The Chiefs of the AL Central - An Indians Dynasty

[Kriegz]

Indians Preview 2005

- Paul Hoynes

SP - At the Majors Cleveland has a very strong, young rotation going into this season. No doubt that C.C. Sabathia has shown signs of greatness, and he is still only 24. Sabathia will be the opening day starter. Jake Westbrook is a young starter who hopes to build on his breakout season last year, and Kevin Millwood is a solid veteran pitcher. Cliff Lee had a great start to last season, but had a bad second half, the Indians hope he can find a way to bounce back. The 5th starter will be the veteran Scott Elarton or Jason Davis. .......One Call Away- The ace in Buffalo is expected to be Jeremy Guthrie this year, he is a top prospect even though his stock has fallen lately. Most likely to get the call to the majors is Brian Tallet, who is an MLB ready, experienced pitcher. Steve Watkins will be 3rd in the rotation, he was a spring signee who is looking strong so far. Top prospect Francisco Cruceta will continue to develop in the Buffalo roataion, and Kyle Denney will round out the rotation for the Bisons. .......For the Future- The ace at Akron this season will he the promising Fausto Carmona. Other starters who are expected to see the Indians some day are Billy Traber, and Jake Dittler, who has a nasty knucklecurve. In Single A Kinston is what may be the best Single A rotation around. Adam Miller is the best pitching prospect in the Indians orginization, Jeremy Sowers is a future star, and Nick Pesco and Ronald Bay are also ligitimate pitching prospects.

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Part 8 of 9, next up is a complete breakdown of the RP position

[Kriegz]

Indians Preview 2005

- Paul Hoynes

RP - At the Majors- Bob Wickman will attempt to have another solid year in the closer role, which he has shown he can do, just injurys have gotten in the way. David Riske and the newly added Arthur Rhodes will be in the 8th inning role. Veteran Bob Howry and the solid Rafael Betancourt will handle the middle innings and Jason Davis is the long relief pitcher........One Call Away- The most major leauge ready reliver at Buffalo will be Kaz Tadano this year. Scott Sauerbeck and Matt Miller are also expected to see signifigant time with the Indians. Jason Stanford and Chad Zerbe round out the bullpen as Andrew Brown will be the closer.......For the Future- Akron has 2 future stars in thier bullpen, Fernando Cabrera and Kenny Rayborn. Cabrera will likely be quick to advance to Buffalo and it is a long shot, but he may see time in Cleveland this season. The closer for the Aeros will be Steve Green. The most prolific relief prospect at Kinston is thier closer, Victor Kleine

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Part 9 of 9, the final preview

[mroctober430]

Nice, I'll follow.

[Snash13]

Tribe.

This is one of the most well done dynastys Ive seen so far. Will definatly be reading

[Kriegz]

Thanks for all of the comments guys, tonight I will put up the season preview from Baseball Tonight

[APR]

You will be posting pics of games I presume?

[Kriegz]

Yes you bet, and boxscores in either the Baseball Tonight format or FSN Postgame format

[Lual]

good to see you post your dynasty

awesome start mate

ill be reading :wtg:

[Kriegz]

MLB Preview 2005

AL EAST

Peter Gammons:

1) Boston Red Sox

2) New York Yankees

3) Baltimore Orioles

4) Toronto Blue Jays

5) Tampa Bay Devil Rays

Now, the AL east is going to be an interesting division this year, mostly because of the Baltimore Orioles finally putting together a team this offseason. Thier offense will be dangerous, adding Sammy Sosa, who is by no means the superstar he once was, but he will add some pop to thier potent offense. My opinion is that Baltimore will have a season that will challenge New York and Boston, in fact I see them in second place at some point in the season, but the Yankees and Red Sox both have better pitching. The Red Sox will edge out the Yankees because thier pitching is more proven, and there are alot of questions in the Yankee rotation. When will Randy Johnson get old? Will Kevin Brown bounce back from last season? Was Jaret Wright another product of the Braves ccoaching last year? I do think that we will see New York and Boston both in the playoffs. Toronto will struggle to find offense this year after the loss of franchise player Carlos Delgado. Tampa Bay will be Tampa Bay, even though they have alot of good young players such as Carl Crawford, and they could give some good teams trouble in must-win games.

