Offbase editors Derwood Morris and MTD haven't had much luck previewing things lately-MTD incorrectly predicted Gary Discarcina would come out of retirement to help the Angels win the 2009 World Series and Derwood thought Teen Wolf 3 would be the 2010 summer blockbuster. But here are division previews anyway.
In this post, I look at the NL West. The West is of course home to the defending strikeout kings of baseball, the Arizona Diamondbacks. And some team that won some series.
San Fransisco (2010: 92-70)
The Giants just barely got past the Padres to make the playoffs. Once they got into the postseason, Cody Ross homered them to the World Series Championship. Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Brian Wilson also contributed. The Giants return just about everybody except they swapped out a couple of old short stops. They'll get a full season from blog favorite and 2010 NL ROY Buster Posey. Perhaps the Giants learned their lesson by almost missing the playoffs and won't mess around this season with top prospect Brandon Belt's service time. Pablo Sandoval reportedly lost 300 pounds after cutting entire deep fried pigs out of his diet and looks to rebound from a poor 2010 season. And hopefully, we'll get more of this...
Obviously, I mean Brian Wilson and not George Lopez who I'm trying to get deported for crimes against comedy.
Colorado (83-79)
The Rox rewarded their young stars by locking up Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez to monster contracts. CarGo displayed some uncanny home/road splits in 2010 to the tune of .380/.425/.737 and .289/.322/.453 but those home stats still count. Tulo is a fantastic player by all accounts but hasn't displayed a knack for staying healthy. But I'm not on the hook for any of that cash so the next few years look like pretty good deals. PECOTA thinks Ubaldo Jiminez comes back down to his 2009 stats but a tad worse and I'm inclined to believe that based on my scientific whimsy.
Los Angeles (80-82)
I think the Dodgers have a better rotation than the Rockies but they did let Russell Martin walk just when it looked like he was poised to give Jeff Mathis some competition for most incompetent LA catcher at the plate. So Mathis can go ahead and get that 2011 acceptance speech ready. Matt Kemp should have a better season unless having dated Rihanna turns out to be some kind of career killer. Which is why I have rejected her many advances. You know, for the sake of the blog.
San Diego (90-72)
I hear the weather is nice. And a zoo, right? So, that's cool.
Arizona (65-97)
The Diamondbacks struck out an impressive 1,529 times last year. The Marlins were the next closest with 1,375. The D-Backs shipped off Mark Reynolds who struck out over 200 times for the past three season in an effort to make me stop watching them altogether. Good job, Arizona. You just became less interesting.
Showing posts with label brian wilson's facial hair used to be on infomercials. Show all posts
Showing posts with label brian wilson's facial hair used to be on infomercials. Show all posts
Monday, March 28, 2011
Thursday, November 4, 2010
NL West Year In Review
Off Base will take a look back at the 2010 season season with our own brand of science nonsense. Today we'll look at the NL West.
1. San Francisco Giants
Highlights: Let's see, where should we start? The Giants won the West with a 92-70 record. Buster Posey emerged as a budding superstar when he was finally called up. Brian Wilson turned out to be quite theweirdo colorful personality. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to be one of his "loser friends." Madison Bumgarner looks like he'll be a front of the rotation starter again. Oh, and uh, they won their first World Series.
Lowlights: Well, Tim Lincecum won't win his third straight Cy Young. Kung Fu Panda wasn't good at the plate and might have actually eaten a few Panda Express franchises. I lost a slap bet because Cody Ross hit a home run in the World Series. That was more of a lowlight for me, I suppose.
Hot Stove Outlook: Try to convince Aubrey Huff to sign a one year deal. Maybe try to get another outfielder. Try to trade Barry Zito and Aaron Rowand. Haha, good one. Figure out how long to leave Brandon Belt in Triple A before calling him up next year.
2. San Diego Padres
Highlights: The Pads finished second in the West with a 90-72 instead of finishing last like most people projected. Mat Latos looks like an ace in the making despite, tragically, only having one "T" in his name. There is a secret underground factory where quality bullpen arms are manufactured. They play in SAN DIEGO.
Lowlights: A September collapse left them looking in from the outside of the playoff window. They employ and play David Eckstein.
Hot Stove Outlook: Brace yourselves, Pads fans. Trade Adrian Gonzalez for a boatload of high quality prospects from the Red Sox.
3. Colorado Rockies
Highlights: Troy Tulowitski is really freaking good. Ubaldo Jimenez through the first no-hitter in Rockies history. Carlos Gonzalez became a monster hitter (at home) and contended for the NL Triple Crown for a while. The Rox got off to another one of their hot September runs toward the playoffs.
Lowlights: The Rox stumbled their way through the end of September and missed the playoffs by nine games. It was partially due to Jim Tracy, who mismanaged the team all over the place. They're still paying Todd Helton a ton of cash.
Hot Stove Outlook: Well, they declined the option on Miguel Olivo and seemingly have zero interest in giving Chris Ianetta the full time job. So a catcher is probably a priority and I've heard (on Twitter) that they like Mike Napoli who the Angels might be looking to move. The Rox will also try to extend Jorge de la Rosa.
4. Los Angeles Dodgers
Highlights: They managed to somehow lure Zach Lee away from LSU.
Lowlights: The McCourt divorce was the biggest story of their season. Kemp hit 28 home runs but his .249/.310/.450 was a disappointment. The catcher formerly known as Russell Martin had a .306 wOBA.
Hot Stove Outlook: I'm sure they'll bid on some big names with money they aren't allowed to spend. Crazy Matt Kemp rumors will be floated around. I will continue to be angry with the Dodgers while watching Jordan Jefferson and Jarrett Lee play quarterback for LSU.
