The Rangers have a lot of ifs, but they might be decent. Their roster isn't much, if any worse than the M's. If Fielder can stay healthy and hit 30 HR's. If Choo and Andrus play at their normal level. If Holland and Darvish are healthy. If those things happen, they have a better team than the Mariners.
The Rangers are shells of what they used to be. Beltre and Fielder are nice ... although Beltre's aging a bit (so the decline that is talked about Cano applies as well for Beltre who is also older) and we really don't know how Fielder is going to respond to his neck surgery last year. Choo is about the only other offensive piece that I look at on their team and immediately think that he's above league average. Martin may end up being but he's average at best right now. Everybody else is some combination of young, unproven, or inconsistent.
Pitching wise, Darvish is obviously crazy talented but his inability to consistently pitch deep into games hurts their team IMO (can't underestimate how draining the summer months are for them - it's probably a 2-3 game difference in the standings). Holland's a solid #2. Gallardo is nothing special at this point in his career and I can't imagine that pitching in Texas is going to be helpful to him. I actually liked Colby Lewis before his injuries, but you can't have a guy in your rotation in the AL West penciled in to make 30 starts with an ERA of 5+ and win. And in all honesty, their pen isn't that good.
Vegas projects the Rangers for 77.5 wins in 2015 and I think that's a good number. They strike me as a just below .500 team with 85 wins probably being their high water mark. I think I'd take the Astros +3 in a H2H bet against the Rangers.
Pulling a @RoadDawg55 here, but looks like I had the Rangers mostly dialed in ...
Darvish clearly isn't going to pitch deep into games this year (hate to see injuries, but hardly surprising for a guy that racks up the pitch count and throws an insane amount of splitters that put crazy torque on the elbow).
In their first Spring Training game (and yes, I know that it's a Spring Training game), Colby Lewis gave up 6 runs in 1 inning of work while Gallardo gave up 4 runs in 1.2 IP.
Their pitching is going to be terrible. If you got on the under at 77.5, you were dialed in.
I'm sure that there will be a surprise or two, but I really do think that baseball is relatively defined going into the year this year moreso than it has been in recent years.
In the AL, I think the East is relatively wide open between Baltimore, Toronto, and Boston. Both the Yankees and Rays will be pretty bad. I don't think that either of the 3 teams that are going to contend for the division are that great - I think Baltimore was probably a little over their head this past year and will regress a bit (much like they did in 2013). The Central will be relatively wide open as I don't see a team in that division that will win 90 games but can see a path for all 5 teams to be .500 or better. I think this is the year that Detroit misses the playoffs. In the West, I'd be shocked if any team other than the Angels or Mariners made the playoffs.
In the NL, the Nationals would need to fall on their face to not win the East. The Marlins and Mets probably have a path to get to 85-90 wins. The Braves and Phillies are going to be horrible. The Cardinals and the Pirates are the class of the NL Central. The Cubs are probably a year away. Milwaukee and Cincy have the chance to outperform but could also blow up in a bad way. The Dodgers are obviously a favorite to make it to the playoffs but their slow starts could end up biting them at some point. The Padres are easily the most improved team in the game. The Giants lost a lot IMO and I'd be shocked if they got into the playoffs this year. DBacks and Rockies will both be bad.
The east is intriguing. You could make an argument for every team to be good or sub 500
Boston's offense is gonna be really good. Pedroia most likely bounces back, Ortiz, Napoli, and Hanley is a really good middle of the order. If they can get something from Castillo, Bogaerts, and Betts they have a shot to be as good an offense as the team that won the WS 2 years ago. On the other hand their pitching is really sketchy. Porcello is good but not an ace, probably a below average 2, Wade Miley was great 3 years ago, but struggled last year and now is moving to the AL. And then the bottom 3 is a total house of cards.
Toronto's middle of the order is the best in baseball. Martin, Encarnacion, Bautista, and Donaldson. On the other hand unless Saunders can give them a full season their bottom of the order could be the worst in baseball. And their starting pitching is pedestrian.
The Yankees still have talent. Tanaka, Pineda, Tex, Ellsbury, Gardner, McCann, Headley, Betances. They just have to stay healthy, which I doubt they will.
The orioles have who I believe to be the best manager in baseball and some pieces that if used correctly can succeed in a big way. Wieters is back, I don't expect 50 HR Davis, but he won't be as bad as he was last year, it sounds like Machado is healthy, Hardy is solid. Jones is great. Pearce, De Aza, and young if used properly can be successful. And the bullpen is great. I wouldn't count them out, but they needed a SP. Maybe Bundy can finally put it together, but I doubt it.
The rays are intriguing to me. I kind of like their pitching with Smyly, Odorizzi, Cobb, Archer and Moore (if healthy). And the offense has some nice pieces. But they are probably counting on too many young guys to be successful.
