New York Yankees
2010 Record: 95 – 67
2nd Place in AL East
Wild Card in American League
The offense for this team is going to be just fine. Whether it’s Gardner or Jeter leading off on Opening Day, this team holds some speed and most of all a power lineup. Nick Swisher, Mr. Cano, Mark Tex and A-Rod will provide pop and stability on a consistent basis. I really believe Alex Rodriguez will bounce back this year from a quiet 2010 and have what some people like to call a “monster year”. The other speedster Curtis Grandyman will naturally improve in his second year here in the Bronx...or else peace out. He needs to manufacture base hits and stretch those singles into doubles and triples by stealing some bases. Follow Brett Gardner’s lead and just go for it! The lineup is solid from 1-9 regardless of who’s catching and personally I think Alex and Mark are ready to really have that one, two punch fans here have been waiting for. It seems like the last couple of years when one was hot the other was not. This year the boys are hungry and they’re underdogs, kinda. Cano will stay the course and sprinkle in 20 to 25 homers with that face that seems like he just doesn’t want to be there. He always appears bothered. A kind of smugness, but as a viewer you still see something in him. Maybe he just looks tired.
The biggest challenge obviously is that short looking pitching rotation. C.C. is solid, A.J. will be back and Phil Hughes is bound to flirt with a couple of no-hitters lasting late into the games as long as Joe Girardi and staff isn’t so frugal and scared of the infamous pitch-count argument. Football coaches are cautious with concussions, in baseball managers fear pitch counts…lame I know. About A.J. Burnett, I just think the guy will get back to his old ways of pitching strikes and winning games. The man went off course a little last year and it happens. In 12 seasons he has a 3.99 ERA, and every time he pitches over 130 innings in a year he wins at least 10 games. Not great for a Yankee, but that is his minimum. Burnett needs to gain his confidence back and take control of the strike zone. He’s not an “Ace” by any means of the word, but he’s a respectable # 2 or #3 starter and will improve on last year’s debacle nicely.
So let’s talk about the 4th and 5th spots. They need two pitchers who can muster up six innings. Nova is probably not the answer, could be, but I don’t think so. He’ll start this year, but he has options to go down. When the proof shows by early May that the young kid can’t get past the 6th inning things will change. Bartolo Colon, oh my Lord... Give him a month on the team and that’s still a shock. Looks like he’s beating out the guy I like because of his spring training numbers but let’s think…oh yeah it’s only spring training. Freddy Garcia can do the job GM Cash-man and his puppet Girardi is looking for by giving up 3 to 4 runs while eating up six or so innings and that would be okay. The Yankees can and will win 6-4 or 7-5 or whatever, cause the bats are there and the bullpen should hold off the competition frequently. Freddy’s steady; he has experience and certainly had a decent season last year on the White Sox going 12-6 with a 4.64 ERA in 28 starts. Freddy Garcia is a number 4 starter now-a-days, but with the press talking about him like he might not make the roster which I think will be the wrong move. He already said he will not go down to the minors and he is right to say no…I mean so, by saying no. All in all to me the guy’s career looks consistent. Plus you know who the Yankees are…this team will be making a move a little earlier then the All-Star break to get another starting pitcher. It’s inevitable. This will simply be a move to level the staff out with an experience pitcher who wants to play for the New York Yankees. So what’s the difference if the Yankees start out the season without a reliable #4 or #5 starter in the rotation? Absolutely nothing, because more than half the teams in baseball can’t put out a balanced 1-2-3 variation and be completely comfortable with it.
The Yankees will get by just fine beating a dwindled down Tampa Bay staff. There bullpen is gone, shipped out and spread across the league. They (Yankees) will also have no real problem taking down the offensive prowess (which in no way will add up to last year’s display) of the Toronto Blue Jays. The Blue Jays lost another noble starter in Shawn Marcum, which leaves the young Ricky Romero as the staffs new #1. In his first two MLB seasons Romero is 2-2 against the Yankees and gave up at least three runs in four of his six starts. Not horrible, but nothing to worry about from a team in your division. Baltimore has shown signs of improvement, first with Buck Showalter’s second half last year and now some respectful off-season moves to bolster up their line-up. Problem is they seem to have forgotten about something down in “Cal Ripken Land”…their pitching. Maybe Buck’s got a few tricks up his sleeves for 2011, but I don’t think it’ll be enough.
Now we welcome the hard talk. The serious problem that the Yankees need to face, and don’t get me wrong I hate to say it because you all already know…Boston. I don’t like writing this section as much as you gain frustration reading it. Besides these Bostonian people and there awful accents send shivers down my spine every time I hear them utter a word. The only players with any significance that they lost from last season was Adrian Beltre and Victor Martinez, that’s it, so you replace one Adrian with a much better Adrian and give up your catcher spot to add Carl Crawford to the mix. Ohhh, I know scary names. Whatever. Another thing that’s true is the ideal mix Boston has in the rotation from young to old. Lester, Buchholz, Lackey, Beckett and whoever else they can blend in this year. The dilemma I see is where a solid question…can the Red Sox go for help when Beckett, Dice-K and Wakefield can’t make an entire season healthy? (Left space for you to think up something funny). The hunger of Crawford and Gonzalez have for wins, titles and rings for their bare fingers might not be enough this year people. However, Terry Francona does know how to run a team though, no matter how much you hate to admit it. He had that team win a lot of games, regardless of the injury plagued season last year, which could happen again. I call it the “double-dose”. I think the injuries will come at the wrong time for Boston letting the Yankees creep up and swat at their ankles snagging their way into the wild card. Boston and New York have lineups to die for and the slug-fest will ensue on most nights these two teams take the field against any opponent.
