The Thursday 2-Fifths

Didn't have enough time to write a full F5ive, here's a preview for the two games running on MLB Network today

1- Nationals vs. Reds
MLB Network
Hernandez vs. Volquez Interest Level:4

So, apparently the Nationals have pitchers not named Strasburg pitching for them. When Livian Hernandez got off to that scorching hot start, it was clear that it was built up with smoke, mirrors, good luck and a low BABIP. In other words, Livan Hernandez odds of that great start lasting the season had as good of a chance of surviving as that house made of straw in the 3 little pigs had of surviving the big bad wolf. As of today, his ERA stands at 3.27 and appears to be well on its way to its rightful place in the mid to upper 4 range.

The Reds counter with Edison Volquez (who despite failing a drug-test doesn't actually serve his 50-game suspension because he happened to be injured at the time....I don't see how this could be a controversy if the Reds win the division, but thats besides the point). who pitched well in his first start of 2010 and looks to give their pitching staff a much needed jolt in the arm as they battle the Cardinals for the NL Central playoff spot.

2- Royals vs. Yankees MLB Network Chen vs. Sabathia

The Royals and Nationals on National TV on the same day! This can be placed on the list of things that would never hapen on FOX or ESPN.

Anyways, the Royals are playing their normal role of also-ran, sitting at 12 games out of first (I thought it would look a lot worse for them at this point). The Royals bring Bruce Chen to the hill. Surprisingly, Chen hasn't pitched that bad this year (5-3 4.06 era 104 ERA+) I didn't say it was great but it's not bad either........it's a bit mind boggling that the dude has pitched for 10 teams in his career (including 4/5 of the NL East by the time he was 25)....considering he's left handed and only 33, he could very easily break the all-time record for teams pitched for before all is said and done.

None of this really matters as they are facing the Yankees and CC Sabathia. The Yankees are contending for a division title/world series title (as always) and a pre-requisite of that is taking care of business against also-ran teams such as the Royals.

The Weekend F5ive

A look at the games getting some TV attention this weekend

1-Dodgers vs. Cardinals Saturday FOX

Kuroda vs. Wainwright

Interest Level: 5

The Dodgers and Cardinals continue with their series this weekend. My projection of a duel between Kershaw and Carpenter turned out to be horribly wrong. Carpenter did his part while Kershaw had a rough day in the office.

We're probably looking at another one-sided affair in favor of the Cardinals on Saturday as Wainwright has thus far one-upped his career year in 2009 and it appears very little is going to get in his way in 2010.

2- Rays vs. Yankees Saturday FOX

Niemann vs. Burnett

Interest Level: 7

This game gets extra interest points for fantasy purposes. On one of my teams, the starting pitching has been solid most of the year and Jeff Niemann has been one of the main reasons why...replacing Javier Vasquez with him has been one of the best decisions i've made all year.

While his strong performance has been aided by really good luck (.242 opposing BABIP). Still, he deserves credit for one of the more under-rated pitching performances of the 1st half as he's in 4th in Wins Above Replacement, 5th in WHIP, 5th in ERA+ so on and so forth....should be a likely win for the Rays in this one.

3- Rangers vs. Red Sox Saturday MLB Network

Lee vs. Lackey

Interest Level: 6

A couple things to pay attention to here. First, will the Red Sox be able to make up ground on whoever loses the Rays-Yankees game/series.

Second, OMG....the Rangers have Cliff Lee.....the Rangers traded for Cliff Lee (so who hasn't traded for Cliff Lee in the past year). In all seriousness, does Cliff Lee bounce back against an inexplicably bad start against Baltimore and take his rightful place in the role of that guy that swings a division race and leads his team to the World Series......he was that guy for the Phils last year....and with the Rangers having an 80% chance of making the playoffs....it's likely he's going to have the same role in Texas.

4- Rays vs. Yankees Sunday MLB Network

Price vs. Pettite

Interest Level: 3

While the pitching match-up is better than the rest of the series....this is where the over-exposure of this entire series being on national television and the Third/West coast bias of myself and this blog kicks in. The outcome will tweak the AL East/Wild Card standings but since both teams have at least a 75% chance of making the playoffs.....there will be more meaningful games between these two as we get deeper into the summer.

5-Phillies vs. Cubs Sunday ESPN

Halladay vs. Gorzelanny

Interest Level: 4

The only reason the interest level is this high is because Halladay is pitching. So, yeah this is pretty much a match-up of two high profile teams that have underachieved to various degrees. The Phillies have done so to a more moderate degree (that they have a 18% chance) of over-coming while the Cubs are the front-runners for the underachieving team of the year award. But the game has fantasy implications as I have Halladay which is about the only reason I personally have for paying attention.

The FridayF5ive

It's Friday, the weekend is upon us. Here are 5 things to pay attention to:

1- The only national broadcast game is

Rays vs. Yankees--MLB Network
Shields vs. Sabathia
Interest Level: 6

A match-up with playoff implications but not really. I say playoff implications as the outcome of this series will have at least a short-term impact on the AL East lead and gives the winner a shot to distance themselves from the Red Sox. I say not necessarily playoff implications because if the playoffs were to start today both teams would be in anyways.

Looking at the teams it should be a close match-up. However, looking at the pitching match-up its more likely than not the Yankees should take this. CC Sabathia is coming off a strong performance against the M's (which led my fantasy team to a loss) and another All-Star performance/strong season, etc. The Rays counter with James Shields. While Shields is an average pitcher with a strong K/BB ratio, compared to Sabathia, he doesn't really give the Rays a good chance in this game.

2-Will the Zombie Expos give Strasburg some run support?

With rookie phenom (and the main reason to pay attention) to the Nationals, Stephen Strasburg taking the hill against the Marlins, now is the good time to ask the question. Strasburg has proven himself to be big-league in just about every conceivable way. However, having a weak hitting team behind him has caused him to have a 3-2 win loss record (he gave up 2 ER in 13 innings in those two starts).

Tomorrow, Strasburg takes the hill against the other NL East team that called up an uber-prospect in June but has no hopes in contending (Marlins). It's a given that Strasburg will bring it but can their offense do enough against Ricky Nolasco to give him a win (or at least not tag him with a loss) remains to be seen.

3-How long will Dan Haren be stuck in Arizona?

With Haren starting tomorrow against the first place Padres, it seems like the appropriate time to ask the question. With the D-Backs in flux and in no hopes of contending soon, it would seem to make sense that contending teams would be willing to part ways with some prospects in exchange for pitching help down the stretch. While he hasn't pitched as well this year as he has in years past, Haren is definitely talented enough to be a talent upgrade for a contending pitching staff. Could this be the last time Haren puts on a D-Backs uniform or will his talents continue to be spent on a team that is a non-impact on the playoff chase?

4- Two bad teams, two different paths

Something that will be on display starting tomorrow as the Astros and Pirates battle each other to stay out of last place. This series will move towards answering the debate of the most effective way to 100-losses......A) Be saddled by large contracts for hitters in their 30s that are simultaneously regressing skillwise or B) Go on an 18-year rebuilding plan....my vote B)...The Astros may be terrible but they did go to the World Series 5 years ago and this is only their second straight losing season

5- The next Reds-Cubs series could be interesting to say the least

And probably not because of the quality of the match-up. While the Reds are in 1st, the Cubs are in the NL Central purgatory battling the Brewers for 3rd place. While it is a player on a rival team, it is good to see a player take their divisional rivalries seriously. The highlight of the article:

Asked why he has such disdain for the Cubs, Votto said: "We are Cincinnati Reds. We're taught to hate everything in the Central Division. That's just how it is."

While Joey Votto plays for a divisional rival for the Brewers and as a result hates the team I follow because of it, i've gotta say the honesty is refreshing. In an age where everything is uber-pc and outside factors have made it more about money than loyalty (Scott Boras.....cough......cough). It's good to see a star player back up the colors of his team. In a way, this could be a rallying cry and a turning point for the Reds (as a Brewers fan I hope i'm wrong about this) and it the snub of Byrd (and the Cubs as a whole) will add a bit of tension in the air the next time these teams match-up. Either way, this story is more interesting than reading another article about how under-rated he is (even though this is an accurate statement).........seriously, this dude could win the MVP if he keeps doing what he's doing and the Reds hold on.

