Hobby Insider's Version of Around The Horn

Who will be the last NCAA team dancing in March


I predict that the last team standing will be U-Conn. I think with Denham Brown down low you are not going to score many points on him. He is a great defensive player. Plus UConn is so well rounded. They have a well blended team with a mixture of juniors an seniors as well as some underclassman. Some of these players were around the last time UConn won the championship, in 2004, so they know how to win. I don't think any team can match up well with them. This is all just my opinon because Gonzaga gave them a run in the Championship game in the Maui Invitational. But if I had it my way North Carolina would win two in a row.
 
Will Toronto be able to contend in the AL East with the new acquisition of AJ Burnett and the recent acquisition of BJ Ryan

Toronto plays in the tough American league East with the Yankees and Redsox who seem always to have money to spend. The question is can the make on 15 games on each the Yankees and Redsox?
I think this year they can contend but will fade and not be able overtake the division. They will improve and be an over .500 team improving 6-7 games The Bluejays have a when healthy strong front of the lineup in their rotation. Halladay is a top of the line starter, who is a threat to win 20 games. Halladay broke his leg on July 8th, half way through the season and was the class of the league at that time, he was 12-4 with a 2.41 ERA. Him being healthy alone improves this Jays team a couple games in the standings. The addition of Burnett will only slightly help the Jays. Burnett was 12-12 with a 3.44 ERA, steps in and becomes the #2 starter behind Halladay. He is an improvement but no long plays in a pitcher friendly park. His ERA at home was 2.95 at Home last year. He also has to face tougher lineups on an everyday basis, no more facing the 9th place hitting pitcher, now he has to face a scappy .280 hitter with speed that is tough to strikeout. Beckett faded badly down the stretch last year finishing 0-7 and for his career is still a sub .500 pitcher.
BJ Ryan as stated previously is also a slight upgrade in a position where the Jays were the Bluejays were 16-31 in one-run games last season. Ryan will need to earn his 47 million and prove he deserved the richest contract for a releiver. Miguel Bastista, who appears on the way out, didnt do a bad job as closer for his first year doing it. He did have 31 saves last year. Ryan needs to be even better than his 36 saves he had last year for the Jays to improve,
at this point he is still an unproven commodity.
Its tough for these two alone to improve a franchise that is competing with the likes of the Yankees and Redsox. What the Bluejays need to do is add some offense, which they did add a proven hitter in Lyle Overbay but still need the big bat in the middle of the lineup. Rumors are they are attempting to do just that.
Pitching wins Pennants, but slightly above average pitchers need to step up if you are to compete in the American League East.
 
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Baseball- Will Toronto be able to contend in the AL East with the new acquisition of AJ Burnett and the recent acquisition of BJ Ryan?


Toronto will no doubt be a contender but I believe will again find themselves in third place in the very tough East race. NY Yankees to this point have to this point made very few changes although they have resigned Hideki Matsui, and did address one of the teams biggest issues the bull pen in signing Kyle Farnsworth. Other then Farnsworth the Yankees have not made a splash yet but do they really need to with Jorge Posada, Derek Jeter, and Alex Rodriguez. The Red Sox have added Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell, Mark Loretta, and huge prospect Andy Marte. Unlike the Blue Jays the Red Sox have some nice prospects in the minors that they can either plug into the line up or deal off during the trading deadline to a team that wants to dump pay roll. Brandon Moss, David Murphy, Adam Stern are a few. With Baltimore holding pat and actually losing there top closer in BJ Ryan and dropping "I didn't take steroids" Rafeal Palmerio the Orioles will remain in fourth place in the East, factor in that Miguel Tejada wants out of Baltimore they might even slip to fifth.
Toronto has spent a great amount of money this past off season to pick up a needed closer (B J Ryan) that they have lacked since Billy Koch was there the first time, and another top notch pitcher (A J Burnett) to go with CY Young winner Roy Holliday.
Toronto team lacks depth to win the division but this does not mean they can't compete against the Yankees and Red Sox. The one thing Toronto does have going for itself is that Boston and NY will be pushing each other and if Toronto can get off to a great start the Blue Jays could sneak by both of them but I just don't see enough depth on the team at this point to make up 15 games from last year. Toronto had a solid 80-82 record and will push that up to 90-72 this season but that will only be good enough for third place in a very strong East.
Players to watch for Toronto are Orlando Hudson who adds speed in the lineup, Reed Johnson, and Frank Catalanotto can hit and power numbers will come from Shea Hillenbrand, Lyle Overbay and Vernon Wells. With young players in Alexis Rios and Aaron Hill will help to push the veterans on this team. I think Toronto needs to add another bat into the line up perhaps a Frank Thomas type guy that can DH, or if somehow the Blue Jays can add 2005 All Star record breaking homerun derby champ Bobby Abreu the Blue Jays might find themselves in a pennant race in September.
The big questions will be can Vernon Wells get back into the mid 30's to low 40's in homeruns and drive in 120 RBI's? Can Roy Holliday stay healthy and get back to his CY Young winning season? Will B.J. Ryan be able to repeat the break out year he had last year with Baltimore at age 30 and factor in the added pressure of a huge contract? Will A. J. Burnett be a distraction in the dugout as he was last year with the Marlins? Can Josh Towers and Ted Lilly get back to ten wins each. Will Aaron Hill and Alexis Rios be able to avoid sophomore slumps, and will Eric Hinske be ready to break out in to what the Blue Jays have been hoping since he won the Rookie of the Year award. The future looks bright again for the Blue Jays but I think they are a year or two away from a divisional title or wild card spot. However with that said Toronto has a chance to make some noise in the strong AL EAST!
 
