ALCS Preview

The Yankees have been the odds on favorite to win the World Series since before the playoffs began, and to solidify their status as favorites, they made quick and easy work of the Minnesota Twins during the first round. While the Angels were historically unable to handle the Red Sox in the playoffs, this year they exercised their demons by sweeping the Bosox with a dramatic come from behind victory at Fenway Park. There are good reasons to believe that the Yankees are still the odds on favorite to win. Their lineup is one of the most prolific lineups in recent memory and by far the most dangerous lineup in the playoffs. On top of this, much is being made of Alex Rodriguez’s recent post season awakening. There is no letting up with the Yankees offence – they had at least 8 players hit over 20 home runs this year in the regular season. On the mound, this years edition of the Yankees is also the best that it has been in the last few years – CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett are a formidable one two punch at the top of the rotation, and the bullpen is significantly deeper than it has been in the past with Joba Chamberlin and Phil Hughes bridging the gap to Rivera in the ninth. While this Yankee team is good, the Angels are a far better team than Minnesota and a potential upset is not out of the question. While Sabathia and Burnett (depending on which Burnett shows up to pitch) are possibly the two best starters in the series, I believe the Angels starters one through four are better than the Yankees starters. The Angels number 3 and 4 starters (Scott Kazmir and Joe Saunders) possess a decided advantage over the Yankees Andy Pettite and Chad Gaudin. While this lack of depth wasn’t a problem for New York in a short five game series, in a best of seven LCS format, this may play a significant factor. Accompanying the Angels starting pitching depth is an offence that more potent and well rounded than Angels teams of the past. In the past the Angels offence relied to heavily on Vladimir Gurrero, but with the additions of Bobby Abreau and Tori Hunter, combined with the emergence of Kendry Morales, all Vlad has to worry about now is trying not to swing at pitches that are going to hit him in the face. The Angels also have excellent team speed thanks to Chone Figgins, Reggie Wilits and Erick Aybar. With George Posada behind the plate, the Yankees inability to contain the running game has been a problem all year long. Another bad sign for the Yankees is that in their first round match up with Boston, the Angels hitters looked very comfortable against the power arms of the Red Sox bullpen, tagging Jonathan Paplebon for four runs in the final game. The Angels offence may not be as good as the Yankees, but they are much more dangerous than the Twins team that New York contained for three games. One area where the Yankees do possess a particularly clear advantage over the Angels is in the bullpen – Brian Fuentes has not been the dominant closer Los Angeles had hoped for when they signed him and with Chamberlin, Hughes and Rivera in the Yankee pen, they can shorten a game to seven innings when they are leading. Here is my prediction for the series: Kate Hudson dumps A-Rod, AJ Burnett and George Posada get in a fight, Scott Boras demands that Mark Tiexeria be traded mid series, Joba Chamberlin gets another DUI, Andy Pettite starts doing steroids again, no matter who is winning Erick Aybar smiles the whole time and the Angels win in seven.

The End of the Riccardi Era

Over the weekend, Paul Beeston did what many Blue Jays fans wanted done a long time ago. J.P Riccardi’s record as an executive was a spotty one at best. Many have noted his lackluster draft record, his knack for signing players to bloated contracts that ended up biting the Jays in the ass and his inability to build a team that got passed the Yankees and Red Sox (even though the Rays did). But lets not give him shit because he passed on Troy Tulowtizski, traded away Michael Young, or gave long term contracts to Frank Thomas, Cory Koskie, BJ Ryan and Alex Rios. Let’s give him shit because he never knew how to handle being the front office voice for a major league team. It started when he traded Shannon Stewart to the Minnesota Twins the year Riccardi arrived in Toronto. Stewart complained that Riccardi handled the situation with little class, and since that day it seems that the most captivating stories around the Blue Jays (coincidentally because Riccardi hasn’t been able to build a team that can captivate us with their performance) have been J.P.’s blunders and mishaps. Remember when he sent Orlando Hudson to the minors for calling him a smooth pimp? Or when he publicly criticized Adam Dunn (and then lied about apologizing)? When Carlos Tosca was fired, many players were apparently forbidden from saying goodbye to him. What the hell J.P.? This summers handling of the Roy Halladay trade solidified the fact that J.P just couldn’t get it right when it came to handling the media pressures associated with being a general manager. But the one thing that chapped my ass most of all through the Riccardi years was J.P’s constant complaining about how hard it was to compete in the AL East with the Yankees and Red Sox. For eight years, he told Jays fans that they didn’t have a chance, always pointing to next year (and that was if things fell the right way). He essentially told us not to bother watching the team he put together. As badly as I want to be a major league general manager, sadly I am not. This means that I can look past Riccardi’s failings in terms of player development, free agent singings and the lack of on field results – I would probably do a worse job than him. But what I can’t look past is all the times he made Jays fans feel shitty about being Jays fans, by saying things that made the franchise look bad and by telling us we didn’t have a chance in hell. Here’s to hoping he handles his words with more care at his next job.