Back From The Break, Five Things To Watch For

So the All-Star Break is coming to an end (after three long days) and i've finally mustered up the motivation to do some writing.

Thursday happens to be a light day (a soft launch if you will).....the only game being nationally televised is:

1-Dodgers vs. Cardinals MLB Network
Kershaw vs. Carpenter
Interest Level: 8

This is a pretty solid match-up to start off the second half and the beginning of things to come. First of all, there is the factor of this being a rematch of last years NLDS. Also, both teams come into this game with legitimate playoff hopes as the Dodgers are 2 games behind the Padres for the west and tied for the Rockies in the Wild Card race. The Cardinals are in decent contending position as well as they sit only 1 game back of the Reds in the Central.

Also, the pitching match-up is nothing to scoff at either. The Dodgers are starting Clayton Kershaw who in my opinion, is one of the under-rated young pitchers in the game. He barely turned 22 before the season started, he's capable of dominating at times, piling up high strikeout numbers (he leads the NL in SO/9) and has improved on his one weakness control (going from 4.8 BB/9 to 4 BB/9 from last year to this). In other words, once Kershaw gets his walk totals a little lower, he is bound to have his name in the discussion of young ace pitchers that has been dominated by Strasburg (despite the disadvantage of playing on the West Coast).

The Cardinals are countering with Chris Carpenter. While Carpenter obviously isn't as young as Kershaw, the last couple of years have proven he can still pitch. He nearly won the Cy Young last year and has followed it up with a strong 2010. This game also includes a conflict of interest element. Obviously, a Dodgers win over the Cardinals would help the Brewers increase their 1% chance of making the playoffs (albeit slightly) while a rough outing by Carpenter would hurt my fantasy team that is in the midst of a season high 3-game losing streak. Either way, expect this to be a close, low-scoring game


Other things that pique my interest:

2- How will the Brewers start the second half?

While the Brewers may have embarrassed themselves against the Giants, they still managed to sweep the Pirates last weekend giving them a 3 game winning streak and get themselves within single figures in the Games Back column. The Brewers have Dave Bush taking the hill. This may not guarantee victory (as indicated by a 4-6 record) but it at least means that more likely than not, the Brewers will at least have a chance to extend their winning streak to 4 as he held the opposing team to 3 ER or less in 14 of his 17 first-half starts.

3- How will the Gonzales/Escobar trade affect the Braves?

We will begin to find out starting with their game against the Brewers. Personally, i'm not sold on it being as positive of an impact as the Braves are hoping. Sure, Gonzales went on a tear in the first half and hit a bunch of homers. Personally, it's more he had an extended hot streak than Gonzales turning a corner (at 33 and with a .296 OBP). The Blue Jays were smart enough to sell high on Gonzales while the Blue Jays were able buy-low to pick up a younger, talented but struggling Yunel Escobar (who's younger (27) has a better OBP than Gonzales (.334...so he's getting on base more often in his worst year than Gonzales has in his best year) and he also happened to be 10th the NL in Wins Above Replacement last year while Gonzales has never had an OPS+ over 100 in a full season.

My take, i'm not convinced the Braves upgraded themselves going from Gonzales to Escobar and there is a fair possibility that they may regret this trade a few years down the line.

4- How long can R.A. Dickey keep this up?

If you would have told me on opening day that R.A. Dickey would have been the Mets best pitcher in the first half and asked me how many games out of first they would be, I would have said 20. However, R.A. Dickey has been a major factor in the Mets having a legit shot at the playoffs. In terms of the NL East race, a major factor for the Mets being a player will hinge on whether Dickey reverts to the journeyman pitcher he was through his age-34 year or if he's made a permanent breakthrough with the knuckle ball that will keep him effective into his 40s.
We'll begin to find out tomorrow as he goes up against Tim Lincecum and the San Francisco Giants.

5- Is this the 3rd straight year the AL Central gets decided in a one-game playoff?

The reason I ask this question is the Twins and White Sox get started in a crucial 4-game series coming up this weekend. In 08 it was White Sox over Twins, last year it was Twins over Tigers. Leads me to think about a couple of weird scenarios. Scenario #1 being that neither team wins it as it would be the Tigers turn to win the AL Central via a one-game playoff. Scenario #2 being an unprecedented 3-way tie that leads to a 3 team round-robin playoff. Considering that Coolstandings.com gives all 3 teams at least a 25% chance but none of them have a 50% chance to make the playoffs.

My prediction, with pitcher Jake Peavy out for the year, the White Sox eventually take the AL Central via the Ewing Theory.

Early Look At Sunday's TBS/ESPN games

Cubs vs. Brewers TBS

Interest Level: 10

Wells vs. Bush

The I-94 rivalry is a bitter/intense match-up regardless of time of season & the teams respective places in the standings. In this case, probably good in the name of being interesting since we're not out of April yet and both teams find themselves on the wrong side of .500.

The Brewers find themselves at 8-9 and thus far have unable to hold teams not called the Pittsburgh Pirates to less than 5 runs in a ballgame. Speaking of that series, epic.......anytime you can outscore a team 36-1 in a 3 game stretch (20-0 in one of those games). Things are going good. Unfortunately, reality has struck the last 2 days as thus far they have been outscored 13-2. Still, they sit in 2nd place a couple games behind St. Louis. The Brewers are starting Dave Bush today who has pitched very well in his first 3 starts and would be 3-0 if not for some shoddy bullpen work. Bush is very familiar with a many of the Cubs hitters as he's faced several of them at least 10 times. Fukudome and Soriano tend to hit him pretty well while Lee, Nady and Soriano have struggled against him.

The Cubs, while playing well this weekend, haven't played very well in 2010. They come into todays game at 8-10, 2 1/2 games back and with an opportunity to get into second in the NL Central. The Cubs are starting Randy Wells who has been a bright spot for the Cubs since coming over. Like Bush, Wells is a pitcher who started his career with the Blue Jays before ending up in the NL Central.

Braves vs. Mets ESPN

Hanson vs. Pelfrey

Interest Level:6

Another early season divisional battle. The Braves are in the midst of a 4-game losing streak that has taken them down to last in the NL East. They still have the talent to make a playoff run but things aren't exactly trending in the right direction currently. The Braves start their talented second year pitcher Tommy Hanson in this game. In his 3 starts so far, it appears that he has a shot to have a nice follow up to his rookie year. Also worth looking forward to is seeing what Jason Heyward will do next.

Ah, the New York Mets. The team that can't stay off the disabled list. Well, at least they haven't completely embarrassed themselves so far. Currently, the Mets are at 9-9 and tied for the Zombie Expos for third place. Mike Pelfrey takes the hill for the Mets in tonight's match-up. The sponsor of his baseball-reference page (Section 518) asks the question of is 2010 the year Mike Pelfrey realizes his potential. So, far the answer of that question seems to be yes as he's rocking a 3-0 record with a .86 era. If the Mets are going to stay in contention despite all of their health problems, they are probably going to need to get a breakout season from Mike Pelfrey.

A Retro-Active Diary Of My Razzball Team

Alright, a couple weeks ago I wrote a brief post about my Razzball team where the object of the game is to draft the worst team possible and listed who I drafted but didn't get into too much detail........until now. Today, one of my fellow league members dedicated a post to doing a blow-by-blow account of the team they drafted.

