FOXSports predicts: Yanks for wildcard

[gregg23]

http://www.sportsworldny.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=143

[ehh]

Re: FOXSports predicts: Yanks for wildcard

Eh, for the first time since 2001 I don't really fear the Red Sox. Their lineup is by far the worst it's been in years plus their pitching is filled with question marks and injury-plagued people, much like the Yankees.

Damon is gone...
Mueller is gone...
Garciaparra/Renteria isn't there anymore...
Nixon isn't superman anymore...
Millar, who had some very clutch hits for you guys at times, is gone...

Manny/Ortiz/Varitek are the only hitters I fear this year, while the last 3-4 years I feared every single guy they sent to the plate.

Plus people always rip the Yankees for having a revolving door of players and how it kills team chemistry. Well, the Red Sox thrived on team chemistry more than any team in recent history and now they have a whole crapload of new players but there isn't a peep of how it'll effect team chemistry.

I still think the Sox will finish ahead of the Jays, but I think the Yanks will win the division by double digit games this year. The only way we won't win the AL East this year is if Mo just collapses and goes straight downhill.



But I'm just a homer.

[dieselboy]

Re: FOXSports predicts: Yanks for wildcard

Yanks should have that division no problem.

I don't even think the Wild Card will come out of the East.

[Beantown]

Re: FOXSports predicts: Yanks for wildcard

Eh, for the first time since 2001 I don't really fear the Red Sox. Their lineup is by far the worst it's been in years plus their pitching is filled with question marks and injury-plagued people, much like the Yankees.

Damon is gone...
Mueller is gone...
Garciaparra/Renteria isn't there anymore...
Nixon isn't superman anymore...
Millar, who had some very clutch hits for you guys at times, is gone...

Manny/Ortiz/Varitek are the only hitters I fear this year, while the last 3-4 years I feared every single guy they sent to the plate.

Plus people always rip the Yankees for having a revolving door of players and how it kills team chemistry. Well, the Red Sox thrived on team chemistry more than any team in recent history and now they have a whole crapload of new players but there isn't a peep of how it'll effect team chemistry.

I still think the Sox will finish ahead of the Jays, but I think the Yanks will win the division by double digit games this year. The only way we won't win the AL East this year is if Mo just collapses and goes straight downhill.



But I'm just a homer.

Renteria had like...2 weeks where he got most of his good stats...and was a HUGE liability on defense, so that could be addition by subtraction(defensively...altough A-Gon could potentially provide from the 9-spot)...Loretta is better than Bellhorn/Any 2B we had last year...Muller and Damon are really the only two guys we'll miss.

And I may be a homer...but if both rotations are healthy, I'll take the Sox' over the Yankees.

But, I'm just a homer.

[NYJets]

Re: FOXSports predicts: Yanks for wildcard

If Curt Schilling is healthy, I think Boston will be better than last year. I think Beckett and Crisp will both have big years. I don't think losing Renteria will hurt at all, and Lowell could bounce back and be a solid player.

I also think the Yankees will be better though, so I expect it to be Yankees win the division, Red Sox wildcard again.

[TheGenius]

Re: FOXSports predicts: Yanks for wildcard

Damon is gone...
Mueller is gone...
Garciaparra/Renteria isn't there anymore...
Nixon isn't superman anymore...
Millar, who had some very clutch hits for you guys at times, is gone...

Manny/Ortiz/Varitek are the only hitters I fear this year, while the last 3-4 years I feared every single guy they sent to the plate.

Plus people always rip the Yankees for having a revolving door of players and how it kills team chemistry. Well, the Red Sox thrived on team chemistry more than any team in recent history and now they have a whole crapload of new players but there isn't a peep of how it'll effect team chemistry.

The only one that really hurts on this list is Mueller. Damon is getting old and has a very subpar throwing arm and has had some questions about eye sight, especially in domes. Crisp is on the upswing of his career while Damon was entering the downswing. Garciaparra/Renteria combined for a couple terrible years in the past two years. Rent was just awful in the field, although he did have a decent stick for part of the year. Nixon has missed most of the past two years with injuries, he hasn't been "superman" for quite a while. Millar was terrible last year, John Freakin' Olerud was a huge improvement offensively over him. That's saying something.

