Massive Robinson Cano Collection Overhaul

During my blog absence, I've made one thing especially clear to myself: stop wasting money on collecting unproven players. Sure, it's awesome to have a bunch of autographs of the next phenom player, but prospects can be so hit or miss that it usually doesn't work out in your favor.

Luis Severino was my main PC focus of 2016. He came off an electric 11 start stretch to begin his career at the end of the 2015 season, which was enough for me to drop all of my other collections and solely focus on the new Yankees "ace". But, as with most 22 year old pitchers, there isn't always a clear road to superstardom. Severino struggled immensely in the starting rotation in 2016, but at least showed flashes of brilliance in the bullpen. I'll be honest, I'm a little down on him compared to how I used to feel about him. Do I think he's going to be a bust? Absolutely not. At the very least, I think he's going to be a dominant bullpen arm if he can avoid the injury bug. At best, I think he can still be an ace (or close to it).

Meanwhile, Robinson Cano continued to age like a fine wine, and actually had his most powerful season to date in 2016 with the Mariners. He batted .298 with 39 home runs and 103 RBI, which he definitely needed to boost his future Hall of Fame case. I'm still a little sour that the Yankees couldn't come up with the funds necessary to keep him longterm, but could instead sign Ellsbury, McCann, Tanaka, and Beltran with relative ease. But after the trades for Starlin Castro and the now #3 prospect in baseball; Gleyber Torres, I don't feel as bad about it!

With that said, I arrived at the decision I mentioned above, stop wasting money on collecting unproven players. Instead, I sold a few of my lower end Severino and Cano autographs to make some serious Cano PC upgrades:

2013 Topps Five Star Autographed Patch 14/35

2016 Topps Stadium Club Lone Star Signatures Autograph 15/25

2006 Topps Allen & Ginter Framed Autograph

2016 Topps Tier One Jumbo Patch Autograph 5/5

2016 Topps Triple Threads Relic Auto Combo w/Felix, Iwakuma 33/36

2016 Topps Triple Threads Relic Autograph Sapphire 3/3

2016 Topps Dynasty Autograph Patch 3/10

So, I think you all know who my sole PC is now. While I'll continue to sparsely collect some of my favorite Yankees and homegrown stud Joe Panik, I'm focused on making my Cano collection as good as I can. I'm done taking chances, and *knock on wood* Cano is about as safe a bet as there is.

And by the way, if you think I'm made of money suddenly, I'm not. All of these cards came my way through budgeting and selling other things! I'm in the process of turning my lower end portion of my collection into slightly more of a mid-high end range, and so far it's going really well. I've been able to add quite a few really nice autographs basically just for things I don't want as much.

PS: Thank you Andrew for selling me the triple autograph, and to the Instagram user @atl_cards I bought the Dynasty autograph off of. 

Alright, I'll talk to you guys tomorrow (hopefully)! (Leaving this at the end of each post to motivate myself not to be a bad blogger)

My Midseason Report - AL Preseason Prediction Update

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Hey guys, Drew back here. Just as any of baseball's best may occasionally get in a slump, I have recently been stuck in my very own. To bust out of my blogging funk, I decided to come back to my preseason predictions since today is an approximate halfway point of the season (more or less). I must say, I impressed myself with some of my early thoughts, but others definitely made me look silly. And don't worry: you will get to see both the good and the bad. I'll kick this off updating my American League picks, and will do the National League separately.

If you wish to re-read my initial thoughts and predictions on the league, feel free to take a look:

AL East, AL Central, AL West, Award Predictions, Playoffs

AL East 

My Preseason Standings Prediction - 
Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, Tampa Bay Rays

Predicted Division MVP - Josh Donaldson
Predicted Division Cy Young - Alex Cobb
Playoff Teams - Boston, Toronto (Wild Card)

Current Standings (as of July 5th) -
New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox

Division MVP - Josh Donaldson
Division Cy Young - Chris Archer
Playoff Teams - New York, Baltimore (Wild Card)

There is nothing set in stone for this year's weakest division at this point, with each team within at least 6 games of first place. The Red Sox have won seven of their previous ten games, and despite being in last right now this race is far from over. I nailed the hammer on the head with my prediction of Donaldson as division MVP; who recently was revealed to have the most fan votes of any player in All Star ballot history! Manny Machado has also been arguably as good, if not better than Donaldson, but I'll go with Donaldson as MVP considering some of the terrible predictions soon to follow.