Boston is probably the best in that division.
I think the central will come down to the tigers, and the indians. The royals over preformed last year and did nothing except add a bunch of mediocre players this offseason. The twins suck. The white sox will be better but they still have a lot of holes (relying on John Danks and hector noesi as your opening day #4 and #5) and the bullpen despite the addition of Robertson is still a big question mark. Gun to my head I think the Indians win that division and the tigers get a WC.
I think the west is a 2 horse race between the mariners and angels, one will win the division and the other will get a wc. The Astros are still bad, the rangers need a lot to go right for them to be successful, and the A's outside of ike Davis have no power, and their pitching isn't great either.
In the NL I think the dodgers and nationals are near locks to win their respective divisions. It's highly likely the pirates and cardinals both get playoff spots. The only questions imo is who between those two teams wins the central and who gets the 2nd WC spot, might be the mets.
The Rangers have a lot of ifs, but they might be decent. Their roster isn't much, if any worse than the M's. If Fielder can stay healthy and hit 30 HR's. If Choo and Andrus play at their normal level. If Holland and Darvish are healthy. If those things happen, they have a better team than the Mariners.
The Rangers are shells of what they used to be. Beltre and Fielder are nice ... although Beltre's aging a bit (so the decline that is talked about Cano applies as well for Beltre who is also older) and we really don't know how Fielder is going to respond to his neck surgery last year. Choo is about the only other offensive piece that I look at on their team and immediately think that he's above league average. Martin may end up being but he's average at best right now. Everybody else is some combination of young, unproven, or inconsistent.
Pitching wise, Darvish is obviously crazy talented but his inability to consistently pitch deep into games hurts their team IMO (can't underestimate how draining the summer months are for them - it's probably a 2-3 game difference in the standings). Holland's a solid #2. Gallardo is nothing special at this point in his career and I can't imagine that pitching in Texas is going to be helpful to him. I actually liked Colby Lewis before his injuries, but you can't have a guy in your rotation in the AL West penciled in to make 30 starts with an ERA of 5+ and win. And in all honesty, their pen isn't that good.
Vegas projects the Rangers for 77.5 wins in 2015 and I think that's a good number. They strike me as a just below .500 team with 85 wins probably being their high water mark. I think I'd take the Astros +3 in a H2H bet against the Rangers.
Pulling a @RoadDawg55 here, but looks like I had the Rangers mostly dialed in ...
Darvish clearly isn't going to pitch deep into games this year (hate to see injuries, but hardly surprising for a guy that racks up the pitch count and throws an insane amount of splitters that put crazy torque on the elbow).
In their first Spring Training game (and yes, I know that it's a Spring Training game), Colby Lewis gave up 6 runs in 1 inning of work while Gallardo gave up 4 runs in 1.2 IP.
Their pitching is going to be terrible. If you got on the under at 77.5, you were dialed in.
It will be funny when Cruz starts slumping. The M's are going to be stuck with Cano and Cruz's contracts on the books for a long time. Cruz is 34 and is definitely has a good chance of regressing hard sooner than later. With Cano's case, they are going to be lighting $24 million on fire each year until 2024. Just wow.
It will be funny when Cruz starts slumping. The M's are going to be stuck with Cano and Cruz's contracts on the books for a long time. Cruz is 34 and is definitely has a good chance of regressing hard sooner than later. With Cano's case, they are going to be lighting $24 million on fire each year until 2024. Just wow.
Cano probably has a couple good seasons left in him. I don't think he's as bad as he's been this season. The power is gone though.
Cano not hitting is arguably the Mariners biggest problem after ownership and Jack Z. The rest of the line up is too shitty to make up for it.
It will be funny when Cruz starts slumping. The M's are going to be stuck with Cano and Cruz's contracts on the books for a long time. Cruz is 34 and is definitely has a good chance of regressing hard sooner than later. With Cano's case, they are going to be lighting $24 million on fire each year until 2024. Just wow.
Cano probably has a couple good seasons left in him. I don't think he's as bad as he's been this season. The power is gone though.
Cano not hitting is arguably the Mariners biggest problem after ownership and Jack Z. The rest of the line up is too shitty to make up for it.
Agree about ownership being the biggest problem, it could definitely be an ever bigger problem after this year. They increased spending by quite a bit this year because it was supposed to be a "special season". What if they decide to cut payroll next year to back under $100 million? They already have Felix/Cruz/Cano to worry about, and Seager's salary jumps from $4.5 million this year to $19 million a year by 2018. Most of the team's contracts expire after this season, so they could easily just sit on most of the money.
The Rangers have a lot of ifs, but they might be decent. Their roster isn't much, if any worse than the M's. If Fielder can stay healthy and hit 30 HR's. If Choo and Andrus play at their normal level. If Holland and Darvish are healthy. If those things happen, they have a better team than the Mariners.
