Marco's Baseball Blog-O-Roonie 2022: The Trade Deadline...Goofs, Guts and Glory

 

MARCO’S BASEBALL BLOG-O-ROONIE 2022: THE TRADE DEADLINE...GOOFS, GUTS AND GLORY

There are 30 teams in MLB. 7 out of the top 22 offensive players in

those 30 teams (based on OPS) now play for the L.A. Dodgers and San Diego Padres. One third of the main offensive stars in the game play for just two of the teams!

The Dodgers have Betts, Turner and Freeman and the Padres have Machado, Soto, Bell, Drury and …Tatis Jr. coming back soon from the IL! Three of those guys were just traded to the Padres in some of the great deals in baseball history. And that’s not even the full story!

Padres President/GM A.J. Preller started his hot streak at the table with an inexplicable trade...the Padres recently ineffective closer, Taylor Rogers, Dinelson Limet (ERA 9.49 and currently on the injured list) and two fairly good prospects...Esteury Ruiz (an outfielder with great speed) and a leftie pitcher Robert Gasser. The Brewers gave up Josh Hader...THE BEST CLOSER IN BASEBALL.

Then the Brewers released Limet outright! Released him right after trading for him! And Rogers is a Free Agent after the season! What were the Brewers thinking? Did somebody slip some ayahuasca into their beer? So they save a bit of money by not paying Hader. They were in first place! They think they don’t need a shut-down closer in the playoffs?

This deal went over like stale cookies in the clubhouse...Brewers players were just coming right out and expressing appalled amazement.

The Padres really needed a star closer and they just got the best in baseball for... prospects. Outrageous! And Preller was just getting started!

Everybody knows the set-up: The Washington Nationals won the World Series in 2019 in glorious fashion. Then they started losing their stars and the Nats started losing games. Now they are the worst team in baseball. They lose and they lose ugly. And yet they still had one of the top players and probably the top hitter (even at age 23!) in the game...Wonderful Juan Soto. So they tried to start rebuilding around Juan with an offer of 15 years for $440 million dollars. Soto refused the deal and he has three more seasons before free agency.

So the Nats could either keep him for three years and then watch him leave or trade him now.

Soto’s worth would never be higher. Whoever got him would get a 23 year old superstar with 3 years left on a really cheap contract before free agency. Then his new team could trade him or pay him.

Several teams were trying to work out a deal but the field finally thinned down to St. Louis, San Diego and the Dodgers (probably) .

St. Louis didn’t have enough players and the Padres couldn’t stand by and let the Dodgers have Soto so they offered the entire top tier of their farm system plus injured leftie Mackenzie Gore and disgruntled first baseman Eric Hosmer for Soto...and first baseman Josh Bell who has been hitting almost as well as Soto this season!

A major hiccup...Hosmer’s contract let’s him veto a trade to several teams and Washington was one of them. No sweat...Preller switched Hosmer out for another first baseman, Luke Voit. The Nats said yes and we have an epic deal. But still not done.

Now the Pads needed a right handed power bat to help Machado out.

They pick up Brandon Drury ...a top twenty hitter in MLB...for 18 year old shortstop Victor Acosta. Acosta will be a great shortstop...in five years. But by that time Preller will be long gone ...if he doesn’t win a bunch of playoff games before Soto’s Free Agency.

So now the Padres will be soon be sending a lineup something like this out to face the enemy:

LF: PROFAR batting switch OPS .770

RF: SOTO batting left OPS .903

3B: MACHADO batting right OPS .881

SS: TATIS JR. batting right OPS .965 (career)

1B: BELL batting switch OPS .880

2B: CRONENWORTH batting left OPS .740

DH: DRURY batting right OPS .855

C: ALFARO/NOLA batting right OPS .731/.633

CF: GRISHAM batting left OPS .654

Barring injury, the Pads look quite competitive with the Dodgers and their superb lineup. They don’t have anybody left in the minors who can help them much if their stars get hurt. And the Padres starting pitchers have a lot to prove...(Snell ?, Darvish ?, Manaea ?) but they now have a much stronger back-end of the bullpen.

So what does the real world say about this fantasy ball wet dream of an offensive juggernaut that is the new San Diego Padres?

In the last 19 games the Padres and the Dodgers have played, the Padres have lost 17. Maybe you watched some of the games this weekend between the two teams? Well the Angelinos won the first one 8-1 and the second one 8-3. They won the third game 3-0 on a two hitter.

It looked a lot worse for the Pads. The Dodgers seem to own them lock stock and fish in the barrel. You know what I saw? (Well, I’m telling you anyway…)

The Dodgers look loose, relaxed and totally confident. They’re playing good defense and that helps. But offensively the Dodgers are running the pitch counts up way too fast against the Padre starters. The Bluebloods foul off twenty or thirty foul balls it seems like and by the fourth inning the starter has thrown 70 pitches. It doesn’t help that walks and hit batters turn into runs when the Dodgers deliver clutch hits and at least move the runners up fairly regularly. L.A. just looks like the well-oiled machine they’re being advertised as. The startled herd of deer that is the Padres pitching staff has no answer for the Dodger’s plate discipline. They just try to throw harder and get even more behind in the counts. The Dodgeheads are in their heads.

The Padres looked terrible in the field...bad errors by normally steady Manny Machado...usually a defensive stalwart. And the running game! Not that the Scampering Rabbits really need a running game with all the clutch hits and doubles off the walls. But Mookie Betts looks like he can steal whenever he cares too and it won’t even be close. And Taylor stole third on Manaea ...that was embarrassing. But not as embarrassing as L.A. catcher Will Smith walking into second late in the game.

But by that time the Padres had turned in their time cards. They gave up in the fourth inning of Game 1 and the fifth inning of Game 2.

The Padres finished 28 games behind the Dodgers last year and blamed it on injuries. So they fired the manager. This year they have injuries again. Boo Hoo. So do the Dodgers and most of the other teams in baseball...it’s the new paradigm.

Maybe Tatis Jr. will finally come back and get hot. Maybe Manager Bob Melvin will quit being polite to the blithering blind umps that are miscalling games so heinously. Get your ass thrown out of a couple of games, Bob! Somebody has to fire this team up and get them some attitude. Their new players did okay against L.A. Soto had some hits and played well in right field. In fact he made a couple of terrific throws from deep. I didn’t realize he had such a strong arm.

What the Padrinos need right now is strong guts.