Well, this inspired me to do a blow-by-blow retroactive running diary of the trainwreck that I drafted.

Round 1: Jason Kendall

Being a Brewers fan, I was way too familiar with the sheer ineptitude that is Jason Kendall. It got to the point where any positive thing he did, no matter how insignificant (i.e. NOT hitting into an inning-ending double play, hitting the ball out of the infield) was seen as exceeding expectations. In the early rounds, I was improvising but all I knew was that I was taking Kendall if he was still available. Based on his probable .240 hitting with no power and that he somehow gets to start 130 games a year and he plays for a Royals team where he will probably drive in even less runs than he did in Milwaukee, there is no way this pick can go wrong

Round 2: Bobby Crosby

After getting Kendall, my next thought was to get First Base covered as Razzball-worthy hitters become catchers and middle infielders, not first basemen. Why Crosby? Plays for a terrible team? Pirates, check. Versatility at positions associated with offense? First Base/Third Base, check. Sub-.700 OPS/Sub-.240 Average/no more than 9 homers the last four years? Check.

Round 3: Brendan Harris

Got another corner infield player on accident. I was looking towards drafting some good old fashioned middle infield ineptitude here...I was trying to avoid drafting players from teams that are generally pretty smart (Twins) but anytime you can snag some Sub .700 OPS corner infield eligibility, you have to go for it.

Round 4: Gary Matthews Jr.

Matthews Jr. has answered the ultimate question of how you can catapult one above-average season and one You Tube worthy catch into making $10 million a year and making Jeff Suppan's contract look like a wise investment......even though the Mets weren't the ones that signed the contract (this one is on L.A. of Anaheim of California of America of Earth of Milky Way) it doesn't seem surprising that a player of this caliber ended up on the Mets.

Round 5: Fausto Carmona

After going with hitters in the first four rounds, I noticed that more pitchers were coming off the board around this time and started scrambling around to get my own piece of this pitching ineptitude. And what did I come back with? A pitcher whose WHIP has skyrocketed the last two years (1.76) if i'm lucky maybe he can break the 2 WHIP barrier. 70 Walks in 125 innings, 16 homers and an ERA north of 6. The icing on the cake? Carmona is projected to be the Indians #2 starter, making it unlikely that Carmona will lose said job because of his high ineptitude.

Round 6: Bill Hall

Not sure how many ABs i'll get out of Hall but my experience as a Brewers fan tells me that he's gotten progressively worse since his career year (pretty much the hitting equivalent of Fausto Carmona), the dude swings at just about everything regardless of how close the ball is to the strike zone and assuming he gets playing time, should be a valuable source of strikeouts.

Round 7: Oliver Perez

Got myself two pitchers in a three round period that have seen their WHIP skyrocket in the last few years. An ERA that looks primed to break the 7-barrier, a WHIP that is at 1.9.....oh so close to the 2 WHIP barrier and pitching for a Mets team where he shouldn't lose his job as long as he stays healthy.

Round 8: Willy Taveras

A player who has a chance to be a star.....if they ever make it legal to steal first.

Around this time I noticed a lot of the players I was drafting or was looking to draft either play or at one time played for one of four teams (Royals, Team Formerly Known As The Expos, Pirates and Mets). Around the 7th or 8th round, I shifted to a strategy to draft only players from those four teams unless I stumbled across from a player that was such a trainwreck that I couldn't resist. I would have mentioned this earlier but i'm partially distracted by the multi-OT epic that Xavier and K-State are putting on.

Round 9: Chris Jakubauskas

Had to double-check the draft page to make sure I spelt his name correctly. Don't know too much about him but considering the Pirates deemed him worthy, he should be a good source of losses. A high risk of wasted non-talent here as it looks doubtful that he will break camp with the Pirates.

Round 10: Nelson Figueroa

Time to stock up on some inept middle reliever with a slight chance of starting. He made 10 starts last year and logically could back his way into the rotation if the Mets rotation has injury issues (a matter of when not if). Anytime I can benefit off of the ineptitude of someone who pitched 30 games in the same year that the Brewers hit rock bottom and lost 106 times, there's no way I could pass it up.

Round 11: Yuniesky Betancourt

When in doubt, see who the Royals have available. If they have a .689 career OPS a career sub .300 OPS and on a team hopeless enough that that won't necessarily be a deterrent to starting. Now just as long as those 24-run Royals game only happen in spring training, I should be good.

Round 12: Craig Stammen

Young pitcher with an ERA slightly north of 5. A little concerned about his WHIP only being 1.29 and only walking 24 in 105 innings but c'mon he pitches for the Nationals. Their best pitchers are John Lannan and Jason Marquis, how good can he be?

Round 13: Mike Jacobs

On his second stint on the Mets......played a season for the Royals (which was an epic fail) he strikes out about once every four at bats, hits for a low average and comes to Citi Field.....if it can suppress the power of players that are actually good (David Wright), I can't wait to see what this stadium does to Jacobs' numbers

Round 14: Cristian Guzman

Only in a fantasy league like this, you have to worry about your starters losing time due to incompetency. .....I was feeling better about this pick until seeing that he lost his job to Ian Desmond.....fits the profile of someone that the Mets will trade for.....just a hunch

Round 15: Jeff Karstens

Had a near 1.5 WHIP and a 5+ ERA in '09.......he was so valuable in the Razzball world that he got shipped to minor league camp

Round 16: Jeff Francoeur

Banking on him NOT hitting .311 for the Mets again. Banking on pitchers realizing that he will swing at just about anything, banking on an excellent source of strikeouts.

Round 17: Tim Redding

Another player I was excited about until he got sent to the minors today.

Round 18: Mitch Maier

On the bright side, at least I ain't losing him to the minors. On the not so bright side, he's been tearing it up in the spring and his manager is lauding him for developing really quick this spring. On the bright side, talent evaluation isn't amongst the Royals strengths.

Round 19: Evan Meek

Looking at the numbers, didn't pitch that bad last year.....picked him more to a lack of familiarity and the PIT indicating he pitches for the Pirates next to his name.....if he keeps up his 8 to 1 K To Walk ratio he has this spring, he probably won't be long for this team....however, if he maintains his 5.79 ERA, Meek will be a most valuable asset.

Round 20: Ryan Church

Drafted a few rounds below the player (Francoeur) that he got traded for last summer. I actually wrote a post arguing that the Braves got the better of the deal for getting Church. Here's to both players not playing well this year.

Round 21: Jordan Zimmermann

A case of not doing my homework, getting lured by the fact that he plays for the Nationals and not realizing that he's on the 60-Day DL....oh well.

Round 22: Alex Cora

Mets utility fielder.....fine for opening day........658 career OPS.........welcome to Razzball Mr. Cora.

