Thursday, July 28, 2005
Sweep Dreams
The Atlanta Braves just completed a three-game sweep of the Washington Nationals. The sweep gives the Braves a comfortable three-game lead on the Nats.
Sigh.
All three games were decided by one run. In fact the Nats' streak of losing one run games mirrors their early season success in such contests. It looks like whatever magic held the Nats up for the first hundred games of the season is now vanishing.
Which is fine by me. Sneaking up right behind the Nats are the New York Mets. Despite losing two of three to the pitiful Colorado Rockies the Mets are just 2.5 games back of the Nats for the wild card lead. In front of the Mets are the team they are set to start a four game series with tonight - the Houston Astros, whose recent surge from oblivion has them a mere half-game behind the Nats. Luckily for the Mets they will not have to face Roger Clemens in this series, though I suppose that means fans will be deprived of just one more Piazza-Clemens showdown.
The Wild Card race is pretty tight, with six teams all within three games of each other, and a couple more just a few games further out. Because so few teams are completely out of it with the trade deadline just a few days away, there might not be a lot to be had. But one word of advice to the Mets and in particular GM Omar Minaya: PLEASE be rationale. We lucked out last year in that the deadline deals we all disparaged have not in fact turned out to be the unmitigated disasters we thought they would be. It took him more than ten minutes, but it looks like pitching coach Rick Petersen has figured out how to harness Victor Zambrano's ability. But, we got lucky, and I really don't want the farm being sold for Mr. K himself, Alfonso Soriano. As the saying goes, he's great for your fantasy team, not so much for an actual baseball team. I'd almost prefer to stand pat and see how the season plays out with the talent that's already in place. Steve Trachsel is set to rejoin the team, solidifying an already solid rotation (bye bye Ishii). Unless the Reds have second thoughts about trading Adam Dunn, there is no need to overpay for mediocre talent.
Should be a fun weekend of trade talk, and an even more fun final two months of the season.
And G**damn it I can't believe the Braves are going to fucking win the division again. Great, we get to see them lose in the first round again. Joy.
Sigh.
All three games were decided by one run. In fact the Nats' streak of losing one run games mirrors their early season success in such contests. It looks like whatever magic held the Nats up for the first hundred games of the season is now vanishing.
Which is fine by me. Sneaking up right behind the Nats are the New York Mets. Despite losing two of three to the pitiful Colorado Rockies the Mets are just 2.5 games back of the Nats for the wild card lead. In front of the Mets are the team they are set to start a four game series with tonight - the Houston Astros, whose recent surge from oblivion has them a mere half-game behind the Nats. Luckily for the Mets they will not have to face Roger Clemens in this series, though I suppose that means fans will be deprived of just one more Piazza-Clemens showdown.
The Wild Card race is pretty tight, with six teams all within three games of each other, and a couple more just a few games further out. Because so few teams are completely out of it with the trade deadline just a few days away, there might not be a lot to be had. But one word of advice to the Mets and in particular GM Omar Minaya: PLEASE be rationale. We lucked out last year in that the deadline deals we all disparaged have not in fact turned out to be the unmitigated disasters we thought they would be. It took him more than ten minutes, but it looks like pitching coach Rick Petersen has figured out how to harness Victor Zambrano's ability. But, we got lucky, and I really don't want the farm being sold for Mr. K himself, Alfonso Soriano. As the saying goes, he's great for your fantasy team, not so much for an actual baseball team. I'd almost prefer to stand pat and see how the season plays out with the talent that's already in place. Steve Trachsel is set to rejoin the team, solidifying an already solid rotation (bye bye Ishii). Unless the Reds have second thoughts about trading Adam Dunn, there is no need to overpay for mediocre talent.
Should be a fun weekend of trade talk, and an even more fun final two months of the season.
And G**damn it I can't believe the Braves are going to fucking win the division again. Great, we get to see them lose in the first round again. Joy.
# posted by Paul Zummo : 2:52 PM
