Results tagged ‘ March Madness ’
March Madness – Baseball Style – Final 4
Alright so yesterday I set up the following Final 4 Matchups:
#1 Yankees vs. #4 Phillies
#2 Mets vs. #3 Rays
So here we go…
#1 Yankees vs. #4 Phillies
Again, the Yankees are number one for a reason. Don’t get me wrong, I hate them as much as the next guy, but I have to show some respect for the team they have assembled. Although they didn’t do any legitimate work to put the team together and just threw money at the big name free agents, they are probably the favorite for the World Series this year. However, this is nothing new, and they have managed to choke every year since 2000. They are taking on the Phillies in this semi-final matchup. I have to give the slight edge to the Yankees here, just because of the pitching staffs. The Yankees offense is good enough to hang with the Phillies, so the pitching staff gives them the overall advantage. CC Sabathia, Chien-Ming Wang, AJ Burnett, Joba Chamberlain, and Andy Pettitte is just too much to handle. Yankees Advance.
#2 Mets vs. #3 Rays
Okay, this matchup is a lot closer than the last one. Both of these teams have great chances to win the World Series this year. The Rays are loaded with young talent and have proven they can play with the big boys, and the Mets are full of top tier proven stars. The offensive advantage probably leans slightly towards the Mets here. The Rays have great hitters like BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, and Evan Longoria, but you never really know what you’re going to get out of those guys. They are all very capable of going on bad streaks, which they showed in the World Series last year. The Mets are some of the biggest chokers in recent memory. I’m not seeing the addition of Francisco Rodriguez as something that is going to instantly change that. The pitching is also a very close battle, but I think the Rays are deeper. After Johan Santana, the Mets don’t have any proven star pitchers. Mike Pelfrey, John Maine, and Oliver Perez can all get the job done, but they are very vulnerable to a going out and giving up a lot of runs. The Rays rotation led them to the AL East crown last year, with great young arms in James Shields, Scott Kazmir, Matt Garza, Andy Sonnanstine, and David Price. Again, none of them are real stand out aces, but they are all consistent and know how to win. Rays definitely have the advantage there. The bullpens are both good, although I’m not sure there is a better combination in the league then JJ Putz and K-Rod. However, when your starters go 7 innings almost every start, the bullpen really isn’t too important. All-in-all, I really like the Rays to win this matchup. Rays move on.
So here is the championship game in my March Madness MLB tournament :
#1 Yankees vs. #3 Rays
I will determine the winner tonight or tomorrow.
March Madness – MLB Style – Round 2
Okay well the Pirate had an off day today, so not much to talk about there. March Madness has been phenomenal, as of now I have missed only one game (I was foolish and picked Northern Iowa to upset Purdue). Anyways, let’s get right back into my MLB bracket. If you have no idea what this is about, look at my last post.
#1 Yankees vs. #8 Diamondbacks
Alright well it’s pretty unlikely that I’d pick an 8 seed over a 1 seed here, but the Diamondbacks might have the team to do it. As I mentioned before, their pitching staff is very good. You’ve got 2 studs in Brandon Webb and Dan Haren, followed by very capable starters and John Garland and Doug Davis, and rounded out with young phenom Max Scherzer. That staff could become one of the game’s best in a hurry. The offense is no slouch either, with good young bats all over. Chad Tracy, Stephen Drew, Mark Reynolds, Eric Byrnes, Chris Young, and Justin Upton can definitely do some damage. However, the age and inexperience kind of worries me. It’s a great young nucleus and a team that is going to compete for a long time, but enough to compete with the likes of Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon, and Jorge Posada? Probably not. Yankees Advance.
#4 Philles vs. #5 Red Sox
Well I almost eliminated the Red Sox last round, so it’s not really hard to determine who I’m going to pick in this matchup. The Phillies’ rotation, although solid, does have some question marks. Cole Hamels is a proven ace, there’s no question about that. After him, however, come some question marks. Brett Myers and Joe Blanton have the tools to be great, but they have put up some pretty mediocre numbers in their past. I have no clue how Jamie Moyer’s engine is still running, and Chan Ho Park? Please. Now with the offensive juggernaut the Phillies have, they can afford to have those question marks. I’ll take Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, and Ryan Howard over any other offensive threesome in the league. Phillies move on.
#3 Rays vs. #11 Marlins
Well the Marlins are coming off an upset special over the #6 ranked Cubs, however, that’s when their luck is going to run out. The Rays are too good, too talented, and have too much upside to take them to lose to the Marlins. Florida has some great players down there who could eventually develop into some of the league’s best, but that’s in the future. The Rays are now. Rays advance.
#2 Mets vs. #7 Angels
K-Rods new team against K-Rods old team. Here’s the deal with the Angels. John Lackey is a great #1 pitcher. Ervin Santana could also develop into an ace in the near future, but elbow problems are questioning his 2009 season. They round out nicely with Joe Saunders and Jered Weaver, and the bullpen has some good arms in there. My problem is with their offense. They have some great role players on that team, like Chone Figgins, a base stealing machine, and Howie Kendrick, one of the better pure hitters in the league, but the age factor is going to hurt them. If we were in 2005, the Angels would have the best outfield in the history of outfields. Bobby Abreu, Torii Hunter, and Vladimir Guerrero, I mean wow. However, it’s 2009 and all three of those guys are on the down slope. Now they aren’t falling fast enough to knock the Angels out of the world series picture, but I’m not about to take them over the Mets. Mets advance.
So what does this leave us with? Not a surprise… here is the final 4.
