[MLB] Inside Pulse's 2006 Major League Baseball Preview, Part IV

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From the Mailbag…

I’ve seen nothing but negative feedback since this feature started, so I thought I’d balance it out with some positive goodness. I’ve really enjoyed this look ahead to the season and I hope that you guys keep this alive as a monthly(?) look back at the season’s top stories as the year progresses. Sh*t, Mike’s “Big Hurt Baseball” reference alone had me rollin’.

Michael P.

I gotta agree with you on Hulse’s SNES flashback. He’s already an early contender for comeback player of the year with that one and I’m glad to see someone digging this feature for the actual, y’know…writing. To wit:

Just wanted to say that if the feedback you guys are getting is anything like the stuff you printed in part three, then you might want to consider even more of these baseball columns, just so we can read your readers creatively ripping you. The “Pujols” line just made my day.

Oscar C.

Hey, we love our readers and we aim to give them what they want. Unfortunately, there wasn’t too much in the way of “they hate me” feedback from the last part and the ones that agreed with us are no fun to run, so I’ll go with one that was kind of critical…

Christ…the three of you really shouldn’t try to s*ck Barry Bonds’ c*ck all at once. All of the “difficulties” he’s facing were brought on entirely by himself. I’m so sick of apologists like you guys trying to tell me how great he is. He is nothing without the juice and I can assure you that I won’t be cheering for him in this or any other season.

Scott L.

Whew…I’m so glad someone spoke out against Bonds this spring. Hadn’t heard that angle of the discussion yet…

Q: Is this the year that the Braves’ playoff streak comes to an end?

Aaron: And, who in the East could possibly knock them off? Last year, the Mets got more that could’ve been expected from several players, including Pedro Martinez and still found a way to underachieve. The Carlos Delgado trade and likely rebound of Carlos Beltran will help, but they’re still going to need a small miracle on the pitcher’s mound to contend. The Phillies are essentially the same team that wasn’t a threat last year, while the Marlins and Nationals have the dueling excuses of unproven players and not-very-good players, respectively. Atlanta isn’t a great team, by any means, but this is shaping up to be a season where 85-88 wins just might be enough to win this division.

Daniels: I guess this depends on what streak we’re talking about. Is it the 14 NL East Champions in a row or the 6 years in a row they lost in the Division Series? My problem with betting against the Braves to win the NL East is 2-fold. First, it’s really hard to bet against a winner until they lose, and honestly, the Braves aren’t much worse off than they were last year. They picked up Renteria to plug the hole left by Furcal. They still have the Jones Boys to anchor the lineup. They still have their cannon-armed right fielder. They have Adam LaRoche, who had a fantastic half-season last year while splitting first with Julio Franco. They still have Kelly Johnson, who had a really hot start last season… and their rotation is the same as last year. The question mark is their pitching coach. Do the Braves’ Minor League teams build pitching coaches the same way they assemble little Bravesbots to replace injured players in the field. I don’t know, but we’ll find out this year. I’m not betting against the Braves to win the NL East this year, regardless of how good other teams look on paper. As for their six in a row streak of losing in the division series… well, I’m not betting against that one ending either.

Hulse: I thought the same thing every season for 5 years now, and I guess I’m almost starting to think I’m somehow jinxing the whole deal. As a Mets fan, let me explain….I DESPISE this team. Effing Larry Chipper Boy Jones needs to be stopped, at all costs. Bobby Cox, and his smug old man look, make me want to throw up in my hat. Every single season, like cyborgs, they just win. And the most infuriating part is the fact that once the season ends, they quit in October and it’s a waste of everyone’s time. I really….REALLY can’t take a 15th year. Mets by 3 games. And yes, I know this contradicts my answer to most overrated. Just because I think people are thinking too much of the Mets doesn’t mean I don’t think they have the horses to get this done.

Q: Where will Roger Clemens be playing on May 1?

Aaron: Nowhere. That’s not to say that the Rocket won’t be playing in 2006, but he won’t be on anyone’s roster come May Day. Look for Clemens to bide his time, while the contenders separate themselves from the pretenders. He’ll tool around suburban Houston, play the doting husband and father for a minute, and make sure that these contrived daily antics are captured by the occasional camera crew. Clemens is deep into his third decade of professional ball, so he knows how the game’s played and, more importantly…how to play it. As May turns to the June and yet another one his self-serving “K” named kids graduates from Tom Landry High, Clemens will begin to field offers from major league clubs as the “recruiting” of Roger takes on the unseemly stench of those scenes involving Anfernee Hardaway and Nick Nolte in Blue Chips. By the All Star Break, I’m predicting that Roger will come full circle and return to Boston for one last run. While the thought of Clemens and Schilling sharing the spotlight sickens us all, the signing could kill off espn.com’s Bill Simmons once and for all. So, there is an upside.