And the real world opinion of Preller’s coup d’etat? Congrats A.J.! Spectacular! But remember…

The Padres have almost zero chance of keeping Juan Soto from going into Free Agency. That’s because Juan is still going to rate a $400 million contract in 3 years, and the Padres will still be paying Manny Machado (32 mil a year) and Fernando Tatis Jr. (20+ mil a year starting in 2025). They get to watch Josh Bell go to Free Agency next year. They have a bunch of other $10 million + per year contracts on the books. They can’t sign ‘em all. That means they have to go for it and they’ve got two or three seasons to do it.

But why not try? Fight on Taco Men! San Diego has only been to two World Series in their entire history. The Padres are the only San Diego major league sports team. Win something, Baby!

OTHER TRADE HEAD SCRATCHERS:

The New York Yankees knew what they needed...outfielders and starting pitchers. The former because Giancarlo Stanton is hurt...a fairly common condition for Mr. Hammy… and they’ve had to use Aaron Judge in centerfield which is putting too much workload on their superstar. Hicks has sucked at the plate. And remember when Joey Gallo could hit? Neither can he. And Matt Carpenter, while having a phenomenal season...is more of a DH at this point in his long career. So they went out and got Andrew Benintendi to play one of the fields. Good deal. They also got starter Frankie Montas and closer Lou Trivino from Oakland for prospects (not their top men).

They should have stopped there. Instead, they inexplicably sent Jordan Montgomery..one of their few healthy hurlers… to St. Louis for outfielder Harrison Bader. Now Bader is a gold glover who can run and play a mean center field. BUT HE’S HURT FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR! No help for 2022! And now the formerly considered- brainy Yankees have reversed their depth protection in the rotation.

I count Gerrit Cole, James Taillon, Nestor Cortes and Frankie Montas. That’s four. Montgomery is gone. Severino is out for 60 days minimum. Are they counting on Domingo German again? What if somebody gets hurt? They aren’t even getting any value from Bader...they need to go for it this year while the team is hot….bad trade alert!

Not to worry Yankees! The Boston Red Sox are helping you out by goat roping their team into some kind of hideous gnarly mess. “To the rear... March!” ...now Charge!” “Win at all costs but only after Surrendering.” “We have nothing to Fear but Fear and Success!”

The Sox were in last place in the East at the deadline...okay, so sell.

But they were only a couple of games out of the wild card...rally the troops, fix the bullpen and try to make the playoffs. Your fans will dig it.

So President Chaim Bloom trades catcher Christian Vazquez to the Astros …...the Astros...let me repeat that… for two prospects. Now Christian is one of the most popular Red Sox and a team leader that everybody loves. He’s hitting .287 this year. That’s pretty damn good in the post Mendoza wasteland of sub .200 averages amongst our catching contingent currently extant. In other words...he’s great. Clutch hits and plays some first base when he’s not being ONE OF THE TOP FIVE DEFENSIVE CATCHERS IN BASEBALL!

Was he making too much money? Not really...$7 mil a year. Is he going to be a free agent? Yes….and every team besides the five that have a catcher that good are going to try to get him.

Much like the opinion of the Brewers clubhouse on the Hader trade, the Red Sox as a team were disheartened by the trade of Vazquez. You don’t trade a Christian Vazquez if you’re trying to make the playoffs. The Sox will probably lose Xander Bogaerts to Free Agency because of it. You just don’t trade a guy like that who knows your pitching staff and knows the league and produces at the plate and keeps the team going with his positive attitude and defensive know how. Christian never, never quit on this team. All his teammates recognized that...why didn’t Chaim Bloom?

But that’s okay… Bloom is the genius who traded Hunter Renfroe for Jackie Bradley Jr. Hunter just let us know how he felt about that trade by busting multiple homers against the Sox on his last trip here with the Brewers. Jackie just got released from Beantown… bye Jackie. You played great defense and some of the time you didn’t suck as an offensive player. Boston has had a no-hit outfield all year. First base too. You can’t win when you don’t have production from those positions. So trade your hitting catcher and go get Tommy Pham and Eric Hosmer to save the season.???? What about the bullpen? Take it from Preller in San Diego...you can’t tip toe around in a pennant race. Trying to remain playoff viable while still positioning the team for long term success...Good Luck!

Did you notice who the Astros got for the stretch? The aforementioned Christian Vazquez to catch with Maldonado...that’s two warrior backstops for the Houstons. Also Trey Mancini from Baltimore to help Gurriel at first base. (He needed help.) But why the Orioles, who are threatening to take a wild card, let Mancini go I can’t comprehend. He’s one of their two best hitters and the team inspiration. Maybe the Orioles didn’t notice that they are now a .500 club with OPPORTUNITIES.

Houston also got another leftie for the pen in Will Smith. Good work Stros. Two regulars and a bullpen arm for prospects. That’ll help them get over Michael Brantley needing shoulder surgery.

Houston vs. the Mets in the World Series? With Scherzer, deGrom and Verlander all lathered up? Altuve vs. Lindor? Pete Alonso vs. Yordan Alvarez? Some tasty matchups in there.

Well….plenty of season left and the Dodgers and the Yankees are still strong.

Guess we’ll know in October!

Vaya Con Dios!

Marco's Baseball Blog-O-Roonie 2022: HOT STREAKS

 

Marco’s Baseball Blog-O-Roonie 2022: HOT STREAK

By the end of the 1948 season Joe DiMaggio of the Yankees is a crippled mess, barely able to hobble around the diamond. His problem is a nasty bone spur digging into his heel when he puts weight on it. He goes home after the Yanks are eliminated in the pennant race by Bob Feller and the Cleveland Indians... an aberrant season in which the Pin-striped Pulverizors are NOT going to be in the World Series. DiMaggio has an operation on his tender heel and limps home to rest.

His “rest” lasts through the winter, the total run of Spring Training in spring of 1949 and into June...8 months of no baseball at all as his heel still screams at him whenever he puts weight on it. He misses 65 games to start the 49 season. Joe’s career is hanging... twisting slowly in the wind.

The Yankees are doing very well without him to start the season, but they slow down in June as the Red Sox start coming on.

The Sox have won 10 of 11 as the teams get ready to play a 3 game set at Fenway that would start the fans wondering just who was whose Daddy.

But on Wednesday morning back in New York, Joltin’ Joe stands up out of bed and feels...no pain. It is miraculous after over a year of suffering. He can finally put weight on his injured heel without gritting his teeth. He calls manager Casey Stengel immediately.

And that is why on Friday, June 28, Joe DiMaggio’s name is written into the Yankee lineup card and delivered to the umpires at the traditional home plate exchange.

With no Spring Training and no at bats in a game since September 1948, Joe’s timing is off in his first time up and he fouls several pitches out of play to the right side. The Red Sox starter, Mickey McDermott, throws hard. Joe finally blasts a single to left. Ted Williams fields it and laughs, shaking his head. Even he is impressed.

