Bored

Here's Joe Lunardi's latest Bracketology and seed breakdown: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/bracketology #1 seeds: Saint Joseph's, Duke, Stanford, Mississippi State #2 seeds: Gonzaga, Pittsburgh, Kentucky, Oklahoma State #3 seeds: Texas, Georgia Tech, Connecticut, N.C. State #4 seeds: Illinois, Cincinnati, Wake Forest, Providence #5 seeds: Kansas, North Carolina, Syracuse, Wisconsin #6 seeds: Charlotte, Florida, Louisville, Memphis #7 seeds: Southern Illinois, DePaul, Boston College, Maryland #8 seeds: Seton Hall, Michigan State, Texas Tech, Dayton #9 seeds: Utah State, South Carolina, Air Force, Arizona #10 seeds: Nevada, LSU, Vanderbilt, BYU #11 seeds: UAB, Western Michigan, Xavier, UTEP #12 seeds: Alabama, Washington, Murray State, Missouri #13 seeds: Virginia Commonwelth, East Tennessee State, Manhattan, Central Florida #14 seeds: Louisiana-Lafayette, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Princeton, Northern Iowa #15 seeds: East Washington, Monmouth, Mississippi Valley State, Vermont #16 seeds: Valpariso, SE Louisana, Liberty, Lehigh/South Carolina State Here is the Top 25 teams in the RPI from collegerpi.com thru Sunday's games: 1. Duke 25-4 2. Saint Joseph's 27-0 3. Kentucky 23-4 4. Mississippi State 25-2 5. Pittsburgh 26-3 6. Stanford 26-1 7. Connecticut 24-6 8. Syracuse 21-6 9. Gonzaga 26-2 10. Oklahoma State 23-3 11. Texas 21-6 12. Kansas 19-7 13. N.C. State 19-8 14. Providence 20-7 15. North Carolina 18-9 16. Wake Forest 19-8 17. Georgia Tech 22-8 18. Florida 18-9 19. Cincinnati 21-6 20. Wisconsin 21-6 21. Seton Hall 19-8 22. Louisville 19-8 23. Alabama 16-11 24. Illinois 22-5 25. Boston College 21-8

Conference tournaments are a huge waste of time and make the regular season irrelevent in many ways. Anyways on Washington they are #76 in the RPI thru yesterday. New Mexico in 1999 got in as an at-large ranked #74 which was the lowest ever. They play UCLA in the first round and tournament is in L.A. so they'll have home court. See that's what I also hate about conference tournaments that a lot of the conferences use the same venue every year. The Pac-10 has an NBA arena in every region of the conference yet they only play it in L.A. It's a joke that the So Cal schools get home court advantage every year. UCLA upset Arizona last year in the first round when U of A was the #1 seed and I'm sure it helped that they were pretty much playing at home.

You can't take any of my lists seriously because I have David Segui as the Orioles DH? Um okay. Hell Segui was the Orioles primary DH last season. I did see on some depth charts that they had Segui listed as the Orioles DH for this so that's what I went by but Cust would obviously make more sense.

It all goes back to park factors. Playing half your season in Olympic Stadium and Hirmam Birthorn Stadium last year was like playing in Coors Field for half your season. In fact combined they graded out higher than Coors Field as being more friendly to hitters last season. Vlad's numbers are likely to dip now in Anaheim in a pitcher friendly park. Last three years he's slugged 95 points higher at home than on the road.

Nope, they decided to flip them because of the weird right field wall in San Diego's new park.

