Post by Free Agent GM on Oct 31, 2008 23:46:47 GMT -5
Some might call the NL West the worst division in baseball. But others will dispute it saying that those sloppy 10-9 games in Coors Field sure are fun to watch. This is anyone's division and will come down to who gets hot and right now the hot team is the Rockies. It's hard to believe that a team could be leading a division with the pitching woes that they have had. Four of the starters have era's over 4.15, the closer has an era of 5.48 while the set up man is at 7.11. How do they win you ask? Offense and lots of it. Larry Walker is the main cog in the lineup. He is hitting .350 with 22 hr's and has scored 65. Not far behind him are Dave Justice(.339, 16hr), Jeffrey Hammonds(.300 13 hr), and Richie Sexon(21hr). The Rockies have some gaping holes on their team but the nuclease is there. Being in a weak division, that might be enough. I look for this team to be active as the trade deadline approaches. If they can get one stud pitcher they could reak havoc in a short series.
The focus always seems to be on the top teams, so to mix it up a bit let's take a look at a team that's doing....not so good. The Detroit Tigers currently have the worst record in the game, 12 games behind the second worst team. I'm not getting on the GM because in the first season your only as good as the team you inherit. I admire the uphill battle that they are taking on. Really the only offensive guys in their lineup are Juan Encarnacion and Tony Clark. Clark at 28 years of age with a .304 avg, 15hr, 45 rbi is in his walk year and should be a much talked about player at the deadline.
With the divisional leads starting to grow it's time to start paying attention to the Wild Card. In the NL the Pirates are holding a strong 4 game lead over the Braves. The Mets, Giants, D-backs, and Dodgers are all in sight, but most of those teams will have a better shot at the division. In the AL it's Seattle who are now 1 back of the Rangers in the division, but 2 up on Boston for the Wild Card. From there back it should be a dog fight. Minnesota, New York, Tampa Bay(surprise team?) and Anaheim are all in a good position here in mid June.
Now it's time to announce the All Star starters. Pittsburgh has been chosen to manage the NL team. Cincinnati will be asked to manage the AL team if he wants since no AL team wanted to. If he doesn't want to then I guess I will. Joe Randa and Carlos Beltran were both voted in to the AL after being traded to the NL. So while they are not listed below, they will be members of the NL squad. Congrats to all the All Stars.