DC23MVP

Mark is perfect through 5. This is incredible!

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 18, 2009 -> 03:49 PM) Right now, almost everything is sitting in FDIC insured CD accounts. Little bit in Treasuries. Nice, I have some money in CD accounts. What interest rate are you receiving?

This would be huge for the city of Milwaukee if they can land the best pitcher in baseball. Rumors here is that the Brewers have a package in place but have yet made a formal offer to the Jays and Gord Ash the Brewers exec. was in Toronto yesterday. It all depends on who they give up though for me.

Where do you place your money? In some cases, people value big houses, others value expensive cars, while others value land. I'm curious to know, where do you place your money? If you aren't at an age where you would buy those things, as I'm sure is the case for many, where do you think you would place it? I have some money in stocks but with everything going on in the economy, I am keeping a close eye on things. I would like to buy a Porsche in the next 6-8 months, but that's a big shot. What about you guys?

Barack Obama is about to throw the first pitch. Any predictions? Strike? Ball? Throw it in the stands? Throw it in the dirt?

I think that a Floyd, Beckham, and Alexei for Halladay deal is pretty good for us, but I don't think we need to do it. We'd have a whole at 3B and at SS that would be hard to fill, and I think it wouldn't be worth it.

All Star game coverage starts on Fox at 8 EST!

What do we all think? I am sure everyone is expecting Albert Pujols to win for the NL. I am going to go with Joe Mauer for the AL.

I posted this 2 weeks ago on The Batter's Eye. Here are my thoughts from each division so far in this 2009 season. I will do the AL East tonight. AL East: Current Standings: 1. Boston Red Sox: 40-27 2. New York Yankees: 38-29 3. Toronto Blue Jays: 37-32 4. Tampa Bay Rays: 35-34 5. Baltimore Orioles: 30-37 The AL East isn't disapointing again this season. The Rays are finally starting to play good baseball, except for the last 3 games. The Red Sox and Yankees look to be in another dead heat race going into the last part of the season. In my opinion, the Blue Jays are going to start to struggle in the next few weeks. Without Roy Halladay, they have no pitching really, and Halladay is the ace of the Jays. The hitting is going to need to step it up while he is gone. The Orioles are going to be another great team in the next few seasons as well with all the talent they have. They are going to need the pitching though in order to compete. Division Hitting Team 1. Tampa Bay Rays 2. Boston Red Sox 3. New York Yankees 4. Toronto Blue Jays 5. Baltimore Orioles Best Pitching 1. Boston Red Sox 2. New York Yankees 3. Toronto Blue Jays 4. Tampa Bay Rays 5. Baltimore Orioles Final outcome 1. New York Yankees 2. Boston Red Sox 3. Tampa Bay Rays 4. Toronto Blue Jays 5. Baltimore Orioles How would you rank it?

I posted this a couple days ago on The Batter's Eye. The NL East is another good race going on with a lot of struggling teams. Here, I will try to evaluate the best teams of the NL East. Standings: 1. Philadelphia Phillies: 39-36 2. Flordia Marlins: 41-39 3. New York Mets: 38-39 4. Atlanta Braves: 37-40 5. Washington Nationals: 22-54 The NL East is another close race, with the Phillies, and Mets struggling and the Marlins starting to heat up. The Mets are a LOT better team then what they are playing right now, due to injuries, and once Reyes, Delgado, and possiblly even Beltran (if his injury isn't season ending) come back, expect the Mets to start playing a lot better. The Phillies, I don't know. Losing Raul Ibanez hurts them, and Jimmy Rollins is playing terrible right now, even benched at times. The Marlins started out red hot, then they cooled off considerably, and now are playing great baseball again led offensivley by Hanley Rameriz, and Josh Johnson pitching wise. The Braves are still in the race, although they are going to need something to get done quickly, otherwise you can expect them to stay right around the .500 mark. Nationals are like the Lions of football, always in last place. They are bad on all aspects. Overall, I expect the Phildelphia Phillies to win 1st, with the Mets getting 2nd, and the Marlins 3rd. Braves and Nationals will follow 4th and 5th. Best Hitting Team 1. Philadelphia Phillies 2. New York Mets 3. Florida Marlins 4. Atlanta Braves 5. Washington Nationals I was very tempted to put the Mets 1st, just because when they are fully healthy, they do have a better offense then the Phillies, but since this is basically based on stats, I have to put the Phillies at #1. The Phillies scored 49 more runs then the Mets so far this season, and have hit more then 58 homers then the Mets. Yes, this probably has something to do with the fact that the Phillies play in a MUCH better hitters park then the Mets. And to all you Mets fans, I truley do think the Mets have a better offensive club then the Phillies when they are healthy, you can't beat a lineup that has Jose Reyes, Delgado, Beltran, Wright, Castilo etc. Again, this is based off of mainly stats and how they are performing up to this point. The Marlins and Braves were very close to judge considering they were very similar in .BAA, .OBP, and R, but the Marlins have hit more then 20+ homers then the Braves this season, so I put the Marlins 3rd and Braves 4th, although it was close. Best Pitching Team 1. Atlanta Braves 2. Forida Marlins 3. New York Mets 4. Philadelphia Phillies 5. Washington Nationals This was another very tough decision for me. The Braves was pretty easy decision for me to make, they rank in the Top 10 in ERA, WHIP, .BAA, and K/BB ratio among ML teams. The Marlins and Mets was VERY tough. Both ranked near the same, but I really like the Marlins pitching staff better then the Mets. Josh Johnson is very underrated and even better then Johan Santana this season. The Mets rotation is pretty weak except for Johan, although I do think Maine is a very good pitcher when he's healthy, along with Oliver Perez. The bullpen are pretty close as well, but I have to give the advantage to the Marlins. Phillies are pretty bad considering there big park they play in. Best Defensive Team (Note: I go by Team Errors and Fielding % for this) 1. Philadelphia Phillies 2. Atlanta Braves 3. New York Mets 4. Florida Marlins 5. Washington Nationals Final Standings 1. Phillies 2. Mets 3. Marlins 4. Braves 5. Nationals Overall, I think this race is going to come down to the wire. Should be a good one though.