Can the Yankees compete? Without a doubt. Do they have the experience and the want and the know how to win? I won’t even answer that piece of shit question I just purposed. Will they catch the Sox and have a minor upset in the AL East? Let’s just hope the Wild Card race isn’t so close and we’d all breathe a little better by the end of September.
AL EAST
1. Boston Red Sox
2. New York Yankees (wild card)
3. Baltimore Orioles
4. Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays
5. Toronto Blue Jays
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New York Mets
2010 Record: 79 – 83
4th in the NL East
A different story is happening in Queens than the Bronx this year, seems like every year. The organization was scared to try Wally Backman out, okay I get, it the man is wild, but probably the bit of spice the team (let alone the fans) needed going into 2011. Fine, continue with the safer route…I guess.
Let us first talk about the positive by going down the top half of the Mets projected lineup. It’s filled with offensive prowess. Jose Reyes is in a contract year and supposedly is as healthy as ever. A ton of times in the past, I would turn on a Met game at 7:13pm (3 minutes past first pitch) and Reyes was already on base looking to move another ninety feet on every pitch. The man is a utility and when his legs work the situational set up for runs being scored are there. Angel Pagan has some proving to do. Yes I understand he had an excellent year last season (.290 AVG, .340 OBP and 37 SB), but can he repeat his performance and get on base following Jose around the diamond? To me it’s something that needs to be proven, but if he does get on base all the more reason to enjoy the idea of Pagan batting in the ever important number two spot. With two men on base (Reyes and Pagan) the Mets now have a choice of Ike Davis, David Wright or Jason Bay. I like all three. If these athletes click and start connecting to have days or weeks when base-hits fly off their bats the top of the order will produce a surmountable number of runs. Beltran might be in the mix, and he might not, but he won’t put a dagger in the lineup when he does show up to play like the late Mo Vaughn or Bobby Bonilla would have in the past. Are the Mets still paying those two by the way? Who cares anymore? Carlos Beltran is a real star player who fell on bad knees and sadly it’s an injury that will never allow him to become 100% healthy again. However, when he is there, he will help. Jason Bay should be fully recovered from that bizarre head trip to the wall in Dodger Stadium last July. It left him on the bench or literally home for the good part of the second half of the season. My advice would be to give him John Olerud’s old helmet in left field for confidence and protection. So with or without Carlos Beltran the 1-5 or 1-6 spots in the lineup should produce. The real excitement will be watching as the second base merry-go-round continues to spin and spin all season leaving The Amazin’s diehard fans confused, dizzy and pissed off. This is all true unless Castillo gives everyone in the organization some false hope by having a stellar April and May. Let’s pray he doesn’t get the chance to trick us into believing. New skipper Terry Collins just stated he was going with Luis Hernandez at second base. After only 120 games under his belt over the past four years and a .245 AVG in 265 at bats I say like Jerry Seinfeld, “Hey,… why not?” I like what I see out of Josh Thole completely. If he puts together a respectable rookie season .260 batting average with 15HRs and 60 - 70 RBI’s you have yourself a solid looking catcher for years to come.
The Mets are going to need to play small ball, especially in the large Citi Field. They have to fight hard for every run and have the mind set to win games. Things feel apart in that secret society already so 2011 is the time to change their ways and it starts from the new managers’ lips. Terry Collins has to give the players and more importantly the fans a reason to believe he was the right choice. Stealing, bunting and sacrificing runners are the little bits and pieces this team will need to accomplish. This is of course another reason why Wally Backman was a front runner for the job in my eyes to turn this flaming torpedo of destruction around. (Sorry last Wally reference for this week.) In loaded bases situations the Mets had a .216 AVG throughout 152 games last year. You simply cannot have that on any professional level. Improve that stat alone by fifteen to twenty percent and you can chalk up at least ten to twelve more wins in a season. It’s the little things in baseball that round out a year and the Mets who were only four games under .500. Let me remind you, any successful professional club needs to accomplish the small ball fundamentals to be consistently competitive in the MLB. Another word the Mets need to define this year…consistency, but that’s a bigger subject to embark upon, however, I don’t have enough paper in my printer for that subject. If it isn’t consistently dreadful, it’s not the Mets. Let’s kill that theory all together. They’ve been kids playing on a lacksadasiy Manual/Minaya ball club. Include the Willy Randolph years and it’s been too long. I saw the turning point with my own eyes and couldn’t grasp it. Endy Chavez reached over the wall against St. Louis and pulled back a definite home run a few years back in a rebel rousing playoff game and the players were on top of the world. The Shea Stadium crowed was beside themselves as were the players jogging into the dugout needing one run from their 3-4-5 batters and nothing happen. Ever since then it’s been down, down, down, “red knights going down”. In this 2011, lets watch the Mets start over again and grow into professional players on a professionally run organization. (Insert Sandy Alderson, Terry Collins and the end of talks about Madoff. Sell, don’t sell…the fans just want wins and they’ll pay and have been paying a pretty penny to do so.)
