March 7, 2014

Talkin' Baseball: NL East

49er16: PECOTA has no one in this division winning more than 88 games and only two teams are projected to have more than a .500 record. I know we like to bang on the AL Central a lot, but the NL East is my early contender for the most irrelevant division in baseball. Are you really excited to watch Atlanta or Washington?

The Colonel: But..but...but Sandy Alderson says the Mets are going to win 90 games. You're not excited to watch them? In all seriousness I agree with you. The AL East just isn't interesting. Even Atlanta and Washington have nice players to watch, but they're about as bland as it gets.

49er16: The Marlins are interesting to me in a weird way. They have some nice young players in Christian Yelich and Jake Marisnick. They of course have stars in Stanton and Fernandez. And then you look at the rest of their roster and it might be the ugliest thing I might have ever seen. Do you realize they're expecting Rafael Furcal and Casey McGehee to play at 2nd and 1st? Neither of those guys played in the MLB last season. Ed Lucas is at third and he's already 30-years old despite not playing a inning until last season. And they still have the immortal Adeiny Hechavarria at shortstop. I mean what a shitty infield.


The Colonel: They have Jarrod Saltalamacchia at catcher making them the team with the most guys with last names you have to look up to spell. So they have that going for them. And what compels someone like Salty to go from Boston to this shitfest?

49er16: I didn't follow that free agency story, but I'm sorry I'm not taking more money to play in Miami over Boston. Hell I'd play in Boston for free over going to Miami.

The Colonel: Getting back to the Mets, I like what they did in the outfield but I still see some really mediocre players there. Their middle infielders are meh. Ike Davis could have a good season could have a bad season. Travis d'Arnaud hasn't stayed healthy yet. I just don't see much there.

49er16: Their rotation is also pretty meh once you get past Wheeler. I'm sure Dillon Gee scares the crap out of teams or even Fat Bartolo Colon. And their bullpen has guys named Familia in it. They're going to win 90 games?

The Colonel: Kyle Farnsworth and Jose Valverde are in their bullpen. I'm sure the press and Farnsworth will get along just fine the first time he blows a lead.

49er16: The Phillies, the Phillies, the Phillies. Any feel on how their season will end up besides ratting out college baseball players?

The Colonel: The Phillies are a complete mystery to me. Looking at their lineup and starting rotation I want to say they'll be fine but who the hell knows. I'll say this about them, it wouldn't surprise me if they won 90 games or 75 games. There's no in between though.

49er16: RAJ is the number 1 example of someone who went to Stanford doesn't immediately mean they're intelligent. I love his stubbornness over sabermetrics and getting younger. He signed Marlon Byrd to a two-year contract. I'm shocked he didn't look for an old player for third base.

The Colonel: Is there an less interesting good team than the Atlanta Braves? Yeah Simmons is fun to watch defensively but man I look at their lineup and it's a big steaming pile of boring. They're more interesting when they're pissed at someone else.

49er16: And the biggest defender of "playing the game the right way" is in New York. I guess Heyward is fun to watch but he doesn't jump out at you like Mike Trout. Kimbrel is fun to watch pitch but that's for only an inning at a time. So yeah they're uninteresting.

The Colonel: I gotta be honest, I don't find the Nationals all that interesting as well. I am interested in seeing Harper's development and what will Rendon do at 2nd but other than that nothing.

49er16: Their rotation looks good and they have some interesting players but as a group they also do nothing for me. I want to see how bad Zimmerman is at third this year. His shoulder is shot and yet there he is at 3rd.

The Colonel: /this post sails into the fifth row of seats

49er16: Have a good weekend, folks.

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