Juicing?

In the steroid age of major league baseball, everyone with great stats or a large jump or drop in stats from one year to the next is a suspect of juicing. No great player can escape the wrath of being a suspect. Some are clean, though, and should be rewarded greatly for their efforts to become the greatest, without using performance enhancing drugs (PEDs). Here's the problem, how do we find the juicers? The MLB does have testing to make sure the players are clean, but someone can slip under the radar. The tests may be mandatory, but mistakes can be made. Here, I will explore a few suspects of juicing and whether i think they are and/or were juicing.
Suspect 1: Ryan Theriot, SS, Chicago Cubs
Ryan Theriot is known as a contact hitter. He hits in the upper .200s to the low .300s. He had only hit 7 homers over the past four seasons with the Cubs. This year, however, he has already hit 7. In the past three years, he has actually lost power, too. In '06 he hit 3 homers in 134 at-bats. It took him 537 at-bats to reach the same mark in '07. And last year he got 580 at-bats and had a total of 1 home run. 1 HOME RUN!!!!!!! This year with 283 at-bats and he already has 7. A huge transformation. But the question is, can you improve from 1 homer to an estimated 14 or 15 homers, being that he keeps the same pace, just by working in the gym and working on your swing? My answer is no, Theriot is, and obviously was, not juicing.
Suspect 2: David Wright, 3B, New York Mets
This year David Wright has hit 5 home runs. Last year he hit 33. The year before that he hit 30. The next year he hit 26. Thye year before that he hit 27 long bombs. And in his rookie year, he hit 14. Well then, what's with the big drop-off? Wright isn't even on track to tie or beat his rookie total, which he got in only 263 at-bats, and this year he already has 284. His average has been through the roof this year, though, at .345, his best ever. But he has lost a considerable amount of power. He was the 5-tool player, minus the speed. Now he's a 3-tool player. Has he realized he could easily get caught? I think so. I believe David Wright did take PEDs. With all the big stars of the past being caught and having their records tarnished, he realized he needed to get clean. That's my opinion.
So, these are two examples of possible PED users. These are just two examples of many possible PED users in the MLB. Theriot and Wright have two completely different scenarios, and now you can take the facts from above to make your own conclusions on other people you think may be taking PEDs (like, for instance, Big Papi David Ortiz? Just throwing a name out there ; )).

Cubs Rough Start

This article will be written as an investigation of the Cubs. Why aren’t they in first place? They have the most talent in the NL Central, yet they are in fourth place. How could that be? How will they turn the season around? That is what this article will investigate.

First let’s start with injuries. Currently, the Cubs have two big stars on the DL, Rich Harden and Aramis Ramirez, who are both on the 15-day DL, and one other starter, Aaron Miles, who can be a great role player and is also on the 15-day DL. Two other injuries to Ryan Freel, a solid back-up for the Cubbies, and Chad Fox, a reliever that has played in 2 games and pitched one third of an inning with an ERA of 135.00. Not missing much there. The suspension to Carlos Zambrano certainly didn’t help. He will only miss one start since it’s a six game suspension, but for an ailing Cubs team, it is important that he makes as many of his starts as he can.

Now we can discuss the fielders. Only one player is batting over .300, and that would be Kosuke Fukudome, who had a great first half last year and completely fell off for the second half. Nobody is under .200, but Milton Bradley is dangerously close at .204. Alfonso Soriano has lead the team with 12 HR, and the rest of the team has hit only 5 long bombs, except for Geovanny Soto, who is really struggling with only 1 homer.

Now we can talk about the pitching. First things first, THEY MUST FIND A CLOSER! When your closer has an ERA of over 4, you’re in trouble. Kevin Gregg fits the bill. Despite blowing only one save, he isn’t reliable. Now, they can’t put Marmol in the spot because he has had control issues that are even worse than normal. The starting pitching has only been okay. Randy Wells has the best ERA a step in with a 1.80 ERA. But when he shows up, the offense doesn’t, as he is 0-2 in 4 starts. Zambrano and Lilly are the only two starters who have a win percentage over .500. Marshall and Dempster both have 3-3 records. Dempster boasts an awful 4.99 ERA and Marshall has an improved ERA, but still not great with a 3.70 ERA. As you can see, nobody on the starting rotation is really making a difference, and hopefully when they have Harden reinstated into the rotation they will get a boost.

So, with the combination of injuries and struggling players, the Cubs have been unable to be a top-flight team so far this year. At least they have ended they’re long losing slide and won 2 of their last 3, but that doesn’t just get you right back in the mix with the snap of a finger.

