Half Time

Let's face it - it could be worse.

If at the start of the season someone were to tell you: here is going to be the injury situation but you'll still be entering the break 18 games above .500 pacing for 106 wins - I think most would take it. And so will I. Despite flaws - a very, very good first half the year.

Looking forward: Cano has been given an opportunity to shine and show he can be the lead guy not just a good supportive one with A-Rod going under the knife. If he is to be the player we've seen glimpses of, now is the time to show it . . . Starting pitching is the only true "IF" right now. Hughes needs to improve big time in his next outing, and while Colon and Garcia have done their job to date, not sure I trust them yet down the stretch which leads to me to thinking the Yanks will do a deal for a starter.

Sabathia will finish with 25 wins - I did not realize he's on a scoreless streak of 23 innings until yesterday's complete game gem.

Jeter will finish with 10 HRs and a .310 avg.

Despite the winning I will believe in their championship abilities when they can show that they can beat the Sox.
----------------------
Reflection on Jeter's 3,000 Hits: There was a time when I thought Jeter had a chance to break or at least challenge Pete Rose's hit record. While it seems unlikely now, I'm still holding out hope depending on how he finishes this season - I have a feeling he's going to rip it up the 2nd half. If he does do that, then I'll still believe there's a chance to do it. If he doesn't, and he muddles around offensively, I think he'll retire in 2 seasons.

When looking at the 3,000 Hit Club, I am of the opinion that Hank Aaron might be the least appreciated baseball player of all time. Take away his HRs, and he still has 3,000 hits - unbelievable.

Around the Horn

Chien-Ming Wang started a AA game in the Nats system. 5 innings of work, no runs, no walks - hope he can make it back . . . or at least to AAA so I can see him play.

A look at a few former Yankees: Tyler Clippard remember his debut?? He made the All-Star game, good for him. And my boy Jeff Karstens is top 5 in ERA . . hmmmm maybe that's who the Yanks will do a deal for. .. .

Done Deal - Now Let's Move On

In terms of my least favorite, over commented on sports stories of the year, I'm going to place Jeter's contract negotiations just behind the Favre Retirement Saga.

3 years at $51mm is not as outrageous as it could have been - but it is still too much. I do not believe in the "bigger than the numbers" argument. His sub .200 batting average in the ALCS didn't any better or bigger than anyone else's sub .200. In baseball - you are what your numbers say you are.

Anyway - glad it is behind us, time to move on.

---------------
Misc.

Mo for two years is a steal.

Hot Stove says Joba is on the block. Maybe we can trade him for Ian Kennedy or Phil Coke.

A serious upgrade is needed in the outfield.

Red Sox are the obvious favorites (or are they see below) to win the East with their Signing of Gonzalez.

My surprising favorite to win the East or Wild Card will be Baltimore - they had the best record post All-Star game, and Buck Showalter knows how to run a club.

Could it happen???

The San Francisco Giants have made it public that they are in contact with Derek Jeter's agent.

No one really believes that Jeter would go anywhere other than the Yanks right? But crazyier things have happened - and here's my case for a deal:

1) Jeter is losing the PR battle with his purpoted $$$ demands

2) San Fran is a defending World Series Champ, and they have an opening at SS

3) They are managed by a highly respected, Torre'esque manager in Bruce Bochy who has been to WS multiple times, with multiple teams

4) Minka Kelly resides in the West Coast for the majority of the year

5) This would be his ultimate payback to Cashman and the Steinbrenners for firing Torre

So - what do you think? Am I crazy or is it so crazy that it is sane??? (apologies to Kramer)

-------------------------------

Other Thoughts:

Ron Washington should have won manager of the year. The Twins manager did what he's always done, nothing special - the Rangers had their special season, and Washington should have been rewarded as such.

I feel bad for the Bills. And while the G-Men are my blood - I'm starting to gain respect for how scrappy this team is playing, and I love the bluce collar fight in the QB Fitzpatrick.

Yanks should sign Rivera to a life time deal. 1 year base, incentive laden, with annual renew in perpetuity

The 2nd Season Begins

What can be said about the regular season that we haven't already? In review:

Regular Season Grade: B+. Made the playoffs, didn't win the division, tied for best record in baseball.