The Rangers are shells of what they used to be. Beltre and Fielder are nice ... although Beltre's aging a bit (so the decline that is talked about Cano applies as well for Beltre who is also older) and we really don't know how Fielder is going to respond to his neck surgery last year. Choo is about the only other offensive piece that I look at on their team and immediately think that he's above league average. Martin may end up being but he's average at best right now. Everybody else is some combination of young, unproven, or inconsistent.
Pitching wise, Darvish is obviously crazy talented but his inability to consistently pitch deep into games hurts their team IMO (can't underestimate how draining the summer months are for them - it's probably a 2-3 game difference in the standings). Holland's a solid #2. Gallardo is nothing special at this point in his career and I can't imagine that pitching in Texas is going to be helpful to him. I actually liked Colby Lewis before his injuries, but you can't have a guy in your rotation in the AL West penciled in to make 30 starts with an ERA of 5+ and win. And in all honesty, their pen isn't that good.
Vegas projects the Rangers for 77.5 wins in 2015 and I think that's a good number. They strike me as a just below .500 team with 85 wins probably being their high water mark. I think I'd take the Astros +3 in a H2H bet against the Rangers.
Pulling a @RoadDawg55 here, but looks like I had the Rangers mostly dialed in ...
Darvish clearly isn't going to pitch deep into games this year (hate to see injuries, but hardly surprising for a guy that racks up the pitch count and throws an insane amount of splitters that put crazy torque on the elbow).
In their first Spring Training game (and yes, I know that it's a Spring Training game), Colby Lewis gave up 6 runs in 1 inning of work while Gallardo gave up 4 runs in 1.2 IP.
Their pitching is going to be terrible. If you got on the under at 77.5, you were dialed in.
#dialedinpart2
Are you really beating your chest about a 27-25 team with 110 games to go during the season?
The Rangers have a lot of ifs, but they might be decent. Their roster isn't much, if any worse than the M's. If Fielder can stay healthy and hit 30 HR's. If Choo and Andrus play at their normal level. If Holland and Darvish are healthy. If those things happen, they have a better team than the Mariners.
The Rangers are shells of what they used to be. Beltre and Fielder are nice ... although Beltre's aging a bit (so the decline that is talked about Cano applies as well for Beltre who is also older) and we really don't know how Fielder is going to respond to his neck surgery last year. Choo is about the only other offensive piece that I look at on their team and immediately think that he's above league average. Martin may end up being but he's average at best right now. Everybody else is some combination of young, unproven, or inconsistent.
Pitching wise, Darvish is obviously crazy talented but his inability to consistently pitch deep into games hurts their team IMO (can't underestimate how draining the summer months are for them - it's probably a 2-3 game difference in the standings). Holland's a solid #2. Gallardo is nothing special at this point in his career and I can't imagine that pitching in Texas is going to be helpful to him. I actually liked Colby Lewis before his injuries, but you can't have a guy in your rotation in the AL West penciled in to make 30 starts with an ERA of 5+ and win. And in all honesty, their pen isn't that good.
Vegas projects the Rangers for 77.5 wins in 2015 and I think that's a good number. They strike me as a just below .500 team with 85 wins probably being their high water mark. I think I'd take the Astros +3 in a H2H bet against the Rangers.
Pulling a @RoadDawg55 here, but looks like I had the Rangers mostly dialed in ...
Darvish clearly isn't going to pitch deep into games this year (hate to see injuries, but hardly surprising for a guy that racks up the pitch count and throws an insane amount of splitters that put crazy torque on the elbow).
In their first Spring Training game (and yes, I know that it's a Spring Training game), Colby Lewis gave up 6 runs in 1 inning of work while Gallardo gave up 4 runs in 1.2 IP.
Their pitching is going to be terrible. If you got on the under at 77.5, you were dialed in.
#dialedinpart2
Are you really beating your chest about a 27-25 team with 110 games to go during the season?
Says the guy who used spring training as his reasoning for why the Rangers suck. It could come back to haunt me. It is early. That said, the Rangers have a great line up if Hamilton produces. Gallo is interesting too. You were pretty steadfast in your belief that the Rangers suck and the Mariners were far superior. That hasn't been the case and if the Rangers are contending, Daniels will improve the team before the deadline.
Trumbo deal is interesting ... Castillo and Leone aren't much to give up ... question is who are the two prospects?
Guerrero is a pretty solid prospect, but he would obviously bust in Seattle because Mariners. Trumbo could be a decent power hitter in the lineup, he's a consistent 30 HR guy who was injured last year. 9 HR's in 40 games this year is pretty good.
