The Brew Crew Will Win the NL Central in 2009
More Reasons the Milwaukee Brewers Will Be in The Playoffs in 2009
Apr 6, 2009
The Cubs are Overrated, and They’re the Cubs
The Cubs, despite widespread national praise, have plenty of question marks of their own. Closer-to-be Carlos Marmol got rocked in the WBC and lost his job as closer, they lost Brewer-killer Mark DeRosa and there’s no way Geovany Soto will be as good as he was last year. They also look to have one of the shakiest defensive outfields in the league with Alfonso Soriano, Kosuke Fukudome and head case offseason signing Milton Bradley, who hasn’t played in the outfield in two seasons. Speaking of Bradley, the guy is primed to replicate Jurassic Carl Everett’s rocky tenure with the ’99-’01 Red Sox; a desperate fanbase talking themselves into the guy for his bat while he ruins the team chemistry and creates an unnecessary media frenzy in the process. Is he really getting along in a dugout with Carlos Zambrano and Lou Pinella? Is he really going to avoid the obsessive Chicago media without a major incident? Is he really going to patrol right field in Wrigley? Really?!? This ends badly.
Gallardo Makes The Leap
Yovani Gallardo is for real. He’s already had a 10-win season, pitched well in a playoff game and struck out 121 batters in his first 134 innings as a pro, and all before his 23rd birthday. He’ll win 15 games this year an anchor a decent pitching staff. Count on it. The guy is primed for greatness.
Brewers Vastly Improved Bullpen
Last season, the Crew went into the season with Eric Gagne and Derek Turnbow to close out games and had bullpen-inept manager Ned Yost pushing the buttons. Torres was a nice surprise but nobody else had a good season out of the bullpen. This year, the Brewers have all-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman rounding out his career and playing mentor to apparent closer-in-waiting Carlos Villanueva along with Jorge Julio, Mitch Stetter and Seth McClung, Todd Coffey and Mark DiFelice. That’s a big upgrade over Gag-me, Turnblow and Mota anchoring the ‘pen.
The Cubs Starting Rotation Won't be as Good as Last Year
None whatsoever. Zambrano had an ERA over 7.00 the last two months of the 2008 season and the playoffs, and that stretch included a no hitter. Last season was the only time mid-season acquisition Rich Harden pitched a full season without injury. And Ryan Dempster doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of putting up the staggering numbers he did last season. Ted Lilly will be their only consistent starter in front of a shaky defense and a bullpen with question marks. This is not a team that's running away with the division. The Cubs go through this crap every year, and every year the most obnoxious fans in all of professional sports are let down. Cheers to the start of another 100 years with no World Series, Cubbies!
Once Again, No More Ned Yost
This can't be overstated. Between the never-ending bonehead bullpen decisions, the tendency to stick with decisions that are clearly failing, not treating the games against the Cubs during the season like playoff games, allowing Prince and Parra to get into a shoving match last season and pretending it wasn’t a big deal, leaving pitchers in too long, pitching lefty specialists against righties in late innings of the game, coming off as abrasive and having no answers for the media, constant inexplicable lineup tinkering and the complete and utter ridiculousness of batting Rickie Weeks in the leadoff spot when he’s batting .210, Yost should have been canned at the beginning of the ’08 season, not at the end.
Yes, with Yost out the door, even the loss of CC Sabathia isn’t as bad as most “experts” predict it to be, and the Brewers will surprise everyone by overtaking the Cubs as the NL Central champs.
Just remember, you heard it here first.
Now, it's time to fire up the tailgate. Let's go Crew!
Click here for Part I.