Round 5 Summary:

Dherm +4
jchurlbert +3
bdavis1hornets +2
hockeytown +4

Round 6 Questions will be up shortly.
 
Current Standings
Through Round 5
Dherm 18
jchurlbert 13
hockeytown 12
bdavis1hornets 11- eliminated

Round 6 Questions

Football: Who is the best team in the NFC?

Baseball: What team made out the best at the winter meetings?
 
Football: Who is the best team in the NFC?


Not the Lions.

I am going to have to go with Seattle on this. The play of Alexander, Hasselbeck and Jurevicius is one of the best threesomes in football. Not to mention that their defense is solid. We just do not hear alot about them because they are in Seattle. Tatupu is one of the best linebackers in the league. I think Seattle wins the division and gets home field advantage. Will really know how tuff the are when they play the colts on the 24th. Looking at their schedule they should win out and even beat the Colts if Dungy benches Manning, Harrison and James. So I think the Seahawks have the best chance in the NFC to go to the Bowl.
 
Before I answer I want to say amen to JC...those Lions are awful....

Who made out the best in the winter meetings? I want to first say the Marlins made out the worse even with all the nice prospects that got in return they just set there club back a few years, and St. Louis although made no moves I expected to go out and pick up another reliever maybe like JC Romero that the Twins just traded off or another starter to make up for Matt Morris. The Cardinals are close to winning it so I was a little shocked. I really love what the Red Sox and White Sox did to add to their teams in the Red Sox getting Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell for their top fielding prospect, Beckett adds some youth to their rotation and with possible rumors of Clemens, and maybe Nomar coming back The Sox could be ready for another run at the Title. The White Sox cut ties with Frank Thomas who I really like but is hurt often now the White Sox just can't afford to keep him, picking up Jim Thome will be huge and the biggest signing the White Sox made this off season was keeping Paul (Paully) Konerko in the black uniform. Which brings me to who made out the best. It is really hard for me to argue with the Blue Jays. They addressed the needs of the team during these past winter meetings first by surprising I am sure not only me but others and even had a few take a double take in the huge contract signing of BJ Ryan. Yeah this is a little bit of a risk with a 30 year with really very little stats to back up the contract he got from the Blue Jays. The Jays really needed a closer and addressed this issue. The Blue Jays also added perhaps the best free agent starter in A J Burnett. A J teamed with Roy Holliday will make one heck of a one two punch and will help to close that gab between the Red Sox and Yankees. It may be not enough to over take first in the tough Eastern Division but it certainly will make the Yankees and Red Sox think a little harder when they cross the border to play in Toronto. I think the last pick up was huge and kind of snuck under the radar in picking up Lyle Overbay, he has had some real nice seasons in Milwaukee and is not real well knowing, he will add a real nice bat in the line up for the Jays. I don't think the Jays are done yet as they are looking to add another power bat to the line up and have been rumored in the Bobby Abreu trade talks. With these three free agent signing I have to say the Blue Jays have had the best winter meetings transactions and have set there team up for a run at the title.
 
Who is the best team in the NFC?