Here are my right fielder rankings for the projected regulars for this season. I'm also tacking on my designated hitter rankings. Yes I know Matt Stairs is probably too high. I haven't gotten around to do pitcher rankings yet and don't know if I will. 1. Gary Sheffield, Yankees 2. Brian Giles, Padres 3. Vladimir Guerrero, Angels 4. Magglio Ordonez, White Sox 5. Sammy Sosa, Cubs 6. Trot Nixon, Red Sox 7. Bobby Abreu, Phillies 8. Richard Hidalgo, Astros 9. J.D. Drew, Braves 10. Jody Gerut, Indians 11. Reggie Sanders, Cardinals 12. Larry Walker, Rockies 13. Austin Kearns, Reds 14. Juan Gonzalez, Royals 15. Carl Everett, Expos 16. Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners 17. Brian Jordan, Rangers 18. Raul Mondesi, Pirates 19. Jay Gibbons, Orioles 20. Miguel Cabrera, Marlins 21. Jacque Jones, Twins 22. Jose Cruz Jr., Devil Rays 23. Reed Johnson, Blue Jays 24. Juan Encarnacion, Dodgers 25. Ben Grieve, Brewers 26. Michael Tucker, Giants 27. Karim Garcia, Mets 28. Bobby Higginson, Tigers 29. Danny Bautista, Diamondbacks 30. Jermaine Dye, A's 1. Frank Thomas, White Sox 2. Matt Stairs, Royals 3. David Ortiz, Red Sox 4. Dmitri Young, Tigers 5. Aubrey Huff, Devil Rays 6. Brad Fullmer, Rangers 7. Edgar Martinez, Mariners 8. Erubiel Durazo, A's 9. Tim Salmon, Angels 10. Travis Hafner, Indians 11. Josh Phelps, Blue Jays 12. Matt LeCroy, Twins 13. Bernie Williams, Yankees 14. David Segui, Orioles

