Official MLB 2006 Thread

[Othello Harrington]

ok yoshi

Please god don't tell me you actually delude yourself into thinking that the yanks can win against the Sox(s) or the Tigers. The only reason they will make is because the Sox are in for some tough games against the Twins and Tigers in the next month.

[Rich]

I have no doubt in my mind they can win against them.

[SpoDaddy]

Wilson is an obvious upgrade, but how much playing time is Abreu gonna get when Sheffield and Matsui come back? And Lidle is most likely gonna be the fifth starter so it's not like he's gonna mean much in the playoffs.

There's no guarantee that they'll both come back and be great in time for the playoffs. If they both do come back then Abreu probably plays right, Matsui in left, and Sheffield DH's. The lineup would be:

Damon
Jeter
Giambi
A-Rod
Sheffield
Matsui
Abreu
Posada
Cano

with a bench of Craig Wilson, Melky Cabrera, Miguel Cairo, Sal Fasano, and Bubba Crosby. That's a monstrous lineup with a really deep bench. For the playoff rotation, I love Mussina and Wang as a 1-2 punch and after that it's really shaky. Randy Johnson I'd let start game 3 hoping he has something left, and Lidle is easily the 4th starter in the playoffs at this point. The trades definately help the Yankees in the regular season, no question, but they also make the playoff lineup much deeper, the bench much deeper, and they picked up a guy that's going to start in the playoffs.

The battle plan would be to win the first 2 games behind Mussina and Wang and then hope the monster lineup can beat up the other team's 3rd and 4th starters more than the other team's lineup can beat up Johnson and Lidle. If Dotel comes back and is solid (He had a great rehab outing last night) the Yankees will have their best bullpen since the Nelson/Stanton days. Proctor is great (when not overworked), Villone has been a really good lefty, Mike Myers still gets lefty's out, Farnsworth is great in his first inning then gets hammered in his second inning, Dotel would replace Farnsworth as the setup man, and Mariano's golden.

The Yanks are currently winning and the Indians have opened up a 5 run lead on the Red Sox, a good strategy to keep Ortiz from hitting a walkoff.

[Rich]

And for the record, losses for the Twins and Sox (if ortiz doesn't get an AB in the 9th) and a win for the Yanks tonight with the white sox game still up in the air.

[raystorm]

damn you Wagner

[SpoDaddy]

Please god don't tell me you actually delude yourself into thinking that the yanks can win against the Sox(s) or the Tigers. The only reason they will make is because the Sox are in for some tough games against the Twins and Tigers in the next month.

The Yankees can beat the Red Sox in the postseason (Boston's pitching is top heavy, the Yanks hit Beckett well, and their lineup isn't as good), they've done really well against the Tigers this year (plus the Tigers are so young and I don't see them going far into the postseason this year), the White Sox aren't the same team they were last year (their pitching is much worse and their lineup is weaker), and the Yankees always beat the Twins (plus the Twins pitching is obscenely top heavy and their lineup is relatively weak outside Morneu and Mauer). The Yankees can beat any team in the National League. The key to the Yankee October is Randy Johnson and Corey Lidle giving them 6 innings 3 runs per start.

[Rich]

damn you Wagner

LOLs!

[SpoDaddy]

Boston just announced that Varitek is having knee surgery....

[burgundy]

You also forget that the bullpen matters, and the Mets' is vastly superior to the Yankees'.

I SWEAR every day you post something like this, Wagner shits the bed.

PLEASE REFRAIN IN THE FUTURE and save my couch pillows some serious wear and tear.

[Dipstick]

The Yankees can beat the Red Sox in the postseason (Boston's pitching is top heavy

(plus the Twins pitching is obscenely top heavy)

What. The fact that they're so top-heavy is why they're so dangerous in the playoffs. Do you really want to face Santana and Liriano or Schilling and Beckett four times in a five game series?