ESPN, Yahoo, and CBS pick Cubs

[ELCABALLO45]

http://assets.espn.go.com/i/columnists/stark_jayson_m.jpgNot really a suprise...

Stark

87-75

2nd in

NL Central

http://assets.espn.go.com/i/columnists/kurkjian_tim_m.jpg

Kurkjian

89-73

2nd in

NL Central

http://assets.espn.go.com/i/columnists/olney_buster_m.jpg

Olney

86-76

2nd in

NL Central

http://assets.espn.go.com/i/columnists/law_keith_m.jpg

Law

89-73

2nd in

NL Central

http://assets.espn.go.com/i/columnists/phillips_steve_m.jpg

Phillips

86-76

2nd in

NL Central

[billyhallfan]

they change these all the time, just the other day on sc buster picked milwaukee...

[elbobbo82]

While I am not surprised in the least that all the so-called experts are picking the Cubs, I think the win-loss records up there should be right in the range of reality, hopefully the Cubs have fewer wins than that 86 to 89 range.

[Ennder]

On paper the two teams are even so I have no problem with anyone picking one over the other.

[giffted1]

Well at least all of these guys picked the crew to finish ahead of the Astros.

 

The Yahoo Sports Crystal Plastic Ball:

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ys-standingspredictions032708&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

[ELCABALLO45]

I was JUST about to post that.. 4th place? really?

 

Jeff Passan had the Brewers back at least...

 

 

Explain, please, what happened to all of the support for Milwaukee? Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun are the best 1-2 hitting punch in the game, their rotation is six-deep and their bullpen is powerful. The Cubs are a nice story. One hundred years. Yada yada. A shaky rotation dooms them. If Jay Bruce, Joey Votto, etc., are in the lineup by May, the Reds could contend. And how about St. Louis and Houston? From the World Series two and three years ago, respectively, to the basement.

[rluzinski]

On paper the two teams are even so I have no problem with anyone picking one over the other.

 

Every statistical projection I've seen gives the Cubs the slight edge.

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

As Chris Berman would say, "That's why they play the games" http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

[ELCABALLO45]

Looks like we are going to "suprise" alot of people this year, CBS joins the party..

 

http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/story/10742428

[joshjs]

Over the past couple of years, due to reading crap like this time and again, I've come to the conclusion that many sportswriters are just plain lazy.

 

Look at this quote from the CBS story:

 

Vegetarian Prince Fielder promises to recycle every opponent in Brewers' path this season, and Ryan Braun in left field looked a whole lot better this spring than Ryan Braun at third base did last season. These Brewers will slug. Question is, can they pitch and catch enough to fulfill the promise that led to franchise-record attendance last summer?

 

How much thought do you think went into that? The author cherry-picks a few of the more popular memes about the Brewers -- Fielder's a veggie, Braun's moving to left -- and voila: That's his assessment of the team.

 

His assessment of the Reds is essentially "they have some young guys who are supposed to be pretty good."

 

I guess my point is that most of these guys aren't any more qualified to predict any facet of baseball than most of the regular posters on this site. Their job is to analyze baseball, but they seem to think it's to bust out however many words their editor assigns them and squeeze in a few trite pop culture jokes.

 

You people have better jokes than them, too.

[logan82]

On paper the two teams are even so I have no problem with anyone picking one over the other.

 

Every statistical projection I've seen gives the Cubs the slight edge.

How do those projections project our defense? Are they assuming we will be as bad as last year? I am not saying that our defense will be much improved, that is the hope though. I have no problem with everybody picking the Cubs either. I do however have a problem with everybody saying that the Cubs win the division "hands down" or that the Cubs will run away with the division.

 

Wouldn't it be easier and less time consuming to list anybody who does pick the Brewers. Gammons said that he thinkd the Brewers and Cubs will battle all year for the division.

[zurch1818]

Last year we were picked to be first by a lot of media "experts," and it didn't happen. They will be wrong again this year!

[Ennder]

On paper the two teams are even so I have no problem with anyone picking one over the other.

 

Every statistical projection I've seen gives the Cubs the slight edge.

 

Yeah but most of them project Soto, Pie and Fukudome to be better than I really think they will be and most of them project Zambrano to improve on last year which I don't think he'll do and assume Sheets and Gallardo won't pitch full time because of youth/injury. To me on paper the two teams are about as close as they can be, close enough that some breakout or injury or just who gets hot or cold at the right/wrong time will decide things. I expect this thing to be decided in the last week of the season again.

[Klements Bratwurst]

I say let all the "experts" pick the Cubs. It will be even more glorious, when their regressing players in Lee, Zambrano, and an 85% Soriano quad, fall well short of the media and Cub fans expectations and thus lose out to a young and hungry group of budding Stars in Weeks, Braun, Fielder, Hart, Hardy, Hall, etc. (See Cleveland Indians, circa 2007)

 

I guess if you add a Japanese player to your roster who has never played an inning of major league baseball, it means you have done the necessary things required to rid yourself of the curse of the goat. I remember, the Mets thought Kaz Matsui was going to be the next great thing, and that really didn't work out well for them did it? You never know until a player plays some games. The point being is yes, there are some good Japanese players as Ichiro and Hideki turned out pretty good, but considering the production the Cubs got out of the RF slot last year, adding Fukudome isn't like adding a Babe Ruth who is replacing Jon Vander Wal.

 

Go get em Crew!

[JohnBriggs12]

All these guys that pick teams spend all their time talking to each other. If they spent as much time actually analyzing teams, there's no way they'd all come to the same conclusion.

 

What amazes me is the love for the Reds. Do the Reds have some nice young players? Sure, but last I checked, Dunn was still in LF, Griffey was still in RF, Hatteberg was still at 1B and Ross was still their number 1 catcher. Matt Belisle and Josh Fogg are their 3 and 4 starters, and 40 something Kent Mercker and 38 year old David Weathers were still being counted on to get to Cordero. That doesn't say up and coming to me.

