Canseco's Mexican League comback attempt has been derailed. League officials say he refused to take a drug test and admitted to taking steroids. What a dummy. Even Kenny Powers was able to pull off a Mexican League comeback.
Mexican Baseball League officials say Jose Canseco has acknowledged that he took a banned substance for which he has no prescription and will not play as expected in the league.
Plinio Escalante, president of the Mexican League, confirmed to ESPN Deportes that the banned substance is testosterone.
A source told ESPN Deportes that Canseco refused to take a doping test.
Canseco took to Twitter Wednesday to refute the allegations.
"How can I test positive when I never took any test don't believe everything the media tells you.the truth always comes out I am not using any illegal substanced," Canseco tweeted. "Don't be so quick to judge till you here the truth that's a sure sign of ignorance hatred and jealousy."
I'm confused..... :?
It seems to me like Canseco is trying to pretend the allegation is that he failed the test and his response is that he never took a test at all. In reality, his Twitter post just validates the report since the Mexican League officials said that he refused to take the test.
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. -- Baseball's Hall of Fame will honor three generations of St. Louis Cardinals' World Series champions on July 21, the day before this year's induction ceremonies.
The Hall said Wednesday there will be a special recognition for the living managers who led the Cardinals to Series titles: Red Schoendienst (1967), Whitey Herzog (1982) and Tony La Russa (2006 and last year).
Hall president Jeff Idelson says "these three managers have united a fan base for generations and provided endless memories for Cardinals fans everywhere."
Schoendienst and Herzog are both members of the Hall. La Russa also led Oakland to the 1989 championship.
They will be praised during the Hall's awards presentation, when Tim McCarver is honored for excellence in broadcasting and Toronto Sun columnist Bob Elliott is recognized for writing.
I never would have put "McCarver" and "excellence in broadcasting" in the same sentence :x
If I had known then what I know now...
Vegas 93, Vegas 98, Vegas 00 (10 year show), Vegas 03, Vegas 06
VIC 07
EV LA1 08
Seattle1 09, Seattle2 09, Salt Lake 09, LA4 09
Columbus 10
EV LA 11
Vancouver 11
Missoula 12
Portland 13, Spokane 13
St. Paul 14, Denver 14
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. -- Baseball's Hall of Fame will honor three generations of St. Louis Cardinals' World Series champions on July 21, the day before this year's induction ceremonies.
The Hall said Wednesday there will be a special recognition for the living managers who led the Cardinals to Series titles: Red Schoendienst (1967), Whitey Herzog (1982) and Tony La Russa (2006 and last year).
Hall president Jeff Idelson says "these three managers have united a fan base for generations and provided endless memories for Cardinals fans everywhere."
Schoendienst and Herzog are both members of the Hall. La Russa also led Oakland to the 1989 championship.
They will be praised during the Hall's awards presentation, when Tim McCarver is honored for excellence in broadcasting and Toronto Sun columnist Bob Elliott is recognized for writing.
I never would have put "McCarver" and "excellence in broadcasting" in the same sentence :x
I'd love to know what their standard is. There must be more to it than working natioanlly-televised games, but it doesn't seem that way if McCarver is considered a Hall of Fame announcer. I'd say that they just ran out of guys to honor, but I'm pretty sure Jim Kaat hasn't won that award yet and he was 1,000,000 times better than McCarver.
I'd love to know what their standard is. There must be more to it than working natioanlly-televised games, but it doesn't seem that way if McCarver is considered a Hall of Fame announcer. I'd say that they just ran out of guys to honor, but I'm pretty sure Jim Kaat hasn't won that award yet and he was 1,000,000 times better than McCarver.
welcome to the post-steroids HOF :x
If I had known then what I know now...