Friday/Early Saturday MLB National TV Preview

Well, the weekend is upon us. Things looking better baseball wise this week. I'm very happy that the Brewers rolled the Pirates 36-1 over a 3 day stretch including a 20-0 grand finale in today's game. Gloating time is over, on to the games.

Friday: Tigers vs. Rangers MLB Network

Scherzer vs. Feldman

Interest Level:4

It's too early to tell (as of this writing) what the Tigers record will be coming into this game as they are in the 3rd inning of their game with the Angels. The Tigers were I team that I thought was worse than most people thought but thus far that has been a wrong assessment. Max Scherzer takes the hill in Friday's game. He definitely has lots of potential which we've only seen parts of so far but he's looking good so far in 2010......a chance to see someone in the start of their breakout season perhaps?

The Rangers are off to a 6-9 start and with Seattle and LA of Anaheim of North America getting their acts together (plus Oakland playing better than expected) it may be in their best interest to get their act together. The Rangers bring Scott Feldman to the hill....sure he may have won 17 games last year but i'm not sold on him as an ace pitcher.

Saturday: Yankees vs. Angels FOX

Pettite vs. Pineiro

Interest Level: 6

If I want to watch the afternoon game this is probably the game i'm stuck with like it or not as both the Yankees and a team they show on TV all the time here (Angels) are both involved.

On a side note, this game involves the three players (Teixiera, Wood and Vasquez) who have struggled the most on my fantasy team.

The Yankees are currently battling the Rays for top positioning in the AL East. Andy Pettite looks to continue his strong start to the season in this game.

The Angels had a rough first week of the season but have battled back to .500 (for at least the next couple hours). Still, they are sitting 1 1/2 out at this point and look to be in the thick of things (while not in first) in the AL West. The Angels start Joel Pineiro who has pitched better than I expected so far. I thought his strong 2009 performance was only going to last as long as he had Dave Duncan as his pitching coach and I thought the Angels over-paid for him. Pineiro looks to keep proving detractors like myself wrong in this game.

Mariners vs. White Sox Saturday FOX

Fister vs. Garcia

Interest Level: 7

The Mariners have also started slowly but have gotten things together to get within 1/2 a game of overtaking Oakland for AL West Supremacy. The Mariners start Merced, California product Doug Fister in this game. Not knowing much about Fister other than he was in the back end of the M's rotation, I picked him up on my razzball team a couple weeks ago. This has not turned out to be a very smart decision. Doug Fister is on notice, one more strong start from him and he gets dropped from my Razzball team.

The White Sox counter with ex-Mariner pitcher Freddy Garcia. Garcia definitely isn't as strong of a pitcher as he was when he pitched for Seattle. In fact, he's actually pitched pretty poorly in his first couple starts and one of the many reasons the White Sox find themselves currently in the basement.

Wednesday Night:A No-No In Progress, No Support For Sheets & Whatever Else Come To Mind

Alright, it's a rainy night (despite the calender saying it is late April) I felt it was the right time to do a live-ish blog for part of the night. My original plan was to have the Angels-Tigers game running on the HD Background (this game appears to have been pre-empted for an LA Kings Playoff Game) but instead I'm "settling" for MLB Tonight.

On the MLB.tv feed, I was able to catch the last couple innings of the Brewers victory over the Pirates. It turns out LaTroy Hawkins is capable of holding a lead. Unfortunately, said lead has to be around 8 runs. Still, i'm happy that the Brewers have won 3 in a row and have managed to make it back to .500.

In terms of fantasy implications, plenty of games to keep me entertained (Yankees-A's, Angels-Tigers, Twins-Indians (Cuddyer just hit a 2-run triple) Rays-White Sox and Cardinals-D Backs).

So many places to go where I land nobody knows. I guess this should mean I shouldn't have to sit through too many commercials. Since theres only half an inning left with the Twins-Indians, i'll stay in this neighborhood for a few minutes.

Didn't get a chance to see Liriano pitch....i'm not sure what happened but it seems like this could be 2006 all over again (sans the injury). This is now his second straight start without surrendering a run....is it too early to put him in Cy Young consideration or the very least comeback player of the year (i know he played in 29 games last year but he didn't pitch that great).

Whoa.....i didn't know Mark Grudzielanek was still playing in the bigs. I thought he had retired but appearantly I had thought wrong. But hey when you get the chance to sign the player who finished 27th in 2003's MVP voting, you gotta go for it. I must be in the right place if the game i'm watching on MLB.tv is the same as the one on MLB Network as the Twins are on the verge of their 11th win...as the Indians are down to their last strike...which has been elusive the last couple of pitches.......game over......seems fitting that Joe Mauer gets the last out to finish it out.

Time to ask the question of What's Next? I would move on to the Rays-White Sox but that games pretty much a blow-out. I would go on to the Angels-Tigers but that's blacked out.

I guess i'll check out what the Yankees and A's are up to. Didn't know it but Ben Sheets is getting the start for the A's tonight. It's gotta be a good sign that Sheets has made it to his fourth start without missing anytime. It's gotta be a good thing that Sheets has done his part to justify his 2010 salary thus far.

The state of my team: 2-0 right now......things are going good so far this week as I have a 28 point lead (If/when Teixiera, Wood and Vasquez get things going) this team's solid play should continue. Just saw that Phil Hughes was pitching for the Yankees and decided to check out his baseball-reference page. Which happens to be sponsored by something called The Buffet Is Closed. With promises of bad Yankee journalism being skewered my mediocre journalism...hasn't been updated since last summer and it involves the Yankees and bloggers that don't like some guy named Peter Abraham.

So apparently, the Cubs have moved Carlos Zambrano to the bullpen. I know he's struggled this year but it should be interesting to see how this move works out. I wonder if he'll get enough work to hold onto his NL lead in Wild Pitches. If nothing else, his strike outs haven't lagged 12.1 K/9 this year. Either way, i'd hate to be a gatorade machine right now.

The Yankees have pulled out to a 2-0 lead. Rumor has it if you watch a Yankees game for more than 20 minutes you get ESPN syndrome where what the Yankees do is more important than every other team combined....actually, I came up with this far-fetched legend off the top of my head.

Time to see what the Cardinals-D Backs are up to. With Carpenter on my team, this is one case where I don't mind if my player doesn't always have a great game (as they lead the Brewers by a couple games right now). So far its 3-2 Cardinals in the 5th. I'm reading an article by Jeff Passan from Yahoo where he argues that the concept of divisions should be eliminated.

Honestly, i'm not sure how I would feel about a set-up like this. In the article it says this would address inequality but i'm not sure how eradicating divisions would address the revenue inequalities between the top and bottom markets (I should make a sarcastic comment about this thing called a salary cap but the odds of this coming to MLB is slim and none.....and he acknowledges that would be the best idea but that would never happen so you can't really hold this against him)

Still, it's hard to see how this would change the chances and hopes of mid to small market teams in either a good or bad......the upside to his argument

So blow it up. Start over. Unalign. Allow teams to keep the current sharing agreement while addressing the balance problem. Sacrifice the bonanza of Yankees-Red Sox 18 times a year – sorry, ESPN – for a schedule that evenly spreads games against them and gives every AL team a substantive piece of the New York-Boston ticket spike

Anything that forces ESPN to show the other 28 teams more often can't be that bad of a thing.

Somewhere during that rant, the Cards-D Backs game went to the sixth and the Cards tacked another run to their lead but hey it's baseball, these things happen

Carpenter seems to be cruising along in Arizona. Still not feeling the rooting for a divisional rival thing......moving back to the Yankees-A's game.

At this point, the Yankees have held on to their 2-0 lead into the fifth. If it was tomorrow we would be seeing Sabathia pitch (i'm still slightly surprised he didn't sign with the Giants or Dodgers when he was a free-agent). Sure, the Yankees have the money but with Sabathia from NorCal I felt that those two NL West teams had a legit shot.

Could someone get Ben Sheets some run support here?! Or some base-runners. If I didn't dislike the Yankees I probably wouldn't mention the fact that Phil Hughes has a no-hitter going through 5 (is it just me or does it seem like a lot of pitchers have taken no-hitters fairly deep into the game this year). Either way, it's good to see that Ben Sheets still has it.

