Comparing the division

[Guest]

Care to trade Izzy's? :D

[EastonBlues22]

Care to trade Izzy's? :D

No thanks, I'll keep the one that can hit. :wink:

[Dirt Dog Sparly]

But being the best team in the NL Central (which is the subject of this thread) wont amount to a hill of beans. Looking around all the teams in the NL have faults, but the Cubs at best are a .500 team as I see them. So say the Cubs win the Central with 84 (+/- 3 wins), it still isnt enough to get to the Series.

 

Umm, Did you happen to catch the end of last season?

 

Not saying we are an 84 win team or that we would be able to get to the series. But the exact scenario you said that can't get to the Series just happened a month and a half ago and they won.

 

 

Yes I did catch the end of last season. It was proof that the playoffs are a crap shoot at times. If it dosen't rain out a couple of games the Cards are hard against the wall to get someone to go out there and give them good innings. No rain outs and we have a different WS winner. That I believe. I also believe that you never draw for an inside straight. For that WS scenario to play out for the Cubs again this year you might as well draw for that straight.

 

This team is built to run money out there. I repeat what I said before. The players signed have done nothing to address the needs of the team. Why have a gold glove SS and a flyball staff? Why sign a guy who is a platoon player at best to be your everyday second baseman, when you could get the expected production out of Theriot? And dont throw the HR straw man out there as a measure of production in this case.

 

As much as I am excited about Ron Jackson being the hitting coach, expecting him to make major breakthroughs in one year is fantasy. Murton and Jackson will have a love in, Lee, Barrett, maybe ARam. After that name the starters who post good OBP now. Dont expect to see a big change at the end of the year. It isnt something that you turn on and off. Plate discipline can be taught, in the minors as a player is working his way up, if they dont have it already. Since this organisation believes in BARISP and luck, well...... good luck.

[Bote McBoteface]

I haven't really been paying attention to their off-season moves, but everybody is ignoring the Reds, and I think that might be a bad idea.

[EastonBlues22]

I haven't really been paying attention to their off-season moves, but everybody is ignoring the Reds, and I think that might be a bad idea.

 

Reds:

C: David Ross 100 OPS+

1B: Scott Hatteburg 96 OPS+

2B: Brandon Phillips 68 OPS+

SS: Alex Gonzalez 80 OPS+

3B: Edwin Encarnacion 105 OPS+

RF: Ryan Freel 94 OPS+

CF: Ken Griffey Jr. 121 OPS+

LF: Adam Dunn 132 OPS+

 

SP: Aaron Harang 109 ERA+

SP: Bronson Arroyo 122 ERA+

SP: Eric Milton 85 ERA+

SP: Kyle Lohse 98 ERA+

SP: Elizardo Ramirez 95 ERA+

 

2006 Bullpen ERA/NL Rank: 4.38/10th

 

Average Team OPS+: 100

Average Team ERA+: 102

 

Brewers:

C: Johnny Estrada 92 OPS+

1B: Prince Fielder 111 OPS+

2B: Rickie Weeks 100 OPS+

SS: J.J. Hardy 86 OPS+

3B: Corey Koskie 117 OPS+

RF: Geoff Jenkins 114 OPS+

CF: Brady Clark 98 OPS+

LF: Bill Hall 104 OPS+

 

SP: Ben Sheets 126 ERA+

SP: Chris Capuano 109 ERA+

SP: Claudio Vargas 99 ERA+

SP: David Bush 101 ERA+

SP: Carlos Villanueva 95 ERA+

 

2006 Bullpen ERA/NL Rank: 5.00/16th

 

Average Team OPS+: 103

Average Team ERA+: 106

 

Piratess:

C: Ryan Doumit 100 OPS+

1B: Xavier Nady 100 OPS+

2B: Josa Castillo 78 OPS+

SS: Jack Wilson 85 OPS+

3B: Freddy Sanchez 105 OPS+

RF: Jose Bautista 93 OPS+

CF: Chris Duffy 100 OPS+

LF: Jason Bay 140 OPS+

 

SP: Zach Duke 100 ERA+

SP: Ian Snell 95 ERA+

SP: Paul Maholm 95 ERA+

SP: Shawn Chacon 102 ERA+

SP: Tom Gorzelanny 95 ERA+

 

2006 Bullpen ERA/NL Rank: 3.89/4th

 

Average Team OPS+: 100

Average Team ERA+: 97

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The Brewers are the class of the second grouping...but still well below the top three teams in my opinion (assuming Clemens goes to Houston). They have potentially a very solid rotation, but the bullpen was the worst in the NL last year, the defense is nothing special, and the lineup is relatively weak.