Nitro March 11, 1996 The Giant def. Jim Duggan Road Warriors def. Steiner Brothers Lex Luger def. Alex Wright; TV Title Match Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, & Brutus Beefcake def. Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, & Kevin Sullivan in a Lumberjack/Strap Match March 10, 1997 Jeff Jarrett & Steve McMichael def. High Voltage Prince Iaukea def. David Taylor; TV Title Match Eddy Guerrero def. Jim Powers Diamond Dallas Page def. Sgt. Craig Pittman Rey Mysterio Jr. def. Galaxy The Giant & Lex Luger def. Steiner Brothers, Amazing French Canadians, and Greg Valentine & Roadblock in a Four-Way Tag Match Ultimo Dragon def. Juventud Guerrera Scott Riggs def. Chris Jericho by DQ Kevin Sullivan NC Hardbody Henderson March 9, 1998 The Cat def. Damien Sick Boy def. Lenny Lane Bill Goldberg def. Barry Darsow Dean Malenko def. Kidman Brian Adams def. Kaos Scott Norton def. Juventud Guerrera Raven & Saturn def. Diamond Dallas Page & Chris Benoit by count out Davey Boy Smith def. Konnan Chris Jericho def. Disco Inferno; CW Title Match Booker T def. Chavo Guerrero Jr.; TV Title Match Ric Flair def. Curt Hennig by DQ Scott Steiner & Scott Norton NC Lex Luger & Rick Steiner Hollywood Hogan & Outsiders def. Sting, Randy Savage, & The Giant March 8, 1999 Raven NC Hak in a Falls Count Anywhere Match Chris Jericho def. Lizmark Jr. Scott Steiner def. Booker T; TV Title Match Rey Mysterio Jr. def. Scott Norton Bret Hart def. Van Hammer Goldberg NC Ric Flair March 13, 2000 3 Count def. Jung Dragons The Wall def. Bam Bam Bigelow by DQ Booker & Kidman def. Lane & Rave Curt Hennig def. Lex Luger by DQ Norman Smiley def. The Dog Brian Knobs def. Terry Funk in a hardcore match Sid Vicious & Vampiro def. Harris Brothers Stevie Ray def. Disco Inferno Ric Flair & Lex Luger def. Hulk Hogan & Curt Hennig by DQ March 12, 2001 Elix Skipper & Kid Romeo def. Jung Dragons Lance Storm & Mike Awesome def. Mamalukes Booker T def. Lex Luger Shane Helms def. Evan Karagias Diamond Dallas Page def. Rick Steiner by DQ Thunder March 13, 1998 Raven def. Brad Armstrong Jim Duggan def. Kendall Windham Scott Steiner def. Johnny Grunge Eddy Guerrero def. Chavo Guerrero Jr. Konnan def. Lizmark Jr. Saturn def. Disco Inferno Dean Malenko def. Lenny Lane Lex Luger def. Scott Norton by DQ Sting NC Randy Savage March 11, 1999 Raven def. Dave Taylor Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko def. Disorderly Conduct Hak def. Barbarian Booker T & Rey Mysterio Jr. def. Scott Steiner & Buff Bagwell Ric Flair def. Disco Inferno March 8, 2000 Psychosis def. The Artist by DQ; CW Title Match Demon def. Idol The Cat def. Maestro Dustin Rhodes def. Lash LeRoux Meng def. Fit Finlay by DQ Mamalukes def. Harlem Heat, Booker & Kidman, and Harris Brothers in a Four-Way Elimination Tag Match for the Tag Titles Jeff Jarrett def. Vampiro; U.S. Title Match March 7, 2001 Three Count def. Jason B. & Scotty O. Shawn Stasiak def. Norman Smiley Shane Helms def. Elix Skipper Rick Steiner def. Hugh Morrus Chuck Palumbo def. Lex Luger Lance Storm def. Konnan Scott Steiner def. The Cat Raw March 8, 1993 Razor Ramon def. Ross Greenberg Typhoon def. L.A. Gore Bob Backlund def. Papa Shango Nasty Boys NC Headshrinkers March 7, 1994 Owen Hart & Crush def. Smoking Gunns Jeff Jarrett def. Virgil Doink def. Mike Sharpe I.R.S. def. Mark Thomas March 13, 1995 Headshrinkers NC Blu Brothers Jeff Jarrett def. Barry Horowitz Jerry Lawler def. Bret Hart by count out March 11, 1996 Steve Austin NC Savio Vega Godwinns def. Jerry Meade & Alex Porteau Hunter Hearst Helmsley def. Ben Greer Undertaker & Yokozuna def. Owen Hart & British Bulldog by DQ March 10, 1997 Rocky Maivia def. Tony Pierroth, Heavy Metal, & Pentagon def. Hector Garza, Latin Lover, & Octagon Ahmed Johnson def. Roy Raymond New Blackjacks def. Owen Hart & British Bulldog by DQ; Tag Title Match Miguel Perez def. Leif Cassidy Billy Gunn def. Aldo Montoya Goldust def. Tim McNeedy Vader & Mankind def. 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X-Pac & Justin Credible by DQ; Tag Title Match D-Von Dudley def. Christian Chris Benoit def. Eddie Guerrero Right To Censor def. Chris Jericho in a handicap match Test def. Raven; Euro Title Match The Rock def. Kurt Angle by DQ; WWF Title Match March 11, 2002 Rob Van Dam & Hardy Boyz def. William Regal & Dudley Boyz Test def. Rikishi Al Snow def. Goldust to win the Hardcore Title Kurt Angle & Booker T def. Big Show & Edge Christian def. Billy Jazz & Stacy Keibler def. Trish Stratus & Lita n.W.o. def. The Rock & Steve Austin in a handicap match March 10, 2003 Chris Jericho & Christian def. Kane & Rob Van Dam Jeff Hardy def. Rico Trish Stratus def. Jazz by DQ Triple H def. Maven Chief Morley & Lance Storm def. D-Von Dudley in a handicap match Hurricane def. The Rock Smackdown March 9, 2000 The Rock def. Chris Benoit & Perry Saturn in a handicap match Essa Rios NC Christian; LHW Title Match Tazz def. Kurt Angle by DQ; IC Title Match Road Dogg & X-Pac def. Kane in a handicap match Steve Blackman def. Jeff Hardy Dudley Boyz def. The Rock in a Handicap Tables Match Jacqueline def. Ivory; Women’s Title Match Crash Holly NC Prince Ablert; HC Title Match Triple H & Big Show def. Rikishi Phatu in a handicap match March 8, 2001 Hardy Boyz def. Dudley Boyz; Tag Title Match Chris Jericho def. Val Venis; IC Title Match Chris Benoit def. Perry Saturn and Dean Malenko, lost to Eddie Guerrero in a Gauntlet Match Kurt Angle def. Test William Regal def. Al Snow The Rock def. Rikishi & Haku in a handicap match March 7, 2002 Goldust def. Rob Van Dam; HC Title Match Booker T def. Tajiri Undertaker def. Maven & Al Snow in a handicap match Chris Jericho def. Kane Lita def. Stacy Keibler The Rock def. Scott Hall by DQ March 13, 2003 Team Angle def. Rey Mysterio & Billy Kidman Rikishi def. Chuck Palumbo Big Show & A-Train def. Tajiri & Funaki Los Guerreros NC Chris Benoit & Rhyno Brian Kendrick def. Matt Hardy by count out Kurt Angle def. Brock Lesnar; WWE Title Match