Round 23: Fernando Tatis

Mediocrity+multi-position eligibility+ Round 23= Jackpot

Round 24: Rod Barajas

Pro: Mediocre Batting Average

Con: He has 20 homer power

Pro: He's playing in citi field that has sapped the power of better, more talented players

Round 25: Colin Balester

5.87 ERA in 22 career starts....now if only he can crack the rotation

Round 26: Nick Punto

Protypical dime a dozen light hitting middle infielder

Round 27: Daniel Cabrera

Another player that is too valuable in the Razzball world to make a major league team....I am holding out hope that someone will give him a few starts this year. He drew 42 walks in 51 innings and showed himself perfectly capable of rocking a 2+ WHIP.

Well that in a nutshell is how I constructed the worst Fantasy baseball team that I could construct. I just have to wait a few more days to see how this goes down.

NL East Preview Part II

Our standings after the first half:

Phillies 17

Braves 22

Nationals 25

Marlins 27

Mets 29

Starting Rotation:

Phillies-4

Braves-8

Marlins-12

Mets-16

Nationals-20

The Phillies by far are best off in the rotation. Halladay ends up in Philly (finally) and it would be shock if he isn't one of the top 5 pitchers in the league. While Hamels didn't exactly light the world on fire in 2009 which was aided more by a high BABIP against and not on him suddenly turning into a mediocre pitcher. Blanton is your protypical mid-rotation pitcher...no better no worse. There's absolutely no way J.A. Happ replicates his breakthrough year but at the same time he's a better #4 option than anyone else has.

The Braves may be weak in the star-power at the top of the rotation but make up for it with depth. There's no way Lowe struggles as much this year as last, Hanson and Jurrjens are likely to come down a little bit from strong 2009 seasons but that doesn't change the fact that both of them are legit pitchers. Hudson pitched well after coming back from injury but 42 innings is too early to tell whether he can stay healthy and whether he can return to his dominant form.

Josh Johnson may not be a household name like Halladay or Santana but if 2009 is any indication, he could be within the discussion for best pitcher in the NL East this year. Nolasco should bounce back after struggles connected more to bad luck than being a bad pitcher. Volstad should hold his own as a #3 but beyond that don't expect much from the Marlins rotation.

For the Mets, its Santana and.....not much else. Maine and Pelfrey are pretty mediocre pitchers, Oliver Perez is an asset to Razzball and anyone that's a fan of pitchers who think the strike zone is a foreign concept.

The Nationals have John Lannan and Jason Marquis as their top two starters......and it gets worse from there......ouch

Bullpen

Mets-4

Braves-8

Phillies-12

Nationals-16

Marlins-20

Not too crazy about what any of these teams have with the game on the line. The Mets do have K-Rod.....while he does make lots of money and racks up lots of saves....i'm not quite sold on him as being elite.....but he has been relatively healthy (Unlike Wagner) and has never racked up blown saves and 7-plus ERAs like they were going out of style (Brad Lidge....cough....cough) so the Mets get this one by default.

Final Rankings

Phillies-33

Braves-38

Mets-49

Marlins-59

Nations-61

No surprises with the top two, no surprise that the Mets are nowhere near the top, not surprising the Nationals are at the bottom....the only difference between conventional thought and the final rankings is how low the Marlins are ranked.

NL East Preview Part I

Last but not least, the NL East:

Catcher:

Brian McCann-1

Carlos Ruiz-2

John Baker-3

Ivan Rodriguez-4

Rod Barajas-5

McCann wins this.....by a lot. The only catcher that you could definitely say is better than McCann is Joe Mauer. Since Joe Mauer plays in the AL Central, McCann is the #1 catcher in both the NL East and on Chedderhead. After McCann, it's the lesser of four evils....Ruiz has some decent upside but if he hasn't broken out already at 31 that's sort of a red light. I-Rod has had a great career and if we were talking about overall bodies of work he would be number 1 but he has seen better days. I could see Rod Barajas working out as a good signing, if he was a left handed hitter playing at Yankee Stadium. However, he ended up on a team that plays their home games at a stadium that suppresses his one strength (hitting home runs) which may explain how he ended up on my Razzball team.

First Base

1-Ryan Howard

2-Adam Dunn

3-Daniel Murphy

4-Troy Glaus

5-Gaby Sanchez

Howard continued to establish himself as one of the elite hitters in the game in 2009. I see no reason why this won't continue into the new decade. Adam Dunn has been and continues to be the Mr. 3TO.......Drawing Walks, Hitting Homers, Striking Out....Dunn has his game down to the basics. On name recognition, Glaus would get the nod over Murphy but a) it's tough to tell whether he will stay healthy all year and b) even if he is healthy, it's unclear whether he will return to form

Second Base

1-Chase Utley

2-Dan Uggla

3-Martin Prado

4-Adam Kennedy

5-Luis Castillo

Another position, another Phillies player amongst the elite of the game. Uggla has established himself as Adam-Dunn lite. Hits for a very pedestrian average, hits plenty of homers (30-ish but not as much as Dunn) he is drawing walks at an increased rate (14% vs. 18% for Dunn) but then again the power standards for second basemen is lower than for first baseman.

Shortstop

1-Hanley Ramirez

2-Jimmy Rollins

3-Yunel Escobar

4-Jose Reyes

5-Ian Desmond

One word.....LOADED. Han-Ram gives you 30-30 potential in any given year and makes a strong case for the best shortstop in the bigs (he even got drafted 1st overall in the league that Cheddarhead plays in). Yes, Jimmy Rollins had a rough season, it still seems odd that he won an MVP and doesn't draw very many walks. However, his struggles look to be linked to low BABIP and he should bounce-back strong in 2010. Escobar is a young talented player and will likely overtake Rollins as a player within a few years, I just don't think it happens this year. Jose Reyes is talented enough to be higher but with the injury problems he is facing/will inevitably face all year and the fact that the Mets fall back plan is Alex Cora, I can't really justify ranking him higher.

Third Base

1-Ryan Zimmerman

2-David Wright

3-Chipper Jones

4-Jorge Cantu

5-Placido Polanco

Seems to be a trend in the NL East where the best player by position is the best by a lot not a little. When that player happens to be the starting third baseman for Chedderhead, even better. Tough to tell what to expect out of David Wright in '10. He's still reliable to hit for a good average but whether his power remains at 2009 levels or returns to historical norms remains to be seen. His hr/fb% dropped last year which also coincided with moving to Citi Field. Too early to tell whether his power drop resulted just bad luck or the stadium. Regardless, this area of doubt is enough to drop him well behind Zimmerman but above Jones whose name recognition has overtaken production, Cantu who had one really good season and many indicators showing that his 2008 level of production is unlikely to replicate himself

Left Field

1-Josh Willingham

2-Raul Ibanez

3-Jason Bay

4-Matt Diaz

5-Chris Coghlan

An overall uninspiring group. I will always associate Josh Willingham as the guy who hit grand slams in consecutive innings off Jeff Suppan (making him single-handedly responsibility for my least favorite Brewers moment of the year). Given a chance to start he has a decent chance to go yard 30-35 times. Ibanez had a nice 2009....his home run totals were inflated by an abnormally high hr/fb ratio and had nothing to do with the weak steroid speculation or the bloggers that Ibanez thinks all live in their mothers basement. Jason Bay is a free agent bust waiting to happen. A combination of decreasing contact percentage (he dropped from 76% to 69% last year......only 3% away from becoming a Bill Hall All-Star) and moving to Citi Field where power goes to die.....a pretty good chance this goes down as another bad Mets contract before all is said and done.....also a generous ranking at 3rd....Also not sold on Coghlan replicating his Rookie of the Year Season.

