ARod2212

I really don't think there are Yankee fans who out and out hate A-Rod. They're just tired of him not coming through. I've said it before, if he contributes to a World Series, it all goes away.

Beckett? Clement? Vazquez? Have you even been paying attention? When did Maddux and Glavine come to the AL and have problems? And come on, this guy did not forget how to pitch because he hit a guy in the 8th inning of a game in Toronto. He just sucks this year, that's all.

There are subtle differences to the Ladanian Tomlinsons and the Derrick Blaylocks of the league. I'd say that Bush will probably fall into the Tomlinson tier of guys. Not knocking Mario Williams, he's probably going to be a star, but when you can get Reggie Bush, you take Reggie Bush.

Whatever variables you want to throw in, the Twins still have the best pitcher in baseball starting twice for them. Also outside Rivera, Nathan may be the best closer in baseball. Jenks has been very mediocre. This basically says it all, Jenks holds no edge other than more opportunities to pitch. And I love the comparison to the Angels of last year, that is exactly right. Lineup that can beat you in a couple of ways and they get by on their starting pitching and bullpen. Except that the Angels didn't have Johan Santana and Frankie Liriano in their rotation. The '06 Twins > '05 Angels. I honestly don't care about the history with the Twins. Just because we beat them up in the past doesn't mean we will this time. We had a pretty good history against Boston up until '04. The Twins are hot, have good pitching and weapons on offense, the White Sox have weapons on offense.

Obviously without Liriano the Twins are less intimidating, but assuming he is back they have one hell of a rotation. The falling apart old man Radke has a 3.12 ERA and a 1.06 ERA since the ASB. He's gotten his act together, and is a huge reason why they've managed to stay in the WC race with Liriano out. This is Radke's last season, and he's doing all he can to keep himself on the mound, taking cortizone shots instead of getting surgery on his shoulder. For the time being it's working, but it is possible it will catch up to him in October. The Twins lineup is nothing to sneeze at, although could you imagine what they'd look like if the GM pulled the trigger on a deal for Soriano? Nontheless Mauer is leading the league in hitting, and his OPS is .948, Morneau is hitting the piss out of the ball with 32 homers and 110 RBIs. As a team they have the highest batting average in the MLB. Guys like Castillo, Punto, Cuddyer, Hunter comprise a good, balanced lineup. While the White Sox probably have the best 3-4-5 in baseball, it's the pitching that makes me confident. Not one of those guys scare me right now, Contreras is not even close to being the same pitcher he was with a 5.90 ERA Post-ASB. Garland, Garcia, Buehrle all have BAA over .285 and Vazquez' ERA is Unit-esque at 5.06. In the playoffs I'll always take my chances on the team with weak pitching. The Twins have two shut down pitchers and a third who has been phenomenal in the second half, while the White Sox have emminently hittable pitching. I'll take my chances with the defending champs in this one. All that said, I really don't think it matters who we play. The Yankees should take the whole f***in' thing.

Well we may have it clinched by then, so why not? Sorry, cheap shot. I am thoroughly ashamed. Ladies and gentlemen it's once again time to play.. http://nomaas.org/images/pavanowheel1.jpg It is so comical right now. I still would like to see the guy have a chance to pitch, just for the hell of it. I mean he is a pitcher, right?

I wanted to not repsond, since I had 1337 posts, but I have to. de‧cline  a gradual deterioration of the physical powers I'm not saying he isn't a decent pitcher. I'm saying he's getting worse (declining) and the sooner the Red Sox try to trade him the better off they'll be in the future. Unless you seriously think the Red Sox will make a run at the World Series before he retires, you absoultely should consider moving him. Schilling is better than Johnson? LOLOL NO WAI! Congratulations, you won an argument against nobody. Of course you'd rather have Schilling, he's a better pitcher. But if you guys are going to legitimately rebuild, you trade him away and get something good back. And ok, bye Wells, Timlin, Clement and Foulke. Hello who, Zito? I just don't see what one player available can put them over the top in an instant. All the more reason to try and deal your older players with value and get some good young players back who can contribute for 15 years.

I dread the thought of facing Santana and Liriano in 3/5 games in the ALDS. Let's go White Sox! Some reports are saying that the oblique thing isn't that big of a deal and Pavano will pitch with it anyway. I still think the guy can be a part of this team in October (I certainly would prefer him over Wright or Lidle) but I need to see tangible results at the big league level before I give him that shot. He needs to win games against ML teams in September.

I honestly can't think of any Met fans who were against getting Willie Randolph. It doesn't hurt to get the best guy available.

Varitek has also been on Wakefield's team for the better part of a decade, and he was still unable to grasp the Knuckleball? Shouldn't the FO have known this before dumping Mirabelli? Holding on to declining players for sentimental purposes is what it (keeping Schilling) seems like, and it is a bad strategy. The Rangers had Brian Leetch, a still productive offensive defenseman who is bound for the HOF and dealt him to Toronto for draft picks, which have turned into a top rated 19 year old prospect, and a center who was the leading scorer in the NYR minor league system. Sometimes you just need to bite the bullet and make the move, it works out in the long run. And I'm actually glad you guys aren't rebuilding, I'm all for another season like this one. Little progress being made with young players and finishing the year well out of range. Basically, you are wasting another season in the primes of Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz. Either try to put together a legit contender around those guys, or start over.

