Cano has one bad year and he's a question mark? Okay, if you say so. I'm not panicking.
There were concerns about his attitude and apparently he misses Bowa a lot. Apparently, had a big influence on him. Hope he bounces back.
What is your basis for Texiera staying in Anaheim? What offer have they made to him? The Angels are going to lose either Texiera or K-Rod or both, they can't afford to sign them.
Apparently, they want to keep him and this team has a lot of money. There is also a concern that he's not all that's he's cracked up to be as this is his third team in four years. If I were the Angels, I would let K-Rod go; he's pitched a lot of innings, plus he would be very expensive. They apparently have someone in the wings.
Matsui is a question mark too? Despite the fact that before his injury he was hitting .316 for the first two months of the season. Damon is not what he used to be but he is serviceable left fielder who still hit over .300.
They are getting older and correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't Matsui hurt in 07 as well? They do need to get a little younger out there. Gardiner may be the real thing but from what I've heard and read, there is some doubt about that. I had heard the Yankees coveted the Pirates centerfielder, who looks like a good player.
Jeter's getting older, but he still played stellar defense and hit over .300 despite playing more than half the season with a wrist injury.
Jeter is still the man I agree.
A-Rod I agree is a choke artist, but, frankly, his inability to hit in the playoffs is not the reason the Yankees lose in the first round, it is (1) the lack of a legitimate ace starter to win two games each series and (2) the incredible poor handling of the bullpen by former Yankees manager Joe Torre (I have been pulling for his removal since 2002, and he was equally inefficient in his use of the bullpen in the NLCS).
Unfortuntely, you're stuck with him. What you needed was a lockdown starter and Santana was there for the taking.
[/quote] At catcher, the Yankees presently have Posada, Pudge Rodriguez (perhaps the greatest catcher of all time) and Javier Molina (who threw out the highest percentage of runners of anyone in the Majors last year), not exactly a weakness in my eyes. [/quote]
I think Pudge is washed up, Posada is getting old (it's unusual for someone his age to be catching the amount of games he has been; it has to be a concern if the wear and tear is catching up to him) and Molina is a very good glove but not enough of a producer.
Mussina came out of nowhere last season, I frankly thought he was all washed up, and he won 20 games. If he retires with only 30 wins to go for 300, I will be shocked, but admittedly, he is a question mark. Pettite had an off year, but still won double digit games, and is certainly a solid number 3 or 4 starter. Wang, before his injury, was on his way to another 19+ win season, and will be a good number 2 or a fantastic number 3. Joba Chamberlain had a 2.16 ERA as a starter, and has ace stuff as a number 2. The Yankees sign CC Sabathia, a legit ace, and they will have one of the top rotations in the AL. Pencil in K-Rod in the bullpen as the heir apparent to Mo, who has stated he will not pitch past the end of his contract in 2010, and the bull pen is fantastic as well.
Assuming Mussina retires, you have Sabbathia (if he signs, a big if), Wang, Pettite and Jobba. You can get a number 5 somewhere. If Sabbathia doesn't sign, there are some big holes there.
[/quote] All the great young players on the Rays will be playing elsewhere in a season or two, as the Rays have one of the lowest payrolls in baseball, and, like the Marlins after their championship, these young players will leave as free agents.[/quote]
They have new ownership from someone who got out of Wall Street before it was too late. This doesn't look to be a Marlins situation. They could be around for a very long time.
The Red Sox are still a great team, but (1) with the loss of Schilling and the injury to Beckett, the Rays had better starting pitching, and (2) I don't care what anyone says about Manny being Manny, he is the best clutch hitter I have ever seen. Without him Big Poppi just couldn't carry the team like he and Manny had in past playoff series. The Rays were able to beat Lester twice, so I am not sure he is going to be the kind of money pitcher that Schilling and Beckett were. With Beckett's velocity down to 91-92 on his fastball, the Rays were able to knock him all over the park in his first start, although he did seem to get it back in game six, giving up only 2 runs.
Beckett had two or three different injuries this year and could never get it going so his velocity will probably return next year. Ortiz was also suffering from injuries with his wrist. All in all, with all the injuries they had and no Manny, it's quite amazing they got to the 7th game. This is also a team as financially stocked as the Yankees.
I believe the Yankees will reload on pitching, as they did in the '90's (signing David Cone, Roger Clemmons, David Wells, Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez, and, belatedly, in 2001, Mike Mussina), spending their money on Sabathia and K-Rod, and this will launch them right back to the top of the division. As a Yankee fan, I am disappointed in this past season, but, considering we didn't go after the pitching (Cashman's big mistake), and lost our #1 starter for 2/3 of the season, lost our starting all star catcher for 1/2 the season, foolishly relied on two rookies who were 0-13 as starters, lost our all star left fielder who was batting .316 for 3/4 of the season, and still won 89 games in the toughest division in the majors, I'm not going to panic.
Injuries is something everybody goes through and, notwithstanding, there is much truth to what you say but, all in all, they, just like many teams, needs to get younger because this is an aging team, with their best years behind them. Depending on what they do, it's going to be tough for them to finish higher than third. Over time, they'll get younger but it may take a couple of years. I think Cashman and Hal know they have their hands full.
. It's an aging team and unless vast changes are made, they're going to be in the same situation, if not worse, than last year.
