With Game 1 complete for all respective Major League Baseball teams, I find it a fitting time to discuss the only relevant part of baseball... New York Baseball... Sure, there are teams from all over the US and Canada, but let's face it, New York lives and dies by their sports team. You can make a case for Boston, but they only have one team so that automatically rules their pansy asses out.
If they perform anywhere near 2009, well then lets just call off the season today because it was God Awful. Combined 2009 Statistics: 331.6 IP, 25 quality starts, 0 complete games, 20-22 record, 5.25 combined ERA, and 224 Ks.
The New York Mets look to be meaningful again, while the New York Yankees are looking to continue their recent dominance. [Personally, as a Mets fan, I am really only giving them two weeks before I decided to write them off or not for the year.]
The Mets season rests solely on the shoulders (arms?) of Oliver Perez, John Maine, and Mike Pelfrey. Despite injuries to their everyday regulars, they still have enough offense to compete with most teams in the NL. And, as we saw from yesterday, you know what you're going to get from Johan every 5th day. That is why the Mets need the three stooges to Man Up or get out. Not only do the Mets needs these three to perform, but Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel's future rely on it.
If they perform anywhere near 2009, well then lets just call off the season today because it was God Awful. Combined 2009 Statistics: 331.6 IP, 25 quality starts, 0 complete games, 20-22 record, 5.25 combined ERA, and 224 Ks. Realistically, they will need performances like 2007 is they want to Get R' Done. Those numbers look vastly better (and this is while Pelfrey was a part time player): 440.7 IP, 36 quality starts, 1 CG, 33-28 (Ollie and Maine each had 15 W's), 4.3 combines ERA, and 400 Ks.
Lastly, with the addition of Jason Bay, a healthy Reyes, a rejuvenated Wright, and a bounce back year from Carlos Beltran, the Mets can potentially compete. However, there are A LOT of ifs. Then again, it's only April and you know as a Mets fan, You Gotta' Believe.
On the other end of the spectrum, the New York Yankees don't have to worry about many of the concerns that plague the Mets. They have 4 quality starters and a 5th starter who would be the #2 on the Mets. Led by CC Sabathia, I think the Yanks only real concern with starting pitching is to remain healthy and hungry (no pun intended CC). The Yanks need to hope that CC does not break down and continues to hurl 230+ innings a season.
Coming off a World Series win, I do believe that the Yankees offense is worse than it was last year. That being said, they were probably in and around the top 3 in every offensive category, so the drop off shouldn't really hurt them. However, purely speaking from an offensive perspective, losing Johnny Damon is a major loss. He single-handidly won several games for the Yanks. On top of that, he was Mr. Clutch for much of the season. Sure, you got Curtis Granderson and he may be able to pop out 25-30 HRs in the Stadium, but simply put, he cannot hit lefties. In addition, Damon provided reliability at the top of the order with Jeter. Now, you're relying on oft-injured Nick Johnson to hit in the #2 hole. I think that's a lot to ask for.
The offset to losing Damon is that A-Rod is completely healthy this year and should hit 40-45 HRs. Tex will also give you his usually 35 and 110. Derek Jeter, on the other hand, intrigues me. If any of you know me well, you know that while I believe Derek Jeter is a very good player, I simply don't think he's as amazing as people make him out to be. [Put him on the Royals over the last decade and ask me if you know who he is]. That being said, last year he played fantastic. Even I can admit that. BUT, can we expect those crazy statistics again? I believe he, too, benefitted from having Johnny Damon in the lineup. This year, I predict DJ will go back to his usual .310 BA, 15 HRs, 80 RBI, 100 Runs scored. Don't get me wrong, those are nice stats, but by no means is that amazing
In closing, I'll leave you with my most realistic opinion. Although is absolutely pains me to admit, the Yankees are the class of Major League Baseball. Their fans never have to worry about whether the team will go the extra mile to make something right. While I hate the Yankees for their fans' arrogance, I can't help but wish my team was run the same way. The circus that are the New York Mets will always have my heart. That will never EVER change. However, they truly need to show me something more than I've been seeing, if they ever want me to jump back on the bandwagon. I went from a 4 year straight 15 game ticket package holder, to not going to a single game this year. I am doing my part to let them know I am not happy. Predictions:
NL Cy Young: Tim Lincicum (putting him on the VERY short list of 3 straight).
AL Cy Young: Justin Verlander (I believe he's finally healthy).
NL MVP: Albert Pujols (you can't stop greatness)
AL MVP: Alex Rodriguez (God I wish he wasn't a Yankee)
NL Batting Champion: Matt Kemp (if not Albert Pujols already)
AL Batting Champion: Joe Mauer (the truth)
NL Rookie of the Year: Jason Heyward ATL (that was tough)
AL Rookie of the Year: Matt Weiters BAL (think Mike Piazza, only not Italian)
World Series:
NY Yankees vs. LA Dodgers
Winner:
Dodgers - Torre gets his revenge and we see the future in Clayton Kershaw
Duece
Dude, I must be retarded because I can't figure out the spacing situation on these damn blogs.
ReplyDeleteYo, if you go to the HTML part of the blog post after you type / before you post it you can add in spaces inbetween paragraphs all you want.
ReplyDeleteJust put < br > without the spaces (if i put them in it reads it like html code and you cant see it haha), wherever you want a 'break' and it will put the stuff on a new line. you can put a couple and it will give you a couple spaces.
Make sense?