Monday, July 25, 2011

Mid-Season Happenings

Things have been rather quiet in the market as of late. Only two signings of real importance, both by the Cincinnati Reds.

Guillermo Gutierrez signed for $13.2M. A starter of dubious quality in the control area, but does have decent splits and two nice pitches.

Rating: B

Cesar Cerveza was signed for $11.4M. His health and glove could be an inconvenience to stardom at 1B. His plate action however could be a boon but not in the consistent home run department.

Rating: B+

As for the early season predictions.

NL
So far the predictions are pretty accurate.

Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Florida and Salem lead their respective divisions to no surprise.

Milwaukee and Houston hold the Wild Card spots.

Mexico City and Los Angeles are the only teams close enough to upset the balance at the momment.

AL
Things in the AL are much tighter and changes could occur on a daily basis.

Seattle is the only team with a somewhat comfortable lead at this time.
Second place Toronto is fighting to hold a Wild Card spot if they can't rally.

Boston holds a 5 to 7 game lead over two potent adversaries that could surprise everyone.

Tampa Bay has a very tentative 1 to 5 game lead over all their division rivals which could lead to an exciting finish.

Las Vegas and Helena are tied in the West. Don't look now but the other division rivals are in their hip pockets so nothing is remotely settled here either.


As for the Mets, I haven't a clue. One of the best defenses in the league. Hitting has been a mixed bag of inconsistency. Will definitely surpass last seasons antics in several hitting categories but still doesn't produce runs. Pitching has been pathetic to say the least and I expected better. John McInerney did develop as expected and was rewarded with an All-Star nod.

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