Posted on 08/01/2005 6:53:38 AM PDT by ken5050
American League
AL East: Red Sox lead the Yankees by 2.5, Blue Jays by 6.0. The Orioles are now officially dead and buried, having gone 1-9, including getting steamrolled by the Devil Rays..that whole team has "crabs." Do you think Tejada is having regrets? If the A's still had him..they'd be odds-on to go all the way. Yankees went 5-5..should have been 2-8. Yes..big come from behind victories, but overloooked in yesterday's win is the fact that the medium sized Unit stunk..Yankees have no pitching..
AL West:
Angels lead the A's by 1.5, the Rangers by 6.5. Oakland went 9-1 over their last 10...Angels have to be worried.
AL Wild Card
A's lead the Yankees by 1.5, Indians and Twins by 4.0, Rangers and Blue Jays by 5.0
Twins really got hurt badly with the injury to Torii Hunter. It may well cost them the playoffs, along with their 2-8 record over the last 10 games. Indians quietly moving up..but have a lot of ground to cover...though the schedule gives them a slight edge.
PS..here's a flat out prediction by yours truly..Yankees do NOT make the playoffs this season..They have NO, ZERO, NADA, ZILCH pitching..and they cannot continue to hit they way they have been in the late innings. Over a month, or two..goods pitching ALWAYS beats good hitting. Sorry, LisaFab..
National League
NL East: Braves lead Nats by 5.0, Marlins and Phils by 6.5, and the Mets by 8.0. Atlanta back in its usual position, first place..going 8-2. Nats finally won a game. I stand by my prediction 2 weeks ago that they finish last in the division..Marlins think they have a chance...they'll keep Burnette..lose him to the Yankees as a free agent in the post season, where he will then proceed tofall apart in NY next year..Philles doing so-so despite Abreau still basking in his HR derby laurels..He shoudl have saved some for the regular season. Mets didn't get Manny..I'm glad..because I think the regular OF of Floyd, Cameron, and Beltran will be the BEST in the majors for the rest of the season ( actually, they remind me of Cleon Jones, Tommy Agee, and Ron Swoboda..for those of you who remember 1969 ) now that all the trade rumors are over. Again, with two months left in the seaosn..EVERY TEAM in the division is OVER .500. Amazing stat. And, because they all play each other a whole lot more., it's wide open..almost a round-robin, though the Braves have the edge, because a lot of their injured players are coming back
NL Central: Hey..lookee here..Cards lead the Astro's by 9.5. First time in a long time the lead is in single digits..What say you, SCALEMAN? Tony LaRussa must be a whole lot of fun this week. StL begins a series againt the Marlins tonight...could be big for both teams..
NL West: The Rattlesnakes are in a dead heat with the Pods for first place, in the division nobody wants to win..I, normally exclude teams with records below .500, but hey, I have no choice here. SD has won 1 of their last 14..BTW..LA is 4.0 behind, and SF is 5.5 behind. If Bonds comes back..the Giants might well win it. Stay tuned.
NL Wild Card:
Astros lead Nats by 1.0, Marlins and Phillies by 2.5, Cubs and Mets by 4.0. Right now 'Stros look really good for the WC..very strong pitching rotation. Mets staff has also been excellent...they've just stopped hitting. If they can score a few runs, they can give Houston a run for the WC. I think the Cubs are shot. Too bad..what are the odds in Vegas for an all Chitown WS?
So, how was YOUR week? How'd your team do? Were you surprised at the lack of trade activity..
FYI...and if anyone wants on or off the ping list, just Freepmail me..thanks..BTW..I believe I deleted all those of you who asked off..if I missed you, sorry, just pleasew remind me again..
The Tigers capitulated on their 1-5 West Coast road trip...
Traded Farnsworth for a bag of balls because he wouldn't re-sign....
In my best Brooklynese: "Wait 'til next year."
The Braves got Kyle Farnsworth from the Tigers by trading Roman Colon. Should be all the bullpen we need now.
The weekend started out with a scare but ended with a bang. They sweep a likely wild card team and Manny stays.
WHEW!
I agree with you Yankee assessment. Their pitching is not showing up and they can’t keep wining games with late inning heroics. Though I really thought the Angles would have made a better show of it. The AL East really is the top tier of MLB
One thing you can absolutely take to the bank ..this is Manny's last year in Beantown. No way the RedSox put up with his crap again. I'd wager that the Sawx and Mets have a good understanding....the trade occurs in the off season, a two way deal..forget dealing with other teams, who try to extort a lot..Mets and RS were smart to walk away..for now..Mets will take on Manny's contract happily...with small concession on salary..but they won't have to give up any real talent..With Manny in Shea..Pazza will not be resigned. He'll either retire, or possibly go to Boston..smaller contract.makes a lot of sense..he could be the back up catcher..pinch hitter, and even DH..if they put Ortiz at 1B for maybe 25 games..Piazza would love the Green Monster..THis way the deal makes financiuals ense for both teams.. Sawx can use Manny money to try and replace his production..and the Mets lose Piazza salary..so it's not that bad a hit. And the Mets can decide to package Cameron or Floyd in a deal..
Nice strong 8th inning by the Mets yesterday to avoid the broom. I was really hoping for a second straight sweep by the 'Stros on their home stand, but you can't win 'em all. Eventually the 'Stros will come down from the stratosphere and will start playing like a normal team again. That said, their strong pitching (even from the rookies Astacio and Rodriguez) gives them an edge. While the Cards are still way out in front, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that Houston at least give them a run for their money.
I'm just glad that the slapstick NL West is taking some of the jokes away from the Comedy Central.
Our lineup yesterday included Nick Punto, Luis Rodriguez and Michael Ryan with Terry Tiffee (a .200 hitter) batting cleanup. We played a Class AAA lineup against the Red Sox and made no deals.
We left the bases loaded three times in the last five innings, left 13 runners on base and were 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position in losing 4-3.
This is a lot more than Torii Hunter being hurt. It is an organizational failure to bring in players who are major league hitters. The Twins have a significant ownership problem and it will get a lot worse before it gets any better.
Columnist Pat Reusse in the (Red) Star Tribune said it best: "Minnesota fans were baying for a trade last weekend. What they got was the Lynx (WNBA) sending Katie Smith to Detroit."
The Vikings play their first exhibition game in 12 days. I can't wait.
I caught a good part of the Mets/Astros series on TV..One line the Mets announcers kept repeating ad nauseum was that most of the 'Stros fans came to boo Beltran..I'm sorry that Pizza didn't get another crack at Clemens..
The owner won't sell..or nobody wants to buy? Or is it about a stadium issue?
FYI..Special Houston Astros pingee!!!
They're coming aliiiiive!
I got the Astros at 40-1 to win N.L. back in Jan...
so....Go Astros!!!
It came down to the red sox need Manny more than Manny needs the red sox. After the game Manny was "this is the place for me". we will see come october. I just hope if the sox do trade him we get something for him. Cameron and Huff were not aceptable in my book
Disagree..they get rid of his contract..they can go sign whomever they want..
Did you get that at a Vegas sports book? what's it worth now..?
I put $110.00 on it...if Astros go to W.S. I win $4400.00...
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