Lets Play BOSS

Hello my fellow Yankee fans. Hope you enjoyed the Holiday weekend last week. My was fine would have been better if the Yankees had played better although taking 2 of 3 from the Sucks again this weekend was nice even Sweeter we did it against Papulbum.

Any who as many of you may know I’m part of a great group of Yankee fans on yahoo called The Yankees Club. One of the members posted a good question this week and I figured Id share with you along with some of the answer we got. Below you will find Miss Ravens question and the Response from her self, Les (Another member and Co Owner of the Group) Draciron Smith who you all met last week, and my self (Joe) of course.

**THIS WAS WRITEN BEFORE GIAMBI WENT ON THE DL**

So we are now in 4th place in the AL East. The Red Sox have the best record in the league. There are still more than 100 games to go. If you were Steiny what would you do?

If you get rid of Cashman who would you get to take his place?

RAVEN: I have no idea who you would get but if you are talking about getting rid of Cashman I would suggest someone with a lot of fire. And who understand that you have to build a team for the future as well as continue to win in the present.

Les: Not sure who I would get t replace him, but there is always GeneMichael.

Draciron Smith: Keep Cashman. He's the only one who's TRYING to solve the problems. He'd done a good job to stock up on pitching. Now we need to stock up on position players.

Joe: Keep Cashman for two reasons. He WANTS to rebuild the Farm system. No mater how this season pans out We DESPRITLY need to start growing our own talent again. Secondly even if we do fire Cashmen the impact on the team is zero unless major trades are made THAT impact is likely a bad one because the opposite of Cashmen is to trade away the young Talent we have and bring in more AGING talent.

Fire Torre? You are the BOSS do you get rid of him now and let Donny move on over or if Torre goes the whole coaching staff goes? Who do you get for manager?

RAVEN: Well, Sweet Lou is off the market. So I would get Giradi. We need someone young. If Torre goes so does most of that staff. Just for not having the balls to stand up to Torre and tell him to wake the hell up!!

LES: I would not give it to Donnie, that would not be a change, How aboutGirardi?

Draciron Smith: Make Captain Hook walk the plank and make sure there are lots of sharks below when we do it. I've lost all respect for Torre this year. Even with all the injuries and problems if Torre was not so badly mismanaging the team we'd only be a couple games out. We cannot win with Torre and the team we have. Simple as that. Things will turn around yes but without young pitching we are going nowhere and Torre cannot manage young pitching. Long term Torre is an obstacle to continued Yankee success. Put Mattingly in and watch things turn around in a hurry.

Joe: Torre I believe is Defiantly not the answer for the Yankees this year. He seems to have lost his passion to win, and simply is not good for our young Pitchers. I LOVE Donnie Baseball but I don’t think he is ready to Manager the Yankees he needs more time. I would get Mazz, Girardi, or somebody completely out of the equation Paul O-Neal maybe. Somebody with a FIRE to win and that will kick these guys in the ass to do it.

Abreu-Do we keep Bobby? He has been hurting hitting wise and perhaps we need to dump him and see what we can get.

RAVEN: I like Bobby so I give him a second chance. UNLESS I can shop him around for decent arms or younger more productive legs.

LES: Depends on what we can get for him, he could still be good, just has to break out of his slump.

Draciron Smith: Keep Abrue because he'll have a decent 2nd half and he'll be better than anybody we get.

Joe: I'm Split on Bobby, his slump has been frustrating and his defense in RF has not been all that at times. He would be a valuable trade chip on the market, But if he starts hitting and getting on base he is HUAGE for this Yankee lineup.

Damon-Injuries, not hitting well. Seems like the Red Sox knew what they were doing when they didn't re-new that contract.

RAVEN: If nothing else you keep Damon around in hopes that the DH position becomes available soon.

LES: I think Damon should go, I like him but his constant injuries are hurting us.

Draciron Smith: Damon did a great job for us last year and started off well this year. He's battling injuries and AGAIN if Gio wasn't clogging up the DH he could be resting those legs but still providing a productive bat.

Joe: I Like Damon and he was great for us last year, his injured Cafs are not helping us at the plate thou. Damon is the catalyst to this offense thou and is a big reason DJ had such a good year last year. I keep Damon but he becomes the regular DH until he is 100%

Cano-The kid's heart doesn't appear to be in it. Do we wait for him to develop and mature as a hitter or see what we can get for him (especially in terms of pitching)?

RAVEN: Cano is young and has a lot of talent. You keep him unless you can get great pitching in a trade for him.

LES: He may have to be sent down for a while to get his act together, but he may be able to hack it by staying.

Draciron Smith: Cano just needs some hitting instruction and a little confidence from his coach. He's in the middle of chaos and turmoil and I think it's affecting him. The down attitude of the team is hurting everybody. The tension in the air and Torre's panic has spread to the troops. Fire Torre and put Mattingly in and watch Cano turn it around big time.

Joe: Why is it the past 3 years we are so eager to trade Cano?? No way on a cold day in HELL (Boston??) do I ever consider trading Cano. He is a slow starter and his bat will get hot sooner then latter. There are better options to trade then Cano much OLDER ones at that.

Cabera-once was the golden boy now ineffective. Dump him?

RAVEN: Mellky days are numbered. He goes in the next trade.

LES: He needs to be dumped or at least sent down, he just isn't hacking it this year.

Draciron Smith: KEEP KEEP KEEP Melky. The kid is a real prospect. Give him playing time and his bat will and has responded. Torre's inability to develop youngsters has hurt Melky's development.

Joe: Why are we always so eager to trade away our young talent?? At the end of the year Abrue is probably gone and Damon’s injuries this year PRVOVE we need another outfielder on this club. Melky is not getting consistent playing time mostly because Giambi clogs up the DH and there is no room. Give Melky an every day position to play and watch him SHINE once again.

Matsui-Safe? We will have to give up a big name to get good pitching. Can we afford to lose his bat?

RAVEN: Can't beat his bat. He stays.

LES: He should be safe.

Draciron Smith: Zilla is just slumping. Again the situation is affecting him. Change manager and the change in attitude will infuse Zilla who again should be DHing at least 20 games over the next 100 to keep him fresh. Again Zilla played through an injury that could have been minor but because the lack of DH time turned into a trip to the DL.

Joe: No Way I trade Matsui. He is traditionally a slow starter as well his bat will and has started to heat up

Jeter-The face of the Yankees. Is HE safe and do we put a "Help Wanted Sign" out for a new Captain.

RAVEN: Jeter is the face of the franchise to the fans. He stays because he is talented and a joy to have in the uniform. He is a legend. HOWEVER, he hears my mouth regarding his lack of leadership and his favoritism among the players. He needs to check that ego at times. He's a superstar and even he gets side tracked.

LES: As a player he is great, as a captain, no way.

Draciron Smith: You cannot strip Jeter of the title of team captain. He has not been a good team captain however. He has been a great player so we want to keep him a Yankee for his whole career.

Joe: I don’t get the flack on DJ for not telling the fans not to boo A-rod last year. He was right you can’t tell them what to do and it would have only made the problem worse. DJ did the right thing and in my opinion is a good captain. He handles the young players vary well talks to his teammates and dose what he can to rally the troops. He is a quite leader so many MAY perceive this as a weakness, truth is thou in NY being quite amongst the chaos is the best kind of leadership this team can have.

Jorge-Hot with the bat and the ONLY true catcher we have. Safe? Do we renew contract?

RAVEN: Goergie stays. He retires a Yankees, and we look for his future replacement so that he can mold them.

LES: Give him a new contract now!!

Draciron Smith: Posada will cool down considerably after the break. Posada has always been a first half player because of the position he plays. If DH were open we could DH Posada quite a bit thus both having his bat in the lineup and keeping it hot plus having his great defense in the game when we need it most. It's not just his bat that suffers from playing too many games at catcher. his defense wears down also. Posada should NOT be catching more than 80 games a year at his age. Again Torre cannot be bothered to look at stats and consider anything else than over using Posada to the point that come early August Posada is lucky to find his catchers mitt and usually hits under .200 until late August early Sept.

Joe: Posada has been and STILL IS a major factor on this team. Behind the plate he has handled this pitching staff better then ANYBUDY in the league could have. At the Plate his bat right now can’t be beat. He is however no spring chicken and we need to find a young replacement and soon. More If the Rockies are willing to trade Helton I want Chris Iannetta as well. He is only hitting .188 with the Rockies this year but has HUAGE potential and the Rockies just may give up on him.

A-Rod: The way things are going Alex may decide for himself at the end of the season to leave. But since he has stated that he wants to remain a Yankee, do we want to keep him or see what we can get for him? Again to get great pitching we will have to give up a big name. If he opts out do we even try to persuade him to stay? That may cost us. Is the AROD experiment over?

RAVEN: Alex stays, if he wants to. He is a legend in his own right. He is good for the franchise as well.Good or bad he will always keep people talking about the Yankees. I however, look for a manager who can effectively coach Alex. Not someone who will hold his hand, but someone who appreciates his work ethic, his pride and his need to be the best. He needs someone who is neutral in the clubhouse and someone he feels he can trust. Someone who won't talk shit behind his back to reporters
LES: I would keep him, but it is his decision at this point.

Draciron Smith: A-Rod should have been dealt with in the off season. Too late to worry about it now. Still it'd be nice to know if we should trade him or keep him. The offense needs him but if he goes FA and signs with Boston that is a major problem we don't want. A-Rod should have long ago been made part of the team but he remains an outsider and that I lay at Jeter's and Torre's doorstep. If A-Rod were an insider then nobody would be wondering if he was staying or going.