But Ted isn’t laughing when Joe comes up in his second at bat and hits a 2-run homer over the monster. The Boston fans actually give Joe DiMaggio a standing ovation. As one would say later, “You can hate the Yankees, but you gotta love Joe DiMaggio.”

With New York leading in the ninth 5-4, Joe runs down a Williams deep shot to center to preserve the victory.

Saturday. Game 2. The Red Sox come storming out of the gate and lead 7-1 in the 4^th inning. Looks like a laugher until ...3-run homer over the monster by DiMaggio! And then in the 8^th...2-run bomb over the Green Hulk again! Yanks win 9-7!

The third game of the series has New York leading Boston 3-2 in the seventh in front of a SRO crowd at the Fens. Joe comes up in the 8^th with two men on. Nobody is really surprised when he hits the light tower with a 3-run moonshot that wins the game for the Bombers and sparks them towards the pennant and the first of 5 Series wins in a row from ‘49 to ‘53.

DiMag bats .455 in the three game set with 4 home runs and 9 rbis. He says simply: “I think I was the most surprised guy in all of Boston.” So much for Spring Training.

Now Trevor Story is no Joe DiMaggio. But his selection as the Player of the Week in May of 2022 gives pause. Where did that come from?

Boston obviously needs to sign a productive middle infielder in the off season, but the list of suspects empties steadily as one star free agent shortstop after another is gobbled up by hungry teams. Correa to the Twins, Baez to the Tigers, Seager and Marcus Semien to the Rangers, Andrelton Simmons to the Cubs... no call for Story, waiting for the axe to fall after a very productive run as shortstop of the Colorado Rockies. Maybe teams figure Trevor’s numbers have been inflated by Coors Field?

Finally the call from the Red Sox nets him a 6 year, $140,000,000 deal. Oh My Soul, that’s a hunk of change!

Which is why Boston fans are booing him lustily in early May when Trevor is batting .195 with no homers and almost nothing else positive. But here’s the deal…

1/Story is coming from the National to the American League and he doesn’t know the pitchers well.

2/He is adjusting to playing second base instead of his familiar position of shortstop. (Where Boston All-star Xander Bogaerts excels.)

3/Story gets the flu in April

4/Trevor’s wife has herself a baby in May and Trevor goes home to play Daddy. (As he should.)

So he has a few alibis. But the Red Sox are losing spectacularly. Obscenely. Regularly. Constantly. In wholesale lots of lost series after lost series. One run games, blown saves, extra inning cataclysms and blow outs. They are in last place and already written off for any kind of post season, even with the new additional wild card team for this year. And the fans decide that Trevor Story is not earning his salary of $23 mil a year. So they let him know.

But the whole team is in a funk. The Red Sox don’t like the cold weather at all, and this year their offense just ...isn’t. Devers, Bogaerts and J.D. Martinez are doing great, but then the next 6 positions in the lineup are strictly Mendoza-ville. Verdugo, Dalbec, Vasquez, Bradley Junior, Kiki Hernandez...and yes, Trevor Story...all hovering feebly around the .200 line.

You could say the Red Sox can’t hit for average but they have no power. Tough to win ballgames with that lineup, and when you add in a confused and ineffective bullpen you got...as Porgy says…

“plenty of nuthin’”.

Story hits his first 4-bagger as a Red Sox on May 11. And then in Game 1 of the next series against the Mariners he connects 3 straight times and steals a base. Next game? Grand Slam to win it for the Bostons. He winds up the week with two more homers...6 dingers in 7 games with 14 Ribbies. How do you get that hot that quick?

If anybody should know, it’s Trevor Story. His rookie year in Colorado he hit 7 home runs in his first 6 games to win Player of the Week in the N.L. The Hall of Fame wanted his helmet and batting gloves after that career-start. (They wanted his bat too but no way.)

This time, coincidentally, the rest of the Sox lineup gets hot at the same time Trevor does and pours on the the runs. I mean, the averages are still excruciating, but at least people like Dalbec are hitting an occasional bomb and even Jackie Bradley gets a couple of base hits. And since Story’s outbreak, the Boston team has vacated the basement and has a winning record now.

Manager Alex Cora takes the credit. The winning streak coincides with him shaving his beard.

Here are some other interesting Hot Streaks to ponder:

1968...Frank Howard of the Washington Senators hits 10 home runs in a string of 20 at bats. You can’t even understand how hot that is. He sets a record with 10 taters in a week of 6 games. He has 4 games of multiple dingers in the streak.

1952...Walt Dropo of the Detroit Tigers gets a hit in twelve consecutive at bats. He ties the record originally set by the old Cubs catcher Johnny Kling in 1902 and tied by Pinky Higgins of the Boston Red Sox in 1938, but Higgins had a couple of walks mixed in with his base hits. Only Dropo and Kling have ever gotten 12 base hits in consecutive plate appearances. Walt hit 9 straight singles and then went triple, single, double to tie the record before a foul pop ended it in his fourth at bat of the day.

1932...Johnny Burnett of the Cleveland Indians gets 9 hits in one game. (It’s a trick...it was an 18 extra inning game and the Clevelands lost. Burnett went 9 for 11 with 2 doubles.) Nobody has ever gotten within 2 of Johnny Burnett’s Hot Hit Streak.

1927...Babe Ruth hits 17 home runs in 1 month. The Babe set the record of 59 circuit clouts in a season back in 1921. As an older player nobody really expects him to challenge that record and when he stands at 43 taters at the end of August nobody is watching for anything stratospheric. But the Bambino gets hot and clobbers 17 home runs in the month of September, hitting his record 60^th in the last game of the year on the same day that his great rival Walter Johnson retires. The Babe hits one off Johnson’s Washington teammate Tom Zachary, who sits in the dugout crying afterward.

Ruth sets the record for home runs in a month that is beaten by…

1937...Rudy York hits 18 bombs in August. Rudy is a rookie on the Detroit Tigers searching for a position on the loaded Tiger team. He’s an Oklahoma Indian with scary power but limited defensive prowess at any position. The Tigres have Hank Greenberg in his prime at first base so nothing for York there. Outfield is not Rudy’s bag either. Likewise catcher and third base. Rudy is a bench warmer until manager Mickey Cochrane puts him in the lineup at catcher on August 4. Rudy hits 4 bing bangs in 4 games...and Cochrane sits him down for awhile and only lets him pinch hit! Eventually they leave him in the lineup and the rookie winds up with 18 tatas and 49 rbis in 30 August games. He finishes the season with 35 long balls in only 375 at bats. So over half his four baggers come in one month. Hace mucho calor!