Are they gonna freeze him?

These lists aren't meant to be gospel and I just wanted to create regular baseball conversation since the offseason is over. But Johnny Damon over Garret Anderson? Your got to be kidding. Actually they had the same OBP last year so I think I'll take the guy who slugged 134 points higher in a more pitcher friendly ballpark. Anderson had a 119 runs created to Damon's 85 last season and Damon had 27 more plate appearances. As for Juan Pierre, he is a very good lead off hiter but we aren't talking about who makes a better lead off hitter. Pierre slugs under .400 and had 30 fewer runs created in 73 more plate apperances than Anderson.

Damon has a little bit better range than Wilson although Damon has one of the worst throwing arms in baseball. Wilson had a 115 OPS+ (again takes into account park factors) last season to Damon's 94. For their career Wilson has a 110 to Damon's 99. I think Manny Ramirez, Nomar Garciaparra, Bill Mueller, David Ortiz, Trot Nixon, and Jason Varitek all played a big part in the Red Sox #1 offense. It isn't that hard to find a lead off hitter to post a .340 to .350 OBP. DAMNIT YOUR ALL BEING FOOLED BY THE BEARD!!!

Going back to the pervious page first...Bradley had a .421 OBP and a .501 SLG last season and he's only 26. Now for the above on Beltran, Damon, and Anderson. -I love Beltran but he does play in the most hitter friendly park in the American League so his stats are padded a bit. -Damon has been a below league average hitter two of the last three seasons. I don't even think you can make a case he's top 20, let alone top half. -Anderson has had two great years in a row. His OPS+ was 11 points higher than Beltran's last season.

Here are the center fielder rankings for the projected regulars for this season. Now this position was the hardest to do because there is so much parity at the position. After the top 5 there just isn't much difference from #6 into the low to mid 20s. I'll probably get some laughs out of Griffey's ranking but hey when he's healthy (ya doesn't happen that often) he is certainly still a very productive player. 1. Jim Edmonds, Cardinals 2. Garret Anderson, Angels 3. Carlos Beltran, Royals 4. Andruw Jones, Braves 5. Vernon Wells, Blue Jays 6. Milton Bradley, Indians 7. Ken Griffey Jr., Reds 8. Preston Wilson, Rockies 9. Scott Podsednik, Brewers 10. Steve Finley, Diamondbacks 11. Marlon Byrd, Phillies 12. Mike Cameron, Mets 13. Mark Kotsay, A's 14. Luis Matos, Orioles 15. Corey Patterson, Cubs 16. Brad Wilkerson, Expos 17. Jay Payton, Padres 18. Kenny Lofton, Yankees 19. Randy Winn, Mariners 20. Torii Hunter, Twins 21. Tike Redman, Pirates 22. Marquis Grissom, Giants 23. Rocco Baldelli, Devil Rays 24. Aaron Rowand, White Sox 25. Juan Pierre, Marlins 26. Johnny Damon, Red Sox 27. Craig Biggio, Astros 28. Laynce Nix, Rangers 29. Alex Sanchez, Tigers 30. Dave Roberts, Dodgers

