2005 Baseball Season

I've just been starting to get into baseball again and joined up in a fantasy sports team. Anyone have tips on some players who will be better than usual this year?

I'm pretty upset that I haven't been following too much...

...in April is my dad's fantasy draft and I always go, then in April later is another fantasy draft which I watch...

... those predictions, Sayhay, IMO, are pretty off.


NATIONAL LEAGUE

NL EAST: I'm a mets fan and I can say now they are not a 4th place team anymore: New Manager, pretty good moves, and lets not forget their young amazing players who were injured last year, but are still amazing: David Wright and Jose Reyes, plus Kaz Matsui at 2nd will be better than him at SS, and Reyes is natural at SS... the Mets defence is enough to get them out of last to 4th but with the offence, if they don't do too well they will most likely finish in 3rd or 2nd... or the NL east can be horrible like a few years ago and the mets could be 1st - if they are 2nd they WILL NOT win the wild card...

Atlanta will not win the wild card just as florida will not be in first.

NL WEST:

I agree, the Rockies are out - they won't be doing anythinng this year, and the diamondbacks lost too much talent and gained almost nothing to be considered good, so those predictions are correct...

The Giants are a strong team but won't finish 1st I think, but if they come in 2nd they WILL win the wild card.

NL Central I never liked/followed so no comments there.

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AMERICAN LEAGUE

AL EAST: The Yankees-Redsox rivalry is, IMO, not as strong now that BoSox won the World Series... it isn't lost though, and Boston WILL be complaining when the Yankees come in first and they come in second but win the wild card and play the yanks in the playoffs but loose...

the rest of the AL East is weak, the Orioles will be better - but the orioles have the nicest ballpark of them all!

AL WEST:
First off, its Anaheim Angels, not the LA Angels... they will be against the Mariners but no contest really... the AL West is weak as well.

AL CENTRAL: They are pretty good, but kind of too close to call - not really a GOOD devision as much as they all equally suck...

WORLD SERIES PREDICTIONS Someone in the AL West vs. someone in the NL East... Mariners vs. Atlanta maybe?

First off, I'm a Philly fan. I hate the rest of the NL East by that fact alone, espically the Brave because they win and we don't. But how can you not have Atlanta winning the division? I'm not saying they will it, but they win it every year and they may have gotten even better this year.

Sayhey said:

They have changed their name again. They are now called the "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim". Stupid name, I know, but they changed it, not me.

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What is that supposed to mean, the Los Angelas Angels Of Anaheim?? lol

Their Innitials: LAAOA...

Anaheim Angels was cooler... but Los Angelas Angels works better - the best of both worlds...

AL West-Anaheim
AL Central-Minnesota
AL East-Yankees
AL Wildcard-Boston

NL West-Giants
NL Central-Cards
NL East-Braves
NL Wildcard-Marlins

Both Texas teams could figure into the mix as could both Chicago teams. Don't claim to be an expert, and I am not ready to predict post season matchups or anything, but I thought that I would drop in my two cents.

my prediction (from a crazy Pirates fan)

April -- Pirates above .500
Rest of season -- below .500
Other clubs -- don't care! lol except the yanks, man I like watching them play!

happens every year, i wish i could buy a ball club!! donations welcome

howard said:

I've just been starting to get into baseball again and joined up in a fantasy sports team. Anyone have tips on some players who will be better than usual this year?

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Hate to sound bias as I am a Cardinals fan, but Albert Pujols should be at the top of any fantasy lists. He's extremely consistent in hitting everything. He has amazing power to the opposite field. He shows no signs of slowing down. I think taking second to only Bonds in the last two years in the MVP race speaks a little too.

Another Cards player to look at, call me crazy, Rick Ankiel. He is healthy and his curveball is one of the nastiest I have ever seen, near unhittable. If he gets playing time, he will put up some numbers. Keep your eye on him.

my crazy predictions which will no doubt turn out totally incorrect:

AL West:

1. Anaheim
2. Texas
3. Seattle
4. Oakland

I think Texas and Anaheim will duke it out for 1st, with Anaheim eventually winning out. Oakland will be in last cause their offense sucks the same as it did last year, and their pitching is worse. Seattle will sorta sit alone in third as their team underperforms as usual (Doesn't everyone know Seattle is where good 3rd basemen go to die).

