I'm Back...And So Is Baseball

Well, after taking a two and a half month break (a break I did not plan on taking) I am trying to get back into the flow of things in the spirit of pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training.

In the news: Chien-Ming Wang, the former New York Yankee ace, reportedly signed a one-year, $2 million contract with the Washington Nationals.

The deal caps what has been a very active off-season for the Nats. The team made headlines in December by picking up veteran backstop Ivan Rodriguez and signing him to a two-year, $6 million deal.

They also managed to land starting pitcher Jason Marquis and closer Matt Capps.

Perhaps the aggressive winter and heavy spending (relatively speaking) will pay off if Washington can finally find its way out of the National League East basement.

Time to catch up: As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, all you have to do is scroll down to my previous post to realize that I pretty much took the winter off when it came to updating America's Baby.

I am sure even the casual baseball fan is aware of the major signings that have gone down since early December. But, just in case you have been living under a rock, they are as follows:

Roy Halladay to the Phillies: Phillie fans got a Cy Young Award winning Christmas present this December. Philadelphia was able to pull off a three way trade with the Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners bringing 32-year-old ace Roy Halladay to the City of Brotherly Love, while shipping Cliff Lee off to pitch for the Mariners.

Arguably the game's best starting pitcher (although Mr. Santana still has my vote when he's healthy), Halladay has a career record of 148-76 with a 3.43 ERA and 1,495 strikeouts over 11 major league seasons. He has never pitched in a playoff game.

Meanwhile, Cliff Lee, or the "odd man out", has a Cy Young award of his own. Not to mention that he pitched to a 4-0 record with a 1.56 ERA with the Phillies during the 2009 postseason.

The Mets Add A Big Bat: After what seemed like an eternity of going back-and-forth, all-star left fielder Jason Bay finally signed with the New York Mets in late December.

The deal is worth $66 million over four years with a vesting option for a fifth.

Many had been speculating as to whether or not Bay would land with the Mets or opt to return to his former team, the Boston Red Sox. But after a medical dispute put the Sox and Bay at odds with each other, it seemed that the Mets were the best (or only) option.

Bay managed to set career highs in big flies and runs driven in with 36 and 119 in 2009, respectively.

Boston Gets A New Ace: Much like Phillie fans, Red Sox fans received an early Christmas present this year when John Lackey, the top free-agent pitcher on the market this past off-season, signed with Boston for five years at $82.5 million on December 16th.

Since winning the clinching game of the 2002 World Series with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (then just Anaheim Angels) in his rookie season, the 31-year-old Lackey has blossomed into one of the game's best starting pitchers.

Regarded as a true "gamer", Lackey went 11-8 with a 3.83 ERA while missing some time due to injury in 2009.

He also managed to earn his 100th career victory during the season.

Holliday Back For More: The last of this off-season's "big three" free-agents to go was outfielder Matt Holliday. However, unlike Bay and Lackey, Holliday returned to the team he was with in 2009 (at least for half of 2009).

Holliday hit .353 with 13 home runs and 55 runs batted in for the St. Louis Cardinals after being dealt from the Oakland Athletics in late July. He hit .313 with 24 homers and 109 driven in overall.

At the beginning of the off-season Holliday's agent Scott Boras made it clear that his client was only going to sign with a team for "Mark Teixeira" money ($180 million over eight years).

Well, Holliday didn't quite get Teixeira money, but he did manage to garner a pretty hefty contract worth $120 million over seven years.

In addition, signing with St. Louis gives Holliday the opportunity to be a part of what could be the most dangerous offensive duo in sports, as he will bat behind arguably the best hitter in the game in Albert Pujols.

Keep checking back for more posts, as I will be keeping the blog updated regularly again now that spring training is officially under way!

The Yankees Had Better Get Their Act Together

So far, 2009 has proven to be the most exciting year for the New York Yankees since 2001. Clutch hitting late in games seems to be a recurring theme, there are finally some reliable arms in the bullpen, and most importantly, strong team chemistry seems to be back.

The team's dominance since the All-Star break has led many people to believe that the Yankees are uncontested favorites to be the American League representative in the World Series. You would be a fool to pick against the Bronx Bombers with a year like this, right? Well, not so fast.

