2009 MLB Predictions

Well, it’s that time of year again. I do this every year and I’m always wrong, but I won’t let that stop me.

American League

American League East: Yankees. Yeah, big surprise for me, right? But our starting pitching is (on paper) so much better this year. I really don’t think Tampa will repeat as AL East champs. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t make the play-offs. I think they will take a step back. Their starting rotation had virtually no hiccups last year. I don’t see that happening again.

American League Central: Twins. They almost did it last year, only losing to the White Sox 1-0 in a one game heart-breaker. They’re a young, athletic team and they are well managed. The Tigers are all messed up, and their pitching that looked so strong in ’06 has mysteriously been shot to hell. The Indians seem to be regressing and the White Sox, I don’t even understand how they win at all – they’re very Yankee-like, in a bad way. Old veterans, and not athletic.

American League West: Angels. They’re not going to win a hundred games, and their pitching is all banged up, but their division is so bad, they should win again anyway. Maybe Texas can slug their way to the top, but I doubt it.

AL Wildcard: Tough one. The Wildcard will come out of the East. I hate Boston, so I’ll pick Tampa.



National League

National League East: Phillies. I don’t like the Mets’ rotation, outside of Santana. The fact that Livan Hernandez, who gives up a TON of runs, is their fifth starter, is scary. I also think Citi Field is going to be a problem. It looks to be a very deep park, a pitchers’ park, and they will need young, highly athletic outfielders to keep singles from becoming triples. It could be a nightmare, though Reyes may steal 70 bases in that park.

National League Central: Cubs. I would like to pick a team other than the Cubs, since I feel they will not be as dominant in their division this year, but honestly, what other team has the pitching? Not Houston. Not the Cardinals. Perhaps the Reds, if Volquez, Cueto and Harang pitch up to form, but that never seems to happen for the Reds. The Brewers lost Sheets and Sabathia, so we won’t be hearing from them again, which is a shame, since they’re a fun team to watch.

National League West: Diamondbacks. This is the WORST division in baseball. God-awful. So much so that I think any team BUT the Padres can win it. However, I don’t think the Dodgers will repeat, since their pitching hasn’t improved. I think the Giants will be better than last year, and will contend. The Rockies are a nice team, but I just don’t see the pitching.

NL Wildcard: Another tough one. Again, I think the wildcard will come out of the East. I say the improved Braves will battle the Mets for this, and I think the Mets will fall short again.


ALCS: Yankees vs. Twins: Yankees prevail.

NLCS: Phillies vs. Cubs. Phillies prevail.

World Series: Yankees vs. Phillies. Yanks win.

AL Cy Young: Felix Hernandez
NL Cy Young: Cole Hamels

AL MVP: Grady Sizemore
NL MVP: Hanley Ramirez

My baseball wishes for today

My baseball wishes for today, the final day of the season.

Since my Yankees are out of it, I wish the most pain on everyone:

• I hope the Mets lose today and the Brewers also lose, forcing a one-game playoff on Monday, which Pedro will start. And I hope he gets shelled.

• I hope the Twins and the White Sox both lose today, forcing the White Sox to play a makeup game on Monday vs. the Tigers. I want the Sox to win that game, which will force a one-game playoff on Tuesday, which I want the Twins to win.

• I want the Angels to sweep the Red Sox.

• I want the Rays to defeat the Twins.

• I want the Rays to defeat the Angels in seven games and Kazmir to throw his arm out, requiring Tommy John surgery, killing his 2009 season.

• In the NL, I want the Dodgers to defeat the Cubs, extending their misery to 101 years. I want Manny to blow out his ACL, requiring surgery in the off-season.

• I want the Brewers to sweep the Phillies as a reminder that this 100 year-old team has only one championship under its belt.

• I want the Brewers to defeat the Dodgers in five games. I want the Brewers to come in to the World Series rested while the Rays come in banged up. I want the Brewers to take the Rays in seven sloppy, horribly pitched games that generate an all-time low in ratings for Fox. Questions will be raised about the ability of both Sheets and Sabathia to come through in post season play.

