More Questions

There was a story in yesterday's NY Post by Mike Vaccaro that was pretty interesting. It started off talking about classic baseball questions (i.e. Willie, Mickey, or the Duke?) and went on to talk about the potentially classic questions in today's game.

Since it was in a New York paper, they started with the most obvious: Who would you rather have - David Wright and Jose Reyes of the Mets or Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter of the Yankees?

From there they focused on the NL East with Wright and Reyes or Ryan Howard and Chase Utley of the Phillies. In the article they said that foursome could represent the NL in the All-Star game for many years to come. That may well be the case, but it could be due to the fact that those guys are from the larger media markets.

One could just as easily throw the Marlins duo of Miguel Cabrera and Hanley Ramirez into the left-side-of-the-infield debate mix. Given the choice between Wright and Reyes, or Rodriguez and Jeter, or Cabrera and Ramirez, you really couldn't go wrong.

Another NL East pairing to throw into the mix would be the Nats Ryan Zimmerman and... oh... well... nevermind. Do the Nats even have a SS prospect?

Tough Questions

Ok, let's be honest here for a moment. Take salary/budget out of the picture. Forget about fantasy baseball. If you were starting a team and could have any third baseman you wanted (maybe it's for an Olympics/World Baseball Classic type of event), which player would you pick. Say you're looking to have this guy for this year and for the next five years.

The candidates, at least in my mind, probably are: Eric Chavez, Scott Rolen, Miguel Cabrera, David Wright, Alex Rodriguez, Alex Gordon, Ryan Zimmerman, Joe Crede, and Brandon Inge. There are definitely some other prospects and major leaguers out there to consider. But I think that's the A-list.

So who do you pick?

Chavez and Rolen have had off years and/or injuries. They've both probably peaked and their better days are behind them.

Crede and Inge are fun to watch, but don't have the upside of others on this list. They're definitely not the types you would build around.

Cabrera, Wright, Gordon, and Zimmerman are all either stars or will be stars very shortly. I think they each have holes in their game though. They're all pretty small and are really defense and/or speed. You can work around all of those things when you get the bats you get with these guys.

But I think the guy I would have to take -- and it really pains me to say this -- is ARod. He had a down year last year with 30+ homers and well over 100 RBI. Everyone talks about what a great year Jeter had (and don't get me started there), but ARod, in a "down" year scored about as many runs as Jeter and drove in more. Bad Arod is better than good/great just about anyone else.

The knock on ARod is what he does in the "clutch" and what he's done in the post-season. I think ARod is close to "getting" it though. Barry Bonds used to struggle in the playoffs. But he owned the 2002 post-season (I think the homer he hit off Percival is still in orbit). ARod seems like the type who will come around later in his career.

Maybe I'm just going soft on ARod. The talk of him being traded to the White Sox (or just about anywhere else in the league) doesn't seem to go away. Maybe I'm just preparing myself for the inevitable.

Regardless, I hope Wiggins ends up with ARod on his fantasy team.

News of the Day

I'm not sure which of these stories I like better:

1 - Man tries to cash check from God

2 - A police dog was called into court because a judge wanted to know about the college degree he allegedly earned. The real kicker (this shocked me) is that the degree is not from Florida State.

Three Things Wiggins Thinks

Here are things that I know, with absolute certainty, that Wiggins thinks:

1. That ARod will be the MVP of 2007. Not just the AL MVP. And not just the All Star game MVP. He'll be the MVP of everything that is 2007 in baseball. He will win the ALCS MVP. He will win the World Series MVP. He'll win the MVP Award for his play when the team of American all-stars visits Japan in the offseason. Wiggins even thinks there's a chance that ARod will win the NLCS MVP because of the influence he will have on the psyche of the NL players who will fear facing him in the World Series.

2. Hanley Ramirez will hit .237 and manage a statistically inefficient stolen base to caught stealing ratio.

3. Wiggins thinks "comedian" Andy Dick will find his inner heterosexual and spawn a child. She will be named Anita. Wiggins will try not to laugh about this for 18 years. He will fail.

We Almost Missed a Month

January has nearly come and gone and we have posted nothing. I suppose part of that is due to a post-holiday lag, but most of it is because 1) there's no baseball at the moment (although, we have to figure out how to get radio/television of the Caribbean Series. Seriously) and 2) Wiggins and I are both whipped. Initially I thought that was kind of sad, but I'm warming up to it and now I recognize that it's kind of cool.

Sadly, the cool little links I put up the last time I posted here seem to have gone offline and they're no longer available. That, much like me, sucks.

That's all I have for now. Hopefully I'll be inspired sometime soon.

