(03-03-2013 01:01 AM)EagleX Wrote:  

(03-02-2013 11:54 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  

(03-02-2013 08:03 PM)EagleX Wrote:  

(02-21-2013 02:38 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  1) Giants - On paper the Dodgers probably have a better team, but I'll trust in the improvement of Belt and the health of Panda to keep them going.
2) Dodgers - A lot of big names, but do you have complete faith in players like Ethier, Ramirez, Crawford and Gonzalez?

bonkers. some lifetime stats:

ethier : .290/.362/.476
Gonzalez : .294/.371/.507
ramirez : .298/.371/.495
crawford : .292/.332/.441

I mean, did you really ask that question? the only question on the dodgers is crawford's health.

so, you really want to trust brandon belt's awesome 200 games of mlb experience (.259/.344/.418) and phatass sandoval over that? and that is assuming that lincecum's ridiculous mechanics haven't caught up to him, and that zito continues to mysteriously not suck again this season, after a long consecutive streak of sucking seasons.

or maybe you are trusting belt's childish faith in the power of "chemistry", who's next RBI will be it's first.

allow me to cite some stats:
Adrian Gonzalez in 2012: .807 OPS/3.3 WAR (playing most of the season in the lefty paradise known as Fenway)
Brandon Belt in 2012: .781 OPS/2.7 WAR in 472 plate appearances
Which of these players is more likely to improve on his 2012 numbers?

Hanley Ramirez
2011- .712 OPS, 0.0 WAR
2012- .759 OPS, 1.2 WAR
The days of the slash line you posted are long since over.

Andre Ethier
2011- .789 OPS
2012- .811 OPS
The days of the slash line you posted are long since over.

Carl Crawford: LOL

What's your point regarding Timmy? He was the worst pitcher in the NL last season. I highly doubt he'll be any worse. So you know what? Stop acting like a freakin' naive child and talk to me when these Dodgers accomplish anything at all.

BTW, please learn the difference between who's and whose.

Oh, wait. I didn't notice your AV until just now. never mind. maybe the dodgers should try steroids.

and nobody likes a grammar nazi.

they already did when they got Manny; didn't work out. And are you really going to bring it to steroids?

whether you like me or not (likely this one), is of no importance

However, I'd be happy to bring this back to baseball. Do I think the Dodgers have an excellent team on paper? Yes, of course. Are the Giants the defending WS champion and are they the exact same team that won it all? Yes, so naturally I'm picking them to win the division. I'd be a fool not to.

Do you really believe Ramirez, Ethier, Crawford, Gonzalez will ever be what they once were? It'd be like Angels fans assuming pujols will return to what he was in his prime.

NL East: Nationals
NL Central: Brewers
NL West: Dodgers
NL Wildcard 1: Braves
NL Wildcard 2: Diamondbacks

NL Cy Young Winner: Kershaw
NL MVP: Freeman
NL ROY: Teheran

NL Wild Card Game: Braves
NLDS: Braves | Nationals
NLCS: Nationals
-------
AL East: Orioles
AL Central: Tigers
AL West: Angels
AL Wildcard 1: A's
AL Wildcard 2: Rays

AL Cy Young Winner: Price
AL MVP: Trout
AL ROY: Hicks

AL Wild Card Game: A's
ALDS: Tigers | Angels
ALCS: Angels
-------
World Series: Angels

All I'm going to say is... Go Royals!! Please make the playoffs!!

I predict the Astros will NOT finish 162-0 (only 161 more to go after game #1, though!)

I predict nobody goes 162-0...

won't be a better moment than what we saw today in the Dodgers game- nothing quite like Sandy Koufax throwing the first pitch out.

(04-01-2013 10:51 PM)stever20 Wrote:  won't be a better moment than what we saw today in the Dodgers game- nothing quite like Sandy Koufax throwing the first pitch out.

Was a pretty good game for the Dodger starter, too, wouldn't you say?

But still, GO Braves! (7-5 win vs Philberts, and with some run scoring power, finally!) Only 161 more to go 'til the playoffs!

yeah a halfway decent start. Heck, almost all of the aces were great yesterday.

Especially Mr. Strasburg.

Oh, and Bryce looks like he's going to avoid the sophmore slump!

(03-31-2013 11:35 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  I predict the Astros will NOT finish 162-0 (only 161 more to go after game #1, though!)

See? Told ya!

(04-03-2013 01:47 AM)GoodOwl Wrote:  

(03-31-2013 11:35 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  I predict the Astros will NOT finish 162-0 (only 161 more to go after game #1, though!)

See? Told ya!

A better question is will they go 1-161?

