Ballpark Travel

As usual, while watching the ESPN show 1st and 10 this afternoon, my mind started working off of the arguments between Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith. When the two weren't arguing their views based on their ethnic composition or when Smith didn't call out ESPN for being too gracious to Brett Favre (it's about time someone said it), they discussed the question as to whether or not the Brewers were the best team in the National League. I also want to talk about this question now too. To me there are three teams in the National League that should be in this conversation and they are all in the NL Central: the Brewers, Cubs and Cardinals. I also wish that the NL West would be disallowed of having a team in the postseason since these three are all so capable. 1.) The Chicago Cubs Cubs; 59-42 (Division Lead) The Cubs started off the 2008 season showing that they are a very strong team. With their strong start and unexpected contributions from Ryan Dempster , they had a v

Uh-Oh! Here it is -- the end of July, and the Yankees are now just 3.5 games out of the AL East lead. It is scary to imagine that a team with Sidney Ponson in its rotation can be doing so well, but the Yankees are simply rolling their way up towards the top of the division. What has been a very inconsistent team throughout the season has started to show signs of consistency. Their offense should be set, even without Hideki Matsui. It is their pitching that worries me. Andy Pettite and Mike Mussina have been great so far this season, but they are both old and could be in for a hard end of the season given their age and recent history. Chien-Ming Wang is out until September and Joba Chamberlain has not recieved run support. It will be interesting to fololow this team. With their resources, it would be silly for them not to acquire a starting pitcher for the stretch run. There has been talk of Jarrod Washburn. If that is the best available starter, perhaps Sidney Ponson may work out just

Yesterday, July 22nd -- The Houston Astros traded Chad Reinke for Randy Wolf. This is a guy that has an ERA of 6.63 away from Petco Park and will now be pitching inside one of the most hitter-friendly parks in Major League Baseball. If that isn't bad enough, the Astros are playing in the same division as the three best teams in the National League (Brewers, Cubs, Cardinals) and are in last place in that division, twelve games out. What do the Astros think they are accomplishing by making this trade? Ed Wade must be desparate at this point to save the Astros from the bottom of the division. At best, Wolf is a .500 pitcher and has an ERA close to what it is presently at 4.74. Realistically, if Wolf doesn't get hurt first, he will struggle mightily pitching in the NL's strongest division and will be a wasted 2.5 million dollar investment. I can't see any positives from this trade for the Astros.

With the New York Mets defeat of the Colorado Rockies this evening, the non-mathematical first half of the 2008 Major League Baseball season is now over. With all of the hype that the All Star Game will bring the city of New York over the next couple of days, yet while this one does count, I am very excited to think about Thursday and the start to the 2 nd half of the season. To honor what promises to be an exciting end to the season, I would like to make some off the wall and bold predictions. BOLD The Red Sox will win the World Series The reason why I think that the Red Sox will become the first repeat World Series winner since the New York Yankees went for three in a row 1998-2000. The Red Sox just are dominant at home and have been able to roll with every injury that they have endured throughout the season. They play 16 of their final 25 games in September at home and because of their trip to Japan back in March, the Red Sox receive extra off days in September to re-work the

Credit is due to fans for getting this vote right. I previously argued that voting for the all-star game was a hoax and that fans seem to always get the vote wrong. I still argue that several starters on each team are not top performers at their position (Kevin Youkilis , Dustin Pedroia , Giovanni Soto, Ken Griffey Jr. and Ichiro for instance are not having seasons that earned them starting spots), but I am so pleased by the final roster spot that I am willing to call it a wash and maintain my average amount of disdain for the game that apparently still counts thanks to the marketing folks at FOX. Today, Major League Baseball announced that Corey Hart and Evan Longoria were voted into the all star game with the final vote spot. Perhaps this is because no Red Sox or Cubs players were represented in the voting, but nonetheless, these were the most deserving players. Longoria has largely carried the Rays offense with clutch hits and constant contribution in his first two months of h

The first year of the Dayton Moore tenure in Kansas City, I applauded many of the small micro-management decisions he was making and was immediately excited to see that franchise begin to grow out of decades of failure. For example, as soon as Moore departed Atlanta for Kansas City, he significantly expanded the baseball operations department in the front office. He also acquired my favorite pitcher and future pitching coach, Brian Bannister, for next to nothing. Now I have begun to worry about whether or not Moore will be able to get the Royals out of the cellar for another couple of years. I looked at that roster this afternoon, and unless Royals owner David Glass continues to be committed to putting money into his franchise and the Royals can successfully lure talent to the mid-western city, things are not looking up. Presently, the Royals have to address improvements at catcher (John Buck/Miguel Olivo ), first-base (Ross Gload ), shortstop (Mike Aviles /Tony Pena Jr.) and left-fie

Anytime that Billy Beane has made a trade over the past couple of years, it becomes just a matter of time until the players that Oakland acquires become integral parts to the A's. Today the Chicago Cubs traded RHP Sean Gallagher, OF Matt Murton , OF Eric Patterson and C Josh Donaldson to the A's for RHP Rich Harden and RHP Chad Gaudin . The time that it takes for Gallagher, Murton and Patterson to have an impact on the A's will be immediate. Each of those three players have been stuck behind the bloated contracts that the Cubs starting 9 plus rotation boasts. None of these players strike me as future superstars, though Gallagher may peak out as a #2 starter, and both Murton and Patterson possess varying abilities. Murton is a gap hitter and an OBP guy that may top out as a Raul Ibanez type, getting a late start and potentially becoming a solid RBI guy down the road. Patterson is the younger sibling of Reds outfielder Corey Patterson and exhibits many of the same

Despite my original hesitance about teams acquiring the big lefty, I must say bravo! Doug Melvin and the Brewers front office staff has really positioned this team to be a heavy favorite to potentially make a deep run into the 2008 postseason for a team that has been out of the postseason since 1982. To end a 25 year drought, this would be a team that now features two dominant ace starting pitchers at the top of their rotation in Ben Sheets and now Sabathia, as well as ample young talent. While their bullpen has been shaky all season, this is a team that is capable of going very far. There is potential to see Sheets and Sabathia twice in a short series, teams will have a hard time taking two games from that combination. I have changed my opinion on acquiring Sabathia for one major reason: the Brewers did not have to give up a huge package to get him. I figured that the Brewers would have to give up two or even three of their top prospects and LaPorta is really the only potential futur

This past week marked the halfway point for all teams. Now that we are over the hump, I would like to give some mid-season recognition to teams. American League Best Team - The Tampa Bay Rays After sweeping the Red Sox and nearly sweeping a 4 game set against the Royals, the Rays are a commanding 4.5 games up on the Red Sox and possess the best record in Major League Baseball. This team is not the best team on paper and still has not received the best performances from many of their offensive contributors such as BJ Upton, Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena. They can pitch and I fully expect the Rays to be within striking distance for the rest of the season. While I doubt that they will be atop the AL East at the end of the season, things are starting to really roll in their direction after a five game swing in the last eight days. MVP - Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers While making nearly the league minimum, this is another wonderful story that has made 2008 such a great baseball season.