So we decided to make the best starters, and put the best backup players behind them. So basically, the best realistic team of 2008. For the backup and utility players, they have to be actual backups or platooners, like Augie Ojeda, or Ruben Gotay for example. No video game rosters here.
My lineup will consist of:
2 Catchers
1 First Baseman
1 First Baseman/Third Baseman
1 Second Baseman
1 Second Baseman/Shortstop
1 Third Baseman
1 Shortstops
4 Outfielders
1 Utility Player
12 pitchers, 7 RP, 5 SP
Catcher: Brian McCann – Atlanta Braves
I made a mistake when I chose Russell Martin based on him dating Alyssa Milano on one of my older articles. Brian McCann is having the better season indeed.
Remember when all the experts and bloggers, including us, were predicting that the NL West was the best division in baseball? We also predicted the Cardinals to suck too, but we were also wrong. Well, everyone was wrong. To be fair, the Rockies have suffered due to injuries (although Matt Holliday and Troy Tulowitzki are back), the Padres can’t hit, and neither can the Giants, and the Dodgers have suffered by hiring Ned Coletti as their GM. Only the young and inconsistent Diamondbacks are at .500 right now, and Eric Byrnes being injured does not help at all.
Looks like they all have one thing in common: They are not good on the road, and in the Giants case, the Giants suck more at home and happen to have the best record of everyone in the NL West on the road. A lot of other factors too, but we can call the NL West the “NL Worst” again.
Also, who put money on the thought that Chan Ho Park would be around longer than players like Brad Fullmer and Richard Hidalgo?
No, not this AAA, no one can ever rip that dude up, whoever he is.
Jamie D’Antona, a 26-year old player that plays third base, first base, and emergency catcher for Tuscon in the Diamondbacks organization is hitting .420/.448/.650 so far this year, and his hot start could very well earn him a callup to the Majors, his first callup. He was drafted in 2003. He hit .308 last year, and although the Pacific Coast League is a definite slugger’s league, leading that league in batting average will help your cause quite a bit. What hasn’t helped him is his defense, which is suspect, and with Augie Ojeda, Chris Burke, Robby Hammock/Miguel Montero and others with superior defense, D’Antona isn’t needed at this point of the season. But if the D’Backs need a pinch hitter if someone like Jeff Salazar goes down, they know who to go to.
LHP Doug Davis’s body is now cancer-free, according to his doctor. Davis was forced to miss some starts with a cancerous thyroid gland. He won his last start before his surgery and will now make a couple rehab starts before he gets back to the bigs. Davis was 1-1 with a 3.72 ERA with the Arizona Diamondbacks before his surgery to remove the gland. Pretty good numbers for someone who knew coming into the season that he had cancer. Doug Davis deserves respect because he only needed the 15-day DL to beat cancer.
Doctor pronounces D’Backs’ Davis cancer-free (SI.com)
What an awesome division, with three of the top four Cy Young finishers (Penny, Webb, and Peavy), and many other talented players, like the guy who should have won rookie of the year (Troy Tulowitzki, not 25 errors per year Ryan Braun). This division will be fun to watch. This is not the NL West of a few years ago where the Padres won with an 81-81 record.
Ugueth Urbina is Burning 