Vegas 93, Vegas 98, Vegas 00 (10 year show), Vegas 03, Vegas 06
VIC 07
EV LA1 08
Seattle1 09, Seattle2 09, Salt Lake 09, LA4 09
Columbus 10
EV LA 11
Vancouver 11
Missoula 12
Portland 13, Spokane 13
St. Paul 14, Denver 14
Jerry Crasnick of ESPN says Oswalt is now telling clubs he'll play anywhere rather than only considering teams close to his home in Mississippi. In other words, he's finally realizing that Texas and St. Louis don't want him and he'll have to go somewhere else if he wants a job.
I have to laugh ot Jon Heyman. He really seems to love leaking stories for Boras. He's been pushing the possibility of Johnny Damon signing with Baltimore for a while and was getting angry yesterday at Twitter followers who pointed out that he was insisting it's a good possibility even though their GM responded to a reporter's question about signing Damon by saying, "No, I don't think so. I already signed Johnny Damon when he was 28." So Heyman decided he should ask Duquette himself and got a "Maybe" out of him and a "Not yet," from another Orioles employee. Somehow, he still thinks it might happen.
I've never really paid too much attention to Heyman's articles before this offseason, but he sure did like to write about how much interest there was in guys like Edwin Jackson who wound up with a 1-year deal and only got a multiyear offer from Pittsburgh (who probably were hoping to take advantage of the lack of interest in him). I also noticed how many people have tweeted at him about his Boras bias and how angry he gets at those accusations, which makes me think there's something there.
On another note, MLB has changed its mind and reversed its stupid decision to not let the Astros have guns on their uniforms when they wear their throwback Colt 45s jerseys this year. Astors fans were pretty upset that the jerseys weren't going to be authentic throwbacks all because of some absurd attempt at being overly-PC.
The Canseco story probably shouldn't be interesting, but for some reason it is. He is now claiming that the reason he refused to take a drug test for the Mexican League is that he takes a prescription to produce testosterone because his body no longer produces the substance naturally and he "can't live without it." So, if I'm understanding him correctly, his excuse for not taking a drug test is that he's taking a drug that's banned by the league because all the years of taking other drugs banned by MLB have left him unable to live without this other drug. I get the feeling from his tweets and comments in an interview that he thinks we should give him our sympathy. At least he's not delusional. It's just a shame his attempted comeback has been stopped before he got a chance to get back to a Major League club and get those 38 HRs he needs for 500 after 10 seasons away from the game. Then he'd be a lock for the Hall of Fame.
The Canseco story probably shouldn't be interesting, but for some reason it is. He is now claiming that the reason he refused to take a drug test for the Mexican League is that he takes a prescription to produce testosterone because his body no longer produces the substance naturally and he "can't live without it." So, if I'm understanding him correctly, his excuse for not taking a drug test is that he's taking a drug that's banned by the league because all the years of taking other drugs banned by MLB have left him unable to live without this other drug. I get the feeling from his tweets and comments in an interview that he thinks we should give him our sympathy. At least he's not delusional. It's just a shame his attempted comeback has been stopped before he got a chance to get back to a Major League club and get those 38 HRs he needs for 500 after 10 seasons away from the game. Then he'd be a lock for the Hall of Fame.
It's just a shame his attempted comeback has been stopped before he got a chance to get back to a Major League club and get those 38 HRs he needs for 500 after 10 seasons away from the game. Then he'd be a lock for the Hall of Fame.
^^^^ should this have a or a :roll: after it? :wtf:
If I had known then what I know now...
Vegas 93, Vegas 98, Vegas 00 (10 year show), Vegas 03, Vegas 06
VIC 07
EV LA1 08
Seattle1 09, Seattle2 09, Salt Lake 09, LA4 09
Columbus 10
EV LA 11
Vancouver 11
Missoula 12
Portland 13, Spokane 13
St. Paul 14, Denver 14
It's just a shame his attempted comeback has been stopped before he got a chance to get back to a Major League club and get those 38 HRs he needs for 500 after 10 seasons away from the game. Then he'd be a lock for the Hall of Fame.