2017...Giancarlo Stanton hits 18 downtowners in August to tie York’s record.

*****ASTERISK SECTION: Sammy Sosa hits 20 home runs in June of 1998. I guess that makes him a greater player than Ruth, York and Stanton? No...it doesn’t.

The record for homering in consecutive games is 8 by 3 men: Dale Long was a journeyman first baseman playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates when he got hot in 1956. Don Mattingly went yard on a daily basis in 1987. Ken Griffey Jr. duplicated those results in a good week back in July ‘93.

What about the pitchers? Most of you remember Orel “Bulldog” Hershiser strapping the Dodgers to his back and carrying them over the line in 1988 when he set the record for consecutive shutout innings with 59.

But I noticed a funny thing going through the history books: some of the most impressive pitching hot streaks were put up by screwball pitchers.

That is noteworthy because very few pitchers have ever mastered the pitch. We’ve got hundreds of forkball/split finger pitchers and we’ve had submariners and quite a few effective knuckle ball pitchers. But good screwball pitchers? It’s a very hard pitch to master...it’s just the opposite of a curve or slider...the pitcher has to turn his hand inside instead of outside to get the contrary movement. But rarity equals potency when it comes to screwball pitchers.

The Screwball Pantheon:

Starters:

CHRISTY MATHEWSON (he invented it)

CARL HUBBELL(he mastered it)

WARREN SPAHN (he added it and tried it on Musial)

JUAN MARICHAL (with a high kick added)

MIKE CUELLAR (lots of Cubans liked the screwball)

FERNANDO VALENZUELA (cemented the screwball’s fame)

Relief Pitchers:

Luis Arroyo (Cuban born Yankee reliever circa 1961)

Tug McGraw (thanks Warren!)

Willie Hernandez (MVP closer Tigers 1984)

Hector Santiago (throws it today)

Christy Mathewson either invented his famous “fadeaway” (which was a screwball) or didn’t give credit to whoever taught it to him. Matty was such a goody two shoes and super smart to boot that maybe he did invent the pitch. He wasn’t the type to lie about it.

Matty had a great fastball and great control, so when he was on, the other team was in serious trouble. In the 1905 World Series Matty’s Giants were going up against Connie Mack’s Philadelphia Athletics. Matty pitches a 4-hit shut out in Game 1, another 4-hit shutout in Game 3 and wins the Series for the New Yorkers with a 6-hit shutout in Game 5. All complete games.

Notice one thing...this was the first meeting between these two rival teams from different leagues, and the A’s had never seen a screwball.

Carl Hubbell might have had the best of all possible screwballs. That’s because he had nothing else to throw that would get people out. King Carl threw the screwball so much that his left (throwing) arm was permanently hanging pronated.

Carl was most famous for his start in the 1934 All Star Game. With two men on in the first inning, King Carl fans Ruth, Gehrig and Foxx...in a row. All three of the sluggers look awkward as hell trying to hit that darting scroogie. In the second inning Hubby fans two more Hall of Famers in Al Simmons and Joe Cronin to set the most memorable All Star pitching record of all time. Notice how many screwballs those five hitters were seeing in the American league...nil. Again, the very rarity of that particular pitch made it effective.

Carl “The Meal Ticket” Hubbell also owns the record for most consecutive games won without a loss. He won 24 decisions without a loss in 1936-37.

Warren Spahn is the winningest leftie of all time. His career didn’t really start until he got back from WWII. His first win came at age 25...and he wound up winning 363 ball games! Spahnie had an arsenal of good pitches. His circle change was famous and in the second half of his career, he added a screwball to give him an even stranger look.

Spahnie coached for the Mets after his playing days were over and taught the screwball to one of the top relief men of the game...Tug McGraw.

Juan Marichal was another pitcher with a gigantic repertoire. He would throw a slider, a curve, a change and a screwball all in the same at bat and throw them from two or three different arm slots.

Fernando Valenzuela showed up in 1981 and took the game by storm with his Luis Tiant “eyes to the heavens prayer to the sky-god” as he delivered to the plate. While the stadium disc jockey played The Lonely Bull on the sound system. Fernando allowed a total of one run in his first 5 games...4 complete game shutouts! Again, the hitters hadn’t really ever seen a pitch do what Fernando’s screwball did.

You know how all the time the Stat-Heads of the game are mumbling about not letting their starters go through the opposing lineup a third time? Familiarity breeds contempt and when good hitters get multiple looks at a hurler’s stuff he’s more likely to do something with it.

Well, if that’s true on a per game basis, it is also true on a seasonal basis. Back in the Good Old Days of two 8 team leagues, each team played the other 7 in their league 22 times every year. Almost every team used a 4-man starting staff and most had maybe 10 pitchers total. So the hitters of the Old Days only had to study up on maybe 30 starters and they saw those starters 5 or 6 times a season. Add in the key relievers. Lots of familiarity. So they got to know the tendencies of those pitchers.

Nowadays you’ve got 14 other teams in your league plus some interleague games. Even with video scouting the hitters can’t keep up with that many pitchers. What is it, maybe 100 pitchers that they’ll see more than once or twice a year and need to figure out how to hit them? Plus new arms coming into the game constantly?

Yet another reason why hitting is disappearing from the game. (And yet another list!...call this one….)

High Average Hitters...An Endangered Species

1/Too many pitchers to keep track of.

2/Improved scouting and video making it possible to find all the studs in the world who can throw 96+ and filling rosters with them.

3/Everybody teaches a slider/cutter that is super hard to recognize as a “pseudo” fastball.

4/Huge bullpens mean hitters never face a tired pitcher. Instead they face a new pitcher almost every at bat.

5/so much speed in the game means outfielders make spectacular plays to rob hitters of base hits in the gaps.

6/glove technology is probably three or four times better than in the

pre-war era.

7/too much travel in the game

8/too many cold weather games

How did guys like Ted Williams, Rod Carew, Wade Boggs, George Brett, Tony Gwynn and Ichiro do it? Will we ever see a batting average over .360 again? (Ty Cobb hit .362...LIfETIME!)

AND NOW... THE GAZETTE:

AL EAST:

The Yanks are pounding the Dickens out of everybody. I tried to jinx them by picking them to finish fourth in the AL East, but it backfired. Whereas in the last several years the Yanks have looked old, now every move they make works like magic. I think their best move was trading Gary Sanchez, the anti-catcher ,to the Twins for Josh Donaldson. Their pitching staff loves new catcher Trevino and you’ve seen Taillon, Montgomery, Severino and Nestor Cortes all turn into stoppers. And Gerrit Cole is still there!