AL Central:

1. Minnesota
2. Detroit
3. Cleveland
4. Chicago
5. Kansas City

No commentary is really nessesary, Minnestoa is still the best in the central

AL East:
1. Boston
2. New York
3. Baltimore
4. Tampa Bay
5. Toronto

Boston really isn't hurt by their off season losses. Most of the Red Sox Nation are happy to see Pedro and Lowe gone. Schilling is back. Arroyo is poised to have a breakout season. Clement and Miller are good additions who have the capability to do as well as Pedro and Lowe combined. On offense their only loss is Cabrera, which they promptly replaced with Rentaria. No loss there. Oh did I mention they still have Manny and Ortiz? nuff said.

New York will finally end up in second place. Randy Johnson alone isn't enough to carry the team, and the rest of their aging stars are not going to be having career years. They will probably win the Wild Card though.

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NL West:

1. San Francisco
2. Los Angeles
3. San Diego
4. Arizona
5. Colorado

Like NY, SF's aging wonders will not pull the team through to the world series. If Penny and Lowe pitch like they can, LA might end up in first.

NL Central:

1. St. Louis
2. the rest will be so far out it doesn't matter

no commentary neccessary

NL East:

1. Atlanta
2. Florida
3. Philadelphia
4. Mets
5. D.C.

Atlanta has only gotten better from last season. They will stilll win the east, but they will not get into the World Series. Florida will probably get the wild card.

Studawg7 said:

April -- Pirates above .500
Rest of season -- below .500
Other clubs -- don't care! lol except the yanks, man I like watching them play!

happens every year, i wish i could buy a ball club!! donations welcome

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Hey, looks like I've found another Pirates fan to commiserate with! I'm betting this team is going to be like last year -- they'll be a .500 ballclub, but have one stretch where they go something like 4-24, so they have no shot at actually being above .500.

howard said:

I've just been starting to get into baseball again and joined up in a fantasy sports team. Anyone have tips on some players who will be better than usual this year?

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Jeremy Bonderman 20 game winner

Sayhey said:

Post Season

NLDS
San Francisco over Atlanta
St. Louis over Florida

NLCS
San Francisco over St. Louis

ALDS
Seattle over Boston
New York over Minnesota

ALCS
New York over Seattle

World Series
San Francisco over New York in seven.

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I am not a fan of the Red Sox at all but they are better than Seattle and I see another Yankees Red Sox rematch but the Sox don't have the pitching to stop the Yankees this year. As for the Giants making the World Series they need to keep Bonds healthy to have a chance, If he misses any games this year they could be in jeopardy

MacNut said:

I am not a fan of the Red Sox at all but they are better than Seattle and I see another Yankees Red Sox rematch but the Sox don't have the pitching to stop the Yankees this year. As for the Giants making the World Series they need to keep Bonds healthy to have a chance, If he misses any games this year they could be in jeopardy

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Yeah, Seattle got some good players, but it takes more than one season to rebuild and then beat a consistantly good baseball team. Sorry, but its not gonna happen. Red Sox repeat! (Yanks look good this year tho with pitching)

BEN

AL
East Yankees
Central Twins
West Anaheim
Wild Card Red Sox

NL
East Braves
Central St Louis
West Dodgers
Wild Card Phillies

Sayhey said:

Macnut and saabmp3, I'll be more than happy to argue the wisdom of my fearless predictions, but the purpose of this thread is also to post how you think the season will go. Jump right in guys, the water's fine.

My Seattle pick is based largely on the impact of Sexson and Beltre to a lineup that already includes such players as Ichiro and Boone. It's not often that a club goes out and picks up both a number three and a number four hitter in the same off season. Both are capable of over 40 homeruns and they transform Seattle into a very potent team. They also are a huge plus on defense. Beltre is a gold glove caliber guy at third and Sexson is very underrated at first.