Joe: If I'm the Boss I give Cash marching orders to sign A-Rod to an extension and get rid of the opt out clause!! If Alex wants to stay then this should be easily done. If it can’t then at this point we need to get what we can from him because we NEED his bat right now. Trading him juts don’t’ make any sense right now unless we are ready to concede defeat to the Sucks (NEVER!!)

Pitching--Are Mussina, Wang, Pettite, Proctor and Rivera safe? Does everyone else go?

RAVEN:

Mussina - He goes in the next blockbuster trade for younger arms. Its been a good ride but if we can get some pen help and/or a starter he is out.

Wang - Keep.

Pettitte - Safe

Proctor - Keep.

Rivera - We keep legends. Just look for a possible replacement.Everyone else is OUT

LES:
Mussina - Not sure about him, getting close to the end, I think. He is also way too fragile. Can't start a game 3 minutes late or he can't handle it.

Wang - Keep, not an issue.

Pettitte - He has been great, but needs middle/late relief to get wins.

Proctor - Keep him, but we need to use him less.

Rivera - Think he just needs the team to get to him more regularly.

Clemens - Hopefully he will help, don't think he will be the same pitcher he has been in the past though

Draciron Smith:
Moose - Goes at the end of the year or even this year if we can trade him.
Wang - Safe,
Pettite - Far from safe and to be honest we had and have better options. Pettite is a clutch pitcher. Soon as the rest of the rotation cools down he'll fall apart. He's turned it up a notch because the team needs him. He cannot pitch like this all year. We cannot rely on him pitching like this all year.
Mo - Unfortunately isn't safe. He's unhappy and the team is unhappy and Mo might just retire or sign with another team to express that. We have no replacement for Mo. Not as a closer and definitely not his clubhouse presence. Posada and Mo should have been signed if for nothing else than past services rendered. They are also irreplaceable members of the team.
Proctor - I was decried when I suggested we trade Proctor since he'd probably had his career year last year and would have had good trade value coming off that career year. Proctor isn't the problem though. Torre's overworking the bullpen is. Proctor is just one of many good relievers Torre has turned into mush with his over use and lack of confidence.
Clemens - Tell him never mind we don't need you after all. He is a burden on our bullpen if he pitches for the Yankees and doesn't have his head where it needs to be.

The rotation : in my opinion next year should be Wang and the best of this group. Clippard, Hughes, Rasner, Karstens, Olendorf, C Wright and DeSalvo. These are really talented youngsters and at least 3 or 4 of them are going to be better than anybody else we can get. At least one will win 20 games for somebody in the next year or two and I suspect half of them will win 20 at least once in their careers. We have more talent coming up the pipeline beyond these guys. Going outside for pitching right now is stupid.

Joe:
Mussina – I Trade Moose to the first NL team that will take him. In the NL he will have some value even with his 87MPH fastball, and we might actually get something we need in return, like better relievers
Wang – No way No How Wang is a keeper

Pettitte – Andy has been our staff ace up to this point. Truth is he should be 6-2 with that Era maybe 7-0 he just doesn’t get the run support he needs.

Clemens – I have no Idea what to expect form Clemens. He to his credit is an amazing pitcher even at his age, BUT in the AL EAST I just don’t’ know how much help he is really going to be. See Moose for the reason for my concern
DeSalvo: Keep him convert him to a long reliever this team DESPRITLY needs one
Clippard/Hughes – These two guys are the future of the Yankees Pitching. NO WAY IN HELL do we trade them for ANYTHING
Proctor – Scot is a reliable Reliever, but struggles form over use. Give him the setup roll to share with Bruny and we have an excellent 1-2 punch in the 7th and 8th innings to get to Mo
Bruney: See above only not as over used (YET!!)
Farnsworth- Trade him he has value and we might just get something we need in return like a better first basemen, or a young catcher
Meyers: Trade him or release him out right. Meyers is to dam old this team needs pitchers that can pitch to more then just one batter.
Villone: Better then Meyers, YOUNGER then Meyers (Not buy much) and can give us innings when we need them. Keep him for now
Hen: After letting Meyers go PROMOTE HIM and give him a chance he can help DeSalvo as the long man when needed.
Vizcaino- Trade him, release him or shove him in a Rocket and shoot him to the Sun I don’t’ care just GET HIM OFF THIS TEAM!! Honestly he should have SOME trade value because of his past performances NOT as a Yankee.
Mo Rivera – Mo is fine and Should have been given a contract over the winter. He is a YANKEE LEGEND and should never play for any other team. Also all Mo really needs is some consistency as in give him some more work insted of siting him for 5 days

Ok guys that it WHAT DO YU THINK?!?! Leave your comments and let us know what you would do if you where the Boss

Till Next Week

The Yankee Fan

The Starting Pitching Crisis

Hello all you crazy Yankee Fans. Well I could not have been more wrong this week. Ughhh The bats finaly did wake up thou a bit to late as we droped 2 of 3 to the Mets. The Good News is we are hiting again so lets hope that the trend continues.

Things are a bit crazy for me this week so Im giving you all a guest bloger. He is a member of The Yankees Club over on yahoo a groups that i am proud to be a part owner of. His internet handel is draciron and he is one of the smartest baseball people i have yet to meet. So with out furth to do i give you draciron.

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There was a time nearly every team had a star pitcher. A team ace. It was the #2 through #5 spots that troubled some teams. Most teams had at least the 2-4 spot covered by somebody who would at least eat innings for them and not hurt the team too badly on most days. They also usually had a long relief guy, normally a starter who couldn't make it all the way through the season in the rotation any more but who could step in for short term injuries and come in if the starter got blasted early.

In 80s a pitching crisis started. Teams started finding it harder and harder to fill rotation spots. Few teams had 5 starters they could count on and many teams had not a single starter they felt confident in. By the 90s this had reached a crisis stage. There was talk of raising the mound again and widening the strike zone. None of this was done as the offensive surge that corresponded with the loss in pitching was considered good for the game. For a time in the late 90s and early 00s pitching surged back. Several developing starters found their stuff. A wave of new young starters appeared and some balance returned to the game. By 2004 most teams were in about the same shape pitching wise as they were in the 80s.

A wave of retirements threatens to return Baseball back to the starting pitching crisis. Injuries have taken many of the young starters who shined in the late 90s and early 00s. Aging starters like Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling and Roger Clemens are close to retirement with no new crop of ancients to replace them. The generation that came after them has already fallen or is on the precipice and as close as they are too retirement. Of the following starters only one or two will ever have a full effective season after 08. Unlikely any will still be full time starters in 2009.

Glavine, Maddux, Pedro Martinez, Olando Hernandez, David Wells, Roger Clemens, Carl Pavano, Chris Carpenter, Steve Traschel, Jaret Wright, Schilling, Tim Wakefield, Matt Clement, Mussina, Pettitte, Paul Byrd, Kenny Rogers, Ramon Ortiz, Ponsen, Jose Contraras, Miguel Batista, Jeff Weaver, Mike Hampton, Park, Jon Lieber, Mark Prior, Kerry Woods, Woody Williams, Wade Miller, livan Hernandez, Jason Schmidt, Bret Tomko and Russ Ortiz.

The mass retirement from the names above combined with normal attrition among starting pitchers who are easily the most likely to get hurt among baseball players leaves a wide open door to new young pitchers. The only problem is there are so few to go around and so many are going to be pressed into service at early ages as an emergency measure. Over the next 2 to 3 years many more well known pitchers besides those listed above will wind up no longer being a significant part of a rotation. Pitchers will burn out as Jarrod Weaver appears to be at high risk of doing so and as Llarano appears to have done. Verlander has all the hallmarks of the Prior/Woods here I am too bad it didn't last syndrome. Far too few teams are developing more sustainable pitching. The Tigers have done an excellent job in developing Bonderman and Robertson. Few teams would have stuck with either given their early struggles. The O's have Bedard, Cabrera and Loewen. The Jays who provided many of todays starters is not having much luck with Chacin or Zambrano both of whom are starting to look like could have beens at this point. Lester with the Redsox is a big question mark at this point. The Yankees have a whole slew of potential starting pitchers but for some reason refuse to give them a chance to pitch. The Royals have Grienke, Bannister and De la Rosa but Grienke is the only one of that group that has top of the rotation potential so far. Bonser is making some noise with the Twins. Danks with the Whitesox, Ervin Santana with the Angels are two more with promise. The A's as usual have a whole crop. Harden, Haren, Blanton and Guadin are this years batch. If the A's keep producing starters at this rate there won't be many teams in the majors that doesn't have an ex A stater in their rotation.

The Rangers surprisingly have a few. McCarthy, Tejeda and Loe. Chuck James and Kyle Davies is all the normally pitching rich Braves have coming up. Neither are looking strong at this point. D-Train Willis is showing signs of early burn out. Declining stats and a deep slump starting in 06 are not good signs of longevity for him. Sanchez and Olsen show some promise. Maine with the Mets has the re-incarnation of Seaver written all over him. Hamels in Philly is kicking up the dust. The Astros are betting the farm on Rodriguez, Sampson and Albers. The Cards have Wainwright, Rich Hill with the Cubs. The Pirates have gone with all prospects. Duke, Snell lead the way. Maholm and Gorzelanny finish out the rotation. Cain with the Giants is having a break out year. Lowery is showing good promise. The Padres have Peavy. Francis and Hirsh are this years Rockies sacrifice to the gods of slugging.

That's about it for pitchers under 27 who've established themselves. Out of that group at least half over the next few years will flop, get hurt or otherwise wind up out of the rotation. Considering the current star pitchers such as Webb, Oswalt, Santana, Halladay and such are in their prime or the tail end of their prime and that many will see noticeable declines over the next few years it leaves a sizable void again in rotations. A little bad luck and this could be even worse than the early 90s starting pitching crisis. Especially with the majority of most teams rotations hitting the red zone for starting pitchers. That is the 30-34 age range that sees most pitchers blow out their arms, a drop in velocity that normally accompanies an inability to get hitters out any more.

