-95 and hit 96 and 98 a few times. Also seems to have decent command. His Change up is a good secondary pitch but his Slider needs some work. If he gets that consistent breaking ball he could be very good.
I think the Rays will still be good. Losing Shields hurts but I think Matt Moore will be better. And losing Upton is offset if Longoria is healthy as he missed a big chunk of last season. Baltimore is a team that surprised me by not adding anyone in the offseason. I think Toronto will be tough.....not only the guys they added but some of their younger players like Lawrie and some of the pitchers could be ready to step up. Gonna be tough for the Yanks in the East.
Warren looked pretty good today....all about command with him since he's not overpowering. But I think Wang or another veteran starter is important for AAA depth.
meh.... losing valverde still kinda hurts; he was up and down in 2012 before completely losing it in the end, but he was also very good (albeit rather lucky) in 2011. they do have a young fireballer coming up to take his place in Rondon, so it could indeed be a bonus over the dancing ding dong. it's a lot to put on a rookie, but that's likely why they didn't drop a ton of cash on Sori.
i DO keep up with Vegas odds, so here are this year's as of today. Odds to win the WS- Tigers, Dodgers, Angels are all co-faves at 7-1, Nationals right behind them at 8-1. Blue Jays are next at 10-1, and then the Yankees and Reds at 12-1.
NL East- Nats favored at 5-6 over the Braves who are 8-5 NL Central- Reds favored at 5-6 over the Cards who are 9-5 NL West- Dodgers are even money faves over the Giants who are 3-2
AL East- Blue Jays are 8-5 favorites over the Yankees who are 9-5 AL Central- Tigers are huge faves at 1-5 over the ChiSox and Royals who are both 7-1 Al West- Angels are big faves at 1-2 over the Rangers who are 3-1
Odds to win the NL Pennant: Dodgers favored at 7-2 over the Nats who are 4-1 followed by the Reds at 6-1
Odds to win the AL Pennant: Angels and Tigers are co faves at 7-2 followed by the Blue Jays who are 5-1
so was I, in my first response. I guess you and Jimmy don't pay attention to Vegas odds or play futures, I always do. Tigers were the biggest fave in all of MLB to win their division last year and the Giants were favored to win the NL West. Two faves to win their divisions met in the World Series.
i was going by the month by month odds listed at odds shark. if you want to break it down to divisions, then sure.... the tigers play in a garbage division so that's really not saying much that they were picked to win in one of the weaker divisions. in the AL as a whole they were not the leaders until october. the giants led in odds for the NLW in certain months, but again were not the odds on favorites in the league. sorry if you don't like it.
Delia...
ReplyDeleteDoes it look like Brett put on some weight? He said he worked out this winter, unlike other winters.
He looks a bit heavier! That ain't all bad!? :)
He does look a little more muscular. Whatever he did in the off-season, must have worked. He's off to a hot start.
ReplyDeleteInteresting story. on CBS......Scott Proctor making a comeback with the SF Giants. The popular story was that Joe Torre blew out his arm in 2006-2007 but Proctor now admits he was a heavy alcholic during that time who often binge drank until he passed out. He says Mariano constantly tried to get him to change his lifestyle and take care of his body and Proctor finally stopped drinking in 2009 while rehabbing from TJ Surgery.
ReplyDeleteHe pitched last year in Korea and added a splitter. Reports say he looks good so far in ST.
Proctor...Proctor...didn't he make like a cameo appearance for the Yankees in either 2010 or 2011? I can't remember.
ReplyDeleteChien Ming Wang looked good yesterday in World Baseball Classic, won't mind the Yanks picking him up for a back up.
ReplyDeleteRondon looks like a good choice down the road in the pen, he has a good fastball and slider and he throws strikes. I would keep an eye on him.
ReplyDeleteYeah he pitched in September a couple of years ago. He was the one who gave up the game-winning HR to Longoria on the last day of the season to knock the Red Sox out of the playoffs.
ReplyDeleteDetroit has knocked the Yankees out of the playoffs the last 2 seasons and the scary thing is they look even better this year than ever before..
ReplyDeleteLook at the lineup and the rotation......only question mark is the bullpen but losing Valverde is addittion by subtraction. They really should have signed Rafael Soriano but they are still a scary team.
Austin Jackson
Omar Infante
Prince Fielder
Miquel Cabrera
Victor Martinez
Tori Hunter
Andy Dirks
Alex Avila
Johnny Peralta
Verlander, Fister, Scherzer, Sanchez & Porcello/Smyly in the rotation.
fishjam, you just gave the Tigers the kiss of death, you know the team that looked the best on paper has only won the series 4 times in the last 20 years.
ReplyDeleteTexas, Angels, Rays, and Phils were favored last year, none of them made the playoffs.
