Play Ball! - 2nd Half Predictions

Now that the All-Star game is over and all the "drama" that surrounds the event is in the books, the baseball races and trade rumors will start to heat up. It seems that at least 20 teams are still in their division races and weird things could happen. The trade deadline is July 31st and most teams will wait until a few days before that date to assess their team's chances of making the post-season. A lot of stuff will happen this off-season and since this blog loves speculation and opinionated banter, here are some of my predictions of what will happen in the 2nd-half this season.

- Mark DeRosa will bat under .200 for the rest of the season with the Cardinals.

- Albert Pujols will hit 60 homers this year.

- The Cubs will end up with 90 wins this season, but will not win the NL Central.

- Freddy Sanchez will be trade to the Cubs for Sean Marshall

- Joe Mauer will only hit 4 more homers the rest of the season.

- The Detroit Tigers will win the AL Central

- Matt Wieters will hit over .300 and hit 12 homers in the 2nd-half.

- Eric Wedge will be fired by Labor Day.

- Boston will edge out the Yankees in the AL East, but New York will win the Wild Card race.

- Jerry Manuel will be fired after the last day of the season.

- The full list of failed steroid tests will be leaked during the playoffs, thus putting the actual product on the field out of the spotlight.

- The Phillies will land Roy Halladay in a trade for Kyle Drabek and two other prospects.

- Pedro Martinez will have an ERA over 5.00 and will make less than 8 starts for Philadelphia.

- Tim Hudson will come back at the end of the season and win 4 games.

- Stephan Strasburg will sign with the Washington Nationals by September 15th.

- Raul Ibanez will hit 55 homers this season.

- Jimmy Rollins will hit under .210 in the 2nd half this year.

- Alex Rodriguez will hit 35+ homers, but his average will be below .245

- C.C. Sabathia will lead the AL in innings and win 20 games.

- Carlos Quentin will come off the DL and hit 10 homers the last 2 months of the season.

- Jason Schmidt will only make two starts for the Dodgers and end the season on the DL.

- Texas will win the AL West and make it to the ALCS.

- Tommy Hanson will edge out Colby Rasmus for the NL Rookie Of The Year

- Rick Porcello will have an ERA over 4.50 in the second half.

- The Mets will become sellers by July 31st.

ESPN's "Outside The Lines" Ibanez Video

I had a post earlier today about Jerod Morris at Midwest Sports Fans. I thought that I would embed the video of his appearance. If you actually read his article and then watch the video, you can question Ken Rosenthal and the reporter from the Philadelphia Inquirer if they have even read his article.

At points in the interview, Rosenthal rolls his eyes. I believe he may have just read the Inquirer's article and not the source, which would have been at Midwest Sports Fans site.

Check it out and gather your own opinion.

Ibanez's Reaction Is What We Want

Midwest Sports Fans had a story a few days ago that lead to speculation about Raul Ibanez and performance-enhancing drugs. The story was thorough and well thought-out. The writer tried to convey both side of the argument and gave interesting facts that support both sides of the opinion. Jerod Morris, the writer of the post on Midwest Sports Fans, is getting wrongly accused of throwing out accusations that he believes that Ibanez is on something illegal. If people would just read the entire article, and not just snippets, they would leave with the opinion that Morris doesn't know the answer himself, but understands why someone would think something is fishy. This isn't really a story about Ibanez as much as a story about the past ghosts that will continue to haunt Major League Baseball players until they allow blood testing for testing. Until the public have 100% certainty that players are clean, it will always be the elephant in the room.

On the otherhand, I love Ibanez's response to the post. If the alleged accusation was a Stephen Strasburg heater, he hit it out of the park. He is taking the approach that I wish Bonds, McGwire, or any other player should have taken. I do admit that Ibanez's "mother basement" line was out-of-line, but I do acknowledge his passion for proving his innocence. I want him to go a step farther. I would like to see him ignore the player's union and accept an independent drug-test, the kind that would be as strict as the Olympic-testing.

This story is very unique. You don't see a blog causing a stir, unless your Deadspin, let alone this kind of exposure. It proves that bloggers are increasing their reach and gaining more notablity in mainstream media. I love it. I do think that about 85% of sports blogs are poorly written and are just out to slam sports figures, but there are some great ones out there.

Before I finish this post, I would like to submit my opinion on Ibanez. I believe he had something to prove. He has never been on a contender before, most of his career was with Kansas City and Seattle. The motivation to do well and finally win a championship was there this year, more than past seasons. He also knew that he was in a line-up with Utley, Howard, and Rollins, the pressure isn't going to be there, as he has bats around to protect him. My last point would be that he went from the American League to the National League. History tells us that players who take the leap over to the National League do better. I think all these factors add up to Ibanez's hot start to the season. We have to remember that the season isn't even halfway over. Many players have had just as good 2nd-halfs, but it flies under the radar usually, since most fans just look at the season average and totals.

I would like to congratulate Jerod Morris for the great article. The response is a little mixed as a whole, but this will go down as the top blog post of 2009.