A Dark Horse?

Dr. Giganto

Anyway, I think the Jays have a legitimately good team. They have two established stud starters (Halladay and Burnett), two young pitchers with stud potential (McGowan and Marcum), and Jesse Litsch is a serviceable 5th starter (3.81 ERA last year).

They have a decent bullpen. Not great, but good. Much better when BJ Ryan is healthy.

They have a quality line-up. Alex Rios is fucking awesome, Vernon Wells and Frank Thomas are dangerous, and Aaron Hill is emerging as one of the better 2Bs in the league. Plus, they have a nice lefty-righty platoon in left field (Shannon Stewart and Matt Stairs). Stewart has batted .299/.375/.421 career vs. LHP, and Stairs has batted .273/.365/.502 vs. RHP.

Also, baseball prospectus is very high on Tampa Bay. They think the Rays will win 88 games. They certainly have a great line-up and defense, it all depends on the pitching. Shields is a good pitcher, and Kazmir is elite, when healthy. Matt Garza is a big-time pitching prospect, plus Andy Sonnanstine and Edwin Jackson have a ton of potential. And, for the first time in their existence, they have a somewhat decent bullpen, assuming Percival is effective.

However, Kazmir's injury and the decision to start Evan Longoria in the minors hurt their prospects for this year

Blitzkrieg

Administrator

I heard they started Longoria in the minors so they would be able to keep him an extra year for arbitration.

Dr. Giganto

Last day in first place:

2007: April 17th, with a record of 8-9
2006: Never led division, were tied for first on April 28th with a record of 12-9
2005: April 16th, with a record of 8-4
2004: Never led
2003: Never led
2002: April 1st

Dr. Giganto

they deny it, but its obvious to pretty much everyone with a pulse

Blitzkrieg

Administrator

Thanks. So..looking from this they certainly haven't started out as well as I remember. Either way, it's almost impossible for me to pick them over the Sox or the Yankees. The only thing I would say.. is that with them being an obvious challenge, if they stay healthy, and the improved Rays, this could be the year where the Sox and Yanks are playing for one spot.

And as I say that, the Tigers are on their way to 0-6. So who the hell knows.

Dr. Giganto

One thing I've discovered is that our memories tend to deceive us. Things get jumbled in our heads and we get our facts mixed up as time passes

Case in point: I got into a big argument with a friend a few months ago that Derek Jeter's career high in home runs was 20. I was 100% sure of it. In my mind, Derek Jeter had always hit HR's in the teens but one year he had a little more pop and he got up to 20, but no more than that. I was certain of it.

Then I looked it up and discovered that he hit 24 home runs in 1999 and 21 in 2001 and 23 in 2004. In fact, he has never hit exactly 20 in a season

Freak

I used to think Shawn Marion was a big guy, like 6'10 or 6'11. Then I lost some money because of it.

Blitzkrieg

Administrator

I often get confused as to what a PF, SF, or shooting guard's role is. It seems like everyone wants to shoot the three.