^^^^ should this have a or a :roll: after it? :wtf:
Either of those would work. I guess I could have also put a few in there. Maybe he should have jsut had Ozzie pee in the cup for him. That (almost) worked once before. http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing ... id=6326076
The Nationals are going to sell something called the Stras-burger at their concession stands this year. It weighs 8 pounds (including the toppings, but those are your usual cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, and "secret sauce"). I predict an episode of Man vs. Food in their future.
The Nationals are going to sell something called the Stras-burger at their concession stands this year. It weighs 8 pounds (including the toppings, but those are your usual cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, and "secret sauce"). I predict an episode of Man vs. Food in their future.
8 pounds?!? that is disgusting. No wonder why most of this country is obese.
the nats are talking wayyy too much for a team that can't even seem to finish above 500. They need to relax a bit...that organization's inferiority complex makes me embarrassed for them
8 pounds?!? that is disgusting. No wonder why most of this country is obese.
a pet peeve of mine also.....perpetuated by fat slobs like the man vs. food guy :x
If I had known then what I know now...
Vegas 93, Vegas 98, Vegas 00 (10 year show), Vegas 03, Vegas 06
VIC 07
EV LA1 08
Seattle1 09, Seattle2 09, Salt Lake 09, LA4 09
Columbus 10
EV LA 11
Vancouver 11
Missoula 12
Portland 13, Spokane 13
St. Paul 14, Denver 14
The Nationals are going to sell something called the Stras-burger at their concession stands this year. It weighs 8 pounds (including the toppings, but those are your usual cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, and "secret sauce"). I predict an episode of Man vs. Food in their future.
8 pounds?!? that is disgusting. No wonder why most of this country is obese.
the nats are talking wayyy too much for a team that can't even seem to finish above 500. They need to relax a bit...that organization's inferiority complex makes me embarrassed for them
I wonder if the talking there is just from the fact that they're excited to finally seem like a decent team or if there's some pressure from ownership to hype the team up in order to increase ticket sales.
The Nationals are going to sell something called the Stras-burger at their concession stands this year. It weighs 8 pounds (including the toppings, but those are your usual cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, and "secret sauce"). I predict an episode of Man vs. Food in their future.
8 pounds?!? that is disgusting. No wonder why most of this country is obese.
the nats are talking wayyy too much for a team that can't even seem to finish above 500. They need to relax a bit...that organization's inferiority complex makes me embarrassed for them
I wonder if the talking there is just from the fact that they're excited to finally seem like a decent team or if there's some pressure from ownership to hype the team up in order to increase ticket sales.
good point regarding ticket sales. I think davey johnson being an enormous blowhard has something to do with it as well
Apparently, the Nationals are marketing the Stras-burger as something people share, but a dietician estimated that even split 4 ways the burger would contain about 2,000 calories per person.
pretty cool article previewing the 2015 WS. Still can't believe rendon fell so far in the draft...nats got lucky there
CHICAGO—The 1986 Red Sox and 2011 Rangers are the only teams to get within one strike of winning the World Series and fail to close the deal.
After Calvin Schiraldi and Bill Buckner went down in infamy, Boston had to wait another 18 years to capture a championship. Texas won't have to endure nearly as long after David Freese broke its heart last October.
The Rangers are coming off consecutive American League pennants and their future looks even brighter. Texas returns most of its team from last year, having swapped out C.J. Wilson for a likely upgrade in Yu Darvish.
This is just the beginning. The Rangers have baseball's best farm system, with shortstop Jurickson Profar, lefthander Martin Perez and third baseman Mike Olt poised to make an impact. Beyond them lies a second wave of high-upside prospects, such as catcher Jorge Alfaro, third baseman Christian Villanueva and rightander Matt West.
Texas will start pocketing $80 million annually from a Fox Sports Southwest broadcast deal after the 2014 season. With its money and talent, the Rangers will be able to retain the players it wants and acquire anyone they desire on the trade and free-agent markets.
