[besson3c]

So, spring training is here... I know it's really early, but any interesting predictions, players to look out for, teams that you think are going to dominate this year?

I don't really follow the Phillies very closely, but they acquired my favorite pitcher, and the pitcher I consider the best in all of baseball on the most consistent basis year after year. I'm expecting him to absolutely decimate the NL after watching him decimate the Yankees, Red Sox, and Rays year after year on a team that gave him very lousy run support in the last several years.

I would be completely surprised if he remained healthy and didn't win 20 games. I wouldn't be surprised if he won more than 22. Cliff Lee is awesome too, but having Halladay on a team like the Phillies for the entire season is a big deal. Not only does he have the ability to dominate, but he also logs 209384092384 innings each year. He's the biggest innings eater and complete game guy in the game, expect some very quick innings from him and a shitload of ground ball outs, he's extremely efficient in his pitches.

It will be interesting to see what he can do on the Phillies! I'm also interested in seeing who dominates the AL West...

Any other interesting teams and things to look for?

[SpaceMonkey]

Prediction: the Mets will once again crush my spirits.

[ctt1wbw]

Go Braves!!!!

[Dork.]

Originally Posted by SpaceMonkey 

Prediction: the Mets will once again crush my spirits.

Not me, I have no spirit left to crush. My sig says it all, If a disguise was good enough for Bobby V it's good enough for me right now.
(That is still my sig, right? photobucket is blocked at work so I can't tell....)

It will be interesting to see what happens with Reyes. He's already been scratched from two Spring Training games. He's at the end of his contract, but the Mets hold a team option for 2011, so if he doesn't come back and become the same player they can let him go after this season. He was (and is) a rare talent, and if he doesn't live up to his potential I will place the blame squarely on Mets management for mishandling his injuries.

Remember when they moved him to 2nd base to make room for Kaz Matsui? I don't think things have gotten much better. Omar knows how to pull off big trades, but he and the rest of the Mets management can't manage the day-to-day affairs of the team without screwing up. besson3c would be a better team owner then Fred and Jeff Wilpon....

[CreepDogg]

It's been 5 years...we're due! Go White Sox!

I think they're in for a lot of 1-0 and 2-1 games...a great starting pitching staff, but they'll have to scrap for runs.

[SpaceMonkey]

Originally Posted by Dork. 

besson3c would be a better team owner then Fred and Jeff Wilpon....

That would make for some...interesting...game day promotions, at least.

What I've read of the spring training games so far make me cautiously optimistic about Reyes' performance. He ran out a triple in one of them, IIRC. From what I understand, the only hitch has been this business about an anomalous blood test that ended up being "nothing," although the Mets aren't saying what it was in the first place.

[songoku912]

Looking forward to a successful 2010 and title defense for the NY Yankees. I am interested to see what the team is going to do with the 4th and 5th spot in the rotation. Will miss Matsui though.

[besson3c]

Boo Yankees! I would love it for a low budget team like the Twins or Rays to dominate this year and for the Yankees and Red Sox to be on the outside looking in, but it is definitely not likely for the latter to happen.

[glideslope]

Yankees with 108 regular season wins.

[besson3c]

What's the attraction to the Yankees anyway? Them winning is what many people would expect, isn't it more fun to root for an underdog?

[Dork.]

The Yankees are, historically, the most successful franchise in a sport that prides itself on its history. They play in one of the country's largest media markets (if not the largest), and in spite of the fact that there has nearly always been another major-league franchise in the area (and there is another one rumored to be there right now! Must be the Cyclones), they have had the most success in this market.

There are, simply put, a lot of Yankee fans. And the folks in Terre Haute may have no problem rooting for underdogs, but the folks in Manhattan (who, you remember, got two US Presidents to bail out the large Manhattan-based banks so they could keep their bonuses) like to stack the deck so they win all the time.

(No offense intended to the folks in Terre Haute, of course, who I'm sure are nice, friendly people. Nor to the bankers in Manhattan, and the taxes they pay on their bonuses that are subsidizing my upstate lifestyle....)

[paul w]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

What's the attraction to the Yankees anyway? Them winning is what many people would expect, isn't it more fun to root for an underdog?

Well, they're the team I grew up rooting for. And also for most of my childhood they were at best mediocre and often just awful. But what and I supposed to do, switch teams because they've started winning, and investing their resources successfully?

If I grew up in Cleveland or Kansas City it'd be another thing. But people root for the hometown team.

[Captain Obvious]

Its too early to know. I want to see how the rosters line up for opening day before I make any long term predictions. But sh!t the Sox destroyed the cubs today. Its a nice sign.
I like this years pitching staff but we need one or two consistent hitters in the lineup if we want to take AL central.

[aberdeenwriter]

I hope the Nationals' pitching phenom, Stephen Strasburg, wins rookie of the year honors.

[MacinTommy]

I predict the Indians will take it all the way this year.

[abbaZaba]

Pirates over .500

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by aberdeenwriter 

I hope the Nationals' pitching phenom, Stephen Strasburg, wins rookie of the year honors.

Yeah, he's Baseball America's #2 prospect, IIRC.

[aberdeenwriter]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

Yeah, he's Baseball America's #2 prospect, IIRC.

Who is #1?

[SpaceMonkey]

Originally Posted by aberdeenwriter 

Who is #1?

Jason Heyward of the Braves.

[aberdeenwriter]

Originally Posted by SpaceMonkey 

Jason Heyward of the Braves.

Thank you.

That's a helpful table they have there.