I have to be honest here: I completely botched the Alex Rodriguez situation. In March, I wrote "And no, there's absolutely no reason to believe that 39 year old injury prone Alex Rodriguez will make any sort of difference, let alone be relevant next year". Alex has been impressive on and off the field, handling everything more maturely than he ever has. He's been a borderline All Star in my book, but I'm not surprised that he fell short of making the cut. The fact that I have somewhat relinquished my previous distaste for him shows how far he's come over the past year.

AL Central

My Preseason Standings Prediction - 
Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians, Minnesota Twins

Predicted Division MVP - Jose Abreu
Predicted Division Cy Young - Chris Sale
Playoff Teams - Chicago

Current Standings (as of July 5th) -
Kansas City Royals, Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox

Division MVP - Omar Infante (just kidding: Jason Kipnis)
Division Cy Young - Chris Sale
Playoff Teams - Kansas City, Minnesota (Wild Card)

The Royals have made a lot of enemies since their fans ran up the vote tallies for the All Star Game, but luckily only 4 players will be in the American League's starting lineup. The four that made the team are certainly debatable; I personally would've went elsewhere for each position, but I am content with the results. I expected last year's pennant winning squad to make a run for the playoffs and just fall short, but it appears that I may have been wrong there.

What I was more wrong on than just about anything else was my White Sox pick. I probably got a bit too excited over their spending spree, but I know I certainly wasn't alone. They filled a lot of holes on their roster last winter, but it clearly hasn't worked as well as planned. Their one shining light has been Chris Sale, who is a candidate to start the All Star Game coming soon in Cincinnati.

AL West

My Preseason Standings Prediction - 
Los Angeles Angels, Seattle Mariners, Houston Astros, Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics

Predicted Division MVP - Mike Trout
Predicted Division Cy Young - Felix Hernandez
Playoff Teams - Los Angeles, Seattle (Wild Card)

Current Standings (as of July 5th) -
Houston Astros, Los Angeles Angels, Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners, Oakland Athletics

Division MVP - Mike Trout
Division Cy Young - Dallas Keuchel
Playoff Teams - Houston, Los Angeles (Wild Card)

Boy, has Houston been a revelation or what? I am proud to have said they would improve substantially in 2015, but I wasn't gutsy enough to place them ahead of the heavily favored Angels and Mariners. In fact, I even picked the Mariners to go to the World Series (more on that later). With the way Carlos Correa has sparked that offense, I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if they hold on and win the division.

The Angels have been a disaster internally that is waiting to implode, considering their respected GM Jerry Dipoto recently stepped down after turmoil between he, manager Mike Scioscia, and owner Arte Moreno. And to all those people thinking Billy Beane had a plan for 2015, you appear to be wrong. Luckily, I wasn't one of those people. The organization may be in better hands in the years to come, but this team has been unimpressive, to say the least.

Award Predictions

AL MVP - Mike Trout
AL Cy Young - Chris Sale
AL Rookie of the Year - Rusney Castillo
AL Manager of the Year - Lloyd McClendon
AL Comeback Player of the Year - Chris Davis

I took a safe approach with my MVP and Cy Young choices, and both Trout and Sale have at least merited consideration for the nonexistent midseason award. My Rookie of the Year pick was a wash, and I fully expect Carlos Correa to come home with the trophy by season's end. McClendon has not been half as impressive as I guessed, and the Manager of the Year should definitely be given to my Dark Horse candidate, AJ Hinch (Astros). Finally, I made a gut call saying that Chris Davis would come back with a monster 2015, but it's evident that Prince Fielder and Alex Rodriguez have made better cases for the award.

Preseason Playoff Picks

Wild Card Game - Toronto vs. Seattle
My Pick - Seattle

Division Series - Chicago vs. Boston
My Pick - Chicago in 5

Division Series - Seattle vs. Los Angeles
My Pick - Seattle in 4

Championship Series - Seattle vs. Chicago
My Pick - Seattle in 6

Pennant Winner - Seattle

At this point of the season, the only team of these five that is slated to make the playoffs are the Angels, who would currently be fighting in the Wild Card game versus either the Twins or Orioles. And Seattle? Yeah, I was on that bandwagon too, and I can admit that I was wrong. Very wrong. Robinson Cano has not been half of what I expected him to be as he is settling into the rain capital of the US, while Nelson Cruz started off beyond expectations but since has gone cold. Besides Felix Hernandez, the remainder of their rotation has been inconsistent at best (although Mike Montgomery has recently impressed), and their bullpen is in shambles.

