FanNation - The Republic of Sport

Cowboys-Celtics-Chisox said 05/01, 12:34 AM
Detroit is one of the hottest teams in the league? Perhaps you haven't noticed, but only 4 teams in the A.L. have a worse record than Detroit right now. The Tigers starting pitching has been horrendous and their bullpen is a joke. That's not a good combination to have when trying to dig yourself out of a HUGE hole. And the latest rumors have them signing Barry Bonds to fix what ails them...when did Barry become a pitcher?

The DBacks are off to a fantastic start, and if Randy Johnson regains some semblence of his old self you are probably right that they are the front runners in the NL.

Back to the A.L. The Tigers certainly have a great offense on paper. But pitching wins championships and they only have the, well, worst pitching in their own division at this point. I don't see that changing much.

If I have to pick a World Series matchup right now, I'd have to go with Red Sox-DBacks.

Cowboys-Celtics-Chisox said 05/01, 01:25 AM
OK. Let's look at the 4 teams you just mentioned.

Minnesota - 13-14 picked by most to finish 4th in their division
Rangers - 10-18 easily the worst team in the West if not in all of the A.L.
Toronto - 11-17 in total disarray
Yankees - Going through their own annual early season struggles.

So let's not get too excited about them beating some teams who are struggling as much or more than even THEY are.

Detroit wasn't a frontrunner to win the AL when the season started, in my opinion, because of a suspect pitching staff and horrible pen. The horrific start just put them in a hole that makes it even more unlikely they can come back to win it all in the A.L.

The Tigers built an offense based team in a pitchers park. Seemed kinda strange to me.

Boston is the Defending champs, have much more pitching depth than the Tigers, and the experience factor working for them. They are also off to a much better start. I just don't see any way to favor the Tigers over the BoSox at this point.

Cowboys-Celtics-Chisox said 05/01, 02:09 AM
0-7.

Did you know NO team has EVER made the post season after starting with that many losses? Not once.

I know. Sounds silly, right? I mean the season is 162 games long. What is 7 games in the grand scheme of things?

Plenty.

It will take, likely, 95 wins just to take the division.

That means winning 95 out of 155.

95-60.

That's nearly a 70% winning percentage the rest of the way.

Yes. Those 7 quick losses matter...a LOT.

Sure, they've won 70% of their last 10. Do you expect that to be the norm the rest of the way? Not a chance.

And a bullpen that couldn't keep my Grandmother from getting a hit is of utmost concern.

Again, it's a PITCHERS park, and they built the team around offense. What kind of sense does that make? That would be like their owner, a Pizza magnet, all of a sudden deciding he's now in the hamburger business and trying to run it out of the place set up to make pizzas.

Fact is, the Red Sox are a MUCH more rounded team than the Tigers and built a team around their home field (imagine that). The Tigers are inexplicably the 2nd highest paid team in baseball and aren't likely to win their own division this year.

Boston-Arizona.