The AFC is definitely the stronger of the two Conferences. As for the best team in the NFC I'm going to go with the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers finally have committed to playing an elusive Deshawn Foster who has played extremely well the past two games since taking over the majority of playing time. He is averaging 4.0 a carry, which is a huge upgrade over the 3.0 Yards per carry that Stephen Davis was rushing for. Foster has big play potential and this will open up the passing game for Jake Delomme who has a big time receiver in Steve Smith who already has 82 catches for 1221 yards and ten touchdowns.
The Defense has also stepped up and played a huge factor. Getting Healthy at the right time are Mike Rucker and Dan Morgan. When playing you always have to be aware of Julius Peppers, the leader of the defense. The 6'7 283 Defensive End causes havoc for opposing offenses has 7.5 sacks.
You could look at the Bears and their dominant Defense and chose them or the Hasselbeck/Alexander led Seahawks both viable choices, but the most balanced team offensive/defense and special teams is the Carolina Pathers. The Panthers have been here before and no what it takes to get to the Superbowl and I again think this is their year to represent the NFC.
 
Thanks jch, I was busy and forgot about this for a few days.

Round 6 Summary of Points:

Dherm +3
jchurlbert +4
hockeytown +2

I will post the next round of questions shortly, sorry for the delay.
 
Current Standings
Through Round 6
Dherm 21
jchurlbert 16
hockeytown 14- Eliminated

Round 7 Questions:

Baseball: Will Clemens pitch in MLB again?

Football: Who will win the NFC South?
 
Will Clemens pitch in MLB again?


I think he will pitch again and it will be one of these three teams and possible another.

Redsox, Yankees, Astros, Rangers.

Clemens is still pitching like a maching. The best era last year and if he some offense behind him could of easily won another cy young award. Now that the Astors resinged Brad Ausmus, who Clemens said that is the guy he wanted to catch him why would he not go back to the Astros. Sure they did not file arbitration and he cannot sign until May but who cares. Clemens will be pitching in the offseason for the world league or what ever it is called so he will be ready to for the season. Why not stay in Houston where you had a private jet take you to away games that you pitched in and then back home when you were done. He had it made in Houston. Hopefully they pick up some offense so that will make it a easier decision for Clemens to come back. Or why not Boston where it all began. I really don't see him going back to the Yanks. Fans might kill him. Another great fit would be Texas, still in his home state but all in all I see him pitching for the Astrso again and getting his 20 million and hopefully have some offense so he can win some games. I really said he would pitch so hopefully C9 would give me alot of points. LOL
 
I believe Roger Clemens will pitch again. There are 4 teams interested in him, the Yankees, Redsox, Rangers and although they did not offer him arbitration the Astros are still interested in bringing him back. If the Astros had offered arbitration and failed to reach an agreement, Clemens would have earned a minimum of $14.4 million, which would not allow the team to go after other players in the meantime. Clemens was 13-8 with a 1.87 ERA a career low. Roger Clemens has the perfect situation for a major league ball pitcher.
I believe he goes to the Rangers or stays with the Astros. The drawback for the Astros is they cannot sign him until May 1st and its tough for a pitcher to take the first month of the season off when you are ready to pitch. The positive for the Astros is one of his best friends Andy Pettitte is still an Astro and he likes playing with Pettitte and they are still a pretty good team. Hes familar with the team and they of him. His skills have far from diminished and is still considered an elite pitcher and would be welcome on any of the teams in the Majors.
The Rangers need pitching and Tom Hicks is a big admirer of Clemens. But if he only plans on pitching one more year would he want to go through the issues of being on a new team again.
I think the true indication will be how he pitchers for the United States in the World Baseball Classic in March. Clemens issue in the past was he needed a certain amount of time in the winter to get ready to pitch, and if he passed that date and didnt start we would lean towards retiring. Clemens has a strong work ethic and Pettitte claims he works harder than anyone he has ever played with.
Well this year to pitch in March he will have gotten himself into shape and will be ready for his farewell tour, something a player of his calibar not only deserves but is a must. A player that has played at a high level needs a proper sendoff and the only way to get that now is to pitch one more season, which he will do!!
 
jchurlbert +4 nice pitch ;)
dherm360 +5


Final Standings
Dherm 26
jchurlbert 20- Eliminated

Congratulations dherm! I am glad we got to have some good sports talk from all sports in this thread. Thanks to everyone who participated.
 

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