I'm going to stand by my choices, even though the path to having things work out this way would take a lot of maneuvering over the next three months. Every American League team is within 6.5 games of making the Wild Card Game, and the parity is unbelievable, as I did expect early on. Baseball has been more fun to watch than it has been in a while in my opinion, and I'll gladly be wrong with all of my picks if it makes for exhilarating performances by unforeseen teams. Between the surprise Twins, Astros, and even my Yankees, I've had a lot of fun with the 2015 season.

I'll be back with my take on the National League soon. See Ya!

2015 MLB Playoff & World Series Predictions!

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Hey guys, Drew back here! We continue our coverage of the 2015 baseball season, and now things are beginning to get interesting. I recently posted standings predictions for each of the 6 divisions, and although some of my opinions have already changed in part of injury, this will document a loose representation of how I think the year will play out. The best part about baseball at its current state, as I have mentioned several times, is the amazing parity between teams. There hasn't been a time as bright and positive as this in the game, with so many great young stars and a flood of even more coming soon! I may be completely wrong with these choices, but I'm going to give it a shot.

AL East          NL East

AL Central          NL Central

AL West          NL West

American League

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Wild Card Series: Toronto Blue Jays vs. Seattle Mariners

The wild card system makes it difficult for teams to beat opponents with fantastic starting pitchers. The entire MLB season contains series' of games, with the lone exception of this one game play in. However, in recent years, teams that have gone on to win this game have had favorable luck further into the playoffs (see: Kansas City Royals and San Francisco Giants in 2014). The Royals were able to beat the pitcher Oakland traded for that was brought there to win that specific game in Jon Lester. This year in my fantasy world, the Blue Jays, even through losing their young ace Marcus Stroman, will still power their way into a Wild Card spot. Truth be told, I'm very skeptical of this happening, but I'm going to continue to go with my gut even with the injuries they've suffered this Spring. They will take on the best team to not win a division in the league, the Seattle Mariners. But more importantly, they would be going up against Felix Hernandez in his first career playoff start. If this indeed becomes the matchup, there's no way I can bet against King Felix to move the M's into the next round!

Advantage - Mariners

Division Series: Chicago White Sox vs. Boston Red Sox

The battle of the Sox will ensue as both revamped teams will challenge for a spot in the Championship Series. In this Best of 5 series, I can see this going both ways. At the end of the day though, I like Chicago more than Boston because of their pitching. Both teams are loaded with talented lineups, and the John Farrell managed Red Sox may have a recent advantage in playoff games, but the trio of Chris Sale/Jeff Samardzija/Jose Quintana along with an improved bullpen should prove to be the difference in this matchup. If the Red Sox were to swing a trade for an ace caliber pitcher, maybe they could stand a better chance, but for now I'd say that will be the cause for their demise.

Advantage - White Sox, 3-2

Division Series: Seattle Mariners vs. Los Angeles Angels

With all the talent the Angels have had over the years, they've always seemed to fall a bit short. Watching Trout, Pujols, and Hamilton all struggle in their 2014 postseason embarrassment by the Royals was telling of their future. I feel like they will play extremely well in the regular season, as Mike Scioscia appears to have managed that portion relatively well. A key for the Mariners in this series is having a strong performance from either Taijuan Walker, James Paxton, or both. Kershaw has had his challenges in the playoffs, but I feel like Hernandez could be much different and dominate the Angels lineup. The Mariners offense isn't overly dynamic, but a healthy, good year from Nelson Cruz could be the deciding factor for all of these predictions coming true. Between he, Robinson Cano, Kyle Seager, and some other sneaky candidates may also be clutch through this stretch.

Advantage - Mariners, 3-1

Championship Series - Chicago White Sox vs. Seattle Mariners

I've been using pitching as a key determinant for most of this post thus far, but at this point these teams are about even in that respect. Felix/Iwakuma/Paxton/Walker plays out well against Sale/Samardzija/Quintana, so there will be more to this decision than simply good pitching. I don't think the Mariners will run the table against the Angels, but I think at this point in October they will be feeling extremely confident. This late in the playoffs, momentum is a huge factor, and those days of a regular season record are long gone. Both teams will feel confident, but I'm anticipating the Wild Card game winner to once again prevail and win the pennant. Is this a flaw in the MLB system that the winners of that game get to stay in the same rhythm as they were in all season? These games have the potential to be even more exciting than any other playoff games outside of tiebreaker elimination games, and I can't even imagine how good the Royals felt after knocking out the A's in extra innings. I don't know if this is something that needs to be fixed, but I think it will be determined by the results of the next few years. Don't get me wrong, these 1 game series' are extremely fun to watch and I look forward to them every year now since the idea started in 2012, but I don't know if it hurts the other teams not to be feeling the same momentum after the intensity those games bring.

