I like the Blue Jays

Would anyone like to jump on the Blue Jays bandwagon with me for 2011? Unless the Pirates sign some of the players I mentioned in an earlier post, they have no shot of even .500 next season. So, why not root for an underdog who may have the chance to compete with the Yankees and Red Sox in '11?

Their top 4 pitchers in the rotation are very promising. Brendon Morrow and Brett Cecil are having great second halves, and Marcum and Romero are steady, quality young starters. Their minor leagues are loaded with pitching talent with Kyle Drabeck and Zach Stewart to name a few. They could sign an experienced arm to bolster the staff and help the new guys out, but they have enough internal options that they will probably spend their money elsewhere.

Offensively, they have most of their positions set:
C John Buck
1B ?
2B Aaron Hill
SS Yunel Escobar
3B ?
LF Fred Lewis
CF Vernon Wells
RF Jose Batista
DH Adam Lind

They have Brett Wallace waiting in the wings to play 1B or take over the DH spot, and Travis Snider available if one of the outfielders comes back down to earth next season (ahem.. cough cough Jose Batista cough). They also have 3 nice catching prospects as well as Jose Molina to back up Buck, so they are good there. If they are going to spend money I think it should be to acquire a decent 1B and or/ 3B. Guys like Paul Konerko, Carlos Pena, Ty Wiggington, Jorge Cantu, Troy Glaus, Aubrey Huff, Adam Dunn, and Brandon Inge are some options. I think Konerko will stay with the Sox, and Dunn is probaly out of their price range. I think Wiggington or Cantu would be a decent addition for their versatility, and maybe they could get Pena to play 1B/DH. That would make for a fairly formidable lineup. Yes, they would be old, but they have plenty of talent waiting to take their place.

Could that team compete with the AL East big dogs? Maybe, but I think they are at least going to be in the conversation. So, who's with me?

Pirate Fans Please Read

Hey everyone, here is an article I think every Buccos fan needs to read...

Enjoy.

If I could be commissioner for a day...

Since I've already solved the Pirates problems, now I have to solve the leagues. Just kidding, but have you ever wondered why baseball not only has less teams than the 3 other major sports, but also has 2 fewer teams in the AL? Expansion might not happen for a while just because it is so hard to fill the seats for as long of a season as it is, but adding 2 more teams might help with parity, plus will even out the leagues and allow for a restructing of divisions. The biggest problem with having 4 divisions like in football is that it would add one more round to the playoffs, which already extend to the beginning of November. They could just start a week earlier?

AL East
New York Yankees
Boston Red Sox
Baltimore Orioles
Toronto Blue Jays

AL North
Minnesota Twins
Detroit Tigers
Chicago White Sox
Cleveland Indians

AL South
Texas Rangers
Tampa Rays
Memphis Wildcats*
Kansas City Royals

AL West
Los Angeles Angels
Oakland Athletics
Seattle Mariners
Portland Bears*

*Expansion teams

NL East
New York Mets
Philadelphia Phillies
Pittsburgh Pirates
Washington Nationals

NL South
Atlanta Braves
St. Louis Cardinals
Florida Marlins
Houston Astros

NL North
Cincinatti Reds
Milwaukee Brewers
Chicago Cubs
Colorado Rockies

NL West
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres
Arizona D'Backs
San Francisco Giants


How much fun would it be for the Pirates to be in a division with the Mets, Phils, and Nats???

My plan for the 2011 Pittsburgh Pirates

If I could be GM for a day…

The Bucs’ Brass have said they would spend up to 50M on the MLB roster if the prospects were ready and they felt they had a core that could win. Well, I think it is safe to say that they will be ready next year. So, here is what I would do:

Not going to get much in a trade for Church, Duke or Dotel, so give them away for cash considerations. Duke makes about 4.5M, Church 1.5M, and Dotel about 3.5M. I think you could get 5M back from that bunch.

Release Andy LaRoche, Jason Jaramillo, Ryan Church, Brendon Donnelly, Bobby Crosby at end of the season.

Sign Jayson Werth to a 5 year deal for 45M. He currently makes 7.5M/year and I imagine he is in for a raise at least to 9M per, especially if he decides to come to the Pirates who would have to overpay.

Sign Brandon Webb to a 3 year deal for 21M. He currently makes 8.5 so I think we could get him for 7M/year with incentives, following his injury year.

Sign Javier Vazquez to a 3 year 33M deal. He currently makes 11.5M but with his age I bet we could get him for 11M per year plus incentives.