Tim Kurkjian:

1) New York Yankees

2) Boston Red Sox

3) Baltimore Orioles

4) Toronto Blue Jays

5) Tampa Bay Devil Rays

Now Peter, of course you are right on Baltimore but any educated person knows that New York is going to run away with this division this year. Just look at thier offense, there is no comparison. Alex Rodriguez could be the best player in the game, along with great hitters such as Jeter, Sheffield, Williams, Posada, and Jason Giambi will also return this year. Unless something goes terribly wrong, the Yankees will run with this division. Now again, the O's are going to be a fun team to watch because of thier hitting, but what it will boil down to is how far their pitching can take them, and with Sidney Ponson as thier ace, I don't think that looks too bright. If the Yankees or Sox get in injury trouble, I can see Baltimore challenging them, but nothing more than that. All it will mean is that New York and Boston will not be getting easy wins within the division anymore.

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Part 1 of 7, next up is a complete preview of the NL East

[Kriegz]

MLB Preview 2005

NL EAST

Peter Gammons:

1) Florida Marlins

2) Atlanta Braves

3) Washington Nationals

4) New York Mets

5) Philidelphia Phillies

Here could be the tightest division all this year, every team on this list has a chance to take the division if they put things together or add an impact player at the trade deadline. I pick Florida to take the East, because they have great pitching for down the stretch, and Carlos Delgado will help get the other big hitters in the lineup pitches to hit. I am going out on a limb here in saying that the Atlanta Braves will finish second. They are in a semi-rebuilding mode, with alot of young hitters. Andruw Jones will have a great season at the plate and thier pitching is going to be alright with the addition of Tim Hudson. Bobby Cox will get the most out of them and they are not going to lose a NL East title without a fight. Now here is my big sleeper, the Washington Nationals will finish third, and yes, they were the Expos of last year. From the top to the bottom of the Nats lineup, there are a bunch of average or above average hitters. I think Nick Johnson will have a good comeback year, and Brad Wilkerson is one of the most underappriciated players in the game. They also have a solid bullpen, and if they find the starting pitching, they could go further than 3rd and battle for the wild card. In 4th I place the underachiving New York Mets, mostly because they are, well... underachiving. Reyes, Matsui, and Floyd are all underachivers, they do not have great pitching, and honestly, Carlos Beltran cannot play close to as well as he did last year. In last, a spot that any of these teams could end up in, i expect the Phillies to end up. They are starting a rebuilding mode and Bobby Abreu and Jim Thome are not getting any younger.

Tim Kurkjian:

1) Florida Marlins

2) New York Mets

3) Atlanta Braves

4) Philidelphia Phillies

5) Washington Nationals

I also will have to go with the Marlins to run away with the NL East. Thier lineup is unmatched, and I expect Dontrelle Willis to have a huge season. Next I will place the New York Mets, this offseason they added one of the elite players in the game with Beltran, I think Cliff Floyd will bounce back to have a solid year, and I think that Mike Piazza will have just enough left to have another solid year at the plate. I place the Braves third because I don't think thier offense will have enough firepower to take them anywhere. They will be relying on too many inexperienced hitters to carry them. The Phillies are fourth because they need Pat Burrell to come through as a star, and I don't think he can. Jim Thome will struggle and they don't have an ace starting pitcher. The Nationals will finish last because they are not much different from thier team last year, they don't have much pitching and they will need to rely on rookie Ryan Church to have a Rookie of the Year type season.

