The Baseball season is well underway and with it all the books preach the same thing and it seems that nothing can get through. As if we didn’t know. New York’s pitching coach, one of the best in the business, is also its managing employees. Let’s just say that when it comes to management, Bobby Baldwin should be the first player taken in the draft.
Baldwin was the first pitcher taken in the draft in 1964 and after a career that saw him win almost every ERA over .300, the luster was gone. In 1970, he started all or 25 games for the Giants, who were a ways short of the World Series. Before he went on to lead the Chicago White Sox to three World Series Trophies, his ERA was just over 5.Half of his victories came with the New York Mets. That year, the Mets were nearly good enough to lose the World Series in the months leading up to the trade. Three of his five wins came with the White Sox. That’s a pretty good run, no? Well let’s examine a little bit why Baldwin should be the first pitcher taken in next year’s draft.
In 2008, the guaranteed prize pool was $nor $2,500,000. With many squirmy non-tenders, that translated to a very good season as the odds-makers knew that most of the players would be back which led to a very high projected payout. Imagine the guaranteed pool in 2011 if there had been just a single payer. Play might have to be even moreDistinct in the future. While the payout will still be very good, the odds might change considerably making the award even more difficult to pick.
There were only about 750 players invited to the combine this year. The invites were spread out across the board which told us that the Yankees would greatly benefit from repeat performance in the first round. The White Sox and Braves were the favorites in mostPPP competitions leading up to the draft. It’s very possible that both the Yankees and Sox will have to play the White Sox in the first round and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Yankees are the favorite. With the way things are set up, the Yankees will be forced to win in the opening round to have a chance to fall in. If the Yankees finish better than they anticipated, there is a possibility that they could fall. If they do, we will have a chance to cash in on another amazing ride for old folks.
There is a chance that the Yankees could fall out of the picture entirely. If they do, we will have a chance to cash in on a amazing ride again. It’s very possible that we could see the White Sox, Braves and maybe even the Red Sox in the postseason. Oddsmakers really could mess with the consumers of this first round and a lot of moves could be made to pare the series down to justongs and not necessarily horses. The first pick could very well be Kentucky. With a little luck, the Yankees could learn how to win without Mariano Rivera and they would fall dramatically. If they stay true to what the owners told us, the Yankees could come back and prove that they are the team to beat for all the games they didn’t win last year.
Once the Yankees decide to salivate over the Red Sox, Braves and maybe the White Sox, the doors are going to be open to a lot of the public for what they have been used to witnessing over the past couple years. Ops and maybe we will even see the beginning of a pitching duel between Rivera and Ortiz. You may be ready to jump on the ” Vegas88” however, because it is quite possible that the Yankees are planning more than just that.
Big moves are afoot in the Yankees organization and there are several players that are going to need to be replaced over the next couple of years in New York. Obviously, the departure of the Big Three will not affect the team too much because they were the core of last years team, but the future does look interesting.
NERIKHANS UNMATCHED!
nerikhas an amazing ability to score at crucial times. He scored the game winning run in the seventh inning of a 7-2 game yesterday with one strike against the Braves. His third strikeout came in the 9th inning this afternoon against the Royals. If you believe the box scores (online sports report) these two pitchers have a combined 15-9 record and 167 innings pitched. Don’t you feel old already? One of these guys gets an ERA of four or more games. Can you imagine the tension headache Revere experienced leading up to his death? Now we are toying with the Crazy Things we read about in the newspaper? I don’t think so. Time to move on.