There is no debating it. The Yankees are currently the best team in baseball. They lead the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim by five games in the loss column for the best record in the American League, which would give them home field advantage throughout the playoffs (a vastly overrated benefit if you ask me, but that is neither here nor there).

But, the Yankees are not invincible. What seemed like a huge strength at the beginning of the 2009 season has now become a bit of a weakness.

At the beginning of the season, the Yankee rotation projected to be a collective group of established veterans and all-stars. CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Chien-Ming Wang, Andy Pettitte, and Joba Chamberlain. Are you kidding me?! That sounds like a "murderers row" of pitching!

Unfornunately, this is no longer the case.

After some shaky starts (shaky is an understatement) and a minor league stint, Wang was finally put on the shelf, receiving shoulder surgery in late July. He is now out for the season, ending up with a 1-6 record and a 9.64 ERA.

With Wang out, the rotation still appeared strong. Prized prospect Phil Hughes was called up to fill in the fifth spot of the rotation and, for the most part, did a servicable job going 3-2 with a 5.45 ERA in seven starts. However, he has since been moved to the bullpen in order to cut down on his innings total for the year and protect his right arm.

Since Hughes's move, journeymen Sergio Mitre and Chad Gaudin have filled in the fifth spot for the most part. Both proved to be highly inconsistent.

A.J. Burnett has also proven to be a bit of an enigma. At some times, he has pitched like a Cy Young Award candidate. At others, he has pitched as if he is in way over his head. He stands at 11-9 with a 4.33 ERA. Not exactly what the Yankees had envisioned when they signed him to a five year contract worth over $80 million, but not terrible either.

The real concern with Burnett comes from his last nine starts. Since August 1st, Burnett is 1-5 with a 6.14 ERA.

And finally, the strategy devised by the Yankees to limit Joba Chamberlain's innings may have made Joba a complete mental case.

His last three starts have been good, giving up one run in his last start verus the Angels and two on both September 9th versus Tampa Bay and September 4th against the Toronto Blue Jays.

However, everything is relative. Because of the "Joba Rules", the starts lasted three, three, and four innings, respectively. In my opinion, this is not nearly enough to judge Joba on, especially since he still did not show any ability to get outs with a lesser amount of pitches.

So, looking at the playoffs, the Yankees are left with two reliable starting pitchers, with the rest appearing the be a bit of a crapshoot.

CC Sabathia currently has a 17-7 record with a 3.42 ERA. Pettitte stands at 13-6 with a 4.14. With the way things are going, these will be the starters for Games one and two in the ALDS.

Both are very solid choices, however Sabathia has even shown a tendancy to implode in the playoffs. In addition, let's not forget that Pettitte was originally penciled in as the fourth starter in the rotation and now is acting as a number two.

Perhaps this is thinking a little too much into it, but both facts could prove to be detrimental to New York.

In my opinion, the key truly is A.J. Burnett. If he can settle down, and pitch like everyone knows he is capable of, he can be slotted in as the number two pitcher during the ALDS, moving Pettitte, and his postseason-rich resume, back to what could be a pivotal game three.

However, if Burnett falters, so will the Yankees. With talk of Joba not even pitching in the first playoff series, the Yankees need A.J. to have his A-game by the time October rolls around.

Like defense in football, the old baseball cliche is that pitching wins championships. The Yankee offense can only bail out the latter end of the starting rotation so many times. While seeing walkoffs and games with scores the upwards of five runs is fun to watch, these things are often absent in the playoffs.

The previously struggling Daisuke Matsuzaka turned in a solid six innings for the Red Sox last night, giving up no runs and eventually earning the win.

At 6.5 games behind the New York (five in the loss column), it is doubtful that Boston will catch the Yankees in the division with so little regular season games remaining. But if Boston can throw Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, and Matsuzaka at you, along with ol' reliable Tim Wakefield in a playoff series, watch out.

While it may still be a little to early to start thinking about playoff matchups, the fact remains that the Yankee starting rotation had better get its act together if New York has any plans to bring home number 27 this year.