Center Field

1-Nate McLouth

2-Carlos Beltran

3-Shane Victorino

4-Nyjer Morgan

5-Cameron Maybin

Another less than inspiring crop. McLouth is a decent player but definitely not a superstar. On talent and name-brand recognition Beltran should win this hands down but I have little to no faith in his ability to stay healthy. Victorino (like Bay) is a player i've never been too high on (being the same guy that hit a grand slam off C.C. Sabathia in the 2008 NLDS that made it official that the Brewers playoff appearance was only going to be a cameo don't help either) but get's the #3 spot by default. Not sold on Morgan replicating his strong 2009 season and not sold on Maybin.

Right Field

1-Jayson Werth

2-Cody Ross

3-Melky Cabrera

4-Elijah Dukes

5-Jeff Francoeur

Lost in all the Phillies firepower from players like Ibanez, Howard and Utley the fact that Werth hit 36 homers got lost in the mix. He comes back this year with an epic beard, a contract to play for and secondary numbers that indicate his power spike is legit....could he be dark horse MVP candidate.....not as crazy as it sounds. Cody Ross seems like a slighty improved version of Mike Cameron (at least as a hitter) slighty better average .260 range and 25 homers......but nothing that stands out....(well unless Ross hits 4 of said homers in a game or ever plays drunk and tells the media about it). Speaking of Mike Cameron, the player he almost (and thankfully) didn't get traded straight up for in the winter of 2008-2009 Cabrera gets the #3 spot mostly due to his competition being Dukes who seems determined to not live up to his talent and one of the members of my Razzball team, Jeff Francoeur.

Standings after Part I:

Phillies 17

Braves 22

Nationals 25

Marlins 27

Mets 29

Rod Barajas only getting a big-league deal with the Mets: Smart Move or the Mets being the Mets?

So, the Mets signed Rod Barajas to a one-year deal today. The Mets were also the only team to offer him a big-league deal. The Mets are also not known for being the smartest team in baseball.

The first question to ask is would Barajas be an upgrade versus the pre-existing options at Catcher.

As it stands, the Mets have options at Catcher just not very good ones.

Option 1: Henry Blanco

Probably the slowest running baseball player I have ever seen. His best-hitting performance which came last year still had him hitting slightly below league average. Generally limited to about 200 At-Bats a year...definitely a player I have never been high on.

Option 2: Chris Coste

Known more for not getting called up until he was 33 and writing a book about it. He hit fairly well in his time in Philly but his time in Houston was a pretty epic fail. Looking at the trusty forecaster, his home run totals should rebound to the 9-ish range but his drop in contract rate is a red light.

Option 3: Omir Santos

Looks to be the most likely option to start. Another player who didn't get to the bigs until fairly late (27) . Had a pretty mediocre season in his first extended shot with the Mets last year. Considering he's already pushing 30, it's safe to say any improvement offensively is going to be limited and if Shandler's forecaster proves right, the previous prediction sounds highly optimistic.

Option 4: Josh Thole

The youngest and most promising out of the bunch. Held his own in a September call-up but it's difficult to prove much over 57 plate appearances. Hits for a decent average but power and defense aren't amongst his strengths.

Looking at the other options, it looks like the Mets are going to be pretty weak behind the plate (unless Thole has a massive breakthrough this spring).....at first blush it looks like Barajas deserves at least a shot.....now time to actually look at Barajas:

Option 5: Rod Barajas

Historically, Barajas has been the polar opposite of Thole as he's historically hit for a terrible average but is a solid source of power. His average will rebound a bit as he had a low .234 BABIP

but expecting him to save the Mets is an expectation nobody has (as reflected by the modest 1-million dollar deal). Despite his pop, he has never had an OPS+ above 100 (something he shares with Henry Blanco).

Still, this is a case of the Mets being the Mets. While Barajas could help a decent amount of major league teams, the Mets aren't the best fit. The one strength of Barajas' hitting (home runs) is likely to be obscured by playing half his games in Citi Field where home runs seem to be suppressed. Pretty much, the Mets aren't better or worse off regardless of whether Blanco or Barajas is the back-up getting 200 plate appearances a year.

The Vent: 12-3 Edition

Things in the Sports World that confuse me , annoy me and/or make me scratch my head:

5-Henry Blanco Gets Another Year In The Bigs

One of the certainties of baseball, if your a back-up catcher, you get to play for as long as you want, even if you aren't a high-enough caliber player to start. Blanco is a player who does one thing well (throw out base-stealers) but seeing him play into his late 30's reminds me of the time on Family Guy where Chris Griffin yells out loud "how does Kevin Costner keep finding work?"

At some point every year, i'll be watching a game that Blanco is playing in and my mental gut reaction is: This guy is still playing in the bigs?. While he has value on the defensive end of thing, he doesn't bring much to the line offensively with a career line of .228/.292/.366 67 OPS+. On the bright side his bat should fit in well with the rest of the Mets offense.

4- Marco Scutaro, high demand free agent?

Another thing i've noticed this winter is that several teams have expressed interest in Marco Scutaro. I'm calling it right now, some team is going to horribly over pay for him and regret it for the next 3-4 years. While he is a smarter investment than Blanco and is good enough to get a starting job somewhere, he doesn't strike me as a player worth this high of a demand.

Yes he did have his best season offensively (at age 33). Based on his track record, it seems likely that he will regress to the slightly-below league average hitter he was in every season prior to '09. Any player generating this interest and having Tony Graffanino rank second in career similarity scores seems like a recipe for disaster.

Also, part of his improved output can be traced to being a bit luckier as his BABIP last year was .308 which is higher than his .293 career BABIP...this is another reason why teams should not be lining up around the corner to sign him....

3- Alcorn State....beyond bad

Alcorn State.....98-31....sure these money games against big schools are going to end in lopsided losses but....this makes their 130-68 loss to Arkansas look respectable in comparison......not even the New Jersey Nets have been this terrible.....but like the Nets they have a legitimate chance of not winning a game all season

2- Running Backs Dropping Like Flies

My fantasy team's inability to stay healthy at Running Back....Turner, Portis/Betts........possible downfall to my season

1-Bucks 1-5 in the last two weeks

It's not like the Bucks have a high past standard to play up to. It was inevitable the Bucks would struggle at some point and Jennings was going to experience some growing pains.....still doesn't make it a desirable thing to see. My concern lies more with this teams inability to close out close games than anything else. Jennings will eventually adjust to the league but this teams failing to capitalize on winnable games against Dallas, New Orleans, Washington and Orlando gives me the gut feeling this will be the root of their eventual demise (whenever that may be)

Top 10 Sports Cities---Not Top 10 Aspects

Recently, Forbes Magazine wrote an article with their top-10 list of hottest sports cities.

Well, I decided to twist things around a little bit and give a sarcastic take on some of these top cities not top 10 sports elements/moments/whatever comes to mind/etc.