The Sox enter the year with 7 starting pitchers, so if one or even two of the five rotation members falter, they have backup. The bullpen has some question marks with Foulke, but they have 4 or 5 quality setup men now, and with two of those seven guys not starting two more bullpen spots filled in.

I just don't see how people say the Yanks will run away with the division this year. It'll be competitive, like it always is.

[Stu]

Re: FOXSports predicts: Yanks for wildcard

IMO the division comes down to Schilling and Beckett vs Johnson and Mussina. Both teams are solid across the board but have big question marks at the top of their rotations.

[SPTO]

Re: FOXSports predicts: Yanks for wildcard

I say



FEAR THE BLUE JAYS!!!!

[Vince]

Re: FOXSports predicts: Yanks for wildcard

Yanks should have that division no problem.

I don't even think the Wild Card will come out of the East.

Seems like people have been saying that for years now and yet they have struggled a lot the past two seasons.


Their pitching is old, as are some of their position players.

[RoyalBoyle78]

Re: FOXSports predicts: Yanks for wildcard

I don't think the Yanks are a Lock at all to win the East. There pitching is in question and will continue to be, just like my Mets. Yeah they will have a great offense, but you need good pitching to Win, and the Yanks just haven't had that the Last few years, and it SHows.

[Stu]

Re: FOXSports predicts: Yanks for wildcard

Seems like people have been saying that for years now and yet they have struggled a lot the past two seasons.

Struggled? I hate the Yankees as much as the next guy but they've won (or tied) the division for 8 years in a row.

[Vince]

Re: FOXSports predicts: Yanks for wildcard

Struggled? I hate the Yankees as much as the next guy but they've won (or tied) the division for 8 years in a row.

They struggled the past two seasons. They had some terrible starts and last season during the summer period of the season, it looked as if they were not going to make the playoffs. Remember, they were sending out trash pitchers on the mound and getting roughed up quite badly.

What I'm saying is that they certainly aren't invinceable. And they haven't ran away with anything in a while.

[SPTO]

Re: FOXSports predicts: Yanks for wildcard

If the Yanks didn't have herculean efforts from unproven youngsters, never wases and old fogeys on the pitching staff then they wouldn't have made the playoffs let alone win the division last year.

The Yanks have a solid offense but the starting pitching is a huge question mark.

[Stoud]

Re: FOXSports predicts: Yanks for wildcard

Yanks for Wildcard? It could happen. So could Roger Clemens signing with the Rangers midseason and taking them to the Wildcard. So could the Jays. So could...

well...you get the point...any number of things could happen. I think this is the first Yanks team that I don't have much of a problem with in quite a while, but I'm sure as hell not going to give them the division, or even the wildcard, without question.

[rsox]

Re: FOXSports predicts: Yanks for wildcard

When the Yankees take the field on opening day they will field the oldest starting lineup in the American League and Second oldest lineup in Baseball (Giants). Robinson Cano is the only starting player under 30 (23) and Andy Phillips is the youngest player expected to be on the Yankees bench (28), their youngest Pitcher is Chien-Ming Wang (25) and he has to compete for a spot on the team. The Yankees are an old team and age has a way of catching up with you, ask the Giants. The Giants saw most of their aging players spend parts of last season on the DL, the Yankees already have had Sheffield and Matsui miss workouts and Carl Pavano may start the year on the shelf.

Much of the Red Sox success does rest on the ankle of Curt Schilling, but the as has been pointed out the Sox have some depth in their rotation, they also have some youth which could play a big part for them, especially in september.

The Yankees and Red Sox have to hope the old saying "youth is wasted on the young" is true because the Toronto Blue Jays have a relatively young team that could challenge the old timers. the oldest player on the Blue Jays roster is Pete Walker (36), they have only one starting pitcher over 30 (Ted Lilly) and Shea Hillenbrand and Bengie Molina are the only every day players over 30. The X-factor in all of this is Roy Halladay, if Halladay is healthy the Jays stand a chance of competing for the long haul, if not, then it will be another long season for Jays fans.

The Red Sox may once again be Lemmon to the Yankees Matthau. But in the end the division will come down who has the Grumpier Old Men.