If I had told you pre-season that Chapman, Chad Green, Loaisiga and Zack Britton were going to miss all or most of the season you would have jumped off their bullpen bandwagon I bet. But the Yanks got lucky with Clay Holmes turning into Mariano Junior and Michael King striking out 51 batters in 37 innings.

They fixed up their shortstop problem with that Falafel kid from Pittsburgh via Twinky town. (Excuse me...Isiah Kiner-Falefa.)

The infield is solid now with Gleber Torres moving over to second where he does less harm. They went out and got Anthony Rizzo to play first base. I told you he was too old. But evidently not too old to lay in ambush of low inside fastballs to Pop into the Pavillion. 18 taters to augment Aaron Judge’s 25. (Aaron on his way to a career year...barring injury.)

So much for my prediction of disaster in Pinstripes. The oddsmakers are only giving the Yankees a 99.9% chance of making the playoffs. (Lloyd in Dumb and Dumber: “So you’re tellin’ me there’s a chance!”)

AL Central: Tony LaRussa is obviously insane. He’s walking Trea Turner after his pitcher gets ahead with a 1-2 count? Huh? Not exactly a by-the-book managing decision. The White Sox should get Joe Maddon who the Angels should never have let go. (How many games was he supposed to win with no pitching staff and injuries to Trout and Rendon?) The White Sox, even as diminished by injury as they are, still hold the hammer in the AL Central.

AL West: Those mischievous Astros! They’ve somehow reworked their whole lineup so skillfully that it’s the same production with mostly new names. From Springer, Altuve, Correa, Bregman to Alvarez, Tucker, Altuve, Bregman, Pena. Nicely done, Space City!

NL East: the Bravos just finished a 14 game win streak against Arizona, Colorado,Oakland,Pittsburgh and Washington. Impressive, right? Not when you look at the records of those opponents. The Braves are short on hitting, especially in the outfield. They lost Ozzie Albeis at least til September. Their pitching is definitely not deep. They are down 5.5 games to the Mets and 3 ahead of the Phillies. And they’ve now finished up the kindest portion of their schedule.

So..one question Atlanta...NOW DO YOU MISS FREDDIE FREEMAN???

NL Central: Dead tie. Milwaukee and St. Louis. As predicted in these pages. Goldschmidt and Arenado are the golden boys of the Cardinals and they have offensive help from Edman. But the St. Louis team has 8 regulars or semi-regulars with on base averages under .320.

The Brewers are barely functioning offensively. Yelich has never rounded into the form of MVPs of old and the Brew-Crew has 11 regulars with OBAs of under .320. So don’t expect a lot of scoring in their upcoming 4 game set in Milwaukee.

Problem: The Brewers have lost 3 star pitchers: Peralta, Woodruff and Josh Hader. Poof and they’re gone. Corbin Burns is the last Ace standing.

St. Louis needs to win this series and start pulling away from Milwaukee. These teams have gone 5-5 against each other this season. I relish watching how they match up right now.

NL West: Ssshhhh! Everybody be quiet and don’t wake them up! DON’T WAKE THE DODGERS!!!

They’ve been coasting all season with their unbeatable lineup and their unbeatable pitching staff and now they’ve somehow just fallen totally asleep and zonkered out into a protracted comatosity.

Remember San Diego...Pride of the Waffle House team colors and forever cursed because they never won one with Tony Gwynn? Have a shortstop who’d rather break bones on his motor bike than on the ballfield? Well yesterday they were in first place for a minute.

And the Giants of San Francisco...nice city if you like cable cars and Hippies. The Giants have been winning frequently and doggedly.

They’re coming for you again Dodgers! Bobby Thompson, Juan Marichal, Willie Mays, Stretch McCovey, Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner and all the Dodger-killers of the past are biting you on the ass in the division standings. They never quit, Dodger Boys!!

(The hairy, skinny freak with the pistol and the coke bottles on his fingers from The Warriors:

(“Dodger-Boys! (clink-clink)

Come out to PLAAAAAAY_AAAAY!!!!”)

MARCO'S BASEBALL BLOG-O-ROONIE 2022: QUICK PICKS NL

 

MARCO’S BASEBALL BLOG-O-ROONIE 2022: QUICK PICKS NL

The Madness Continues:

It’s so much easier to make predictions after the teams have played ten games. I bet it’s even easier at the end of the season! But not even I can hold back the tide of premonition that long so here goes.

NL EAST: The AL EAST was tough to predict. Injuries are going to have a huge effect on the teams’ finish.

The NL is a piece of cake in comparison. You know going in that the Dodgers are better than everybody and are going to win a lot of games. Same as last year. Of course, the TV executives would be happy if Los Angeles and New York won every pennant every year and went on to an endless number of World Series matchups...maybe with an occasional interruption from the Boston Red Sox or Chicago Cubs to make it all look unrigged. As long as the action stays centered on the highest possible viewership.

Baseball has always been dominated by the big money teams but there’s enough slippage in there that we get a tantalizing surprise once in awhile, because, thank God, nobody has figured out how to precisely peg the cost of a player to his performance. So you get delightful anomalies like Brandon Crawford going career year for the Giants last season and Logan Webb turning into Whitey Ford before our grateful eyes. Salvador Perez struggles to his feet on his catcher-punished knees and hits the most homers ever hit by a major league catcher (48). Something weird and wonderful is always happening in baseball. And that’s why big money teams need to watch their asses.

1/ ATLANTA BRAVES...I like ‘em. They have the depth and the seasoning to defend their run of divisional first place finishes. I know all the sentimental slush about Freddie Freeman is the focus. “How could they cut him loose after he gave HIS VERY SOUL to the Bravos!” Freeman cashed in after a couple of great seasons and leaves the Georgians at the very height of success. Freeman has already played 12 seasons. He’ll turn 33 this season. The Dodgers will get the dregs of his career. Do you think the Braves want to have a dreadful nostalgia-fest overpaying Frederick for a Miggy Cabrera type circus? And Freeman knows this is his last dip into the piggy bank to set himself up for a life beyond baseball. Way it goes. Atlanta went out and got a comparable player (Matt Olson) who is younger and cheaper even with two additional years on his contract. He’s a Georgia favorite son as well.

The Braves have the offense, especially with Ozuna, Duvall and Acuna coming back. Their infield is really strong third to first...Riley, Swanson, Albies, Olson.

Pitching depth is good even with no stand-out Number One. The bullpen won them a ring last year. The Braves are ready.

