I just got done reading Jayson Stark’s “Goodbye offseason, hello spring training” article on ESPN.com and it got me pretty jacked for baseball season. For those of you who don’t know, spring training starts this week for pitchers and catchers. This is where fans of teams like the Indians and Cubs can ask the question “is this finally the year?” Really, though, tomorrow gives fans a brand new year of hope for their favorite ballclub. It’s a new year and anything can happen….even the Indians could return to the “Windians.”
We will learn starting tomorrow if the Mariners, who had a flurry of off-season moves that included the signing of Chone Figgins and trades that netted them Cliff Lee and Milton Bradley, can hang with the Angels out in the ALWest. Cliff Lee and “King” Felix Hernandez now gives the Mariners one of the best 1-2 punches in the game.
The Yankees and Red Sox once again flexed their checkbooks and added a plethora of players. The Yankees added Curtis Granderson via trade (it pains me as a Tigers fan to say that) and Javier Vazquez, as well as the signings of Randy Winn and Nick Johnson.
Of course the Red Sox had to keep up with them and signed John Lackey, Mike Cameron, Marco Scutaro and Adrian Beltre. The AL East will likely be a battle between these 2 and they will both most likely make the playoffs.
Finally, I will hope and pray that my Tigers can remain competitive in the AL Central. I’m sorry for all you Indians fans out there but if they win 70 games, I’ll be shocked. The Tigers, Twins and White Sox all have very good pitching and it will be a battle to the end between all 3.
I don’t really give a shit about the NL, but I think one team that will make a serious run is the Arizona Diamondbacks. They will have a healthy Brandon Webb, Dan Haren and a newly added Edwin Jackson (another cringing moment for a Tigers fan). They also added Ian Kennedy from the Yankees who has shown flashes of being an above average pitcher in the past. But, when it’s all said and done, the Phillies and Cardinals will both be there. Roy Halladay was by far the best pitcher of the last decade, and he did that in the AL. He will now be making the switch to the NL and will immediately be the favorite to win the Cy Young. The Cardinals feature the best 1-2 punch in baseball offensively and with pitching – Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday, Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright- there’s about 300 million dollars invested in those 4 players. Not too shabby.
Well, so here’s to you and your favorite team in 2010. Will it finally be the year for your team? Or will you have to wait another year while the checkbook champs in the
Stark made some great points in his article, the first being how brilliant spring training looks starting tomorrow with 50 inches of snow covering most places around the country. I don’t know if there are literally 50 inches on the ground in some places, but my Mom told me today that the snow piles are stacked so high in