Sign Eric Hinske to a 1 year, 1M deal. He always plays for winners, at least in the second half of the seasons. Can play multiple positions and can pinch hit.

Sign David Ross to backup Doumit for a 1 year, 1.5M deal.

Trade for Ryan Theriot. He makes a very affordable 2.6M this season, so we could probably trade a prospect and cash to the Cubs to attain him. I’ll project spending 3M for him.

Call up Danny Moskos and Chris Jakubauskas (who deserves a second chance after the head plunking he took) and pay them league minimum.


Adding the current salaries, plus the 5M in cash we could get, plus the new salaries, the Pirates would be spending only about 45M on their 2011 roster. That still puts them second to last in the league in team salary, and gives them 5M leeway to spend at the trade deadline if they are actually in contention. My 2011 roster would look like this:

Starting Lineup:
CF Andrew McCutchen
LF Jose Tabata
RF Jayson Werth
1B Garrett Jones
3B Pedro Alvarez
2B Neil Walker
C Ryan Doumit
SS Ryan Theriot

Bench:
2B/OF Delwyn Young
IF/OF Eric Hinske
C David Ross
SS Ronnie Cedeno
OF Lastings Milledge

Pitchers
SP Brandon Webb
SP Javier Vazquez
SP Paul Maholm
SP Ross Ohlendorf
SP Brad Lincoln
RP Jeff Karstens
RP Chris Jakubauskas
RP Joel Hanrahan
RP DJ Carrasco
LP Javier Lopez
LP Danny Moskos
CL Evan Meek

There it is. I didn’t fact check on the 2011 salaries of the current players, but rather went with their salaries for 2010. Therefore, the final number might rise slightly but I doubt it would pass 50M. Seems like it would be relatively easy to do, and who wouldn’t like that 25-man roster? Especially in the NL Central?

But…alas.. I am not the Pirates GM. Thoughts?

All MLB Fantasy Draft - AL East

So in my latest attempt to waste time, I decided to pool all the MLB players and have a mock draft. I randomly ordered the teams and for each I drafted a C,1B,2B,3B,SS,LF,CF,RF,DH/Bench Player, 5 SP's, and 1 Closer. There are a few young players missing, but for the most part it is a decent list. Most probably won't agree with all the lineups I put together, but here is the AL East. Assume each team has an equal bullpen and bench. I'll put up a poll to vote for your top 2 in each division until we crown a mock World Series Champ. (Note: When I did the draft I was thinking about the future for some teams, so the Pirates team would suck next season, but pick the best team however you choose..)

Red Sox
Coghlin
DeJesus
H. Ramirez
Dunn
Rasmus
A. Huff
Uribe
R. Martin
Teahen

Oswalt
C. Lewis
Blanton
D. Bush
G. Gonzalez
J. Soria

Rays
Span
Hudson
Braun
V. Martinez
Dye
N. Johnson
Desmond
Hermida
A. Gordon

Hamels
Zito
Matsuzaka
O. Perez
Monasterios
L. Nunez

Blue Jays
R. Sweeney
Zobrist
Tulowitzki
M. Ramirez
C. Davis
Tejada
B. Molina
Venable
Maybin

Gallardo
Niemann
Ohlendorf
Bedard
Gorzelanny
Marmol

Orioles
Pagan
Cano
Votto
T. Hunter
D. Ortiz
F. Lewis
Crede
Paulino
Aybar

Shields
Vazquez
Braden
Talbot
Snell
Aardsma

Yankees
Furcal
Roberts
Youkilis
Holliday
Thome
Hart
Encarnacion
I. Rodriguez
N. Morgan

Beckett
Porcello
Sheets
Harden
Maine
F. Rodriguez

Where we stand after two months...

As of June 1st:

Correctly picked teams in the standings
Offord 11
Ryan 10
Josh 9

Awards
AL MVP M. Cabrera
NL MVP Pujols
AL CY Young D. Price
NL Cy Young Jimenez
AL ROY A. Jackson
NL ROY Heyward
AL WILD CARD Yankees
NL WILD CARD Cardinals

Some notes:

- Is Toronto the new Coors Field? How the hell is Jose Batista leading the AL in HRs??
- San Diego, Toronto, Oakland, continue to prove us wrong in our bottom dweller predictions
- Meanwhile, both Chicago's and the Orioles continue to blow
- Andre Ethier has missed something like 3 weeks and could still be considered NL MVP as of now. Quite an April he had.
- I swear that I seriously considered Jimenez for NL Cy Young in the preseason.
- The Sox and Yanks are gaining on the Rays. How long do you think Tampa can hold them off?
- I think if the Angels don't make the playoffs this season it will be a long time before they do again
- Placido Polanco and Jimmy Rollins mean more to the Phillies offense than anyone could have imagined.. and whay happened to Cole Hamels?
- Will the Reds be the top team in the NL Central for the next decade? They are certainly making a case for themselves. If not them or the Cards, who else could possibly compete in our division?
- When the Astros inevitably lose Oswalt they may have the worst pitching staff in MLB history
- Barry Zito continues to rock the comeback. Right now he is the ace of that staff...
- Lastly, take a look at most of the pitching league leaguers - Leake(21), Kershaw(22), Cahill(22), Garcia(23), Hanson(23), Hughes(23), Gallaro(24), D. Price(24), Cain(25), Lincecum(25), Buchholz(25),Romero(25), Jimenez(26), J. Johnson(26), Pelfery(26), Fister(26), Lester(26), Vargas(27), Verlander(27), Niemann(27). Combine that with the 3 perfect games and low HR output, and I'd say this will definitely be the decade of the pitcher. Look for someone to finish the season with or close to an ERA under 2.00 every season until 2020.
- I took way too much time looking up all their ages
- The Pirates are going to have a winning record in June. Just you wait...

Baseball Power Rankings 2

As the month of May comes to a close, I figured I better get to work on the newest power rankings.

You're the Best, the Best!
1.(Previous: 1) Rays
Still have the best record in baseball, although I would not be shocked to see them start to slip a little bit. Their pitching looks great on the surface, but some of these guys will start to lose games...

2. (3) Yankees
Good pitching, monster hitting. Yeah, that will help you win games. Hell, beginning of May they were winning without getting much from some of their bigger bats. Now they are coming to life...watch out Rays.

3. (4) Twins
This was a tough call, but I put the Twins up there mainly because of the fact that they have both hitting and pitching and they are playing at a level that is not too far above where they should be.

Baseball Has Been Berry Berry Good to Me
4. (5) Padres
I think they are going to make me look like a fool all year long. One of the best pitching teams in baseball. Yet also one of the worst hitting teams.

5. (19) Reds
Wow, I cannot believe they are playing this well. I guess I should become a believer. They are one of the best hitting teams in baseball and not a terrible pitching team. I guess they could sustain this all year.

6. (11) Blue Jays
Another team that I kept thinking could not be all that good. Although, I do not believe Jose Bautista will continue to be a huge power hitter. Hell, at some point the home runs will stop and this team will fall apart. Or not. Jose will lead the league with 51 HRs this year. Pirates fans will bitch about how they would be in first place if he was still in Pittsburgh...

7. (2) Cardinals
They let the Reds pass them. That should be an automatic drop in the rankings. Also, God decided to forget how to hit in May. Although, he hit 3 HRs today (May 30th). He will carry the Cardinals back into first place. Oh yeah, that pitching staff is still arguably the best in baseball. Not bad either.

8. (20) Red Sox
Fourth place in the AL East is still better than most other teams in baseball.  I can understand the argument to realign that division.

9.  (8) Phillies
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...sorry.  I mean, how funny is it that the only way they could win the last few games was by Halladay pitching a perfect game.  This team cannot buy a run at the moment.  Seriously, Anibal Sanchez pitched shut them out today.  Everyone is shutting them out.  It makes me smile. 

Here They Come to Save the Day
10. (21)  Braves
At this point last month they were in last place.  Now they are close to overtaking the Phillies for first place. 

11. (22)  Dodgers
The hottest team out there.   Oh, and their pitching could actually improve.  Not a good sign for the Padres...

12. (9)  Tigers
Another one of those teams that I really have nothing to say.  Blah.

These Guys Have Winning Records?
13. (10) Rangers
Ah yes, finally the leader in the AL West makes an appearance.  They have similar pitching stats to the Tigers, yet the Rangers seem to be pitching a little bit above reality.  I know I keep saying that and some of you have no idea what I mean.  If you look at peripheral stats, you see that certain teams have a good ERA, but terrible numbers that usually lead to a good ERA (get my drift?  no?  well blow me).

14. (7) Giants
They are starting to give up runs, yet they are still not scoring some.  They finally brought up Buster Posey, which should help that struggling offense.  Also, rumors that Lincecum has a blister, which is affecting his pitching make me think that the Giants could get passed up by the next team.