5. Arizona Diamondbacks
Highlights: They led the world in strikeouts. Oh, batters' strikeouts. Perhaps more of a lowlight then?
Lowlights: Everybody underperformed and Mark Reynolds had over three times as many strikeouts than the team had wins. They finished with the third worst record in baseball at 65-97.
Hot Stove Outlook: Part ways with Brandon Webb. Then blow everything up? Figure out who to draft with the third pick next year.
1. San Francisco Giants
Highlights: Let's see, where should we start? The Giants won the West with a 92-70 record. Buster Posey emerged as a budding superstar when he was finally called up. Brian Wilson turned out to be quite the
Lowlights: Well, Tim Lincecum won't win his third straight Cy Young. Kung Fu Panda wasn't good at the plate and might have actually eaten a few Panda Express franchises. I lost a slap bet because Cody Ross hit a home run in the World Series. That was more of a lowlight for me, I suppose.
Hot Stove Outlook: Try to convince Aubrey Huff to sign a one year deal. Maybe try to get another outfielder. Try to trade Barry Zito and Aaron Rowand. Haha, good one. Figure out how long to leave Brandon Belt in Triple A before calling him up next year.
2. San Diego Padres
Highlights: The Pads finished second in the West with a 90-72 instead of finishing last like most people projected. Mat Latos looks like an ace in the making despite, tragically, only having one "T" in his name. There is a secret underground factory where quality bullpen arms are manufactured. They play in SAN DIEGO.
Lowlights: A September collapse left them looking in from the outside of the playoff window. They employ and play David Eckstein.
Hot Stove Outlook: Brace yourselves, Pads fans. Trade Adrian Gonzalez for a boatload of high quality prospects from the Red Sox.
3. Colorado Rockies
Highlights: Troy Tulowitski is really freaking good. Ubaldo Jimenez through the first no-hitter in Rockies history. Carlos Gonzalez became a monster hitter (at home) and contended for the NL Triple Crown for a while. The Rox got off to another one of their hot September runs toward the playoffs.
Lowlights: The Rox stumbled their way through the end of September and missed the playoffs by nine games. It was partially due to Jim Tracy, who mismanaged the team all over the place. They're still paying Todd Helton a ton of cash.
Hot Stove Outlook: Well, they declined the option on Miguel Olivo and seemingly have zero interest in giving Chris Ianetta the full time job. So a catcher is probably a priority and I've heard (on Twitter) that they like Mike Napoli who the Angels might be looking to move. The Rox will also try to extend Jorge de la Rosa.
4. Los Angeles Dodgers
Highlights: They managed to somehow lure Zach Lee away from LSU.
Lowlights: The McCourt divorce was the biggest story of their season. Kemp hit 28 home runs but his .249/.310/.450 was a disappointment. The catcher formerly known as Russell Martin had a .306 wOBA.
Hot Stove Outlook: I'm sure they'll bid on some big names with money they aren't allowed to spend. Crazy Matt Kemp rumors will be floated around. I will continue to be angry with the Dodgers while watching Jordan Jefferson and Jarrett Lee play quarterback for LSU.
5. Arizona Diamondbacks
Highlights: They led the world in strikeouts. Oh, batters' strikeouts. Perhaps more of a lowlight then?
Lowlights: Everybody underperformed and Mark Reynolds had over three times as many strikeouts than the team had wins. They finished with the third worst record in baseball at 65-97.
Hot Stove Outlook: Part ways with Brandon Webb. Then blow everything up? Figure out who to draft with the third pick next year.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
BBA NL Goose Gossage Award Ballot
Baseball's award season is upon us and we finally have a vote that counts for something this year. We're proud members of the Baseball Blogger Alliance and they've been kind enough to give us ballots. The only thing the BBWAA ever gave us was a virus when we opened their penis enlargement email. Not that we need it. Today we'll be unveiling our NL Goose Gossage ballot for reliever of the year. Note: I completely ignored saves.1. Carlos Marmol
I'm just as shocked as you. I expected John Axford to finish higher on my ballot than the Cubs' closer. But Marmol had some ungodly stats. Strap on your nerd skis, it's all down hill from here. And yes, I realize I'm getting lamer by the minute, please don't send emails to inform of that. I'm actively looking for help. Marmol finished with a 2.55/2.01/2.95 (ERA/FIP/xFIP) line which was good for an NL reliever best 3.1 WAR. All of that would have been good enough for me to give him the top spot on this ballot but the ridiculous 15.99 K/9 rate sails him past the rest of the competition. Marmol did that over 77.2 innings which is more than a lot of relievers can say. Surprisingly dominant. I honestly can't wait to see the outcome of this voting because I don't think Marmol got enough credit this year.
2. Brian Wilson
Sure his playoff beard used to sell Oxy Clean on infomercials. Wilson was fantastic in the closer role for the Giants in 2010. Over 74.2 innings, he tossed 1.81/2.19/2.99 good for the second highest reliever WAR in baseball (2.7). Wilson struck out 11.21 over 9 innings and, more importantly, his facial hair was only overshadowed by whatever is growing out of Jayson Werth's face.
3. Heath Bell
Call me a sucker for WAR. Go ahead, I'll wait. Bell finished third in baseball with his 2.4 reliever WAR. He tossed 1.93/2.05/3.11 ball while striking out 11.06 over 9 innings. Bell's competition for this spot was Billy Wagner. Wagner went 1.43/2.10/2.34 for a 2.2 WAR. Unfortunately for Wagner, rock beats scissors. Science.
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