Baseball’s back, baby! Thoughts? Predictions? Smack talk?
Will Pujols continue to make his fantasy owners very, very happy? Was Dice-K worth the price? Are Jeter and A-Rod gonna kiss and make up? Is Clemens gonna play this year? Is Hanley Ramirez really all that? Can the Cardinals hold together, or will they suffer the winner’s curse?
Go Sox!
Just got my ticket for opening day at RFK, in which the Nationals will lose their first of 87 games.
Troy
They used to lose in Mtl :(
I was an Expos fan for years, so I know the pain well. I come to my Nationals loyalty with all the bruises from 25 years of disappointment or maybe-next-year.
Troy
My asshat Mariners picked up pitching…ahem…cough, cough…help this offseason. Normally, any OK pitcher should be better in our pitching friendly park but somehow that never really equates…another year of mediocrity!
I need to pick up a schedule and stuff, so I can pick up tickets for when the Giants play the Nationals. :D
Good lord, yes. He’s not human.
Was Dice-K worth the price?
That’s a $100 million question. But I’m going to go out on a limb and say that if you toss out the posting fee, the Sox will have one of the cheapest aces in baseball.
Are Jeter and A-Rod gonna kiss and make up?
Hopefully they’ll do that on the field, Isiah and Magic-style.
Is Clemens gonna play this year?
Of course. He wants to save some team with his awesomeness. Which… well, he is awesome and all. But yeesh, what a tool.
Is Hanley Ramirez really all that?
I’m not 100% convinced. He had a great year. We’ll see whether he hits the year 2 doldrums. I thought he was overhyped just because he was a Red Sox player, but maybe I’m wrong.
Can the Cardinals hold together, or will they suffer the winner’s curse?
No pitching=no division. Well, not enough pitching. Though losing Marquis to free agency is addition by subtraction.
Of course not…they lost Mr. World Series Jeff Weaver to us…uh…want him back?..please.
Yet another hopeful season for the Rangers, where there sure are a lot of unknowns as usual. Gagne has reappeared after nearly two years of nothing to be the closer (I wonder how Otsuka really feels about that), the rotation still feels very unfamiliar and I’m thinking the Rangers might have had some insider knowledge that Gary Matthews jr. was on the juice before they decided to let him go (still, to the Angels? come on). Still, I’m gonna miss him a lot. Now there’s a new coach, the next-year-after-Showalter-to-the-World-Series myth to break, Sammy Sosa crazyness, and fervent prayers that the awesome infield will remain sane and intact.
— Alan
Agreed. The only thing that could slow him down is a completely freak injury, since he’s shown himself to be incredibly durable to the usual season wear-and-tear
That’s a $100 million question. But I’m going to go out on a limb and say that if you toss out the posting fee, the Sox will have one of the cheapest aces in baseball.
In the long run I think he’ll absolutely be worth it, but I think he’s gonna have an adjustment year this season, which will start everyone crowing about what a bad decision it was. I mean, given the hype, anything less than 16 wins and 180 Ks will be trumpeted as a “disappointment.”
Hopefully they’ll do that on the field, Isiah and Magic-style.
I bet it’d bring new fans to the game. Think baseball slash fic.
Of course. He wants to save some team with his awesomeness. Which… well, he is awesome and all. But yeesh, what a tool.
Agreed again. His “will I or won’t I” dance is freaking tiresome.
I’m not 100% convinced. He had a great year. We’ll see whether he hits the year 2 doldrums. I thought he was overhyped just because he was a Red Sox player, but maybe I’m wrong.
I think he’s the real deal. Barring significant injury, I think we’re looking at a future superstar.
No pitching=no division. Well, not enough pitching. Though losing Marquis to free agency is addition by subtraction.
They’ve had to throw a lot of patches onto their pitching staff, it’s true. But the core of their lineup remains rock-solid. They are, in any event, a team to watch.
Well, around here, the sense is that everyone is hoping Biggio gets his 3,000th hit sooner rather than later (70 to go). As revered as he is, people seem to be ready for Burke to take over and see Bidge become a coach on a personal services contract like they’re doing with Bagwell.
Beyond that, Carlos Lee is healthy, the top three rotation spots are locked in, have some good young arms in the wings and the number 22 jersey is being kept in storage, just in case…
Oh shit, am I only Cubbies fan?
If so I’m ready bring it on… Next year is here!
The brass spent some crazy Yankees like cash this off season. Lets hope they’re still in the race by the end of April at least. I’m not sure if I’m looking forward to a total Lou meltdown.
By the way What do homosexuals have in common with Cardinals fans?
They all love Pujols… NOT THAT THERES ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT!
A’s and O’s both look young and pitcher-less.
But then, the A’s never seem to notice that they’re supposed to suck, and the O’s never seem to notice that they’re supposed to be great.
Last season for the A’s in Oakland, I bet.
But is Lee fat?
Yeah, I’ve stopped assuming it will be the last year for the A’s to compete.
Then again, I picked the Braves last year because they always figured out a way to win the division.
Does anyone think the Mets can win the east with that starting pitching?
Probably, but Minute Maid has a short left porch, he could bunt it into the Crawford boxes and waddle around the bases.
That’s probably the case.
Who knows, though, maybe this will be the year for Adrian Beltre to finally earn his absurd salary and figure out how to hit American League pitching! Maybe our pitching won’t be wildly inconsistent now that some of our young guns have grown up a little bit! Maybe the front office will resign Ichiro before he slips off into free agency where he will promptly be picked up by the Yankees for some ridiculous sum!
Yeah, I don’t believe it either.
Icehole - your Cubbies got Jason Marquis off the Cardinals in the offseason.
Good luck with that…
Carlos Lee is going to have a lot of fun slapping hanging sliders into the Crawford boxes, but he’s gonna be an immobile lump out there by the time his contract expires. And we can’t hide him at first because we’re already hiding Berkman there.
Hm. What else to say about the 'Stros? I agree with DT that it’s time for Biggio to collect his 3,000th hit, hand second over to Burke, and start working on his Hall of Fame acceptance speech. I honestly don’t give a rat’s ass at this point whether Clemens ever pitches again for any team. And I don’t think we have a center fielder any more, which means we’ll give up an awful lot of triples this year…