Well Zambrano has been placed on the disqualified list, which is something I didn't know existed until now, so he can't be with the team for 30 days and will miss out on roughly 3 million dollars. The whole situation is a mess, according to his agent, Zambrano returned his shit to his locker sometime late on Friday and had indicated that he wasn't really going to retire, and given the fact that he's due $18M next year, I can believe that. The Cubs do have to get rid of this motherfucker though, he's seven years removed from his most dominant season (16-8 with a 2.75 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP), and while he hasn't had an ERA of 4 up until this season, he's had several seasons where his ERA was getting close to that, and if you're paying what the Cubs are paying, you would expect better results. The Cubs are kind of up shits creek though, you agreed to pay the guy, and unless they are allowed to continually put him on the DQ list until his contract runs out, which I highly doubt, I don't see a way for them to get rid of his contract. Another team might have been willing to take a chance on him before this because you could view all of his prior blow ups as him being passionate about the game, but now that he dropped the retirement card you can't even say that about the guy.
The tigers almost turned a very unorthodox triple play a few weeks ago at Texas. It would've been if there wasn't an error on the play. (Yes there was an error, despite the 'can't assume a double play rule', I forget the exact reasoning) ...can't figure out how to link directly to the video. "Cruz scores," is the right one.
As a Cincinnati fan, I'm constantly amazed at how high the Reds rank in runs scored considering the lack of a lead-off man and how rarely more than two hitters have good games on the same day. I mean, this is the team that led the NL in scoring last year, then got no-hit in their first playoff game. It's maddening.
My NY over Mil world series prediction is looking tasty right now. I sort of wish I had put some sort of money on it, though betting on the Yankees to win the WS is probably never EV+. Don't sleep on the Brewers though. They could very easily handle Philly in Rd 1. Fun fact! The Yankees have scored more runs than anybody in the AL and given up the second fewest runs.
The Brewers could definitely handle Philly. While Philly's rotation is better, the Brewers seem to be more consistent on offense. Though I would love to see the Phillies rotation just dominate the postseason; There's too much focus on home runs and offense and I love a good old fashioned pitcher's duel
I am so glad the Yankees finally brought up Jesus Montero. Crushed two opposite field home runs today and should now be a lock for the post season roster. I hope Girardi gets his head out of his ass and starts him against right handed starters now, but I doubt he will. Girardi should give him a couple starts behind the plate in the few games of the season to get him some experience back there.
Luck wins in October. The 2010 Giants had great pitching, but the Ranger's staff was basically average (9th in ERA, 20th in FIP). The Yankees in '09 were above average, but the Phillies weren't great. They weren't much better in '08, and neither were the Rays. The playoffs are largely a crapshoot. Boston is fine; they're still better than Philly and maybe even New York in my opinion. Why you would think that they wouldn't be favored over the Tigers or Rangers baffles me. They should be around 58-60% to make it to the ALCS. Looking at the standings, the Sox seem to be dodging a bullet. Texas > Detroit.
Have you seen a Red Sox game in the past month? It's hard to explain the level of incompetence that has been shown on the mound from everyone put Papelbon and Lester. Adrian Gonzalez's shoulder is completely shot and it's been incredibly noticeable. The man literally has no opposite field power anymore. Team is in shambles.
Unfortunately, I live in Red Sox nation now, so they're the only team I get to see. They don't look good, but they're still like 85%+ to make the playoffs. Once you're in the playoffs, crazy shit happens, like the '05 Cardinals. I'm not saying they'd favorites, but the playoffs are always super crapshooty. Teams are playing badly...until they're not.
<a class="postlink" href="http://espn.go.com/mlb/standings/_/type/wild-card" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://espn.go.com/mlb/standings/_/type/wild-card</a> Oh. Well then.
Awesome. Although I think I'd prefer to see the Tigers play the Red Sox rather than the Rays in the playoffs. The Red Sox rotation is garbage right now. Of course, depending on the Rangers they might have to play the Yanks instead. No biggy.