It's time for our annual three-years-ahead season preview column, and our crystal ball was clear: Texas will win it all in 2015.
Yankees Win Toughest Division
Sorting out the stacked AL East was much more difficult than anointing the Rangers as 2015 champions. The Yankees will prevail, fortified from within by youngsters such as lefthander Manny Banuelos, catcher/first baseman Gary Sanchez and outfielder Mason Williams and also by the free-agent signings of Felix Hernandez and Joakim Soria. But that won't be enough to get past Texas in the AL Championship Series.
The Red Sox will have to settle for the wild card, with outfielder Xander Bogaerts, third baseman Will Middlebrooks and catcher Blake Swihart spicing up the lineup and Anthony Ranaudo and Matt Barnes joining a homegrown rotation. The Blue Jays will finish a strong third as their young pitching hasn't quite settled into a groove in the majors, and the Rays (previously picked in this column to win it all in 2012 and '13 before losing to the Braves in the '14 World Series) won't have the depth to overcome their division rivals.
In the AL Central, the Royals will have a formidable offense with MVP Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas at the infield corners; Wil Myers, Bubba Starling, Alex Gordon in the outfield; and Billy Butler at DH. They will have enough pitching, with 2012 first-rounder Kevin Gausman and Jake Odorizzi at the front of its rotation, to outlast the Tigers.
The Angels won't beat out the Rangers in the AL West—Darvish does his part by winning the Cy Young Award—but Los Angeles will claim the second wild card. Mike Trout and second baseman Jean Segura will set the table for Albert Pujols and DH C.J. Cron, providing plenty of offense for Jered Weaver, Dan Haren and Wilson.
Snakes Capture NL Pennant
The Phillies still will be contenders three years from now, but age and a thinned-out farm system will combine to keep them in second place in the NL East and out of the playoffs. The Nationals will supplant them as the division's new power, with outfielder Bryce Harper and second baseman Anthony Rendon driving the offense and Cy Young Award winner Stephen Strasburg headlining a deep rotation of Jordan Zimmermann, Gio Gonzalez, Alex Meyer and Matt Purke.
The Reds will edge the Cardinals in the NL Central with an entirely homegrown lineup that features no easy outs (Devin Mesoraco at catcher; Joey Votto, Billy Hamilton, Zack Cozart and Todd Frazier around the infield; and 2012 first-rounder Albert Almora, Drew Stubbs and Jay Bruce in the outfield). Daniel Corcino gives Cincinnati a solid No. 3 starter behind Mat Latos and Johnny Cueto.
St. Louis builds its wild-card team in similar fashion, with homegrown products at seven of its eight lineup spots (including newcomers Kolten Wong at second, Zack Cox at third and Oscar Taveras in right field) and two more (Shelby Miller, Carlos Martinez) as the most electric arms on the pitching staff.
Out West, the Diamondbacks ride baseball's best rotation—Trevor Bauer, Tyler Skaggs, Archie Bradley, Ian Kennedy, Daniel Hudson—to a narrow division win over the Giants. NL MVP Justin Upton continues to drive the offense.
In San Francisco, the rotation remains built around Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner. Outfielders Brandon Belt and Gary Brown make sure Buster Posey doesn't have to carry the offense by himself, and that's enough to get into the playoffs.
Having Washington play a team that abandoned the nation's capital in the World Series would make for an interesting story, but the Nationals won't be able to get past the Diamondbacks' pitching in the NLCS. The Rangers' deeper lineup will be the difference in the World Series, and this time they won't let the championship slip away.
Chipper Jones doesn't appear to be a fan of Bryce Harper (personality-wise, anyway). When asked if he'd seek out Harper to give him some advice on how to handle being a phenom at such a young age, Jones said, "No, I'm not going to seek him out unless he wants to sit down and talk--which I've done with othe rplayers before. Let's just say he doesn't seem to me to be the type of kid who wants to walk up to me and pick my brain."
