MLB 2011 Season
 

AMERICAN LEAGUE

AL EAST

The Tampa Bay Rays have completely dominated this division these past couple years, and we've been riding on them ever since they finished last overall in the Majors.
That dominance has now come to an end, as they've given away key units, and are in the rebuilding stages.
It is a necessary step to take given their super-rivals in this division.
The Rays hold on to Price and Longoria, while they give away Crawford and Pena..... They continue to hold some amazing prospects who have yet to play in the major leagues, so this rebuilding stage should take no longer than 1-2 years.
They will again compete for this division at that time.

In the meantime, the Boston Red Sox have built what looks like a World series team.
Boston's line-up is outstanding.
I can't really say which is the greater addition...Carl Crawford or Adrian Gonzalez.... Adrian looks to have a MONSTER season batting out of San Diego.... people have yet to realize how amazing of a bat Adrian is.... they will in Boston.
Boston's Bullpen is elite, while their only weakness appears to be their rotation.

The Yankees are left trying to grab that wildcard spot...so they'll most likely be racing against a team in the central for that spot.

The Orioles are looking pretty good as they continue to rebuild....if i ran the team, i would finish with the least amount of wins as possible as there is little hope in competing against these super-powers at this stage.

The Blue Jays are the perfect example of what not to do as a baseball franchise.
no pitching in site...old, ready to retire bats.
The only real exciting thing in Toronto this year, is they picked up speedy Davis to use as a lead-off man...but again, he's not young, so there is no hope in site for this team any time in the next decade.

AL CENTRAL

This is a very tough division to predict at this point in time.
Very closely matched are the teams within.
The Minnesota Twins line-up really stands out.
Mauer, Morneau, Delmon Young, Nishioka and Span as the lead-off guy, will put a lot of runs this year.
Their weakness is their rotation, otherwise i'd be riding on this team to win this division.
The Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers remain strong and in contention, but again, as i said its hard to pull one of these teams out and point at them as the dominant force here.
The most interesting thing i see here, beyond the Twins line-up are the Clevland Indians.
Carlos Santana is very impressive.
Choo has established himself in the majors as a force.
Chris Perez is one of the absolute elite closers in the game.
Now, i don't know if they'll be going for a pennant race this year, but the pieces are there to at least be competitive this year or the next.
The KC Royals are not too far back anymore either ...perhaps they need to continue to rebuild.


AL WEST

This is turning out to be a very weak division.
All teams are under par, all around the .500 mark and below.
I'm putting some coins on the Oakland A's winning it, although i've not been impressed with some of the mistakes they've been making in the field so far this season.
The A's rotation is very very impressive....Brett Anderson, Cahill, and Gonzales should all end this season with a positive record.
The Rangers bats are superior, but they do not have anything close to the A's in pitching.
The Seattle Mariners can't do worse than they did last year, while my Angels are looking to have their worst season in recent history

NATIONAL LEAGUE


NL EAST

I'm going with the Atlanta Braves here yet again this year!
The Line-up looks even better than it did last season!
Jason Heyward, Brian McCann, Dan Uggla, Martin Prado, Chipper Jones, Alex Gonzales, and young Freddie Freeman, make up one of the absolute elite line-ups in the national league.
There does appear to be some early pitching issues in the team, but if the Braves are known for something, it's their ability to bring fourth pitching out of no-where.

The Phillies are the HUGE HUGE favorite wo win this division and the national league, but I'm not sold on them.
Their pitching is the main reason why one would say that, but when you look deep into the line-up, you'll see that the Phillies are not as strong as people percieve.
Chase Utley is out till at least half way through the season.
Rollins is just a mediocre short stop, and Howard is not one of the top 5 first basemen in the league.

The Marlins will be the main competition to the two above teams mentioned.
Pitching looks to be improved a little bit, but their not quite there yet.

The NY Mets looks to have their worst season in a long time.

The Washington Nationals are the team of the future here.
They will not be showing that form this year though......next year for sure!


NL CENTRAL

This division belongs to the Cincinnati Reds.
Their line-up is clearly the best in the division...the bullpen is without any doubt the best in the division.
The only questions that come up are in regards to the rotation which early on appears to have some trouble.

SURPRISE SURPRISE, the reds main opponent is NOT the Cardinals.
It's actually the Pittsburgh Pirates!
The line-up is really really good....you'll see!
Pedro Alvarez & McCutchen mainly, but Walker, Tabata and jones are also worthy of mentioning.
Again, pitching is the only question with this team.

The greatest threat to the above two teams mentioned, appears to
be the Chicago Cubs of all teams.
Some very interesting players have come out of the woodworks to catch my attention.
Shortstop Castro looks like an amazing bat.
Carlos Pena can seriously hit it out of the park.
Marmol is 1 of the 3 best closers in the game.

