This column, and the ones that follow, will serve as obituaries for the teams likely to be mathematically eliminated from postseason contention during the week. Each team will be identified and their deathwatch number will be written in parenthesis next to their name (deathwatch number will be as of the previous day’s games).
1. Boston Red Sox (3). What more can be said about the 2006 Boston Red Sox that I haven’t already said? They just weren’t good enough in 2006. Boston management overestimated Josh Beckett’s ability to take his game from the weaker competition in the National League to the more competitive American League, and the team is still paying for the mistakes they made with signing Matt Clement, letting Johnny Damon walk away to New York and trading Josh Bard to San Diego for Doug Mirabelli. It’s been a wretched season for the Red Sox and it can’t end soon enough.
2. Toronto Blue Jays (1). On this date in 2005, the Blue Jays were two games under .500 yet had the same “Tragic Number.” Fast forward 365 days later and the Blue Jays have improved themselves by 10 games as they now stand eight games over .500 and now stand three wins away from locking up only their fifth winning season since winning the World Series in 1993. Goes to show what an extra $26.2M in payroll can do. Troy Glaus, BJ Ryan, Lyle Overbay, and to a certain extent AJ Burnett, have all paid dividends for the Jays. They still have a long way to go to catch the Yankees atop the AL East but it looks pretty likely that the Blue Jays can pass Boston for second place in the division later this month.
3. Texas Rangers (3). Another season, another cruddy pitching staff. The 2006 Rangers outscored every team in their division and, predictably, gave up the most runs too. They have a shot at finishing over .500 with five more wins but the Rangers are a team in turmoil. Management seems disenchanted with Buck Showalter and players like Mark Teixeira and Hank Blalock had down years. I don’t know what the solution is, besides the Rangers figuring out how to develop more good young pitchers from within their farm system. Until that happens, the Rangers have third place in the AL West locked up for the next several years.
4. Cincinnati Reds (7). That the Reds spent most of the season in contention was a total surprise. It’s too bad they couldn’t hang on to the lead in the Wild Card because Major League Baseball needs to find a way to reconnect with the fans in the Ohio/Michigan/Western Pennsylvania markets. That used to be baseball’s core constituency. The problem with the 2006 Reds is that they just don’t go deep enough in the starting rotation. They gave up the fifth-most runs in the National League in 2006.
5. Houston Astros (7). The Astros are the bizarro opposites of the Cincinnati Reds. As defending National League champions, Houston was supposed to contend for the division crown, let alone the Wild Card. Instead, they spent much of the season under .500 and frittered away an opportunity to run away with the division on the strength of their rotation. The Astros scored the fourth-fewest runs in the National League and the fifth-fewest runs in the majors. To say the Astros were done in by their offensive ineptitude would be a major understatement.
6. Milwaukee Brewers (2). Not much to say about this team. They had youth all along the lineup and in their bullpen. Their starting pitching was injured and ineffective all season long. A young team and an injured and inconsistent pitching staff is a recipe for a losing season and in that regard, the Brewers didn’t disappoint.
7. Arizona Diamondbacks (6). The Diamondbacks are an interesting team. No one expected them to contend for the postseason but at one point in 2006, the D-Backs were right near the top of the NL West standings. I see a lot of good things happening to this team in the near future. They are loaded with good young players (Conor Jackson, Carlos Quentin, Stephen Drew) and they have a legitimate ace in Brandon Webb. I’m looking at them to take a big step forward in 2007.
8. Colorado Rockies (4). They remind me of a slightly less promising version of the Arizona Diamondbacks. For a while in 2006, the Rockies played with passion and were in the mix. Eventually they came back down to earth but there is a lot to like on this team too. Matt Holliday will be a star in the big leagues for several years. The Rockies have nothing to be ashamed of.
Note #1 – The next group of teams to be listed on deathwatch:
Chicago White Sox (7);
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (7); and
San Francisco Giants (9)
Note #2 – The remaining teams, the Minnesota Twins and San Diego Padres are locked in extremely tight division races with the current division leaders (Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Dodgers, respectively). It’s impossible to predict who will end up on top; hence I cannot list them on the deathwatch at this time.
Note #3 – I’m rooting for the Twins to pass the Tigers for the AL Central title with the Tigers to lock up the AL Wild Card. In the NL, I’m rooting for the Dodgers to hold off the Padres and for the Philadelphia Phillies to edge out the Padres for the NL Wild Card.