2/NEW YORK METS...be still my heart picking these scrapdoodles to finish this high, but I can’t help it if the other teams in this division besides Atlanta are hopelessly lacking. The Mets are the very picture of a random team. You have a potential team leader (Lindor) who flibbered the gibbet in the worst way and wound up bad-mouthing the fans as the source of his ineffectiveness. They had to let Javier Baez go so Francisco, who was one of my favorite players, wouldn’t have a partner in whine to insult the public as he celebrated his $341 million dollar contract.

Then there’s the testosterone twins Robbie Cano and Starling Marte

(if you want me to type those names in bold, I’m sorry) comparing their prescriptions as they reminisce how they successfully bumped up their salaries into the stratosphere with creative chemistry.

The dynamic pitching duo of Scherzer and deGrom were ready to restore greatness to the Metskies just as soon as they got their new ligaments rubberized and vacuumed out their thoracic cavities.

Owner Steve Cohen happily spent the big money on all these guys because he wants to win. Good for him. But Scrooge McDuck could have organized a better team atmosphere.

You know who could make that team come together? The Polar Bear...first sacker Pete Alonso. He’s the most productive member of the offense and he’s good with the fans, good in the clubhouse and he does it all with 8 regulars in the lineup making as much or more money. Some of them are making two or three times more. He’ll help the Mets stumble into the wild card somehow, where maybe a resurrected Scherzer can win them something.

3/PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES...a boutique pick for a pennant. I don’t know what that means but it sounds cool, you know? I think I mean that this iteration of the Phillies have some flash and they suck you in with the possibility of being a winner when they really aren’t and may never be. Yeah I know. Bryce Harper is such a “passionate” player and his hat comes off when he runs...like Willie’s used to! He’s so strong...like Mickey was! I’m sorry but Bryce can’t carry this team all by himself.

Castellanos and Schwarber, welcome to Phillie! But we are only allowed one DH and both of you are *gladiators* in the outfield. Realmuto and Hoskins and old timers Jean Segura and Didi Gregorius are going to have to be productive and they just haven’t got many arrows left in their quivers.

The Phillies looked like they were moving into contention a couple of years ago but then they spit the bit and didn’t complete the mission. Now they have a few good pitchers (Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola) but not enough bullpen and an aging roster. If those two starters have good years, they get some bullpen help and the old guys don’t go lame and Harper, Castellanos and Schwarber all go crazy...the Phillies might be Franklins. If not? Bye Bye Benjamins.

(*gladiators*...this nickname bestowed in honor of the original “gladiator” Pete Browning...a famous nineteenth century batting champion who was also notorious for his “battles” with fly balls.

Deaf and illiterate, the six-foot, 180-pound Browning was eccentric as well. He refused to slide; played defense standing on one leg to prevent anyone running into him; stared into the sun to improve his “lamps” (eyes); treasured his “active” bats because of the hits they still contained; was constantly on the prowl for the next, new “magical” stick with hits in it; reportedly favored bats that were 37 inches in length and 48 ounces in weight; maintained a warehouse of “retired” bats in his home — all of them named, many after Biblical figures; kept his batting statistics on his shirt cuffs; and when traveling over the circuit, frequently alighted from trains and introduced himself as the champion batter of the American Association.)

4/MIAMI MARLINS...oh boy oh boy oh boy. Derek Jeter and his little elvin helpers have really screwed up this team. Jeter walked away after insuring and bequeathing another cycle of rebuilding upon his former possession. The Marlins have stuffed their roster with great young pitchers. Dozens of them it seems like. And they are all coming into their productive years and find themselves saddled with ...no OFFENSE!! Idiot owners have mis-planned this whole deal.

The Chicago Cubs rebuilt a decade ago by building the team with regulars and then going out and then buying the pitchers to be ready to win when the offense was there. The Marlins have got these talented pitchers who are learning to lose because the team is at the bottom of baseball in runs scored, homers,etc. Now the Miami Mistakes have to wait around for the team to develop some steady hitting. This is the team that used to have Christian Yelich, Marcell Ozuna and Giancarlo Stanton in their lineup all at one time...and let them go!

Poor Don Mattingly. He deserves better. I fully expect him to be fired and Miami to trade all their great young arms for a new crop of Miami wannabes. Another chapter in the book of Miami Marlin ineptitude.

5/WASHINGTON NATIONALS...like the song says...”Beat the drum slowly and play the pipes lowly and play the Dead March as you carry me along...” Observe, everyone, the demise of yet another once thriving franchise. A moment in the sun in 2019 and now...the Deluge!

One of baseball’s brightest stars, Juan Soto, is about to have the same fate befall him as Ernie Banks, Mike Trout and other worthy superstars of the game...a career sucked dry by the desert of a franchise that mistimed their rebuild. Now the Nats have nobody to deal. Not much farm system. A barren pitching staff with nobody worth trading now that Strasburg is permanently damaged. (Maybe Josiah Gray would be a chip if he works on his control.)

Maybe Soto can last until what should be a very rich free agency. Maybe he will play it safe and accept a long term contract from Washington and try to last out the losing. One way or another, it’s too bad that baseball keeps forsaking its most appealing stars and hiding them in back-water losing ball clubs.

And don’t expect miraculous batting feats from Soto for awhile... there ain’t no protection for Juan in the current lineup so why pitch to him?

NL CENTRAL:

1/ST. LOUIS CARDINALS and 2/MILWAUKEE BREWERS...this is a close call between the St. Looie-Looies and the Milwaukee Brewskies. The Brews certainly have a championship pitching staff and own the three top pitchers in the division in Corbin Burnes (WHIP 0.94) Brandon Woodruff (0.96) and Freddie Peralta (0.97). That can be lethal in a short playoff series if those guys stay healthy this season. They also have Josh Hader (WHIP 0.84/almost 16 K’s per 9 innings) and Devin Williams (WHIP 1.19/almost 15 K’s per 9) in the bullpen plus many other Major Dudes. I say the Brews have the best staff in baseball...better than the Dodgers, better than the White Sox and better than the Mets even if deGrom hadn’t gotten hurt.

Only St. Louis closer Giovanny Gallegos (WHIP 0.85) would make the top end of the Brewers bullpen. No St. Louis starter would make the Milwaukee rotation unless Jack Flaherty is healthy in which case you might want him over Adrian Houser or Eric Lauer.

So what am I thinking by picking the Cards to take the Central?