# 10 San Diego

Out of the cities listed on here this one surprised me the most. The Chargers sleepwalk through a month hoping to squeak into the playoffs (works better when everyone else is .500 or worse) and they have the Padres (beyond Adrian Gonzales and Heath Bell....nothing special there)........losing 85+ games a year and David Eckstein......so not top 10

# 9 Chicago

I admit i'm biased on this one as many of my least favorite teams play in Chicago. I'd go with 101 years of no World Series titles but deflecting the blame on billy goats and scapegoating a die-hard fans who instinctively reach for foul balls.

# 8 Indianapolis

Nothing against Peyton Manning personally but he's in way too many TV Commercials but its all good as long as he keeps my fantasy team competitive

# 7 Detroit

Tigers inability to hold a 3-game lead with 4 games left......The Matt Millen Era.........Making 0-16 a reality.......its all good because the Lions being in the NFC North gives the Packers a couple easy wins per season

# 6 Pittsburgh

Its crazy to think that despite being 26 years old, the Pirates haven't had a winning season since I was in 4th grade.

# 5 Dallas

Tony Romo, The Cowboys in General, The irony of spending boatloads of cash on a stadium but placing the scoreboard so low that punted footballs hit it on a regular basis......

#4 Philadelphia

Booing Santa Claus....seriously Santa Claus.......can't hate on Philly sports too much since Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia did an episode where the gang tries out for the Eagles....it was funny

# 3 New York

The Mets opening their new stadium with a thud....The fact that the Yankees are one win away from sucessfully completing their purchase of the AL Championship......The Knicks.......Letting Isiah Thomas be a GM

# 2 Los Angeles

LA........Number 2? They'll support teams....if its cool. The Clippers playing to half-empty arenas. Dodger fans arriving in the 3rd, leaving in the 7th. This brings me back to a couple weeks ago: I was watching Game 2 of the NLDS the Franklin/Holliday game....it was the bottom of the 9th inning they showed the stadium attendees... the first thing that comes to my mind is i've never seen Dodger Stadium that full ever (let alone that late in the game)

# 1 Boston

I was going to mention the Titans play against New England on Sunday....but that doesn't apply to the criteria for the posting.

One thing thats sort of bugs me is why does Boston College call itself Boston College? This would imply that the campus is in Boston....but according to the all-knowing Wikipedia its in Chestnut Hill........is there a reason they went the BC method for naming?

Weekend Baseball Preview: As Much As I Like the NFL, Baseball Still Comes First

Well, we're another weekend closer to the playoffs.....yet there is more baseball yet to be played...some of it relevant....some of it not so much. As always, games are rated on a scale from 1-5....with that, let the games begin.

Mets vs. Phillies -Saturday FOX/Sunday ESPN =2

Saturday [Pelfrey vs. Happ]

Sunday [Redding vs. Martinez]

Well these two teams are heading in opposite directions. It's tough to tell what's been more disapointing this season for the Mets, their team or their new stadium. The Phillies look to be headed to the playoffs for the third straight season. They have a solid chance to win the title for the second straight year (although I have a gut feeling that Brad Lidge will pitch the Phils out of it at some point)

Saturday the Mets start Mike Pelfrey who has had an uninspring season. He goes up against J.A. Happ who is having an excellent season and looks to be a star in this league for years to come. It is definitely easy to see why the Phillies would not give him up (even for Roy Halladay)

On Sunday the Mets start Tim Redding (who's somehow made 13 starts this year....seriously he's still pitching in the bigs?)....the Phillies counter with ex-Met Pedro Martinez who has pitched solid since coming back from injury.

White Sox vs. Angels- Saturday FOX

(Danks vs. Santana)= 2.5

White Sox management seems to have thrown in the towel by trading Jim Thome, but they have shown a strong ability to play well against teams fighting for a post-season spot as evidenced by them taking 3 of 4 from Boston last weekend. The Angels have a 4 1/2 game lead over Texas in the west and seem headed towards another post-season appearance.

The White Sox are starting John Danks who has had a solid season. Even though the White Sox are the weaker team, anytime Danks starts the White Sox have a chance to beat superior competition. The Angels start Ervin Santana who has followed up a strong 2008 by having a horrible season. Even though the Angels are the better team, the White Sox definitely have the upper hand for at least Saturday.

Braves vs. Cardinals =3

(Hudson vs. Lohse)

The Braves are fighting for their NL East and Wild Card lives while the Cardinals are cruising with a large lead over the joke that is the rest of the NL Central.

The Braves start Tim Hudson who is making his 3rd start of the season. Hudson's return bolsters an already strong Braves rotation....unfortunately for the Braves, it seems to be too little too late. The Cardinals counter with Kyle Lohse who is doing what Kyle Lohse has always done....eat innings at the back of the rotation and making sure the 4/5 spot is in decent shape.

Dodgers vs. Giants---Saturday MLB Network/Sunday TBS

(Padilla vs. Sanchez)

(Billingsley vs. Penny)

The Dodgers are struggling at the wrong time of the season and have seen their once insurmountable NL West lead sink to 2 1/2 games. The Giants have also picked a bad time to struggle and are quickly fading behind the Rockies for the Wild Card lead.

Saturday, the Dodgers start Vicente Padilla who has actually pitched well since being cut by the Rangers. The Giants counter with Sanchez who has pitched well in the second-half and is coming off a strong no-decision versus Milwaukee last weekend.

Sunday, the Dodgers start Billingsley who has quietly had a solid season (even though he leads the NL with wild pitches), the Giants start Brad Penny who pitched terrible in Boston, but has pitched like a star in his first two Giants starts. Come to think about, a lot of AL pitchers have gotten cut for being terrible only to factor in NL teams playoff hopes.....even Vicente Padilla.....point being the Giants need Penny to continue his hot streak to keep the Giants postseason hopes alive.

Top 100 Lists/Sports Crossovers: Totalfilm.com

Alright, so i'm chillin watching Terminator 2:Judgement Day [the best of the Terminator movies] on Bravo and was looking at the Wikipedia page for the movie. While doing this I stumbled across a 100 Greatest Movies of all Time from totalfilm.com, released in 2006.

With this in mind, I decided to see if I could use the titles of some of these films and connect them to the sports world, and the results are as follows.

1-Star Wars Episode V-The Empire Strikes Back----Yankees

Or you could go with Baseball Wars episode 161---the Yankees strike back. Even though my Brewers don't play in the AL anymore and haven't played in the same division as the Yankees since 1993....the Yankees have always been one of those teams I've loathed and seen as the bad guys. Their strategy is outspend everyone else and leave the little guys in the dust. In 2008, they fell to third in the AL East behind a surprising Rays team and their long-time rivals, the Red Sox. Well, what did they do. They struck back by throwing bags of cash at CC Sabathia and Mark Teixiera and going into September they have the best fantasy team that money can buy in first place. Well it sucks now, but it will make it all the more amusing when they inevitably stumble in the playoffs

14- Raiders of the Lost Arc----Oakland Raiders

Or you could go with Raiders of the lost mind, decade, etc...........

