Preseason Picks Revisited
The story so far:

AL West
AL Central
AL East

First off, I’d like to thank all the spammers for their excellent suggestions. Some pretty imaginative stuff, although much of it I fear is not physically possible. But really, what are we without ambition?
To the topic at hand. Here are my preseason predictions for the NL West, annotated for your amusement:

Diamondbacks – I expected them to be on top, but I figured it would be on the strength of their talented young hitters. Instead, pitching has carried the day in Phoenix. What a bullpen…
Padres – Not a bad showing from a team …read more

From Dodger Thoughts comes word that right-hander Jason Schmidt will miss the remainder of the 2007 season following surgery to repair, heck, just about everything. Jon also points us to an excellent article by Will Carroll (written in ‘04 but still very relevant) on the nature of labrum tears and recovery rate from them. It’s not terribly encouraging.
One of the problems with the way the current Dodgers roster is constructed is that there are several key players with significant injury histories. Schmidt is the first to succumb, but it shouldn’t surprise anybody if at least one of Nomar Garciaparra, Luis …read more

Have you noticed the National League shortstops this season? These are not the players I remember watching as a kid — Bill Russell, Davy Concepcion, Rafael Ramirez, Rafael Santana, Larry Bowa, Tim Foli, et al. Sure, Adam Everett is around, but most of the other guys manning the position now wield a potent bat.
Cal Ripken created a big stir when he first came into the big leagues. Redefined the position, they said. Alan Trammell. Robin Yount. And later, of course, the big three of Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, and Nomar Garciaparra.
Those guys all called the American League home. What did …read more