Comments on: Crazy Preseason Prediction #3

By: Shane

Shane — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 19:51:05 +0000

nice call on the rays

By: SEJ-3D

SEJ-3D — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 01:44:15 +0000

Some things random thoughts:

1.) Ron, what’s wrong with Royal Crown cola? Sure I haven’t had it in maybe 20 years, but I don’t remember it being that bad.
2.) As subjective as “CCG” is, I’m in the “J.D. Drew is not one” camp. And while as wishy-washy as it is, I would read it if Joe broke down each team. Could be fun and generate a discussion or eight.
3.) I need to remind myself to read this blog more often.

By: Jeff P.

Jeff P. — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 22:37:17 +0000

Also Vazquez went from NL to AL which blows the theory up.

By: gogiggs

gogiggs — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 20:36:43 +0000

Clemens, Johnson, Brown and Glavine were all 35+ when they came to New York (Johnson 41), so I don’t think you can really draw any conclusions there. On average pretty much any group of player with an average age of 38 is going to decline.

Hampton went from a 2.90 ERA to a 3.12, which is technically, I guess, a decline, but not an especially worrrisome one.

Which leaves us with Javier Vasquez which isn’t much on which to hang a theory.

By: Justin

Justin — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 16:50:04 +0000

Jo-hanna from Heaven

By: pizza in a cup

pizza in a cup — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 21:52:09 +0000

Johan Santana is much too short to dominate NL elite mashers such as Eddie Taubensee and Mark Whiten.

By: Jeff P.

Jeff P. — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 16:55:35 +0000

Pedro is also the only one on that list that went from the AL to the NL. And thats why people are predicting Santana to dominate. The Yankees are irrelevant in this conversation.

By: Ron

Ron — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 15:50:56 +0000

First off, I must admit I am a Redsox fan from Central Connecticut who grew up with obnoxious Yankee fans. (No Mets fans, being a Mets fan in Central CT is like being a fan of RC soda). With that said I think everyone needs to take a step back on Johan Santana this year. I would like to point out that recent history is against big name starters coming to NY, at least in the first season. I excluded anyone who started their career in NY (Lieter, Cone) and obvious poor choice signings (Weaver, Pavano, Wright) and came up with 7 guys since 98. Here they are with ERA the year before and then the first year in NY.
Clemens 2.65 -4.60
Johnson 2.60-3.79
K Brown 2.39-4.09
Vazquez 3.24-4.91
Glavine 2.96-4.52
Pedro 3.90-2.82
Hampton 2.90-3.14

Sure enough the one person who bucks my trend completely is Pedro, God love him. But for everyone who thinks Santana is going to take his game to another level, you might need to wait a year. I don’t know what the media attention is like in Minnesota, but I know it’s brutal in NY.

By: Ali Birchall

Ali Birchall — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 08:43:50 +0000

I don’t think the Rays are that flawed a club. They finished 8th in the AL last year in runs scored, but their pitching staff got absolutely shelled. Their moves this off-season, coupled with the development of their young pitchers, should help them rectify that problem to a certain extent.

Both their bullpen and defence were historically awful last year. Bartlett is a major upgrade over Josh Wilson and Brendan Harris. Getting Upton out of the infield helps on two fronts (he was a butcher at second and appears to be excellent in center). They have added Percival, Miller and a few other fungible arms to the pen.

Most importantly, I think a number of their starters are ready to take a big step forward. Sonnanstine, Howell, Jackson and Garza could all potentially take a big step forward in a similar way to James Shields this year. The Rays aren’t likely to be better than Toronto, but I think they will flirt with 80 wins.

By: Mack

Mack — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 00:49:29 +0000

That was meant to say NL West.