Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Bring on 2008

Three more cold months until opening day magic is upon us.

Some New Year's questions that are on my mind right now:

Yankee Specific:
Will Hideki Matsui be a Yankee on Opening Day?
Can/will the Yanks acquire the services of Johan Santana without mortgaging the farm?
Is Yankee management willing to see if the young (and untested) arms can deliver the goods?
Is it going to be a Duncan/Giambi competition for starting first baseman?
Which Mike Mussina will we be getting in '08?
How will Joe Girardi do as a manager?
Will Mo return to being Mo?

Can they win it all with the team they have?


General MLB:
How many more players are going to be issuing the "admit to using drugs-but only once or twice" press release?
Will Clemens be successful in clearing his name?
Can Mark Prior (just signed with Padres) stay healthy and return to the '03 version?
Can Willie make it for another season in Queens? and
How far can the Joe Torre led Dodgers go?



Time will tell.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

2 teams hit with luxury tax for FY 2007:

Yankees at about $24 mm

Red Sox tagged for approx. $6mm

Another year, another $30 plus million to be distributed to "smaller market" teams - let's see if they actually use it to improve their respective clubs - my bet is it'll continue to line the pockets of the owners.

57 said...

2008 Predictions:

Indianapolis wins the Super Bowl,again.

The Yankees trade for Johann in the middle of the season before the deadline.

A-Rod hits a grand slam on opening day.

The Sabres make it to the Stanley Cup Finals, beating the Ottawa Senators in the ECF in 7 games.

The NY Mets begin the 2008 campaign with 8 straight losses

The Buffalo Bills trade JP Losman for a 3rd round draftpick and some cheese.

The Mets/Yankees are in first place by the All-Star break.

Scooter and I end up fighting over Anna Benson at some point.

Tiger Woods does not win a major.

Bill Parcells is the Dolphins coach 4 games into the 2008 season.

Bills win 5 straight to begin the season.

Pats lose 3 straight.

Mets and Yankees World Series

Clemens pitches for the Mets.

Pettitte wins every game 2 in the playoffs.

Bret Favre retires 3 times, but decides to come back the day before the opening game.

The DOW will be at 15,000 by year's end.

More to come...

Anonymous said...

I think Matsui remains in pinstripes. Especially since the Giants signed an OF.

I am all for giving kids from the farm a chance, but this is going to be a little risky. Most likely they will have 2 of 3 rotation spots filled with prospects, but the bullpen is going to be real young. The only real veterans are Farnsworth, Hawkins, and Mo. I think the rest will be kids like Olendorf, Henn, and Veres. The free agent pool is pretty thin. If it works out Cashman looks like a genius, if not he's probably fired.

Anonymous said...

Ahhh apparently Tis the Season for predictions:

MY Pats.....19-0

The Cleveland Indians fall out of contention by the trading deadline and send CC Sabathia to the Yankees for a package headed up by Ian Kennedy and Jose Tabata...Santana winds up with.....wait for it......the NY Mets.

A-Rod hits TWO grand slams on opening day and he is STILL over payed.

NY Rangers beat the Detroit Red Wings in an EPIC seven game series to bring the Stanley Cup back to Broadway....Chris Drury wins the Conne Smythe!

David Wright blows out an achilles trying to stop himself from passing a loafing Jose Reyes on the base paths...his career is never the same.

JP Losman leads the Bills to a perfect 16-0 record. Unspeakably, Juron starts Trent Edwards in their first playoff game and they fall to the Tennessee Titans 24-0.

57 learns that Anna Benson is a staunch Giuliani Republican and he disowns her by early October. He then focuses his love on Barbara Streisand.

Tiger sweeps the majors and demands that they change the name of the PGA tour to the TGA tour.

Bill Parcells builds a perennial dynasty with the Miami Dolphins, led by his hand picked coach...Jumbo Elliot.

Clermens says the sky is in fact not blue, but a shade of mauve. Andy Pettitte says yes indeed the sky is mauve, but only once and only to get back quicker from an injury.

Brett Favre officially retires from announcing his retirement...states that he will play until Aaron Rogers retires.

The Dow will be 15,000 by the year's end and my portfolio will remarkably still shrink.

