Contenders or Pretenders?

[upinya83]

4 of the 6 divisions leaders are currently teams that not many predicted to be leading anything.

Oakland A's
Atlanta Braves
Cincinnati Reds
San Diego Padres

Which are contenders and which aren't? Will any of these teams be playing in the postseason? Which of them will still be fighting for a spot come the last week of the season?

Personally I dont see any of the 4 in the postseason. If I had to pick one, it'd be Oakland - if I had to pick 2 it'd be San Diego, basically for the same reason, they both play in weaker divisions and I think that'll give them a chance to still be in it come late September. However, both teams are doing well with young pitching, and young pitching tends to fade when innings start to pile up.

Discuss

[rjb1816]

the padres have the best pitching staff in baseball currently...whether they can win the division i'm not sure but they will be in it all year and over their last 110+ games dating back to last year they are 68-45 which is the best record in the majors. At a certain point it stops being a fluke I think

[upinya83]

Originally Posted by rjb1816

the padres have the best pitching staff in baseball currently...whether they can win the division i'm not sure but they will be in it all year and over their last 110+ games dating back to last year they are 68-45 which is the best record in the majors. At a certain point it stops being a fluke I think

ya - i almost put in my post "not many predicted to be leading anything, except rjb"

I think the Padres will be in it too - Do they hang on to Adrian if they are leading the division, or within a few games of the lead? I doubt they go get anyone, you know the Dodgers will, that'll be one thing that would worry me.

Also, how far does Latos go? Do they let the 22 yr old kid throw 180 + innings this year? Does he pitch this well on Sept 20th?

[Windy City Irish]

Oakland A's
Atlanta Braves
Cincinnati Reds


all pretenders. lack of hitting, pitching, depth when injuries occur will all hit these teams eventually

[rjb1816]

latos will be shut down likely or they will start curtailing his innings like shutting him down after 6.

They will not trade Adrian this year i dont think, but they wont really be aggressive in adding. Maybe a bargain basement type guy, but also the Dodgers dont have the money to go out and get a bunch of people either. I think it will be a tight race but there are several factors that will decide it down the stretch

[Bisket]

Padres have the best shot, probably have the best home field advantage in baseball. The division is really good, but no overwhelming favorite.

Atlanta will win 85-90 games, I'd put them at about 40% of making the postseason



Reds will finish under .500, Dusty will ruin that pitching staff, only a matter of time. Oakland is terrible too.

[bigsportsguy2006]

braves lose to phils for the East, but they will be in WC hunt IMO

[upinya83]

Originally Posted by Bisket23

Padres have the best shot, probably have the best home field advantage in baseball. The division is really good, but no overwhelming favorite.

Atlanta will win 85-90 games, I'd put them at about 40% of making the postseason



Reds will finish under .500, Dusty will ruin that pitching staff, only a matter of time. Oakland is terrible too.

Agree with most of this - Don't think Atlanta wins 90 games though.

Oakland may be terrible, but that entire division is terrible Should take 3 teams from the AL East and nobody from the west.

[Mendoza Line]

[JohnnyMapleLeaf]

And the Blue Jays have the 5th best record in all of baseball.

Lots of surprises so far...

[upinya83]

Originally Posted by JohnnyMapleLeaf

And the Blue Jays have the 5th best record in all of baseball.

Lots of surprises so far...

blue jays have a chance at postseason? too bad they play in that division

gregg is horrible tho

[Romanowski]

just look at run differential for a quick look at whos a true contender

the braves are definitely in it the whole year, so are the padres

it appears the reds are too, but how long can the pitching hold up?

One starter is 4-0 and pitched in college last year, 200 innings may be too much

Oakland is the least of all real a negative Rundiff tells it all

[sundance]

All 4 teams will wilt in the august heat I see St louis pulling away winning division easily, L.A & SF will be 1-2 in west Giants have the best pitching they need to go out and get another big bat, Pads are too young and wont spend no $$$ but will be around 500. Phillie will get there chit together and win the east easily again. Oakland is the team that will fade the most with the Angels & Texas battling it out. Out of the 4 Atlanta has the best shot at a wildcard only because Nl west is soo strong and could knock each other out.

[smitch124]

San Diego won't last in the west, the Rockies are the best team in that division and that will show in the long run.

[rjb1816]

lol giants fan of course would chime in that the padres wont last. they're better than the giants