VeeshanVault

That is, if the Braves don't run away again...

National League
East W L Pct GB Home Road East Cent West Streak L10
Atlanta 29 23 .558 -- 17-7 12-16 18-13 7-2 3-6 Won 1 5-5
Florida 27 23 .540 1.0 18-12 9-11 15-13 4-5 5-5 Lost 3 3-7
NY Mets 27 26 .509 2.5 17-10 10-16 15-15 10-8 1-1 Won 1 4-6
Washington 27 26 .509 2.5 14-9 13-17 12-13 6-7 8-4 Lost 1 4-6
Philadelphia 26 27 .491 3.5 12-10 14-17 12-18 9-7 3-1 Won 2 6-4

obviously the braves and marlins are the favorites over the long haul simply because of their superior starting pitching. the braves have some major issues to address with their bullpen and outfield, but the pitchers have been very solid.

No disagreement about that.

The Nationals are a surprise this year and the Phils seem to be hanging tight as well. As far as the Mets, their starting rotation has been much better lately but the 'pen is still a touch shaky at times and the offense has been inconsistent.

That, and the Mets can't seem to beat the Braves, as usual.

Oh well, I hope it stays interesting for a while.

I am predicting the Braves to obtain an outfielder via trade around the All-Star break. Hopefully they will also obtain some bullpen help as that will be what will keep them out of the WS. Mondesi is already gone and Jordan is not far behind. Furcal may get some rest with Wilson Betemit finally hitting in the majors. Hampton is back from that forearm prblem, Thompson comes back in July, and they have found that Kyle Davies can pitch in the bigs with anyone.

I am calling for Foster to close games. He has yet to give up a run this year. I am calling for a Dan Kolb/Brian Jordan/rookie of your choice for Ken Griffey jr or Adam Dunn.

Dunn may be a good choice as Cinci will probably unload and rebuild by the allstar break. He strikes out a ton, but also walks a bunch and dude gots pop. I don't know about Griffey though...I think they may have learned their lesson with relics such as Mondi and Jordan.

I will offer you Kaz Matsui for Betemit though.

if you were offering Hideki Matsui, i'd have Stan Kasten on the phone with you in 5 minutes

Hideki, Kazuo.... I am offering you a GENUINE MATSUI.

Seriously though, I feel terrible for Kaz. He gets booed relentlessly by people who should try to be a little bit more supportive. Even though I would much prefer Cairo at second (and he may have pulled a hammy last night), I can't boo a player on my team--that just ain't cool.

As far as the Mets rotation, it is getting much better and Pedro has been lights out for most of the year. Also, Steve Traschel is coming back afer the break. Here is the pitching situation then:

Martinez
Benson
Glavine
Zambrano
Ishii
Traschel
Heilman (currently in the pen)
Seo (currently pitching well in Norfolk)

Even with Heilman and Seo not in the rotation, that leaves 6 pitchers. Maybe that is why Zamby has been finding the strikezone more often, heh. This is a good kind of dilemma for Randolph and Peterson to have. Maybe sending Mr Koo down and bringing Royce Ring back will give us a lefty setup, but DeJean and Aybar have been awful for the most part.

Roberto Hernandez has been fantastic when he is not overused. That old codger still throws in the mid 90s, whew.

another reason to hate the Mets is how many W's they blow for Glavine each year. Between shitty relief and shitty defense...

PEDRO MOTHERFUCKERS!

Kyle Davies.....wow what a start for a rookie.

Yeah, Davies is a real find. I was wondering when the Braves were going to find another amazing young talent. I think he will be around for a while.

Back to the NL East. Somehow the Phillies managed to win a few--they are 1.5 back now, wtf? I am hoping that the Mets can overcome their dreadful twinbill woes over the years and take two from the godawful niners...er giants.

Best all around division in the MLB, by far. Any one of these teams can make a run for it, but they are all keeping each other in check. Damn fine year so far, and I really expected this to be a building year for the Mets...still early, but damn, some nice things to see so far.

WTT Kaz Matsui for Kyle Davies. Will throw in Manny Aybar and Mike DeJean. kekekeke

A TOIGHT RACE OF CRAPPY CRAPPERSONS

You sir, sound like a Yankees, Angels or Dodgers fan! Take your pick now! EXTREME BANDWAGON, DISNEY SODOMY (with brief interlude of EXTREME BANDWAGON) or Shitty Dodger dogs.

PICK NOW! DI DI MAO!!

Orioles

Phew. I thought one of them folks was jumping into a bees nest there. Yous is ok.

FLA from first to last in just over a day...

Despite a poor performance in the opening game of the twinbill, the Mets SPANKED the giants in Game 2, 12-1.

Atlanta fans seem quiet.... dunno why...

Canelek wrote:FLA from first to last in just over a day...

Despite a poor performance in the opening game of the twinbill, the Mets SPANKED the giants in Game 2, 12-1.

