[Pun]

Since Spring Training starts tomorrow, what better time to start the official 2009 thread? As usual post your predictions here. And Moose, post an updated "favorite teams list" if you have one.

[Mikey]

Prediction: Moose will predict the Yankees to MISS the playoffs.

[punk/core]

My beloved Dodgers will sign someone old and shitty, and pay them $5 million to do nothing.

[The Jewish Cunthead]

I'm really not looking forward to this year's predictions. I'll post them in a bit.

[Jack Quinn]

NL East

1. Philadelphia
2. New York (WC)
3. Florida
4. Atlanta
5. Washington

NL Central

1. Chicago
2. St. Louis
3. Milwaukee
4. Cincinnati
5. Houston
6. Pittsburgh

NL West

1. Arizona
2. Los Angeles
3. San Francisco
4. Colorado
5. San Diego

AL East

1. Boston
2. Tampa Bay (WC)
3. New York
4. Toronto
5. Baltimore

AL Central

1. Cleveland
2. Detroit
3. Minnesota
4. Chicago
5. Kansas City

AL West

1. Anaheim
2. Oakland
3. Texas
4. Seattle

NLDS: Philadelphia over Arizona, Chicago over New York
ALDS: Boston over Anaheim, Tampa Bay over Cleveland
NLCS: Philadelphia over Chicago
ALCS: Boston over Tampa Bay
World Series: Philadelphia over Boston

[Tommy]

NL East

1. New York Mets
2. Philadelphia
3. Florida
4. Washington
5. Atlanta

NL Central

1. Milwaukee
2. Chicago Cubs (WC)
3. St. Louis
4. Cincinnati
5. Pittsburgh
6. Houston

NL West

1. Los Angeles Dodgers
2. Arizona
3. San Diego
4. Colorado
5. San Francisco

AL East

1. Tampa Bay
2. New York
3. Toronto
4. Boston
5. Baltimore

AL Central

1. Chicago White Sox
2. Minnesota
3. Cleveland
4. Detroit
5. Kansas City

AL West

1. Los Angeles/Anaheim
2. Texas (WC)
3. Seattle
4. Oakland

NLDS: New York over Chicago, Milwaukee over L.A. Dodgers
ALDS: Tampa Bay over Texas, L.A./Anaheim over Chicago
NLCS: New York over Milwaukee
ALCS: Tampa Bay over L.A./Anaheim
World Series: Tampa Bay over New York

[Pun]

Geez, Tommy. I knew you hated the Cubs, but Milwaukee in first? They lost CC and Sheets. Who do they have after Gallardo?

[DevSop]

NL East
1. New York Mets
2. Philadelphia Phillies (WC)
3. Florida Marlins
4. Atlanta Braves
5. Any 9 guys
6. Washington Nationals

NL Central

1. Cincinnati Reds
2. Houston Astros
3. St. Louis Cardinals
4. Milwaukee Brewers
5. Chicago Cubs - Yes, I hate them
6. Pittsburgh Pirates

NL West

1. Arizona Diamondbacks
2. San Francisco Giants
3. Los Angeles Dodgers
4. Colorado Rockies
5. San Diego Padres


AL East

1. Tampa Bay DEVIL Rays
2. Boston Red Sox (WC)
3. New York Yankees
4. Baltimore Orioles
5. Toronto Blue Jays

AL Central

1. Cleveland Indians
2. Minnesota Twins
3. Chicago White Sox
4. Detroit Tigers
5. Kansas City Royals

AL West

1. Whatever Angels
2. Texas Rangers
3. Oakland A's
4. Seattle Mariners


AL Divisional Round: Tampa over Angels, Indians over Red Sox
NL Divisional Round: Mets over Reds, Phillies over Diamondbacks

AL Championship: Indians over Tampa
NL Championship: Mets over Phillies

World Series: Mets over Indians

[Jack Quinn]

wow Tommy and Sop are both hitting the good stuff today

[Pun]

That NL Central has to be a joke, right, Sop? Reds in first place? And you wonder why I call you out for never actually watching any games.

[The Jewish Cunthead]

And go touch a kid. Or something.

[punk/core]

Feb 13, 2009 16:03:11 GMT -5 The Jewish Cunthead said:

And go touch a kid. Or something.

Are you upset he put the Mets winning the World Series?

[The Jewish Cunthead]

Feb 13, 2009 16:05:49 GMT -5 punk/core said:

Feb 13, 2009 16:03:11 GMT -5 The Jewish Cunthead said:

And go touch a kid. Or something.

Are you upset he put the Mets winning the World Series?

No, that was my Pun impression.

[The Canadian Content]

Feb 13, 2009 16:07:15 GMT -5 The Jewish Cunthead said:

Feb 13, 2009 16:05:49 GMT -5 punk/core said:

Are you upset he put the Mets winning the World Series?

No, that was my Pun impression.

Needs a smaller font.

[Tommy]

Feb 13, 2009 15:46:17 GMT -5 Pun said:

Geez, Tommy. I knew you hated the Cubs, but Milwaukee in first? They lost CC and Sheets. Who do they have after Gallardo?

So the Cubs making the playoffs wasn't good enough for you?

I like Milwaukee's good, young nucleus and they'll be able to score runs with anyone. Please forgive me if I dare suggest they edge out the Mighty Pre-Peavy Cubs by a game or two.

