Thoughts on this Massive Blog Post Heading into the Second Half

So this blog entry will be split into two parts, a look back at the 25 randomly bold predictions I made pre-season, and an intense and intricate division-by-division breakdown.

First up:

1.) Brandon Wood hits 18 home runs before the All-Star break, and make the world's best manager look foolish for never playing him regularly. - Brandon Wood has batted .171 with 3 HR's. Whoops! 0-1.
2.) Pedro Alvarez will make it to the majors by the All-Star break, and will remind everyone how bad Andy LaRoche is. - Pedro Alvarez has only hit .214 with 3 homers. But he made it to the majors before the All-Star break, and in a way people have been reminded how bad Andy LaRoche is. 1 for two on predictions, I'm on the baord!
3.) Phillip Hughes will pitch very well through July, but will start to tire out because he's used to relieving and all the long outings will wear on his arm. - Incomplete, because it's only July, but rumors are the Yankees might go trade for a starter with Joba Chamberlain, and send Hughes to the pen to protect his arm. Looks like I'm going to get this one too, but I won't count this one just yet.
4.) Tommy Hanson's ERA will be over 4. - 4.13 ERA. Damn I'm good. 2-3.
5.) A.J. Burnett pitches fewer innings than Ben Sheets. - 112.2 to 107. 3-4.
6.) Ben Sheets will not be traded, but the A's will take the draft pick compensation instead. - Not looking good, as it appears Sheets will not be Type A or Type B, so he will probably be traded. Odds are I lose this one. 3-5.
7.) Ryan Ludwick hits lower than .250. - .273. Crap. 3-6.
8.) Of all those "top prospects" the Phillies traded, less than half will give a respectable performance at the MLB level this year. I think Michael Taylor and Lou Marson will do well, Drabek, Donald, Knapp, D'Arnoud, and Carrasco will struggle. - Donald is hitting .274 in 146 AB's. Respectable. Lou Marson is hitting .191 in 141 AB's. Weak sauce. Neither Carrasco or Knapp have made it to the MLB this year. Neither have D'Arnoud or Drabek. Michael Taylor is still in the A's system. That's less than half who haven't even made it to the MLB, let alone play respectably. I won't count the prediction of Marson playing well and Donald not cloud this clear win for me. 4-7.
9.) Jorge Cantu is traded to an NL West team. - Incomplete, trade deadline not passed yet, so it's still possible.
10.) Zero no-hitters will be thrown this year. - Dead wrong, almost laughably so. 4-8.
11.) One one-hitter will be thrown. It will be by a Met, he will give up the no-no in the bottom of the 9th, with a homerun, to lose the game 1-0. The pitcher will be Oliver Perez. The hitter will be some light hitting second baseman or a backup catcher. This is the reality of being a Mets fan right now, that this scenario seems entirely possible. - I lose this one, although it wasn't very serious when I made it, so I'm not going to count it.
12.) The Nationals don't take Bryce Harper with the number one overall pick in the draft. - Wrong. 4-9.
13.) The Cubs' starting OF of Byrd, Soriano, Fukodome hit less than 50 HR's combined. - 32 HR's at the break. Not looking good, but an injury could easily help me win this one, incomplete.
14.) The Diamondbacks' OF of Jackson, Young, Upton hit over 75 HR's combined. - This is tough, as Conor Jackson was traded, which was not anticipated. Upton/Young have 29 HR's combined. I sit at 30 HR's. I will give myself a win if Upton/Young hit more than 30 combined HR's post-All-Star break. As it stands, incomplete.
15.) Jason Heyward will be sent back to the minors by the end of May. -He got hurt in June, but that doesn't count. 4-10.
16.) Scott Feldman wins 13 or more games. - 5 wins at the break, not looking good. 4-11.
17.) Jorge De La Rosa regresses to his normal "great stuff but is too inconsistent to be good all year long." - He got hurt, but wasn't pitching great anyhow before the injury, so I will take this anyhow. 5-12.
18.) The current idea of floating divisions will be killed by the owners eventually, but a new idea with more free flow between divisions that in no way has geographical bearing will become popular and gain steam. - I don't even remember what I meant by this. Doesn't count.
19.) The NL will win the All-Star game. - Damn straight. 6-13.
20.) The Rockies win 105 games, win the pennant, but lose the World Series to the Rays. - Incomplete.
21.) The Dodgers will be the NL's biggest bust, winning fewer than 85 games. - Still have time, but not looking good for me as they sit at 49-39. 6-14.
22.) Tigers' power arm Daniel Schlereth will say something to prove that his father's obnoxious talking runs in the family. - I'm going to take a win on this considering I've heard his Dad say so many dumb things over the course of this year that his son is going to get punished for it here. 7-15.
23.) Curt Schilling will once again be the most common member of the Red Sox in the media, even in retirement. - Made big news with his proclamation that Stephen Strasburg was the best pitcher in baseball before he had even reached the majors yet. Although to his credit, he has been absolutely correct on that statement. 8-16.
24.) Bert Blyleven, Barry Larkin, and Roberto Alomar will be elected to the Hall of Fame, but no first-timers will be eligible (look out for Jeff Bagwell in a few years, but otherwise it's a weak group). - Too far off, incomplete.
25.) The Texas Rangers will take the title of "surprisingly good pitching" from the Rockies this year.- I think it's fair to give them that title based on how well they pitched this year. 9-17. More than half right/seems like they're going to be right.


to be continued...

Thoughts on the Trade Deadline and All-Star Teams

For a second year in a row, Carlie Manuel blundered his All-Star team selections. I understand he had even less room to wiggle, but there were some huge mistakes on his part. I'm not going to rant on the snubs, because there are too many. But for god sakes, he probably selected the first part-time position player to the All-Star team ever. Omar Infante? REALLY? And then he went and selected two setup men. I understand when mangers select one in the rare occasion, or reward their own as a lifetime achievement award type of thing (the Mike Stanton award as I like to call it), but Arthur Rhodes and Evan Meek? Wow. Just wow.

The trade deadline is fast, fast approaching, and Cliff Lee still dominates the trade rumors. Let's get this straight, he's getting traded, and he's going for at least one top 50 prospect, but not much more. The C.C. Sabathia price if you will. I'm betting on the Twins trading Wilson Ramos for him, he's the definition of a blocked prospect after the Twins locked up Mauer this offseason. Mets have a shot if the Twins don't like the price and think Wilmer Flores is a legit future star. The Tigers, Reds, and Angels could also be potential suitors.