Some observations now that the MLB regular season is done

[Bull Butter]

Both NY teams lead their respective leagues in wins with the same record (97-65)
Atlanta's streak of umpteen playoffs in a row is broken
Florida wins 79 games despite playing nearly all rookies
Welcome back to the playoffs, Detroit Tigers!
Oakland and Minnesota ride strong 2nd halves into the postseason.
Cincinnati had a good run this season before running out of gas down the stretch
Houston began their annual surge about a month too late
Cubs have NL's worst record (65-97)
Tampa Bay (61-101) comes from out of nowhere to snatch the AL's worst record from the Royals (62-100)
Despite the pitching acquitions, Rangers stunk again

Individual Stuff:
Congrats to Ryan Howard on his 58 bombs and 149 RBI. The NL MVP is yours
Roy Oswalt, despite having the 2nd best ERA (2.98) and finishing 1 win behind the leaders in wins (15-8) will get overlooked yet again for the NL Cy Young Award
Johan Santana has the AL's Cy Young nailed down
Good luck choosing the AL's Rookie of the Year award between Verlander, Liriano and Weaver

Things to look for in 2007:
No matter what happens in the 2006 postseason, Yankees will spend more money
The MLB debut of Homer Bailey:)
Craig Biggio will get more love for reaching 3,000 hits than Barry Bonds will for 756 HR
Texas will still be mediocre
Clemens will not come back:thinking:
Minnesota & Oakland will continue to thrive despite being small-market teams
The Cubs will continue to suck
Prior & Wood will suffer injuries
Minnesota will win the World Series

[3afan]

the season is too long - to many games IMO

[SWMustang]

I assume you're talking about Minnesota winning the series this year and I agree.

[Emerson1]

They should cut 1/3 of the games out and get a salary cap.

[Bull Butter]

Originally posted by SWMustang
I assume you're talking about Minnesota winning the series this year and I agree.
I'm thinking the Twins will win it in 2007 when Liriano is healthy and he & Santana will carry them to a title.

[MagicMan]

they really should cut down on the games and create a 4th division so there will be more playoff teams. there are so many deserving teams in the AL that get screwed every year.

[Txbroadcaster]

Amount of play-off teams is perfect..I dont want this to turn into a league where a team with 79 wins gets into play-offs unless they win a weak division

[Old Tiger]

Baseball still sucks

[SWMustang]

baseball's not for everyone - especially considering the attention span of today's youth. There are usually a lot of things going on that the casual fan is unaware of. Baseball does not feed into the instant gratification that so many of us depend on. Less games? more divisions? I think MLB has done enough to water the product down.

[Pmoney]

1 more individual:
Joe Mauer wins the AL MVP(IMO)

[SWMustang]

Originally posted by Pmoney
1 more individual:
Joe Mauer wins the AL MVP(IMO)

That's my vote - if I had one.

[Bull Butter]

I will agree on Joe Mauer

[MagicMan]

Originally posted by Txbroadcaster
Amount of play-off teams is perfect..I dont want this to turn into a league where a team with 79 wins gets into play-offs unless they win a weak division
in a shortened season, 79 wins might be great. 6 teams would be good. 4 division winners and two wild cards. baseball would make a lot more money doing that and it would keep more fans interested.

[MagicMan]

Originally posted by Bull Butter
I will agree on Joe Mauer
Mauer=not even MVP of the twins
Morneau did a lot more for that team.

[SWMustang]

An everyday catcher that hit .346 (lead the AL) is pretty impressive. Morneau had a big year too , no doubt.

[bulldogman06]

there does need to be one more division, look at the AL-NL difference, STL gets in with 83 wins, but White Sox, Red Sox, Blue Jays, and Angels all have better records. they just play in a tougher league. putting 6 teams in the playoffs would be much more beneficial for baseball.