Mike Schmidt doesn't seem to like him much, either. He was quoted in a GQ article about Harper as saying, “I would think at some point the game itself, the competition on the field, is going to have to figure out a way to police this young man.”
The Nationals are going to sell something called the Stras-burger at their concession stands this year. It weighs 8 pounds (including the toppings, but those are your usual cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, and "secret sauce"). I predict an episode of Man vs. Food in their future.
8 pounds?!? that is disgusting. No wonder why most of this country is obese.
the nats are talking wayyy too much for a team that can't even seem to finish above 500. They need to relax a bit...that organization's inferiority complex makes me embarrassed for them
i can't wait until the eagles start selling an 8 lb VICK-tory dog (oh the irony) and then you can post the same thing about that franchise
The Nationals are going to sell something called the Stras-burger at their concession stands this year. It weighs 8 pounds (including the toppings, but those are your usual cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, and "secret sauce"). I predict an episode of Man vs. Food in their future.
8 pounds?!? that is disgusting. No wonder why most of this country is obese.
the nats are talking wayyy too much for a team that can't even seem to finish above 500. They need to relax a bit...that organization's inferiority complex makes me embarrassed for them
i can't wait until the eagles start selling an 8 lb VICK-tory dog (oh the irony) and then you can post the same thing about that franchise
the eagles would only be able to sell that during the regular season. we all know vick doesn't win playoff games
I was talking more about the nats talking all kinds of shit than I was about the burger (which is still disgusting)
Chipper Jones doesn't appear to be a fan of Bryce Harper (personality-wise, anyway). When asked if he'd seek out Harper to give him some advice on how to handle being a phenom at such a young age, Jones said, "No, I'm not going to seek him out unless he wants to sit down and talk--which I've done with othe rplayers before. Let's just say he doesn't seem to me to be the type of kid who wants to walk up to me and pick my brain."
Mike Schmidt doesn't seem to like him much, either. He was quoted in a GQ article about Harper as saying, “I would think at some point the game itself, the competition on the field, is going to have to figure out a way to police this young man.”
I was living in vegas when harper was at the community college....I had friends whose sons played against him....the consensus was he was pretty much of a prick. he's the kind of dude I would love to hate. we'll see if his mad skills translate at the MLB level...
If I had known then what I know now...
Vegas 93, Vegas 98, Vegas 00 (10 year show), Vegas 03, Vegas 06
VIC 07
EV LA1 08
Seattle1 09, Seattle2 09, Salt Lake 09, LA4 09
Columbus 10
EV LA 11
Vancouver 11
Missoula 12
Portland 13, Spokane 13
St. Paul 14, Denver 14
Chipper Jones doesn't appear to be a fan of Bryce Harper (personality-wise, anyway). When asked if he'd seek out Harper to give him some advice on how to handle being a phenom at such a young age, Jones said, "No, I'm not going to seek him out unless he wants to sit down and talk--which I've done with othe rplayers before. Let's just say he doesn't seem to me to be the type of kid who wants to walk up to me and pick my brain."
Mike Schmidt doesn't seem to like him much, either. He was quoted in a GQ article about Harper as saying, “I would think at some point the game itself, the competition on the field, is going to have to figure out a way to police this young man.”
I was living in vegas when harper was at the community college....I had friends whose sons played against him....the consensus was he was pretty much of a prick. he's the kind of dude I would love to hate. we'll see if his mad skills translate at the MLB level...
The way he runs his mouth you'd think he'd been in the league for 10 years. He's got to know that he's going to draw the wrong kind of attention when he says things like he wants to knock the fielder into left field when he slides into 2nd base. I don't think he'll have to wait long after his debut before a veteran pitcher welcomes him to the league with a fastball to the ribs.
Chipper Jones doesn't appear to be a fan of Bryce Harper (personality-wise, anyway). When asked if he'd seek out Harper to give him some advice on how to handle being a phenom at such a young age, Jones said, "No, I'm not going to seek him out unless he wants to sit down and talk--which I've done with othe rplayers before. Let's just say he doesn't seem to me to be the type of kid who wants to walk up to me and pick my brain."
