With so many retail stores going out of business, isn't this really just a major financial correction? There's no way five or six major chain electronic stores should survive within a one-mile radius. People talk about the destruction of "Main St." and try to blame Wall St. It's our own fault for allowing Wall St. to take over "Main St.". Linens and Things? I could go buy 75% of their products for 2/3 the price before they started their going out of business sales. All you had to do was search some. That is a correction that needed to be made. They should be out of business. My only regret is that we can't put two or three REAL mom-and-pop stores in it's place and let them play "Survivor" the retail version. Sure, the prices may be a bit more because they aren't able to order millions of items at a pop for the major wholesale discount, however the service and the long-term relationship between consumer and store would be better. Considerably. The American economy will be fine eventually (well, consumer spending, anyway). We're just in a correction phase. I'm getting bored with my tangent so on to baseball...
Marky Mark and the Yankee Bunch...
When I stopped for a bite to eat today, I went to ESPN MVP on my phone and the headline that greeted me was a wonderful Christmas present... the Yankees reportedly have agreed to sign Mark Teixeira to an eight-year, $180 million contract. This is the one deal I was hoping for all off-season. More than CC, more than AJ, more than DL, AP or any other mish-mosh of initials you can throw up on the mound. The Yankees absolutely needed to improve their starting pitching, however there was not one single pitcher out there who I thought could improve the Yankees more than Teixeira. Not only will he bring his .3xx BA, 30-something HRs, .4xx OPB and 120-or-so RBI to the middle of the Yankee lineup, he will improve the hitters around him and provide protection for Alex Rodriguez that he has not had since Matsui was consistently healthy. Just as importantly, his defense at first will be the best since Nick Johnson left for the infirmary, and Tino before him. This will help your pitching staff and your infielders' defense. As a wise baseball man pointed out today over the phone, it will increase the confidence of the other infielders and that can only help their all-around game.
I criticized the CC signing when it happened, saying if it prevented the Yankees from getting Teixeira, than it wasn't worth it. I still think CC could fall apart and follow the same career path as Fernando Valenzuela, Sid Fernandez and other plus-sized pitchers, not to mention the 524 (!) total innings that have been logged on his arm the last two seasons. However, now that they have Teixeira, I'm at peace with the signing and hope he proves me wrong and can be the true ace the Yankees have been missing for longer than people realize.
With that in mind and with everyone calling the radio stations saying, "Oh, hey guys this is Joe from Schmoeville on the car phone. This is just another case of the Yankees trying to buy another championship. They are everything that's wrong with baseball...... yada yada yada..." I bring to you the five predictions every Yankee fan (myself included) is dreading to see come to fruition this year.
1. Derek Jeter becomes David Eckstein offensively and continues his gradual decline defensively.
Jeter's home run total has dropped five consecutive years. His slugging percentage has dropped eighty points in the past three years. The following statistics have all dropped three consecutive years: BA, OBP, BB, hits, total bases and SB. This usually does not bode well. Defensively, the worst kept secret in baseball has been Jeter's decreasing range and his slowly eroding arm. This season, Jeter will turn 35 and the wheels will really start to come off of his game.
2. Sabathia will begin the season with this stat line...
1-4, 7.76 ERA, 26.2 IP, 34 H, 23 ER, 14 BB
... just like he did in 2007. The only difference is this time - in NY - he won't be able to handle the pressure, will press a bit too much and will implode and be on the DL by June 1.
3. A-Rod will get an STD from Madonna and it will affect his production both on the field and off (I kid, I kid).
4. Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera and Nick Swisher (throw in Nady if you're REALLY paranoid) will all play to the worst of their abilities.
Cano is a very slow starter, inconsistent and can play with his head up his rear for weeks at a time. Melky seems to look more and more like a below-average major leaguer (.642 OPS in 2008) and Swisher has a career BA of .244. If they all have below-average seasons, there may not be enough to make up for the holes they would create in the offense.
5. Hideki Matsui, Jorge Posada and Chien-Ming Wang are unable to return to pre-injury form.
Although you will be hard-pressed to find people who say Wang will not return to form (it was a toe injury after all), this is a worst-case scenario type of situation. In the cases of Matsui and Posada, it is a very real possibility that they may not be on the field consistently. Matsui has missed 200 games over the past three seasons and although he has produced when he's played, there's been a noticeable loss of speed and power during the time he's been out there. Posada had a Ray Lewis-worthy resurgence in 2007 but was on pace for his lowest OPS since 1999 when he was injured last year. He also will begin the 2009 season with 37 years on this earth. There aren't many catchers who can be productive at that age.
So these are the worst-case predictions. I hope none of them come true...