Wandering around aimlessley through ESPN.....checking out some excerpts of their 30 for 30 doc. about fantasy baseball.....sorta distracted by the 30 for 30....just noticed Hughes has a no-no through 6.

Looks like Ben Sheets' night is done. Good that he had a good start bad that he'll unfairly get tagged with a loss. Broadcasters said the magic words of his club is yet to get a hit. Which probably means the A's will lead off the 7th with one of these said hits.

So 9 outs away from a no-no, can Phil Hughes pull it off? At 77 pitches and 9 Ks....its an impressive outing either way. The announcers reference the no-hitter again (for the second time). For the second time the exact same broadcast is blaring from the laptop and MLB Network. With a pop-foul that would have gone into the stands in just about any other stadium, it's now a no-no through 6 1/3. No hitter reference count up to 3. Down to 7 outs which MLB Network has now deemed both a Developing Story AND Breaking News. If not for that pesky 1st inning walk....we could be talking about a wait for it.......perfect game.

Despite 7 innings.....hes only at 87 pitches..........Blevins is back to pitch in the 8th but this game is unlikely to be remembered for whatever Blevins does in his second inning of work......well it's that time of the night where my day is comin to an end.....does Hughes throw the no-no?....stay tuned to find out

Early Week National TV Baseball Preview

Time to see what's in store to start the second week of the season

Red Sox vs. Twins Monday ESPN

Lester vs. Pavano

Interest Level:6

The Twins finally get to open Target Field. It should be interesting to see how this stadium plays out in terms of whether it will be hitter friendly or not. The Red Sox come into this game at 3-3, the Twins have started 5-2 and at this point and appear to have not missed a beat despite not having Joe Nathan closing games out.

Reds vs. Marlins Monday MLB Network

Cueto vs. Nolasco

Interest Level: 4

The Reds were a lot of peoples pick to be a sleeper team in 2010. With a 3-3 start, they haven't really done anything to prove or disprove this notion. The Marlins had a nice first week going 4-2 and bring Ricky Nolasco (one of my picks to bounce back in 2010) to the hill.

Angels vs. Yankees Tuesday MLB Network

Santana vs. Pettite

Interest Level: 5

The Yankees started off pretty strong this week at a 4-2 clip. The Angels, well they have had better weeks. Hideki Matsui looks to be an excellent signing for the Angels early on as he came up clutch against the A's in last nights game. One of the few bright spots in their 2-5 week. Speaking of bright spots, Brandon Wood has been the exact opposite of this in his first week with a full time starting gig. Is this a sign of things to come or just the result of a bad week? We'll find out in due time.

D-Backs vs. Dodgers Tuesday MLB Network

Kennedy vs. Kershaw

Interest Level: 6

An early season NL West divisional battle. Not too much of a shock that one of these teams is sitting in second and one of them is sitting in fourth. The surprising thing is that the D-Backs are the team sitting in second and the Dodgers are the team sitting in 4th. One good reason to check this game out is that Clayton Kershaw is taking the hill for the Dodgers. Kershaw still struggles with bouts of wildness from time to time but has the talent/potential to be a Cy Young award caliber pitcher. Does this happen in 2010? Stay tuned to find out.

Nationals vs. Phillies Wednesday MLB Network

TBD vs. Kendrick

Interest Level: 4

The Phillies were expected by just about everyone to take the NL East so the fact that they are 5-1 and hanging out in 1st place shouldn't be shock to anyone. The Nationals were expected to drop straight down to the cellar but had a respectable 3-3 first week which was aided by random big games from the likes of Cristian Guzman and Willy Taveras (who did their part to place me in the basement of my Razzball league).

Astros vs. Cardinals

Myers vs. Penny

Interest Level:5

Another game where there isn't too many surprises about the teams respective places in the standings. No surprise at St. Louis at the top. No surprise that the Astros are at the bottom. The one surprise with the Astros is just the degree of ineptitude they have displayed in the first week of the season. They carry the title of being the only team to not win a game in 2010........ouch.

Baseball On TV This Weekend

Braves vs. Giants Friday MLB Network

Hudson vs. Sanchez

Interest Level: 6

Will this be the beginning of Tim Hudson's bounce-back season? What will Jason Heyward do to help his team (As a side note, I am glad that the Braves bypassed the send him down for a couple months to bypass the arbitration rules, realized Heyward was their best option and let him start the season in Atlanta....I wouldn't be shocked to see the Braves awarded karmically with a post-season berth for not trying (poorly) to convince everyone that he needs time to "develop" his game say until late-May/early-June when he would "magically" be ready to face major-league pitching

The Giants counter with Jonathan Sanchez. Had an interesting '09 started poorly, threw a no-hitter, finished strong. Is this the start of a 2010 breakout season? On a side note, the Giants handled their prospect situation (Buster Posey) differently be sending him down to Triple-A despite a strong spring.

A's vs. Angels Saturday MLB Network

Sheets vs. Weaver

Interest Level: 9

This week has seen my first exposure to J.J Hardy in a non-Brewers uniform and it looks like our first exposure to Ben Sheets in a non-Brewers uniform. Of course, this is Sheets first big league appearance since 2008 and this step one of the journey to see whether Sheets is worth the investment and can he actually stay healthy for a full season. He has the talent, just a matter of staying healthy to make a full season worth of starts.

The Angels start Jered Weaver ( who happens to be the best MLB pitcher that I watched in-person while they were still in college---he was the starting pitcher for a Long Beach State vs. Cal Poly game I went to in 2003.....I don't know much about college baseball but I know that he DESTROYED Big West hitting)...and on a fantasy baseball note.....will Brandon Wood break out of his slump?

Yankees vs. Rays Saturday Fox, Sunday TBS

Sabathia vs. Davis Saturday

Burnett vs. Shields Sunday

Interest Level:4

Umpire Joe West made news this week by saying that the Yankees and Red Sox take too many timeouts and are making the length of games longer. Not sure how true that is but the Yankees and Rays took their sweet time determining who would be starting their games this weekend (single-handedly pushing back the posting of this post by a day)....Personally i'm more concerened with the Randy Levine vs.Mark Attanasio dispute over salary distribution. My take: once every team has their own network to run their games (YES Network) and a national network (ESPN) obsessed with their every move.....then he may have a point. Sure these things have nothing to do with the upcoming games but c'mon it's the Yankees, if you miss these games all you have to do is wait a couple of days.

Mariners vs. Rangers Saturday FOX

Hernandez vs. Harrison

Interest Level: 6

With FOX's regional coverage combined with living on the west coast....i'm probably stuck with this game and this game only regardless of personal preference. On the bright side, this should be my first chance to see this year's re-tooled Mariners team in action. Felix Hernandez, the reigning AL leader in Wins, Winning Percentage, Wild Pitches & Hits/9 Innnings gets start #2 of the season.

The Rangers counter with Matt Harrison who is making career start #27 but has yet to replicate the success of his Saturday counterpart. If nothing else, he has shown a high level of endurance as he threw 2 complete games in his 11 starts from '09 (good for 9th in the AL)

Brewers vs. Cardinals Saturday Fox, Sunday ESPN

See series preview post.

Finally.....Winter's Over....Here's some baseball games that will count

Well, it's FINALLY time for the 2010 baseball season. No more winter, no more spring training....time to see how this goes down....how my predictions (and everyone elses will stand up over the season).....and also how Chedderhead/My Razzball team and the random Cbssports.com fantasy league i'm in that I haven't talked about does.......

Yankees vs. Red Sox

Sunday (Sabathia vs. Beckett) ESPN 2

Tuesday (Burnett vs. Lester) MLBN

Wednesday (Pettite vs. Lackey) ESPN 2

On a scale of 1-10 my interest is a: 1

Like a bad TBS movie that they "give you 3 chances to watch" you get 3 chances to watch the Yankees take on the Red Sox. The Sunday game stands out because its the first game of the season that actually counts. In the context of this season, this series is fairly insignificant but i'm pretty sure ESPN is hyping it like the ALCS because to them, the other 28 teams might as well be Triple-A teams for all they care.....as evidenced by this 2007 expose by the Onion.