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Part 2 of 7, next up is a complete preview of the AL Central

[Kriegz]

Ok, I got my cyberfaces out, so tomarrow I will update the game with all the newest cyberfaces so that they will work during the dynasty, then get these previews finished and hopefully I will play Opening Day tomarrow night

Cheers!

[go_bucs2000]

looking forward to the whole thing good luck :wtg:

[Kriegz]

MLB Preview 2005

AL Central

Tim Kurkjian:

Peter is out investigating the latest trade rumors with A.J. Burnett, so I will bring you the rest of the previews.

1) Chicago White Sox

2) Cleveland Indians

3) Detroit Tigers

4) Minnesota Twins

5) Kansas City Royals

Here is a division that 4 different teams have a pretty close to equal chance to win. I think the White Sox will end out on top in a close race. They don't have a ton of offense, but they have no real weak spots in thier lineup. Thier rotation may be the best top to bottom in the AL, Mark Buehrle, Jon Garland, Freddy Garcia, Jose Contreras, and Orlando Hernandez, thier weak spot will be the closer role where they will have to rely on the inconsistant Shingo Takastu and Dustin Hermanson. I see the Cleveland Indians sneaking up into second, thier offense has potential to be better than last year with the development of Grady Sizemore , and addition of Juan Gonzalez. The Tigers will finish third because they are a solid team through and through. Jeremy Bonderman will be a force and the addition of Magglio Ordonez is huge. I think the Twins have gotten lucky the past few years, they have lots of solid hitter but nobody has busted out as a solid cleanup hitter, that lack will hurt them, If Johan Santana can't improve on what he did last year, the hype might get to him. The Royals are in a never ending rebuilding mode, so I see them in last......again.

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Part 3 of 7, next up is a complete preview of the NL Central

[Kriegz]

MLB Preview 2005

NL Central

Tim Kurkjian:

Peter is out investigating the latest trade rumors with A.J. Burnett, so I will bring you the rest of the previews.

1) St. Louis Cardinals

2) Chicago Cubs

3) Houston Astros

4) Milwaukee Brewers

5) Cincinnatti Reds

6) Pittsburgh Pirates

This year, the NL Central is certainly a run away, the Cardinals are built for the playoffs, winning the division isn't even in question for Pujols and the Cards. The Cubs are also very solid, led by star Derrek Lee, and they have a solid rotation if they can stay healthy. I am pretty sold that they will run away with the wild card.

I don't think that the Astros are going to have enough offense this season, the loss of Carlos Beltran will be devistating. In 4th, I think the Brewers will have a solid season led by Carlos Lee and all of the top prospects who will finally reach the majors this season. The Reds will have trouble because they have no proven starting pitchers, and there is on evidence that Griffey can stay healthy. The Pirates are a mess and will round out the bottom.

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Part 4 of 7, next up is a complete preview of the AL West

[Kriegz]

MLB Preview 2005

NL West

Tim Kurkjian:

Peter is out investigating the latest trade rumors with A.J. Burnett, so I will bring you the rest of the previews.

1) San Diego Padres

2) San Francisco Giants

3) Los Angeles Dodgers

4) Colorado Rockies

5) Arizona Diamondbacks

This will easily be the weakest major leauge division this year. San Diego will win with the help of Khalil Greene and Jake Peavy, but they are not built to withstand the playoffs. The Giants ae going to be carried by Barry Bonds, but with records to break, he will haul them into second place. The Dodgers are going to struggle to find offense after losing Adrian Beltre, they are not going to score enough. Here is my upset, I have the Rockies finishing 4th ahead of Arizona. They will have good young talent in Eric Byrnes, Brad Hawpe, and Clint Barmes, the Diamondbacks just have nothing good as far as position players other than Troy Glaus who is likely to get injured anyways.

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Part 6 of 7, next up is a complete preview of the Playoffs

[Kriegz]

I accedentally wrote the NL West over the AL West, oh well....