Have a great day, everyone!

2008 Baseball Predictions

Here are my predictions for the 2008 season:

AL East: Yankees (Everyone is picking Boston, but outside of Beckett, you have Dice-K who is hittable and two rookies, one of whom had cancer. You can’t tell me Boston fans feel confident about that. As for the Yanks, I expect Wang to win 17-20 games, Andy to win 15 and Mussina to win 11 and we’ll get at least ten each from Hughes and Kennedy. The bats are enough to win the rest. And remember – the Yankees won 94 games last year after a historically shitty start. The Red Sox only won two more games. I’m picking the Yankees to go 95-67.)

AL Central: Indians (The Tigers lineup is awesome, but it was awesome last year – and Cleveland handled their candy asses with a team that’s inferior on paper. I don’t expect Dontrelle to do shit against AL hitters, so the Tigers’ rotation is suspect after Verlander.)

AL West: Angels (Everyone is picking Seattle, but Seattle was streaky as hell last year – win 8, lose 5 in a row, etc.)

Wild Card: Tigers (Yes, I’m once again picking Boston not to make the playoffs.)

ALCS: Yankees over Tigers

AL Surprise Team: KC Royals. They’re tough on the Tigers, of all teams, which is a great boon for the Indians.

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NL East: Phillies (Like the Yankees and Tigers, I think the Phillies can slug their way through the season. Their pitching is nothing after Hamels, though and they have bullpen concerns, like most teams.)

NL Central: Cubs (It’s hard not to pick the Cubs, but they should’ve won going away last year and the Brewers were in the mix until the end. The Cubs seriously underwhelm me, but the NL Central is piss poor in talent. Houston, Pittsburgh and St. Louis are going nowhere. I feel the Brewers will take a step back, and the Reds? Where’s the pitching? They have Harang and... I guess that all.)

NL West: Diamondbacks (I would like to pick the Rockies, but I think their shot was last year. How can they repeat that magic? And they lost one of their starters. I do think this a race that will go down to the wire, however. The Giants will come in dead last with the Padres slightly better. I feel the Dodgers will improve under Torre, but will not contend this year.)

NL Wild Card: Mets (With Santana they will improve, but there are so many people on that team that you KNOW will spend significant time on the DL – Pedro, El Duque, Alou, Beltran, Delgado. Willie will be fired this year, I’m sure.)

NL Surprise Team: The Nationals. I see them winning 80+ games and becoming like the Blue Jays are in the AL East – tough, but in an unforgiving division with superior teams.

NLCS: Cubs over Mets

World Series: Yankees over Cubs

AL MVP: A-Rod (with Robinson Cano, Manny Ramirez and Alex Rios in the mix)

AL Cy Young: Roy Halladay

NL MVP: Prince Fielder (with Hanley Ramirez in the mix)

NL Cy Young: Johan Santana

Rockies Continue to Roll

Colorado Rockies' Kazuo Matsui, right, is sprayed with champagne by pitcher Franklin Morales after the Rockies beat the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 3 of a National League Division Series playoff baseball game on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2007 at Coors Field in Denver. The Rockies sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies advanced them to the National League Championship. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

Unbelievable. The Rockies have lost like one game in the last two and a half weeks.

Although it's interesting to see new blood in the League Championship series, you gotta assume that the brass at TBS will be looking at some seriously poor ratings as the D-backs and Rockies, expansion teams from the 90's, fight it out to decide who represents the NL in the World Series. They had to have been praying for a Phillies/Cubs match up that would draw on large established fan bases.

As for this afternoon's Red Sox/Angels game, it would be nice if the Angels won one game, but I doubt it.

As for the Yankees, I don't care if we win or lose. I dreamt that we got blown out early and lost by the same score that the Mets lost by last week -- 8-1. If we win, I'll be ecstatic of course, but we don't deserve to win. Torre is incapable of thinking outside the box in the playoffs. It's not his nature. He did it last year when he stuck Sheffield and Matsui, both coming off of hand surgeries, in the postseason lineup and killed the chemistry established by Melky. He's done it again in this series by starting ailing Matsui at DH for two games when we have a healthy Shelly Duncan and a healthy Jason Giambi on the bench. Both of those players came off the bench and got hits and Matsui hasn't sniffed one yet.

