Yes, I'm including the Astros, of course. But I don't know if I can recall a year where more teams with such high expectations were underperforming. The NL East comes to mind immediately. The world champs are playing .500 baseball. The consensus pick, the Phils, are playing under .500. The NL Central -- Astros...Cubs...'nuff said. We all know the 'stros problems. But geez, the Cubs were supposed to be in the Series. They were the pick for the NL among a ton of the "experts." They're 1.5 games out of the wild card...still MIGHT make the playoffs...but their fans are certainly disappointed in the season. The NL West -- no real surprises here..but i don't know that anyone thought the D-Backs would be THAT bad. AL East -- the sawx. yikes. that lineup...that rotation...and they're fighting...clawing...for a wild card spot with the Rangers? come on. oh, yeah...and what happened to all the talk about the Orioles and Blue Jays making it diffcult on the Yanks and Sawx?? Where'd that go??? AL Central - no high hopes here to begin with, frankly. probably my least favorite division in all of sports. makes me yawn just reciting the teams' names. AL West - the Angels...yes, they've clawed back into wild card contention..but if i had a dollar for everytime i heard the baseball tonight guys talk about how awesome the angels were gonna be this season, i'd be wealthy. of all of those...the 'stros, phils, and marliins stand out to me as most disappointing.
Even if the cubs and astros performed up to expectations, the Cardinals would STILL be leading this division. That's scary... it represents just how GOOD they've been playing since early May. Their lineup has absolutely no holes whatsoever... and they have three superstars putting up superstar numbers (neither the Cubs or the Astros have even one of those guys). That being said, I'd still take either the Cubs or Astros pitching in a short series over any combination of Carpenter, Marquis, Morris, Woody, Suppan. They may indeed be the biggest DISSAPOINTMENT come playoff time, when a wild-card team ends up going to the world series again.
excellent point...you have to hand it to the Cards...they have been the best, most consistent team all year (Yankees included) and for them to go out and add Larry Walker was huge. I cant see their staff holding up in the playoffs but...I didnt thik they would have kept up this pace either