1. Boston Red Sox (3). What more can be said about the 2006 Boston Red Sox that I haven’t already said? They just weren’t good enough in 2006. Boston management overestimated Josh Beckett’s ability to take his game from the weaker competition in the National League to the more competitive American League, and the team is still paying for the mistakes they made with signing Matt Clement, letting Johnny Damon walk away to New York and trading Josh Bard to San Diego for Doug Mirabelli. It’s been a wretched season for the Red Sox and it can’t end soon enough.
2. Toronto Blue Jays (1). On this date in 2005, the Blue Jays were two games under .500 yet had the same “Tragic Number.” Fast forward 365 days later and the Blue Jays have improved themselves by 10 games as they now stand eight games over .500 and now stand three wins away from locking up only their fifth winning season since winning the World Series in 1993. Goes to show what an extra $26.2M in payroll can do. Troy Glaus, BJ Ryan, Lyle Overbay, and to a certain extent AJ Burnett, have all paid dividends for the Jays. They still have a long way to go to catch the Yankees atop the AL East but it looks pretty likely that the Blue Jays can pass Boston for second place in the division later this month.
3. Texas Rangers (3). Another season, another cruddy pitching staff. The 2006 Rangers outscored every team in their division and, predictably, gave up the most runs too. They have a shot at finishing over .500 with five more wins but the Rangers are a team in turmoil. Management seems disenchanted with Buck Showalter and players like Mark Teixeira and Hank Blalock had down years. I don’t know what the solution is, besides the Rangers figuring out how to develop more good young pitchers from within their farm system. Until that happens, the Rangers have third place in the AL West locked up for the next several years.
4. Cincinnati Reds (7). That the Reds spent most of the season in contention was a total surprise. It’s too bad they couldn’t hang on to the lead in the Wild Card because Major League Baseball needs to find a way to reconnect with the fans in the Ohio/Michigan/Western Pennsylvania markets. That used to be baseball’s core constituency. The problem with the 2006 Reds is that they just don’t go deep enough in the starting rotation. They gave up the fifth-most runs in the National League in 2006.
5. Houston Astros (7). The Astros are the bizarro opposites of the Cincinnati Reds. As defending National League champions, Houston was supposed to contend for the division crown, let alone the Wild Card. Instead, they spent much of the season under .500 and frittered away an opportunity to run away with the division on the strength of their rotation. The Astros scored the fourth-fewest runs in the National League and the fifth-fewest runs in the majors. To say the Astros were done in by their offensive ineptitude would be a major understatement.
6. Milwaukee Brewers (2). Not much to say about this team. They had youth all along the lineup and in their bullpen. Their starting pitching was injured and ineffective all season long. A young team and an injured and inconsistent pitching staff is a recipe for a losing season and in that regard, the Brewers didn’t disappoint.
7. Arizona Diamondbacks (6). The Diamondbacks are an interesting team. No one expected them to contend for the postseason but at one point in 2006, the D-Backs were right near the top of the NL West standings. I see a lot of good things happening to this team in the near future. They are loaded with good young players (Conor Jackson, Carlos Quentin, Stephen Drew) and they have a legitimate ace in Brandon Webb. I’m looking at them to take a big step forward in 2007.
8. Colorado Rockies (4). They remind me of a slightly less promising version of the Arizona Diamondbacks. For a while in 2006, the Rockies played with passion and were in the mix. Eventually they came back down to earth but there is a lot to like on this team too. Matt Holliday will be a star in the big leagues for several years. The Rockies have nothing to be ashamed of.
Note #1 – The next group of teams to be listed on deathwatch:
Chicago White Sox (7);
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (7); and
San Francisco Giants (9)
Note #2 – The remaining teams, the Minnesota Twins and San Diego Padres are locked in extremely tight division races with the current division leaders (Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Dodgers, respectively). It’s impossible to predict who will end up on top; hence I cannot list them on the deathwatch at this time.
Note #3 – I’m rooting for the Twins to pass the Tigers for the AL Central title with the Tigers to lock up the AL Wild Card. In the NL, I’m rooting for the Dodgers to hold off the Padres and for the Philadelphia Phillies to edge out the Padres for the NL Wild Card.
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