This is the worst time of the year to be a baseball fan. The season is long enough over where you miss actual games, if your team won the World Series, the DVD isn't out yet and you can't inject yourself with baseball nicotine by watching it 47 times in a row, and the hot stove is nothing more than speculation.
Add to that the element of having a blog you need to update and the whole situation is pretty awful, particularly this off season. Unlike last year, the Yankees don't have many holes to fill. They don't need to pick a new right fielder, their second baseman and catchers are not question marks, they aren't losing half their pitching staff and the bullpen is more solidified now than ever in recent memory.
As I said, Alfredo Aceves, Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, Phil Coke, Damaso Marte, Mariano Rivera, Dave Robertson, Mark Teixeira, Robbie Cano, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Jorge Posada, Nick Swisher, AJ Burnett and CC Sabathia are guaranteed to play a role on the 2010 roster. That's 15 out of 25 spots already set in stone. Add to that we can assume one of Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner, Jose Molina and Francisco Cervelli, and Andy Pettitte, Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui will return at a minimum, and that's 18 spots. Likely out of those seven names, you will see five of them on the roster. So honestly, the next 88 days or so will be spent on deciding five positions for this team.
Last season we knew the Yankees would sign two great pitchers and though Teixeira might have been a last minute surprise, we knew the team was dedicated to signing some sort of impact bat to protect or set up A-Rod's bat, just most of us figured it would be in center field. We also knew there would be a new outfielder. Of those scenarios, we know if Damon and Matsui don't return, the Yankees will sign an out fielder and a bat of some sort, but assuming Pettitte is resigned, which he will be, that leaves the fourth and five starter spots, and already a handful of internal candidates to fill them. I'm still on board with signing an inexpensive innings eater, as well as a high reward type of name like Ben Sheets. I would also offer Chien-Ming Wang a contract (if you do it for the Steve Karsay's of the world, you do it for one of your own) and call it a day in the pitching department, unless there is a reliever around who can be had for cheap. Between Sheets, a FA, Pettitte, Sabathia, Burnett, Kennedy, Mitre, Gaudin (resign them both), Aceves, Hughes, Chamberlain and eventually Wang, I think you will find a rotation and quite a bit of insurance. Obviously, as I stated earlier, if a name like Felix Hernandez is out there and can be had for top prospects and one of Chamberlain and Hughes, at this point I do it. Felix Hernandez is what we hope our top pitchers can turn into, and he's the same age.
As far as offense is concerned, the Yankees either sign Damon or a replacement. If they don't sign Matsui (I don't think they take both though it wouldn't be the end of the world if they did), a useful bat would help, but replacing a DH isn't a terribly difficult task...Unless Pat Burrell is a Free Agent I guess. Of course, if the Yankees don't resign Matsui, it will be because they want more youth and versatility, so likely it would be for someone who could play the field and isn't just an offensive force.
Unfortunately, regardless of what happens we're just going to have to wait and Yankees fans will have to continue to bask in the glory of what transpired a few weeks ago. I've still been sharing stories and moments with fellow Yankees' fans I come in contact with, one of the many joys when total strangers have such a strong bond over something.
- Tonight's Patriots-Colts game was one of the greatest comebacks I've ever seen in the regular season of the NFL. It also brought about a few revelations:
1. At least for now, Peyton Manning is the best player in the NFL and it's no longer debatable. The Colts are undefeated while battling numerous injuries and with a bunch of no-names for receivers outside of Reggie Wayne and Tight End, Dallas Clarke. The days of Manning having unlimited weapons and an impenetrable offensive line while Brady was doing what Manning does now are over. Not to mention, now that both are healthy for the first time in three years, Manning is just clearly a better quarterback, and for all the Adrian Peterson's of the world, the debate starts and ends with Manning and Brady. Right now, Manning is clearly better and he has the more recent ring and playoff appearance.
2. In North American sports, this rivalry is the best at any level, including Yankees-Red Sox. Ultimately, the combination of neither team playing in the ALCS since 2004, and the fact they face off 18 times a year and still can make the playoffs regardless of the outcomes of those games has handcuffed baseball's greatest rivalry. The Patriots and Colts finish in the same place every season and thus have faced each other every season in recent memory, they get one shot at each other and it usually comes when one of them is undefeated. They have also faced off three times in the AFC Championship (the equivilent to the ALCS), and have combined for four championships this decade. Meanwhile, even though the Pats have more Superbowl wins (which is ultimately more important and makes them the team of the decade in football), the Colts have been a marquee team almost all decade, which at worst matches the competition of Yankees and Red Sox. Same resume, but more at stake when they face off head to head. I'll still take the fans of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry as most hateful of each other, however.
Duke-UNC? Not until Duke is truly a powerhouse again and doesn't keep leaving the tournament prematurely. Texas-Oklahoma? Doesn't have the national appeal. OSU-Michigan? Not until Michigan starts winning again. Lakers-Celtics? Only one head to head in the playoffs and it wasn't terribly competitive. Hockey? Not enough national appeal in general. Colts-Pats is it to me and it's coincidental and ironic it only started after they left each others' division.
3. Manning is also the most dangerous player in the NFL, which I suppose is exactly like being the best. It will ultimately mean nothing to his critics unless he puts it together again in January and wins another ring, but Manning has a killer instinct this year we have not seen from him yet, and that's scary when you consider he's the best quarterback people my age have ever seen in terms of natural talent at the position. I think any fan of either or neither side knew if the Colts could put a stop to the Pats' offense at all when they were down 17, Manning was going to find the points to win that game. Naturally, from that point on the Patriots were held to a a field goal and Manning supplied three touchdowns and a last minute victory.
4. Belichick has lost some of his magic. Obviously that last TD was severely added by Bill Belichick's ego. Deciding to go for it on the road on 4th and 2 inside his own 30 is the exact reason Belichick haters hate Belichick. He's arrogant, he's pompous, he has an enormous ego, and he disguises it with a calm demeanor and a snippy, inclusive, attitude. It's obnoxious in a best case scenario. I specifically remember when he went for it on 4th and 13 in the Superbowl against the Giants the only time it looked like the defense might crack rather than attempt a 48 yard field goal. Failing there changed the complexion more so than the opening 10 minute drive from New York.
There's a difference between taking risks and trying to send an ill-advised message. On one hand, going for it tonight was a compliment to Peyton Manning, not wanting him to get a chance to win the game, but on the other hand it was Belichick being Belichick and thinking he can get away with anything. That's why Spygate was so fulfilling, it was finally a moment where his critics can pin something on him as evidence for hating him. Now his play-calls are starting to do the job for them. There is no other coach in the NFL who would have tried that stunt, especially against their biggest non division-rival who is currently undefeated. I'm totally in support of running up the score, stealing bases when you're up by more than four, being aggressive in the opposing zone and shooting threes in garbage time, but I'm not a fan of coaches sabotaging their team because they want to be different.
If you're scared of Peyton winning it on say, a 70 yard drive, where do you come off risking everything and letting him do it on a 30 yard drive instead? Belichick got what he deserved on that play and that was a well executed delivery by Brady and a bobbled catch into coverage short of a first down by his receiver. Belichick thinks he can play outside the rules, but maybe he should go look at his latest drafting records (the last three years have been busts for the most part) and the fact it's getting longer and longer since he actually won a Superbowl. Tom Brady isn't getting younger and the window is slowly closing completely shut for the Pats if they don't come up with another draft which made them the elite franchise in football in the early part of the decade. Having a coach make decisions like he did tonight won't help the situation.
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