My pick of Seattle to beat the Sox in the playoffs comes not only from Seattle's improvements, but also from what I see as a drop off in Boston's pitching prowess. Combine that with the difficulties of repeating and I pick Seattle. Of course, it's all crazy at this point, but that's the fun of it.

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But this is more fun. Anyways, I'd like to give my take on ichiro (as I moved to seattle and now see alot of Mariners games). He makes alot of base hits, when it is not in the teams best interest to make a small in field base hit. I've seen other people agree with me on this stance.

Don't get me wrong, he's a great hitter, but in more than one situation, I've seen him HURT his team (get a intended small in field base hit when an easy sac fly could have scored or advanced another man on base. You can't do that with an infield hit.

Losing Pedro in Boston will hurt us. He is truly a great pitcher, but he's just not what he used to be. Lowe had a great finish to an awful season. I hate to say it, but everbody knows that it's true. Wells will more than fill the lost pitching the Lowe gave us. Clement isn't all I had hoped seeing in his first pre-season game, but that's probably going to change. Arroyo is coming into his prime now and I expect great things from him this season (15 games??).

My reason for picking the sox over seattle lies in the pitching quality. Beltre and Sexson are excellent hitters, but the combination of David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez and Renteria just puts everything else to shame. Talk about 40 homers each from those guys? I wouldn't be surprised to see 100 homers come out of a combination of these three players. We're talking BIG bats here. Edgar will also add some excellent defense into the infield (better than cabera, but not much. Cabera was an excellent player too IMHO, just not a great hitter).

To match Ichiro as a lead off man, we have Johnny Damon. Not as many hits, but more extra base hits, usually in crucial times.

Now, why I think the Sox will win. Their pitching. Seattle just doesn't have it up to snuff this year yet. They got the bats, but as we saw last year with the Yankee's. You can hit as many balls as you want, but without a front line defense (the pitcher), opponents can and will beat you.

None the less, I'm looking forward to watching alot of good Mariners games. I plan on going to the Boston one and some of the Yankee's too.

BEN

Sayhey said:

All fair points, although I wouldn't count on Renteria for much power. Pick another Bosox player and we will see which trio has more homers at the end of the season. I get to throw in Boone along with Sexson and Beltre, ok? If you guys ever want to get rid of Ichiro, then kindly let Brian Sabean know first, please! As good as Johnny is, there is no real comparison.

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I agree, Edgar isn't going to hit 40, but I think he will double what he did last year (~10 if memory serves me correctly). Johnny - Ichiro (which I just noticed that they're only 13 days apart in age), is harder. Johnny has 20 HR's, a .380 OBP (that's what matters in a lead off spot, getting on base), .477 SLG, .304 AVG, 92 RBI's. Ichiro has 8 HR's, a .414 OBP, .455 SLG and .372 AVG, 60 RBI's. Both excellent stats for a lead off. Ichiro wins in OBP (one of the biggest stats up there) and AVG. However, Johnny's OBP is very respectable (only .034 below) and is made up with a better slugging %. His AVG is much lower than Ichiro's, I don't think any of the stats can make up for that. Here's the kicker, 20 HR's and 92 RBI's. This goes back to what I was saying about Ichiro in the first place. RBIies are what can make and break a game and Johnny just takes the cake here.

It's a tough comparison, I think I've shown my side of the argument pretty well.

BEN

Sayhey said:

All fair points, although I wouldn't count on Renteria for much power. Pick another Bosox player and we will see which trio has more homers at the end of the season. I get to throw in Boone along with Sexson and Beltre, ok? If you guys ever want to get rid of Ichiro, then kindly let Brian Sabean know first, please! As good as Johnny is, there is no real comparison.

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I'd have to agree with saabmp3 regarding Ichiro. Especially last season when he was going for the hits record. He would get stupid dinky little hits that did noting instead of doing a sacrifice to move a runner or score a runner. I'd much rather have people that play for the team rather than themselves. The last four teams to win the world series won because of their team chemistry, not because they had glory seeking players.