15. (12) Rockies
This seems like a team that has some bad luck.  They are one of the top hitting and pitching teams, yet they are just starting to win games.  Also, they have some pitcher who is really good.  What is his name?

16. (6)  Mets
Talk about a streaky team.  A few weeks ago I would have put them lower, now all of a sudden they are winning again and looking like a good team.  Shutting out the Phillies for an entire series also makes you look super awesome in my book.

17.  (14) A's
Dallas Braden pitches a perfect game, then cannot win a game the rest of the month.  Good thing they play in the AL West because I believe if they played in any other division they would have a losing record.

And Now Let The Losing Begin
18.  (16)  Nationals
Their pitching staff is not doing so well.  Fortunately, Jesus Christ will be making his debut soon, so they should get 20 wins from him...right? 

19.  (15)  Marlins
H-Ram does not hustle.  That is why they are in last place...or maybe it is some bad hitting.  Could Mike Stanton be coming up soon to bring some power to the lineup?

20.  (17)  Angels
I believe the Angels dominance in the West is over.  Last year they were killing the ball, this year not so much. Also, I think I just heard that Morales is injured.  Not good for them.

21.  (13)  Cubs
Getting some very good pitching, but not a whole lot of hitting. 

22.  (27)  White Sox
Pitching is not terrible.  Not the best in baseball, but pretty average.  I wonder if the Cubs and White Sox could combine and start scoring runs.  Probably not.

23. (26)  Royals
I will keep them up pretty high because they are still a good hitting team, but not a good run scoring team.  They have the second highest team average, yet one of the lowest run totals, which obviously does not bode well for your pitching staff.

24.  (25)  Brewers
This is what happens when you have a terrible pitching staff.  Hell, at one point the Pirates started beating them.  It felt pretty good.

Bottom Feeders
25.  (18)  Diamondbacks
They have the worst pitching in the majors.  Maybe they will get better.  Just maybe.  Very doubtful though.

26. (24)  Mariners
I guess I answered my question, this is not a very good team...

27.  (23) Indians
They are still shitty...

Could These Teams Win in AAA?
28. (29)  Orioles
I realize they have the worst record in baseball, but seriously, stats wise, they are better than the next teams.  They play in the AL East.  Yes, they suck outside the division, but they are 6-18 against their own division.  Not a very good record.

29.  (28) Pirates
They suck.  I really was tempted to put them below the Astros, mainly because they get destroyed so often.  But, there is no difference between losing 1-0 or 20-0 (or so someone once said), watch a few of those games and tell me what you think?

30.  (30)  Astros
Yep, NL Central is really cranking out some shitty teams. 

Brillant Nutting News Article from last week...

Like Bucs, Penguins Still Have Work to Be Done

Paul Ladewski




PITTSBURGH -- The Penguins may be out the playoffs already – c'mon, they lost to the eighth seed, really? – but at least one Pittsburgh team won this hockey season.

Yep, you guessed it – the Pirates.

Now that the Penguins have gone belly-up in the playoffs for the fourth time in five years in the Sidney Crosby era, maybe we'll hear less about how their ownership will turn around the Pirates in no time if given the chance.

The fact is, despite every conceivable advantage from first or second overall choices in four consecutive drafts to the mother of all lottery picks to a league that operates with a salary cap to a pucks-mad fan base, the Penguins have been unable to dominate their own division let alone the entire league.

Or did you know that, while the Pirates have gone 17 years without a sniff of .500, the Penguins have hoisted exactly one Stanley Cup in that period?

Pure and simple, like the Pirates over the years, the Penguins have made mistakes in the draft and the open market. Lots of them.

For instance, take the 2003 draft, in which the Penguins owned the No. 1 pick on the heels of a anorexic 65-point season. (Yes, Bubba, they were dog breath themselves not that long ago.) The golden rule states that you never, ever select a goaltender at the No. 1 pick, but the Penguins chose Marc-Andre Fleury, anyway. Here are some of players that they could have taken instead -- Eric Staal, Thomas Vanek, Jeff Carter, Zach Parise, Ryan Getzlaf, Mike Richards, Corey Perry, Shea Weber . . .

Hey, maybe Bryan Bullington wasn't that bad, after all. Sorry, forget I wrote that.

Here it is, five years after Crosby was drafted, and the guy still doesn't have a regular linemate that is in the same zip code as his talent level. Quick -- name the last legit 30-goal-scorer to be developed in the Penguins farm system.

OK, 25 then.

Uh, 20?

God help the franchise if Sid the Kid goes down any time soon. Cart him off and the Penguins are the New York Rangers all of a sudden.