In all seriousness, I don't care who it is...baseball is back. You have ex-Brewer Sabathia taking the hill against Beckett who is currently in negotiations for a massive extension (will this keep him in contract year blow the world away mode?)

On Tuesday, MLB Network gets in on the fun as they show game 2 of this series. MLB Network gets a pass on the Red Sox-Yankees criticism I give ESPN as they are taking the step of showing all 30 teams within the first 30 days of the season.

Wednesday marks the first Red Sox start for John Lackey....does he justify the piles of money thrown at him last summer or not? We begin to find out Wednesday

Cardinals (Carpenter) vs. Reds (Harang) Monday ESPN

On a scale of 1-10, my interest is: 6

A few interesting things here:

1) First look at a couple of NL Central rivals: The first look at a Cardinals team that just about everyone (except myself....and I don't see them missing by much) against a Reds team that is a perpetual sleeper in the NL Central

2) A first look at whether Chris Carpenter can replicate his strong 2009 season. Talent isn't the issue, the ability to stay healthy....well that's a completely different story......also he's one of my starters in the CBS league (Baseball, Beer and Bahkas) so i'll be a bit more interested in the results

3) Day 1 of Jay Bruce's breakout season: With Cliff Lee and Huston Street injured, someone is going to have to carry Cheddarhead on their shoulders, it might as well be Jay Bruce.

Indians (Westbrook) vs. White Sox (Buerhle) Monday ESPN2

On a scale of 1-10 my interest is a: 4

The Indians have lots of potential in 2010.....to be as bad or as worse than the Royals. If the Indians have any hope of making that last sentence sound horribly wrong, they are probably going to need Jake Westbrook to make more than 5 starts.

The White Sox on the other hand, have reasonable playoff expectations. They may not be a great team but then again they aren't in the strongest division either. Despite Joe Nathan being shelved for the season, I still think the Twins will win the division (barely.)

Another fun fact is that this game matches up 2 of the 3 pitchers who tied for the league in Hits Allowed in 2006. (The third player, Jon Garland gets the opening day nod for the Padres).

Cubs (Zambrano) vs. Braves (Lowe) Monday ESPN

On a scale of 1-10 my interest is a: 8

Well, the Cubs are involved so if nothing else I have a team to root against. Also, with Carlos Zambrano pitching you never quite know what your getting although this tends to equal itself out over each season as his ERA+ the last few years have been eerily similar (117,118,119) Usually an interesting and harmless experience unless you happened to be dressed like a Gatorade machine and Zambrano doesn't like the umpiring on a given day.

For the Braves, the have Derek Lowe taking the hill here. Lowe is coming off his worst year as a starter but I see him coming back strong in 2010....i'm confident enough in this assertion that he ended up on Chedderhead.

Giants (Lincecum) vs. Astros (Oswalt) Monday ESPN

On a scale of 1-10 my interest is a: 7

Good pitching match-up. Anytime Lincecum takes the hill, it's worth watching (right now he's my favorite non-Brewers player) because you never know whats going to happen. The Astros are looking to Roy Oswalt to anchor their staff this year.

From '01-'07 this would have been a fairly sound strategy. However, Oswalt's performance and his health have regressed a bit in the last couple years ......pretty much a microcosm of the Astors as a whole.

Twins vs. Angels

Baker vs. Weaver Tuesday MLB Network

Pavano vs. Santana Wednesday ESPN 2

On a scale of 1-10 my interest is a : 6

It should be interesting to see how the Twins come out of the gate. Will their saavy winter moves and the momentum of locking up Joe Mauer be the catalyst towards another playoff appearance. Or will the downgrade from Joe Nathan to whoever they have closing games bring them back to the pack.

For the Angels, will they rack up another AL West title or will the Mariners off-season moves allow them to overtake Los Angeles of Anaheim of North America of the Northern Hemisphere and be top of the class. To answer some of these questions but raise more questions than are actually answered, stay tuned to find out.

Brewers vs. Rockies Wednesday MLB Network

See, Brewers-Rockies Series Preview Post

AL East Preview Part II

Our Standings after the First Half:

Red Sox-18

Yankees-21

Rays-31

Orioles-31

Blue Jays-34

Starting Rotation:

Red Sox-4.5

Rays-9

Yankees-13.5

Orioles-18

Blue Jays-22.5

When I started looking at this area, I was debating between placing Boston or New York at #1 but obviously changed my mind. The Red Sox are behind at the ace spot (Lester versus Sabathia) but are stronger at the 2/3 spots (Beckett/Lackey) versus (Burnett/Pettite). The biggest question mark in the Red Sox rotation is Dice-K but I think they get more out of Bucholz than the Yankees will with whatever their 2010 version of the Joba Rules are.

The Rays don't have a full on ace pitcher (which is why they don't get the 1-spot) but they have greater depth in the back of their rotation (Davis/Niemann) who while they may not be as familiar to baseball fans as Javier Vasquez (no way he repeats his 2009 performance) and Joba Chamberlain (not sure what the Yankees will do with him this year but whatever it is is likely to backfire)

Overall, the Blue Jays/Orioles rotations are nothing to write home about. I don't see Millwood repeating his strong 2009 performance....there's no way Guthrie would be the #2 starter for a contender. On the same token, nothing really excites me about the Blue Jays rotation. The Orioles avoid the cellar because the young pitchers they have (Bergesen/Matusz/Tillman) have more talent/potential than the Blue Jays starters and there's a solid chance at least one of them (either Matusz and/or Bergesen) are on the cusp of a breakout season.

Bullpen:

Yankees-4.5

Red Sox-9

Rays-13.5

Orioles-18

Blue Jays-22.5

Who would you rather have with the game on the line.......Rivera or Papelbon? That's a very, very tough question. The Red Sox and Yankees have the back of their bullpen anchored by two of the elite closers in the game, this one is a toss-up. The arbitrary factoid that gives Rivera the nod as tie breaker: He enters the game to "Enter Sandman" by Metallica. That also happens to be the ringtone on my cellphone.

Final Standings:

Red Sox-31.5

Yankees-39

Rays-53.5

Orioles-67

Blue Jays-79

AL East Preview: Part I

Time to head East to the American League:

Catcher

1-Matt Wieters

2-Victor Martinez

3-Jorge Posada

4-Kelly Shoppach

5-John Buck

Tough call at this position. Wieters had a nice finish to 2009 and all signs indicate that he'll take some significant steps forward. Victor Martinez had a solid 2009 but couldn't justify him at #1 for a couple of reasons a) His OPS was 161 points lower at Catcher than at First AND the Red Sox have openly stated they plan to use him primarily behind the plate b) Is the Victor Martinez of 2007/2009 that had 13% of his flyballs turn into home runs or are we going to see the Victor Martinez that only saw 3% of his flyballs and 2 of his 266 At Bats turn into home runs.

First Base

1-Mark Teixiera

2-Kevin Youkilis

3-Carlos Pena

4-Lyle Overbay

5-Michael Aubrey

A Toss-Up between Teixiera and Youkilis. Teixiera has the slight power edge and a right field porch more suited for Little League giving him the edge. Both Youkilis and Pena have a penchant for hitting plenty of homers and drawing plenty of walks. Youkilis has a significant edge over Pena as Youkilis is able to draw his walks and hit his homers while still hitting .300 while Pena is usually south of .250

Second Base

1-Dustin Pedroia

2-Robinson Cano

3-Aaron Hill

4-Ben Zobrist

5-Brian Roberts

An very loaded field at Second. You have tier, 1 (Pedroia/Cano) where their performance is established and you know (mostly) what you are going to get. Could see Pedroia going 20-20, I don't see Cano hitting 27 out again. You have your second tier (Hill/Zobrist) of players who had breakout seasons last year but its still unclear how sustainable their level of production is going to be. Look for these two to settle into a rhythm of hitting from .260 to .280 with around 20 homers.

Shortstop

1-Derek Jeter

2-Marco Scutaro

3-Jason Bartlett

4-Alex Gonzales

5- Cesar Izturis

While Derek Jeter is one of the more over-rated players in baseball, he's still considerably better than the rest of the field. There was somewhat of a bidding war for Scutaro over the winter, i'm still trying to figure out why. That's nice that Bartlett had a great season last year. Too bad, that his home run numbers are not sustainable based on Bartlett's past.