The White Sox are in an interesting scenario here. They are currently only 2.5 games out of 1st place right now, in an pretty weak division. They currently rank 16th in runs scored, 16th in team .BA, 16th in OBP, and for the pitching side they rank 7th in Team ERA. My question to you guys. How do you think the White Sox will fear the rest of the season, and what do they need to work on to win the division. Also, who are your team MVP's and duds so far this season?

How many people actually follow female athletics? I'm not a huge fan of female athletes besides the Williams sisters in tennis and a few basketball players such as Lisa Leslie.

I posted this a couple days ago on The Batter's Eye. Time for my favorite division and that is the NL Central. Standings: 1. St. Louis Cardinals: 44-38 2. Milwaukee Brewers: 42-38 3. Chicago Cubs: 39-38 4. Cincinnati Reds: 39-39 5. Houston Astros: 38-39 6. Pittsburgh Pirates: 37-43 The NL Central has to be easily the division with all the teams basically still in the race. The Pirates, the last team in the division is only 6.5 games out of 1st. It's extremely tight, and honestly, a fun division to be in if you like good games. St.Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are first in the division as of right now. They have a great team, and to me, are the second best team behind the Cubs. The only thing that concerns me, is the fact that behind Pujols and now Derosa, they really don't have the lineup that compares with the Cubs, Brewers and even the Reds. Cardinals have two hitters that are hitting near .300 or better, and only three players in double digits in home runs (Pujols, DeRosa, and Ludwick) The Cardinals best strength has to be their pitching. Chris Carpenter is nearly unhittable right now, with an ERA of 2.42 and a WHIP of under 1. Cardinals are going to be getting Kyle Lohse back soon which would provide another good pitcher for them, then there other rotation guys of Wainright, Pineiro all have ERA's of under 4. So you would have a rotation of: Carpenter, Wainright, Lohse, Pinerio and Wellemeyer which is easily 2nd best in the division. Bullpen wise I really like the Cardinals as well. Ryan Franklin is dominating once again with 20 saves and a ERA of 0.87 and WHIP of under 0.75. Trevor Miller is having a solid year once again, and then you have McClellan and Boggs who are solid RP for the Cardinals. I would give the Cardinals a B on the bullpen. Overall, if the Cardinals can add another bat with the addition of DeRosa, then I feel the Cardinals have the best team in the division, if they can't, I still feel the Cubs are the better team, due to the fact they have the talent in their lineup, and they have a great rotation. Milwaukee Brewers Next we will take a look at the Milwaukee Brewers. Yes, they are my favorite team so I may be biased. Hopefully not though. We will take a look at the Brewers offense first, which is ranked 24th in team BA, 11th in OBP, 12th in runs scored, and 9th in HR's. I think the Brewers have the 2nd best lineup in the division, with the Cubs being the only team better. When the Brewers are on offensively, they are REALLY tough to beat. Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder are probably one of the better 3-4 hitters in baseball, with both batting over .300 and they are combined in hitting 37 HR's with an OBP of .419. They are the key part in the Brewers offense easily. The Brewers hitters have six hitters with 8 HR's or more, and they have 4 hitters hitting .290 or better. IF Mike Cameron, JJ Hardy, and Corey Hart start hitting up, you can bet that the Brewers will be scoring a lot more runs then they have. Starting Pitching wise, the Brewers are dread awful. Yovani Gallardo is the only reliable starting pitcher, and right now they have Seth McClung staring (who is not a SP) and Mike Burns from AAA in the rotation. Manny Parra has lost it, Jeff Suppan is below-average, and Braden Looper is average if not below average. If the Brewers can fix this via the trade market, and get someone like Doug Davis, you can expect them to be in contention towards the end of the