[Jack Quinn]

they have some good young players for sure, but only one of them is a pitcher. I could see them maybe making a run at the WC, but I don't think they will be able to hang with the Cubs

[Pun]

One, their pitching is nothing after Gallardo. And there's no guarantee he returns to pre-injury form. Two, Hall has a calf muscle tear, and while it says he'll be gone only 4-6 weeks, who knows how long it will take until he is 100%? Three, the Cubs had the best run differential in the NL last year and got better on paper. I'm more worried about the Cardinals than the Brewers.

[DevSop]

I said it in my predictions. I hate the Cubs. When I looked at all of the rosters and realized how much of a joke every team in that division is, I STILL couldn't make myself put the Cubs in first. So I refused. And if they're not gonna finish first, I may as well have them bottom out. But even they couldn't finish below the Pirates.

So, while not "real", I'm also not going to change it since I hope it's accurate more than any prediction besides the Mets.

And also, FUCK YOU PUN. I'm sick of the "you don't watch any games. I'm a Cubs fan. I'm a real fan" bullshit you keep throwing out there.

God, I didn't ever think I'd hate a team more than the Phils or Yanks in baseball. So, you should congratulate yourself Pun and every other miserable Cubs fan. I now hate the Cubs more than any franchise in baseball. Way to go.

[Lucky]

I'm not picking another fight with Pun but I'll just say that (a) I don't see how the Cubs got better on paper at ALL and (b) its really not crazy at all to pick the Brewers for the division, even if I don't think I would.

Also (c) it seems early for predictions as there's no way for me to, for example, know if Bill Hall is as utterly meaningless as I think he is when Pun brought him up because Mat Gamel is tearing the cover up the ball and should be the starting 3B for the Brewers.

[Jack Quinn]

It's not necessarily insane to pick the Brewers to win the division, but I think it is a little optimistic. The Cubs shuffled a ton of people around it seems, so there may be some growing pains there. The Brewers have a solid core of players, but still no pitching after Gallardo. Tommy's prediction is much less insane than Sop's.

And I get that you guys have developed an irrational hatred of the Cubs (I have the same irrational hatred of the Yankees and Mets) but really, as much as I hate the Yankees I am still not going to pick them to finish behind the Orioles, no matter how much I might want it

[Tommy]

Feb 13, 2009 16:29:29 GMT -5 Pun said:

One, their pitching is nothing after Gallardo. And there's no guarantee he returns to pre-injury form. Two, Hall has a calf muscle tear, and while it says he'll be gone only 4-6 weeks, who knows how long it will take until he is 100%? Three, the Cubs had the best run differential in the NL last year and got better on paper. I'm more worried about the Cardinals than the Brewers.

Short Version (HA! Unintentional) - "No, the Cubs making the playoffs isn't good enough"

Got it.

[Mikey]

Feb 13, 2009 16:37:22 GMT -5 Lucky said:

because Mat Gamel is tearing the cover up the ball and should be the starting 3B for the Brewers.

Fucking right. And he flew under the entire C&B radar.

[Pun]

Just going off the Brewers website:

Bill Hall, the front-runner to start at third base, underwent an MRI scan Friday morning in Phoenix and was diagnosed with a partial tear of his left calf muscle. He will be sidelined four to six weeks for rehabilitation and could be questionable for the Brewers' April 7 season opener.

[DevSop]

I think that's Lucky's point; while you consider that a negative to the Brewers, Lucky considers it a positive because it means Gamel could and should start the season. And since Gamel > Hall, that's a net plus for the Brewers.

Meanwhile, the Cubs have Aaron Heilman. Net minus. Like, times a trillion.

[Lucky]

Right. Gamel was on the fast track and was likely to show up in the majors this season. Hall was blocking him, but realistically no one things Hall is a good enough player to really block him. What Hall's injury does is give the Brewers good reason to look at Gamel during Spring Training and consider him starting at 3B opening day. In which case Hall is a complete non factor since the Brewers have one of the best hitting prospects in the game who makes Ryan Braun look "ok" starting at 3B. Maybe he sucks, maybe he doesn't, but its a way different situation than an injured Hall.

But that's something I can only speculate on in February but come late March we'll have a better idea of whether it might actually happen.

And yeah, Mike. As someone who has fallen in love the Brewer farm system I was very pissed to realize you had Gamel.

As Tommy said, the Brewers have a very nice young hitting core and they have Gamel and Escobar possibly on the way. I think that offense can keep them competitive in the NL even if the Brewers don't find anything beyond Gallardo. But I also don't think the Cubs are half as strong as you guys thing. 2008 Bradley seems more or less a replacement for 2008 DeRosa and Fontenot is probably worse than Fukudome offensively. So the offense seems like it made a lateral move if anything. That's with Lee giving us good reason to believe his power is forever gone to testing or injury, Soto possibly looking at a slight hangover from a great rookie season, and Bradley being a HORRIBLE bet to play 100 Gs. And the rotation has Harden the injury risk, Dempster a prime candidate to fall off, and Lily being Lily.

Now I'm not saying the Cubs are a bad team. I think they have the potential on paper to be very, very good. But like the Tigers last season I'll compare them to years of the Yankees. There are so many loose strings on that team that pulling a few of them could result in a mess. Maybe it won't, just like maybe Gamels and Escobar don't come up and hit like Fielder and Braun. But I'd be less surprised to see the Cubs finish in 2nd or 3rd than I was to see Pun pick them in 1st or if he thinks I'm a crazy hater for think Dempster might shit the bed.