Thoughts on Being a Cruddy Blogger

So I haven't made a post in over a month. And I don't know why I haven't, considering I have so much free time, but oh well.

Biggest story over the past month: Strasburg. I have caught the end of two of his outings on TV, and he's looked disgustingly good. He has the stuff to be the greatest pitcher of the modern era. Those crazy seasons by Pedro may not seem so unique after he's been around for 5 years. The Nationals seem to think they can make a playoff push this year, so they may not be sellers at the deadline (Capps, Willingham, Morgan sticking around probably).

Also notable is the emergence of Delmon Young. It took a few more years to happen than it should've, but he seems to have turned a corner.

Alex Rios has been ridiculously good this year, although one wouldn't trust him to keep this up all year.

Pedro Alvarez and Mike Stanton, probably the 3rd and 4th best prospects heading into this year, have both been promoted. Pirates cut Iwamura and LaRoche is moving to 2nd to make room.

The Mets have benefited greatly from R.A. Dickey and Takahashi replacing Maine and Perez in the rotation. They also just sent down Jenrry Mejia to work on being a starter. With the return of Igarashi to the bullpen, Mejia isn't needed as much. However, the Mets bullpen isn't exactly blanking the scoreboard. Feliciano and K-Rod have been great all year, but Nieve especially, among others, has struggled. But one wonders if Mejia will see the majors again this year, with the rotation seemingly set with Santana, Pelfrey, Niese, Takahashi, and Dickey, and Perez/Maine spending time on the DL with "injuries."

The Al East has evolved into a very tight race, with the Yankees streaking into a one-game lead over both the Red Sox and Rays, the latter of whom has been atop the division most of the year. Gotta hand it to Boston for staying tough when they struggled early, and for putting up an impressive showing against Ubaldo Jimenez tonight.

Fredi Gonzalez was fired because the Marlins aren't winning the NL East. In case you haven't noticed, their owner thinks their team is stocked with talent, and should have won the NL East the last three years, not the Phillies. Earth to Jeffry Loria, you have started Cameron Maybin, Cody Ross, Jeremy Hermida, etc. for long extended periods of time. The best first baseman you've had is Gaby Sanchez, your best catcher has been Miguel Olivo, and your starting pitching as a whole has been inconsistent at best and your most consistent closer has been Kevin Gregg. This is not a formula for winning division titles! Rumor is that they're going after Bobby Valentine for their new manager. I'll be bitter when that hapeens, Bobby V is my favorite manager, and I wish he was still on the Mets. Fredi Gonzalez will find another job, jsut like Joe Girardi, and he will undoubtedly be at least a good manager.