Jntg4
Feb 18th 2010, 5:12 am
Everyone, especially Cardinals fan, who we all know are ignorant, are claiming the Cardinals will win the division, with all other NL central fans claiming Milwaukee, and Cincinnati and/or Houston, will finish ahead of the Cubs.
I'm not even going to get into why Houston, Milwaukee, and Cincinnati will fail, but the Cardinals aren't as solid as everyone thinks.
Part 1: Why the Cardinals Fans Reasons Why they Will Automatically Win Don't Make Sense
"So what if Brad Penny is our 4th starter and we don't even have a fifth? We have Dave Duncan!" Really? You guys say that Cubs fans can't use Jaramillo as a reason for why we will be better, because coaches don't make a difference right? There's no way the best hitting coach in the MLB can't make his offesnse as good as Duncan made your pitching staff. You guys are seriously looking at McClellan or Rich Hill being your 5th starter.
"Nobody on the Cubs can hit besides Lee and Ramirez, all our starters are all-star caliber." Besides Pujols and Holliday, the Cards offense isn't even that good. Freese is all-star calibur? really? What do you mean Jaramillo can't qualify as a reason? You guys use Dave Duncan as ana excuse all the time. Umm... Theriot batted above .300 just 2 seasons ago, Soriano still hits 20+ HRs a season even WITH injuries, Fukudome gets on base, Nady is twwo seasons removed from batting .305 with 25 HRs, Byrd drives in runs and goes deep (Wrigley is just as much a hitter's park as Arlington), Baker batted above .300 with the Cubs last season, and what about Carlos Zambrano?
"The projections say we will win by a landslide." And what did it say about us last year? Except we had enough depth to stay above .500. Oh, look at the Depth Chart of the Cards website, your only backup OF is Schumaker, who is also the starting 2B, and he is only listed under LF, you have 4 starters, and you have no backup 1B. You guys sure have a lot of depth, you can sure deal with injuries.
Reasons the Cubs Have A Legitimate Shot
1. The addition of Rudy Jaramillo
2. We still have the same starting C, 1B, SS, 3B, LF, and RF, as well as 3 SP from the 97-win 2008 campaign.
3. We can deal with injuries now.
4. If Pujols, Ludwick, Rasmus, or Holliday go down, you have nobody to replace them, you'll have to resort for minor leaguers.
5. Our team is motivated and ready to prove themselves to everyone that they can still win.
6. You hitting coach wasn't a really good batter, without steroids anyway, and has no experience as a hitting coach at all.
The Cardinals may be the favorite in most books, but they have more holes than us IMO.
I'm not even going to get into why Houston, Milwaukee, and Cincinnati will fail, but the Cardinals aren't as solid as everyone thinks.
Part 1: Why the Cardinals Fans Reasons Why they Will Automatically Win Don't Make Sense
"So what if Brad Penny is our 4th starter and we don't even have a fifth? We have Dave Duncan!" Really? You guys say that Cubs fans can't use Jaramillo as a reason for why we will be better, because coaches don't make a difference right? There's no way the best hitting coach in the MLB can't make his offesnse as good as Duncan made your pitching staff. You guys are seriously looking at McClellan or Rich Hill being your 5th starter.
"Nobody on the Cubs can hit besides Lee and Ramirez, all our starters are all-star caliber." Besides Pujols and Holliday, the Cards offense isn't even that good. Freese is all-star calibur? really? What do you mean Jaramillo can't qualify as a reason? You guys use Dave Duncan as ana excuse all the time. Umm... Theriot batted above .300 just 2 seasons ago, Soriano still hits 20+ HRs a season even WITH injuries, Fukudome gets on base, Nady is twwo seasons removed from batting .305 with 25 HRs, Byrd drives in runs and goes deep (Wrigley is just as much a hitter's park as Arlington), Baker batted above .300 with the Cubs last season, and what about Carlos Zambrano?
"The projections say we will win by a landslide." And what did it say about us last year? Except we had enough depth to stay above .500. Oh, look at the Depth Chart of the Cards website, your only backup OF is Schumaker, who is also the starting 2B, and he is only listed under LF, you have 4 starters, and you have no backup 1B. You guys sure have a lot of depth, you can sure deal with injuries.
Reasons the Cubs Have A Legitimate Shot
1. The addition of Rudy Jaramillo
2. We still have the same starting C, 1B, SS, 3B, LF, and RF, as well as 3 SP from the 97-win 2008 campaign.
3. We can deal with injuries now.
4. If Pujols, Ludwick, Rasmus, or Holliday go down, you have nobody to replace them, you'll have to resort for minor leaguers.
5. Our team is motivated and ready to prove themselves to everyone that they can still win.
6. You hitting coach wasn't a really good batter, without steroids anyway, and has no experience as a hitting coach at all.
The Cardinals may be the favorite in most books, but they have more holes than us IMO.