- Is there anything more fun than seeing the Yankees lose five of six to Colorado and San Fransisco? Not for me there isn't!
- I now feel totally validated for bashing the Twins and White Sox in spring training. At the time, some people looked at me like I was crazy for insisting the Central was a two-team race. This is finally the year the Twins won't make a crazy second-half push.
- Do the Tigers really need to trade for a first baseman? SI's John Heyman suggests Detroit part ways with Sean Casey. I really don't think they need to add a bat. Or maybe I just don't want them to.
- Speaking of Detroit, how good does the nucleus of Bonderman, Verlander, and Andrew Miller look? Maybe the best in baseball.
- Are the Red Sox the equivalent of the Dallas Mavericks? Cruise through the regular season only to flop in the postseason?
- Are Tigers fans worried about Todd Jones? Are Indians fans worried about Joe Borowski? Who needs Eric Gagne more?
- Should the Indians be active players prior to the trade deadline? What do they need and who could they get?
- It's incredible how closely the NBA's East/West talent disparity resembles MLB's AL/NL disparity.
Monday, June 25, 2007
The Sounds of Summer
I appreciate Ben for steering this blog toward baseball. It has indeed been an exciting year. There is so much to ponder. Here are some of my thoughts and questions.
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3 comments:
Todd Jones is like your drunk uncle who says drunk driving is okay because he never actually crashes.
I bet Todd Jones is in fact somebody's uncle who says drunk driving is okay...
Good questions, Nappy.
I, too, am reveling in the Yankees' failures. It's nice because they dug themselves such a hole that even that Yankee magic couldn't make up the difference when they got hot for a couple weeks and received clutch help from unexpected sources. Let's not be hasty, though. Jeter is having another great year, ARod has finally settled in, and Posada is having one of his best seasons. The beast must be crushed before I stop feeling a tinge of nervousness. One interesting barometer is the betting on tradesports.com, where shares of Yankees finishing as AL champs still trade higher than both the Indians and Tigers doing the same. Of course, that is partly due to people being idiots, but there's at least a kernel of potential there.
The Red Sox should cruise to 105 wins this year. All those late-season snorers against the O's and Rays and Jays, not to mention probably vengeance victories over the Yankees, will pad their record. But in the playoffs they'll be evenly matched with all the AL's good teams, particularly since the pitching is so strong all around. The Tigers have the best starters, as you say, and the Tribe and Angels have strong starters AND good bullpens, with the strange exception of Borowski who's been effective in spite of being ineffective. In conclusion, yes, they could easily wind up out in the first round. It wouldn't even be an upset in my mind, as things now stand.
What do the Indians need? Not much. In Fultz, Perez, Betancourt, and Cabrera they have tough arms from both sides of the mound. As long as Westbrook recovers, they'll be set for starters into the playoffs. I guess they could pick up somebody speedy to pinch hit in certain situations, but I don't think it's the right moment to give up future talent for a big bat or something. They just need to trust that the lineup will be productive when it needs to. Maybe the forthcoming road series against Detroit will be the time to determine whether that's true. If they take two of three or sweep, and are able to score runs against good pitching, then if I were Shapiro I wouldn't fix what isn't broken.
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