Final Thoughts: Major League Baseball
As with the NFL, I’m just going to give some quick final thoughts on a few notable MLB teams.
- The New York Yankees: The Yankees have had an eventful off-season, with Joe Torre leaving and seemingly Alex Rodriguez as well. But everything seems to be working out fairly well for the Yanks, as they made a good replacement hire in Joe Girardi, and A-Rod is now set to resign with New York. Still, pitching depth could be an issue: if Andy Pettitte retires, that starting rotation becomes quite young and inexperienced. The bullpen needs some work in setting up Mariano Rivera, too. The Yankee line-up will again be fierce next year, but you have to wonder if they’ll have enough pitching to get past a team like Boston in the playoffs. My prediction? The Yankees make the Wild Card again next year, and lose to the Red Sox in the ALCS.
- The Colorado Rockies: Even though they lost to Boston in the postseason, the Rockies’ playoff run was the stuff of magic. Following it up will be a tough task. In many ways, the Rocks may have overachieved, and they’ll need to add some pieces just to make the playoffs again, given their tough division that keeps getting better. They’re wisely trying to sign superstar Matt Holiday to an extension, and they now look close to a deal to resign catcher Yorvit Torrealba, which is good. But second baseman Kaz Matsui will almost surely leave, so Colorado will have to replace him and starter Josh Fogg. Another bullpen arm couldn’t hurt either. So far, the Rockies’ off-season has been uneventful, and unless they make some nice moves, my prediction might be that they can’t quite live up to this year’s success and barely miss the playoffs in 2008.
- The Atlanta Braves: Once again, we’re putting my favorite team in here. The Braves haven’t made the playoffs two years in a row after winning 14 straight division titles, but there’s still a lot of good pieces here. Mark Teixeira will be with the team at least one more year, and Tom Glavine will return to Atlanta to help the rotation. The big question mark it what the Braves will do in center field, since they don’t Andruw Jones they won’t be resigning him. If they find a good replacement (I was hoping for Aaron Rowand, but I doubt that happens), then I like the look of this team: a potent lineup, good rotation (albeit a risky one, with age and injury history), and a solid bullpen. Still, the Mets and Phillies are two teams that will be tough to get past for the Braves to get back in the playoffs. My prediction? Atlanta misses the postseason next year, but is back in 2009.
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