Official MLB 2006 Thread

[burgundy]

I noticed! Good work! Thank them for me!

[Gohron]

You really can't spin splitting a series with the Rockies at home as a positive.

Guess you're rooting for the Braves this weekend, huh? Been a while since you've had to do that, I bet.

After their horrible home record I can most certainly spin it as positive.

And the Braves, not sure...to be honest I like the Braves, I always root for them in the post-season but of course I like the Phils more. I don't think the Mets are gonna hold on and I believe Atlanta will most likely claim the division again. It is possible for either the Mets or Phils to get the division but I think the wild-card is going to be the best bet for either of them. I think this is the type of season where one of those three teams could win 95 games or over and still miss the post season though. We'll see come September, it's gonna be a long season for the top 3 in the NL East.

[burgundy]

LOL. So you're still not ready to admit that the Mets are the best team in the division.

Nice of you to give them a shot at the title, being that we're only 5 games up and all.

[SpoDaddy]

Adrian Beltre has fallen off the face of the earth, I always thought he was overrated but I never thought he was capable of this kind of production. Maybe it's just me but it seems like there's a lot more overpaid underproducing punks in baseball than there were like 10 years ago. All this mental adjustment to a new team, new league, new teammates, 50 years ago a guy would get a blanket party if he was making $100,000/year while not producing and blamed it on mentally adjusting to a new place.

I still wouldn't bet against the Braves winning yet another division due to history. That said, based on this season alone so far I'd have to pick the Mets. They've gutted out some games lately that have impressed me, what you do in the close games says far more about a team than freakish blowouts and lucky breaks.

[raystorm]

Control yourself Alex!

[burgundy]

Adrian Beltre has fallen off the face of the earth, I always thought he was overrated but I never thought he was capable of this kind of production. Maybe it's just me but it seems like there's a lot more overpaid underproducing punks in baseball than there were like 10 years ago. All this mental adjustment to a new team, new league, new teammates, 50 years ago a guy would get a blanket party if he was making $100,000/year while not producing and blamed it on mentally adjusting to a new place.

I still wouldn't bet against the Braves winning yet another division due to history. That said, based on this season alone so far I'd have to pick the Mets. They've gutted out some games lately that have impressed me, what you do in the close games says far more about a team than freakish blowouts and lucky breaks.

Baseball needs more incentive contracts. If I don't do my job, I lose it. Why are ballplayers different?

The Braves just don't look very good, and they've been playing out of their minds for too long now to keep it up. I'm leery when the Mets play them head to head, but over the course of a 162 game season, I just don't see them making a run. History doesn't mean a damn thing unless you're watching YES. I think the Phillies are more of a threat.

Like I've been saying, I think the Mets are going to take the division less because I'm impressed with them and more because I'm unimpressed with the East. Move them to the Central and I start crapping myself.

[Brisco Bold]

Control yourself Alex!

Somebody GIF that now.

[Yoshi]

And the Braves, not sure...to be honest I like the Braves, I always root for them in the post-season but of course I like the Phils more. I don't think the Mets are gonna hold on and I believe Atlanta will most likely claim the division again. It is possible for either the Mets or Phils to get the division but I think the wild-card is going to be the best bet for either of them. I think this is the type of season where one of those three teams could win 95 games or over and still miss the post season though. We'll see come September, it's gonna be a long season for the top 3 in the NL East.

The Phillies and Braves aren't getting 95 wins, but the missing the playoffs part is spot on.

[Rich]

@ Gohron thinking the Phillies have a shot.

Control yourself Alex!

I was watching the game when I saw that, and me and my friend started cracking up. He was drying the bat, but it just looked so ridiculous.

[Gohron]

The Phillies and Braves aren't getting 95 wins, but the missing the playoffs part is spot on.

Don't jizz all over yourself yet. I'll give you the fact that the Mets are the best team in the NL East right now and it might stay that way for the rest of the season. I'll also give you the fact that when the final game of the regular season is done and over with the Mets will probably have much better pitching stats then the Phils (and probably the Braves, we'll see) but the teams play games for a reason.

One thing to take note of is the fact that the Phillies get off to a slow start nearly every year (and is a good reason why they havn't made the post-season since 1993, which they did great in the beginning and managed to hold a lead even with an average team) but they also continue to improve over the course of the season.

When it comes to pitching I think they'll end up a little better this year but as it stands right now, not much better. I'm still hoping Cole Hamels gets the call before the All-Star break as I believe despite his inexperience in professional ball due to injuries, he could be the best pitcher on their staff (Went from A to AAA this weekend, never having pitched above AA and pitched 7 shut-out innings with 3 hits and 14 strikeouts). His health is a huge concern but he's been healthier longer now then he has since 2003. The Mets will probably lead the NL East in pitching and will probably finish in the top 3 in the entire league.

When it comes to offense I'll give it to the Phils, why may you ask? They finished second in the NL last year for total offense production while the Mets finished 7th. Of course the Mets made improvements and some young players may break-out harder then they have before but the Phillies made vast improvements to their bench and have Chase Utley and Ryan Howard starting from April rather then May/July.

If the Phils can get a little bit of a leg up on their pitching and finish with similar offensive stats to last year they could win the division, while maybe not being entirely likely even a Mets fan has to realize the threat. I'm still leaning on a Wild Card spot but we'll see, they could end up in 3rd place this year.

Nice of you to give them a shot at the title, being that we're only 5 games up and all.

Yeah, and Washington was running away with it until July last year. It's only April.