Well, while the Brewers own the mound in a Big, Big way, they are woefully lacking in farm system prospects and money. (The Cardinals have oodles of cash and guys like 2B/3B Nolan Gorman in the minors...7 home runs in 7 games this week in Memphis)

The Wisconsin-ites (?) are depending on an unlikely rebound from Christian Yelich after two nightmare seasons. Yelich has a bad back and that comes and goes. He’s had a few other injuries as well. Playing baseball doesn’t exactly help. He’s probably going to be better this season but will he be MVP-level better like he was? Very very doubtful. But he’s the offense, along with … Rowdy Tellez?

The Brewers have a very good infield now that they traded for Willy Adames to play short. He and Kolton Wong are GG caliber at the keystone and Luis Urias surprises at third. First base...Rowdy Tellez?

Of course the St. Louis Cardinals are not exactly hurting defensively with an infield of Nolan Arenado at third, Paul Goldschmidt at first, Tommy Edman at second and either Edmundo Sosa or Paul DeJong at short. The first three all won Gold Gloves. Two of the Cardinal’s outfielders won Gold Gloves also...Tyler O’Neill and Harrison Bader. Right fielder Dylan Carlson finished fourth in Rookie of the Year voting. So with catcher Yadier Molina (many Gold Glove years) the whole team can field like fiends. (And five total Gold Gloves I believe is the new all-time record for one team in one year.)

So I list these two teams together. Worthy competitors if it plays out like I think it will in the Central. Two great defensive teams...one with superior pitching and the other with superior offense. As Yogi used to say, “Good pitching will beat good hitting every time….and vice versa!”

I pick St. Louis to finish first because I guess you can say I drink the sentimental Kool Aide that the Cardinals are serving up. Isn’t it sweet that Molina and Wainwright have decided to play one more year with each other and then retire? Two old War Ponies now joining up with Albert Pujols in his Last Grand Tour around the league? It’s just like a storybook or something!

A BIG HOWEVER… if the Brewers finish first in the Central regular season and play in a wild card first round in the Playoffs, the Wisconsin-ians (?) get to play 3 straight home games in the wild card match with their triple headed starting pitcher monster rotation of Burnes, Woodruff and Peralta! Them are Long Odds for the Louie-Louies and anybody else who plays Milwaukee!

3/ CHICAGO CUBS...and now for the NL Central Also-Rans. The Cubs have definitively and officially gone in the tank for 2022 and probably beyond. They have dispensed with Rizzo, Baez and Bryant. So no more of those pesky hitters. They’ve dumped their name pitchers as well because who needs pitching? Who’d they keep? Marcus Stroman and Kyle Hendricks who aren’t world beaters but are true competitors. For regulars they have Ian Happ, Wilson “Contrary” Contreras, Patrick Wisdom and Jason Heyward. Jason is going into his eighth and final year of an 8 year death spiral contract. His OPS in 2021? .627. His average was .214 and at 34 he’s lost his range in the outfield. It is what it is.

And yet the Cubbies are not without hope for the future. They picked up some interesting young prospects from their various Tank-Trades.

There best move may have been the purchase of Seiya Suzuki from Japan. Suzuki is a real player. Dominated in the Japanese Leagues as a .300+ hitter with power and speed. He’s played outfield, 3B and shortstop and at 27 he’s in his prime as a ballplayer. He has a great eye at the plate and takes walks. OPS of 1.000 + every year. Should make a big difference for the Cubs. Someone to build around.

I like Jud Hoyer as the GM and David Ross as a paternalistic player’s manager. I don’t think the Cubs will disgrace themselves and I have a feeling they will be back soon.

4/CINCINNATI REDS...are also doing a Tank Job, but they aren’t being as up front about it as the Cubs. They’ve left their die hard fans in a state of horror as they appeared to be making a big push a couple of years ago and then just...stopped. They traded Gold Glove catcher Tucker Barnhart and their great closer Raisel Iglesias. Nick Castellanos...Adios!

The Reds are going into this season with Joey Votto, Jesse Winker and Rookie 2B Jonathon India leading the offense. They still have Luis Castillo and Sonny Gray in the rotation and new wunderkind Hunter Green who looks like Doc Gooden or a friendlier Bob Gibson throwing 100 mph consistently.

I am disappointed. I guess the Reds are going to be satisfied to phone in a .500 record.

5/PITTSBURGH PIRATES...they’ve become a farm team for the rest of baseball. Claim the best draft choices year after year as they finish last. Trade anybody that qualifies for an arbitrated higher salary. It’s an insult to the memory of a once proud franchise. What to do? See the section on Oakland in the Quick Picks AL blog sent out two weeks ago. Meanwhile look at this all-time lineup to remember the heritage of the Buccos. Raise the Jolly Roger Maties!

C: Jason Kendall

1B: Willie Stargell

2B: Bill Mazeroski

3B: Pie Traynor

SS: Honus Wagner

INF: Arky Vaughn

OF: Roberto Clemente

OF: Paul Waner

OF: Dave Parker

OF: Max Carey

OF: Fred Clarke

DH: Ralph Kiner

P: Babe Adams, Jesse Tannehill, Wilber Cooper, Steve Blass, Vern Law, Harvey Haddix, Elroy Face, Doug Drabek, Kent Tekulve

NL WEST:

1/LOS ANGELES DODGERS...at last! The glamorous NL West! Home of the famous Los Angeles Show Ponies...slick and glossy pride of the West Coast! A team of destiny! A team of Stars! A team that finished second to the San Francisco Giants last season! (Oooops. Wait a minute….something wrong with this bullhorn.) How about those Rams, Huh?

Yep, the Deadly D’s had a great team last year and still managed to lose the division for the first time in ten years. Blame it on Trevor Bauer I guess, and move on. Or better yet...congratulate the talented and stubborn San Francisco Giants and be glad they are in the division with L.A. so we have a contest.

Also be glad that the Dodgers have a couple of guys like the Yard Gnomes... Justin Turner and Mike Muncy... and versatile clutch hitter Chris Taylor. True Grit players like that put a little beard fuzz on those shiny pony-boys who make the glossy cover of Dodgertown Confidential. You know, pretty boys like Mookie, Freddie Freeman, Trea Turner, Kershaw and Bellinger. (And yes, I know that men like Mookie and Trea and Clayton are equally gritty. Their only fault is being glamorous and inviting my opportunistic sarcasm.)

And I can’t blame the players for enjoying the candy store that is the Dodger roster. Who doesn’t enjoy winning and playing on a club loaded with talent? I’m just glad there is still competition in baseball and teams like Washington and Atlanta get a turn at the top now and again.

I really don’t see how the Dodgers could possibly finish out of the money this year. Even if we get another surprising anomaly like the resurrection of the Giants, L.A. can’t help but at least win a wild card spot. They are so deep and they have more great young players (catcher Diego Cartaya, Of Andy Pages) waiting to move up to the Big Club.