The Raiders have definitely become the punch-line of the NFL. Since their Super Bowl loss to Tampa, everything this team has done has been terrible. Whether it was losing games by the bunch....throwing money at the wrong players....letting Art Shell coach them (again).....how they handled the Lane Kiffin situation....hiring Tom Cable (whose prior coaching experience was going 11-35 for the University of Idaho)...to Cable punching one of his assistant coaches and fracturing his jaw.......Classy.........

24-Die Hard----- Texas Rangers

This is a team that has refused to fade away. When the Rangers started strong due to their improved pitching, it seemed a given their pitching staff would regress as they had for much of the past decade. However, this is a team that has kept with i, kept pitching well (seriously pitching coach Mike Maddux is a genius.....even Derrick Turnbow had a year-long flash of brilliance under his watch) and as we go into labor-day are only 2 games out of the wild card position.

33-T-2: Judgement Day-----Dodgers

In 1991 and 2009 Movies in the Terminator series were released. In 1991 the Dodgers lead the NL West by as many as 6 games and spent 135 days in first place only to lose the division. This year, the Dodgers have spend 147 days in first place, had a once insurmountable lead of 9 1/2 games but surges by the Giants and Rockies have made the Dodgers not winning the NL West not as certain as previously thought. Does history repeat itself and complete this parallel Terminator movie/Dodgers baseball rant? Or do they hold on and make me look like an idiot? Check back in about a month.

46-The Good, The Bad And The Ugly-----Phillies, Royals, Mets

Teams I pulled off the top of my heads. The Phillies are a good team headed into the playoffs, the Royals are a bad team (more about them at the bottom of this post) and the Mets are an ugly team in an ugly new stadium.

60-The Silence of the Lambs--Mets/Mike Lamb

So, Mike Lamb had 11 uninspiring plate appearances for the Brewers towards the end of 2008. It struck me that I hadn't heard anything about him since. Did he go into coaching? Did he leave baseball? Nope.....apparently Lamb's bat has been silenced to the point that even with their whole team injured, he wasn't good enough to even play for the Mets (he's played 118 games for their Triple-A, and having an awesome .666 OPS. Still, he is one of only five players with the last name Lamb to appear in the bigs, so he can hang his head up high on that (cause trying to do that with the 63 OPS+ he had in the bigs last year is probably a bad idea)

65- The Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl--Pirates

Or Pirates of the NL Central--The Curse of the fire sale. I know I jumped on them a while back with their fire sale but seriously.....they play in the NL Central but they're so inept I can't muster enough strength to hate them.....for the good of baseball.....at least try to act like your trying to field a competitive team.

71-Rocky-Rockies

Rocky a rags to riches story of a fighter in Philly. The Rockies were pretty much afterthoughts (the rags of baseball) for a couple months. Hire Jim Tracy who is on his third (possibly last chance) as a baseball manager.....the win a lot of games and have a chance to compete amongst the riches of baseball (playoffs).

85-The Wizard of Oz--1975 White Sox

So I was wandering aimlessly on baseball-reference and decided to put oz into the search term, just because I could. Well apparently there was a pitcher named Ozzie Osborn who pitched 24 games for the 1975 White Sox only to never appear on a Major League roster again. I know it's not an exact to the rock star but it's the closest any major league team has come to riding the crazy train.

98- This is Spinal Tap- Royals

Spinal Tap is a tale of a satirical rock band that makes a mockery of rock stardom. The Kansas City Royals are a satirical baseball team and a mockery of major league baseball. Despite having the best pitcher in baseball on their team, they are 51-85. Ever since the onion reported they were unable to find themselves in the standings, they are 35-74.

The (Late) Weekend Preview

Well , it's coming a day later than usual.....but the weekend preview is here....as always games are ranked on a scale of 1-5.....and with that.....let the games begiiiiiin

Dodgers [Haeger] vs. Reds [Maloney] Saturday FOX =2

These teams have had very opposite seasons. Despite their recent struggles, the Dodgers are still the team to beat in the NL West and start the weekend with a 4-game lead. The start knuckleballer Charlie Haeger who pitched very impressively last weekend against the Cubs, getting his first win of the season. The Reds [despite their sweep of the Brewers] are still a team going nowhere and nowhere fast....despite playing well enough to be within striking distance in the first half of the season....they still sit a whopping 16 games under .500.....they counter with rookie Matt Maloney who is making his fourth start and still seeking his first ML win...thus far his closest claim to ML fame was being traded for Kyle Lohse in 2007.....another fun fact is if you look up Matt Maloney on wikipedia it defaults to the ex-Houston Rocket of the same name.....

Mets [Parnell] vs. Cubs [Dempster] =2---Saturday FOX

A match-up between two teams who have played worse than expected this year. The Mets have been decimated by injuries and start Bobby Parnell who has pitched primarily in the bullpen this year. The Cubs counter with Ryan Dempster.....who has regressed back to his career averages...not the best way to follow-up a career year and the ensuing contract extension.....

Rays [Price] vs. Tigers [Robertson] =3.5 Saturday FOX

Not the most exciting match-up...but it gets bumped up a point since there are playoff implications. The Rays are sitting 3 1/2 games out of the wild-card starts David Price. The Tigers are up 4 games in the AL Central and they are giving Nate Robertson his first start of the season...

Giants [Zito] vs. Rockies [Marquis]---Saturday MLB Network =4

Easily the best game on TV this weekend. The Giants and Rockies are in a battle for the wild card spot. As of this writing, the Rockies are up 3 games. It will take a lot to out-do the series they had last week culminating in a 14th inning grand slam.

White Sox [Garcia] vs. Yankees [Chamberlain] = 2 Sunday TBS

This game gets a point knocked off because the Yankees are involved. The White Sox despite struggling this year are still only 4 games behind the Tigers. They trot-out injury prone Freddy Garcia who is making his 3rd start of the season. The Yankees trot out Joba Chamberlain.....who is definitely gets more hype/publication than than he would if he didn't play in New York.....but hey not if you lead the league in hit batsmen....well i can't think of anything else significant he's done this year

Braves [Jurrjens] vs. Phillies [Blanton] = 3.5 Sunday ESPN

A Solid NL-East battle to finish off the weekend. The Braves bring in start Jurrjens who has pitched much better than his 10-8 record. The Phillies counter with Joe Blanton...a very prototypical mid-rotation pitcher....the Braves need to take at least 2 of 3 this weekend as they are sitting 7 back in the NL East and need to go on a tear to make a deeper impact on the wild card..........

The Thursday Post

Well it's Thursday and that means time to look ahead to another weekend of baseball games..........as always games are ranked on a scale of 1 to 5......and let the games begin

Phillies vs. Braves-Saturday [TBD vs. Kawakami] FOX =4
Sunday [TBD vs. Vasquez] ESPN =4

Definitely one of the better series this weekend. The Phillies have gotten a bit complacent lately letting half of their NL East lead in a recent sweep against the Marlins. The Phils have not decided who to pitch this weekend.

For the Braves, they have played some of their best ball in the last couple of weeks, breaking away from .500 land. They still have work to do as they still sit at 4 1/2 back. It will be interesting to see if Kawakami can follow up his strong start in L.A. with another clutch start on Saturday. On sunday, they bring out Javier Vasquez who is quietly having his best season this year.