Joba Chambelain goes 24-4 and wins the Cy Young. A-rod goes .330; 54; 136 wins another MVP and is STILL overpayed.

Anonymous said...

I'm calling the upset...Giants over Pats. I think Osi and Strahan make a Brady sandwich early in the 1st quarter that leaves him wondering what week he's in. Kind of like Leonard Marshall sacking Joe Montana in the NFC Championship game in January 1991.

I think the Giants have a very realistic shot at beating Tampa in 2 weeks. I also think they could beat anyone of Seattle, Green Bay, and Dallas.

I think I heard/read somewhere just yesterday that Joba is going back to the pen, and Kennedy and Hughes will be the #4 and 5 guys in the rotation.

57 said...

Nice job Jim Leyritz... can't hit a homerun to get out of this mess. DWI and KILLED a 30 year old woman!! A waste!

Anonymous said...

Is it me or does the media seem to bring the negative stuff back to the Yankees. It seems like if the guy played 1 game for the Yankees and then does something awful, the highlight the show is the one as a Yankee. With Clemens, even the the McNamee relationship apparently started in Toronto, and Roger won 2 Cy Young awards there, everything was with him in pinstripes. They mention that 11 players in the Mitchell report were linked to the "championship" years, even though a lot of those guys were using before they got to NY or after they left.

With Leyritz of course they show the '96 WS HR and it's explicitly mentioned he's an ex-Yankee. Not a former Yankee, Red Sox, Angel, Ranger, Padre, and Dodger.

I guess you gotta take the good with the bad.

Anonymous said...

Lest anyone ever say that I don't bring value to this blog:

www.armchairgm.com/25_Hottest_Sports_Wives

I find it interesting that #1 and #2 were married to Yankees....and 57, check out #16

57 said...

WOW.. You see, this is REALLY why I don't like Minaya. Anna Benson is scorching... HOW IS SHE ONLY 16? She's better than Halle Berry. Although I have a thing for Candice Cameron..girl next door look.

Best list of the year, by far. Question, where is A-Rod's wife? I thought she was pretty good looking....

Marlilyn should be #1 out of respect for the Mafia.

Anonymous said...

A-Rod's wife isn't in the same league...she MAY be able to sneak into the top 50

www.theonlinewire.com/images/c-rod.jpg

57, the "Mafia" is an urban myth created by the liberal media.

Anonymous said...

Giants gave the Patriots a run but came up short. They needed to play mistake free to win and they didn't. Manning's int was big, Toomer dropped a key pass. Hopefully those injuries won't prove too costly at Tampa.

The UFC 79 was a decent card. Liddell beat Silva by decision in a slugfest. GSP submits Hughes. St.Pierre is the best welterweight in the game right now.

57 said...

I feel horrible for JUST realizing this, but the history stating that Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone is a farce AND congress has recognized that the TRUE inventor of the telephone was Italian... Antonio Meucci!! Time to re-write the history books if they have not done so already.

All praise to Meucci and Al Gore...

Anonymous said...

You know 57, my New Years resolution was going to be to try not to call you a liberal pussy in '08....but if you keep throwing this Al Gore stuff at me, all bets are off.

57 said...

Thank you Marv Levy. The 82 year old GM of the Buffalo Bills is set to step down this week and has been given the opportunity to serve as a team consultant. The Bills were possibly 2 seconds away from making the playoffs this year. Levy was responsible for cleaning house of crap, and hiring character people in Jauron and drating the future of the organization with the likes of Trent Edwards, Marshawn Lynch and Paul Pozluzny. With the amount of injuries the Bills had this year, a 7-9 record is far beyond expectations... the be honest, it should have been 9-7 with the two losses in the last second of each game. The Bills will only get better, and thanks to Levy who built this team and will most assuredly be in the playoffs next year.

Thanks for the memories, Marv.

Yanks4Life23519 said...

I know Brian Roberts admitted to using drugs and said he only did it once...but I support him 100%!

Anonymous said...

The Giants Patriots game only added more evidence to the Ravens claim that the refs are in the tank for New England.

