In a nutshell, who knows what will happen?
Well, that is my standard reply when it comes to sports prognosticating. You would probably do just as well by creating a formula that ranked teams by your favorite colors, nicknames, cities and the square roots of their zip codes. OK, maybe not, but still.
I commented on the Cardinals at my blog, Central Standard, and, if you want, you can read it here. If you are not inclined to jump, I'll say this. They have already surprised us and I think it will continue. A number of frontline pitchers were injured last year and so some young guys were thrown into the fire. Those guys all have a year under their belts. Sometime later this year, some of the better arms will come back. Jim Edmonds, Scott Rolen and David Eckstein have departed to be replaced by kids who are eager. No way they are last this year, as some "experts" have suggested. I think they are better than last year's team which hung in the race until mid-September. They just might win the division this year but, if not, I think they'll be in the hunt.
The Royals are better. Right now. And they will get better year-by-year with Dayton Moore and Trey Hillman running things. Get on board with them right now. I don't know what year it will be, but in a handful of years I would not be surprised to see playoff baseball in the land of Arthur Bryant. That being said, they are in one of baseball's tougher divisions. Detroit has a monstrous lineup, Cleveland is where KC is headed, i.e. young talent in the playoff hunt, Minnesota always fields a pretty good team and Chicago has talent and is just a couple years removed from a pennant. KC could improve by 10 games and still be nowhere near the playoffs. But they will be fun to watch and, I think, their day is coming. I was beginning to wonder if they would ever get back again.
The article that Bob linked is good and had nice things to say about KC, as he noted. But, he left the funny line for me to pull:
Speaking of new ballparks, have you checked out the additions to Fenway Park? If there’s a nook or a cranny, the Red Sox are adding a seat. Pretty soon, that guy selling chowder down the left-field line will have a box seat strapped to his back.
OK, how about some teams to watch for this year? In the spirit of Captain Renault, here are the usual suspects: Boston, NY Yankees, Detroit, Cleveland, LA Angels in the American League and NY Mets, Philadelphia, Chicago Cubs, Arizona and San Diego in the National League. Flying under the radar are Toronto and Seattle in the American League and Atlanta (they're back!) Milwaukee, St. Louis and LA Dodgers in the National League. The San Francisco Giants may quite possibly, to borrow Bob's phrase, stink out loud.
I don't think the Royals have the horses this year, but for the first time in a very long time, there is reason for optimism in KC. Pay attention and it will be all the sweeter when they win the division in a few years.