The Milwakee Brewers, who have fixed some of the problems they were facing last season.
IMO, they're not there yet, but the experts tell you that the Brewers are gonna win this thing.

The St.Louis Cardinals face serious health issues with their pitching and bats, so you cannot calculate them for this season.

Things look pretty depressing in Houston as they appear to be one of the weakest links in the game along with the toronto blue jays

NL WEST

Not too much separates the top 3 teams in this division.
I can't chose one to make a bet.
Dodgers, Giants and Rockies in a 3 horse race for it.
Padres and diamondbacks look like lesser teams

Joey. :)

I wish I could stand up for my Angels, but I just can't. I'll support them, because they are my team, but yeah, they are gonna suck this year.

I was actually gonna make a late addition to what i wrote, going a little into depth as to why the Reds....but I figure i wrote about the team over the past two seasons,and not too much has changed since then.
Yes Joey Votto is truly elite.
He's gone beyond any expectation of him.
I noticed that this guys was something special 2 seasons ago when i watched him at the plate.
Its not just votto though.
Brandon Phillips can take just as much credit.
Bruce is getting better each year that passes as well.
The bullpen deserves a high mention here.
Fransisco Cordero is a very good closer.
Aroldis Chapman has already gone down in the history books, and he's not even started yet ......the velocity is off the charts.
The bullpen shows its depth with Nick Masset and Bill Bray.
The weakness i mention in the rotation is not so much a weakness, rather questions that come up.
Volquez has the potential to have an amazing season, but will he?
I like Wood a lot, and also Leake.
I'm not so sure what form Arroyo is in, and i doubt LeCure will remain in the rotation.

I agree, I may take more of an interest in the old Redlegs this year. Shades of The Big Red Machine?

the astros as always will wait until after the break to start to show up and play ball. they do it almost every year. drayton mcclain is selling the 'stros so maybe the next owner will spend a little more jack to get some more players to take the place of oswalt, biggio, bagwell just to name a few. lance bergman comes to mind too. they are my team though and i will stick with them through the bad times as well as the good. you watch, whenever the heck i get up to pitts pa, i will go to the game with my astros hat and shirt on and support my team. even if it means a good ol' yankee asswhoopin of a southern boy! :D oh and i will take a rfn pic and post it too.

The Astros do tend to spend money should they be in the running, but this highly unlikely, due to the weakness of the team overall.
It would take quite a few players to put this team into contention as it is.
I've always favored the drafting system as opposed to free agents, or trading for established players.
Baseball is a little different than other N.American sports, but the draft is still what makes the team.
See World series Tampa Bay Rays.
Also, look at the Washington Nationals develop in the next couple years.

good points. the nationals? yeah they got potential. good team to watch. we'll see. but tampa bay, i mean, well, he spent the money then when they won everyone split to free agency or trades. they got the title then nothing. same example with arizona several years back too.

As I mention in the first post of this thread, they're in the rebuilding stage again....however, they're not starting from scratch.
And who did they lose exactly?
Carlos Pena? .....he's only gonna be playing for a few more years.
The Rays are a very young team.
Carl Crawford even, is in a whole different age bracket.
I agree 100% with the way this Rays team is being run.

The Nationals? ....3 names come to mind:
Stephen Strasburg
Bryce Harper
Tyler Clippard.

These are 3 of the absolute elite players in their respective positions.
All 3 have there whole career ahead of them.
AND ...the nationals are still drafting, to add to this super power team in the making

The one player this season that really stands out to me so far is Chicago Cubs short-stop Starlin Castro.
In a world with so few above par Short-stops (Tulowitzki, Hanley Ramirez, Andrus) ..21 Year old Castro is a gold mine for the Cubs.

Since posting this post, Castro has been on base 7 times in his last 8 at bats, including a home run
He leads the entire major leagues with 27 hits (Game still in progress)
He's batting .415 at this moment in time on the season.

i have to agree, he is very impressive.

From what i've seen so far this season so far, these are the raankings of players in each position:

Starting Pitchers
This will change drastically during the season.
There are some heavy duty starters that should pick it up as the season goes on.
Not too many elite starters on the DL though

1)Tim Lincecum (SF Giants)
2)Jered Weaver (LA Angels)
3)Tommy Hanson (Atlanta Braves)
4)Josh Johnson (Florida Marlins)
5)Brett Anderson (Oakland A's)
6)David Price (Tampa Bay Rays)
7)Justin Verlander (Detroit Tigers)
8)Trevor Cahill (Oakland A's)
9)Jair Jurrjens (Atlanta Braves
10)Cole Hamels (Philadelphia Phillies)

Relievers
No surprise here, as the elite are few and are showing it.