It's all over. The terrible first half doomed them as they played okay in the second half but there was no way they could comeback with the way Washington is playing right now. Washington might STILL have to win the Pac-10 tournament though because they were only #93 in the RPI coming into today's game and the lowest ranking ever to get an at-large bid is #74. Stanford I think has to win the Pac-10 tournament now to remain a #1 seed. They were only #5 in the RPI coming into today so they will likely drop two or three spots with a loss since Washington isn't a good team in the RPI. They at least have to reach the conference final or without a doubt the #1 seed is gone. Although as long as they stay in the West region, which is safe to assume, it probably doesn't matter too much in the great scheme of things but it's still a tough pill to swallow to go from undefeated, #1 team in the country to a #2 seed in the span of a week. Today (and Thursday for that matter) proved though once again why no one might ever go undefeated in the Pac-10. It is just a pain in the ass to win on the road in the Pac-10 no matter how bad the conference is.

Things aren't looking good for Stanford right now. 13 minutes in and they literally haven't made an outside shot but they keep taking them even though the majority of their points have been easy buckets inside. Also Josh Childress picked up two weak fouls in the first three minutes. Edit: Down 10 at the half, still haven't made a jump shot. Childress hasn't even hit the rim and has three fouls. Washington is playing great defense on the perimiter but Stanford just seems lost out there. 13 turnovers already when they average 14 a game. They desperately need to just go inside the entire second half as they have NOTHING outside right now.

This idea is beyond stupid on every level.

What's not to love about a 30-year old outfielder with a .603 OPS? I wonder why the Cardinals don't just keep Pujols in left and start Steve Cox at first? Cox isn't a particually good hitter either but anything is better than Kerry Robinson.

Here are my left fielder rankings for the projected regulars for this season. I wasn't dreading posting this list like the shortstops. On the other hand I'm kinda dreading posting the center field rankings but that's tommorrow. 1. Barry Bonds, Giants 2. Manny Ramirez, Red Sox 3. Chipper Jones, Braves 4. Lance Berkman, Astros 5. Cliff Floyd, Mets 6. Luis Gonzalez, Diamondbacks 7. Geoff Jenkins, Brewers 8. Jose Guillen, Angels 9. Ryan Klesko, Padres 10. Jason Bay, Pirates 11. Adam Dunn, Reds 12. Carlos Lee, White Sox 13. Shannon Stewart, Twins 14. Rondell White, Tigers 15. Moises Alou, Cubs 16. Jeff Conine, Marlins 17. Hideki Matsui, Yankees 18. Larry Bigbie, Orioles 19. Kevin Mench, Rangers 20. Frank Catalanatto, Blue Jays 21. Bobby Kielty, A's 22. Jeromy Burnitz, Rockies 23. Matt Lawton, Indians 24. Terrmel Sledge, Expos 25. Raul Ibanez, Mariners 26. Pat Burrell, Phillies 27. Aaron Guiel, Royals 28. Carl Crawford, Devil Rays 29. Bubba Trammell, Dodgers 30. Kerry Robinson, Cardinals

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c...03/02/BALCO.TMP The article goes on after that but the shit just hit the fan.

Edit: I made a point about park factors and comparing the totals from last year being unfair but forget it I don't want to go into the debate because this will go on FOREVER.