This means that an ERA over 5 will again be considered acceptable and even considered good for bottom of the rotation starters. Starters will start making debuts at younger ages. The value of starting pitching will go up noticeably. Teams that have deep rotations will be rare and will dominate the leagues they play in.

Why for over a hundred years was there plenty of starting pitchers and suddenly a shortage? In the 60s and 70s it was hitting that was in trouble rather than pitching. Rules changes helped spark offense. So too did many parks bringing in the fences. The DH was introduced to increase offense in the AL and strike zones were narrowed for the same reason. It worked, better than they'd hoped. Though the rule changes were only a minor part of the offensive surge. Many people attribute it to just plain better hitting. There are many more factors involved however.

Defense is a major part of why offensive numbers have surged. The core of this is the decline in official scorers. What was an error in the 70s is a basehit in the 90s. Today to get an error you almost have to intentionally drop the ball. Before the 80s if the ball touched glove and it did not take heroic efforts to get a glove on the ball it was ruled an error. If a player missed a play because they got turned around or started the wrong way then got close it was ruled an error. Today players mishandle what are almost routine plays and see it scored as a hit instead of an error. This is the result of how games are scored. Once incentive based contracts started hitting the market players started making quite a bit of noise about errors as it directly affected their pocketbook. Before the incentive based contracts they did not care as much. In an effort to jump start offense scorers are also more lenient, especially with home town players. The big problem is that these are sports writers with no real training. They live and die by interviews and scoring an error can cost them the ability to get an interview. Can lead to their not scoring future games.

The net effect is that players today look like better defensive players than they really are. Fielding percentages are much higher. As such players who can hit well but have poor defensive skills don't look as bad and are used more often. This leads to a major drop in defense which hurts pitching. Especially non strike out pitchers. In the past what was important for middle infielders, catchers and center fielders was their glove. If they could also hit that was a plus. Today many middle infielders are defensive liabilities but they do hit well. A double whammy on pitchers who neither get the break in the lineup they once got by facing weak hitting middle infielders and by having that much poorer defense backing them up.

Promotion by the radar gun is another factor that is badly damaging starting pitching today. Until the 80s teams generally had 2 to 4 junk ball pitchers on the roster. Today most teams have zero. Maddux and Wakefield are two of the few surviving junkball pitchers left. Wakefield is the last knuckleball pitcher left in Baseball. This affects pitching in several ways. First if you see a steady diet of low and mid 90s fastballs it makes them seem slow. It also makes hitting high 90s fastballs all the easier. In the past you saw wicked junk from pitchers that often rarely topped out in the mid 80s. Then the next day you see a fastball in the 90s and it seemed really fast. That kind of balance is no longer in the game. A second aspect is that control more than speed is important to a pitcher but seems to be a forgotten element when scouting today. So many good control pitchers are ignored while guys who could not hit a battleship with a continent are promoted in their place just because they throw fast. If Maddux for example came up today he'd never get to AAA much less the majors. Maddux's fastball is too slow. A third aspect is junk ball pitchers are more durable. Especially knuckleballers. Having a couple junk ball pitchers in the rotation gives you long term starters. Guys far less likely to get hurt and pitchers far more likely to pitch into their mid 30s. So rotations are more brittle. More heavily harmed by injuries today than in the past and there is more flux in the rotation. This is aggravated by the fact that a pitcher that cannot throw strikes cannot succeed in the majors. Doesn't matter how fast they can throw the ball. Walks are eventually lethal to any pitcher that keeps giving them up in large numbers. So many of the prospects brought up at the expense of better but slower throwing pitchers are flops while the better prospects rot in the lower levels of the minors.

Not only were fences pulled in, new parks built since 1980 are often built with smaller fences and hitter friendly design. This has made the job tougher and tougher on starting pitchers

Steroids and other performance enhancing substances have been a major bane to pitchers in general. The extra strength doesn't just generate extra power. It produces stronger muscles which improves reaction time which is not just a factor of nerves but in the ability to get that bat around on a pitch, which is much a matter of strength and the size of the bat relative to that strength. It is also a factor of eyesight. The sooner the pitch is picked up on the the sooner the swing can start.

This crisis can be averted however. To fix the pitching problems these things should happen.

Add one to the umpiring crew. Make that umpire the official scorer. By giving a more realistic fielding percentage teams have better tools to evaluate defense and you'll never hear good glove mentioned in the same breath with the likes of Royce Clayton again. In a couple years teams will shore up defense up the middle and the resulting improvements in defense will benefit pitchers by giving them some easier outs in the inning and by reducing the numbers of cheap base hits by the opposing team.

Bring back junk ball pitchers. Every staff should have at least one. Most staffs should carry a good knuckballer. You can throw a knuckle ball pitcher out there for 300-400 innings and they will ask for more. That takes a huge strain off the rest of the staff. Junk ball pitchers with the added durability will stabilize rotations and make the other pitchers in the rotation seem better.

Pull back the fences. There are too many HRs. They have become boring. Fans don't want to watch a softball game. Guys with real power are still going to hit the ball out. We don't need light hitting infielders hitting 20 HRs a season.

Get serious about steroids and Human growth formula. Clean up the game while there is still a game to clean up.

Use computer assisted ball and strike counts. This will standardize the strike zone, enlarge it and give the umps one less thing to worry about. Leave the umps room to overrule the computer and a special set of glasses to review the pitch. This will provide higher quality strike zones and allow junk ballers to better nibble the corners and get creative with pitches. It'll also reduce the odd stances used by players to manipulate the strike zone.

Promote pitchers on control not velocity. Just by having a guy in there throwing strikes the game goes faster and scoring is reduced. Faster games mean less wear and tear on the staff and fewer relievers needed.

Force pitchers to have at least 3 out pitches in their arsenal. The quickest way to watch a pitcher go from great to quite hittable is to know what they are coming with and be ready for it. If they have at least 3 pitches they can effectively use and one or two others they can set a hitter up with then they become quite effective.

Teach young pitchers to change speeds. Cone and Whitey Ford were masters at this. Neither of them if they didn't change speed makes it out of AAA. By changing velocity it keeps hitters off balance and leaves the top fastball effective when they really need a KO to get out of a jam. Few pitchers today even know what changing speed is much less use it.

If Baseball does this it averts a crisis in pitching.

Slow Start To Season

You know Yankee fans this season has just not started off all that well now has it?? Nope the first few weeks of the season we could not get a starter to throw more then 5 inning whether they wanted them to or Captain Hook Torre himself would allow them to or not. Regardless off that now the starting pitching is starting to perform, in the last 13games they have given up 3 runs or LESS, and believe it or not the Yankees are starting to put things together. I know I know after the loss today 1-2 to the M's that's kind of hard to believe but things are looking up for the Yankees. The starting pitching has done a very good job, truth is Wang's one bad outing and Iggy's ugly start are the only two poor starts from a Yankee pitcher this month. The rest of the month has been strong start after strong start. The BP has actually settled down even thou Vizcaino seems to be inventing new ways to blow ball games for us it seems the rest of the guys are settling in. Time will tell over the next few weeks but I honestly see the Yankees getting ready to go on a major tear to be honest. Here are some Key reasons why I think so and a few Key things that need to happen along the way.

BASE HITS WIN GAMES (Hell I'll settle for some hitting PERIOD) Truth be told the month of May has been pretty hard on most of the Yankee bats. A-Rod after a scorching start to the 2007 season has cooled of BIG TIME with only 1 HR and a .286 BA for the month. Giambi is not hitting any better .188 BA with 1 HR himself. Matsui is hitting .304 for the Month but in his last 10 games only .264, Robbie Cano has struggled the worst with his hitting .186 with 11 K's and then there's Bobby Abreu who looked just lost at the plate the last few days is hitting .222 in May. If the Yankees are going to take advantage of the great pitching their getting right now they have got to start hitting again. It's one thing when a few guys start slumping but right now only Jeter and Posada seem to be getting hits consistently or can be counted on to drive in runs. In the end thou we all know this won't last. A-Rod despite slumping is still hitting well above .300 and was bound to cool off from his amazing April. Giambi well he can be counted on to hit below his own weight average wise but he is likely going to pop a few HR's here and there as well, and he does get on base via the walk so he should improve as well. Matsui is slumping just a bit now but he had a good game today he will likely turn things around as well. That brings us to Bobby and Robbie both seem to be slow starters Robbie last year did not have a good first few months at the plate and Abrue always seem to be a late bloomer as well. Although Robbie seems like he may take a few more weeks to come out of it. Abrue on the other hand is hitting second or third in this lineup and is bound to break out at any time. What’s also important here is that the bats are slumping NOW much like the struggles with the Pitching and the Injuries I'd prefer a team wide slump NOW in May then in August and September. Remember its base ball folks it's a Marathon not a sprint.

The Pitching has to continue to do what it has done; Andy today threw a great game and got the bums rap loss because the offense let him down. Moose has had two very good outings Wang nearly threw a perfect game and YEA he had an ugly start the other day. I'm betting that his next time out he is one tough SOB to hit much less score on. I have a lot of confidence that over the next two months Moose, Andy and Wang are going to be VERY VERY GOOD for the Yankees. So the key falls on 2 guys and how well they pitch. First Rasner who has been nothing short of fantastic for the Yankees. You can't blame him for the average of 5 innings a start. Truth is Captain Hook Torre is terrified of him on the mound and will not give this kid a real chance. They constantly pull him in the 6 Th when he could very well work out of trouble. How good has Rasner been?? Take a look over 5 starts, Rasner has a 3.28 ERA which is DAM GOOD if you ask me. DeSalvo has been BRILLIANT for us in two outings and he should honestly be 2-0 right now. Truth is Wild Kyle, a Blind Ump and Mo cost him that game (Hell that sound like the start of a really bad joke don't' it??). If DeSalvo can keep pitching like this over the next few weeks the Yankees are going to be in VERY good Shape.