Third Base:

1-Alex Rodriguez

2-Evan Longoria

3-Adrian Beltre

4-Garrett Atkins

5-Edwin Encarnacion

A-Rod may be one of the more unlikable players in baseball. He's also still one of the elite hitters in baseball. Evan Longoria has been a hitting machine ever since being called up in 2008. Longoria looks to move himself deeper into the elite echelon of Third Basemen this year. There is an off chance that Beltre could have a big season considering he's playing for a contract and getting away from Safeco field but this is far from a sure thing.

Left Field:

1-Carl Crawford

2-Nolan Reimold

3-Mike Cameron

4-Jose Bautista

5-Brett Gardner

These rankings are based on a couple of hunches 1-Carl Crawford is in his contract year, a solid chance to explode beyond his baseline .300-20 homers- 60 steal baseline. Nolan Reimold had a nice rookie year and looks to be on the cusp of a breakout season.......wouldn't be surprised to see him hit .275 and 25-30 homers. Mike Cameron is still a solid player, at this point what you see is what you get.... .250 average 20-25 homers striking out every 3 to 4 at bats and multiple hot and cold streaks.

Center Field:

1-Curtis Granderson

2-Jacoby Ellsbury

3-Adam Jones

4-Vernon Wells

5-B.J. Upton

Could see these rankings go a few different directions. Moving to Yankee Stadium should be one of the best things to happen to Granderson's career. He's already shown he can hit 30 out per year and with the little league sized porch that Yankee Stadium calls Right Field should inflate his home run totals.....now if only he can figure out hitting lefties. I'm completely unmoved by high stolen base totals which prevents Ellsbury from grabbing the top spot. Not bought or sold on Jones yet he got lucky in the first half, unlucky in the second half.....Vernon Wells had a chance to hit number-1 but then I remembered there were criterion other than contract size.

Right Field

1-J.D. Drew

2-Nick Swisher

3-Nick Markakis

4-Travis Snider

5-Gabe Kapler/Matt Joyce

One through three are fairly interchangeable sources of .270-.280 average (.250 for Swisher) and 20-30 homers. On talent alone, Drew is on top but as always, there are concerns about staying healthy. Swisher has better power than Markakis but hits for a lower average. Swisher's power was too good to pass up......plus Swisher is a cheddarhead member. Travis Snider is the toughest one to figure out.....I could see anything from struggling for a month and being sent to the minors to having a breakout season similar to what I'm expecting out of Jay Bruce and Kyle Blanks.

Designated Hitter:

1-Adam Lind

2-David Ortiz

3-Luke Scott

4-Pat Burrell

5-Nick Johnson

Skeptical on Lind hitting 35 out this year but could see him hitting .280 with 25-30 homers. Ortiz has the pedigree, and more power but the way his numbers have trended the last few years is a bit discouraging. Luke Scott.....another 20 homer hitter.....Pat Burrell, after last years epic fail anything will pass as progress.....

Standings after First Half:

Red Sox-18

Yankees-21

Rays-31

Orioles-31

Blue Jays-34

A few surprises here. The Red Sox grabbed the top spot despite having less players in the 1-spot than the Yankees (2 vs. 4). The Yankees ranking was dragged down due to weaknesses in left (Brett Gardner) and DH (Nick Johnson). A bit surprised of how far back the Rays were. The O's and Blue Jays are ranked about where I thought they would be.

An Award List.....With A Twist

So, it was announced the other day that two ex-Brewers, Bill Schroeder and Greg Vaughn into the Cape Cod Baseball League Hall of Fame.

This piqued my curiosity about other Major League Players to play in the Cape Cod League. It turns out there are plenty of Cape Cod League Alums playing in the Big Leagues. The most recent list of Active Players is this list from 2008 (I had no luck finding a list from '09). Anyways with many of the major baseball awards being handed out soon, I decided to do my own top 10 list for the Most Valuable Player. The one caveat for making this list is this list is limited to Cape Cod League Alums.

10- Mark Reynolds .260/.349/.543 123 OPS+

Reynolds made some major strides as a player this year. Reynolds seems destined to become the 2010s version of Adam Dunn. He re-wrote the record books as he struck out 223 times this year. Still, he had a solid year and proved to the league that he will be a force to reckon with (when he makes contact)

9-Carlos Pena .227/.356/.537 130 OPS+

The American League, injury prone equivalent to Reynolds. Despite missing the last month of the season, Pena still managed to lead the AL in homers.

8-Adam Lind .305/.370/.562 144 OPS+

The Blue Jays may have had a bad year, but without Lind it would have been much worse. 2009 was Adam Lind's first year playing full-time and he made the most of it. Lind's season definitely qualifies as one of the most secretive 30+ homer seasons of this decade.

7-Evan Longoria .281/.364/.526 130 OPS+

Longoria was able to avoid the sophomore slump and have a solid season. The only damper is Tampa Bay was not able to follow up on last years World Series appearance and leading the AL in GIDP. Still, Longoria is going to be a star for many years to come and he demonstrated why in '09.

6-Lance Berkman .274/.399/.509 139 OPS+

One of the few bright stops in an otherwise terrible year for the Astros. It should be interesting to see how long he can keep his productivity up.

5- Jason Bay .267/.384/.537 134 OPS+

Jason Bay had a strong year in his first full year in Boston. He did a good job keeping the left field spot in Boston productive. He definitely showed why hes going to be one of the most sought after free agents in the winter.

4-Kevin Youkilis .305/.413/.548 145 OPS+

Another solid year from Youk. In these rankings, Youk and Bay are fairly interchangeable.

3- Tim Lincecum 15-7 2.48 era 176 ERA+

The only pitcher to appear on this list. Lincecum had another excellent year and further cemented himself as one of the best pitchers of our generation. He already has one Cy Young Award to his name......with possibly a second one coming soon.

2-Chase Utley .282/.397/.508 136 OPS+

An elite second baseman on a Phillies team that went to a second straight World Series. Plus he was mentioned prominently in an episode of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia as Mac was trying so hard to meet him and hand deliver a letter to him.

1-Mark Teixeira .292/.383/.565 149 OPS+

Teixiera had a strong first year for the Yankees. As much as I don't like the Yankees, Teixiera did enough to rise above the competition from his Cape Cod League Alumni. Still doesn't change the fact that he's not going to get the actual MVP (That goes to Joe Mauer)

World Series Preview

Well, the 2009 season comes down to this. One team will come out as champions...the other team (especially if its the Yankees) will have a long winter ahead of them......the match-ups are as follows

Catcher

Jorge Posada vs. Carols Ruiz

Advantage: Yankees

First Base

Mark Teixiera vs. Ryan Howard

Advantage: Yankees

Second Base:

Robinson Cano vs. Chase Utley

Advantage: Phillies

Shortstop

Derek Jeter vs. Jimmy Rollins

Advantage: Yankees

Third Base

Alex Rodriguez vs. Pedro Feliz

Advantage: Yankees

Left Field

Johnny Damon vs. Raul Ibanez

Advantage: Phillies

Center Field

Melky Cabrera vs. Shane Victorino

Advantage: Phillies

Right Field

Nick Swisher vs. Jayson Werth

Advantage: Phillies

Starting Pitching

C.C. Sabathia

A.J. Burnett

Andy Pettite

vs.

Cliff Lee

Pedro Martinez

Cole Hamels

Joe Blanton

Bullpen

Mariano Rivera

Philip Hughes

Phil Coke

vs.

Brad Lidge

Ryan Madson

Advantage: Yankees

X Factor: Phillies

Posada has a large advantage behind the plate. First Base was a close battle but Teixiera has a slight edge on the numbers and has yet to appear in an annoying Subway commercial. Utley has the edge over Cano......the Yankees left side of the infield is much stronger than the Phillies.

The Phillies have the edge at all 3 outfield positions. Ibanez and Victorino have decent sized advantages. Werth vs. Swisher are about the same production wise but Werth is playing much better than Swisher right now.