ReplyDeleteBut every one has different opinions on who should be favored. For example, I'm watching MLB right now and they showed PECOTA which has the Yankees winning the East. Then Mitch Williams gave his prediction of the Yankees finishing 4th with Tampa and Baltimore finishing 1st and 2nd. Harold Reynolds then said the Jays will win the East and agreed the Yanks and Sox will be 4th and 5th.
ReplyDeleteYup, there are surprises every year and there are always many teams capable of winning it all every season. That is the beauty of baseball. It's a true team sport and there is a lot of parity. 2 great players dont make a Championship team in baseball. Look at a league like the NBA. There see s to be dynasties all the time. The Heat right now, the Bulls in the 90s, the Lakers/Celtics in the 80s.
ReplyDeleteYou don't see dynasties in MLB anymore which makes the great Yankees dynasty from 96-01 so great.
fishjam, what is funny to me is that baseball has no salary cap, yet the most parity in the major sports.
ReplyDeletefish, so true last year no one was drinking the Kool Aid with the Nats, now this year everyone is on the band wagon. I'm interested in seeing if the Rays will miss Shields and Upton, or whether the Yanks will miss Swisher and Martin, or if the Jays are really a good team, or if the O's can win all those one run games again. It should be interesting. So far in the spring I like the Yanks pitching and their young outfielders.
ReplyDeleteI like this kid Jose Rimirez, he has a great fastball 93 plus, just needs to work on his secondary pitches. He has been clocked in the hight 90s.
ReplyDeleteThe Yanks had 6 top notch starters in those years.
ReplyDeleteRamirez is very impressive. Sits 93-95 and hit 96 and 98 a few times. Also seems to have decent command. His Change up is a good secondary pitch but his Slider needs some work. If he gets that consistent breaking ball he could be very good.
ReplyDeleteI think the Rays will still be good. Losing Shields hurts but I think Matt Moore will be better. And losing Upton is offset if Longoria is healthy as he missed a big chunk of last season. Baltimore is a team that surprised me by not adding anyone in the offseason. I think Toronto will be tough.....not only the guys they added but some of their younger players like Lawrie and some of the pitchers could be ready to step up. Gonna be tough for the Yanks in the East.
ReplyDeleteWarren looked pretty good today....all about command with him since he's not overpowering. But I think Wang or another veteran starter is important for AAA depth.
ReplyDeleteright on the money fishjam.
ReplyDeletemeh.... losing valverde still kinda hurts; he was up and down in 2012 before completely losing it in the end, but he was also very good (albeit rather lucky) in 2011. they do have a young fireballer coming up to take his place in Rondon, so it could indeed be a bonus over the dancing ding dong. it's a lot to put on a rookie, but that's likely why they didn't drop a ton of cash on Sori.
ReplyDeleteYes, but Detroit and San Fran WERE favored and that was your World Series.
ReplyDeleteboth the tigers and giants were slotted behind several teams throughout the season. hardly favored at all until october.
ReplyDeleteI guess you don't keep up with Vegas odds? They were preseason faves to win their divisions.
ReplyDeletei DO keep up with Vegas odds, so here are this year's as of today.
ReplyDeleteOdds to win the WS- Tigers, Dodgers, Angels are all co-faves at 7-1, Nationals right behind them at 8-1. Blue Jays are next at 10-1, and then the Yankees and Reds at 12-1.
NL East- Nats favored at 5-6 over the Braves who are 8-5
NL Central- Reds favored at 5-6 over the Cards who are 9-5
NL West- Dodgers are even money faves over the Giants who are 3-2
AL East- Blue Jays are 8-5 favorites over the Yankees who are 9-5
AL Central- Tigers are huge faves at 1-5 over the ChiSox and Royals who are both 7-1
Al West- Angels are big faves at 1-2 over the Rangers who are 3-1
Odds to win the NL Pennant:
Dodgers favored at 7-2 over the Nats who are 4-1 followed by the Reds at 6-1
Odds to win the AL Pennant:
Angels and Tigers are co faves at 7-2 followed by the Blue Jays who are 5-1
Michael, that is for this year, we were talking about last year.
ReplyDeleteso was I, in my first response. I guess you and Jimmy don't pay attention to Vegas odds or play futures, I always do. Tigers were the biggest fave in all of MLB to win their division last year and the Giants were favored to win the NL West. Two faves to win their divisions met in the World Series.
ReplyDeletei was going by the month by month odds listed at odds shark. if you want to break it down to divisions, then sure.... the tigers play in a garbage division so that's really not saying much that they were picked to win in one of the weaker divisions. in the AL as a whole they were not the leaders until october. the giants led in odds for the NLW in certain months, but again were not the odds on favorites in the league. sorry if you don't like it.
ReplyDeleteI know "a little bit" about odds Jimmy, lol.
ReplyDelete