Phillies win Saturday, Braves win Sunday

Giants [Cain] vs. Mets [Santana]- Saturday FOX = 3.5

This match-up gets an extra point and a half due to the pitching match-up. While the Mets have two strikes against them [they play in New York and not being good] the Mets are worth watching in this game solely due to Johan Santana getting the start.

The Giants are in a year long experiment to see how inept a team can be offensively while still making the playoffs. While Tim Lincecum has gotten his well-deserved respect for helping this cause along, Matt Cain is having a MONSTER season and has played a big part into why the Giants are within striking distance [ 1 1/2 games back] of the wild card.

Giants win this game 1-0

Indians [Huff] vs. Twins [TBD] =2

This match-up looked a lot better before the season began. At this point of the season, not so much. This is the teams first meeting after consummating that epic trade bringing Carl Pavano to Minnesota.

The Skeleton Indians start a rookie named David Huff who i've never even heard of. Looking at his stats it's easy to see since he's having by all stretches of the imagination, a terrible year [6-6 6.72 era 68 ERA+]

The Twins have yet to decide who they're starting but does it matter. While they are only 5 games back, they seem to be going nowhere and through the motions.......if they're gonna make a run...sweeping the skeleton Indians would be a good first step.

Whoever the Twins start is getting themselves a win.

Rangers vs. Red Sox [Penny vs. Holland] Saturday MLB Network =4
[Tazawa vs. Nippert] Sunday TBS


The pitching match-ups may not be top notch but this game has very heavy wild card implications. As of this writing, the Red Sox are clinging to a 1/2 game wild card lead over the rangers. The Red Sox had a terrible weekend in New York but bounced back by taking 3 out of 4 from the Tigers.

This will be a close and high scoring series. Both teams have loaded offenses and will be going up against pitchers that just aren't that good. The Red Sox will probably will do just enough pitching wise to pull out the series win.

Weekend Preview: Start of the second half

Well, the all-star break is over (thankfully) and the second part of this exciting baseball season is upon us. Also, the weekend is upon us which means another preview of all of the exciting (and not so exciting) action....as always the games are rated from 1 to 5 as follows

1=take a nap
2=if you got nothing better to do
3=worth at least a look
4=pretty compelling match up
5=must-see

Saturday:

Mets (Santana) vs. Braves (Kawakami) =3

First match up between these two teams since they consummated the epic Church for Francoeur trade. The Mets have their ace Johan Santana pitching for them against Kawakami who sometimes pitches like an ace....Both teams have underachieved this year (especially the Mets) and both teams need to get hot.....like now if they're going to have any legitimate post-season hopes....the Mets might be the more dysfunctional team but Santana will get them a win in this one

Orioles (Guthrie) vs. White Sox (Danks) =2

Decent pitching match-up, two pretty uninspiring teams. The O's have the pieces together to contend.....in a couple of years.....the White Sox still have a chance despite a mediocre first half as they are 3 1/2 back in a weak AL central. The Sox have the better team and better starter going Saturday...which means they'll win this one easily

Angels (Weaver) vs. Athletics (Mazzaro) =1

Hmm...first place team with their best pitcher going or some no-name pitcher on a last place team that will get even less attention and be worse once they inevitably trade Matt Holliday.....Angels in a blow out

Twins (Baker) vs. Rangers (Feldman)=2

A game with two teams who are quietly in contention. Both teams are solid, not too inspiring and are likely to fade from the pennant race at some point during the summer. Rangers win this one and hold off their fade for another day.

Sunday

Tigers (Verlander) vs. Yankees (TBD) =3.5

Possible play-off preview. Would have been rated higher but the Yankees are on more often than Every Loves Raymond reruns...which makes this a not as compelling match-up. This Tigers are surprisingly in first-place this year and having Justin Verlander as a staff ace helps this along. I usually rank Yankees games lower by default but Verlander alone is worth watching at least part of this game. The Tigers get one step closer to winning the title in this one and the Yankees loosen their grip on the wild card lead.

Mets (Nieve) vs. Braves (Vasquez) =2.5

Uninspiring match-up between two uninspiring teams. Javier Vasquez has been quietly dominant this year (he's been way better than his 6-7 record indicates) .....I see him having no trouble with the Mets depleted lineup....wouldn't be surprised if he completely dominates this game.

I'm shocked that the Mets made a bad trade.......oh wait no i'm not

Yesterday, the Mets traded Ryan Church to the Braves for Jeff Francoeur. This trade caught me off-guard for a couple of reasons. First of all, the Mets and Braves being NLeast rivals don't like each other and it seems odd that they would be trading partners at any-time let alone July. Second, both of these teams are in the purgatory of not sure whether they will be contenders or are they going to fade mode as both teams have been hanging around .500 but still somewhat realistic post-season hopes and this trade makes it unclear whether these teams are in buy or sell mode.

Also, at a macro-level glance it isn't overly obvious who the winner and who the loser in this trade is going to be. Pretty much, two outfielders having bad seasons are switching places in some experiment to see if change of scenery will benefit the involved parties.

After taking a closer look...the Braves are more likely to be the winners in this trade and here's why:

If nothing else, the Braves got rid of a player (Francoeur) who's basically turned into an offensive liability. With Francoeur, his career has been marred by lots of unfulfilled promise and potential. His best year was his rookie year(2005) when he had a line of .300/.336/.549 126 OPS+. Unfortunately for both the Braves and Francoeur, he has not even come close to repeating his promising start. It seems that once the league figured him out (i.e. he'll swing at just about anything) his performance has gotten progressively worse. Despite having a decent amount of power (he hit 29 Homers in '06)...he has been a below average hitter for the duration of his career 89 OPS+(translation: he's been 11% worse than a league average hitter for his career)

Even that does not tell the whole story, the trends from the last couple years indicate that he's getting worse, not better (which tends to happen at 35, not 25). After a decent 2007.....he has followed that up with a 72 OPS+ and a trip to the minors in '08 and a 68 OPS+ in '09.....out of players averaging 3.1 plate appearances per team game....that ranks him 88th.....out of 94..he's hitting so bad that he's less useful than less talented players with no pop in their bat (i.e. David Eckstein) and even players who are hitting below the mendoza line (i.e. Chris Young)

playing in the pitching-friendly CitiBank Park in New York......i don't see his performance going any better......(on the plus side none of the other non-injured mets players are hitting very well...so he should fit in well in the clubhouse)

While the player he got traded for Ryan Church is not a hall of famer or even has the raw talent of Francoeur his entire body of work indicates that he'll at least be serviceable. While he doesn't have the raw talent and power of Francoeur, he has also distinguished himself from Francoeur by being fairly consistent and being better (albeit slightly) than average (108 OPS+ career). While he's having his worst year so far (excluding 2004 when he only had 71 plate appearances) some of the other metrics from this year indicate that unlike Francoeur, he has not fallen off the cliff.

While he is older, Church is still only 30. Also, where Francoeur's batting and on-base average indicate that Francoeur is getting worse, Church is at least hitting for contact this season (even if his power is non-existent)

He at least draws some walks (not many but a lot when compared to Francoeur). Also, his batting average is in-line with a typical season for him (.280). While he's been a disappointment this year, the indicators point to the Braves getting the better end in the trade.