Daniels: Who’s willing to pay the most for a guy who broke down during October last year? The same team that overpays for every older superstar; welcome back to New York, Roger! The New York Yankees: Yesterday’s superstars, tomorrow’s prices. (Note: This isn’t saying that I think Roger isn’t worth the money. In fact, I think starting in May rather than April is the best thing for him as the season seemed just about a month too long for him last. In fact, I also hope the Mets pick him up and shoot Victor Zambrano.)

Hulse: I’d guess Houston. He won’t sign anywhere before May 1, and no other team will offer him the sweetheart deal that allows him to stay home for road trips where he’s not slated to pitch, etc. Houston will offer him a big money contract because they will run into May 1 needing his arm in the rotation in hopes of making is back to the World Series.

Q: Which high payroll team is most likely to be a non-contender?

Aaron: Mets…Blue Jays…Blue Jays…Mets. Six of one, half-dozen of the other, as the old saying goes. I’m not sold on either team, but I think the Jays have a better chance at sneaking into the postseason that the Mets. Please tell me that manager Willie Randolph isn’t really planning to put Jose Reyes back in the leadoff spot? 1B Carlos Delgado, 3B David Wright and a likely rebound from OF Carlos Beltran, notwithstanding, I’m not crazy about this offense. Pedro Martinez won’t throw 200 innings this year, while the last rickety wheel finally falls off of Tom Glavine. They won’t be 1992-93 Mets bad, but .500 will be a challenge.

Daniels: If history repeats itself, it will be the Mets. The Mets have this uncanny ability to assemble a solid team only to see them crash and burn due to injuries and people not living up to potential *coff* Beltran *coff* Zambrano. Top candidates for this to happen to this year are Carlos Delgado. However, back to the first day of this feature, I have to say the Dodgers. Most of their lineup is going to be held together with chicken wire and chewing gum and at least four guys in their lineup are in solid contention to be out for the season by June.

Hulse: No team has more money in payroll with more holes than the Boston Red Sox. A pitching rotation that could be downright filthy also has two major health concerns in Josh Beckett and Curt Schilling. The shortstop and centerfield positions are both question marks, and their closer, Keith Foulke, may not be healthy. If things don’t break right for them, they’re staring down the barrel of a sub .500 year, no matter how many miracles David Ortiz delivers.

Q: Which low payroll team is most likely to be a contender?

Aaron: Well, somewhere between their latest late-season flameout and today, the Oakland A’s have overcome the media’s collective misunderstanding of the Moneyball book and become perceived contenders again. So, I’m going a different direction, entirely and predict that the Milwaukee Brewers will be in the division hunt for most of the way. Ben Sheets and Chris Capuano are solid up front in the rotation, while that offense is just a year or so from really taking off. 1B Prince Fielder, OFs Geoff Jenkins and Carlos Lee in the middle of that order, with studs like Corey Hart, Rickie Weeks and J. J. Hardy getting better and better…works for me. In a year where the NL Central’s top teams are an aging Cardinals squad and underachieving Cubbies unit, why not Milwaukee?

Daniels: While I don’t think there’s any chance of the Milwaukee Brewers winning the NL Central, I think they have pretty solid chance at making a run at the wild card this year. Their pitching staff put together a really good season last year, they have a 40 game closer, and they have a really solid lineup. At $40-$45 million, I really think they have a chance at making a run at the wild card this year.

Hulse: The Oakland A’s win about 100 games a season with a payroll of about 50 million. They’re always a safe pick for the small market smoke and mirrors team to pull a division out of their rear ends.

Q: How much of the WBC did you watch and has the “international” game/players really passed the Americans?

Aaron: Despite the semis and finals taking place in my adopted hometown, I only found my way to about two hours of WBC viewing. Sorry, but I just can’t be forced to care about baseball in March and I really can’t be bothered to root for a team that includes players I despise, such as…well, everyone that’s not an Oakland A. Do we really need a contrived little tournament to determine which country is…well, what exactly did the WBC prove, anyway? No one can really believe that Japan is the best team in the world, when the team with the best record in the WBC didn’t even play in the finals. The whole point of this 17-day ordeal was to move merchandise and give away a trophy. The “American” game is still the best in the world, as an all-star squad comprised of the Ichiros, Pujolses and Clemenses who make up the major league rosters would kill anyone in the world if they played 162 times. And, I don’t mean that as a euphemism. They’d kill ’em dead.

Daniels: A surprising amount actually. I unfortunately never caught a US game. A lot of the baseball media slammed the WBC before it happened, and I agreed with them. Oddly, I turned out to be a lot more interesting than I thought I would. I actually enjoyed watching the Dominican team knock people around. However, with a little bit of promotion and an actual TV schedule so I could pick up when the US team will be on, I think the 2009 campaign might be surprisingly successful.

Hulse: Not a whole lot. I was surprised at the intensity of the play, because I definitely expected glorified spring training games. But in the end, it didn’t mean all that much to me, who won and who lost. The egg laid Team USA probably didn’t help my interest, but I doubt I’d have made plans to watch any of it specifically.

Check back on Thursday for Part V, as our intrepid trio discuss who will be traded…who should be traded…and offer up their one guaranteed-to-happen prediction!