I did not see anything to change my mind during the season that getting rid of Austin Jackson, Phil Coke, Ian Kennedy, Nady, Johnny Damon or Matsui was a mistake.

I also did not like how the team couldn't close down the stretch. They had ample opportunity to wrap up the division and home field advantage but lost two very winnable series in a row.


Post Season: Love the matchups in the NL - it'll probably be better baseball to watch than the AL series. Really glad to see the Reds back in the mix.

It has been a given that the AL East was the toughest division - yet neither the Rays or the Yanks showed a champions grit down the stretch. I think both the Twins and the Rangers have been playing better ball and could very easily find themselves in the ALCS.

The next 3 to 5 games would be the perfect time for Jeter to show why he's Jeter, and erase the worst regular season of his career.

I like Wood and Chamberlain as the bridge to Mo.

That's it - let's see where the chips fall!!

MVP Award Tarnished?

As the MVP chatter around Jeter's season has been increasing, I decided to take a look at his career stats to see how this season is comparing to others.

Lot's of consistency (.300 avg. 200 plus hits per is a given), with the occasional great season mixed in. Like in 1999:

Avg: .349 HRs: 24 RBIs: 102 OBP: .438

Which made me wonder, if that wasn't good enough to win the AL MVP that season who did win it? - Pudge Rodriguez.

Given the dramatic change in Pudge's physiology over the seasons I thought - what a crock of _ _ _ _.

Here's a listing of the past AL MVP's since Jeter became the Yanks full time SS.

2008	Dustin Pedroia	Boston	2B
2007	Alex Rodriguez	New York	3B
2006	Justin Morneau	Minnesota	1B
2005	Alex Rodriguez	New York	3B
2004	Vladimir Guerrero	Anaheim	RF
2003	Alex Rodriguez	Texas	SS
2002	Miguel Tejada	Oakland	SS
2001	Ichiro Suzuki	Seattle	RF
2000	Jason Giambi	Oakland	1B
1999	Ivan Rodriguez	Texas	C
1998	Juan Gonzalez	Texas	OF
1997	Ken Griffey, Jr.	Seattle	OF
1996	Juan Gonzalez	Texas	OF

By my count, 8 of the past 13 winners have been tarnished by the use, or suspected use of PEDs. Griffey, Ichiro, Vlad, Morneau and Pedroia I believe are clean (right?). What a shame.

How many voters look at this list and regret their votes?

What I think you're going to see happen (at least until the '03 anon. list is released vs. leaked one name at a time), the MVP award is going to take a shift from a power number centric award - to an award that showcases players that play the game the "right way". So you're going to see a tilt, or bias by the voters to players who look like a Morneau, Ichiro, Pedroia, and yes, Jeter until the PEDs clouds has been permanently lifted.

With all that said, as of now, the MVP race is between Mauer and Jeter with a slight edge to Mauer (anti-Yankee bias plus sympathy votes for a catcher).

No more PED'ers for MVP.


.

Day 1 - Game 1

Opening day has arrived (even though we have the threat of it being ppd due to rain) - and so it begins with the same question I've been asking every April since the decade started - is this the year of 27?

There are a lot of positives heading into this season - about the only thing I am uncomfortable with would be the bullpen. I wish Sanchez would have been ready to go, and at this point, I'm still a believer that Joba belongs in the pen - but why bring that argument up again. Time will tell - regardless, outside of Karstens, Joba will likely turn out to be the best No. 5 starter in the league (C'mon you didn't think I was going to pass up an opening day post without mentioning my man did you!!)

I think the Yanks will win 100 plus games this season - and yes, I think (again) it is the year of 27.

While much focus on the AL East has been on the Rays, Sox, and Yanks - the team that has a chance to surprise are the Jays in my opinion. Not because of any player they have on their roster - but because of who their manager is - Simply put, Cito knows how to win.


Misc. Things I want to see in '09: Griffey go out with a bang, Pujols win the triple crown, Torre beating the Mets in the NLCS, Cincy to win the NL Central, KC to make the Wild Card, Karstens to win 20, Jeter to hit .340, Rivera to save 50, Tex to hit .300 and 35, Wang to win 24, Sabathia and AJ to win 19 each, and the Yanks to start the stadium off with a WS Championship.

