alright....

[griffeyfan3]

i say we get this started guys.....first ill start off. The reds will come in second maybe first place in the central....will definatly come in before the cubs and astros because they cubs and astros will suck this year....what do you guys think?

[RockSports17]

Predictions, eh?

Well, since this is not some official predictions thread and just in general predicitions. I think in the AL East the race for the top will be close, but I think Yankees will get 1st, Sox 2nd, Orioles 3rd, Devil Rays 4th, and Blue Jays 5th.

Yankees and Sox are both good teams. Orioles, I think are improved as long as they stay healthy, if not they could easily switc places with Blue jays. I think Devil Rays have improved and I think that they could do very well this season and get 4th place. Blue Jays, overall, they're just not impressive.

[griffeyfan3]

i just wanted to get this smack forum started.

[awefullspellare]

The Cubs WILL NOT suck this year. I think they may be a bit overrated, but not at the suckage level.

[griffeyfan3]

well they definatly dont have the power as they did last year....they will at least finish behind the reds.

[awefullspellare]

They lost some power in Alou and Sosa but Sosa especially didn't bring much else other then that power. I think Nomar is going to replace a lot of that offense and we hit too many HR's last year anyways. If the players replacing them can get on base still we don't need all the HR's we had last year.

[Eric The Red]

The Reds in second place?

I like the Reds but come on.

The team is one large windmill. What was it, something like 1,355 k's last year (or damn near). Griffey will start hot and his season will end after 57 games, Paul Wilson is your ace and you bring in Eric Milton to a hitters park. (He gave up what, 43 dingers last year?)

I thought this was the smack forum, not the fantasy forum.

[Tedc]

........... and we hit too many HR's last year anyways.

How can you do that?

[McKain]

You can't.

[RockSports17]

Ya. I didn't understand that statement at all. I thought HRs were good, and you could never have to much power.....

[griffeyfan3]

The reds can and will come in second,,,,they are way better than last year and have a hell of a pitching staff this year...on top of that the astros are going to suck this year and the cubs will defiantly have another dissapointment , we wont even get into the brewers or the pirates.

[McKain]

They have a hell of a pitching staff?

A bunch of people who have never had anything more than mediocrity in their carers are a "Hell of a pitching staff"?

Hell, the Nationals are going to the World Series, then, they must have a hell of a pitching staff, too!

I think what aweful meant was the focus on power created a "homerun mindset" where everyone continually tried to swing for the fences instead of trying to advance runners, score runs, blahblah.

[griffeyfan3]

hell of a staff compared to last season

[awefullspellare]

I think what aweful meant was the focus on power created a "homerun mindset" where everyone continually tried to swing for the fences instead of trying to advance runners, score runs, blahblah.

That is what I mean. The Cubs were near the top in HR's in the MLB but they had a TON of solo HR's. If they had more players trying to just get hits instead of HR's then the K's would go down and I think the team would have been better off. Players like Sosa are great for hitting power, but when you needed a hit with a runner on 3rd I hated having Sosa up because he would swing for the fence and either K or fly out to end the inning.

[CincyRedsFan30]

I think the Reds finishing in 2nd is realistic. I'm not saying it's a guarantee or anything, but I think it is certainly possible and it's what I predict.

I'm not a homer either, as I predicted the Reds to finish with an awful record last year.