You got to love those New York reports, lmao - Maddux will sign with the MFYs by the end of the week!
This sux and makes it for an interesting season... The pitching is equal in my mind, but we got the bats from top to bottom... Go Stros'...
I wouldn't go that far. I'd say their both equal. Ramirez Lee Patterson Sosa Walker Gonzalez is just as good as Kent Hidalgo Berkman Bagwell Ensberg Biggio In my opinion. Either way, it's gonna be an amazing season and I'll be scoreboard watching early!
You can say that again. Both teams should make the playoffs. The Cards will mostly finish 3rd but they will be a pivotal team - sort of like the "runner-up maker". I am very very confident that the 'Stros will finally break the jinx and win a playoff series for the first time in franchise history.
It is a great time to be a Houston Sports fan. The teams are playing well, playoffs seem part of their future. And we had the Super Bowl, will have the MLB Alstar game this year, and the NBA Alstar game (maybe) in 2006.
Ramirez is one of the most inconsistent players ever. Lee is a good hitter, but not great. Sosa is Sosa. Patterson's career OBP is .293 (yikes). Walker is not nearly what he was hyped up to be. Fenway is a lefty park and he took advantage of it. Gonzalez is a terrible hitter. Our lineup looks very favorable when compared to theirs.
i agree..the cubs had trouble scoring runs last season, even after the ramirez trade. i'd say the astros have the cubs on offense. the starting rotation is the real battle point. seriously, i think the pitching matchups during cubs/astros games are going to be just sick. i don't know if i can think of a time when two teams in the same division had such super solid starting rotations.
I think that with Maddux in fold the Cubs may have a slightly better staff than the Astros (because they are now five deep), but the difference is fairly small. If one of their starters go down with an injury, they really don't have anyone who can come in and even be an average starter. Their offense, however, is definitely inferior to ours. They have some big holes in their lineup. The bottom of their lineup virtually can't hit and they have no leadoff man as of now. I think that their loss of Lofton is going to prove to be very costly. Lee could have a break out season (his numbers were skewed last year playing in the football stadium), Sosa will be Sosa, but Alou is starting to show his age and there is a reason that teams don't want Ramirez. The NL Central is going to be a lot of fun this year, and I like our chances better than the Cubs'.
you know what...i'd put last year's Redding up against last year's Maddux and feel pretty comfortable. maddux was a 6 inning pitcher last season.