I don't want to hear anything about A-Rod. He's not the problem. He's hitless, but so are Posada and Matsui. Jeter, Cano and Melky are all hitting under .200. The only one doing anything is Bobby Abreu! He may have saved his job here.

The Unkindest Kaz of All

Colorado Rockies batter Kazuo Matsui hits a grand slam in the fourth inning in Game 2 of their MLB National League Division Series playoff baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies in Philadelphia, October 4, 2007. REUTERS/Tim Shaffer (UNITED STATES)

Don't look now, but little ole Kaz Matsui, who was run out of town by the Mets, has 5 RBI today against the Phillies, including a Grand Slam!!

Rockies are kicking the Phillies asses, 10-4 in the 7th.

Looks bad for the Phillies, though J-Roll and Ryan Howard both have homered in the game.

Mr. Met Goes Home

ROFL!

Not So Amazing

Philadelphia Phillies' Jimmy Rollins points skyward after hitting a triple in the first inning of a baseball game with the Washington Nationals, Sunday, Sept. 30, 2007, in Philadelphia. The Phillies won 6-1 taking the Eastern Division Championship.(AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

Well, the greatest collapse in regular season history now belongs to the Mets. The game was over in the top of the first, as Glavine only recorded one out and gave up a whopping 7 earned runs. If not for a wild pitch by Dontrelle Willis, the Mets would've been shut out.

There will be some riveting radio tonight (and for months to come, I expect) about what went wrong with the Mets, whose fault this is and what should be done for next year. There'll be a lot of talk about firing Willie Randolph. This collapse isn't his fault. If you have a bullpen that can't hold a 5-run lead, what are you supposed to do? Every single pitcher in that pen went south in September. No one could be trusted.

If you have starting pitchers and position players in their 40's, how much can you expect from them? This is not unlike what the Yankees went through, but they had young arms in the minors that were able to rescue the club. This looks more like a GM issue, but even there it's not clear how much Omar Minaya could do, especially mid-season when it was clear that they needed pitching help, but so did every other team.

As for the one-game tie-breaker tomorrow for the NL Wildcard, I'm picking the Rockies. They are tough at Coors Field (they swept both the Mets and Yankees there in June/July) and they're a better offensive team than the Padres.

Man Up!

Florida Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez (L), New York Mets Jose Reyes (2nd L), third base coach Sandy Alomar, Marlins third baseman Miguel Cabrera, Dan Uggla (2nd R) and Miguel Olivo (R) scuffle on the field in the fifth inning of their MLB National League baseball game at Shea Stadium in New York September 29, 2007. (Jeff Zelevansky/Reuters)

It took a near no-hitter to do it, (and two brawls) but the Mets managed to live another day as they blanked the Marlins and the Phillies fell to the pesky Nats.

I smell a tie-breaker on Monday. I hope it goes down to that. Hell, I'm hoping for a four-way tie so there's a double elimination scenario -- Met vs. Phillies and Rockies vs. Padres on Monday with the loser of Mets/Philles playing the winner of Roclies/Padres on Tuesday.

I'd like the Phillies to take the East and the Mets to win the Wildcard to set up a HUGE seven game NLCS if they both get past the first round.

BTW, seemingly forgotten in the Mets 13-0 blowout of the Marlins was the fact that in the 3rd inning before Milledge's second homer, Jose Reyes stood at the plate and watched a pop up, failed to run to first, and was called out. With their fucking season on the line! What's in his head? It was only the third inning and the Marlins have already showed in the last ten days that they're perfectly capable of putting a ten-spot on the board.

Unbelievable!