I wouldn't wish that on even a Philadelphia Flyer let alone Crosby, who represents everything that is good about professional sports. I wouldn't wish that on any team owner let alone Mario Lemieux, a guy that only the devil could root against.

It's just that, before people wish for the Penguins to step in and save the baseball team in this town, they should remember that the Penguins have to help themselves first.




***This article was on piratesreport.com and has since been removed. If this were meant to be ironic, it would be totally awesome...but sadly it is serious. taking a shot like this at the penguins may be enough for me to consider searching for a new favorite MLB team, this is just sad, sad, sad.

Where our predictions stand after the first month...

Correctly picked Games
Ryan 9
Josh 6
Offord 7

April awards
AL MVP Cano
NL MVP Ethier
AL CY Young Liriano
NL Cy Young Jimenez
AL ROY A. Jackson
NL ROY Heyward/Freese
AL WILD CARD Yankees
NL WILD CARD Giants

Some notes:

**Ryan you never put up predictions for awards and post-season predictions for the National League**

Best and Worst predictions
- Josh was the only one who believed the Rays would be better than the Sox. I was on the fence, but it is looking like he nailed that one.
- Speaking of the Red Sox, I said Dice-K's return would make a positive impact... oops.
- My pick of Brantley over Austin Jackson for AL ROY was ill advised.
- I think we all forgot to take into account the Dodgers' off-field issues... they are quickly becoming on-field issues.
- I definitely was high on Usbaldo this season and actually picked him second behind Lincecum for Cy Young. Should be fun to watch the battle between those two and Halladay.
- Ryan was dead-on with his Volquez prediction - he is definitely looking like the next Mark Prior.
- However, his pick for Jake Peavy as best pitcher in the American League is not looking so good.
- Three out of four of our consensus last place teams - Athletics, Padres, Blue Jays - are over or within 1 game of .500. But how long will that last?
- Does Ryan still think Griffey can hit over 25 home runs? And does he still think the Pirates can win 80 games??
- While Ryan leads the standings in correctly picked places, he also picked the Mariners and White Sox to win their respective divisions. I should probably deduct points for that.
- We were all very wrong about the Orioles.

Bold predictions for the coming months (pun intended)..(get it?)..(heading is in bold?)..(nevermind..)
- Jason Kendall will not finish the season hitting over .250.
- The Yankees will continue to get better since they are winning without much offense from Teixeira and ARod.
- The Cubs will find more ways to shoot themselves in the foot, and Gorzo will not keep pitching the way he is.
- The Mets are actually in decent position to make a Wild Card run since Beltran will be returning soon (I think) and the pitching hasn't been half-bad. But, they won't.
- The Rockies will be a sub-.500 team until September when their pitching staff finally wakes up and they win 20 straight again to nab the Wild Card spot.
- Jamie Garcia is legit. At least I hope so since he is on 2 of my fantasy teams.
- Francisco Liriano is not legit. At least I hope so since he is on 0 of my fantasy teams.
- It is only a matter of time until Andruw Jones gets a 50 game suspension. Maybe Konerko too.
- Kelly Johnson, José Bautista, and Alex Gonzalez have more homeruns than the Pirates starting lineup combined. I didn't even have to look it up to know that.
- Speaking of the Pirates, the best days are definitely behind them. I should just cancel my MLB TV susbscription now and try to get some sort of refund.
- Last but not least, Tiger Woods will switch sports and DH for Detroit. Think of the marketing!

Baseball Power Rankings

I figured I would do this once a month. Offord did it for football and I think he tried to do it for baseball last year, but it kind of fell by the wayside. So I will give it a try. Feel free to disagree and argue with any rankings as you see fit.

Oh So Good
1. Tampa Bay Rays
This team has it all: hitting, pitching, speed, power, starters, relievers. My World Series prediction may not be such a pipe dream after all.

2. St. Louis Cardinals
One of the better pitching staffs so far this season. Obviously they have a great lineup, I just wonder if Rasmus can keep up his insane pace. Also I have to wonder if the pitching staff can continue to be as dominant without striking out as many batters. I see them staying up high though, since they play the NL Central teams most of the season.

3. New York Yankees
Seriously, they are the Yankees. What else do I need to say about them?

4. Minnesota Twins
The interesting thing about their pitching so far this season is that it seems to be playing about at the level it could play all season. Some teams (Padres) seem to be pitching out of their minds, and it should catch up to them soon. The Twins do not seem to be one of those teams, which is a good thing for them. Obviously they can hit.