I don't hate Nuno though, they just started Montgomery, rotation depth is a huge organizational need. I approve of that part of the deal. He'll be a better Mariner than Trumbo will.
Moving Castillo is weird, but I'm not going to bitch about losing the backup catcher. Leone only hurts since you've moved like five relievers in the past three months. He's not especially valuable. Rennheimer is Chris Taylor light, which is to say he sucks. Guerrero is the big name prospect here, and I'm sure he'll blow up now that he's been dealt, but he's always been highly overrated just because of his bloodlines. I like him but don't love him.
Overall we upgraded our starting pitching depth while downgrading our catching depth. And we acquired another Jack Z specialty immobile 1B who will be playing OF because Mariners in exchange for some bullpen and MI depth and a good but not great OF prospect.
Not a terrible deal, but one that says nothing but "we're desperate!"
I heard a stat that Zunino is hitting over .300 after days he has off and since he's still struggling to consistently hit MLB pitching, giving him a few more days off a month would help...unless the back-up is awful with the stick like Sucre.
Do you agree that Rickie Weeks is the most likely casualty?
What will be interesting to see is if Trumbo's addition will get us (I'm part of the team!!!!) more juice from the LF spot. Ackley has been terrible there bat-wise and Smith will be 33 in September and is just a spot starter at RF / LF other than DH'ing.
One other thing of note: The M's have hit RHP significantly better and Trumbo is RH....he still hits RH Pitching a lot better than Ackley though.
I don't hate Nuno though, they just started Montgomery, rotation depth is a huge organizational need. I approve of that part of the deal. He'll be a better Mariner than Trumbo will.
Moving Castillo is weird, but I'm not going to bitch about losing the backup catcher. Leone only hurts since you've moved like five relievers in the past three months. He's not especially valuable. Rennheimer is Chris Taylor light, which is to say he sucks. Guerrero is the big name prospect here, and I'm sure he'll blow up now that he's been dealt, but he's always been highly overrated just because of his bloodlines. I like him but don't love him.
Overall we upgraded our starting pitching depth while downgrading our catching depth. And we acquired another Jack Z specialty immobile 1B who will be playing OF because Mariners in exchange for some bullpen and MI depth and a good but not great OF prospect.
Not a terrible deal, but one that says nothing but "we're desperate!"
Nuno could become a solid #4 or #5 starter. I like that part of the trade. Trumbo is meh. Cruz is the first RH power hitter to do well playing at Safeco. Trumbo doesn't offer much at the plate other than power and he's a bad outfielder.
I don't think we gave up anything of tremendous value, but this article outlines why Trumbo doesn't really help.
Comments
Darvish clearly isn't going to pitch deep into games this year (hate to see injuries, but hardly surprising for a guy that racks up the pitch count and throws an insane amount of splitters that put crazy torque on the elbow).
In their first Spring Training game (and yes, I know that it's a Spring Training game), Colby Lewis gave up 6 runs in 1 inning of work while Gallardo gave up 4 runs in 1.2 IP.
Their pitching is going to be terrible. If you got on the under at 77.5, you were dialed in.
Cano not hitting is arguably the Mariners biggest problem after ownership and Jack Z. The rest of the line up is too shitty to make up for it.
I don't hate Nuno though, they just started Montgomery, rotation depth is a huge organizational need. I approve of that part of the deal. He'll be a better Mariner than Trumbo will.
Moving Castillo is weird, but I'm not going to bitch about losing the backup catcher. Leone only hurts since you've moved like five relievers in the past three months. He's not especially valuable. Rennheimer is Chris Taylor light, which is to say he sucks. Guerrero is the big name prospect here, and I'm sure he'll blow up now that he's been dealt, but he's always been highly overrated just because of his bloodlines. I like him but don't love him.
Overall we upgraded our starting pitching depth while downgrading our catching depth. And we acquired another Jack Z specialty immobile 1B who will be playing OF because Mariners in exchange for some bullpen and MI depth and a good but not great OF prospect.
Not a terrible deal, but one that says nothing but "we're desperate!"
Sucre is an awful hitter so I hope JZ finds someone better than him.
Do you agree that Rickie Weeks is the most likely casualty?
What will be interesting to see is if Trumbo's addition will get us (I'm part of the team!!!!) more juice from the LF spot. Ackley has been terrible there bat-wise and Smith will be 33 in September and is just a spot starter at RF / LF other than DH'ing.
One other thing of note: The M's have hit RHP significantly better and Trumbo is RH....he still hits RH Pitching a lot better than Ackley though.
I turned down a Diamond Club ticket today for $40. True story.
Come to think of it, what the fuck was I thinking? The buffet there is worth $40.
I don't think we gave up anything of tremendous value, but this article outlines why Trumbo doesn't really help.
http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/58920/mark-trumbo-doesnt-fix-mariners-problem