Have we settled the "who's the best shortstop in New York" question yet? Jeter would pull that shit. Hell, what about who's the best shortstop in the NL question, for that matter? Jimmy Rollins wouldn't have done that. They booed Reyes' ass the next time up, and rightly so. In the instant poll the broadcasters set up, 80% of the viewers said Randolph should've benched him. That wasn't going to happen, of course.

Meet The Mess

New York Mets catcher Paul Lo Duca hangs his head in the dugout after after the Mets lost 3-0 to the St. Louis Cardinals in a baseball game, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2007, at Shea Stadium in New York. (AP Photo/Ed Betz)

The Mets (87-72) were ahead by seven games with 17 remaining but have lost 10 of 14 overall and seven straight at home. No major league team has failed to finish first after having at least a seven-game lead with 17 to play.

Whoa! Shit is hitting the fan in Queens.

I can't believe this team is underachieving like this. Actually, the Mets are not unlike the Yankees, but unfortunately for them, they've chosen to bite the big one at the end of the season, not at the beginning.

Metstradamus, who writes a very entertaining Mets blog has been chronicling the agony:

Hope? Not for me. We're done. I'll pray I'm proven wrong. It will be futile. Any team that lets a first inning error by their second baseman, and a journeyman pitcher who was picked up off the scrap heap by a team that's out of the money dictate their night is exhibiting the classic signs of a team that is playing nervous, scared, whatever you want to call it. I'll go so far to say that if you used the C-word in this instance, you wouldn't be wrong. And any fan base that sings the "Jose Jose Jose" like it was a funeral march knows exactly what's going on.

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Unlike him, I think they'll be fine. It'll probably come down to a one-game tie-breaker on Monday, but they'll be fine.

On another note, I have to say I'm very impressed with the Phillies. Such heart! And the Rockies have won 11 in a row. How. HOW??

Baseball Season 2007: Predictions

I’m starting my baseball season podcast (hopefully) this Sunday, but I felt I needed to put out my predictions ahead of time.

American League

East: Yankees

Central: Tigers

West: Angels

Wild Card: White Sox

National League

East: Mets

Central: Cubs

West: Dodgers

Wild Card: Phillies

Division Series Matchups

American League

Yankees vs. White Sox

Angels vs. Tigers

National League

Mets vs. Dodgers

Cubs vs. Phillies

League Championship Series Matchups

American League

Yankees vs. Tigers

National League

Mets vs. Cubs

World Series

Yankees vs. Mets

World Champs

Yankees (What did you think I’d say??)

Surprise Team of 2007

Milwaukee Brewers. I think they’ll flirt with the Wild Card all year. I’m also pretty confident that Atlanta isn’t going to be a cellar dweller this year.

Shea It Ain't So

From the Daily News:

For an estimated $20 million a year, banking giant Citigroup got a 20-year deal that will put its name on Citi Field, the 45,000-capacity ballpark now being built just east of the 42-year-old Shea Stadium.

But the main entrance, modeled on the one in Brooklyn's old Ebbets Field, will be called the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, it was announced at yesterday's gathering.

Okay, first of all, "Citi Field"? How long before they call it "Shitty Field"? I hate these corporate names for ball parks. How am I supposed to remember who plays where when the name of the team isn't even in the name of the park?

Second, that's a nice gesture for the memory of Jackie Robinson and all, but excuse me, he played for the Dodgers, right? Shouldn't they honor him? The Mets don't have a Met that they could honor?

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Congratulations!

Kudos to my man Willie Randolph, whose Mets clinched their first divisional title since 1988 last night. I hope those execs in Pittsburgh and Philly who only interviewed you for show and didn’t want to give you a managerial job feel stupid now about their shortsightedness. Oh, and the northern rednecks that were calling WFAN all winter and openly bitching about the influx of Latin players brought in by Omar Minaya, don’t you feel like asses now? Would you still prefer a team with over-the-hill Al Leiter and John Franco?

Willie, I hope to see your team meet my team on the field of battle on October 21st.

But I don’t want you to win. :D

Lastings Milledge: Potential Pied Piper of Baseball?