#1 Yankees vs. #4 Phillies
#2 Mets vs. #3 Rays
So 1, 2, 3, and 4 are remaining. I guess that kind of defeats the whole purpose of me even doing this bracket thing, but hopefully I provided some good analysis along the way. Anyways, I’ll complete the tournament this weekend.
Somebody tell me if these posts are even worth the time it took to write them…
p.s. Go UCLA!
March Madness – MLB Style – Round 1
Alright since the two biggest things on my mind these days are baseball and March Madness, I’ve decided to combine the two and make a bracket featuring MLB teams. I’ll add my opinions on how it would play out, and you viewers can do the same, here we go.
Alright well there are 30 teams in the Majors. Since a 30-team bracket (or anything between 16 and 32 for that matter) would be a rather complicated bracket, I’m just going to rank the top 16 teams and play it from there. So here we go, my MLB top 16.
- Yankees
- Mets
- Rays
- Phillies
- Red Sox
- Cubs
- Angels
- Diamondbacks
- Dodgers
- Cardinals
- Marlins
- Twins
- Braves
- Athletics
- White Sox
- Royals
Okay, now let’s get to the tournament, here are the matchups:
#1 Yankees vs. #16 Royals
well not much real competition here. I do really like this Royals team, which is why I let them slip into my top 16, but they are just too young and unproven to compete with the Yanks this year. Yankees move on.
#8 Diamondbacks vs. #9 Dodgers
Here lies the tough 8 vs. 9 matchup. The Diamondbacks are loaded with proven and talented young players, and they have one of the best pitching staffs in the game. The Dodgers offense is no slouch either. When you have hitters like Manny, Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, and Rafael Furcal, you can compete with anybody. The Dodgers also feature two great young pitchers in Chad Billingsley and Clayton Kershaw. However, Kershaw is still learning and there’s no way to really predict what he’s going to do this year. I’ll take the Diamondbacks just because of that proven rotation. Diamondbacks advance.
#5 Red Sox vs. #12 Twins
Upset alert! The Red Sox team is loaded with talent and experience, however I see a lot of things that can go wrong. Last year a shift of power took place, with Manny being traded and Ortiz falling off, but Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis picked up the slack and led the team to the ALCS. I don’t see Ortiz having too great of a season, and I can only see Kevin Youkilis falling off a lot. The Sox pitching rotation is still one of the best, with Beckett, Lester, Wakefield and Matsusaka. As for the Twins, a back injury to their star catcher Joe Mauer could really hurt them this season, and you never know how Francisco Liriano will turn out. Young gun pitchers Scott Baker and Kevin Slowey have the potential to burst on to the seen and make this a top contender, but I’m not seeing it this year. Red Sox move on.
#4 Phillies vs. #13 Braves
An AL East rivalry match. The Phillies are reigning champs, and the only real step-back they suffered is the loss of Pat Burrell. They still have a very solid rotation and one of the most lethal offenses in the game. As for the Braves, off season signings of Javier Vasquez and Derek Lowe should bring that starting rotation back to being in the top half of the league, but I’m not seeing enough on the offensive end to compete. Philles move on.
#6 Cubs vs. #11 Marlins
The Cubs, although winning the NL Central last year, don’t impress me that much. Everyone expects Carlos Zambrano to diminish from the elite ranks, and Rich Harden never seems to be healthy. Ryan Dempster kind of came out of no where last year, and I don’t expect him to repeat that success. The offense lost Mark DeRosa, and Derrek Lee got another year older. Unless Alfonso Soriano can put together another season like 2006, I don’t see the Cubs going very far. As for the Marlins, they are only one or two starting pitcher away from being great. With Ramirez, Uggla, Hermida, and budding star Cameron Maybin, the offense doesn’t have much to worry about. I’m gonna go ahead and say their rotation will be good enough to make the upset over the Cubs. Marlins upset and advance.
#3 Rays vs. #14 Athletics
I’m being generous to Mets fans by sticking them in front of this Rays team. Tampa Bay was the AL champs last year, and they are showing no signs of slowing down. In fact, they are showing more and more signs of improving. Carl Crawford, BJ Upton, along with the entire pitching staff have room to improve. Bottom line, no match for Matt Holliday and the Athletics. Rays advance.
#7 Angels vs. #10 Cardinals
The Cardinals may have been fortunate to get this #10 spot. I’m not a huge fan of their pitching staff, but any team that has Albert Pujols on it can compete. Chris Carpenter returns this year to help the staff, but I don’t see them being any match for the Angels. Assuming Ervin Santana makes a healthy recovery from his injury, the Angels have one of the best rotations in the AL with Lackey and Saunders. The offense can put runs on the board too, remember, they won 100 games last season. Angels move on.
#2 Mets vs. #15 White Sox
Can anybody tell me the last time a #15 team upset a #2 team in the NCAA tournament? It’s happened only 4 times, and once in the last 9 years (Steve Nash and Santa Clara upset Arizona in 1993). In this bracket, however, there’s no prayer. The Mets are stacked. Reyes, Wright, Beltran, and Delgado will do serious damage to NL pitchers this year, and any staff with Johan Santana on it is a force to be reckoned with. The White Sox don’t compare in any facet of the game. Mets move on.
So this sets us up with these 2nd round matchups, which I will evaluate tomorrow:
#1 Yankees vs. #8 Diamondbacks
#4 Philles vs. #5 Red Sox
#3 Rays vs. #11 Marlins
#2 Mets vs. #7 Angels
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