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MLB is trying to ruin their own league. Fans don't give a damn about this anymore. Spring training is about to start and this is all we get to talk about?If he's stupid enough to get away with it on a technicality and then go right back...let's see how it shakes out.
Ryan Braun on the list.....
thanks!!Posted it up already, check the last page. It's in four diff posts.
What Yankees need to go right in '13.
Travis Hafner could have signed with the Tampa Bay Rays. Ultimately, he chose the Yankees, to take advantage of the opportunity they have at DH and at Yankee Stadium, which has always been a friend of left-handed sluggers.
But because Hafner has been so limited by injuries in recent years, and because he hit .228 last season, he becomes one more question mark for a team that has a whole lot of question marks.
The Yankees have made the playoffs all but one in the past 17 seasons, partly because they've had a lot of safety nets in place. That was made more possible because, well, they've had a larger budget than anybody else, and because veterans such as Raul Ibanez have liked to go to the Yankees knowing they had a chance to win.
But after a winter of financial belt-tightening, the Yankees don't have as many fall-backs as possible. They don't have as much room for error as they've had in other seasons.
Every team has linchpin parts, the strength of which determines whether it's a good or bad year. Here are eight things that must go right for the Yankees:
1. CC Sabathia needs to be healthy enough to provide a lot of innings -- and be good in those innings. He's coming off elbow surgery and looks good and ready to go. It's been eight seasons since Sabathia had a season when his ERA didn't start with a "2" or a "3," and the Yankees need that streak to continue, because as constructed, they need for the rotation to be the backbone of the team. They won't be like the '31 Yankees, a prolific, run-producing powerhouse; theywill need to win a lot of 4-3 and 5-3 games, with Sabathia, Andy Pettitte and Hiroki Kuroda -- all on the downslope of their respective careers -- leading the way.
2. Derek Jeter needs to be a good player, at age 38. He doesn't have to be as great as he was last year, when he led the majors with 216 hits, and if you gave truth serum to the Yankees' officials and staff, they probably would tell you to expect at least some regression in performance this year. Jeter is coming off a broken ankle, and last year, his batting average in balls put in play was unusually high, ranking 16th in the majors. In some metrics, Jeter already is ranked among the worst defensive shortstops. Time marches on.
The Yankees don't need him to hit .320; they can get by with him hitting in the .270 range, consistently making plays on balls hit to him. But if he's much less than that -- given the lack of pop they have at catcher and perhaps in other spots -- it would be a problem.
3. Mariano Rivera needs to be an effective closer. He's 43 years old and hasn't pitched in almost a year, and given his past greatness and his extraordinary athleticism, the Yankees need him to be at least average. If he's not, it's not clear they have a lot of fall-back, given David Robertson's struggles as closer last year.
4. Robinson Cano needs to have an MVP-caliber season. This isn't a reach, because Cano has had MVP-caliber years in recent seasons. With his free agency looming, Cano has a lot motivation to have a big year, and given the Yankees' offensive questions in other spots, they need Cano to again be the anchor.
5. Mark Teixeira needs to be an above-average run producer. As everybody knows -- Teixeira more than anybody -- he has struggled early in seasons throughout his career. But in 2013, the Yankees need him to hit from the start, because they don't have someone with the power of an Alex Rodriguez or a Nick Swisher to pick up the slack.
6. Brett Gardner needs to get back to what he was in 2010. And lest anybody forgets, he was a terrific player that season, with a 7.0 WAR and a .383 on-base percentage. Gardner is 29 years old and theoretically in the prime of his career, as he comes back from an elbow problem. If he bounces back, it would be a huge boost for this team.
7. Kevin Youkilis needs to contribute. Ichiro Suzuki probably won't expand his production much beyond what's he done in recent years, and the Yankees probably aren't going to get much production out of their catchers. They need Youkilis to get on base and provide at least some extra-base muscle. It's worth repeating that in his homes in Fenway Park and in The Cell in Chicago last year -- two parks that play well for right-handed hitters -- he was a really good player, with a .413 on-base percentage. On the road, he hit .177. Yankee Stadium is not a great park for right-handed hitters who don't flick the ball toward the right field line.
8. Michael Pineda needs to give them something -- not a lot, but something. The Yankees are downplaying expectations about when Pineda will come back, which is what they always do. There haven't been any fake proclamations about how he'll be ready to have an impact this year. But he is a monster talent, and there is cautious optimism in the organization that he'll return in the middle of the season. Because his was a shoulder injury, there's no telling how good he'll be; typically, pitchers recovering from shoulder trouble need some time to regain command. If he gives them 10 strong starts at the end of the season, that would be an enormous boost for a team playing in a division that appears to be wid
Completely agree. Athletes are expected to use PEDs nowadays.MLB is trying to ruin their own league. Fans don't give a damn about this anymore. Spring training is about to start and this is all we get to talk about?