Oh no, here it comes…
The pitching rotation. No workhorse Johan Santana, no clear cut star to form a rotation around and a closer who has a fist punching problem. This is the Mets serious problem. The rotation looks like, Mike Pelfrey, R.A. Dickey, Jonathon Niese, and blah blah boring. Everyone is a question mark including Chris Young, who I actually like and think will improve the team, which is scary so let us persist on keeping it simple. Six innings. That’s goal number one. No wait; get rid of Ollie, that’s one. (And they have done so)Six innings is number two, but just as important. Hoping for six strong innings every day by whoever dares to take the mound. Moves need to be made I just don’t know if this year will have any. The Mets “suites” have plenty to get done this season and if all works out they will figure this team out and fill some holes with competitive hard working athletes who have the determination to play as a team in the greatest city there is. Come on orange and blue, I love the new stadium, but I’m done walking around like a tourist. I want to see an exciting game played by a bloodthirsty team filled with emotion taking the field on a beautiful summer night.
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| Terry Collins needs to bring FIRE not be fired! |
In all honesty the New York Mets don’t look like a playoff team here in March of 2011, but neither did the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays or the 2007 Rockies and that’s just two recent examples to define surprise. Remember your own 2000 New York Mets? Barely I know, Bobby Valentine only knew 3 players on the team at the time. Crazy and remarkable things have happened through the course of a long season. Miracles and incredible stories have been written and witnessed in the past. Odds are they can and will occur in the future. Will the 2011 Mets shock the league?
Well, the Mets have other barriers then themselves I’m sad to report. First off let us just throw away two teams right off the top here with Washington and Florida. I know I know, every time I turn the SNY network on and they play one of these two teams, it’s always close. Call it a division rival if you want to fact of the matter is, in the long haul these two teams won’t factor. With Stephen Strasburg out and Big Boy Harper not ready yet, the team has a lonely one-two punch in the batting order with Zimmerman and Werth surrounded by nothing great. The pitching is consistently bad and age plays a factor. Look out for them come 2012 or 2013. This happens to be the same way I feel about the Marlins. Josh Johnson and Javier Vazquez should offer up 20 wins combined easy. The other three will most likely mirror their batting lineup of young, not quite fully developed talent. Mike Stanton might become a monster and Hanley should bounce back from a slightly off- kilter year last season. Gabby Sanchez seems to have a bat, but losing “His name is DAN UGGLA!” will be a blow to the team’s offense. Florida just won’t be dynamic enough this year to make an impact.
The Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies will be in this NL East battle all the way to the end and I know it hurts your eyes to read it. The Phillies officially bought a pitching rotation over the last few years and it’s built to consist of Roy “the man” Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, Cole Hamels and Joe Blanton. It’s really spectacular as long as age and fatigue doesn’t become an issue. The numbers put up by these men should be low in ERA and high in wins and strikeouts. The lineup on the other hand, has some question marks. Will Utley play 140 games? Will the injury to rookie Domonic Brown put an even bigger hole in that ageing outfield? Will Grandpa Ibanez celebrate his 60th birthday this year? Man he looks ancient. Baseball is stamina in a marathon length season and on paper, in March, the Phillies look as if they can score three runs per game they’ll be set. It doesn’t always work out that way, but right now they are top-dog. They were 97 - 65 last season, if they can’t muster up three more victories with Lee and Oswalt starting in the beginning of April to compile a 100 win season then someone from the starting rotation got injured and his last name doesn’t end with the word Blanton. The hope is that Atlanta gives them a run for their money…literally. The Braves are a solid team all around; sadly they could possibly have a 90 win season and miss the playoffs by the hair on McCann’s chinny-chin-chin. From top to bottom, if this team stays the course with pretty much all players returning besides the newly retired Billy Wagner, I see a challenge for 1st place. In the back of my mind I do ponder often that closer Lidge could be the death of the Phils. They have two wonderful choices to have for a closer with Kimbrel and Ventures. They have second year Heyward and the additional youngster in Freddie Freeman. Dan Uggla coming in from Florida to play 2B is purely a solid move by the organization and all the pitching you could ask for. I could go on and on, but I’m tired of this division, so here’s how they’ll stack up.
NL EAST
1. Philadelphia Phillies
2. Atlanta Braves
3. New York Mets
4. Florida Marlins
5. Washington Nationals
Thursday, March 25th
“Outside The Boroughs”
(Preseason Issue #3)
A look around the league,
So short and so sweet
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