 

I've been often questioned for negativity, but a lot of my concerns were addressed this past week with sound decisions on the rotation. I thing the Brewers have as good a shot at winning this division as anyone and better than most. Keys as always are Sheets' health, and getting solid performances from the likes of Torres, Mota and Riske so they don't have to rely on Turnbow.

[splitterpfj]

I think the Cubs are the safe pick, but nothing more than that. The Brewers actually have more talent, but with it, they also have more questions to answer at this point.

 

There's no telling what Sheets will do, and Gallardo, Villanueva and Parra are all very short on MLB experience, so the only Brewers' SP who's really projectable right now is Suppan. Right away you can see that Milwaukee's rotation could be outstanding, but when Soup is the only known quantity, you can't just give the Brewers the edge right now.

 

The bullpen is the same way, on talent, the Brewers could be absolutely dominant, but there are lots of miles on most of the arms out there, and many of the roles are not yet clearly defined. It's fair to worry about Gagne at this point, and also Torres, Mota and Turnbow - that's one amazing batch of ability, but not one of those guys is coming off a complete season, so it's fair to question that part of the team right now.

 

There is no doubt that Milwaukee has more power than Chicago, and I think it's on the Cubs to prove they can score with Milwaukee, the same way it's on the Brewers to show they can outpitch the Cubs.

 

On talent and upside - Milwaukee. On projectability through this point - Chicago. I think the Cubs should be favored by 2-3 games right now, but the Brewers could absolutely win the division.

 

Don't be surprised if both teams make the playoffs.

[PlayerHader]

HOLD THE PHONES!!!

 

Skip Bayless made his pick this morning. He said after the Brewers and Cubs fail to seperate from one another over the first half of the season this team will jump up and take control of the division. Drum roll please.....

 

THE SAINT LOUIS CARDINALS

 

OMG I laughed. He said that Carpenter and ______ rejoining the staff of Wainright and ?????? will give them the best pitching in the division. My gosh I laughed out loud. I was actually starting to agree with him alot about the NCAA tourney games and then he goes and does this and makes him my personal whipping boy again.

[crewcrazy]

Yeah, the Skip Bayless pick of the Cardinals was pretty hilarious. He said he thinks the Brewers and Cubs won't be able to pull away from the rest of the division the first couple of months, leaving the door open for Chris Carpenter to come back in June and lead the Cards to the division. He actually said that the Cards have the best pitching in the division, with Carpenter, Wainright, and Piniero. Skip's never been a big baseball expert, though, so I just kind of chuckle at his predictions. He also had both New York teams missing the playoffs (with the Mets finishing in 3rd behind the Phillies and Braves, who got the wildcard). The only thing he said that I kind of agreed with was Cleveland having a chance to win 100 games.

[Ennder]

I actually think the odds are pretty good that both NY teams miss the playoffs. The Mets offense just isn't going to be that great so the pitching needs to step up which it could. The Yankees starting pitching is a complete mess.

[endaround]

I don't have problem with people taking the Cubs. Now the Cubs winning more than 90 games is another matter.

 

Then again when certain reporters (Jerry Crasnick) choose Jeff Francoueras the preseason All NL RFer, well yeah.

[BrewCrewForever]

I think this year I'm kind of glad we are not being picked.

[TooLiveBrew]

There is no doubt that Milwaukee has more power than Chicago, and I think it's on the Cubs to prove they can score with Milwaukee, the same way it's on the Brewers to show they can outpitch the Cubs.

 

To nitpick, the Brewers did outpitch the Cubs last year, they just didn't out-defend them.

 

I don't have problem with people taking the Cubs. Now the Cubs winning more than 90 games is another matter.

Yeah, that was my first thought on seeing the records "projected" (and let's use that term VERY loosely; there's absolutely nothing more than random guessing going into those records).

 

 

The Yankees starting pitching is a complete mess.

 

That's not an accurate way to phrase it at all. Wang/Pettitte/Hughes/Kennedy/Mussina/Chamberlin. That's roughly the same amount of depth that the Crew has this year, and probably more talented overall - or at worst, a wash.

[joepepsi]

I think if you do position by position or lineup by lineup or pitcher by pitcher comparisons the Brewers are clearly better than the Cubs. The only way I see the Brewers not completely running away with the division is if a string of horrific key injuries beset them. Even then they should be able to stay close to the Cubs.

 

The Cubs' record after June 1 was 63-48. That's a 92 win rate over a 162 game season. I think that's the ceiling for that team; the best they can do. I think the Brewers' ceiling is 100 wins.

 

You have to play the games; anything can happen of course, but I expect the Brewers to win the division by 8 games. Frankly, on paper I don't see a better team in the league.

[Ennder]

The Yankees starting pitching is a complete mess.

 

That's not an accurate way to phrase it at all. Wang/Pettitte/Hughes/Kennedy/Mussina/Chamberlin. That's roughly the same amount of depth that the Crew has this year, and probably more talented overall - or at worst, a wash.

 

Pettitte - Back problems

Hughes - Might have lingering injury issues, is on a pitch count

Kennedy - pitch count

Mussina - breaking down somewhat over the past few years

Joba - pitch limit

 

Wang is the only sure thing pitcher they have right now, the rest is a mess. It might work out it might not but I could easily see that rotation missing the playoffs given the division they play in.

[logan82]

joepepsi wrote:

The Cubs' record after June 1 was 63-48. That's a 92 win rate over a 162 game season. I think that's the ceiling for that team; the best they can do. I think the Brewers' ceiling is 100 wins.

I honestly would be surprised if either team goes over 90 wins.