Mike Schmidt doesn't seem to like him much, either. He was quoted in a GQ article about Harper as saying, “I would think at some point the game itself, the competition on the field, is going to have to figure out a way to police this young man.”
I was living in vegas when harper was at the community college....I had friends whose sons played against him....the consensus was he was pretty much of a prick. he's the kind of dude I would love to hate. we'll see if his mad skills translate at the MLB level...
The way he runs his mouth you'd think he'd been in the league for 10 years. He's got to know that he's going to draw the wrong kind of attention when he says things like he wants to knock the fielder into left field when he slides into 2nd base. I don't think he'll have to wait long after his debut before a veteran pitcher welcomes him to the league with a fastball to the ribs.
I'm sure he'll charge the mound if he gets hit.
Shows: 6.27.08 Hartford, CT/5.15.10 Hartford, CT/6.18.2011 Hartford, CT (EV Solo)/10.19.13 Brooklyn/10.25.13 Hartford
"Becoming a Bruce fan is like hitting puberty as a musical fan. It's inevitable." - dcfaithful
I get the feeling that he knows he's going to get drilled and doesn't give a shit. I'm not going to say I like this kid, but I can't wait to see him hit. It should be fun.
Royals catcher Salvador Perez is going to miss 12-14 weeks after undergoing knee surgery today. They have high hopes for him so it's probably not a good day for them since they were hoping he wouldn't miss that much time.
Comments
It seems to me like Canseco is trying to pretend the allegation is that he failed the test and his response is that he never took a test at all. In reality, his Twitter post just validates the report since the Mexican League officials said that he refused to take the test.
The Hall said Wednesday there will be a special recognition for the living managers who led the Cardinals to Series titles: Red Schoendienst (1967), Whitey Herzog (1982) and Tony La Russa (2006 and last year).
Hall president Jeff Idelson says "these three managers have united a fan base for generations and provided endless memories for Cardinals fans everywhere."
Schoendienst and Herzog are both members of the Hall. La Russa also led Oakland to the 1989 championship.
They will be praised during the Hall's awards presentation, when Tim McCarver is honored for excellence in broadcasting and Toronto Sun columnist Bob Elliott is recognized for writing.
I never would have put "McCarver" and "excellence in broadcasting" in the same sentence :x
Vegas 93, Vegas 98, Vegas 00 (10 year show), Vegas 03, Vegas 06
VIC 07
EV LA1 08
Seattle1 09, Seattle2 09, Salt Lake 09, LA4 09
Columbus 10
EV LA 11
Vancouver 11
Missoula 12
Portland 13, Spokane 13
St. Paul 14, Denver 14
I'd love to know what their standard is. There must be more to it than working natioanlly-televised games, but it doesn't seem that way if McCarver is considered a Hall of Fame announcer. I'd say that they just ran out of guys to honor, but I'm pretty sure Jim Kaat hasn't won that award yet and he was 1,000,000 times better than McCarver.
welcome to the post-steroids HOF :x
Vegas 93, Vegas 98, Vegas 00 (10 year show), Vegas 03, Vegas 06
VIC 07
EV LA1 08
Seattle1 09, Seattle2 09, Salt Lake 09, LA4 09
Columbus 10
EV LA 11
Vancouver 11
Missoula 12
Portland 13, Spokane 13
St. Paul 14, Denver 14
Here's an interesting article about Heyman and his affection for Boras clients.
http://www.yankeeanalysts.com/2012/02/h ... bers-38590
I've never really paid too much attention to Heyman's articles before this offseason, but he sure did like to write about how much interest there was in guys like Edwin Jackson who wound up with a 1-year deal and only got a multiyear offer from Pittsburgh (who probably were hoping to take advantage of the lack of interest in him). I also noticed how many people have tweeted at him about his Boras bias and how angry he gets at those accusations, which makes me think there's something there.