Pretty much, the Braves will get average performance with Ryan Church while the Mets are getting one of the leagues worst hitters in Jeff Francoeur.

Weekend games on tap

So, the 4th of July weekend is upon us and with it the second weekly weekend TV sports preview.

The games will be rated from 1-5 based on watchability:

1= nap time

2= back ground noise

3= ok if you have nothing better to do

4= pretty compelling game

5= must see

And now.....let's play some ball.....

Saturday FOX Regional Coverage

Mets (Nieve) vs. Phillies (Moyer)= 3.5

While neither of these teams are great, this NL East match-up should still be good. The defending World Series Champion Phils are hanging on to the divison lead by the skin of their teeth and the two-time defending champion choke artist Mets are sitting at third place, a game and a half out of first. The Mets have Nieve, who has pitched suprisingly well since being picked up from Houston. The Phillies are countering with the oldest active MLB player Jamie Moyer. 

A good matchup of contrasts in a fairly meaningful (for an early July game) 

Pick: Phils over Mets

Tigers (Jackson) vs. Twins (Liriano)= 3

Another compelling divisional matchup. Currently, the Tigers lead both the Sox and Twins by 3 games. Both the Tigers and Jackson have been playing surprisingly well this season while being largely ignored. The Twins have Liriano going. This would have been a must-see match up if it was 2006. However, Liriano has struggled with injuries and on field performance in the last couple years. He has pitched better lately winning his last couple starts. I see Liriano's winning streak continuing and the Twins pulling out the victory

Dodgers (Wolf) vs. Padres (Geer)= 4

If this was any other weekend, this game would be fairly meaningless and gotten either a 1 or 2. However, this is not any other weekend. This will be the second game after Manny Ramirez returns from his 50-game suspension. The only reason to really watch this game is to see if Manny plays well even after his long layoff. Also, anytime there is a possibility of a Manny being Manny moment makes for interesting television. The Dodgers have proven the ability to play well either way.....the Dodgers win this one in a laugher.

Saturday Night MLB game:

Rays (Price) vs. Rangers (Holland)= 2.5

Both of these teams have legitimate post-season hopes as at least wild-cards. If this was a September game, this game would get a higher rating.

The only really compelling aspect of this game is David Price pitching. He's still young and finding his way but he has proven (so-far) to be worth the hype and high draft pick. Otherwise, not too much of a reason to watch this game. Rays over Rangers

Sunday TBS Game:

Brewers (Burns) vs. Cubs (Lilly)= 5(fans of either team) 3.5 for everyone else

This rivalry has escalated in intensity in the last few years. As it stands right now, the Cubs are 2.5 back of the Brewers. The Brewers have Burns starting. He's in the rotation due to the rash of injuries and ineffectiveness that has plagued the Brewers rotation. He's probably only in the rotation for the short term but if he pitches as well as he did on Tuesday on a consistent basis he could around longer than expected.

On Tuesday, he outpitched Johan Santana and only gave up 2 runs in 6 1/3. The Cubs have Ted Lilly going for them. He's quietly put up a solid season with a 131 ERA+. This should be a pretty close match-up coming down to the bullpen......Brewers win 

Sunday night ESPN

Rays (Niemann) vs. Rangers (Feldman)=2

Tough to get too excited over this match-up. The teams aren't that bad but aren't that exciting either.....Rangers win this one.

 Thursday pick of the day: Angels over Orioles

Weekend Sports TV Preview:

For this post, I am going to preview the baseball games being featured on national televison. Depending on how I feel about this, this may either be a one-shot deal or become a recurring feature [if this feature lives long enough, the preview will eventually cover football and basketball). Also, this is not meant to be comprehensive as I will only be highlighting the sports that I follow: (For this weekend, that would be just baseball. This means no coverage of Golf, Boxing, Soccer, etc.) Also, I will be ranking the games on a 1-5 basis as follows:

1=nap-time
2=background noise
3=i'll watch a little if I have nothing better to do
4=likely a good but not great game
5=definitely watching

Saturday:

MLB FOX Regional Coverage:

Red Sox (Wakefield) vs. Braves (Vasquez) =3

I like the pitching match-up for this game. You get two veteran pitchers both playing better than expected. Also, you get two contradictory pitching styles. On one side, you have the knuckleballer Wakefield who already has 9 wins going for the Sox. On the other hand, Vasquez who is second in the NL in K's who has pitched better than his 5-6 record indicates. While the Red Sox are the stronger team, the Braves still have a lot to play for as they are only 4 games back in a weak NL East. I think Vasquez will keep this game close but I see the Sox prevailing in this one.

Cubs (Dempster) vs. White Sox (Buerhle) =2

Not looking good for those Cubs. They are self destructing about 4 months earlier than usual. Lots of distractions in the last couple days between Soto testing positive for weed and Milton being Milton.....being on the short-end of the pitching match up does not help either....White Sox in a blowout

Angels (Lackey) vs. D-Backs ( Davis)= 2

If nothing else, at least the D-Backs can't play any worse tomorrow than they are playing tonight. The Angels have a disappointing John Lackey going for them. The D-Backs have Doug Davis, who has pitched better than his 3-8 record indicates. With Davis pitching well and Arizona likely to fall out of contention......this could be one of his last starts as a D-Back. Even though the Angels have a much better team, I see Arizona winning this one.

MLB Network:

Yankees (Burnett) v. Mets (Redding) =1

Yes, I went there, I gave the Yankees-Mets the lowest ranking possible. As a baseball fan who is not from New York, has never even been to New York and never been a fan of either team, I do feel that the New York teams get shoved down baseball fan's throats on a yearly basis......So pretty much you have a ridicuously over-paid mediocre pitcher (Burnett) vs. a journeyman pitcer (Tim Redding)....i'm not high on either team but since Redding pitched well against St. Louis on monday i'll pick the mets to win

Sunday TBS

Red Sox (Penny) v. Braves (Hanson) =4

Why does Sunday's Sox-Braves game get a higher ranking than Saturday's: Two Words: Tommy Hanson. This kid received lots of hype before even being called up and so for he's lived up to it. I haven't seen him pitch personally myself, but in his last 3 starts this kid has been lights out. (3-0 2 ER in 17 innings). Hanson definitely has the potential to be an ace pitcher in the big leagues. The Braves haven't lost any Hanson started games yet and I see that trend continuing on Sunday.

Yankees (Wang) v. Mets (Hernandez)= 1

As much as this game is a snoozer, I would like to use this space to thank Chien-Ming Wang for doing everything in his power to make sure my pre-season prediction of the Yankees finishing 3rd and missing the playoffs comes true......granted he hasn't pitched as bad since coming off the disabled list but he has an era that's higher than geovany soto (yes I went there)- Mets win this one by default.

In other words, not the best sports TV weekend. Other than sunday's Braves-Sox games, this slate is pretty uninspiring...........well at least I got mlb.tv to keep me occupied

Saturday Pick of the Day: Brew Crew over Giants

P.S. I grabbed/double-checked statistics, starting pitchers, miscallenous info from the following sites while writing this post:

mlb.com, baseball-reference.com, usatoday.com