[Kriegz]

MLB Preview 2005

Playoffs

Tim Kurkjian:

AL East) Yankees

AL Central) White Sox

AL West) Angels

AL Wild Card) Red Sox

ALCS) Angels over Yankees

NL East) Marlins

NL Central) Cardinals

NL West) Padres

NL Wild Card) Cubs

NLCS) Cardinals over Marlins

World Series) Cardinals over Angels in 6

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Part 7 of 7, final edition

[mroctober430]

Great previews man. Can't wait to see how you fair out. :wtg:

[mooseknucks]

Looking good. Can't wait.

[Kriegz]

Sorry for the delays, this will start tonight

[go_bucs2000]

good to hear can't wait

[Kriegz]

Wedge Announces Opening Day Rosters

Rotation:

Jake Westbrook

CC Sabathia

Kevin Millwood

Cliff Lee

Scott Elarton

LRP:

Jason Davis

MRP:

David Riske

Arthur Rhodes

Rafael Betancourt

SU:

Bob Howry

CP:

Bob Wickman

Lineup:

CF Grady Sizemore

LF Coco Crisp

1B Travis Hafner

C Victor Martinez

RF Casey Blake

2B Ronnie Belliard

SS Jhonny Perata

DH Jason Dubois

3B Aaron Boone

Bench:

DH Juan Gonzalez

C Josh Bard

IF Ramon Vazquez

IF Jose Hernandez

1B Ben Broussard

[Kriegz]

Opening Day 2005 - Around the Leauge

Tribe Gets Rude Awakening

Above: Frank Thomas watches his 5th inning Homer off of Jake Westbrook

Tim Kurkjian: A division matchup taking place in Chicago on opening day, Mark Buehrle going to the hill for the Chi Sox. A great start early, striking out the first 3 Indians he faced. In the second Travis Hafner smacks one down the first base line, he goes for second and is gunned down by Jermaine Dye. In the bottom half of the second the Sox get rolling, an Aaron Rowand double puts runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs. Joe Crede gets an RBI groundout, followed by a Juan Uribe RBI double, then a Scott Podsednik RBI single. Tadahito Iguchi gets a hit to RF, Podsednik heads home, out by inches on an amazing throw by Casey Blake. The Indians get thier first run in the fifth, Casey Blake gets a leadoff double, followed by a Jose Hernandez RBI single to left. In the bottom of the fifth, Frank Thomas hits a leadoff Solo Home Run, giving the Sox a 4-1 lead. In the seventh, Jose Hernandez hits a 2 out solo Homer deep to left off of Buehle, but the Sox fire back, Paul Konerko gets a Solo Homer of his own in the bottom of the inning to make it a 5-2 game. The White Sox go on to get the win, Mark Buehrle has a solid outing going 7 innings, giving up 2 runs, and striking out 6.

[punchout]

wow thats the nicest presentation I have ever seen. Looks like I definatly have to add you to my list of dynastys I am keeping track of.......(which is only you and Lual)

:wtg: :wtg: :wtg:

[Kriegz]

Around the Leauge

Garcia cruises in first start

Above: Frank Thomas relaxes during the 6th inning of Sundays game

Tim Kurkjian:

Freddy Garcia came to the mound looking fresh for a start of a new season on this hot sunday afternoon at US Cellular Field in Chicago. In the 2nd, Garcia strikes out all 3 Indians on path to a solid start. Bats were quiet on both sides until the 4th, when Paul Konerko smashes a solo shot into the left field seats. The White Sox take a 1-0 lead. In the fifth, Juan Uribe gets a solo shot of his own to left center, 2-0 Sox. In the sixth, Garcia gets another 1-2-3 inning and Joe Crede hits a 2 RBI double. Garcia lasted the entire game, getting a complete game shutout in his first appearence. Eric Wedge was not happy after the game commenting that "We just need to get hits in strings, all of our hits were scattered between outs and we didn't hit with runners on, we have to fix that or we are not going to win many games."