On another note, MLB has changed its mind and reversed its stupid decision to not let the Astros have guns on their uniforms when they wear their throwback Colt 45s jerseys this year. Astors fans were pretty upset that the jerseys weren't going to be authentic throwbacks all because of some absurd attempt at being overly-PC.
he is a real life kenny powers.
^^^^ should this have a
Vegas 93, Vegas 98, Vegas 00 (10 year show), Vegas 03, Vegas 06
VIC 07
EV LA1 08
Seattle1 09, Seattle2 09, Salt Lake 09, LA4 09
Columbus 10
EV LA 11
Vancouver 11
Missoula 12
Portland 13, Spokane 13
St. Paul 14, Denver 14
Either of those would work. I guess I could have also put a few
http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing ... id=6326076
8 pounds?!? that is disgusting. No wonder why most of this country is obese.
the nats are talking wayyy too much for a team that can't even seem to finish above 500. They need to relax a bit...that organization's inferiority complex makes me embarrassed for them
a pet peeve of mine also.....perpetuated by fat slobs like the man vs. food guy :x
Vegas 93, Vegas 98, Vegas 00 (10 year show), Vegas 03, Vegas 06
VIC 07
EV LA1 08
Seattle1 09, Seattle2 09, Salt Lake 09, LA4 09
Columbus 10
EV LA 11
Vancouver 11
Missoula 12
Portland 13, Spokane 13
St. Paul 14, Denver 14
I wonder if the talking there is just from the fact that they're excited to finally seem like a decent team or if there's some pressure from ownership to hype the team up in order to increase ticket sales.
good point regarding ticket sales. I think davey johnson being an enormous blowhard has something to do with it as well
yeah, adam richman is a tool
I don't understand the desire to prove how much you can eat. 'Hey, look at how much I can eat and how fat I am'
CHICAGO—The 1986 Red Sox and 2011 Rangers are the only teams to get within one strike of winning the World Series and fail to close the deal.
After Calvin Schiraldi and Bill Buckner went down in infamy, Boston had to wait another 18 years to capture a championship. Texas won't have to endure nearly as long after David Freese broke its heart last October.
The Rangers are coming off consecutive American League pennants and their future looks even brighter. Texas returns most of its team from last year, having swapped out C.J. Wilson for a likely upgrade in Yu Darvish.
This is just the beginning. The Rangers have baseball's best farm system, with shortstop Jurickson Profar, lefthander Martin Perez and third baseman Mike Olt poised to make an impact. Beyond them lies a second wave of high-upside prospects, such as catcher Jorge Alfaro, third baseman Christian Villanueva and rightander Matt West.
Texas will start pocketing $80 million annually from a Fox Sports Southwest broadcast deal after the 2014 season. With its money and talent, the Rangers will be able to retain the players it wants and acquire anyone they desire on the trade and free-agent markets.
It's time for our annual three-years-ahead season preview column, and our crystal ball was clear: Texas will win it all in 2015.
Yankees Win Toughest Division
Sorting out the stacked AL East was much more difficult than anointing the Rangers as 2015 champions. The Yankees will prevail, fortified from within by youngsters such as lefthander Manny Banuelos, catcher/first baseman Gary Sanchez and outfielder Mason Williams and also by the free-agent signings of Felix Hernandez and Joakim Soria. But that won't be enough to get past Texas in the AL Championship Series.
The Red Sox will have to settle for the wild card, with outfielder Xander Bogaerts, third baseman Will Middlebrooks and catcher Blake Swihart spicing up the lineup and Anthony Ranaudo and Matt Barnes joining a homegrown rotation. The Blue Jays will finish a strong third as their young pitching hasn't quite settled into a groove in the majors, and the Rays (previously picked in this column to win it all in 2012 and '13 before losing to the Braves in the '14 World Series) won't have the depth to overcome their division rivals.