 

The Reds have one of the worst defenses in the majors, (still) a below average bullpen, and a lineup that traded away the depth that made it above average at one point. Now, it's nothing special either. A team with way too many problems to be a contender even in this division.

 

The Pirates just suck.

[VanceJergins]

I haven't really been paying attention to their off-season moves, but everybody is ignoring the Reds, and I think that might be a bad idea.

 

There hasnt been much to keep track of. They've lost guys like Aurilia, but thats about it. Their pitching staff had a few career years last year and they still ended up under .500. And with Griffey on the steady decline, I'm not ready to take them seriously.

[Ivy Walls]

I didnt see another thread designated for comparing the Cubs with their division rivals, so I thought I'd start one. The Cubs probably arent a 100 win team, but I think they're easily the best team in the division as of now. Here are the probable starting lineups and rotations for the Cubs, Cardinals, Astros, and Brewers, as of now.

 

Cubs:

 

Soriano-RF

Murton-LF

Lee-1B

Ramirez-3B

Jones-CF

Barrett-C

DeRosa-2B

Izturis-SS

 

Zambrano

Hill

Lilly

Marquis

Prior/Miller/Marshall

 

Cardinals:

 

Eckstein-SS

Kennedy-2B

Pujols-1B

Rolen-3B

Edmonds-CF

Duncan-LF

Encarnacion-RF

Molina-C

 

Carpenter

Wells

Reyes

Wainwright?

Suppan/Weaver??

 

Astros:

 

Taveras-CF

Biggio-2B

Berkman-RF

Lee-LF

Ensberg-3B

Scott-RF

Everett-SS

Ausmus-C

 

Oswalt

Williams

Hirsh

Rodriguez

Albers

Brewers:

 

Weeks-2B

Hardy-SS

Fielder-1B

Hall-LF

Jenkins-RF

Koskie-3B

Clark-CF

Estrada-C

 

Capuano

Bush

Sheets

Vargas

???

 

If anyone wants to do some stat breakdowns, that would be great. But as it stands, it looks like the Cardinals are the only team that could really compete. We still have our question marks, but our rivals clearly have more. Of course the offseason is far from over, but we still have a lot of trading chips and money left. Right now i would rank it:

 

Cubs

Cardinals

Brewers

Astros

 

And maybe we can keep this undated when any of these teams make deals, or if the Reds do anything.

 

Here is the situation in the nutshell:

 

Instead of probably 1/2 or more of the starts with rookies Cubs will have four experienced starters and one semi-rookie.

 

Instead of being one of the most ineffective offensive clubs the Cubs will have Soriano who scored and drove in more runs than anyone on the club last year.

 

If D-Lee remains healthy and comes back as strong that too.

 

To me the entire championship season boils down to these four components:

 

A) Piniella developing an effective and embraced platoon system with LF, CF, SS, 2B and catcher. Notice it is up the middle (except for LF) and also is able to rest Lee, Ramirez and Soriano at least 25-30 games.

 

B) Will Prior return healthy by May and emerge as the Cubs #2 starter? This then puts the Cubs rotation (provided all five are healthy throughout the season) in championship status and might allow the Cubs to field an 11-man staff.

 

C) Will Pie emerge as the starting CF and develop as a difference maker on the club?

 

D) Will Wood become the wild card fireman and build towards being '08 and beyond closer on the Cubs.

 

I could see Dempster doing well as he did in '05 and 1st half and then being traded and Wood becoming the regular closer with Howry and Eyre and Cotts as the regular 7 & 8th inning stoppers.

 

Finally what will be the personality? Will the Cubs be a team that goes out and gets an early lead and then protects it or will they be a club to come from behind?

[BigbadB]

I haven't really been paying attention to their off-season moves, but everybody is ignoring the Reds, and I think that might be a bad idea.

 

The Reds were a threat until they made one of the dumbest trades of the century when they gave up Austin Kearns and Felipe Lopez for bullpen arms.

 

At this point, they might as well trade Dunn for whatever they can get. And the fact they blocked 1b yet again is unbelievable. Dunn really has no business patrolling the outfield.