But that potential lineup of Betts, Freeman, Turner, Turner, Muncy, Taylor, Will Smith, Lux and Bellinger/Rios/Matt Beaty at DH? Fuh-git A-bou-dit!

And the pitchers! You think Kershaw is close to the End? 7 perfect innings in an April start! Maybe not! Buehler, Urias, Heany, Gonsolin also in the rotation? Bullpen bristling with arms as usual.

The Yankees should take a good look at what Big Money can buy . Even if you still believe in thrift, like L.A.’s President of Operations and ex-Tampa Bay Rays exec. Andrew Friedman.

Because the Dodgers are Locked and Loaded.

2/SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS...hats off to you, Gigazmos. You came out of the Great Blue Bay and throttled the League with your winning ways. I had given up on you for last year. Won’t make that mistake again.

Of course you did lose Buster Posey to retirement and he had a big year for you. And Brandon Crawford can’t have ANOTHER career year, can he? Will the League figure out how to hit that sinker Logan Webb throws? And isn’t that last year’s Ace Kevin Gausman pitching for Toronto in 2022? Can you really have 12 guys over 30 on your Opening Day roster?

So...questions for the season ahead. But I like the attitude on this team. Bunch of Old Pros who won’t quit. They took the Dodgers to the very end last year. I say a wild card at the least.

3/SAN DIEGO PADRES...I picked them to win the N.L. last year. I was wrong, wasn’t I? Tatis got hurt which was one thing that screwed them up. And the pitching went south, surprisingly, except for Joe Musgrove. What was the matter with Yu Darvish and Blake Snell? Gopher balls and walks, specifically. Pitching questions make evaluating this team really dicey.

The hitters are formidable when Fernando Tatis Jr. is in the lineup but he hurt himself on a motor bike (are you listening Madison Bumgarner?) which I’m sure pleased management to no end. Especially when Tatis had this to say to a question about his bike wreck: “Which one?” Team first, huh Fernando? No wonder Manny Machado has to kick your ass so often. Anyway, the Pads are a different team when Tatis is healthy. He is a huge presence.

Speaking of team chemistry, San Diego seemed to lose focus during the injury-tainted 2021 season and it didn’t help that Eric Hosmer asked for a trade. Soured the atmosphere a little bit. I understand why Hosmer hates that ballpark though. Petco is the exact wrong fit for him. Knocks 100+ points off his slugging because he’s a line drive hitter.

Positives? CJ Abrams looks like a future star as he fills in for Tatis during the injury. He’ll stay in the infield when Fernando gets back.

And the new manager Bob Melvin is just the right choice to get the Padres back on point.

4/COLORADO ROCKIES...I wish some baseball science nerd would explain to me why the Rockies can’t figure out how to win in the major leagues. If Coors Field is that extreme an environment that they can’t even cash in on the offensive advantage in their own park...maybe they should put the whole team in a humidifier instead of just the baseballs.

Pitchers can’t throw a lot of breaking balls because they don’t break in the thin air. Got it. So recruit power fastball pitchers with great control (if they exist) or else change-up/sinker ball specialists who fool the hitters with change of speed. I mean, what other choice do you have if you’re the pitching coach? They can’t entice any free agent pitchers to come to Colorado because who wants to go get their brains beat in? So you have to build the farm system. Bring up some knuckle ball pitchers. Try Kent Tekulve submarine pitchers. Eephus balls! Try something! Go with a big staff of mixed talents...one type pitching in Coors and save the traditional pitchers for the road games. Get creative!

And for offense, go Big! Colorado has actually won in the past with three or four guys like Andres Gallaraga, Dante Bichette and Vinnie Castillo in the lineup...not Hall of Famers...just big guys who took advantage of the conditions in that ballpark!

Currently the Rockheads have a bunch of hitters with low averages and medium power and a bunch of pitchers with ERAs of over 5. Not a winning formula.

Right now the Rockies franchise lies like a bludgeoned trout rotting in the sun.

5/ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS...it gets painful at this end of the NL West projections, fans. What do you get if you’re a Diamondbacks fan? Ketel Marte (their ONLY hitter with a plus .800 OPS) and the husk of a once great Madison Bumgarner? Watching this team is like watching the wreck of the Hindenburg in slow motion. You want to yell “Jump! Jump!” but you know the passengers on the film can’t even hear you.

Just one example of the fruitlessness of the Arizona genius- front office: they spent a whole lot of money on free agent Mark Melancon to be their CLOSER! Mark is great, but how many leads do you think they expect to have with their lineup? Why not spend that money on about six young prospects and start their rebuild? Are they really pretending that they have a chance?

SUMMING UP: The National League has 8 decent teams with a real chance at a Playoff spot...L.A., San Fran, San Diego, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Atlanta, New York Mets and Philadelphia. The rest are shark chum.

The AL is deeper. Tampa Bay, Toronto, New York Yanks, Boston, Chicago White Sox, Minnesota, Cleveland, Kansas City, Houston, Seattle, and the Los Angeles Angels all have a shot.

MY NL PICKS:

NL EAST: ATLANTA

NL CENTRAL: ST. LOUIS

NL WEST: LOS ANGELES DODGERS

1ST WILD CARD: MILWAUKEE

2ND WILD CARD: SAN FRANCISCO

3RD WILD CARD: NEW YORK

FIRST ROUND WILD CARD WINNERS:

ST. LOUIS OVER 3RD WILD CARD NEW YORK

2ND WILD CARD SAN FRANCISCO OVER 1ST WILD CARD MILWAUKEE.

DIVISION PLAYOFF WINNERS:

LOS ANGELES OVER ST. LOUIS

ATLANTA OVER SAN FRANCISCO

NL PENNANT WINNER:

LOS ANGELES OVER ATLANTA

AL PICKS:

AL EAST: TAMPA BAY

AL CENTRAL: CHICAGO

AL WEST: HOUSTON

1ST WILD CARD: TORONTO

2ND WILD CARD: BOSTON

3RD WILD CARD: LOS ANGELES ANGELS

FIRST ROUND WILD CARD WINNERS:

HOUSTON OVER 3RD WILD CARD LOS ANGELES ANGELS

1ST WILD CARD TORONTO OVER 2ND WILD CARD BOSTON

DIVISION PLAYOFF WINNERS:

HOUSTON OVER TAMPA BAY

TORONTO OVER CHICAGO

AL PENNANT WINNER:

HOUSTON OVER TORONTO

WORLD SERIES WINNER:

LOS ANGELES OVER HOUSTON

Many Happy Baseball Returns!