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Nomarfan5

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MLB's most disappointing division from top to bottom: NL West or AL Central

Cassidy's House: Smoke>Fire said 06/12, 12:39 PM
I say its the AL Central.

I know that the 1st place team in the West has 2 less wins than the Central's White Sox.

I know the 2 last place teams basically cancel each other out in Colorado and Kansas City.

Its the middle three teams in each division that is the crux of my reason for choosing the AL Central.

What did anyone really expect from the Padres, Giants, or Dodgers this year? San Diego has been on a sliding scale of relying on their pitching for too many years and now that some of them have gotten injured(Peavy, etc) its no suprise that SD finds itself in second to last, 9 games under .500.

The Dodgers acquired Andruw Jones in the offseason. Did anyone really believe this was going to vault them to the top? They brought in an unknown product named Kuroda to pitch and he has been mediocre. This is the basically the same Dodgers team as last year which faded to black.

The SF Giants? Considering last place projections they are actually a suprise in third place.

Lets look at the heart of the AL Central: Twins, Tigers, and Indians. What were the expectations for these teams going into this season and how sad is it the best of the three is 2 games under .500?

Nomarfan5 said 06/12, 01:40 PM
Ok, I have some problems with your argument.

You say the Royals and Rockies cancel each other out. How so? The Rockies wnet to the World Series last year, and now have the 4th worst record in baseball. They are without a doubt the most disappointing team in the Majors, and have suffered the largest droop in Win % from last year.

Everyone knew SD would be bad? WHAT? You say they have been on a sliding scale, yet they have improved their record the last 3 years, from 82 in 2005, to 88 in 2006, to 89 in 2007. Yes they rely on their pitchers more than any other team, but when you have a stud like Peavy, thats what tends to happen. Who would have guessed Peavy, who has made 30 starts in 4 of the last 5 years and had no signs of slowing down, to get injured. The Padres are a huge disappointment as well.

You also say the Dodgers weren't expected to do much. Man you must have some memory loss problems. Many considered the signings of Andruw Jones and Joe Torre to help this team compete in what was called the best division in baseball by SI last year. Yet they are worse than they were last year.

Also, not much was expected of the Twins, since they lost the best pitcher in baseball.

Cassidy's House: Smoke>Fire said 06/13, 12:20 AM
The Rockies barely made the playoffs and were a 1 year wonder. They had to finish the season 14-1 just to get in. This year the Rockies are the same Rockies they have always been: mediocre and bottom feeders in the NL West. Kinda reminds me of the Kansas City Royals. No way are the Rockies more disappointing than the Tigers unless you really believed the Rocks had a prayer of repeating their dream season.

I dont think anybody is really suprised the Padres, relying exclusively on pitching, would be able to get by for another season before something happened to their pitching staff. These guys have been horses every year just so the Pads can win games 2-1 because their offense stinks so bad.

I didnt say once that the West teams werent disappointing, just not as disappointing as the AL Central.

The Dodgers are supposed to do well every year and every year since 1988 they dont win a playoff series. This year will be no different. I would call that pretty predictible.

Tigers, Twins, and Indians are VERY disappointing. Dodgers, Padres, and Rockies are NOT AS disappointing.

This is a matter of degrees based on expectations. NL West teams r where they should be

Nomarfan5 said 06/13, 12:37 AM
They barely made the playoffs, but they went to the World Series and were considered a team on the rise. How can you say you expected them to be the 4th worst team in the majors? If you had said that at the beginning of the year, people would think you were crazy.

I, unlike you, will admit a disappointment in my opponents pick. the Indians are underperforming, simple as that.So lets cancel out the two biggest disappointments this year in the Rockies and the Indians and move on.

The Tigers. Disappointing yes, but only fools picked them for the WS. There pitching, as expected, has been terrible. they never had a great starting staff or relievers. No team can excel with these two components missing, it is just the extent of their failure that has been surprising.

Twins are not disappointing at ALL. They are exceeding expectations. They lost there No 1 pitcher in Johan, there supposed ace Liriano is in the minors, and they lost a top prospect in Matt Garza. To be over .500 I would say is a huge and pleasant surprise. Please explain to me how they are disappointing at all.

Same with the White Sox. The AL Central has 2 surprises, while the West has 0 surprises, and more busts.

Cassidy's House: Smoke>Fire said 06/13, 12:23 PM
What were the expectations 4 the AL Central offense?

Explosive hitting w/ Paul Konerko, Jim Thome, AJ Pierzynski, Juan Uribe, Nick Swisher from the White Sox. The Twins have Mauer and Morneau leading their offense, an MVP & batting champion. The Indians have Grady Sizemore, Victor Martinez & Travis Hafner on the DL. The Tigers have a massive offense w/ Pudge, Placido Polanco, Edgar Renteria, Magglio Ordonez, Miguel Cabrera not to mention a threat on the DL w/ Gary Sheffield.

The NL West?

The NL West has Stephen Drew, Mark Reynolds, Hudson & Byrnes in Arizona but also have 3 of the leading strikeout hitters in Drew, Hudson and Upton. Their offense wasnt expected 2 be good after last years -20 runs scored to runs against & their .250 team batting avg. The Dodgers lone hitters are Jeff Kent, Nomar and Andruw Jones. The Giants have Bengie Molina, Ray Durham, Vizquel, Winn and Rowand. The Padres have Brian Giles while the Rockies have Helton, Podsednik, Holliday & Torrealba.

I would say u didnt really expect much from the West's offensive studs & that is exactly what you have gotten.

Much was expected of AL names who havent delivered.

This TD isnt about Rockies.

Nomarfan5 said 06/13, 04:49 PM
LMAO. EXPLOSIVE HITTING FROM A TEAM THAT BATTED .240 LAST YEAR! JUAN URIBE! We are talking about the same White Sox right? Ok, thought so. Moving on.

You said the Rockies were not a disappointment because of injuries. Well 2 of the Indians 3 best hitters are on the DL as well as your #1/#2 pitcher Fausto Carmona. That's what I call getting hit hard by injuries. So by your logic, the Indians are not a disappointment because the Rockies aren't, see what I'm saying?

C'mon Cass. Your basically denying the West is a disappointment. Every team except the Dbacks and Giants have worse win %, while the Royals, White Sox, and Twins all have better Win % than last year.

I'm not saying the DBacks are a disappointment, I'm saying the Rockies, Dodgers, and Padres are, so yes this TD is partially about the Rockies, who are extremely disappointing. Any team that has a 22-1 run is expected to do great things the next year, are you telling me you thought the Rockies would be the 4th worst team in the majors? Denial is not an effective form of debate.

The Dodgers have far from Kent, Nomar and Jones. they have top prospects in Loney, Andre Ethier, Dewitt, and Andy Laroche.
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Welcome Buc. Gotta go to the gym but I will check back on this in a few hours.

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MLB's most disappointing division from top to bottom: NL West or AL Central

Cassidy's House: Smoke>Fire beat Nomarfan5 71 to 68

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