The Starting Rotation was a tough call. Both teams have an ace ex-Indians pitcher (Sabathia/Lee) a pitcher who peaked in the 90s but are still viable options (Pettite/Martinez)....The Phils get the edge b/c I think they'll get more out of Blanton/Hamels than the Yankees will get out of Burnett.

The Yankees win the bullpen match-up easily. Mariano Rivera is one of the greatest post-season closers of all time....and Brad Lidge.....well hes Brad Lidge....nuff said.

The X-Factor went to the Phillies for a couple reasons. First, this is pretty much the same team that won it all last year so their confidence in winning is higher. Second, there is more pressure on the Yankees. For them, anything less than a World Series title is a bad season, they haven't won in what they consider forever (2000) and the expectations are so high from both fans and management.......they just have a lot more external pressure and stress than the Phillies do.

Final Tally: Phillies 6 Yankees 5

These teams match-up really well and we could have a classic series in store. For the Yankees its a matter of continue to keep doing all year (win games) plus doing what they've done throughout the off-season (take advantage of other mistakes).

For the Phillies, the major question is can the bullpen not mess things up? So far it hasn't but the bullpen is pretty much a ticking time-bomb. If they survive this series, they repeat...if they don't the Yankees take it. My call: the Phillies do just enough...with the emphasis on just enough to repeat

Prediction: Phillies in 7

Monday Baseball Ramblings

Well, the Yankees are back in the World Series

While the Angels definitely helped the Yankees in this process due to some bad innings, un-clutch defense, so on and so forth.......at least they made the series somewhat interesting. The Yankees proved again that you can indeed buy at least a League Championship......They face off against the Phillies who are trying to repeat.......if they were real people.....it would give the gang from Its Always Sunny another chance to sneak into a world series game, deliver a letter to Chase Utley...or go up against the Fanatic for mascot supremacy......or not

Manny Acta gets another chance

When Acta got fired from the Nationals job....I mentioned that there was no way to tell whether the his bad record was because he's not a good manager or because he was managing a really bad team. Arguably, the same could be said about this Indians team he is inheriting. I'm not going to stretch and say the Indians are as bad as the Nationals....but they have traded away enough players in the last couple years that they could almost field a team. Still, Acta will have a better chance to win in Cleveland since he moves away from a competitive NL East to an AL Central division that is arguably the weakest in baseball. If he does a good enough job as a manager and catches a few breaks he could be heading a competitive team within a couple years.

Mark McGwire: Hitting Coach

Honestly, i'm a bit surprised by this development. Mark McGwire struck me as someone who was over the spotlight of being involved with the MLB as we haven't heard much from McGwire since he stopped playing (well except for that one time where he said he didn't want to talk about the past). It will be interesting to see how having McGwire around will affect the Cards. The two troubling things (for St. Louis) are that being a star as a player doesn't mean they are that good as coaches and b) if/when another steroid controversy breaks out about a current or past player, it has the potential to serve as a distraction to the Cards as McGwire's alleged use is inevitably going to come to the fore-front. Either way, it should be interesting to see how he holds up in a coaching role.

The Friday Night Rundown....ALCS, Mountain West Showdown and ACC Thursday Nighters

Sports-Related Things In my Mind

We could be two games away from another Yankee Collapse:

This would be good for baseball. While the Phils and the Angels don't even come close to being small market teams....the Yankees are the poster children of why salaries, tickets, etc. get progressively more expensive and a lot of other things wrong with baseball. The way Yesterday's game went suggests that the Yankees aren't automatically going to punch their World Series ticket. 1) The way they lost last night: They were shut down for six innings....exploded for 6 runs in the 7th to take the lead and can't even hold that lead for half an inning 2) The Angels seem to have a penchant for sending the Yankees home early....

Mountain West Showdown.......

To think tomorrow, the best game (based on National Ranking) is the showdown between TCU-BYU. For those that don't have Versus......they wont be able to see the best of the Mountain West on display.....I do have Versus so theres a good chance I will tune in to see these teams in Action.......if TCU wins.....it helps bolster their argument for a BCS Bowl Berth......if BYU wins it will likely be another year until the Mountain West Conference gets its due.....

Christian Ponder and FSU coming from behind

This comment has element of real life/my fantasy college team blended ...........while it can get too passe talking about fantasy teams......the one good thing about it is you know more about other teams and are more interested in games that you otherwise wouldn't.

Last nights Florida State-UNC game is a perfect example. If it weren't for the fact that I started Ponder and picked him off the waiver wire a few weeks back...I couldn't have cared less about a Thursday night ACC game (seriously this conference gets an automatic BCS bid and the MWC is snubbed) against two teams going nowhere and performing below expectations. Florida State's season to me boiled down to two things 1) Being a spoiler to BYUs BCS Bid 2) Making headlines more for the contentious head coaching system and when/if Bobby Bowden was going to retire 3) Wow FSU has fallen HARD

Thanks to my team the Cheddar Squad.....i'll add another thing to the list 4) Christian Ponder exploding for 300-plus yards 34 points and giving me a better chance to snap out of 1-3 funk im in.............

The Wednesday Morning Rundown

Alright, I haven't posted anything in the last couple days but that doesn't mean I don't have an opinion on whats gone on the last couple days........

This continues to be the post-season of blown saves

On Monday night the Dodgers and Phillies played an exciting game that went back and forth. For most of the game, it looked like the Dodgers had an edge.....then they brought in Jonathan Broxton to attempt to close things out. Things didn't quite go as planned as he gave up a game-losing hit to Jimmy Rollins. Instead of a potential classic series tied up at 2 all....we appear headed towards another one-sided playoff series. Also, the Broxton blown save has an ironic twist. That being out of all the closers who have imploded in the post-season, none of them have been the closer that seemed destined to pitch his team out of the playoffs (Brad Lidge).

A-Rod isn't the only Yankee making strides towards shedding a bad post-season reputation

Prior to 2009, C.C. Sabathia's one blemish to his fine career was a less than stellar post-season body of work. He struggled with this when he pitched for the Indians in the '07 post-season ( it feels like its been way longer than two years since the Indians almost made the world series) plus a bad start for the Brewers last year (NOT his fault by the way....he was on 3 days rest for two weeks straight at that point) but point being he wasn't a proven post-season winner.

That seems to be changing. He has owned the Angels in the ALCS, pretty much giving them no chance to win in either of his starts.....as much as I don't like the Yankees, i'm glad to see Sabathia shed the only blemish on his reputation.....even though the post-season thing didn't work out last year....Sabathia is still one of my favorite players since he made it possible for me to see the Brewers make the playoffs in my lifetime

Will Josh McDaniels ever lose a game as head coach?

Every year teams randomly become terrible out of nowhere (Titans) and teams become great out of nowhere. If things keep going as they are, the Broncos seem destined to be one of those teams. This continued as the Broncos got a strong special teams effort and just enough from Kyle Orton to beat the Chargers. When the season started, it was debatable whether the Broncos would win six games all year, well they got that done in six games. It took me awhile to come around on them as a legit contender but Josh McDaniels seems to have a pulse on getting the most out of his team (even if he hurt Jay Cutler's feelings in the process).

What sticks out to me for today:

Game 5 of the NLCS--Can the Dodgers make the most out of their last chance to keep 2009 alive or do the Phillies make my NLCS prediction come true by winning in 5 games.

13 Innings and an error

Well, today was a busy day in the sports world.......There was a lot of college football....Ohio State flops against an inferior Purdue team....Oklahoma loses again...V.Tech loses....Florida squeaks out a victory...and a bunch of other teams played college football.....on most given Saturdays this college football would be at the fore front of my attention

However, the main thing I will pull from today is the thrilling 13-inning epic that the Angels and Yankees had on stage tonight. The Angels needed to win tonights game after a flat and uninspiring performance in Game 1. This game had the feel of an instant classic, even before going to extra innings. The main things I noticed in extras were as follows:

As questionable as the umpiring has been, at least it didn't cost anyone the Game.

In the 10th inning, Erick Aybar thought he was on the front end of a double play that would leave the bases empty with 2 gone, instead the umpire called him for being off the bag (a play where the out should have been given to the Angels)...luckily the Angels were able to get out of the inning and this game was able to be settled on the field.