Next is what will happen when Hughes and then the Rocket join the ball club. Right now as things stand Rasner and DeSalvo are taking Roster spots that will belong to both Clemens and Hughes by the end of the month. Truth is thou the Yankees desperately need a long relief man to come in and eat innings when guys can't get out of the 5 Th and 6th innings. Truth is games like that happen and with a Bull Pen full of short relievers the pen is going to get over worked when this happens. Moose and Clemens are likely to have quite a few games where they simply run out of gas and we need a reliever to come in and give us a few innings to get to the 8 th or 9th. If I’m the Yankees right now DeSalvo and Rasner are auditioning for that very roll. So who gets the quick trip to the minors or out the door?? Vizcaino has not been all that good. Wild Kyle I honestly have no faith in, after that I'm not sure. What it comes down to thou is we need somebody that can eat these innings for us. Clemens who I have a TON of respect for I just don't see pitching all that great in the AL. Don't' get me wrong folks the Rocket still has gas in the tank but there is a reason he did so well in the NL. There is no DH and if you watched his starts he generally pitched 5 maybe 6 innings before being pulled from the game. What that translates to in the Al is a very overworked BP with out a long man. Hughes?? I love this kid and he looks like he is going to be amazing for the Yankees but he has been on a very strict pitch count from day one and although the injury helps control that some the Yankees are still going to be vary careful with him and how many innings they let him throw. With that in mind I can see quite a few games where Hughes will be pulled after the 6 Th which means we need a long reliever. Regardless of this Clemens to his credit will be a help to the Yankees he may not be as good as advertised but I'm willing to bet he will be good enough to win and should be better then Randy Johnson was last year with his 5 something ERA and 18 wins. Hughes is hard to call; I know he is going to be VERY good just how good is hard to say. Time will tell.

Ok folks so hear is what I'm thinking the next week or so is going to go for us. Starting this week we get the White Sox for Three Games in Chicago, The Yankees with Moose on the mound will take game one and Wang will pitch a gem on Weds day to take game two. Rasner will pitch well on Thursday but the Yankees will likely fall short and loose on Thursday. Then the BIG weekend series in NY against the Mets. We have DeSalvo, Pettitte and Moose going for us REMBER NL RULES so I'm seeing a three game SWEEP of the Mets as DeSalvo shows us he is the real deal, Andy and Moose tie up the Mets hitters and the Yankees FEAST on Mets pitching. This series will be HUGE because I see a lot of the bats coming alive in this series and starting to hit again which is important because we invite the Sucks into Yankee stadium that Monday Tuesday and Weds and by the way the Yankees will be on such a roll I'm calling for yet another three game sweep. So from now till Next Weds the Yankees if you ask me are only going to loose one game the bats are going to wake up and the Yankees are going to be on a roll. Call me Crazy if you want but this is how I see things. It will be interesting to see if I'm right. Hey I'm man enough to say I was wrong but I don't have to be all that wrong to still be right about the Yankees getting on a roll. So what do you guys think how will the next week pan out for the Yankees??

Till Next Week

The Yankee Fan

Youth or Free Agents??

So I have to apologize for being MIA the last few weeks. Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Insanity is to blame or in a nut shell real life got the better of me. Yea, Yea I know I post this thing once a week how hard can that be. Well considering that I can only post a blog once a week that should tell you how busy I am on a normal week, so when things get busy or crazy it’s just dam near impossible. The good news is that I have made some arrangements to avoid not being able to post a blog and over the summer when this happens to me again I should be able to introduce you my readers to some very dedicated and very talented Yankee fans who will be guest blogging for me. This week thou I’m quite ready to write so your stuck with me for now.

**UPDATED** Mind you I have been working on this Blog the last few days. As many of you know Roger "The Rocket" Clemens was signed buy the Yankees and at todays game Roger adressed the yankee fathful ala King Henery Style. Althou I'm not a big fan of the Yankees signing Clemens this is proably a good move buy the Yankees. Considering the injurys we keep facing and that Clemens in the rotation will help take some presuer off the rookies like Iggy, Rasner and others. The way i see it buy Mid June or sooner the Yankee rotation will be Wang, Pettitte, Musena, Clemens, and Hughs when he can come back Iggy till then. Honestly i think Clemens is going to struggle in the AL East and his efectivness will not be what it was in the NL the past two years. I could how ever be vary wrong. Eather way this is a bost for the Yankees rotation and good news for now. Welcome back Rocket and I REALY hope you can help.

In the last two weeks I have noticed that there is an interesting debate over the direction the Yankees have taken, this being the Youth movement or Free Agent signings of Veteran players. Now in a perfect world a team should be able to do both but unfortunately these days Free Agent pitchers are expecting long term deals and fat paychecks. Many Yankee fans have shown frustration over not signing Bary Zito a guy I my self was hoping would be a Yankee this year but frankly I’m glad the Yankees passed on him. Ted Lilly, Jef Supan, Gill Mech, and Jason Schmidt are also among others that fans are currently lamenting over because Cashmen passed them up. Others like my self applaud Cashmen’s effort in this winters Free Agent market, and see that he has given the Yankees an improved Farm system and has provided the talent for this team to win this year and many years to come. So the Debate is simple Youth or Veterans who are more valuable??

For Years the Yankees have been a Free Agent, and blockbuster trade type of team. They have traded young talent for current and established ball players, these players after these trades have been sigend to large contract extentions. In the Free Agent market they have never broken any single player records in terms of Pay but have signed many long term deals some as short as 4 years and some as long as 7 years. For the most part these deals have worked out for the Yankees Mike Musena has been a very good and serviceable pitcher for the Yankees. He has however had his ups and downs thou as he has gotten older, he has lead some to wonder if signing him to a 5 year deal was the right thing to do. Jason Giambi not one of my favorite players was signed to a 7 year deal and although his bat has been some what effective at times, his injury prone body and his inability to actually play first base has become a serious problem. Carol Pavano was the best pitcher on the Free Agent market at the time we signed him to a 5 year 20 million something contract. In his time as a Yankee he has racked up 5 wins and spent most of the time finding new and inventive ways to be injured. It’s likely he is going to be out for the rest of the season and if the Yankees are smart they will cut their losses by cutting Pavano loose at some point in the season. The Yankees acquired A-rod in exchanged for our up and coming second baseman Alfanso Soriano. Due to Soris inability to settle in at second and his inability to not swing at everything thrown to him is what helped spank the deal. A-Rod for his part has served the Yankees well even with the so called off year last year and he has started this season red hot at the plate. With A-rod came, his long term deal and in terms of money 14 to 16 million, in terms of years (so long as Alex does not Opt out this year which I don’t believe he will do) the Yankees have him for at least three more seasons. This is a deal that has worked out well for the Yankees despite A-Rods rumbles last season. He can field at third base, and his bat is invaluable in the lineup. Also at his age he is likely not to slow down production wise over the next three years. Other then the A-Rod deal most of these deals present problems for the Yankees. With Moose as much as I like him on the mound his last few seasons have been riddled with injuries and inconsistencies at times. If the Yankees wanted to move Moose to make room for a young pitcher they couldn’t do it because of Moo’s contract terms of length. The same can be said about Giambi, when you weigh the injury factor along with his inability to play the field well, then throw in the amount of money and time left on his contract moving Giambi in a trade becomes next to impossible. Randy Johnson whom the Yankees acquired from the D-backs just two seasons ago was traded back for a handful of young prospects. Part of the reason this deal got done was because Johnson’s contract only had one year left on it and the D-backs were willing to work out some sort of extension that only added a second year to that. Money wise Johnson was making less then what some of these guys on the Free Agent market were signing for. He was a short term investment for the D-backs and to them a smart move. Because of how his contract was structured in terms of length which is why Cashmen was able to move him.

