Teams that are not going to win the 2008 World Series: Teams 15, 16 and 17!

Here's the 411. Over the next couple of months I am going to crudely single out all but four teams and label them audaciously as having zero chance of winning the 2008 World Series. What will this arrogance get me? Nothing bar a torrent of abuse in the event I get it wrong and one of the chosen gang of Chug Monkeys turns out to be the World Series champs. Let's start insulting people!

Team one
For all the yapping about how many runs this team scores, they are still showing a whopping -72 in run differential, meaning that seeing as they do actually cross home plate on occasion, their pitching must be really bad. Atomic Kitten bad. Sure enough it is. This hopeless bunch of annual under achievers have six pitchers with ten games started or more under their belts. Check out the abysmal ERAs of same
  • 4.98
  • 5.01
  • 5.05
  • 4.82
  • 5.76
  • 8.25
What's particularly amazing is how consistently brutal their starters are. A starting rotation might be able to handle one or even two chug monkeys throwing at a approx five ERA but to have all six guys in and around that mark? Ooh la la. So bad. We should have written off these poor saps about six months ago. So, the focal point of this section is, really, well, I guess what I am trying so say is, the Texas Rangers are not going to win the 2008 World Series.

Team two
Ever so slightly controversial choice with this one, if not controversial, risky. This team has had a reasonable season. At 71-72 they are inoffensively mediocre. They do have some fancy parts however, some good young bats are very good pitching. So why are they not going to the show? Two reasons, they are totally burnt in the Wild Card chase at 10.5 games back, and they recently lost the division lead they had held all year long. They are 3-7 in their last ten, and sliding fast. The Arizona Diamondbacks are not going to win the World Series in 2008. I say that with confidence as even if they manage to correct their slide, they probably won't catch the streaking LA Dodgers. If they do somehow manage that, well, they would not have the firepower to make any effective progress in the playoffs. So forget about it.

Team three
These guys are making a decent push, no doubt about it. They are 9-1 in their last ten games and playing like a team destined for the playoffs. Only one slight issue, they aren't going. They look tantalisingly close, only five games back in the wild card, and sporting a rather nifty 77-67 record, a respectable ten games over the .500 mark. So, what's the problem? Glad you asked. A not-so-orderly queue has formed for the NL Wild Card, and this team of late bloomers are not passing the Brew Crew, the Phillies and or the Cards for the NL Wild Card, not at this stage. Even if they did, the Houston Astros have undoubtedly put a nice little run together however they would be taken apart in the playoffs, even if they got that far. Which they won't. So, case closed.


Previous entries to 'Teams that are not going to win the 2008 WS;
  1. The San Francisco Giants
  2. The San Diego Padres
  3. The Kansas Royals
  4. The Cincinatti Reds
  5. The New York Mets
  6. The Washington Nationals
  7. The Seattle Mariners
  8. The Cleveland Indians
  9. The Atlanta Braves
  10. The Pittsburgh Pirates
  11. The Colorado Rockies
  12. The Oakland A's
  13. The Baltimore Orioles
  14. The New York Yankees
  15. The Texas Rangers
  16. The Arizona Diamondbacks
  17. The Houston Astros

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