MLB "Survivor" Challenge: Week 10 and 11

For a rundown on the rules click here.

Ted and I got our signals crossed a bit over the last couple weeks so you get two for one this week. As usual it'll be NL followed by the AL.

Eliminations Thus Far:
BD
Washington
Seattle
San Francisco
Kansas City
St. Louis
Toronto
Houston
Florida
Baltimore
Ted
Kansas City
Pittsburgh
Baltimore
Colorado
Texas
Cincinnati
Tampa Bay
Chicago (AL)
Chicago (NL)

Leaving The Diamond: Cincinnati Reds
Reasoning: I hate that the Reds suck every year. Not so much because of the Reds but because of Ken Griffey Jr. Especially this year as the Reds forced him to move to RF from CF where he's accumulated 10 Gold Glove's. Griffey was one the best defensive CF's of is era and maybe all-time. He personified greatness for me growing up, especially when he said he'd "retire" if he was traded to the Yankees.

As far as the rest of the team goes, Homer Bailey's looked good so far and Edwin Encarnacion could be a great hitter if he can get his head out of his ass long enough. Outside of those two I don't see a lot of potential. You've gotta like Ryan Freel as he plays nearly every position on the diamond and often finds himself on the DL because he's never met a wall that liked him. Honestly, their's not much to be said of the Reds outside of those two. They're mostly old and bad and I can only hope Dunn and Griffey can escape before the trade deadline. -BD

Leaving The Diamond: San Francisco Giants
Reasoning: The sorry arse element of the Giants right now (by the way - are any teams nicknamed "the Giants" any good outside of maybe Japanese teams? Tom Coughlin is a friggin' joke!) is that they are always in the news because of Mr. Bonds, and starting roughly now, since B-Squared is five off the Hammer, we're going to have to see the Giants on national TV constantly. That's depressing, because it's July, all we have is baseball, and I don't want to see craptacular beisbol, I want to see something good. The Jints, though - they are friggin' awful. What's gonna happen is, Bonds is gonna hit it, and then no one is going to discuss or see the Giants for the remainder of the season. It's kind of like what happened with that random "Tori" girlfriend that Zach had on Saved by the Bell. She was there, and super-relevant, and guys were feuding over her, and then she just disappeared and suddenly Zach is taking Kelly to his senior prom? WTF? Anyhoo, the Giants suck. They've been voted off already, but here we go again. -Ted


Leaving The Diamond: Oakland A's
Reasoning: Ah, another Bay Area team. I don't think we've knocked off the A's yet, but it may be time. As of now, they are 9.5 games back of a red-hot Angels team that will probably clear 100 wins on the season, I fear for Nick Swisher's life everytime he plays a series on the East Coast (I imagine he shows up to batting practice in his underwear with handcuffs on), their pitching has been inconsistent and injured, and let's face it: you can never really put the A's over the Angels, because while the Angels have R. Monkey, what do the A's have? That seal? What is that friggin' thing anyway? It can dance up a storm, but so can most fat guys if you give em weed and beer and put them in a 10,000 degree suit in northern California (please - like you haven't done it). The A's are becoming irrelevant faster than Billy Beane's fomer minor league outfield mates Lenny Dystrka and Darryl Strawberry did, and as a result, we're kicking 'em off this thing. -Ted

Leaving The Diamond: New York Yankees
Reasoning: Let's be honest here, this is not the team everyone thought it would be heading into the season. While the pitching has been predictably bad it's been the hitting that's let this team down more often then not. While Alex Rodriguez has been off the charts in every category he's gotten limited help on a day-to-day basis. Derek Jetter and Jorge Posada have been the only two guys A-Rod's had hitting alongside him. While Bobby Abreu has been atrocious for the most part hitting .247 this season with a measly .342 OBP and just 4 home runs. On top of Abreu, Robinson Cano and Johnny Damon haven't been hitting either leaving the Yankees offense at the top of the disappointing list this season.

The pitching as I said has been bad, but that was predictable coming into the year. Even with Roger Clemens they haven't improved at all as they rack up one short outing after another. Leaving the bullpen worn down already and it's only going to get worse for those guys. While the Yankees could still get hot enough to steal the wild card. They won't be ending that World Series drought this season I'll guarantee you that. I'd say their's a better chance Scott Proctor sets the Stadium ablaze.

For a Yankee hater such as myself this is fantastic. Couldn't be any happier to bid them adieu this season. Now for A-Rod to opt on and head elsewhere and all will be well with the world. -BD