Now before I move on lets take a look at where the Yankee’s farm system is in terms of talent. Over the last three seasons we have seen Robinson Canoe, Chen Ming Wang, Melky Cabrea, Scot Proctor, Sean Hen, Darel Rasner, Jeff Karastan, and finally Philip Hughs come up form the minors and have a real impact on this team. Obviously Melky, Cano, Proctor, and Wang have made major impacts to this team and Rasner, Karastan, Hen, and Hughs are just starting to make there presence known. What I don’t get is that many of the "experts" have called the Yankee farm system baron and used up. How is this so if we have managed to bring up players that have made major impacts on the team?? Truth is the Yankees farm system is weak but it’s not with out resources either. Wang, Melky and Cano were all strong prospects coming into the majors and its not surprising they have produced so well. Last season Karastan and Rasner were brought up to fill rotation spots for the Yankees and performed quite well in their short time on the team. The problem was there was no room at the time to see what they could really do for us. Why?? Well Johnson, Wright and Moose were all taking up spots on the roster. So when Cash goes into the off season he looks at all this young pitching we have just waiting for a chance to get on the mound in NY and he realizes he needs to make room for them. With the way the Free agent market is, how can you make room for those young pitchers?? If you sign Zito to seven years your Rotation is now crowded with Johnson and Wright. Plus you lock into Zito for 7 years which means he is not going anywhere any time soon. Ted Lily would have been the same only over 5 years. Cashmen traded Johnson and Wright retaining some very good prospects in return. He also moved Shef to gain another pitching prospect although in Sanchez case he may be the injury of the month sort of guy-Time will tell. So now we have Wang and Pavano in the rotation for this season and that’s about it. Considering what we know about Pavano it’s safe to say Cash knew he needed to grab another Vet or two to solidify this rotation. Some argue Zito was the guy to get. Maybe he was but remember if we sign him we are stuck with him for 7 years. I liked Zito personally but the last thing I wanted was to see the Yankees stuck with another Moose like contract where the pitcher is obviously aging and loosing his ability to be productive for a full season yet we are still paying him like he is. So the decision was made to sign Anddy Pettitte, at the age of 34 for 2 years. A much shorter term contract and talent wise on the same level as Zito. Then Cash resigned Moose, a move I’m still scratching my head over. Granted we only have Moose for a season possibly two if we pick up his option. My problem is Moose as good as he has been for us, he is still 38 and I think he is just not the guy he was when we first signed him. In the long run this may be a smart move considering Lilly, Mech, Supan and others were signing 4 year deals. With Moose we have him for this season only and have the option to keep him for a second or possibly do what we did with Shef and pick up the option, then trade him or simply let him go. What does this do for the Yankees?? Well remember we have Hughs who has recently proven he is ready for the majors, Karastan who despite his poor first start of the season is better then that, Rasner who has shown he can start for the Yankees when needed and be effective, Chris Wright who will be a very good young pitcher for the Yankees in a few years, Tyler Cliperd who is DOMINATING Triple A right now, and many other young prospects just waiting for there chance. Now granted having all this young pitching is great but they’re not all going to become great pitchers. Some we may trade for some help in the Catching department where we have nobody to take over for Posada when he eventually retires from the game, or perhaps a first basmen where the Yankees currently have NOBODY who can both hit and Field. What we have is one guy that hits home runs and barely hits his own weight over a season plus should probably be fielding first with a spatula. Then we have a guy that can field first base EXTEREMLY well but could not hit a ball if you put him on a little League T-Ball team. So having a lot of young pitching talent currently in the minors should allow the Yankees to grab somebody that can fill those two holes. But what about the guys that don’t’ get traded like Hughes, Olendorf and Kliperd?? Remember next year depending on how things fall Zambrano and Santana amoung others will be on the Free Agent market. Both are young and both would be good long term investments for the Yankees. Also the D-train will be available from the fish at some point and we all know it's going to happen. He would make an excellent pick up as well. CC Sabath will also be a Free agent. I personally would avoid him because his injury record is very much like Pavano the only diference is CC WANTS to be out there pitching. Now if the Yankees grab one of these guys to go with Wang next year, then throw Hughes in the Mix we have 3 strong pitchers. Now if Andy sticks around next season You have a starting rotation of Wang, Andy, (Free Agent Trade acquisition) Hughes, and there is still room for Rasner, Karastan, Klipered, Wright or another young rookie. The following season if Andy leaves the Yankees we have Wang Hughs and who ever we grabbed the season before again, three strong starters and YOUNG to boot. Kliperd is likely ready for the Majors so he comes up and we either sign trade or depending on some of the other young pitching simply stay where we are with what we have. The point here is letting the young crop of talent take the time to develop and more importantly give Cashmen room to make moves and changes that we never had the chance of making before. Because of the moves Cash made in the off season he should be able to make a deal to bring us a decent young catcher to take over for Posada in the next year or two. We should eventually get a decent playing first basemen that can both hit and field the ball. We could also make a trade for a starter if it comes down to that. We also should be able to bring up pitchers that can get the job done as starters with out having to sign guys that we are hoping will pitch well after basically stinking all season OR not have to trade away our budding young talent in the farm system for a guy that may pitch well now or may simply be mediocre at best. FELXIBLITY! The Yankees now have flexibility and it will play a key roll in their ability to win this season.

Do we trade away all this young talent and get our selves the big name big dollar players. Do we hold them up in the minors and con’t to sign big long term contracts?? Or are you like me and would rather see short term contracts signed and the young talent in the minors given a chance to help. The truth is with the amount of talent we have in Triple A finding a starter isn’t going to be to much of a problem. With the lineup the Yankees have scoring runs will not be a problem. Truth is we have the time and we have the offense to back up these young pitchers why not give them a chance and see what they can give us??

So I leave this question to you my readers what do we do?? Youth or Free agents? We can’t have both not in the world of baseball today with the long term big money contracts that are being signed. You can finagle it to some degree but the emphases, has to be one way or the other. What is the right direction for the Yankees Youth or Free Agents??

Till next week

The Yankee Fan

Injury Woes and a Tribute to Bernie

Well, it’s Sunday and You all know what that means. Yep time for me to let all of you crazy Yankee fans out there know what I think about our beloved Yankees. This weeks topic The disabled List or basically what is quickly become most of the Yankee roster. Let’s see now Matsui is on the DL with a Strained hammy, Wang is on the DL as well with the same injury. Karastan is on the DL because his arm was hurting thank god it was not his elbow and MRI’s scans came back clean. All three of them should be back on the Yankee roster before the end of the month Wang maybe as soon as next weekend, because good Ole Carl (I stubbed my Toe and it hurts so much) Pavano is hurt again as well (And just placed on the DL Today). Apparently his arm was feeling stiff and it extended up to his elbow. That can’t be a good sign. Moose also pulled a hammy but the Yankees seemed to think he would only miss one start, but then they placed him on the DL today as well so who frigen knows. The Good news in all of this my fellow Yankee fans (And YES there is some Good news) is that it’s only April. Injuries happen threw out the year, and usually they happen in bunches like the Yankee are going threw right now. The thing is right now the season just began, and once everybody is healthy by the end of April which is likely to happen (with the possible exception of Pavano) This team is going to be tough to beat. More importantly with the injuries mostly out of the way early the Yankees should not encounter too many late season injuries. Remember last year we went threw a rash of early injuries as well but finished the season strong unlike Boston who had their injuries late in the season and crashed and burned to third place in the division. So I say let them have their fast starts, let them be healthy NOW. The Yankees will work out their kinks, get healthy and then do what they do every year which is leading the AL East buy the end of September.

Now with all the injuries as of late especially when Damon was hurt the first week of the season then Matsui went down a lot of people have started to talk about bringing Bernie back into the Yankee fold. Personally I think the Ghosts of Yankee Stadium are trying to tell Cashmen something, and he needs to get on the phone and call Bernie PRONTO, before Abrue gets hit by a stray foul ball and a piano drops out of nowhere on Melky. Why bring Bernie back?? Well aside form being the best PR thing the Yankees could do, Bernie has always been a quite leader on this team and would be a HUGE clubhouse positive and a good influence on the young players coming up to help fill in for the walking wounded. On top of that Bernie proved last year that he still has it in his Bat. Last of all many a critic CLAIMS Bernie is not hall of Fame material and I for one beg to differ. Another season just might help him sway a few more stubborn voters into believing Bernie is worthy. A Few months ago I wrote a Blog about why I believe Bernie should be in the Hall Of Fame, so to finish this week and in Honor of one of my Favorite Yankees I have Reposted this blog for all to read.

Bernie Williams or BERN BABY BERN!!

Bernie Williams to me has been one of the greatest Yankees to ever grace the field of Yankee stadium. Mind you I said ONE of the greatest as I am well aware that many others have come before him. The thing about Bernie Williams is he was the first piece of puzzle in what would become the Yankee Dynasty of the late 90’s. Before Derek Jeter, Mo Rivera, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, and a few others there was Bernie Williams. In 1991 Bernie Williams made his MLB Début as a Yankee and has never looked back, and in that time has put up some impressive numbers along the way. Currently Bernie ranks in the top 10 of most Yankee offensive categories most notably, games played (5th), Hits (4th), Doubles (2nd), HR (6th), Runs Scored (5th), and RBI’s (6th). But it’s not his Career regular season numbers that stand out. In the postseason Bernie Williams has been a force even in his declining years, take a look for your self

SEASON	TEAM	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
1991	NYY	85	320	43	76	19	4	3	34	48	57	10	5	.238	.336	.350	.686
1992	NYY	62	261	39	73	14	2	5	26	29	36	7	6	.280	.354	.406	.760
1993	NYY	139	567	67	152	31	4	12	68	53	106	9	9	.268	.333	.400	.733
1994	NYY	108	408	80	118	29	1	12	57	61	54	16	9	.289	.384	.453	.837
1995	NYY	144	563	93	173	29	9	18	82	75	98	8	6	.307	.392	.487	.879
1996	NYY	143	551	108	168	26	7	29	102	82	72	17	4	.305	.391	.535	.926
1997	NYY	129	509	107	167	35	6	21	100	73	80	15	8	.328	.408	.544	.952
1998	NYY	128	499	101	169	30	5	26	97	74	81	15	9	.339	.422	.575	.997
1999	NYY	158	591	116	202	28	6	25	115	100	95	9	10	.342	.435	.536	.971
2000	NYY	141	537	108	165	37	6	30	121	71	84	13	5	.307	.391	.566	.957
2001	NYY	146	540	102	166	38	0	26	94	78	67	11	5	.307	.395	.522	.917
2002	NYY	154	612	102	204	37	2	19	102	83	97	8	4	.333	.415	.493	.908
2003	NYY	119	445	77	117	19	1	15	64	71	61	5	0	.263	.367	.411	.778
2004	NYY	148	561	105	147	29	1	22	70	85	96	1	5	.262	.360	.435	.795
2005	NYY	141	485	53	121	19	1	12	64	53	75	1	2	.249	.321	.367	.688
2006	NYY	112	368	54	104	26	0	11	55	30	47	2	0	.283	.333	.443	.776
Total	--	2057	7817	1355	2322	446	55	286	1251	1066	1206	147	87	.297	.381	.478	.859

My biggest argument with people when they tell me Bernie is not Hall of Fame Material is that he leads most MLB Players in post-season offensive stats. First in Games played with 125, First in runs scored with 83, Second only to Derek Jeter in hits with 128, First in total bases with 223, First in Doubles with 29, First in HR with 22, first in RBI’s with 80, First in walks with 72, second only to Derek Jeter in base hits with 77, first in Extra Base Hits with 51, and has been on base more times then any major league ball player in the post season with 202. If Bernie Williams was has been a great player over all in the post season he has been an EXCEPTIONAL player in the Postseason where it matters most.