Drugs Ruin Everything

Yet again someone has come down with the drug bug. This time, it's Manny Ramirez. Yes, Manny was suspended for 50 games for violating the MLB's drug policy. The drug Manny had used has not been disclosed, but Manny says that is was a drug, not steroids, that his doctor had given to him on prescription. Unfortunately, that was an illegal substance in the MLB. So, the commissioner took quick action and immediately suspended Manny. Now, the up and coming Dodgers are forced to play without their star outfielder for a while.
There have been a few surprises so far this season. All the first place teams in the AL are shockers. The Blue Jays are on fire and have taken control of the AL East. Of course, the Red Sox are finding their stride and are just two games back, so the Blue Jays have to be watching their back. In the AL Central, the ROYALS, yes the Royals, are in first place. It certainly helps that they have a Cy Young caliber season coming from Zach Greinke, who can't seem to give teams a chance to score runs. Lastly, in the AL West, the Angels sit in 3rd place and the Rangers is the team standing in front. They lose a big reason they were solid last year in Milton Bradley, but they continue to win plenty of games and are in a position to fly to the playoffs. In the NL, though, it is pretty much going by the book. So, it's still early and unpredictable, but we may be seeing the top teams forming, despite some of them being extremely surprising.

Early Breakdown

It is early in the season, and the records now don't mean much. I mean, come on. The Royals are tied for first in the AL Central. They have some young talent, but it doesn't compare to the other teams in the division. The Blue Jays are leading the AL East. Now that is just ridiculous. The Blue Jays have very little talent, let alone enough to go all the way through the season staying ahead of the Yanks and Red Sox and Rays. NOT GONNA HAPPEN! In the AL West the Mariners lead. The Mariners can be dangerous and all, but not enough to take a playoff spot. The biggest shocker is the Marlins. Not that their leading the NL East, but that their 9-1! This team has a shot to make a run for a while and hold first place, but not go 9-1. There is no way this holds up all season. I don't think anyone thinks it will, but I'll confirm it. This is a 162 game season, and not many teams can stay hot that long. In a couple weeks, we'll probably start to see the teams meant to be at the bottom falling and the most talented teams rising. You can start a season feeling good and on a roll coming out of Spring Training, but it doesn't last very long. Soon Boston will step out of the basement in the AL East. The Twins and Indians will fight again in the AL Central. The Angels will come to form like the best team in the majors from last season. The Mets and Phils will take control of the NL East. The Brewers will find themselves competing again in the NL Central. The only division that hasn't seen much excitement is the NL West, going just the way people expected, for now.

Can it get any worse?

Well, I went to the Phillies game last night as they again took on the Braves. As you may know, the Phils were beat down 4-0 and the Braves took the lead on the first pitch on a HR by Kelly Johnson. On top of the fact that nothing really good happened for the Phils, it was cold enough to be football game weather. Seriously, I was wearing Under Armour, a t-shirt, a sweat shirt and a heavy jacket. And I was still cold! But, I won't lag on with that, lets talk about baseball!
Well, the Phils had a few bright spots. Raul Ibanez, the new man, threw a man out at home to save a run and the bullpen didn't give up a run after replacing Jamie Moyer. Now their offense showed no urgency. There were a few hits that made it near the wall, but were caught by the Braves. Other than that the Phils offense really struggled. Chipper Jones has had a good start to the year for the Braves, batting over .500. I know its early and that is a pretty easy feat, but he was the only one on the field able to boast that title. Other than that, there really wasn't anything interesting going on in the game.
Some side notes. I almost got a foul ball. It was about a seat over from me. You don't realize how scary it is to have that ball coming at you until it does. I wouldn't have been able to catch it if I tried, but I didn't. I kind of leaned away. My hands were freezing, and if that ball hit my hands, I probably wouldn't be typing this right now. Second, I made it onto the jumbo-tron! Second time in my short life this has happened. That was pretty much the highlight of the game for me.
Well, this was a waste of a posting, but hey, gotta write something!

101 or 0?

The Cubs have gone 100 years without a World Series title. Now they are for wins away from ending the streak. But the Yanks are hungry for a long awaited (for the Yanks, 8 years is like the Cubs 100 year wait) championship. This is the break down of the games.

Game 1
Zambrano Vs. Sabathia
Last year Sabathia didn't have a very happy playoff experience. This year is different. He throws an excellent game. Giving up only a few hits and one run in 7 innings of work. Zambrano's fatigued arm gets whacked. Only 5 innings of work where he gave up 5 runs on double digit hits. The bullpen holds the Cubs afloat, but still a butt whooping as the Cubs can't get their bats going (as usual).
6-2 Yankees

Game 2
Lilly Vs. Wang
Well, nothing much different in this match-up. Lilly has an off night and Wang is burning the cold Cub bats.
8-3 Yankees

Game 3
Harden Vs. Burnett
This time the Cubs get going. The bats are going, especially Milton Bradley's. The Yanks compete, but are kept from getting a sweep.
5-3 Cubs

Game 4
Dempster Vs. Sabathia
Zambrano is done, so they replace him with Dempster. Now Sabathia is licking his chops. But for some reason nobody is doing well. Batting is the key in this one. As well as Kevin Gregg striking out Mark Texeira in a game winning situation for the Yanks in the ninth.
10-9 Cubs