We're one step closer to people not discussing how un-clutch A-Rod is:

Alright, i'm not exactly a fan of A-Rod. I don't know whether its the salary, his arrogance, the team he plays for, he just rubs me the wrong way. That said, he is one of the greatest (if not) the greatest hitter of this generation. Also, he has gotten a lot of flak for being a bad post-season hitter. Granted his post-season body of work isn't as impressive as what hes done during the regular season but its not like he turns into David Eckstein.

Tonight, he follows up a strong start to the post-season by hitting a game-tying homer in the 11th and keeping the Yankees chances of going up 2-0 alive.

Speaking of that home run, whats up with all these blown saves?

Also, the Angels probably wish they still had K-Rod after the events of the 11th inning. I haven't been sold on Brian Fuentes as an elite closer and tonights game doesn't help his case at all. Instead of going into LA of Anaheim with a tied series, A-Rods home run kept this game going for a couple extra innings. If there is one theme from this post-season (besides the atrocious umpiring) its closers blowing games for their teams.........

Offense wins games, Defense wins championships, bad defense loses games

As great as this game was, it did seemed like a minor shame to see this game lost on a botched double-play attempt. Maicer Izturis tried to play hero by turning a double-play on a sharply hit ground ball. Even if he went the safe route and threw to first, worse case scenario is runners in scoring position 2 outs and a chance to force a 14th inning. Instead Izturis makes a sloppy through that Erick Aybar is unable to field and 5-plus hours of baseball comes to an end.

While I would have preferred for this game to end on a clean hit (or a Yankees loss)....at the end of the day, this game is an instant classic and one that we'll be talking about for a while. And to think this game seemed like it was going to be rained out as recently as yesterday.

ALCS Preview...Angels/Yankees

Another night.....another LCS preview....a much needed diversion from the sloppy Arkansas St.-UL Monroe.. game i'm watching on ESPN2.....there's been almost as many penalties than you see in an Oakland Raiders game....but the sloppiness of the Sun Belt Conference is another topic for another day.....anyways my take on the ALCS is as follows:

Catcher

Jorge Posada vs. Mike Napoli

Advantage: Yankees

First Base

Mark Teixeira vs. Kendry Morales

Advantage: Yankees

Second Base

Robinson Cano vs. Howie Kendrick

Advantage: Yankees

Shortstop

Derek Jeter vs. Erick Aybar

Advantage: Yankees

Third Base

Alex Rodriguez vs. Chone Figgins

Advantage: Yankees

Left Field

Johnny Damon vs. Juan Rivera

Advantage: Yankees

Center Field

Melky Cabrera vs. Torii Hunter

Advantage: Angels

Right Field

Nick Swisher vs. Bobby Abreu

Advantage: Yankees

Designated Hitter

Hideki Matsui vs. Vladimir Guerrero

Advantage: Yankees

Starting Rotation

CC Sabathia

A. J. Burnett
Andy Pettite

vs.

Jered Weaver

John Lackey

Scott Kazmir

Joe Saunders

Advantage: Yankees

Bullpen

Mariano Rivera

Philip Hughes

Phil Coke

vs.

Brian Fuentes

Darren Oliver

Jason Bulger

Advantage: Yankees

X Factor: Angels

Final Tally: Yankees 10 Angels 2

Do I want the Yankees to win and advance to the World Series? Do I think they are going to advance to the World Series? Yes. The only real major advantage the Angels have on the Yankees is history. They are the only team to have a winning record since 1996. In addition, the Angels have ended the Yankees season of '02 and '05 helping extend their World Series drought to an oh so excruciating 9 years.

However, looking at the starting line-ups, the Yankees are pretty loaded. While the short right-field porch has helped them, so has their ever-expanding payroll. They are stronger at every offensive position, with the exception of Center Field. The only Angels pitcher i'm sold on is Weaver and despite Fuentes getting through the ALDS without blowing any saves, i'm not sold on Fuentes getting through the post-season without squandering an opportunity for the Angels to win.

Prediction: Yankees in 4

First Impressions of This Years Playoffs

Alright, so the first three days of this years playoffs are in the books....while 3 of the 4 series have teams leading 2-0, the games have been more compelling than this may indicate....my impressions form

Rockies v. Phillies

Well, like most sequels, Rocktober II got off to a lack-luster start. The Phils have already done better in this version than they original as they've actually won a game this time. The weird thing is that while this is the only tied up series...this is the series that I haven't gotten the least into

Cardinals v. Dodgers

Prior to the series, I argued that the Dodgers would win this series due to having a better-rounded team. I also mentioned that while the Dodgers have several players who could step up on any given day...the Cardinals are revolved mostly around Carpenter, Wainwright, Holliday and Pujols.

This series isn't even over and the Cardinals have been hurt by 2 of these players not playing up to their regular season performance. Chris Carpenter did has non-stepping up on a more subtle level as he got out-pitched by Randy Wolf of all people.

Then there is Matt Holliday. Thursday started off well for him with him hitting a home run early on. However, thats not what people are going to remember. He's obviously going to be remembered for his missed opportunity to grab the final out of the game (plus getting hit in the groin with the baseball---usually you have to watch MTV for something like that...and the impending collapse that occurred afterwards.

While Holliday obviously made a crucial error, he definitely can't be blamed entirely for the loss. After this error the Cards were up 2-1 with a runner on base and 2 outs. I get the vibe that the defensive gaffe will cover-up the very non-clutch performance of Ryan Franklin.....its not like he gave up the game-tying/losing hits to the meat of the line-up...he blew this game against two players who did time on some bad Brewers teams in the late 90s (Ron Belliard and Mark Loretta).

Twins vs. Yankees

Todays match-up was a lost opportunity for the Twins. They were up 3-1 on a couple late RBI singles. A normally clutch Joe Nathan blows the game on the biggest stage.....can't capitalize on loading the bases with 0 outs and left 17 men on base...........14 of those potential runners that could have let them win this game......there are some things you can blame on payroll discrepancies...Game 2 is not one of them.........if this didn't ruin the Twins morale...the walk-off home run from Mark Teixeira pretty much finished off the job

Angels vs. Red Sox

Well, the Angels are one win away from beating the Red Sox for the first time in a playoff series. Whether they follow through on this is yet to be seen. They have to travel east to Fenway Park so anything can happen here. For what its worth out of the 4 times a team has come down 2-0 in the ALDS...the Red Sox have been the team to come back two of those times ('99 vs. Cleveland and '03 vs. Oakland)

Still, to pull this off (or win a game) they need to get their offense going. Scoring 1 run in 2 games is not a good things.

For a while this game looked like it was going to be more epic than the preceding Twins/Yankees game. Josh Beckett and Jered Weaver went blow for blow until the 7th inning until the Angels broke through for a 3-run inning.

On a misc. note, this series has allowed C.B. Bucknor has gotten his 15 minutes of shame. How hes umpring in the playoffs is beyond me. His work has been bad enough to have various edits made to his wikipedia page.

Well thats my gut reaction to the first few days of the playoffs......can't wait to see how the rest of this plays out.

Divison Series Preview Part 4: Twins/Yankees

Well, the playoff field is finally set. It took them 163 games, a crazy September run and a New York Met style choke-job by the Tigers but the Twins are in the playoffs this year.

They get to face a loaded Yankees squad that is in the midst of an oh-so long 9 year World Series drought. Enough with the intros onto the match-up

Catcher

Joe Mauer .364/.442/.586 176 OPS+

Jorge Posada .285/.363/.522 130 OPS+

Joe Mauer has been a Beeeeeassst this year. Despite missing almost a month of the season he is the front runner for MVP.

Jorge Posada has had a nice year but nothing with MVP-implications.

Advantage: Twins

First Base

Michael Cuddyer .276/.342/.520 130 OPS+

Mark Teixeira .292/.383/.565 146 OPS+

Cuddyer has stepped up BIG time in September. The Twins had a heavy blow dealt to them when Justin Morneau went down with an injury. Cuddyer has stepped up and seems to get a clutch hit on a daily basis.