When Bernie retires which is most likely this year, he will be remembered by many Yankee fans as a living legend of our times. The baseball writers thou will likely not be so kind, as they come up with excuse after excuse. He does not have 300 HR, his last few seasons have not been that great, and the one that aggravates me the most is that his numbers are good in the postseason ONLY because he plays for the Yankees. Their argument is that Bernie would not have played so many Postseason games if he were on another team. This argument will always piss me off because what they’re basically saying is because Bernie is a Yankee we are going to penalize him for being an exceptional postseason player. You think they would say the same thing about David Ortiz even thou he does not even RANK in any of these categories for the postseason?? The argument is a stupid one. Bernie Williams was one of the few things to cheer about during the lean years of the mid 90’s, and was a big part of the reason the Yankees even made the play offs, much less got to the World Series in 1996. It’s not like the man was riding the coattails of everybody else on the team then suddenly hit well for a few games in October.

He has ALWAYS hit well in October and if I am not mistaken it’s not like the pitching he was facing was poor. Those teams pitching to him got to the postseason ON THEIR PITCHING, which means when facing the best pitching in baseball Bernie Williams was better. You can’t ignore the fact that he will be in the top 5 of these Postseason stats for years to come. In most of those categories the player behind him trails by 10 or more points. He is ahead of Legends such as, Babe Ruth, Lou, Mickey Mantle, Reggie Jackson, Pet Rose, Steve Garvey, and Yogi Berra. There should be no Doubt that Bernie Williams maybe not on the first but eventually should be gracing the hollowed Halls of the hall of fame. Unfortunately the Writers of our day and age can’t even recognize players like Don Mattingly, Goose Gosage, and others as Hall of Fame members so Bernie will likely be left out in the cold when it comes to the Hall of fame while Chemically enhanced Steroid Abused players like Mark McGuire, and Barry Bonds are allowed in with their tainted records and questionable past.

Till next Week

The Yankees Fan

Opening Week

Ahh it’s opening week and baseball is FINALLY back. Home Runs are flying pitchers are throwing the heat and the Yankees are doing what they do best laying the ground work for yet another AL East Championship. So this week I figured I’d touch on a few thoughts about the games this week.

Opening Week Games

It was great to see Cory Lidle’s Wife and Son kick off the season and throw the first pitch. Very classy thing of the Yankees do considering how much they have lost and are currently going threw. Pavano was not terrible although he was not that great either. He got into some trouble early but to be fair the fielding was sloppy behind him as well. Pitchers need to work threw those kinds of things if they are going to be successful, but to be fair it helps when they can trust the gloves playing behind them too. The bats definitely were there to pick this game up. A-Rod with the RBI singles to drive in the first Yankee run of the season. Thought that was rather fitting, and his 2 run HR was icing on the cake and put the game out of reach for the Rays. The BP was pretty solid as well.

Andy Pettitte's return to the Bronx was not a pretty sight. Andy and Posada just never seem to be able to get on the same page. The bitter cold did not help Andy either. Kind of, hard to grip a baseball, when you can’t feel your hands because it’s freezing out side. Jetter committed 2 errors, and Posada and the pitching staff decided that home plate should be back by the fans because many pitches seemed to go bouncing back there. Basically a really ugly game for the Yankees that included sloppy plays and not the best pitching. Mostly I think the weather played a major factor. It’s just too damn cold up there. Makes me glad I live down here in Florida when I see games like that.

Moose def did not bring his A game but again the cold weather will effect how he can grip the ball, and that will result in the kind of pitching performance he gave us. Sean Hen came in to relieve him and was impressive I got a good feeling about him this year. He might just be this year Scot Proctor, and exactly what is it with these young Yankee Pitchers and their names?? Proctor, Hen, Wang?? Anyway the bats keep the game interesting but we fell short lucky for us the Sucks lost as well and funny thing is the D-Rays were leading the division by the end of the day. We all know that won’t last but still kind of funny to see that in the standings.

Iggy pitched Saturday, not exactly impressive in his first outing but honestly I don’t think he did all that bad a job. Had a few pitches that probably should have been called strikes that would have changed the outcome a bit, and there’s just not much you can do about bloop singles that fall in between the fielders. The pitcher’s worst nightmare because you did the job of jamming the batter and getting the week pop up but where it falls you have no control over. I think he will be fine if he can work on the little things like his control which was not great but not as bad as he was in spring training. My guess is he will struggle a bit but will show improvement along the way and should be quite solid for us come the end of the year. Of course I can’t talk about this game and not mention A-Rod’s walk off grand slam Home Run. It was amazing to listen to on the radio, and great to hear the crowd cheering for him like he deserves. He is seriously going to have a monster year and come the playoffs he is going to be unbelievable I think the man is on a mission.

Dice K

So he had his first start and as I predicted the Media is falling all over themselves calling him the chosen one, the next great Cy Young and Blahh Blahh Blahh. What I find funny is that he did pitch a great game I’ll give him that but it was the FRIGEN ROYALS that he did it too. This is a team that can’t field, hit or pitch their way out of a paper bag and the media is making a big deal about him beating them. Hell I could beat them with one hand tied behind my back and a broken leg. Also I found it funny that the one guy to hit a HR off him so far has a grand total of 25 for his whole career. Just wait for Dice k to face a real team like the Angels or the Rangers, or O Yea the YANKEES, teams with real offense that wear down pitchers and don’t waste base hits and opportunities to score are going to fair much differently. Next he will face the M’s so don’t be surprised when he throws a similar game but I’m willing to bet the M’s score a few more runs off him then the Royals did.

The Week Ahead

So We finish up the series with the O’s Rasner will be pitching for us today, then we head out to Minnesota to play in the Dome (Bet they can’t wait to get out of the Cold) then on to Oakland to play the A’s. So my predictions for the Week?? Rasner will pitch well enough to keep the Yankees in the game and we will take the series from the O’s. Then Pavano in his second start will pitch well but I’m betting the twins will get to him late and cost us the game. Andy will Rebound nicely and pitch a gem in his second outing giving us the series against the Twins and Moose will pitch a gem as well the next day giving us the series against the Twins. Iggy second start will go much better then his first but I think he may struggle with his control and the first game against the A’s will come down to the Bull Pens most likely. I figure we win that game as well though. So going into Next Saturday’s game the Yankees should be 6-3 for the season if I’m right. Anybody else want to make a prediction here? Please leave a comment and tell me what you think.

Till Next Week

The Yankees Fan

2007 Predictions

Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen, the grass has been mowed, the foul lines have been drawn, the mound has been racked, and the Bases have been put in their places. Home plate is being adjusted as the hotdogs cook and the peanuts are roasting. Ladies and Gentlemen OPENING DAY IS HERE!! Yes sir as you read this the New York Mets (that other NY team) and the Defending World Champion St Louis Cardinals are preparing to take the field and kick off the 2007 season. Starting today the race begins and begins in earnest over the next few days. So with all the unknowns sent packing, the Rookies sent off to the minor leagues and the starry eyed rookies told they made the team I thought it was time to give you my 2007 regular season predictions. Unlike the experts I’m not going to give you a break down of who will win the MVP or the Cy Young because I have no clue. Baseball is a fickle sport and I’m no expert so I won’t tell you who will win the playoffs as well because for every great contender to start the season there is always a Detroit Tigers team just waiting to shock the world. So I give you these predictions with the full knowledge that I am no expert and that I power my crystal ball with two geriatric hamsters running on a rusty wheel. Or basically I do not pretend that these are accurate predictions just how I see things playing out. So with that said Lets begun the fun shall we??

AL EAST


1. New York Yankees:
Yea I know you’re shocked at this one right? Well I have to look at this Yankees team this year and you just can’t justify not making this call Yankee fan or not. Even with Wang on the DL for part of April the pitching staff looks stable Pettitte should have a strong year with the Yankees, Moose although another year older looked good last year and should be able to at least win 15 games. Iggy had a rough start in spring training but really showed improvement the last few weeks and I believe he is going to be a solid starter for us. Rasner should be able to fill in till Wang gets back and once Karastan is off the DL he should be ready to back up any starter that goes down with an injury. Behind him you have Olendorf, Hughs, Clipered and eventually Sanchez as well. The Yankees have not only Pitching depth but youth backing them up. More important is the fact that all these starters have to do is keep this team in the game. If the Rotation does not allow games to get away from them the Lineup should be able to do the rest. I’m not saying anybody but Wang or Pettite is going to be competing for the Cy Young (Moose has an outside shot of course but age is going to be a factor here as well) but we don’t need Cy young caliber pitching we need solid pitches that keeps ball games close. I believe we have that in are starters along with a rock solid bullpen and an offense that will be able to score runs with more then just the long ball.

2. Toronto Blue Jays
With a starting two of Roy Holiday and AJ Burnet and a strong bullpen that includes BJ Ryan as their closer you know this team is going to be competitive. But then you look at this line up with Vernon Wells and company in it and it just makes it that much harder to see them loosing more then they win. The problem will be once they get past the first two starters. Chaconne could have a bounce back year but after his DUI stunt it’s hard to see that happening, after that you have John Thompson and after that it’s a toss up over who will actually keep and hold the 5th starter spot. The thing is the Jays are a team of very few holes but holes none the less. They will be competitive but will fall short again this year -Likely missing the playoffs. They could win the Wildcard but my money is on the AL Central again this year.