Game 5
Lilly Vs. Wang
Now pitching is prominent. Neither teams bats are going, and a Mariano Rivera save seems to be inevitable
2-1 Yankees

Game 6
Harden Vs. Burnett
Do or die for the Cubs. Knowing the Cubs they would pick die. But this one shows promise. Harden pitches a great 6 innings, giving up 1 run. Going into the 8th it's 1-1. Going into the 9th it's 2-2. Then Kevin Gregg blows it. He gives up 4 runs in the top of the ninth and Rivera closes the deal as the Yankees win in front of their home crowd at their brand new stadium.
6-2 Yankees

So I believe the Yankees will be World Series Champs this year, beating the Cubs 4 games to 2. So to answer the question 101 or 0, 101!

AL Predictions

Sorry for the wait folks. I haven't had a lot of time to write lately. Anyway, Here are my AL predictions.
AL East:
This is easily the toughest division in baseball. Three teams in contention, the Yankees, Red Sox, and Rays, all possibly taking 90 to 100 win seasons. Then the bottom two, the Blue Jays and Orioles, show some promise, both being not much below .500. Now the top three are extremely hard to choose from. Third will be the Rays. They have four great starters, but a shaky fifth starter will hurt them. Their offense will be fairly scary as they add Pat Burrell as their big bat.Still, with Upton on the DL early, they will have some trouble getting the ball rolling. Eventually, their few flaws will catch up to them. Not only that, but Scott Kazmir probably won't stay healthy. The Yankees and Red Sox are tough. I feel there will be tons of drama in NY as usual, but they have really paid their way out of the dark ages. With Texeira added to their post-season ready line-up with great batting and fielding, I say they got the AL East in hand. Not only that, but the best record in baseball. Still the Red Sox are ready for a post-season, so look out. Especially when John Smoltz gets worked into that rotation.
Winner: Yankees
Wild Card possibilities: Red Sox and Rays

AL Central:
Well I feel that the Twins are the most dangerous team in the central. But, they will struggle early on with Joe Mauer on the DL. This team has lots of young talent, especially in the outfield and in the rotation. Francisco Liriano will finally get to prove himself in the big leagues after two years or so of injuries. The Indians will certainly put up a fight as well. After acquiring Mark Derosa, their lineup gets a big boost. They also have a solid pitching rotation lead by Cliff Lee, who could have a fantastic year, or just drop a bomb. They will be interesting to watch, because they could be great or horrible. It's tough to tell. Now I struggle deciding whether the Tigers or the White Sox will pull into third. The Tigers choked last season, and this season start with Jeremy Bonderman and Dontrele Willis, two key pitchers, on the DL. Still they show promise and could catch fire and make some noise. The White Sox are iffy. A solid team all-around, but no real strengths. Just a solid baseball team. I would have to choose the Tigers, but it should be interesting. Last, the Royals. Shall I say more?
Winner: Twins
Wild Card possibilities: None

AL West:
Easiest division in baseball. The only team with any shot in October is the Angels. They have a great rotation, that is, once John Lackey and Ervin Santana come off the DL. They have a good lineup that can hit and field. They replaced K-Rod with another tough closer in Brian Fuentes. The only hole left from last year is first base, where Mark Texeira took the reigns. Now Kendry Morales (?) will start there. NO BRAINER! The A's, Mariners and Rangers are in the same place. Promising, but not ready. The Mariners adding Ken Griffey Jr. to the lineup, which could be scary, but they are still the worst in the AL West. The Rangers are just young. THIRD! Second will be the A's. Lead by a few big off season acquisitions in Jason Giambi, Orlando Cabrera, and Matt Holliday. They also have a young, promising pitching staff, so down the road watch out.
Winner: Angels
Wild Card possibilities: None

Wild Card:
The AL East will see the Wild Card crown. Now the decision is Red Sox or Rays? Red Sox. A better rotation when Smoltz gets put in, better offense and better defense all leads to the Red Sox taking the Wild Card spot. Sorry Rays!

Division Series:
1. Yankees
3. Twins
Yanks in 3

GET YOUR BROOMS! The Twins don't have anything to combat the fire power of the Yankees. Enough said.

2. Angels
4. Red Sox
Red Sox in 5

Rematch! Again, the Red Sox take it. They really have the second best record, even though they are the fourth seed. They prove they are obviously the better team. The Angels will hang in with their tough pitching, but the Red Sox prove too much for the Angels.

ALCS:
1. Yankees
4. Red Sox
Yanks in 6

Oh boy! Big rivalry with a spot in the World Series on the line. It should be very interesting. The Yanks will have gotten over all the drama, since now it is too important to let a game slip. The Yanks just have too much fire power. They have a rock solid rotation and great offense. The Red Sox defense won't be enough to propel them to a title.

So, Yankees, Cubs for the title. Who will win? Find out in the next posting.