The media is really bigging-up this prospect for the Mets, Lastings Milledge, who was brought up to replace Xavier Nady, who was placed on the disabled list after an emergency appendectomy.

Check out the ginormous crucifix homeboy was sporting. I guess you need to ward off the undead at Shea. ;)

All kidding aside, although this kid is reported to have great talent and the Mets need to continue this trend towards using younger players, Milledge has some nastiness in his background:

When the Mets drafted Milledge in 2003, they knew he had some problem at school, something about getting in trouble for having sex with his 15-year-old girlfriend. Milledge was expelled from Northside Christian School in St.Petersburg, Fla., and agreed to enroll in a juvenile arbitration program to avoid prosecution. The baggage was enough to scare off several teams, and Milledge, projected as one of the top three picks in the draft, fell to No. 12.

Soon after Milledge was drafted, the Daily News reported that he had been accused of having sex not only with his girlfriend, but with 12- and 13-year-old girls as well. For that reportedly consensual sex, he and the girls were expelled from Northside.

Milledge and his parents, who met with a Daily News reporter three years ago to discuss the allegations, denied he had sex with the younger girls. But a source with the Pinellas County State's Attorney's office, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told The News at the time that if Milledge had not agreed to the arbitration program - with the approval of the girls' parents - he would have been prosecuted as a juvenile for molestation.

Obviously he was a teen at the time and the girls were teens (sort of), but red flags are going up. He could be the future R Kelly of baseball. Not good.

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El Duque

Have I mentioned to you that baby Orlando is named after MLB pitcher El Duque?

I’m happy to see that Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez is back in New York, even though he’s pitching for the wrong team. El Duque gave up three runs on five hits and three walks while striking out seven in hit debut with the Mets on Sunday. Not bad.

And as we all know, as the weather gets hotter, so does he.

Keith Hernandez

I was up late Saturday night with the baby, and as I often do when the Yankees aren't on, I was watching the Mets game.

The Mets announcers frankly suck. Don't get me wrong -- most baseball announcers suck. The Yankees announcers have their own set of problems. First of all, there are too many of them (about eight at last count). They also have a tendency to be smug (Michael Kay) or amateurs (Dave Justice, John Flaherty, etc.).

But back to the Mets. Their announcers tend to be depressing or negative and the team really isn't bad enough to merit that. This is not Tampa Bay or Kansas City. This is a big market team with some exciting young rookies and they're probably going to make the playoffs -- so lighten up already.

Keith Hernandez in particular never misses an opportunity to point out how the current players can't play the game or to say something generally obnoxious. On Saturday he went the "generally obnoxious" route. Mike Piazza, now with the Padres, hit a homerun. Mike goes into the dugout where he's congratulated by the other players and team personnel, one of whom happened to be a woman.

Well, Keith wasn't havin' none of that.

"There's a GIRL in the dugout! There aren't supposed to be any GIRLS in the dugout!"

He was quickly informed that the "girl" was a massage therapist (no, not that kind) and part of the training staff for the Padres. She had every right to be there.

Well, Keith wasn't havin' none of that. He drops this gem:

"I'm not saying girls should be in the kitchen, but they shouldn't be in the dugout."

What a dick. And he continued to repeat variations of this statement throughout the rest of the game.

It especially bothers me that someone of Spanish descent would say something stupid like that, but I guess sexist machismo runs deep. What if someone said, "I'm not saying that Latinos should be picking lettuce, but they shouldn't be in the broadcast booth."

That would be wrong, right?

Gooden arrested again

From Newsday:

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) _ Former New York Mets and Yankees pitcher Dwight Gooden was arrested Tuesday on charges of violating the terms of his probation. The 41-year-old pleaded guilty in November to speeding away from police after a DUI traffic stop in August 2005 and was sentenced to three years probation. On Tuesday he went to a regular meeting with a probation officer and admitted using cocaine, said Jo Ellyn Rackleff, a spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections.

I remember when Dwight was considered "clean cut." Now neither he nor Strawberry can stay clean.

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