3. Boston Sucks
Hey Boston fans can go on about Dice K all they want. The Japanese wonder boy is going to get a reality check because the talking is over and it’s time for him to take the mound and show us something. Truth is as much as I don’t’ think this kid will live up to all the hype; he is not going to crash and burn either. Truth is he will have a decent year and probably win close to 12 or 15 games if that. His era is likely to be around 4 although to be honest I’m being generous here as I truly believe it will be closer to 5. The key thing with Dice K will not be when to give him the Rookie Of The Year Award because he won’t win it, or if to give him the Cy Young because he won’t win that either. The key is how well the Sucks handle things when he struggles and the media vultures move in for the kill. Aside form Dice K, Shelling is almost 40 and although he is not going to have a crappy year he won’t be a Cy Young winner either. Truth is Shelling has as much gas left in him as Moose. He will be effective but he will have his bad days too. Then there’s Josh Becket the “Wonder Boy” from last year. Is it mean or do the Sucks have a Wonder Stud pitcher every year that the league ends up hammering or that ends up injured. Becket should improve on his performance from last year but don’t’ count on much improvement or the fast start he had last year. Likely he might win 12 games or so but with high pitch counts and the lack of control, he is unlikely to show significant improvement. Between Wakefield and who ever the Sucks pull in to start as the fifth starter their not going to be enough to really help them win. I say this mostly because they had the worst bullpen in the majors last year (minus Papulbum) and not much has changed about that. Their bullpen blew leads more then a porn star….. well blows. Papulbum although a great closer broke down last year due to over use and with all the hype and honest potential that is there he is ripe for another injury as well. Their lineup did not change much other then adding J D(L) Drew. He brings a good bat with some great pop, but he also brings that bright and shiny personality. Mix that in with Shelling wonderful disposition, Many antics, and a general clubhouse of all about me players and you are not adding a positive here. Then remember this is JD(L) Drew where talking about and injury is just a sneeze away. The Sucks will look good early and Dice K will not, by mid season they will start to slip and Dice K will improve some, come Mid August just like last year we will see the Sucks take a nose dive, and even an improving Dice K won’t help them.

4. Devil Rays
What?? Did I stutter?? Yea that’s right I said the D-rays will not finish in the basement this year. Well to be honest I think they will have a better year then the O’s who honestly did improve themselves this year but I think this is the year they will surprise the league and maybe win more games then they loose (Although not many more). Their Staff Ace Scott Kazmier is a pitching stud and if he can stay healthy is going to be tough to beat. Casey Fossum is not a bad pitcher himself and if he is health all year long could surprise the D-rays as a solid second starter. After that you have Tim Corcoran who could be worse but will likely fall out of favor by May. James Shield a rookie starter from last year is one of the guys on this team that strikes me as a possible Jason Verlander type. A kid who showed promise last year and may just suddenly give the D-Rays a potential Cy Young season. I don’t’ know why I say this about him but he just really impressed me last year. Jae Seo who the D-rays got from the Mets last year is actually not a bad number 5 starter. He was roughed up a lot last year, but I think he will rebound this year and put in a solid season. The thing is as young as the Rays pitching staff is they are effective to the point of keeping them in the game. The Rays actually don’t get blown out as often as people think, normally it’s their BP that kills games for them and this year is no different. Unless they make a move to grab a legitimate closer or one of their young prospects suddenly steps up and can do the job. Their Offense last year was miserable, but you have to remember Cantu, Gomes, and Huff had off years and where injured for most of the season. Huff was traded in July (just as he was starting to get hot) The Rays this year added a Japanese import Iwmura to play third and he brings a solid defensive glove and pretty decent bat. He has had a tough spring but I would not discount his hitting ability based on this. He is going to be an exceptional hitter, in the AL just give him time. Gomes and Cantu should have bounce back years, Carl Crawford is always a threat at the plate, and BJ Upton is always a threat to have a break out year. Truth is if everything clicks for the Rays 4th place and an above 500 record is not out of the question.

5. Orioles
O’s fans will hate me for this but my reason for placing the O’s in the basement of the AL East is two parted. 1) They really did not improve the Team much other then the bullpen. 2) With Chris Benson out for the season, their Rotation takes a major hit. Bedard is likely to show some regression from last year, Cabrera is likely to do the same, and if you’re a Yankee fan you know a team is desperate if they’re counting on Jared Wright to do more then pitch 6 innings of ball and not blow out your BP. The Truth is the O’s are not a bad team and may not finish in the basement but other then vastly improving there Bullpen the only offensive addition they made was adding Aubrey Huff who may have a great season with them but is just not going to be enough. This team really will simply regress this year because that’s what young teams tend to do. The thing is they could finish in 4th and beat out the Rays and if everything clicks, maybe better then that. The problem is when you dealing with as many young players as the O’s and you have had successes the year before regression is just a natural part of the game. They will stumble this year and run out of gas late leaving the door open for the D-rays to slip past them into 4th.

AL Central

1. Indians
The Indians in my opinion are sporting one of the best SOLID rotations in baseball right now. Yes I said that but just to be clear I did not say the BEST rotation I said the best SOLID rotation. What I mean is they have 5 guys that can go out and keep them in every ball game they play. If this happens the Indians will be one hit a way from wining most of their ball games and with there offensive potential that could amount to quite a few wins. Truth is if Liriano is not injured and the White Sox don’t trade Garcia this winter the Indians are looking at another year before they make the playoffs. But the pitching is thin in the central and the Indians are really the only starting rotation with 5 solid starts top to bottom, and the offense to back them up every day

2.Twins
With Liriano on the DL for what is likely the season or at the least most of it the Twins have Santana and then… Err… Well…. Yea see my point. The thing is the Twins always seem to find a way to win and they have a very strong and DEEP bullpen, making them hard to ignore in the central. If Liriano was not injured they would be the easy pick for the central but Santana can’t win every game for them. Truthfully the rest of the Rotation is not that bad but it’s also not that good either. They can win games with these guys and offensively they can hang with the big boppers of the league, but in the end their rotation will hurt them in the division. Lucky for them the White Sox are in far worse trouble and the Royals are well… The Royals.

3. White Sox
The White Sox honestly are not a bad team and would get higher marks from me if their pitching showed me more last year. The truth is Jose Contreras as good as he has been for the Chi Sox is not getting any younger and his decline is proof of that. He may very well face a few injuries this year. Buehrle although a great pitcher just never seems to be able to get over the hump for a full season. He should be good but not much more then that. Garland frustrates me because here is a guy that honestly should be a Cy Young candidate each year. Instead he is mediocre at best, and never seems to be able to get over the top like he should. Vazquez is a solid starter for the Chi Sox and could win 15 games for them. Problem is he could just as easily loose 15 games as well. The BP although solid can be shaky at times and the health of Bobby Jenks is seriously in question these days, so late innings could be a nightmare. The offense is solid on paper but truth is after career years from Konerko, Thome, and Dye and a break out year for Crede they’re all likely to see a decline in numbers. The thing is here just how much of a decline. Thome is injury prone as is Konerko and the ability to be dangerous in this lineup is reliant on those two for Dye. Crede would have a decent enough year but a decline in his batting average and a rise in strikeouts is very likely and that hurts the Chi sox offensively. Again they’re not a bad team but they’re a team that will see underachieving pitching and a bullpen, that will be only as good as the time of day, and offensively score fewer runs then they did last year. All this adds up to a solid third place finish this year. Next year however with the right roster moves this will be a team to contend with.

4. Tigers
Tiger fans are going to hate me for putting them 4th in the division but the truth is they could just as easily finish a solid 3rd as well. Right now as things stand Kenny Rogers is on the DL and this does not bowed well for the Tigers. Although Verlander and Bonderman had a breakout season last year the truth is the odds of them both repeating last years numbers are very much against them. One of them will regress slightly but still have a solid season and the other will crash and burn like the Hindenburg. I’m not slighting either of these guys’ abilities it’s just with young ball players they normally struggle after a strong season. Their BP could be their down fall or their biggest strength that could keep them in the race for the Division. Tod Jones could have another strong season as the teams’ closer but the truth is he is due to show signs of his age and slip. The good news is that Zumaya is right there to take over when this happens and the Tigers should still be tough to beat in the late innings. Just remember thou there are bunch of young relievers and are likely to do well enough this year or crash and burn. The Tigers will be competitive but like the Chi Sox it just won’t be there year. Next year though that will be a different story.

5. Royals
Not much, to really say here other than they’re the Royals-That sums them up. Worst pitching staff in the Majors last year. Worst bullpen, and worse team offensively as well. Not much will change in 07 except Gil Meche will be loosing for a different team and Octavio Dotel will be blowing saves for a different team this year. Offensively they’re not much different other than Grudzielanek will be playing second this year and at some point Alex Gordon will be called up to try to salvage a depressing season for the fans. The Royals are a long way form competing in the AL Central or any league for that matter. The Term “Wait till next year” for this team started in Spring training and the fans saying it were referring to Next Year

AL West

1. A’s
Pitching wise the A’s have two guys that could both win 20 games this year in Harden and Haren, if they can both stay healthy. Loaiza surprised everyone last year and turned in a solid season for the A’s and honestly I would not be surprised to see it happen again. Blanton and Kennedy should round out the rotation and their not overly impressive but should be adequate enough to push the A’s past the Angels in the west. The reason is because the A’s bullpen is very solid with Huston Street closing the games out and a strong group of arms behind him. Offensively the A’s upgraded their DH position with Piazza who should be just as productive as Frank Thomas last year, but is unlikely to spend as much time on the DL as Frank Thomes did as the DH last year. Bobby Crosby one of these seasons is going to prove why he won the Rookie Of The Year Award a few years ago. Could it be this year, don’t hold your breath. Regardless he is a solid defensive shortstop and even with his shortcomings swings a decent bat at times. The only thing the A’s have working against them in their division right now is Kotsay who will start the season on the DL and they’re heavy right handed in the pitching department. This is nothing Billy bean can’t resolve with a trade.