Sides

The links and such on the side of the page have gotten a little stale. I am going to take the opportunity today to spruce them up a little bit.

Maybe It's Not So Crazy

Ok, so the 5-year/$70 million contract for JD Drew still seems insane to me. Props to him for opting out of the 3-year/$33 million the Dodgers owed him. He's a lot richer for that decision.

But the deal seems a lot more sane when you consider the 6-year/$100 million contract that Carlos Lee received from the Astros.

I know this isn't how the contract will be paid, but pretend that Lee gets paid like JD Drew for the first 5 years. That means the 6th year -- when Lee will be more qualified to play d-line for the Texans than outfield for the Astros -- is effectively worth $30 million. That's insane.

And don't even get me started on the Gil Meche contract. Wow.

Science Fair

1 - What did we do before YouTube? Seriously, I don't know how we existed.
2 - I want to help a kid with a science fair experiment this year.

Long Lost Brothers

I always knew that Wiggins and I had long lost brothers (from other mothers):

Is This Kid Possessed?

I Have To See This Movie

Yeah, it's been like a month since I've posted. I know, I know: It's pathetic. I mean, I'm approaching Wiggins territory here. But I have a clip that will redeem me. Just watch it all the way through to the end. Note the bottle of vodka that Matt Lauer takes and the high five he gives to the last question he receives:

Oh man, I can't embed it for some reason: Borat on Today

Apparently my mad blogging skills are diminishing. Sad.

Picking for Perfection

Since I did so well with the (so-called, but I'm not sure why -- since you can't play anyone from your division) Division Series, I am going to forecast the outcome of the League Championship Series in both the NL and the AL:

National League: Cardinals over Mets
American League: Tigers over A's

Congratulations to the Mets and Athletics!

Joe Girardi Day

So it seems that Joe Girardi will likely be fired within the next hour or so. Fine. Whatever. He did well enough. But he wasn't the best in game manager of all time (although, who is in their first year?). He seemed to do well managing a clubhouse full of personalities (ranging from minor leaguers to established stars -- even if they were all practically under 25).

But at this time last year, Girardi didn't seem to make the most sense to outsiders. Other candidates made more sense. Now it seems they're hiring one of those types -- as the rumors have Fredi Gonzalez getting the job. Fredi has a great resume and, since he is bilingual, will likely relate well to players who speak English and Spanish.

The question of the day though, for both Samson and Loria (Beinfest too if he's part of the hiring) is: what will you do differently in hiring a manager this year that you did not do next year? Clearly there was a flaw in the hiring process used last year. They hired a manager who came in and delivered results that were above expectations. Something was missed in the interview and background checking process that allowed the Marlins to hire a manager that they clearly do not want. Can they admit that mistake?

Also, if Gonzalez is hired as early as this afternoon, as has been reported, will MLB investigate the Marlins hiring practices (again)? Or do the Fish get a pass since they're reportedly hiring a Hispanic manager? Maybe it's ok to only talk to one candidate and to handle the whole process while the job is technically already filled if you hire a minority. I applaud the point of the process that MLB has put together, but the point should be to consider the best candidates. Not to just pick a name out of a hat and go after the one person that you target, as the Marlins are seemingly wont to do.

Playoff Predictions

I haven't yet mustered the courage to go back and look at our playoff team predictions, even the most recent ones. I will soon. But for now I'm just going to make some picks. Here are the LDS matchups:

AL
Tigers vs. Yankees
Twins vs. Athletics

NL
Cardinals vs. Padres
Dodgers vs. Mets

Predictions
The Yankees will dispatch of the Tigers fairly easily. The Tigers have been a great story of late, but they've faded.

In the other AL series, the Twins will top the A's. Despite not having Liriano, the Twins finished strong.

The Padres will get even for last year and knock out the Cardinals. And I'm going to hope the Mets fall to the Dodgers.

Early LCS Predictions
Yankees over Twins -- I hope I'm wrong
Dodgers over Padres -- I'll admit it, I just want to hear Vin Scully call a World Series. I know I can get it on tape, but hearing it "live" would be cool.

World Series
Dodgers over Yankees -- How cool would it be to have a Mets-Dodgers and Yankees - Dodgers series in the same post-season?

Scoring the Picks

I am embarrassed to report the following:

In our last set of college picks (straight up, mind you), Wiggins went a pathetic 4-6. Shockingly, Mike did worse -- going 3-7.

We did slightly better in the NFL last week. Both of us went 9-7.

This week, Wiggins came strong with his NFL pciks. He has gone 10-3, with the Reggie Bush show still pending. Mike has only managed an 8-5 record. Sad.