Mar Teixeira had a good first year in New York. He got a massive contract to hold down First Base and didn't disappoint . Teixeira has had the better season/career (but I don't buy the MVP talk--) but Cuddyer is the hottest hitter in baseball right now and I see him carrying the momentum into the playoffs

Advantage: Twins

Second Base

Alexi Casilla .198/.227/.256 46 OPS+

Robinson Cano .320/.352/.520 126 OPS+

Casilla did get the game winning hit in today's game but he's struggled so much at the plate he makes David Eckstein look like a power hitter.

While Cano's power numbers have been inflated by a short porch at the new yankee stadium, he is one of the better second basemen in the league and leaps and bounds better than Casilla.

Advantage: Yankees

Shortstop

Orlando Cabrera .292/.316/.424 99 OPS+

Derek Jeter .334/.406/.465 129 OPS+

Orlando Cabrera has done a good job of solidifying the shortstop position for the Twins. While his numbers aren't eye popping he does have lots of post-season experience. For what its worth the two times he's been on a team playing the Yankees ('04 Red Sox/'05 Angels).....the Yankees have gone home

Derek Jeter has had a typical Derek Jeter-esque season. Talk about him being an MVP is a stretch and he is generally overrated but i'd still place him above Cabrera

Advantage: Yankees

Third Base

Brendan Harris .262/.307/.363 82 OPS+/ Matt Tolbert .228/.301/.306 66 OPS+

Alex Rodriguez .286/.402/.532 143 OPS+

Third base has been a weakness for the Twins, especially after losing Joe Crede to injury. Regardless of who starts...the Twins won't get much offensively from third base.

A-Rod is the starting 3rd baseman for the Yankees. While he is a very unlikeable player and seems headed to be the Dan Marino of MLB (great player, great stats no rings) he still is one of the greatest hitters of this generation and he's not as bad of a post-season hitter as his reputation indicates (.279/.373/.483 170 At-Bats)

Advantage: Yankees

Left Field

Delmon Young .285/.307/.428 97 OPS+

Johnny Damon .282/.365/.489 123 OPS+

Delmon Young has all the talent in the world but hasn't quite put it all together yet...still he's only 24 so he could be a star...still he doesn't quite stand out.

Johnny Damon has churned out a solid-season. He's tied a career high in homers and has benefited heavily from the short porch at new yankee stadium.

Advantage: Yankees

Center Field

Carlos Gomez .227/.285/.335 68 OPS+

Melky Cabrera .274/.336/.416 97 OPS+

Gomez has the potential to be a great player. He can play some good D, he can run like the wind but has yet to put it together at the plate.

Melky Cabrera is definitely the weak link of the Yankees offense....he's improved from a disastrous '08 and is probably only holding down center until the Yankees can find someone to throw $100 million-plus at and replace him...

Advantage: Yankees

Right Field

Denard Span .312/.392/.417 121 OPS+

Nick Swisher .249/.371/.498 126 OPS+

Denard Span followed up a strong rookie season with a solid but not spectacular '09...the main thing sticking out is he led the league in triples.

After a disappointing '08 Nick Swisher returned to form and had a solid season. Although they are different types of hitters they both about equally as useful offensively. Swisher gets the nod here since hes been to the post-season before.

Advantage: Yankees

Designated Hitter

Jason Kubel .300/.369/.535 142 OPS+

Hideki Matsui .274/.367/.509 128 OPS+

Jason Kubel has quietly had an excellent season. Hes not the biggest name on this team but hes gotten it done all year.

If this were based on how well known the players were...Matsui would win in a landslide. He has bounced back to have a very solid year...but Kubel has just been better.

Advantage: Twins

Starting Rotation

Nick Blackburn

Scott Baker

Carl Pavano

Brian Duensing

vs.

C.C. Sabathia

A.J. Burnett

Andy Pettite

Joba Chamberlain

I'm not too crazy about either rotation. The Twins may have been able to win the AL Central counting on players such as Baker and Pavano but it's probably insufficient for a playoff run regardless of how many clutch hits they get out of Michael Cuddyer.

The Yankees are flawed as well. C.C. Sabathia has always been a great regular season pitcher but has never gotten it done in the playoffs. A.J. Burnett gets paid like an elite pitcher, he just doesn't pitch like one (unless its a contract year) Pettite isn't as great as he was but hes still a solid pitcher with lots of post-season experience. I have no idea whats going on with Joba. Either way the Yankees seem to be derailing a promising career with the Joba rules. Still, the Yankees have a talent edge in the rotation so they get the nod.

Advantage: Yankees

If the game is on the line, these are pitchers likely to be in the game

Joe Nathan

Matt Cuerrier

Jose Mujares

vs.

Mariano Rivera

Philip Hughes

Phil Coke

Both of the closers are amongst the most dominant in the league. Rivera has a massive experience edge but Joe Nathan is just as capable of having a long, dominant stretch. The set-up/middle relievers for the Twins have been better than those for the Yankees so they get the advantage here.

Advantage: Twins

X Factor:

The Yankees have a massive payroll and field a real-life equivalent of a fantasy baseball team so they need no X Factor.

The Twins have been playing with a purpose. They are one of the hottest teams in baseball. They might not look that great in the standings but they picked the right time to get hot. They've playing their last season in the Metrodome and they overcame an injury to Justin Morneau.

Advantage: Twins

Final Tally: Yankees 7 Twins 5

The Twins are short on talent but they come into the post-season playing over their heads. They don't quite have enough to upset the Yankees but they'll at least make it interesting

Prediction: Yankees in 5

Baseball Weekend Preview

The second to last weekend of regular season baseball is upon us. The pennant races are not as thrilling as usual but there's still a glimmer of hope that if Detroit or Colorado struggles an entertaining week could still happen. As always, the games are ranked from 1 to 5 based on how interesting I find the series.

Red Sox vs. Yankees =1

FRI-TBS, SAT-FOX, SUN-ESPN

Lester vs. Chamberlain

Matsuzaka vs. Sabathia

Byrd vs. Pettite

There are 28 other teams that play major league baseball but these two are the only ones to get slobbering obsessive coverage from the national media. If a playoff series was at stake I could see having all 3 games on national TV but in reality this series is a play-off tune up for both teams. The Yankees have a pretty healthy lead in the AL East and the Red Sox have the wild-card more or less locked up.

Still, there are a few things to watch for this weekend. First, OMG Joba Chamberlain is starting. OMG the Joba Rules....lets see how bad we can mishandle Joba Chamberlain and how much hype we can give an average pitcher who had two really good months...back in '07. This is the real life equivalent of that South Park episode where it's revealed they build up stars at a young age only to watch them self-destruct (Britney Spears/Miley Cyrus).

Second, Can Dice-K bounce back from a bad year and be a factor in the playoffs? He's pitched better in his first two starts back. How he does against the Yankees will go a long way to determine this.

Third, will C.C. Sabathia pitch strong and strengthen his grip for the battle of who's going to finish 2nd in the Cy Young voting to Zack Greinke?

Cubs vs. Giants =3

Sat-FOX Gorzelanny vs. Zito

The Cubs playoff hopes are more or less done. However, they do have a chance to play spoiler and bring the Giants down with them. The Giants have exceeded preseason expectations all year and still have a slim hope at the wild card despite having a horribly inept offense (except for Pablo Sandoval).

The main reason to watch this one is to see if Zito can keep his hot streak alive. After signing a massive contract for the Giants, he has performed significantly worse than the contract given to him. This year he's experienced a resurgence as well and a big start from Zito would do a lot to keep the pressure on the Rockies.

Cardinals vs. Rockies = 3.5

Sat-MLB Network

Wainwright vs. Jimenez

Probably the best series of the weekend. For the Cardinals, this series serves as a play-off tune up as they've long since left the rest of the NL Central in the dust. That doesn't mean they're going to take it easy on the Rockies as they co-ace Adam Wainwright.

For the Rockies, they need to play well in this series to maintain their lead in the wild card race and to seal off their playoff hopes. The Rockies have their own developing ace, Ubaldo Jimenez taking the hill on Saturday.

In other words, expect a really good pitchers duel in this game. Also, as much as I hate to admit...the Cardinals playing well this weekend would be good for MLB overall as it would increase the chance of a thrilling end of season showdown between the Rockies, Giants and Braves.