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A few days late, but...

U

UMclassof2002

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Spring training has begun.





Who do you pull for? Twins fan here, but I am not expecting a great season after the second half collapse last year. I don't really see how they made themselves better in the offseason. Rotation should be fairly strong as is closer, but offensive production is going to be lacking.

Offer your team's takes below:
 
Mariners, but I also expect very little, they've got food young talent that is probably 1 - 2 years away from helping this team become a competator again.

Ichiro's unhappy, and I were the Ms I'd trade him for some solid pitching prospects. They have Jeremy Reed to bat lead off, might as well build on the area where you need more help (pitching)
 
I have two favorite teams, really.

One of them is the St. Louis Cardinals. I think they're going to have a nice year, win the division, and go to the playoffs, but I don't know how far. With the pitching they have (Chris Carpenter, Mark Mulder, Jeff Suppan, Jason Marquis, and Jason Isringhausen as the closer) and the middle of that lineup (Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen if healthy, and Jim Edmonds) could put this team into the World Series. Role players will play a key role. Catcher Yadier Molina will be a good one before it's all said and done.

The other is the Mariners. I expect them to flirt with .500, but they play in a tough division and the pitching, except for King Felix, is a question. You're right, Re/Max, if Ichiro is unhappy, they could get some good pitching back. They're still 1-2 years away. At least Niehaus is still calling the games.
 
Dodgers fan here. It will not be a good season. I like Furcal pick up but I cant stand Nomar. Mr. Hamm was great six years ago. I just hope the rest of the NL West sucks so they have a chance.
 
Mariner fan here. I expect them to play around .500 ball this year but then, that's what I expected last year too.

Trading Ichiro is simply not on the table. Unless he demanded a trade, he's not going anywhere. He is very close with the majority owner Yamauchi. Yamauchi even went so far as to give Ichiro a few million dollars worth of shares of the holding company that technically owns the club after he broke the single season hit record. Ichiro also brings in a ton of $$ and this management group does like their profits. I expect Ichiro to go back to Japan when his contract runs out but he'll be roaming right field for the M's until then.


The M's have a lot of questions. If everything breaks right for them, they might compete for a playoff spot. If everything breaks wrong, they'll lose 90 games again. I expect half to break their way and half to break against them, so I'm prediciting 81-84 wins.

Will Beltre rebound? He's slugging the hell out of the ball in the WBC - the home run that he hit off Zambrano in the Venezuela game may not have touched down yet. Getting his bat back to MVP caliber production would ease the offensive woes that the club had last year.

Will Johjima adapt to the American game and will he hit? I think he'll be fine defensively but he's looked very, very bad with the bat thus far in ST. The coaches are saying that they want him to focus on learning his pitchers right now and aren't worried about his bat but I'm starting to get concerned. The M's can't have another year with no offensive production from the catcher position.

Will Piniero and/or Meche put it together for a season? New pitching coach Chaves has Meche throwing a two seam fastball instead of that strait 4-seamer thats been getting clubbed out of the park on a regular basis for the last couple of years. Joel is finally healthy - after two consecutive injury plagued seasons. If Joel can get back to 2003 form (16-7 record with a 3.67 era) the M's will be ok. If Meche also manages to rack up and era around 4, the M's should be pretty good. Washburn will be Washburn and Moyer should be ok. Felix will struggle through some growing pains but will still be the best on the staff. They are restricting his innings again this year, though, so I don't expect him to make much more than 25-28 starts. Nageotte and Foppert are waiting in the wings but both have had some issues so far this ST.

Will Reed and Lopez make strides with the bat? Both are young, high ceiling guys that were disappointments last year. The M's need a higher on base percentage from Reed and more slugging from Lopez this year.

Will the real YuBet please step up? Is this guy a free swinging, light hitting, all glove guy or is he something more special? I get the feeling that he's going to hit a lot better than anyone thinks. He's a little dude but he makes great contact with excellent speed. I'd almost be willing to bet that he leads the league in triples this year.

All in all, it should be an interesting season. The Angels didn't do much in the off season but sign Weaver. You heard it here first - Weaver will get killed in the AL West. The Angels do have a monster crop of great young players on the verge of breaking into the majors. (IIRC, they have two or three of the top ten prospects in the game right now.) They are probably a few years away from being a truly dominant team, though.

The A's are the odd-on favorite to take the division but they made a few moves that could backfire on them.

Texas is Texas - they signed Millwood but that itty bitty park that they play in will crush his psyche.
 
Opening day bump




GrizBiz - That's a great take on the Mariners. As much as I'd like to see Seattle be competitive in the divison, the A's will walk away with it.


Anyone see that bomb that Thome hit last night? White Sox are to be scary tough again this year.
 
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