I can think of no better way to open up the baseball season than with one game on a Sunday night in March featuring the worst team in the whole league. Tough to take this "Opening Night" thing serious. But hey, the Yankees and Red Sox, Giants and Dodgers, and Phillies and Braves all kick off the true Opening Day on an April Monday for one of the most anticipated season kickoffs in memory.
On Friday I gave my season preview and projections for the AL East. Here are my predictions for the rest of the Major Leagues. Division standings are first and awards follow.
There is a lot of parity in the AL while the NL is pretty much the haves and the have-nots. With two terrible teams in both the NL East and West, the wild cards will come from both, while at least one wild card comes from from the AL West (possibly two).
The Phils end their three-game spring slide by beating the Astros, 7-1.
The Phils put a stop to their three-game losing streak as Cole Hamels help lead them to a 7-1 victory over the Astros.
The Astros took the lead in the first as, with a runner on third, and with one man out, Chris Carter hits into an RBI ground out, 4-3, scoring Tyler Greene, who had started the inning off with a double, then moved up to third base on Jose Altuve’s ground out, 6-3, giving the Astros a 1-0 lead. The Phils tied the game up at one-all in the fourth as, with two men out, Laynce Nix hits a solo home run, his first home run of the spring. The Phils took the lead for good in the fifth as, with a runner on second, and with two men out, Kevin Frandsen hits an RBI double, knocking in Freddy Galvis, who had earlier singled,... 30-1 MLB countdown preview: #30 Astros
Last year at this time, I previewed each team leading until the opening day of the season. My formula was using over/ unders to figure out what I thought teams looked like and order them 1-30 based on my projected finish. And I published the previews in inverse order based on said projected finish. I took some chances, and was wrong on some and right on others. My biggest blunder was picking the Oakland Athletics to finish with the worst record in MLB. How I overlooked that juggernaut is beyond me. It is amazing that everybody else had them winning the AL West except for me.
The countdown starts us out with the Houston Astros. The Astros have a new manager, Bo Porter, and after playing 51 years in the National League, they move to the AL West starting... Passed Ball Show #68 2/21/2013 Part 1
MLB Complete 2013 Team Previews
At long last, we have completed our team previews. Well, we did the best we could with player movement, but obviously guys like Michael Bourn and Kyle Lohse won’t be seen here.
As we said at the beginning of these, the numbers you saw throughout these are the projections of the individual writer and not necessarily what you’ll see in our Draft Kit, which comes out on February 18.
We’re thankful to you readers who continued to read our previews and offer your feedback. In case you missed any teams, here’s all of Major League Baseball.
| AL East | AL Central | AL West | NL East | NL Central | NL West |
| Toronto Blue Jays | Detroit Tigers | Los Angeles Angels | Washington Nationals | St. Louis Cardinals | San Francisco Giants |
| Tampa Bay Rays | Kansas City Royals | Oakland A’s | Atlanta Braves | Cincinnati Reds | Los Angeles Dodgers |
| Baltimore Orioles | Chicago White Sox | Texas...
Read more
Ranking the current MLB manager 1-30: 2013
http://www.johnpielli.com/1/post/2012/02/ranking-the-current-mlb-managers-1-30-best-to-worst.html
Last year, I put together a list of what I thought were the best to worst MLB managers. Things obviously change year to year based on teams performances and the direction the manager has his team going in. The manager's track record also has to be taken into consideration, which makes this a very interesting discussion. While the talent on the team is a consideration as well, this is not simply a ranking of the 30 best teams.
The great thing about this is similar to ranking the best and worst teams coming into the season: opinions on this list will vary to the reader. Just like the list I did last year, I have to rank the managers who have no MLB managerial experience at the bottom of the list, as nothing can be said about judging their performance. So, like last year, let the discussion begin.
1....
Read more
Why can’t MLB have a balanced schedule?There have been 14 teams in the American League since 1977 when both Toronto and Seattle became members.
Now in 2013 for the first time that number will be raised to 15.
The NL only had 12 in 1977, but they kept rising until they reached 16 in 1998.
Why baseball thought it was better to have six teams in one division and four in another, never quite made sense, and for the past 15 seasons that has been how it was divided up.
Baseball as had a fear about playing interleague games dispersed all through the season. Now in 2013 for the first time there will be at least one interleague series always going on.
For the first time since 1993 each division will have the same amount of teams in it.
All six divisions will have five teams.
Whoever makes up the baseball schedule decided that in 2013 each team should play 19 games with each team in your own division and seven...
Read more
All the different teams could not hinder the consistency of Tommy Davis 
Throughout the recent 40 plus years, longtime MLB OF Tommy Davis has gotten some respect for a solid career. Some point to the fact that he played for ten teams and a couple of bad teams during the middle (1967 Mets, 1968 White Sox, 1969 Pilots). However, he was one of the best players on the LA Dodgers teams that won the World Series in 1963. Unfortunately, he got just one AB and was not put on the postseason roster in 1959. And his broken ankle suffered early in the 1965 season not only cost him the rest of the Dodgers World Series Championship season, but changed his career forever.
Davis started off his career as an All Star and one of the best young offensive players in the game. The Dodgers played him at 3B, where he... Major League Baseball toughens up its drug-testing policyAccording to Major League Baseball, the league will begin testing players for usage of human growth hormone (HGH) this season as a way to detect higher than normal testosterone levels. Last season, baseball payers could be asked for blood samples throughout spring training last year, but this year the testing will run for the entire regular season. In addition, urine testing will also be held to help detect other types of performance-enhancing drugs (PED). The Major League Baseball Players’ Association has agreed to the new testing system.
Each player’s test records will be kept by the World Anti-Doping Agency at its headquarters in Quebec, Canada. Bud Selig, the commissioner of baseball, said this is a great and proud day for MLB and the league will continue to be a leader in the fight against illegal substance usage. The announcement of the drug testing comes right after suspected PED users, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, and Roger Clemens failed to earn...
Read more
Ten trade options for a new Red Sox 1B
The Boston Red Sox and free agent 1B/C Mike Napoli officially broke off negotiations today after agreeing his injury was to serious to proceed with his 3 year contract originally agreed upon. While Napoli is once again a free agent and will likely play elsewhere, the Red Sox need to figure out what to do in regards to who will play 1B for them next season. The Napoli signing was the centerpiece of what the Red Sox's plan was this offseason and will be difficult to gain a player who will project to put up the same numbers as him. Perhaps the Sox will consider free agents like Aubrey Huff and Carlos Lee. Here are some options for the team to pursue via trade.
10. Justin Smoak, Mariners: Smoak has been a disappointment since he was acquired in the Cliff Lee trade with Texas. The Mariners pursuit of offense makes Smoak less...
Read more
|