Advantage - Mariners, 4-2

National League

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Wild Card Series: Miami Marlins vs. St. Louis Cardinals

The Marlins don't have the caliber pitching staff as the Washington Nationals, which will most likely cause them to finish behind them in the NL East. But that's just the regular season, and a little bird told me that a guy named Jose Fernandez will be returning to their staff around midseason. With a healthy, MVP caliber season out of Giancarlo Stanton, along with production from their various improvements up and down the lineup, they can pose a huge threat into the postseason. St. Louis seems to be on the cusp of trending in the opposite direction, although they still do have young players that will develop into stars. I think this year is part will be the beginning of a trend for St. Louis, where they may still win games and make the playoffs, but could continue to fall short of advancing. Adam Wainwright, Yadier Molina, and Matt Holliday aren't getting any younger, and until some of their touted prospects and young players improve they will be on the outside looking in during the World Series this year. In a game that could possibly be Fernandez vs. Wainwright, I'll take the fish's upside here.

Advantage - Marlins

Division Series: Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

This matchup may be interesting. For all of the money, time, and effort put into the Dodgers organization over the past few years, you would expect more results by now. It seems to be proven by now, however, that most teams dishing out the mega millions fail to reach the chemistry required to win it all. The Pirates have built their organization in the complete opposite way, developing homegrown players such as McCutchen, Starling Marte, and Gerrit Cole into excellent big league players. It's sad to think that a team with $157,183,552 less to spend every year stands a chance against this Dodgers team that has struggled immensely in recent history. But this year, things are going to go differently for the boys in blue, because they're not going to be facing their nemesis St. Louis Cardinals and Clayton Kershaw will solidify his position as the best pitcher in the game that Bumgarner attempted to steal last October. It's great to see Pittsburgh succeed, but I have a bad feeling about their playoff luck this year, because Kershaw will be out for blood.

Advantage - Dodgers, 3-1

Division Series: Miami Marlins vs. Washington Nationals

These division rivals are going to be a lot of fun to watch if they do get to square off this year. The Marlins will have the momentum in their favor, and the Nationals have not been able to win with their star studded team yet. But even with a staff of Jose Fernandez, Mat Latos, and Henderson Alvarez, nobody in the game can say they have what Washington does with their super staff. Max Scherzer may be able to squeak out victories against Fernandez, and the other starters will be overmatched by either Jordan Zimmermann or Stephen Strasburg (or Fister, Gonzalez, Roark, etc, etc). As exciting as it will be to see Giancarlo Stanton crush a late inning home run against a weak Nats bullpen, I think they will fall just a bit short. Although both the Mariners and Marlins will be in similar positions at this point in time, the Mariners veterans and a weaker AL competition gives them a better opportunity to reach the World Series, whereas the Marlins may fall just short of moving on. If Bryce Harper can continue to hit the way he has in his limited postseason experience, he could be a lethal weapon as well. This will be a great series without a doubt, perhaps the best of my entire mock playoffs, but this will be the year the Nationals and Dodgers will duke it out for a chance at the pennant.

Advantage - Nationals, 3-2

Championship Series: Washington Nationals vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

The series many of you have been waiting to see is indeed my NL Championship Series. Both of these teams will be on a level playing field; both with high momentum and a mix of veteran stars to help guide the young players to the top. No longer are concerns of "How many innings can Stephen Strasburg throw?" on the top of all fan's minds. Who knows which players will be out with injuries by this point, but assuming fully healthy clubs, I'm picking the Nationals to defeat Kershaw, Greinke, and the Dodgers. And no, this is not only because of their pitching staff. Despite losing Adam LaRoche at first base, the Nats still have Jayson Werth, Denard Span, Ian Desmond, Anthony Rendon, and Bryce Harper to worry about on offense. The Dodgers have their assets too, but who knows what will be running through their star player, Yasiel Puig's mind when it matters most. Last year, he was benched during pivotal moments of their series against the Cardinals. I like the Nationals overall team from top to bottom just a bit more than that of the Dodgers, and with that, they're my pick for the National League side of the World Series.

