Yankees @ Royals, 9/7 - 9/9

Seattle/Detroit is the important set of games beyond ours. I'm rooting for the Tigers to take 2 of 3 there. That should allow us to keep our lead, if we can take at least 2 games of our series.

 

I like our chances of sweeping the Royals...with that said, I think the Yankees are going to cushion their lead nicely in the next week and will set them up with the chance to cruise into the PO's in the last 2 weeks

ALIO!!!! nice avatar!!!

 

That dumb avatar just never dies

 

Oh stop hatin'...

Seriously, the first thing I thought when I put it back up is "how long will it be before Soss has something to say about it?" :breakdance:

 

i was buggin Alio to bring that back...that is one of the best avatars ive seen

 

I wonder when they will start the campaign for Wang and the Cy Young. He started the season 3-4 weeks late and is still tied for the best record in the league. Hate to say it but Santana doesn't appear to be the best pitcher in baseball anymore. He will still get a fortune but probably not what he would have gotten a year ago.

 

It actually ruins my day :rofl:

 

Wang is certainly in the discussion, but I don't see any way he can win the CY, mostly because of his low strikeout totals. Sadly, that and wins are probably the two most important stats to the voters. Here's how I think it will play out, although Santana has pretty clearly been the best in the league.

W-L, ERA, WHIP, K

Josh Beckett- 17-6, 3.30, 1.15, and 165.
Johan Santana- 14-11, 3.15, 1.06, and 203.
Justin Verlander- 15-5, 3.67, 1.25, and 156.
CC Sabathia- 16-7, 3.24, 1.16, and 182.
Chien-Ming Wang- 17-6, 3.68, 1.27, and 87.
Dan Haren- 14-6, 2.87, 1.13, and 161.
John Lackey- 16-8, 3.26, 1.27, and 146.
Eric Bedard- 13-5, 3.16, 1.09, and 221.
Kelvim Escobar- 15-7, 2.99, 1.21, and 142.


I think Beckett will get it for two reasons. He will likely win 20 games and/or lead the league in wins, which is stupidly the first thing that voters look at, and two, he's been the unquestioned ace of the best staff in baseball. Santana SHOULD get it, but the lack of wins will hurt him I think. Verlander has good numbers and a no hitter this year will boost his value. Sabathia, Lackey, and Escobar all have another pitcher on their staff that could steal votes away from them (Lackey and Escobar for each other, and Fausto Carmona for Sabathia). Bedard and Haren just play on bad teams and that will hurt them, even though it's supposed to be an individual award.

 

I think that it will come down to who has the best september amongst the pitchers who are playing for teams in the playoff hunt.
Bedard and Haren are out unless they somehow lead the league in wins & ERA.
Santana is gone too since he hasnt been as great as he has the past few years.
Escobar is the second best pitcher on his team so he wont win either but will take votes away from Lackey.
So to me, it comes down to Beckett, Wang, Sabathia and Verlander.

 

I agree with you devil. As much as I hate it, Beckett IMO, is the clear winner.

Wang could make the discussion, but he hasn't been as "dominant" as Beckett. Getting wins is great, but not in terms of the Cy Young. Wins are a team function, Ks, low ERA, low AVG against, etc., that's what gets you a Cy.

While Santana's raw stats look better on paper, when voters are casting their ballots, you have to believe they will consider the player's competition when deciding. Santana played more games against teams that were out of the race in July, whereas Beckett has played many games against teams that are still in the race in mid-September. (Yet another reason I despise the unbalanced schedule.)

 

dude if we take 2 outta 3 we keep our lead regardless of what happens....did you maybe mean keep our 3 game lead? poor alio, makes no sense anymore...are u still losing sleep because andy phillips is hurt

 

i hope wang gets the cy young, he missed about the first month of the season and still has 17 wins.. last year he had 19 but went up against johan and wanger had no chance.. maybe this year he can wrap it up..

 

My bad, I meant that we'd keep the lead the same, basically, we would still be up 3 when the weekend was over. However, Detroit and Seattle are now tied at 3 for the WC, so it might not work out now.

And yes, I am still stressing over Phillips. He was a big loss. Will we recover? Maybe, but if we don't, it'll be this year's Sheffield situation at first.

 

this years sheffield situation? . nah...we put steroid boy or betemit out there for the first 6 innings and then we put eye chart in for defense late in the game...he is a gold glover.....

 

I've discussed this before, but we'll go through it again.

Andy Phillips is a multidimensional ballplayer. His defense far surpasses Giambi's, is at least equal to Betemit's, and from what I've seen of Mienky, is at least comparable there as well.

Defensive ability cannot be discounted at any point in a game. Sure, Mienky can come in late for a defensive adjustment, but 1) that doesn't help us the 6 innings Giambi is at first, and 2) he won't be on the roster if we make the postseason.

On the offensive side of the ball, the difference between the players is significant. Phillips' OBP: .338, Giambi's: .347. That's a slim margin. Giambi brings a lot of power to his lineup spot, and that's not a good thing. He makes the lineup top-heavy, since him in the lineup gives us power from 3-7, whereas Phillips swaps in Cano to that spot, and hits lower in the order, giving a very good OBP to the bottom of the order. That allows Phillips to be on base for the top of the order, and there's no comparing their abilities on the base path.

You can argue that all that power isn't a bad thing, but it is. With the exception of ARod this year, this team has proven that when one guy is cold, everyone is cold, when the lineup is power-heavy.

Betemit, along with Molina is Cashman trade deadline gold this year. He is more Phillips-like, but the problem is, he was supposed to be a weapon off the bench, so this injury takes some of that depth away. (Actually a significant amount, since Betemit is a good fielder on the other side of the diamond, so 1B is a waste of his talent.)

Mienky doesn't hold a candle to Andy at the plate.

Losing Phillips is a big loss. You can see it now, or you can see it later, but don't be surprised when you do see it. My only hope is that it doesn't cost us games.

 

mussina will start a game against toronto

 

I think it comes down to Beckett and Wang. Wang, I think, has an advantage in that case because he came close to winning it last year. Beckett has the better stats and Wang has done more in the time since he came off the DL to start the season. He still wasn't ready to pitch even then for another 2 or 3 weeks and his stats showed it.

 

Bedard and Santana are the two best pitchers in the AL. Hard to argue that Beckett won't win it, given the fact that they like to give it to the guy on the best team.

 

And I would be STUNNED if Wang won it. Stunned. And he shouldn't win it.