(02-22-2013 01:06 AM)MTPiKapp Wrote:  

(02-21-2013 05:03 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  

(02-21-2013 04:20 PM)MTPiKapp Wrote:  Nationals world series champs...?

well they did have the best record in baseball last year, came within one game of the NLCS, shut down their best SP about a month before the playoffs and will probably win at least 100 games this season. I have to imagine the two most popular picks to win it all will be the tigers and Nats

I'm clearly biased(as a Braves fan) but something about them just doesn't quite have me convinced. I'm sure they'll be very good again this year, but I'm just not seeing them winning it all.

bump

(I know it's early)

(03-02-2013 11:54 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  

(03-02-2013 08:03 PM)EagleX Wrote:  

(02-21-2013 02:38 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  1) Giants - On paper the Dodgers probably have a better team, but I'll trust in the improvement of Belt and the health of Panda to keep them going.
2) Dodgers - A lot of big names, but do you have complete faith in players like Ethier, Ramirez, Crawford and Gonzalez?

bonkers. some lifetime stats:

ethier : .290/.362/.476
Gonzalez : .294/.371/.507
ramirez : .298/.371/.495
crawford : .292/.332/.441

I mean, did you really ask that question? the only question on the dodgers is crawford's health.

so, you really want to trust brandon belt's awesome 200 games of mlb experience (.259/.344/.418) and phatass sandoval over that? and that is assuming that lincecum's ridiculous mechanics haven't caught up to him, and that zito continues to mysteriously not suck again this season, after a long consecutive streak of sucking seasons.

or maybe you are trusting belt's childish faith in the power of "chemistry", who's next RBI will be it's first.

allow me to cite some stats:
Adrian Gonzalez in 2012: .807 OPS/3.3 WAR (playing most of the season in the lefty paradise known as Fenway)
Brandon Belt in 2012: .781 OPS/2.7 WAR in 472 plate appearances
Which of these players is more likely to improve on his 2012 numbers?

Hanley Ramirez
2011- .712 OPS, 0.0 WAR
2012- .759 OPS, 1.2 WAR
The days of the slash line you posted are long since over.

Andre Ethier
2011- .789 OPS
2012- .811 OPS
The days of the slash line you posted are long since over.

Carl Crawford: LOL

What's your point regarding Timmy? He was the worst pitcher in the NL last season. I highly doubt he'll be any worse. So you know what? Stop acting like a freakin' naive child and talk to me when these Dodgers accomplish anything at all.

BTW, please learn the difference between who's and whose.

yeah, you totally nailed it. Lord only knows why you don't do baseball analysis for a living.

well i certainly got owned on that one. Not the first prediction I've blown and won't be the last I'm sure. However in my defense I couldn't have predicted Puig or Ryu being worth a combined 7 wins.

Ethier has put up a .785 OPS with horrible defense in RF, so clearly I was right about him. he posted a 2.7 and 3.0 WAR in 2011 and 2012 and is at 2.9 this season, so he is exactly what I thought he'd be. As for 1B:

Brandon Belt: .291/.363/.479 with an OPS+ of 142
Adrian Gonzalez: .295/.343/.463 with an OPS+ of 126

I'd say I called that one as well.

Next we have Carl Crawford: .281/.330/.394 his OPS+ a paltry 104. The average and OBP are in line with his career, but his slugging has fallen off big time. An OPS of .724 doesn't exactly make me look stupid. Also, he's only played 109 games, which isn't exactly inspiring.

Fact is, the Dodgers are mostly driven by 5 players:
Hanley Ramirez- having the best offensive season of his career (that includes with the Marlins)
Yasiel Puig- No one could've predicted this
Kershaw- An ERA+ of 34 pts higher than last season. Amazing improvement from a guy who was already HOF caliber.
Greinke- His best season since that amazing 2009
Jansen- He's been freakin amazing

Could anyone have predicted Matt Cain having an absolutely horrible first half? What about a complete implosion by Ryan Vogelsong following two all star caliber seasons?

All in all I definitely whiffed on Ramirez, but i nailed Gonzalez vs. Belt, i predicted Ethier perfectly and I'd say I did pretty well on Crawford. 3 out of 4 ain't bad

Major League Baseball announced the postseason schedule on Tuesday. It starts with the National League Wild Card Game presented by Budweiser on Oct. 1 and could end on the last day of the month if the 109th World Series goes seven games.

Game 1 of the World Series is scheduled to be played on Wednesday, Oct. 23, in the ballpark of the American League champions.

The regular season concludes on Sunday, Sept. 29, and any necessary regular-season tiebreaker games would be broadcast exclusively by TBS. The NL Wild Card Game, aired on TBS, will be followed by the American League Wild Card Game presented by Budweiser on TBS on Wednesday, Oct. 2. It will mark the second year for the single Wild Card Game format, both of which were won by road teams last year: St. Louis over Atlanta and Baltimore over Texas.

Each NL Division Series will begin on Thursday, Oct. 3, and the first full slate of Division Series games, featuring the two AL Division Series openers and a pair of NLDS Game 2s, will take place on Friday, Oct. 4. The Division Series will run from Oct. 3-10, with two potential Game 5s on both Wednesday, Oct. 9, and Thursday, Oct. 10. TBS will air 18 of the potential 20 Division Series games, while MLB Network will exclusively telecast one game on Oct. 4, and another on Monday, Oct. 7.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=...d=59414608