Well as I pointed in the earlier rankings last seasons numbers get a lot of consideration. Then I look at their three year averages to see if last season was a fluke, an off year, or just the player's typical season. I also see if last season showed a trend that their numbers were going down or going up. Then I look at their age to help determine these factors as well. After all that I make a conservative projection of where their numbers might go this season, although they are not necessarily ranked in terms of how well I think they will play this year or otherwise the list would be too subjective. Out of that group for four you mention Edgar Renteria actually had the best season last year. But he did have a career year and it was enough of jump over his previous production that I didn't feel he deserved the #1 spot, although he is still only 28 so it's possible he may duplicate or improve on last year. Before the last two year's Renteria had been a below average hitter. Maybe this year he will truly emerge as the best shortstop in baseball with A-Rod now at 3rd. I'm a diehard A's fan and have no ill feeling about Tejada but he is not a better hitter than Derek Jeter. 2002 to this point was the only year Tejada's OPS+ was better than Jeter's. Last season Jeter had a 127 while Tejada had a 117. Now I REALLY didn't want to start a Jeter/Nomar debate and this will probably add 20 pages to this topic since we have a high number of Red Sox fans on this board. I'll make this short but Jeter had an OPS+ of 127 last year to Nomar's 121. Jeter has been a much more consistent hitter in his career while Nomar has seen his numbers dip. The consistency of Jeter gave him the edge in my view. Really there isn't a huge difference and I don't even like Jeter so I certainly can't be accused of bias. If anyone wants to say Nomar is #1 I'm not reallly going to argue.

This is too funny. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=1750279

Nope, Reyes moved over to 2nd to accomodate Matsui. You know I don't even want to talk about Jeter because as I know where this conversation is gonna go, another reason why I was dreading posting this. I'll just put an emphasis on that I give offense a lot more consideration than defense. Oh and of course A-Rod would have been #1 at shortstop if he hadn't been traded or stayed at short but now he's #1 at third base. Good point. I mean I did mention I'd probably have most of the rookies too high because they are the most subjective part of the list and really can't know what they will do. Jason Bay is going to be fairly high on my left fielders list.

UNBELIEVABLE...Stanford does it again!!!!!!!! In all seriousness that was easily their worst game all season. Tons of unforced errors, tons of second chances for Washington State, yet they pull out another miracle win out. Wazzu deserved to win but they flat out choked at the end. Wow, something magical might be happening at Palo Alto.

I know that's why I was dreading posting it. Damnit where is Al to defend this? One thing I realized though by doing this is even with the influx of the big name, offensive shortstop in recent years there are a still a ton of shortstops that can't hit worth a shit. That's why Crosby ended up that high since he can hit...I think.

Here are my dreaded shortstop rankings for the projected regulars for this season. I'm not even going to read them. 1. Derek Jeter, Yankees 2. Nomar Garciaparra, Red Sox 3. Edgar Renteria, Cardinals 4. Miguel Tejada, Orioles 5. Alex Cintron, Diamondbacks 6. Rafael Furcal, Braves 7. Bobby Crosby, A's 8. Carlos Guillen, Tigers 9. Jose Valentin, White Sox 10. Angel Berroa, Royals 11. Orlando Cabrera, Expos 12. Michael Young, Rangers 13. Kazuo Matsui, Mets 14. Julio Lugo, Devil Rays 15. Alex Gonzalez, Marlins 16. Rich Aurilia, Mariners 17. Jimmy Rollins, Phillies 18. Khalil Greene, Padres 19. Chris Woodward, Blue Jays 20. David Eckstein, Angels 21. Barry Larkin, Reds 22. Alex S. Gonzalez, Cubs 23. Omar Vizquel, Indians 24. Adam Everett, Astros 25. Cristian Guzman, Twins 26. Jack Wilson, Pirates 27. Cesar Izturis, Dodgers 28. Neifi Perez, Giants 29. Royce Clayton, Rockies 30. Craig Counsell, Brewers