Friday, March 20, 2009

Cleaning Up Spring

March 20, 2009 - Well, since it seems like Spring Training is really muddling along right now, we thought we'd enter the muddle as well and clean up some of the mud in this really long spring training odyssey that, we guess, is moving toward opening day. Must be what a World Baseball Classic brings, but does it seem to anyone else that the real purpose of spring training, to get pitchers, catchers, and position players ready for the April to October season and figure out your roster seems to be getting lost in the mix. Well, at least the classic has moved into the final rounds and will be over soon. Can't be over soon enough for us. I mean, the real tournament, NCAA College Basketball and March Madness, started yesterday, and the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers is really a much better story than the Netherlands to most sports fans in the USA.

Okay, back to baseball. One minor signing has been running through the treadmill and should be completed after the physical, and what impact it will have on the race for the National League Central is truly unknown, but might be significant. Ivan Rodriguez will likely sign with the Houston Astroes soon and solidify the southern Texas team's catching. Now Ivan is not the Ivan of old. He's going to be 38 this year and his best days are behind him, but that does not mean he would not be a good add. While Rodriguez didn't add much to the New York Yankees after his trade in the middle of the year, his stint before that with a bad Detroit team was productive, hitting 0.295 with 32 RBI. If Houston can get that kind of production for a $1.5 million guaranteed contract, they'll be happy. And apparently they need something to jumpstart this squad. I know it's only spring training, but losing 19 straight games, even in Little League, is pretty bad and says something, we're not sure what, about your team. We think Houston's an okay squad this year, a middle of the pack team in a bad division. We don't think they're a bad team in a middle of the pack division, and that's what they're pretending to be right now. But things could change once the World Baseball Classic is over. This team certainly needs Roy Oswalt as a stud pitcher to be competitive, and a positive contribution by fellow USA team member Latroy Hawkins in the bullpen is gonna be important, too.

Team Predictions 2009

Check out the Full Article on Team Predictions 2009
by Baseball Evaluation and Stat Geek Baseball on the predictions page @

Team Predictions 2009 - NL

Team Predictions 2009 - AL

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