FanNation - The Republic of Sport

thehemogoblin- Gone said 06/30, 06:34 PM
I'm going to pick the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Leading the NL West with an anemic 41-41 record, the Diamondbacks are the most vulnerable team who are leading a division.

The last month that the Diamondbacks played .500 baseball was April. Since then, they've proceeded to go 21-33. The Rays have only lost 32 games this year altogether.

They haven't won more than 3 games in a week since the week of May 11th.

The Diamondbacks only have one player on the disabled list, and he's only been there since the end of June, and the Rays, who were leading the division without him, just got Carlos Pena back from injury.

The Rays are .500 on the road. The D-Backs are .395.

The Yankees are 5.5 games out, and the Jays are 10 games out, so I'm absolutely digging the misinformation as well.

Youth in this argument is null and void, as both sides are incredibly young and nooblike, sorta like Cheezhead.

The fact that the Diamondbacks ACTUALLY DO have two teams within five games of them is more impressive than the fact that the Rays really don't. The pitiful baseball says that the Diamondbacks are the most vulnerable division leader.

thehemogoblin- Gone said 06/30, 11:24 PM
This is for the playoffs, not just the division; remember that.

At .500, Arizona would be fourth in the NL Wild Card if they were overtaken, while the Rays would lead by 4 1/2 games in the Wild Card if they were overtaken.

With one, even minor, acquisition, the West could be one. All it would take is the Dodgers or Giants committing themselves to adding another top of the line starter or any left-handed power (will sell Ibanez), and they could overtake a team which is 12 games under .500 since May 1st.

The Rays have the best record in the AL East over the last 10 days and the last 20 days, so they're playing good baseball, and that was largely without Pena, last year's Comeback Player of the Year.

Tampa Bay has the wild card as an option, they have two berths in the playoffs that are achievable, whereas the Diamondbacks' pitiful record makes them, even now, ineligible for the Wild Card.

The Rays have the most wins against teams in their own division than any other team in baseball excepting the St Louis Cardinals, so it makes it hard for them to be caught if they're beating up on all of the teams behind them.

Oh, and by the way, the Rays are now leading Boston by 1 1/2 games.

thehemogoblin- Gone said 07/01, 12:03 AM
The DBacks would be fourth in the wild card.

The Twins and A's aren't aiming for this year to be their major runs.

The wild card is a very good opportunity for the Rays, seeings that they're leading it now by 5 1/2 games (if you discount their division lead).

The Dodgers are well above .500 against the NL Central (and they're the only team in the West to say that and they've played the most games against said division), one game under .500 against the East, and at .500 against the West, so they're actually BETTER than the DBacks in the NL, and interleague play is complete.

The Diamondbacks accomplished 17 of their 20 NL West wins in April (their hot month) and haven't won a game in the NL West since May 15th.

The Rays have won five division games since the last time that the Diamondbacks did.

Also, the Yankees have shown a reluctance in recent years towards selling out the farm system to get players, instead choosing to hang on to such prospects as Philip Hughes, Ian Kennedy, and Robinson Cano.

If everyone trades at the deadline, don't you think the Rays, with their incredible farm system, would be one of the first teams to make a major move?