Way to go Rangers.  I hope they destroy the Yankees.

Mick, have the Nationals won a series?  Aren't the Rangers the only American League team to have not won a series?

e.c., doncha remember the Montreal Expos? They won a series in 1981 ... they became the Nats a couple of decades or so later ...

Cliff Lee is amazing. Here's hoping he duels with Halladay three times in the Series.

yessir i remember the expos.  they were my team in '81.  I remember Steve Rogers great big sigh right before a pitch ... bad base-running by a young Tim Raines ... dozens of solo homers by Andre Dawson ... and a certain homer by a guy named Lemon. So I say nope -- those guys aren't the nationals.

Stories on the web suggest Texas has an additional 80 million to spend this off-season, all due to their new 20 year, $1.6 - $3.0 Billion, TV contract.  It looks like Texas will easily fill any holes this season, including re-signing Cliff Lee, or anyone else they need.

and a certain homer by a guy named Lemon

You mean Monday?

That's what I figured, Chuck -- Chet never played in the National League. But,then. easy mistake to make -- Mondays usuallly ARE lemons .... ©Garfield.  8-)

Wow, someone paid the Rangers that much for TV rights? What does that make the Jays worth given the much larger potential TV audience?

Boy is the AL Central becoming the poor zone. The West has Texas & LAA & Seattle (plus poor Oakland). The East we all know all too well. The Central has the White Sox and...er... well, the Tigers blew a lot for awhile and so did Cleveland when they sold out every game for a few years although neither has a large market to work with.

So lets push for the Jays and Cleveland to trade divisions :)

Monday -- right ... brain needs reboot.



 

Clearly, the silicon switch inside your head got switched to overload. You don't like Mondays. Or at least Rick Monday.

Seattle are in an awful, I wouldn't be mentioning them when talking about the elite of a division.

Seattle has shown deep pockets in the past. It wasn't a comment on how good teams were, just the relative spending abilities of each team.

Given fan interest and relative city size, I'd say Tampa,  Oakland, Cleveland and  Kansas City are the remaining small markets in the AL, and the Twins might be again once the new stadium effect wears off and they have a few bad years.

Detroit (city proper), which has half the number of people it did 50 years ago (unprecedented in north america for a city that size), is a weird case. Detroit metropolitan area is still quite big (top 15), but the city itself is a New Orleans-style shambles in places, without the hurricane. I don't know if anyone understands Detroit as a market right now. There's certainly not a surlpus of cash flowing around the city.

Toronto and Baltimore used to lead the league in attendance, so it's not clear that they should remain middle markets forever, but that's where they are right now.