Arizona Diamondbacks Preview
Win Total (5dimes)
Over 82.5 -125
Under 82.5 +105
So you like to gamble? Then the D-backs are the team for you in 2010. Your telling me a team with 3 established Aces cant sleepwalk their way to 83 wins? This seems too good to be true, a cant-miss lock of the century..or is it?
Whats to Like: The top of their rotation.. it will be hard to match by other teams this year. B.Webb is coming back from shoulder surgery and may miss the start of the season but Im thinking this guy will be back to his old form soon enough. He missed pretty much all of '09, but averaged nearly 19 wins a year from '06-'08. He's a top 5 starter when healthy. D.Haren is the definition of consistency..Over the last 5 years this guy has pitched atleast 216 innings each year and his ERA has been between 3.07-4.12. You have to think about this for a while to truely understand how great of an aclomplishment this is. This guy is like Willie Bee, you want to pull something over on SBR, you have to deal with Willie. You want to beat the D-backs, you are gonna have to deal with D.Haren.
Edwin Jackson is another Starter I look at as an ace for this team. Some might think he isn't proven yet but from what I seen last year this guy is going to be very good. He'll give up some more runs in Arizona compared to Detroit but that goes both ways, and I'd rather have a strikeout guy in a hitter friendly park anyways.
You have to like the D-Backs corners, both on the infield and the outfield. Left fielder C.Jackson is coming off some wierd illness that made him miss most of '09. He's back to normal, signed an extension, and should hit around .300 and hit somewhere around 20 HR's. Justin Upton had a great year last year (.300, 26HR's) so they gave him a 6 year deal and dont have to worry about a Rightfielder for a long time. Third baseman M.Reynolds strikes out way too much (223), but when you hit 44 HR's and steal 24 bases people tend to let that slide. One thing that isn't a gamble is firstbaseman Adam Laroche, If this guy doesnt hit somewhere close to .275 and hit about 25 HR's come back and mention to me and Ill give you 50 points. Catcher M.Montero is primed to have a breakout season, he hit .294 with 16 HR's in about 130 games last year, he'll probably improve on these #'s this year.
Whats Not to Like: The end of the rotation and a mediocre bullpen. If these guys had a bullpen like the Dodgers they would be scary. I guess they figure with the Big 3 starters eating up innings all year long they can get by till the break and bring in a guy to solidify the pen if they are in contention. Closer C.Qualls and Juan Gutierrez arent that bad, they just dont scare anybody. That fukk Zavada was the talk of the town last year with his mustache, but he'll be just another guy in the pen this year. Its looking like Ian Kennedy (trade with the Yankees) will be the fourth starter, he might be good one day, I just dont see it happening this year. 5th Starter B.Buckner was autofade material last year so they might want to rethink this guy being in the rotation.
Center Fielder C.Young and Secondbaseman K.Johnson hit about .220 each last year. This will have to improve. Stephen Drew is supposed to be a big star but at the end of the day he is just an average major league shortstop. Id rather see them get a slickfielding speedster than some OK shortstop that might hit 20 HR's.
Recap: General Manager Josh Byrnes and Manager A.J. Hinch seem to have a clue, with their Big 3 starters and proven young hitters they have the peices in place to win alot of games. I dont think any team in the NL West will win over 92 games, but if anyone does it will be these guys. Sure, there are question marks (B.Webb and C.Jackson returning from layoffs, bullpen, end of rotation) but if these things are ironed out the D-Backs have potential to go places. The Over 82.5 -125 looks too good to be true, which usually spells disaster, but you have to take it here. The juice is high but you are pretty much betting B.Webb comes back to his old self, which I think he will. Put a steak dinner on them to win it all as well.
Win Total (5dimes)
Over 82.5 -125
Under 82.5 +105
So you like to gamble? Then the D-backs are the team for you in 2010. Your telling me a team with 3 established Aces cant sleepwalk their way to 83 wins? This seems too good to be true, a cant-miss lock of the century..or is it?
Whats to Like: The top of their rotation.. it will be hard to match by other teams this year. B.Webb is coming back from shoulder surgery and may miss the start of the season but Im thinking this guy will be back to his old form soon enough. He missed pretty much all of '09, but averaged nearly 19 wins a year from '06-'08. He's a top 5 starter when healthy. D.Haren is the definition of consistency..Over the last 5 years this guy has pitched atleast 216 innings each year and his ERA has been between 3.07-4.12. You have to think about this for a while to truely understand how great of an aclomplishment this is. This guy is like Willie Bee, you want to pull something over on SBR, you have to deal with Willie. You want to beat the D-backs, you are gonna have to deal with D.Haren.
Edwin Jackson is another Starter I look at as an ace for this team. Some might think he isn't proven yet but from what I seen last year this guy is going to be very good. He'll give up some more runs in Arizona compared to Detroit but that goes both ways, and I'd rather have a strikeout guy in a hitter friendly park anyways.
You have to like the D-Backs corners, both on the infield and the outfield. Left fielder C.Jackson is coming off some wierd illness that made him miss most of '09. He's back to normal, signed an extension, and should hit around .300 and hit somewhere around 20 HR's. Justin Upton had a great year last year (.300, 26HR's) so they gave him a 6 year deal and dont have to worry about a Rightfielder for a long time. Third baseman M.Reynolds strikes out way too much (223), but when you hit 44 HR's and steal 24 bases people tend to let that slide. One thing that isn't a gamble is firstbaseman Adam Laroche, If this guy doesnt hit somewhere close to .275 and hit about 25 HR's come back and mention to me and Ill give you 50 points. Catcher M.Montero is primed to have a breakout season, he hit .294 with 16 HR's in about 130 games last year, he'll probably improve on these #'s this year.
Whats Not to Like: The end of the rotation and a mediocre bullpen. If these guys had a bullpen like the Dodgers they would be scary. I guess they figure with the Big 3 starters eating up innings all year long they can get by till the break and bring in a guy to solidify the pen if they are in contention. Closer C.Qualls and Juan Gutierrez arent that bad, they just dont scare anybody. That fukk Zavada was the talk of the town last year with his mustache, but he'll be just another guy in the pen this year. Its looking like Ian Kennedy (trade with the Yankees) will be the fourth starter, he might be good one day, I just dont see it happening this year. 5th Starter B.Buckner was autofade material last year so they might want to rethink this guy being in the rotation.
Center Fielder C.Young and Secondbaseman K.Johnson hit about .220 each last year. This will have to improve. Stephen Drew is supposed to be a big star but at the end of the day he is just an average major league shortstop. Id rather see them get a slickfielding speedster than some OK shortstop that might hit 20 HR's.
Recap: General Manager Josh Byrnes and Manager A.J. Hinch seem to have a clue, with their Big 3 starters and proven young hitters they have the peices in place to win alot of games. I dont think any team in the NL West will win over 92 games, but if anyone does it will be these guys. Sure, there are question marks (B.Webb and C.Jackson returning from layoffs, bullpen, end of rotation) but if these things are ironed out the D-Backs have potential to go places. The Over 82.5 -125 looks too good to be true, which usually spells disaster, but you have to take it here. The juice is high but you are pretty much betting B.Webb comes back to his old self, which I think he will. Put a steak dinner on them to win it all as well.