A phantom illegal contact penalty, that kept a TD scoring drive alive. Jr. Seau starts a fist fight with Brandon Jacobs, followed by a D-Lineman sticking a finger in his eye - a no call, then Toomer gets flagged for sneezing on a guy on the sidelines. It was a bunch of crap.

NE can soak up its "perfect" 16-0 season but will lose in the playoffs if they face any of the following teams: Colts, Jags, Giants, or Redskins.

2007 the year of the *. 16-0* (*got caught cheating at the start of the season, got lots of help from biased officiating.)

57 said...

My picks:

Titans over Bolts (only if Collins is at QB, if Vince Young plays Bolts)

Skins over Seahawks
Giants over Tampa
Jags over Steelers

I know that Vince Young has led the Titans to a 10-6 record, BUT it really has been the defense... If Jeff Fisher wants to win a title, and play with a QB who has succeeded in the playoffs... he needs to play Kerry Collins.. he looked great last night... I know it was against 2nd string, but he threw a great ball and showed a lot of confidence. Vince Young will not get them past the 1st round.

Anonymous said...

Chargers
Seahawks
Giants
Steelers

There should be one name and one name only on the Bills list to replace the Fossil....and that name is Scott Pioli.

Hot new name to coach the Dolphins is Tony (the Don) Sporano; Offensive line coach of the Cowboys.

Not only will the Pats not lose, Mid, I honestly don't think they will be challenged.

16-0 Baby...how about some props? Anything else is just sour grapes.

57 said...

There is no chance that Ralph Wilson will pay the money that Scott Pioli deserves... 16-0 carries a lot of weight and a big bankroll with it.

The Bills will settle for one of two people. Russ Brandon (current Bills VP of ops) or Tom Modrak (unofficial GM of the Bills, but does not carry the title. He lives in Jacksonville, and does not want to be in Buffalo full time)... RARELY does Ralph Wilson like to go outside the organization to fill administrative positions. Tom Donahoe runined that possibility. Which reminds me, I need to send an email to Ralph Wilson today...

Anonymous said...

Giants
Seahawks
Chargers
Jags

57 said...

does anyone want to pick an upset please?

57 said...

Happy New Year! Serious 2008 picks for Champs:

MLB: Tigers
NFL: Colts
NHL: Red Wings
NBA: Celtics
NCAA D1 Basketball: Duke
NCAA D1 Football: LSU
NCAA D3 Football: Mary-Hardin Baylor
NASCAR: WHO GIVES A SHIT
PRESIDENT: Mike Huckabee (he is the only candidate that is real)

Biggest Scandal in 2008: Mit Romney sleeps with campaign finance director while watching re-runs of BIG LOVE (HBO).

Biggest Entertainment story of 2008: In November, David Chase reveals that a 'Sopranos' movie will hit the theaters in the Summer of 2010.

Biggest CHOKE in 2008: With Jessica Simpson in the 'stands', Tony Romo throws 4 picks en route to a upset at the hands of the New York Giants. It will be the biggest Dallas massacre since JFK...although Dallas fans insist they saw Britney Spears on the sideline and Simpson did not act alone.

Biggest Surprise of 2008: It is revealed that the hole in the Ozone layer has been sealed and Al Gore flips to the fact that the internet is causing the melting ice-caps, not the environment.

Biggest Yawn of 2008: OJ Simpson goes to jail and admits that he did raid the hotel room, but did so because he thought he tracked down the killers.. finally.

Biggest Annoyance of 2008: The A-Rod/Jeter soap opera that will grace the back pages in late February. Did Jeter really send A-Rod a Christmas card??

Biggest waste of Money: In December, A-Rod buys the Times Square Ball and future ball drops will be a crystalized version of his head. But it fails after four straight years of the ball never hitting the bottom at midnight..it just did not work when it mattered.

Biggest waste of Money 2: A-Rod buys Wednesday, the letter Q and the color orange.

Best New Reality Show: Celebrity Baseball.. stars try to compete for a playoff roster spot on the Yankees to replace A-Rod. Omarosa wins and hits 3 home-runs.

Biggest Speech: In his final White House Christmas, George W. Bush ends his speech by saying..."And as I go.. I have only three words to say.......Merry Christmas."

Longest Post: This one!

OUT! LATE!

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