5. San Diego Padres
I predict this team will drop out of the top ten in a short time. They are playing great at home right now. Their pitching is ridiculous, but their hitting is still one of the worst in the league. I mean down there with the Pirates.

6. New York Mets
The hottest team in baseball at the moment, aside from the Rays. Their hitting is finally coming alive and it means they are starting to win games. Pitching has been good like the Twins at a sustainable level.

7. San Francisco Giants
They still have very little offense, but when your pitching staff only gives up 70 runs, you can win some games. The biggest problem they are having right now is winning close games (1-5 in one-run games). Obviously, since I have Matt Cain this year in one of my fantasy leagues.

8. Philadelphia Phillies
I blame them not being in the top three because of Happ. Yep, that is the reason. Also, I love reading all the stuff about Howard's huge contract and how it is such a bad idea. This offense is too good to not win a shit-ton of games.

9. Detroit Tigers
You may be wondering why I have them down here instead of up above the Giants or Phillies. Their hitting is way above where it should be at the moment. Austin Jackson cannot keep up this pace. Unless we are looking at the greatest player of all time (I hope, I have him on one of my fantasy teams). I do believe they are a top ten though, mainly because Justin Verlander will not pitch as badly as he has at the beginning of this season (he started out similarly last season).

Almost There
10. Texas Rangers
They can hit and they can steal. They can also pitch, well not really. Could the AL West be the new AL Central? Meaning: the team that wins barely breaks .500...

11. Toronto Blue Jays
Now we get into all the teams with so-so records. The Jays started hot, but things are starting to even out. Their pitching is decent and in any other division they would probably be in first place.

12. Colorado Rockies
Yes they have a losing record, but their expected W-L is 15-10. It seems to me they are just not getting some things to fall their way. Also, have they not started out bad before and then won like 20 games in a row or something to win the division or the wild card?

13. Chicago Cubs
Average age of this team is around 102 or something. Just kidding, not that old. Who knows though, maybe Gorzo is the answer...

14. Oakland Athletics
Good young pitching. Where the hell does Beane find them? He should look for some hitting though. Not so good in that department.

15. Florida Marlins
As usual they defy reason.

Ugghhhhhh
16. Washington Nationals
Somehow they keep winning games. Although, I am sure Capps will start blowing games soon. It is an inevitability.

17. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, or whatever they are called
Hitting has been decent, but the pitching has been pretty bad.

18. Arizona Diamondbacks
One of the best hitting teams in baseball right now. Also one of the worst pitching teams. Haren should be able to start dominating and maybe Edwin Jackson can maybe give up less than six or seven runs a start and the D-backs will have a chance to climb.

19. Cincinnati Reds
Whatever. How are they doing well, yet got swept by the Pirates? Weird.

20. Boston Red Sox
Obviously they should be better than this, or should they? I wonder if they are hoping to see the Padres collapse so they can try for Adrian Gonzalez?

21. Atlanta Braves
They have Jason Heyward. Also, the best last place team in baseball?

22. Los Angeles Dodgers
Or should that honor go to the Dodgers? I bet Andre Ethier wishes he could play the Pirates all season...

23. Cleveland Indians
Maybe Jobu needs a refill...

24. Seattle Mariners
Not really that bad of a team. But, who knows if they will be any good in the coming months.

25. Milwaukee Brewers
I wanted to put them further down, their expected W-L is boosted by the games against the Pirates, unfortunately that does not mean you can exclude. They have no real pitching aside from Gallardo. They do have a few good hitters though, I think their names are Rickie Weeks and Alcides Escobar...

26. Kansas City Royals
They were hitting way above their true ability, but that is starting to fall back to earth.

27. Chicago White Sox
Haha, I think someone said they had the best rotation in baseball? Peavy has been great so far...also, I believe they have the lowest batting average, which could change.

OH MY GOD THE HORROR!!
28. Pittsburgh Pirates
They have the worst expected W-L record in all of baseball (5-20). They are 5-1 in one-run games, which is funny since a few years ago they were like 1-15 in those situations. Win close, or lose very big...great.

29. Baltimore Orioles
I realize that before they won three games in a row, they only had four wins, but they should not be this bad. They could move up, all the way to like 25...

30. Houston Astros
Wow, they are a shitty team. They are at the bottom of almost every category. Unfortunately they swept the Pirates this about a week ago...but screw them they are going to the bottom.

Obviously this will change dramatically in one month...well maybe not the bottom.