It's a fair point, but keep in mind it's the National League. Just about anybody can beat anybody else there, and have you convinced they are the best team there. The Reds got hot, the Dodgers got hot, the Phillies are now the trendy pick. The Wild Card is a crap shoot, and the Marlins have as good a shot as anyone in the NL.

First of all a salary cap won't work, as they would never force the Yankees to release players to get under the cap. So unless you want to incorporate a $200 million cap, it won't happen. The player's union is too strong, they don't let their contracts get renegotiated, if you recall from the near A-Rod trade to Boston. I sincerely doubt they'd let the MLB get away with outright releasing players. Debating about this is an exercise in futility, and a difficult argument to make when teams like the Marlins keep winning World Series. It really becomes a tough sell to claim the Yankees as a monopoly when other teams are winning.

Which has worked out pretty well for the Mets, no? I think Girardi would be a perfect hire for Boston, so I'm praying he goes to the Cubs. In a perfect world, I would have Girardi be the heir to the Torre throne.

Varitek's a big league ball player too, he couldn't figure out how to catch the knuckleball in ST while Bard was down? I think the biggest problem has been Josh Beckett. I think everyone figured on a 3.50 ERA guy with tons of innings and tons of strikeouts. Not only has he been absolute garbage, but the guys you gave up are producing down in Florida and have them closer to the playoffs than Boston is. I was talking about this before the season started, that you guys didn't know whether or not you were rebuilding or going for it, so you traded some prospects, got some prospects and got some veterans. The mish-mash didn't work. If you wanted to rebuild, I think Hanley Ramirez and Andy Marte would have looked very good next to each other. The FO will be faced with a similar problem this offseason. Are they going to try and go for it, or do they go for the rebuild. And if they do go to rebuild, I think Manny Ramirez' name should be made available, with the Red Sox willing to eat salary. They can get some very, very good young players for Manny if that prohibitive price tag is dropped. Schilling would probably draw less interest due to injury concerns (4.70 ERA, .305 BAA post ASB ), but he should be floated out there too. I would honestly say it is in their best interest to try and do a total rebuild, but I understand the fallout in New England would be huge if they dealt Manny or Schilling. Which may doom them to another "patch it together in the offseason," which didn't work out too well this season. 9th best record vs. the American League doesn't really get it done.

Absoultely agree. I tend to throw out the undesirables in arguments like this, because for the most part on this site we're pretty educated.

Well scientifically speaking, a Yankee fan base comprised of approximately 10 people:1 mile in New York, multiplied by 26 championships, divided by the current winning percentage leaves the bandwagon number at a moderate 5.9, whereas the Red Sox fan base had a number approaching 8.2 before 2004, 14.8 post-2004, and currently sits at 9.9. Percentage wise, should the Yankees lose the AL East one year, the dropoff would = precisely dick%. Who cares about the bandwagon fans? LOL YANKEE FANS DUMB! LOL RED SUX! They aren't real baseball fans, and it is stupid to characterize real fans in that light.

That is a dumbass argument. Red Sox fans are made up of people like Ben Affleck I know Yankee fans who survived cancer. Pick a group, rich Hollywood snobs, or brave, selfless cancer survivors. Pick a team based upon who you like, don't ask for other people's advice.

I would imagine you guys should rally around the Tigers, as they are not only a likeable and scrappy team, but also likely the only team that could knock off the Yankees this October. Honestly though, I would love to see another Subway Series. I'll be old enough to appreciate it this time.

I'm giddy. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Nice to see Lidle step up today, although I think exhaustion played a large part in the performance or lack thereof of the offenses.

Well it's good to see you are in full spin mode. Enjoy sitting in your pajamas, watching your 2004 World Series DVD until April.

I can see Brown now. "I've had it. I'm tired of these motherf***in' snakes on my motherf***in' lawn!"

It's funny. There are about 100 reasons why the Jets won't do well this year, but I think they could pull off a .500 season. I love Mangini's style so far. Looks like Pennington will be the starter, he went 12-14 passing yesterday in a simulated game. Curtis Martin is MIA, and they need him badly. D'Brickashaw and Mangold should help solidify a horrible offensive line from last season. Coles and Cotchery have had very good training camps by all reports so far. The biggest factor that could lead the Jets to the playoffs this year is an extraordinarily easy schedule this year. Lots of winnable games outside the division. I'm psyched for football.

Apparently Torre wanted a mopup guy, which I guess I understand. Hopefully it means Villone will get to pitch in more meaningful spots down the stretch. Hurts losing the pinch runner, however. Who comes off the bench now, Phillips?

He threw BP to Bubba Crosby and Nick Green. Torre REALLY doesn't want to hurt this guy's confidence, eh? He might as well thrown BP to Mariano and look dominant. Joking aside, it would be nice to replace Wright with Pavano down the stretch if he could pitch. Wright doesn't eat up enough innings.

He slugged nearly .800, and was second in that? Who lead the league?