1)Aroldis Chapman (Cincinnati Reds)
2)Aaron Crow (KC Royals)
3)Johny Venters (Atlanta Braves)
4)Rafael Betancourt (Colorado Rockies)
5)Mike Adams (San Diego Padres)

Closers
Not on the list is Andrew Bailey who has not pitched yet....i expect him to be near the top of this list by the end of the season.
I also expect Joakim Soria to be there in the end.

1)Neftali Feliz (Texas Rangers)
2)Fransisco Rodriguez (NY Mets)
3)Huston Street (Colorado Rockies)
4)Chris Perez (Clevland indians)
5)Jose Valverde (Detroit Tigers)
6)Craig Kimbrel (Atlanta Braves)
7)Jonathon Papelbon (Boston Red Sox)
8)JJ Putz (Arizona Diamondbacks
9)Fransisco Cordero (Cincinnati Reds)
10)Mariano Rivera (NY Yankees)

Catchers
Mauer is without doubt the greatest in the game, but on the DL.
Expect him to top all catcher stats in the end.

1)Buster Posey (SF Giants)
2)Brian McCann (Atlanta Braves)
3)Carlos Santana (Clevland Indians)
4)Russell Martin (NY Yankees)
5)Matt Wieters (Baltimore Orioles)

1st base
Giants Sandoval is looking really good out there, and may just penetrate this list by the end of the year.
That Justin Smoak deal looks like a gold mine, as he grows into an elite bat for Seattle.

1)Joey Votto (Cincinnati Reds)
2)Albert Pujols (St.Louis Cardinals)
3)Miguel Cabrera (Detroit Tigers)
4)Prince Fielder (Milwakee Brewers)
5)Adrian Gonzales (Boston Red Sox)

2nd base
Chase Utley is out till mid season at least, leaving the top spot to someone else for a change.

1)Brandon Phillips (Cincinnati Reds)
2)Ian Kinsler (Texas Rangers)
3)Robinson Cano (NY Yankees)
4)Rickie Weeks (Milwakee Brewers)
5)Howie Kendrick (LA Angels)

3rd base
Longoria is obviously the greatest 3rd baseman in the league, however he has not played yet, temporarily leaving top spot for someone else.
Zimmerman is also on the DL.....should end the season ranked 2nd or 3rd on this list.

1)David Wright (NY Mets)
2)Alex Rodriguez (NY Yankees)
3)Jose Bautista (Toronto Blue Jays)
4)Placido Polanco (Philadelphia Phillies)
5)Adrian Beltre (Texas Rangers)

Short stop
The big news here is the slow start Hanley Ramirez is off to.
He should pick it up , and at worst be top 3 here.

1)Troy Tulowitzki (Colorado Rockies)
2)Starlin Castro (Chicago Cubs)
3)Jose Reyes (NY Mets)
4)Elvis Andrus (Texas Rangers)
5)Jed Lowrie (Boston red Sox)

Outfield
Carl Crawford, Carlos Gonzales, and Andrew McCutchen should top this list by the end of the season, but for now, they don't make the cut.

1)Ryan Braun (Milwakee brewers)
2)Matt Kemp (LA Dodgers)
3)Matt Holliday (St.Louis Cardinals)
4)Jason Heyward (Atlanta Braves)
5)Shin-Soo Choo (Clevland Indians)

I can't allow that last post to go through without mentioning Lance Berkman who is off to an amazing start.
he did the same thing a few years ago arriving in top form, even stealing bases, and then faded off.
However so far, his numbers cannot be looked past.
.388 batting average, 10 home runs, and a league leading 32 rbi's.
I guess it helps batting behind Pujols and holiday, but he is in fact, overall the #1 ranked bat so far this season.
He is the main reason the Cardinals are where they are.
St.Louis still has heavy issues with their rotation.
Garcia is doing what he did last year, but again, he drifted away from his form as the year moved on.
Carpenter looks as though this might be his last year.
So, when Berkman and Garcia cool off, i predict the Cardinals will fall to 3rd or 4th place in this division.

There's one more player worthy of mention that is not on these lists.
The Washington nationals closer Drew Storen, who, surprise surprise, leads combined stats for closers so far this year with 3 wins, 8 saves, 15k's, a 0.44 ERA and a 0.77 WHIP

Almost 1/3 through the season now, and the standings are as following:
In Green are the teams we've bet on, in blue are the neutrals, and in red are the teams i've said not to bet on for various reasons.