Murphy's Law: Pavano wins the CY Young.


Anyway - baseball is back, and not a moment too soon.

.

Hughes Heads For SWB

I don't think it is too surprising that Hughes was reassigned to SWB. He had a good spring - we'll see him again when the inevitable arm is needed due to injury.

For me, the most disappointing Spring thus far has been Humberto Sanchez. He didn't throw much due to soreness (not an injury), and now finds himself starting the year in Trenton. When you can't play because of "soreness" - you are saying you can't play because you weren't in shape.

Igawa has thrown 12 scoreless innings. I can't help it, I just cringe at the thought of him running onto the field from the bullpen at a key moment in a game.


The WBC has been pretty good ball - U.S.A in the Semi's against formidable Japan - the story had to compete for time on Sportscenter with Klitschko knocking out some game named Mo in Germany - is baseball still America's game?

WBC - The Good and Bad

The WBC is imperfect but is a net positive, and certainly more entertaining than pre-season baseball.

The Bad - the DR's loss to the Netherlands is only going to fuel the increasingly accurate stereotype that players from that island have a lot of talent - but low on desire and work ethic.

The Good - enthusiastic crowds. The crowd for the Cananada v. USA game at the Sky Dome was probably the biggest it had seen in several years for a game - and would dare say they were playoff lively. The Asian games have a lot of enthusiasm in them as well. Bernie Williams had a walk in PR's win on Saturday.

The USA lineup is hard not to watch. David Wright, Chipper Jones, Jeter, Youkilis, Rollins, Pedroia to name a few. It is a good team - and hope they beat the living hell out of the field.

The DVR is set, and plan on watching a bit more of these games.
-----------------------

Bombers Bits:

A-Rod to have surgery and will be out for at least two months. Probably won't be ready to join the club until late May or June. This could be a blessing in disguise. Perhaps this can be an opening for Cano to become a Yankee. With A-Rod out, it may mean a higher profile spot in the lineup for him, and if he can pick up some of the slack as a result of A-Rod being out, he can show us that he is ready to be a dependable MLBer and championship quality player.

I happened to catch both games Wang has thrown in so far. He appears to be the Wang that we knew before his season ending injury. . . at least that's what the 3 innings I saw would suggest.

Aceves appears to throwing just as good as he was last year. If Joba doesn't get his control down, perhaps he could be inserted as the #5 and Joba back to the pen - any odds takers on that?

15 Questions

1. Will Melkey or Gardner be the CF?
2. Is Xavier Nady the odd man out?
3. Will Wang be able to bounce back from his injury shortened season?
4. Will Posada be able to bound back from his injury shortened season?
5. How well will Bernie Williams do in the WBC?
6. Will Robinson Cano put forth the effort for the entire season that we saw toward the end of last season?
7. What will Jeter's season look like?
8. Can we expect Tex to give us 30 HRs, .300, and 100 RBIs?
9. How well will CC and AJ do with the burden of playing in NY and a prime time contract?
   
10. Will Damon or Matsui surprise on the upside?
11. How well and how many starts can we expect from Joba?
12. How much will we see of Phil Hughes?
13. Will the new stadium be a distraction or the ultimate in home field advantage?
14. Will Mo continue to be Mo?
15. Can A-Rod put this behind him and finally carry this team to the promise land?
    

Update

Anyone else notice that Kei Igawa was not on the active 40-man roster? Another year in SWB for him - another few million down the drain for the club. Memo To GM: stay away from pitchers in Japan!

Our bullpen has potential: Bruney, Coke, Marte, Sanchez, Ramirez, Robertson and Veras.

There's a handful of names on the roster that I've never heard of before: Claggett, De La Rosa, and Hacker.


Anybody have an idea what these guys can offer?



Yankee Fact:

- The oldest Yankee with 200 hits in a season was Lou Gehrig at the age of 34.

With just over 2,500 hits to his credit, and at age 34, I sometimes wonder if Jeter has a shot at the all-time hits record. He averages 207 per season (last season he had 179). Which means to get there, he'd have to continue that level of output for the next 8 1/2 seasons and at which time he'd be 42 . - Not likely . . . (but still possible I guess)