season. Bullpen wise, the Brewers are very good. Trevor Hoffman has blown one save the whole year, and has 18 on the year. He has given up 5 runs in 23.1 IP which is just below a 2 ERA. Mark DiFielce has a 1.97 ERA, Mitch Stetter is another pleasent surprise, and Todd Coffey is doing outstanding. If the Rotation can at least be decent the rest of the way, the bullpen will continue to put up solid work if they are not overworked. Overall, I see the Brewers as being the third best team in the division, and if they can fix the rotation issues, I see them ending up 2nd. IF not, you can expect the Brewers to be up and down. Chicago Cubs The Cubs are in third right now, but have won three straight, and maybe they are turning the corner. Let's take a look at their offense. Alfonso Soriano is doing dread-awful, Milton Bradley is also doing dread-awful but somehow they are only within three games or so. The Cubs offense has been up and down, they are ranked 27th in team BA, 12th in HR, and 26th in runs scored. I honestly think that Soriano, Lee, Soto will turn it around in the second half. They are way to talented not to. The Cubs offense will be much, much improved in the second half, and when they get hot, watch out for the Cubs. Pitching Wise: I feel the Cubs have the best rotation in the division. Zambrano and Harden going back to back is deadly for the other team. This season they aren't doing the greatest (Zambrano: 3.50 ERA, Harden: 4.57 ERA) but when they are on their game, they have the chance to do a shutout. Then you add Ryan Dempster, and Ted Lilly, and you have a great rotation. Randy Wells has easily been the Cubs best SP this season, and the Cubs have found another great gem in him. He's 3-3 with a WHIP of 1.08 which is outstadning. Bullpen: The Cubs have a very good bullpen as well, and a great SU-CL combo in Greg and Marmol. I still feel Marmol should be the Cubs closer, but I do understand why he is the set up man. Angel Guzman is another great RP for them. The only weakness that I do see for the Cubs is if the offense can't get going. What if Soriano, Bradley, and Soto don't get going, what do you do with them? Koyie Hill isn't going to get the job done, maybe they found a great player in Sam Fuld, only time will tell. They need to get Soriano, Soto, and Bradley going though, otherwise, the Cardinals may be a bit better. Cincinatti Reds The Reds are surprising some people, but I don't feel they will be in it for long, espically if one of the top three teams can get going. Hitting: I don't like the Reds lineup at all to be honest. Jay Bruce is doing terrible (.216 BA, .296 OBP) they have no power really, Bruce has 18 HR's, Phillips 11, Votto 9. They don't have the tools to be a good offensive team. Although I still like Phillips, Votto and Bruce, if they can get going, besides that, they don't really have anyone. Rotation: Reds have two good pitchers this season in Johnny Cueto, and Aaron Harang, both of which have ERA's under 3.5, although Harang has a WHIP of 1.36. Arroyo and Owings both are doing terrible as well. The rotation is pretty bad. Bullpen: The Reds bullpen is doing solid, and to me, is the main reason why they are where they are. Cordero is a solid closer, Masset has a 1.69 ERA, Rhodes has a WHIP of 0.98, and Weathers has a WHIP of 1.10. Four solid RP for the Reds that they can use at any time. Overall, I don't think the Reds will be in it for long due to their lack of rotation depth, and their offense. I don't have time to do the Astros or Pirates right now, but I'll add them later on. Best Offense (This year) 1. Milwaukee Brewers 2. St. Louis Cardinals 3. Chicago Cubs 4. Houston Astros 5. Cincinnati Reds 6. Pittsburgh Pirates Best Pitching 1. St. Louis Cardinals 2. Chicago Cubs 3. Cincinnati Reds (Bullpen mainly) 4. Houston Astros 5. Milwaukee Brewers 6. Pittsburgh Pirates Final Standings 1. St. Louis Cardinals 2. Chicago Cubs (1st if offense can get going, or trade for another bat) 3. Milwaukee Brewers 4. Houston Astros 5. Cincinnati Reds 6. Pittsburgh Pirates Thoughts?

Wimbledon has been a huge disappointment so far.

Does he have a point here?