In the AL Central, the Royals will have a formidable offense with MVP Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas at the infield corners; Wil Myers, Bubba Starling, Alex Gordon in the outfield; and Billy Butler at DH. They will have enough pitching, with 2012 first-rounder Kevin Gausman and Jake Odorizzi at the front of its rotation, to outlast the Tigers.
The Angels won't beat out the Rangers in the AL West—Darvish does his part by winning the Cy Young Award—but Los Angeles will claim the second wild card. Mike Trout and second baseman Jean Segura will set the table for Albert Pujols and DH C.J. Cron, providing plenty of offense for Jered Weaver, Dan Haren and Wilson.
Snakes Capture NL Pennant
The Phillies still will be contenders three years from now, but age and a thinned-out farm system will combine to keep them in second place in the NL East and out of the playoffs. The Nationals will supplant them as the division's new power, with outfielder Bryce Harper and second baseman Anthony Rendon driving the offense and Cy Young Award winner Stephen Strasburg headlining a deep rotation of Jordan Zimmermann, Gio Gonzalez, Alex Meyer and Matt Purke.
The Reds will edge the Cardinals in the NL Central with an entirely homegrown lineup that features no easy outs (Devin Mesoraco at catcher; Joey Votto, Billy Hamilton, Zack Cozart and Todd Frazier around the infield; and 2012 first-rounder Albert Almora, Drew Stubbs and Jay Bruce in the outfield). Daniel Corcino gives Cincinnati a solid No. 3 starter behind Mat Latos and Johnny Cueto.
St. Louis builds its wild-card team in similar fashion, with homegrown products at seven of its eight lineup spots (including newcomers Kolten Wong at second, Zack Cox at third and Oscar Taveras in right field) and two more (Shelby Miller, Carlos Martinez) as the most electric arms on the pitching staff.
Out West, the Diamondbacks ride baseball's best rotation—Trevor Bauer, Tyler Skaggs, Archie Bradley, Ian Kennedy, Daniel Hudson—to a narrow division win over the Giants. NL MVP Justin Upton continues to drive the offense.
In San Francisco, the rotation remains built around Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner. Outfielders Brandon Belt and Gary Brown make sure Buster Posey doesn't have to carry the offense by himself, and that's enough to get into the playoffs.
Having Washington play a team that abandoned the nation's capital in the World Series would make for an interesting story, but the Nationals won't be able to get past the Diamondbacks' pitching in the NLCS. The Rangers' deeper lineup will be the difference in the World Series, and this time they won't let the championship slip away.
http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumo ... for-harper
Mike Schmidt doesn't seem to like him much, either. He was quoted in a GQ article about Harper as saying, “I would think at some point the game itself, the competition on the field, is going to have to figure out a way to police this young man.”
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/ ... interview/
the eagles would only be able to sell that during the regular season. we all know vick doesn't win playoff games
I was talking more about the nats talking all kinds of shit than I was about the burger (which is still disgusting)
I was living in vegas when harper was at the community college....I had friends whose sons played against him....the consensus was he was pretty much of a prick. he's the kind of dude I would love to hate. we'll see if his mad skills translate at the MLB level...
Vegas 93, Vegas 98, Vegas 00 (10 year show), Vegas 03, Vegas 06
VIC 07
EV LA1 08
Seattle1 09, Seattle2 09, Salt Lake 09, LA4 09
Columbus 10
EV LA 11
Vancouver 11
Missoula 12
Portland 13, Spokane 13
St. Paul 14, Denver 14
The way he runs his mouth you'd think he'd been in the league for 10 years. He's got to know that he's going to draw the wrong kind of attention when he says things like he wants to knock the fielder into left field when he slides into 2nd base. I don't think he'll have to wait long after his debut before a veteran pitcher welcomes him to the league with a fastball to the ribs.
"Becoming a Bruce fan is like hitting puberty as a musical fan. It's inevitable." - dcfaithful
Jeez, the poor guy probably didn't want such personal information made public.