This courtesy of SI.com columnist Jeff Pearlman:
AL East
1. Boston Red Sox—Oddly, I like their moves more than the Yankees. Penny and Smoltz could easily win more games than Sabathia and Burnett.
2. Tampa Bay Rays—I smell a letdown. But not a huge one.
3. New York Yankees—They’re becoming the 1980s version of themselves, Remember Steve Kemp, Don Baylor, Roy Smalley, etc …
As I have said before, there are plenty of good reasons to pick the Yankees to finish third. You may not trust their rotation due to health concerns, or you may think that they did not do enough to address the offense, the team’s most glaring weakness from last season. What irks me is when people make predictions and judgments based on silly, unsupportable statements. Liking the Red Sox moves more than those of the Yankees is entirely indefensible. Sabathia, Burnett, and Teixeira are each coming off strong years, and all are in their prime. Smoltz and Penny are coming off surgery, and Penny was awful last season. The Red Sox signed a bunch of injured players hoping to win the lottery. While it is possible that things could all break in their way and Smoltz and Penny win plenty of games, there is no logical way to defend the statement that they could “easily win more” than Sabathia and Burnett. In fact, I would say that the odds suggest that Sabathia or Burnett alone could outwin the Red Sox duo.
Furthermore, I have no idea what the caption next to the Yankees means, and I would love if someone could explain it to me. The Yankees are turning into an 80′s version of themselves by bringing in good players in their prime? Just as an aside, the Yankees won more games than anyone in the 80′s (h/t comments at BBTF). If anyone could tell me who exactly is supposed to be the Baylor, Smalley, and Kemp on this team, kindly let me know.
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
9 Responses to More Mediocy
Leave a Reply
TIQ IQ
I hate to sound like a biased Yankee fan, but it seems obvious to me that there is, at least with some writers, a very blatant anti yankee bias. You could use the same type of arguments to place Baltimore aheaad of the Yankees. they have made some moves in the off season, combined with what they already have, to push them into contention to be better than the Yankees this year. It’s possible, but I don’t think it’s going to happen.
Exactly, and I get the bias. But if you want to be biased, why not actually use some legit arguments, which there are, to support your point. It is so silly.
Once again here’s some MSM bias. When they talk about the Red Sox predictions for next year they always refer to best case scenario. When it’s the yankees it is worst case. How many people in America do you think would put money on Penny and Smoltz combining for more wins than CC and Burnett? ESpecially since smoltz isn’t supposed to be ready to pitch until June. It’s so f*cking ridiculous this crap gets printed.
Umm….isn’t Smoltz not supposed to return from injury until May or June…
Sabathia and Burnett are going to have a full 2 months of pitching ahead of him. I mean at least look at the situations of the players. Besides, wins for a pitcher is like counting saves for a closer.
Just look at Santana last year.
Speaking of bad journalism, anyone read the new Bill Madden article on Nick Swisher? Apparently Madden doesn’t like happy people.
Yeah, that was pretty funny- why is this guy so damn happy? he is not going to start!!! Why isn’t he bashing water cooler???? Classic.
Comparing the signings of CC & AJ to those of Smoltz & Penny, is ridiculous. If the Yanks would’ve had 2 “horses” at the top of their rotation like the Sux do, they would’ve done the same thing, which is sign low-risk potentially high-reward veterans. Problem is, they didn’t have an established ace, so they had to do the right thing then, which is sign the best available pitcher on the market. Of course Pearlman loves the Sux’s signings more than the Yanks’, I’d love it too. But the Yanks weren’t in position to sign old-ass veterans, they needed an ace, not old-ass veterans. The Sux would’ve done the same damn thing.
Don’t compare Smoltz and Penny to CC & AJ. Compare Beck-ass and Dice-K to CC & AJ. Compare Smoltz & penny to Hughes & Kennedy, pitching depth to pitching depth. But don’t go comparing front of the rotation guys, to some old-ass guys who might not pitch before May. typical Yankee-hatin analysis.
Standing O’neill: LMFAO. Madden is another one of those old-school shitloaders who thinks A-Jax isn’t a good prospect because he doesn’t hit for high average… Old fuck.
I’ll explain it for you.
I knew Pearlman in college and he is a tool.
I followed over from PP – really enjoying the site.
Thanks.
Glad to have you here. Spread the word, as EJ likes to say.