VEB Offday Polls: Where You At? What's the biggest surprise of 2010?

both are very WTF

just how atrocious the Mariners have been this year.

Acquiring all these useful pieces with the uncertain ownership situation, all while only giving up 1-2 prospects in their top 10 (Smoak being the headliner). They are the only team other than the Rays in the AL that would definitely give the Yankees a fight over 7 games.

If only Cuban had bought the franchise…….

they were expected to be AWFUL.

I know there are at least 2 Iowans on here

Brad Ausmus is still playing big league ball. I mean, someone is still paying him to play.

I knew they had a bullpen and decent starting staff. How is that lineup doing it though?! Bud Black is a shoe-in for manager of the year.

it seems pitchers are up and hitters are down MLB wide and I don’t know if there’s an explanation for it

doubt I’ve ever seen them so consistently bad

i mean their major league roster remains overly impressive…. at the beginning of the year, they didn’t even look like a real threat… to 3rd place and now they are leading…. now i still think their team isn’t that good talent of course given the performances, yes now its easier to understand

pretty obvious I think… other honorable mentions:

1. Bautista’s home run total
2. how shitty the Mariners are playing
3. Rangers
4. just how good the pitching is this season

got everywhere pretty well covered heh

Kinda think those saying The Padres are showing a hint of NL bias, which is fine. Bautista’s explosion is even more crazy than Zobrist’s last year, I think. At least Zobrist was quite young and had shown some evidence of burgeoning power the year before.

FWIW, Andres Torres probably deserves a mention too. AAAA outfielder who’s been around since 2002, was a net negative on WAR until last year, and is on track for a 7 WAR season. He’s been more valuable than Albert so far.

veb is

is that the Cardinals have struggled to keep up with the Reds.
Who is the surprise team in this division…the Cards or the Reds? There are lots of ways to answer that but I think it’s the Cardinals. The Reds are only a surprise because they can keep pace with an under-achieving team.
 At the beginning of the season it looked like this team would be just devastating on paper, and they were when they came out of the gate.
 Even though the Cards have hovered around first place all season, I have to say that they haven’t performed up to their potential or expectations….even with the injuries.
I’m surprised at that.

 Individually, I have 3 surprises on this team:

Skip…….this is the second year of the experiment at 2nd base. The first year was encouraging. I’m surprised that the second year isn’t.

Colby…..He’s had his moments but overall I’m still waiting to see potential convert to reality. If he’s as good as everybody says he is then he should be in the line up everyday no matter if he faces a lefty or a righty.
People couldn’t wait to bring up J.D. Drew…he was going to be the best thing since peanut butter. He had his moments but his potential never really blossomed here and he was hurt a lot. I hope Colby is different but I see a similarity.
In my eyes, a good hitter can hit lefty’s and righty’s, one side well and the other side decently. A great hitter hits them both well, and just a decent hitter hit’s one side well and get’s platooned.
I have to ask myself, “which one is Colby”?…but he’s young and I’m patient.

Jaimie…He’s been the only good surprise this year. No need to say much more about him. He’s been better than expected, and I can’t say that about anybody else.

Not really the Southeast, Not the South, not NY. Count it as a Southeast vote.

Biggest surprise has easily been Jon Jay turning into an amazingly productive offensive player, if he turns into an obp machine like Denard Span, I will be enthralled. And for the rest of the league….well….those Reds man…..making me miss Scotty Rolen. Its low.

Jaime Garcia, definitely.

Worst big surprise was David Freese’s rookie year. And the sputtering offense. And the shuffling madness. No, wait, that’s Locomotive Breath. The team just has been kind of… bleh this year.

I’m living in Springfield, Illinois. I still have one of my old Springfield Cardinals pennants from when they were here, too, probably 1983 or 84.