They've lost OMGIAMRETARDEDCAUSEALOTISTWOWORDS of games lately. Maybe onyl winning twice out of the last 11 or so games.

Canelek wrote:Atlanta fans seem quiet.... dunno why...

cause the first opinion on Chipper's foot is that it requires surgery, which means he will miss most if not all of the season.

which means the season is over. period.

Marte's promotion to the bigs yesterday places the number of rookies on the roster at 9. yes 9

second opinion on the foot soon in Charlotte.

They can still win this division. They MUST get Hampton and Thompson back and make a trade to win it though. My keys to them winning the division:

Trade Andruw Jones away. Use that huge ass $15 mil contract to get a power hitting RF who is under contract for a couple years and a closer.

Find a way to get a real closer. Send Kolb and his $3.4 mil contract packing. Use his salary space to sign a good reliever.


I still think the best scenario right this minute would be to make a big trade with the Reds. Give them Seth Greisinger., Andruw, and Kolb for Dunn, Griffey, Merker

That salary would be a wash and would give the Braves the OF they need and a lefty in the pen that enables them to move Foster to closer. It gives the Reds a solid pitching prospect that is possibly MLB ready now and a guy with huge potential but always disappoints....which is a perfect fit for them.

Just teasing yall. Losing Chipper is rough, but ATL always seems to find away. It is disturbing. If the Braves do happen to stumble, at least yall have Betemit and Davies for the future. I am not sure why they decided to get Jordan and Mondesi--they have always thrived on youth. Expect the Reds to unload at the deadline--that is pretty clear.

I doubt Cinci would want to give up Dunn in that trade. Maybe they'd be so excited to get rid of Griffey that they'd do it anyway, but I don't see it.

Canelek wrote:Just teasing yall. Losing Chipper is rough, but ATL always seems to find away. It is disturbing. If the Braves do happen to stumble, at least yall have Betemit and Davies for the future. I am not sure why they decided to get Jordan and Mondesi--they have always thrived on youth. Expect the Reds to unload at the deadline--that is pretty clear.

#1 Jordan and Mondesi were cheap
#2 counting on rookies to execute in the postseason is not something that is prudent
#3 they have a hard cap on their salary set by Time Warner at slightly above $80 million

that number is not budging.

Andruw will not be traded, so that $15M is staying. Nobody will take that contract. Nobody.

Kolb is potentially tradeable, but he is at the lowpoint of his value.

I think the Braves are much more likely to have success trading somebody like Furcal (last year of his contract, leading NL in steals, playing good shortstop) for a potential closer/OF.

there really arent a lot of available closers out there, so...

If the Braves don't start scoring more than 2 runs a game it doesnt really matter about their bullpen.

Just about everybody seems to be hurting in their bullpen. Hell, the Mets even picked up Danny Graves....however, the Mets 'pen ain't nearly as bad as it was supposed to be.

Send Aybar and DeJean down, see if Graves can still pitch and hope that Hernandez continues to pitch well(provided he is not overworked). Looper can be dominant or a catastrophe, but has been somewhat solid of late.

I will be cheering for Oakland tonight as well.

Furcal is also batting like 0.230 with an OBP under 0.300. You're not going to get much for him right now; better hope he starts taking some walks and stops trying to hit one out of the park every AB.

In all fairness, Furcal is one of the best defensive SS around. The guy has amazing range and a cannon for an arm. However, he is more like your Rey Ordonez-types at this point. His OBP won't fly at the leadoff spot. Team swill risk him if they have an overly confident hitting coach, most likely, especially, if skill position FA's are hard to come by at the end of the season.

I am not sure what the situation is in the Braves farm, but they will have to give up too much in order to solidify their lineup at this point. It would seem Betemit and Davies are their biggest future assets, although they should be able to get Grify for cheap, most likely.


For some reason, Bobby cox always seems to find a way.

John Smoltz is the man. Any questions?

Smoltzy kicked some ass yesterday. However, the best news for me this week is that the Mets released Mike "LETS GIVE UP SOME RUNS, WOOTERS!" DeJean.

Can someone answer just how Willis became a monster on the mound? I mean, his freakin stretch pitches wizz by at 97 which is plain nuts considering his windup would appear to be critical to his velocity.

His delivery fucks people up until they get used to it. Which explains why he shut the Braves out last week and then 5 days later they blistered his ass.

speaking of Monsters....it is time for me to remind him that Andruw Jones is hitting like .480 since Chipper went on the DL.

having a huge couple of weeks when the Braves could have had their season crumble ( 3/5ths of the rotation on the DL, best hitter on DL)

His delivery fucks people up until they get used to it. Which explains why he shut the Braves out last week and then 5 days later they blistered his ass.

I used to think that was the case, but I don't anymore. He started off great, but his performance tailed off near the end of his first year, and I kind of likened him to Hideo Nomo.

However, his performance this year has been vastly better than either of his two previous years. It's not like the Braves haven't had plenty of time to hit against a three-year veteran pitcher in their division before those two recent games.

D-train is just a great talent.