Advantage - Nationals, 4-3

World Series

Seattle Mariners vs. Washington Nationals

I know what you're saying: The Mariners in the World Series? I get the confusion; really, I do. They have actually been a dark horse favorite for the series going into 2015 with a lot of people, although I didn't take other people's opinions into account when I compiled this list myself. A lot will have to go right in Seattle for a chance to make up for their Seahawks' awkward Super Bowl disaster, but I have a strangely positive feeling about them. I'm no Swami, I don't know the answers, but I can say this decision was calculated; crazy as it may seem. The addition of Nelson Cruz to a primarily lefty dominant lineup was critical to the team's success. He may not swat 40 home runs in Safeco Field, but he'll certainly hold his own in the clean up spot of the lineup. Seth Smith, Dustin Ackley, and Austin Jackson will purvey the outfield, while young power hitting catcher Mike Zunino is behind the plate. Future stars James Paxton and Taijuan Walker will take the next step towards reaching their full potential, and that factor could also play huge in their late season run. This team reminds me of a better Kansas City Royals team that we saw in the World Series last year. They won't be making this series easy, especially with the best pitcher in the American League and momentum that will make the entire bleachers a sea of yellow K's.

But if they could beat Kershaw, they can and will beat Felix too. Like many others, the Washington Nationals are my World Series pick for the year. I didn't wish to be cliché with this choice, but I really do feel like if there is any year they will win, it's this one. Dominance isn't as frequent in these relatively even leagues, and the team with the greatest potential to dominate should be the favorite to win it all. Past postseason struggles, injury questions, free agency looming for top players, I don't care what the excuse may be. This is the best team on paper, and outside of Max Scherzer it hasn't changed too much recently. He will help, not hurt, the chemistry of the clubhouse. Recent history has proven that the best teams on paper don't exactly play the way most expect, but this is going to be one of the exceptions. I'm feeling it already.

Advantage - Nationals, 4-2

World Series MVP - Bryce Harper

The point of this post, over anything else, is that I can't wait for baseball to return. These picks could be the worst ever made, or maybe I'll look like a genius. I hope for the latter, although I would take a Yankees World Series win over any of my silly picks in a heartbeat.

Have any World Series predictions? Feel free to share them in the comments below.

See Ya!

2015 American League West Preview + Predictions!

Hey guys, Drew back here! We have already covered the AL East and AL Central, and today we'll have a look at my thoughts on this year's AL West.

2015 AL West Standings Prediction:

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1 - Los Angeles Angels
X-Factors: Matt Joyce, Andrew Heaney

I could not find any possible way to keep the Angels from the top of this division. They finished with the best regular season record in baseball last year, only to eventually succumb to a sweeping by the red hot Royals. Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton, and even the almighty Mike Trout struggled immensely throughout the beatdown. But this year, even with the tragedy surrounding Josh Hamilton (I wish he and his family the best of wishes with a hope for recovery), the Angels are still one of the more intriguing teams in the game. Their pitching staff reemerged last season with the help of future stars Garrett Richards and Matt Shoemaker, and it can be argued that if Richards didn't hurt his knee last year they may have been able to advance further into the postseason. Even after losing Howie Kendrick at second base in a trade for young left handed pitcher Andrew Heaney, they were able to also make a move to add Josh Rutledge to replace Kendrick. Between Rutledge, Heaney, and new fill in right fielder Matt Joyce, I'm not too worried about the Angels falling from first quite yet.

2 - Seattle Mariners
X-Factors: James Paxton, Taijuan Walker, Seth Smith

If the Mariners are going to become the contender many think they can be, this is their year to prove it. Fresh off of issuing a $57 million dollar deal to slugger Nelson Cruz, they now have the right handed power bat to place between Robinson Cano and Kyle Seager in the lineup. Although Safeco Field may lower Cruz's chances of hitting 40 home runs again in 2015, his power bat will certainly improve a lineup that needed an extra boom. They shipped out Brandon Maurer for Seth Smith, which should also supply some additional offense. Cano now has what he said he needed last year, and with the best pitching rotation in the division led by perennial Cy Young Award candidate Felix Hernandez, this could easily be their year. Young pitchers James Paxton and Taijuan Walker will need to stay healthy and take strides to give the M's a legitimate shot, and I think they will do what it takes to pick up the 2nd wildcard spot and make the postseason for the first time since Ichiro Suzuki's rookie season in 2001 (want to know how long that's been?)!

