Queens of Flushing the Mets Down The Drain?

  Baseball season is upon us. Pitchers and catchers have started to report to the spring training complexes. In my previous post, I gave you my predictions. Here I am going a little bit more in depth. If most of you don't know I am a huge Yankees fan, but I am going to pick apart the Mets. Why pick a part the Mets? Is it because I am a Yankee fan that hates the Mets? No. Is it because the Mets have more flaws than the Yankees or a lot of other teams? Yes. The Mets have done some nice things this off season, but they will not compete if any of the following does not happen.
    First and foremost, the Mets need to stay healthy, especially their rotation. If their starting rotation can stay healthy and produce about 150 starts, they can be dominate. Its mostly what carried them to the World Series in 2015.Their starting pitchers can be one of the best staffs in the Majors. The Mets finally did the right thing and fired their medical staff. Apparently, the guy could not get the team healthy if they kept breaking down.
   Next, after getting healthy, they need to address the middle of the team. What do I mean by that? They need a solid catcher, a second baseman, shortstop and center fielder. All 4 positions are up the middle of the field. The have a solid defensive center fielder in Juan Laguares, but don't have a double play combo or a catcher. If you look back at a team like the mid 90's Indians, they had the perfect up the middle comboniation. They had Sandy Alomar, Jr. behind the plate, Omar Vizquel and Roberto Alomar up the middle and Kenny Lofton in center field. That certainly helped the Indians reach 2 World Series and be contenders for years. The Mets need something very similar to that. Up the middle defense, with some hitting, will relieve the pitching staff a whole lot.
   Finally, the Mets CANNOT be afraid to be aggressive. I do not buy the fact that they have no money to invest in the team. Sandy Alderson needs to get creative. Look at Brian Cashman, he turned a 3rd string catcher(JR Murphy) into Aaron Hicks is their starting centerfielder. He also obtained Didi Gregorious. The only thing Sandy has down is turn years of control of  Michael Fulmer into half a season of Yoenisis Cepedes(the 4 year contract extension is a bust). If the Mets can do all of the above, they can be contenders.

2018 Baseball Predictions

   When the confetti drops at the end of the Super Bowl, the first thought that comes to mind "Pitchers and Catchers report!!" All Major League teams have their pitchers and catchers report next week. There are so many story lines heading into the 2018 season. Who will make the playoffs? Will the Astros repeat? Can the Mets stay healthy? Will the Yankees make true progression on last years success? Baseball can be both predictable and unpredictable at the same time.
  Let's start with the basics and talk division and wild card winners. Over in the AL there will be 2 changes(1 of them just a simple swap). The AL East will belong the New York Yankees. They are improved team only looking to make true gains from last season. They have the health, youth, and talent to win the division. They will also full seasons from Sonny Gray and Gincarlo Stanton.
    The AL Central will belong to the Cleveland Indians, again. No one in the division will challenge them. The Tigers, Royals and White Sox are all in rebuild. The Twins will make a run at the playoffs again but will just miss out on a wild card(more on that soon). The Indians are too good, when healthy, not to count out to go all the way. They have the reigning Cy Young award winner with a potentially dangerous rotation behind him. Their lineup can be scary as well. With Francisco Lindor and Edwin Encarnasion in that lineup they can anchor that lineup and make everyone in it better.
   The AL West will belong to the Houston Astros once again. They are the reigining World Series champs. They will  have a full season of Dallas Keuchacal and Justin Verlander. Their starting pitching can truly be a dominate force, especially with the addition of Gerrit Cole Their offense was also the best offense in the Major Leagues. With the MVP Jose Altuve anchoring that lineup, they can score as many runs as they did last year.
  The two AL Wild Cards will belong the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Boston seems to be in a slight decline since Big Papi has retired. They need the starting pitching behind Chris Sale to stay afloat in the division. They will be able to score enough runs to make it into the playoffs. On the other hand, the Angels look to be pushing their way into the playoffs. They extended Justin Upton for 5 years. Mike Trout needs to make it to the playoffs. This will be the year for him. The Angels could be this years Yankees and surprise everyone.
  Over in the National League, all 3 division winners will be the same. The Nationals are in the last year of Bryce Harper(potentially) and Daniel Murphy, both potent bats in he middle of that lineup. Yes, the Mets added some nice pieces to their lineup and hope to have a healthy rotation, but it won't be enough. The Dodgers will win the NL West again with almost no problem.Yes the Giants will be improved and you have the Rockies and Dbacks who made the playoffs, but the Dodgers still have a the best team in that division.
   The most competitive division in the NL will belong to the Central Division. The Cubs certainly have the talent to have a 3-peat as division winners(even without Arrieta). They do have competition with the vastly improved Brewers(see Yelch and Cain) and the always in it Cardinals. The Cubs will leg it out because they have the depth and resources to pull it out once again. Their position players are either entering their prime or are in their prime. Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo are always MVP candidates. They have a rotation led by Jon Lester and have up and coming pitchers to supplement the rotation.
 The 2 NL Wild Cards will the Brewers and Rockies. The Brewers have vastly improved, especially on defense, that they will make the playoffs. The Brewers may be the surprise team in the National League this year to make a deep playoff run(not that its going to happen.) I am choosing the Rockies over the D-Backs to return to the playoffs because they have a better bullpen and a more solid lineup to score runs. Let's see if these predictions stick!!!

New England Unthinkables

   When leading up to Super Bowl Sunday, we have what is called “Super Week”(the week leading up to the Big Game). The its been 3 full days since the Super Bowl was played and it feels like this is Super Week. There is the drama with Malcom Butler still unfolding. Josh McDaniels spurns the Colts and screws the assistants he hired. Why does it seem that the Patriots are in the news for all the wrong reasons?

   Lets start off with the Malcom Butler benching during the Super Bowl. Its been quite a bit a speculation as to why he was benched. A former teammate came out and stated it was because he missed curfew(does not make sense). Tom Brady came out and defended Butler. Bill Belichik has not a said word as to why he benched Butler. If Butler plays on defense, it would be a whole different situation. The Patriots could have possibly won the Super Bowl if played any snaps.

  If you want my opinion, I feel that this was Bill being Bill. A few weeks ago, an ESPN article came out that there was a rift between Robert Kraft(owner), Bill Belichick(coach), and Tom Brady(quarterback). Tom and Bob were on the same page against Bill. Bill was upset at the trading of Jimmy G to the 49ers. He was trying to hold onto assets for the Pats futures. If this article is true, its my own opinion that Bill Belichick that tried sticking it to Kraft and Brady. Do I think he would intentionally screw up a Super Bowl? No I do not. Do I think he is trying to send a message to the team? I do think so.

   This is where the Josh McDaniels coaching issue pops to mind. We all know that leading up the Super Bowl, Micky D was planning to become the head coach of the Colts. It was even announced in the press on Monday, assistants were hired and everyone seemed on board. All of a sudden, out of the blue, there were reports that he was backing out of the job and staying put as the OC of the Patriots. Something had to give here. People think that Robert Kraft is trying to stick to the Colts because of “Deflategate.” I don’t think that is the case. The year of Deflategate the Patriots won it all. I believe that Kraft is sticking it to Bellechik after the loss on Sunday.

   Is it possible that Kraft knew that Bellechick benched Butler on purpose and in return kept McDaniels to show that Bill will only be in New England 1 more year?? He is probably telling Bill that he does not have job security after costing the team a record tying Super Bowl victory. The next 12 months will be a chess match between Kraft and Bill. It will absolutely be fun to watch and see what happens!