The only addition i'm making to my pre-seaons picks, based on the fact that it is a very weak division (AL West) , and the price is out of this world, are the Seattle Mariners.
They pay 7/1 for the division .... 33/1 for the American League, and 66/1 for the world series.
I'm not saying that Seattle is a world series team, but they can win this division.
And if they win this division, with a little form at the right moment, win a series or two, which might land them a spot in the main event

AL East
1)Boston Red Sox --
2)NY Yankees -2
3)Tampa Bay Rays -3
4)Toronto Blue Jays -4.5
5)Baltimore Orioles -6

AL Central
1)Cleveland Indians
2)Detroit Tigers -1
3)Chicago White Sox -5.5
4)KC Royals -8
5)Minnesota Twins -11

AL West
1)Texas Rangers
2)Seattle Mariners -2.5
3)LA Angels -5
4)Oakland A's -8

NL East
1)Philadelphia Phillies
2)Atlanta Braves -2.5
3)Florida Marlins -5.5
4)NY Mets -7
5)Washington Nationals -10

NL Central
1)St.Louis Cardinals
2)Milwaukee Brewers -2.5
3)Cincinnati Reds -5.5
4)Pittsburgh Pirates -6.5
5)Chicago Cubs -12
6)Houston Astros -13.5

NL West
1)San Fransisco Giants
2)Arizona Diamond backs -1.5
3)Colorado Rockies -5
4)LA Dodgers -7
5)San Diego Padres -7.5

I'm gonna make one more addition, due to the current price and situation in the NL West.
Its in regards to the Colorado Rockies, who pay 7/2 for the division, 16/1 for the National league, and 33/1 for the World series
The bet comes with considerations that the Giants are lacking their best bat, and Lincecum is having a tad of difficulty.
Arizona is by far inferior to the rockies, and the Dodgers are lagging behind.
The Rockies Bats are out of this world for a national league team, and if Ubaldo Jimenez can find his form and velocity of recent years, than they have a solid starter.
Betancourt and Street take care of any 8th and 9th inning lead.


AL East
1)Boston Red Sox --
2)NY Yankees -2
3)Tampa Bay Rays -5.5
4)Toronto Blue Jays -7.5
5)Baltimore Orioles -10.5

AL Central
1)Cleveland Indians
2)Detroit Tigers -
3)Chicago White Sox -5.5
4)KC Royals -7
5)Minnesota Twins -8

AL West
1)Texas Rangers
2)Seattle Mariners -0.5
3)LA Angels -3
4)Oakland A's -6

NL East
1)Philadelphia Phillies
2)Atlanta Braves -5
3)Washington Nationals -9
4)NY Mets -9.5
5)Florida Marlins -11.5

NL Central
1)Milwaukee Brewers -
2)St.Louis Cardinals -1
3)Cincinnati Reds -2
4)Pittsburgh Pirates -3
5)Chicago Cubs -9.5
6)Houston Astros -13

NL West
1)San Fransisco Giants
2)Arizona Diamond backs -0.5
3)Colorado Rockies -4.5
4)LA Dodgers -8.5
5)San Diego Padres -9.5

*bump*
Go Yanks!

We've all seen it before but I really didn't think the 2011 Red Sox had this kind of epic collapse in them, amazing tank.

I'm a big time Yankees fan and I'm so upset and sad today.:(

I feel like a Yankees fan now.

I take it you're a Phillies fan? Yeah, they pulled a Yankee. The two top teams are out.

Welcome to football season... oh wait, my Steelers got old. Gonna be a long winter.

Girardi really got out-managed by Leland eh?

Go Yanks indeed! Go home, Yankees.

Yessssss! : fistpump :

Oh no! A Yankees hater?!!! That's ok, I don't mind a little friendly rivalry. It could be fun. ;) But right now I'd probably agree with you, so I'll just hang my head. :blush: But come spring... :D

I offer my hand in the spirit of friendly competition. We've started off so well after all.

I *love* baseball. And I really only root for two teams, my home team the Seattle Mariners and whoever is playing the Yankees.

But... as you say, only 127 days til spring training!

And whoever is playing the Yankees?!! This is gonna be fun! :lol:

I'm a huge Yankees fan and have been since I was a little BrilliantDisguise. I used to watch the games with my Dad all the time. I've been to the new stadium just once but it was the day A-Rod hit his 600th homer. That was awesome! I like to try to get to a game at least once a season but tickets are so expensive and if I'm going, I like good seats. Last year we had seats lower level, left field, 3 rows back. I could reach out and touch Brett Gardner if I wanted. They were $100.00 each. This year we went to CitiField and watched the Yankees/Mets Subway Series. Pretty much the same seats but $20 each cheaper. That field was nice but nothing compared to Yankee Stadium. I do miss the old stadium though.

I'm not a sports fan at all, but Mrs. Z follows baseball. She has supported local teams wherever we've moved, but she still has a soft spot for St. Louis teams (where we both grew up).

So congrats to the Cardinals for making to the series.

At the end of August, we were dead in the water. On Wednesday, we play in our 18th World Series.

GO CARDINALS!!!

That was quite a run!

The Cards still hanging in there.

And the cards take the series.