NCAA Week Four/NFL Week Three Picks

No NCAA this week. We're both too depressed about our teams. Besides, the schedules sucks. Here's the NFL slate:

Washington at Houston
NY Jets at Buffalo
Green Bay at Detroit
Jacksonville at Indianapolis
Chicago at Minnesota
Tennessee at Miami
Cincinnati at Pittsburgh
Carolina at Tampa Bay
Baltimore at Cleveland
NY Giants at Seattle
St. Louis at Arizona
Philadelphia at San Francisco
Denver at New England
Atlanta at New Orleans

Wiggins' "Winners"
Washington (C'mon! Jeez...)
Jets
Green Bay
Jacksonville
Chicago
Miami
Cincy
Carolina
Baltimore
Seattle
Arizona
Philly
New England
Atlanta


Mike's Most Excellent Picks
Houston - Even Coach Janky Spanky isn't enough to right the 'Skins
Bills
Lions
Jags
Bears
Titans
Benglas
Panthers
Ravens
Seahawks
Cardinals
Eagles
Patriots
Saints - Brees channels Bobby Hebert

I picked way too many road teams this week

NCAA Week Three/NFL Week Two Picks

Same thing as before. Here are the college games in play:

Michigan at Notre Dame
Miami at Louisville
LSU at Auburn
FAU at Oklahoma State
Nebraska at USC
Oklahoma at Oregon
Texas Tech at TCU
Clemson at FSU
Florida at Tennessee
Maryland at WVU

Wiggins' picks
Michigan (I hope)
Louisville
Auburn
FAU
Nebraska
Oklahona
TCU
FSU
Tennessee
Maryland

NFL
Miami
Atlanta
Baltimore
Philly
New Orleans
Indy
Chicago
Cincy
Carolina
St. Louis
Arizona
New England
Denver
Whale's Vagina
Washington
Jacksonville

Mike's picks
Meatchicken
Miami
Auburn
FAU
Nebraska
Oklahoma
TTech
Clemson
Tennessee
Maryland

NFL
Bucs
Panthers
Dolphins
Giants
Saints
Colts
Bears
Bengals
Ravens
Cardinals
Rams
Chargers
Patriots
Chiefs
Redskins
Jaguars

Opening Night!

Da da da da...

da da da daaah...

doh doh doh doh...

Tonight is opening night. The rest of your fall in winter is officially booked. Here's the only link you'll need: Are you ready for some foosball?

That's right. I said it.

Mike's Meaningless Predictions

Too bad I don't know a word for "prediction" that starts with the letter M. Oh well... Here are my NFL picks:

NFC EAST - Redskins
WEST - Seahawks
SOUTH - Panthers
NORTH - Bears
WC - Cardinals, Giants

AFC EAST - Patriots
WEST - Chargers
SOUTH - Colts
NORTH - Bengals
WC - Steelers, Broncos

Super Bowl XLI: Bears over Colts

By the way, did you see that the Gators issued t-shirts to students to wear to football games this year? They use roman numerals for the year... except they screwed up. Instead of MMVI the shirts had XXVI on the front. After distributing many of them, the Mensas in Gainesville figured it out.

NCAA Week Two/NFL Week One Picks

After "successful" 5-5 weeks last week (for both of us), Wiggins and I are back to make picks for this weekend. We're looking at 10 NCAA games and all NFL games. Here are the college games:

Oregon State (+8) at Boise State (Thur)
Va Tech (-11.5) at UNC
Ohio State (+2.5) at Texas
Pitt (-8.5) at Cinci (Fri)
Colorado State (+2.5) at Colorado
PSU (+8) at ND
FAU (+22.5) at KSU
Georgia at South Carolina (+3)
Clemson at BC (+2.5)
Indiana at Ball St. (+4.5)

And here are our picks (college games are against the spread, NFL games are straight up):

Wiggins' picks
Oregon State (Go Beavers!)
VT
Texas (big)
Pitt
Colorado State
PSU
FAU
Georgia
Clemson
Testic Tech

NFL
Miami
Seattle
Philly
Tennessee
Cleveland
Denver
Cincy
New England
Baltimore
Carolina
Chicago
Arizona
Jacksonville
Indy
Washington
San Diego

Mike's picks
Boise State
Va Tech
Texas
Cinci
Colorado State
PSU
FAU
Georgia
Clemson
Ball St.
Dolphins
Jets
Broncos
Patriots
Bucs
Bengals
Seahawks
Panthers
Eagles
Browns
Jags
Bears
Cardinals
Skins
Chargers