2. Angels
Last years division winners are going to struggle this year in the beginning and that is likely to cost them the playoffs. With Chone Figgins heading to the DL to start the first half of the season and with Weaver joining him, the Angels will have big problems. Add to this the likely decline in Gary Matthews Jr, and the likely hood that Colon and Lacky will see the DL at some point this season. It’s hard to see the Angels keeping up with the A’s, if everybody comes back healthy, and their replacements click the Angels may take the A’s but I don’t see it happening. The Angels are just in a division where your start is just as important as how you finish, and their going to have a really rough start I think.

3. Rangers
What’s interesting about the Rangers is they find a way to be part of the playoffs race every year then just disappear by the end of August. Unfortunately for fans in Texas this year will not be much different. Vincent Padilla was a nice surprise for the Rangers last year and Kevin Millwood should rebound, so the Rangers are in good shape to start. After that things could get dicey as the rest of the rotation leaves much to be desired, and this is what could cost them in the end. Their bullpen is actually not that bad although signing Gagne who will now start the season on the DL was a pretty stupid move if you ask me. Gagne to be honest is done as a closer at least for now and needs to settle into a setup roll for a few years, and rebuild his confidence. With Gagne on the DL the Rangers still have an effective closer in Otsuka who should never have had the job taken away from him in the first place. Last year he was almost as dominating as Papulbum and Rivara, and could potentially be better than he was last year. Offensively the Rangers could be tough with guys like Teixeira, Young, and Blalock in the lineup and add Sammy Sosa to that on paper you have a very scary offense. Problem is Kenny Loffton is at the top of this lineup and to be honest I have never been overly impressed with him after he was a Yankee. He seems like a lazy player to me in the outfield and at his age could very well be an injury risk as well. Figure Sammy Sosa as impressive as the name is honestly was not all that and a wet bag of chips the last time he played Pro ball. Other then De Toxing I doubt much has changed with Sammy other than his bats are with out cork these days as well. He will be given a chance to play every day and if he falls flat, I would not be surprised to see happen, Catalanotto step in and take over. Again in this division you can’t afford to fall behind.

4. Mariners
It’s hard to say a team with Ichiro Suzuki and young Pitching Phenom Felix Hernandez is going to finish last but the truth is this division is just to damn tough for any one team to just get by and win it all. The M’s are not a bad team but compared to their competition they’re not in the same league. Jarrod Washburn should have a decent season, but after him and Hernandez the starting staff is really nothing to write home about. The M’s are facing a lot of early game blowouts and even when the team manages to keep the game close their BP will likely loose a lot of late games for them. JJ Putz is an excellent closer but you have to get the ball to him in the 9th for him to save a game. He will be joining Papulbum on the bench as they watch potential saves get flushed down the toilet in the 7th and 8th for there respected teams. Offensively they’re not bad but not great either. Suzuki does not bring a lot of power to the plate but he makes up for it in speed and the ability to hit anything for a base hit. After that this team is just old and injury prone. They also just love to swing at everything. If your Ichiro and can put the ball in play every time it’s one thing but it’s another thing when your giving the fans a nice breeze over 100 times in the season. This team has the potential to score runs but they also have the potential to barely make contact with the ball. What’s really sad is the best hitter in the game today is also on the worst hitting team in the league. If the M’s can improve on their contact game and start moving runners on the base they might stand a chance. That’s about as likely to happen as Jeff Weaver wining the Cy young. So last place it is.

Ok That’s the AL. This thing is getting really long. I’m just going to Breeze over the NL because 1) I don’t want to make this any longer then I have to, and 2) If I have to go into detail why the cubs are going to stink this year. This thing will be 20 pages long just for that. So a Quick Recap on the NL starting with….

NL EAST

1. Braves

2. Mets

3. Nationals

4. Phillies

5. Marlins

Why?? Because the Mets have no Pitching with Peedrool on the DL probably till August if not longer, Glaven and El Duke are not getting younger, and although a good young pitcher Oliver Perez is just not ready to be a top starter. Maybe in a year or two. Pelfry may be a nice surprise this year as he is the real deal but alone he can’t do it all. The Braves have a solid 1 and 2 with Smoltz and Hudson and they both should give the braves a solid year. Redman is not going to give anybody anything to get excited about but all he has to do is keep games close and adding Hampton in mid season will be like adding a major trade. Their improved bullpen from last year gives Wickmen a chance to save a full season of games for them, and a young lineup that will score runs by the dozens should help give them the NL East. The Nats , I picked them third because they have the most intriguing rotation in baseball to me. They’re all a bunch of guys that nobody will say they’re impressed with but in the same thought will never tell you they can’t win games. Their rotation this year could shake the baseball world and I think they just might do that, the offense is pretty solid with Zimerman leading the charge and Austen Kearns ready to produce big time for a full season. After that I believe the Phillies actually had a chance until Garcia went on the DL which will hurt them. Flash Gorden as their closer -could backfire HUGE. If he finally shows his age, I’m betting this will happen sooner then later, and the Marlins with out the leadership of Manager of the year Joe Guradie will sink to the bottom of the division. Don’t get me wrong they’re a good young team but these kids played their heart out last year for Joe and were rewarded by seeing him get fired for it. Why on earth will they play hard for the next guy?? What’s the point? The fish sink this year but don’t let that be a representation of the talent on this team just the lack of good ownership. Next year maybe things will improve with the talent on this team it’s hard not to see it happen.

NL Central

1. Brewers
2. Cardinals
3. Cubs
4. Reds
5. Astros

Why?? Well for starters the Brewers have a top notching rotation of Suppan, Sheets, Capuano, and Bush. The first three could easily win 18 to 20 games this year. With closer Cordero just itching to have a bounce back year and a strong bullpen behind him the Brew Crew are not likely to loose games in the late innings. They take a hit with Carlos Lee gone but they played half the season without him last year and still looked good. Brady Clark is likely to have a bounce back year Prince Fielder will have a second good season and this team will score runs which in the NL Central is a rarity. The Cards will struggle mostly because of their starting pitching. Carpenter and the potential of Adam Wainwright are really the only reason this team might finish second. If Carpenter has an off year or Wainright falters they may finish much lower. The Cubs spent plenty of dough over the winter to bad it was not on finding a way to keep Wood and Prior healthy for a season. If Wood can ever get off the DL he could be a good reliever and might even replace Dempster as the closer. Ted Lilly is likely to have a good season as a Cub after that Zambrano, and then it just gets ugly. Offensively a lot depends on Derek Lee and Soriano. If these two can get off to a good strong start the cubs will score runs by the bunches, if not it’s going to be a long summer in Wrigley The Reds have two strong starters in Harang and Arroy but to be honest for both of them to repeat their performances from last year is highly unlikly. After that Milton is a HR machine and being a pitcher that’s not a good thing. Lohse is not bad but not good either and Ramirez could be better but just isn’t. Offensively the Reds should pack a mighty punch of speed and power but they always seem to fall short mostly because this team loves to strike out. Although not as bad as the M’s are many a rally goes down quietly by the call of strike three in Cinncy and right now that’s probably not going to change. The Stros are likely the worst team in this division now with Pettitte having gone home to the Yankees and the Rocket not sure where he will play this year. If Rogers comes back to the Stros expect them to finish better then last but to be honest that may not even be enough. Their offensive is bad and even Carlos Lee can’t help them unless Ensberg turns things around from last year disaster season and Burke and Berkman don’t get hurt. Truth is some of these guys will regress this year, and that hurts a team that has trouble scoring runs to start with. This division more or less wide open from 2-5 but the Brewers will get off to a fast start and never look back although a late season decline would not surprise me but by then It won’t matter if they have built a big enough lead.

NL WEST

1. Rockies

2. Dodgers

3. Padres

4. Diamondbacks

5. Giants

Why?? Well to be honest this division being the weakest in the League is wide open. Any of the top 4 teams could be contenders, but in the end I have to pick the Rockies only because their pitching could be the deciding factor in the end. Between Jef Francis, and Aron Cook they have a strong 1 and 2 pitchers after that Hirsh and Fogg should be able to take the mound and at least throw 6 or 7 innings of competitive baseball. The fifth starter is really their weakest point but with the young talent the Rockies have on the farm any one of them could start and be adequate for the season. Offensively even with out the Colorado air they’re going to score tons of runs. Between Atkins, Holliday, and Helton you have 300 RBI’s and potentially 130 HR, Hawpe should be able to contribute as well and Rookies Iannetta and Tulowitzki should have good first season. Their Bullpen is a weakness but playing in Colorado its more about runs than late inning relievers so if that happens and Fuentes can hold down the late inning rallies the Rockies could be standing at the top of the heap. The Dodgers have the pitching with Schmidt, Lowe Wolf and Penny, and a strong Bullpen but offensively their top hitters are all injury prone and this will hurt them as the season grinds on. The Padres again have a solid staff with Maddux, Young, and Peavy but like the Dodgers injuries are inevitable and it’s going to hurt them. Offensively the Padres have trouble scoring runs, and not much changed in the off season so it’s likely not to change this year. The D-Backs have a great young team that will score plenty of runs, but with Randy Johnson trying to prove he is not a 5 something ERA pitcher and other than Braden Web the Rotation and bullpen need a lot of work. The Giants are just too damn old and too damn slow to go anywhere in this division. Zito will help but in the end they’re just not going to stand a chance.

Well that’s it folks my Pre-season predictions hope you enjoyed them, and feel free to leave a comment and tell me who you think will finish where this year.

Till Next week

THE YANKEES FAN