with a kid...but we can have an internet marriage...Finkle can officiate Want to take a guess on how many wins we'll have this year? I'm saying 90 and we get the wild card.
Being good and that is before they signed Cruz.....I think they will be better than last year.... They have a ? at closer though....
Now if he can just stay healthy.....would love to see him 9th and Ells 1st.....It would be like a Merry-Go-Around....... A movable contract too if they so choose to trade him....
Their obviously all in on this season. They gave up their 1st and 2nd this year in free agency. And their 2nd in this case for only 1 year of Cruz.
Cruz, yes makes them better although I think he's a tad bit overrated, but I don't think they're all that good. They did little to nothing to upgrade their pitching.
They aren't astounding, but they are constant across the board in the field....As much as I dislike Buck too, he gets the most out of them too.....baseball again is going to be nuts, there isn't one dominant team again...
I think they're an average team really. They're a good defensive team on the left side of the infield and behind the plate but are average at best everywhere else. As far as their line up goes they have a ton of power but can be pitched around as no one on the team knows how to work the count and take a walk. Their pitching is ok, they don't have a true ace. A lot depends on whether Gausman improves from last year and they get random guys in the pen to step up. I actually wouldn't be surprised to see the Blue Jays finish 4th ahead of Baltimore.
The Jays were extremely unlucky last year due to underperformance and injuries ala the Red Sox in 2012. It wouldn't surprise me if they were much better in 2014, even if they didn't upgrade their roster. Maybe it's just me but I've never been a big believer in the Orioles, even when they were good in 2012. I just see a lot of flaws with the team and a little thin on the pitching side of things.
Toronto's rotation is underwhelming to me moreso than Baltimore's....don't you think? They do have one hell of a closer though...
Both rotations are underwhelming if you ask me but if one team's rotation is better than the other it's only a slight advantage. So maybe Baltimore has a better 1-5 but I think the gap is close. I think the Jays do have the better pen. I just think with the way everything went wrong with the Jays last year they should have a bunch of players rebounding to have better years. They could surprise some people.
Sounds like Brian Cashman's off-season "build a bullpen strategy" is sign former 2013 Red Sox relievers.
Can't be a bad thing hahahah...... In all seriousness though Bailey is more for next year, low risk I dont mind it... Hanny is eh to me, he got shelled but maybe it is due to the injury.....Seems like they are trying out the low cost closer idea like eveybody else.... Will be interesting to see how D-Rob does this year AND what kind of money he gets next year....
Yeah word is Bailey won't be ready until Septemberish and the Yankees hold an option for 2015. When healthy the guy is good but him being healthy is extremely rare. As for Hanrahan, the guy scared the crap out of me last year. Yeah maybe he was hurt before his elbow blew out but it was never an easy 1-2-3 9th with him. I guess why not take a flier out on him if he's cheap enough. I think Robertson will be fine until he blows his first save, then the media hounds and fair weather fans will be lighting up WFAN.
The only way it's a problem is if he's brought into a game mid inning and there are other runners on base, otherwise his career track record shows it doesn't really affect the way he pitches especially with his K rate. Yeah it's no ideal to put runners on but Robertson has had success as the 8th inning guy, moving him to the 9th instead shouldn't be a big deal.
He made a habit of getting in and out of jams last year...they called him "houdini" because he would walk the basesloaded and then proceed to strike out the next 3 batters.....last year reminded me of Balt 2 years ago and their fluky record in 1-run games.... It is only a matter of time before that catches up with you...
tanaka impressing early “He threw everything,” catcher Francisco Cervelli said, as reported by the New York Post. “I think I need one more finger. I’ve got to take off my glove. … “He threw everything today. The other day, just splits, sliders and fastballs. [Monday] was everything: curveball. He tried to pitch a little like a simulation game. The more I catch, the more I know, he’s able to do so many things.” And if Tanaka’s big pitch, the split-fingered fasteball, wasn’t quite there yet, his curveball was impressive enough. Infielder Scott Sizemore, who faced Tanaka, said: “You are trying to see pitches, and even some curveballs I saw well, but it was so sharp I couldn’t pull the trigger.’’ http://www.csnbaltimore.com/blog/orioles-talk/tanaka-shows-variety-yankees-camp?p=ya5nbcs&ocid=yahoo
tanaka pitched two scoreless ininnings against the phillies and had a couple of strikeouts, one courtesy of a vicious splitter.