3 - Texas Rangers
X-Factors: Prince Fielder, Derek Holland

This Rangers team has the most "if's" of any team in the American League. If Yu Darvish is healthy, he can potentially be a Cy Young candidate. If Prince Fielder, Derek Holland, and Shin-Soo Choo can rebound from their injury plagued 2014 campaigns, they can be key contributors to the team as well. If father time hasn't caught up to possible future Hall of Famer Adrian Beltre, he will be a huge piece of the Texas sized puzzle. They already lost former top prospect Jurickson Profar for the second year in a row, so Rougned Odor will be taking his place once again in their everyday lineup. Newly added starters Yovani Gallardo and Ross Detwiler might come in handy in picking up the pieces if chaos ensues in Arlington, but I'm going to go with an optimistic approach and say: how much worse could it get? If half the players lost in 2014 are injured again this season, they still will win more than their AL low 67 games.

**UPDATE: Yu Darvish may undergo Tommy John surgery as it was revealed today that he has suffered a UCL sprain in his elbow. This is a huge blow to a team that had more than enough injuries to handle in 2014. With this news, I will flip my predictions and put the Rangers in 4th and the Astros in 3rd for the season.**

4 - Houston Astros
X-Factors: Dallas Keuchel, George Springer

I was so tempted to rank Houston above the Rangers on this list, but ultimately I held off and put them right behind. I didn't actually list predicted W-L totals because I think that's as unpredictable as it comes, but if I were to I'd have the two Texas teams neck and neck in the middle of the division. Neither are ideal playoff candidates, but although they are from the same state, they don't have much else in common. Where the Rangers field a team of former superstars similarly to the Yankees, the Astros are taking the youth approach, which has been known to work lately in St. Louis and San Francisco especially. The Astros may be a fun team to watch in 2015 thanks to budding star George Springer in particular, but also because of their offseason acquisitions. Evan Gattis may be a bit of a defensive liability, but "El Oso Blanco" can and will mash balls into the left field bleachers time and time again at Minute Maid Park. Luke Gregerson and Pat Neshek will stabilize what was a shaky bullpen, and lend helping hands to the very young pitching rotation the team has built over years of development. But the player to watch in Houston turns out to be the shortest player in a state loaded with size: Jose Altuve. If he can come close to his MVP-type 2014 season statistics, we'll be in for some fun in this division. Chances are, he will.

5 - Oakland Athletics
X-Factors: Brett Lawrie, Jesse Hahn

Three years in a row Billy Beane has assembled playoff teams, in light of the box office smash Moneyball. But this year, I believe his run has come to a halt (temporarily). Over the winter the team made 9 trades including almost 30 players; and leading that list are 2014 All Stars Brandon Moss, Derek Norris, and Josh Donaldson. Both Jon Lester and Jeff Samardzija, who were traded for midseason in hopes of bringing playoff success, left Oakland as well. I still have no idea what his mindset was in moving Donaldson so soon, as he could've easily been affordably held for 4 more years before hitting free agency. For all they lost, they came back with almost a completely new team featuring Ben Zobrist, Billy Butler, Tyler Clippard, Jesse Hahn, and Brett Lawrie. It may work out, and Beane tends to be a magician with these sorts of moves, but I don't see what they did as enough to have a successful 2015. The prospects gained will be of great value for the future, and maybe this is all part of his scheme to get back to the playoffs (if so, well played), but we won't know how he did this offseason until years down the road. He could either be building a Hall of Fame legacy, or tearing it apart. None of that seems to matter much in 2015.

Division MVP: Mike Trout
Division Cy Young: Felix Hernandez
Playoff Teams: Los Angeles, Seattle (Wild Card)

I hope these three posts have helped you understand that the competition in baseball is at a whole new level. I picked the Orioles to finish 4th in the AL East, the Tigers to finish 3rd in the Central, and the A's to finish last in the West. All three of these teams seemed to have no difficulty reaching the playoffs in 2014, and I picked them to completely miss out this year. Whether or not I look like a genius or an idiot is to be determined, but for now it just goes to show that there is so much talent in the game today, and any team can be made or broken within a matter of a single offseason. You can't base a team off of solely what they look like on paper, but some GM's are starting to learn from past mistakes and only signing players that make actual sense. There isn't one horrible team in this entire league, and it was tough for me to even put the Rays, Twins, and A's in last place. The Red Sox went from worst to first to worst again, thus, any team could face any outcome no matter what people say they're going to do.

I'll have the National League posts coming up soon, and I'll wrap things up with a couple of postseason predictions just to round up all the fun. I've had a blast writing these posts so far, and I hope a few people out there are enjoying them too. It's been tough to afford a lot of what I want lately because I've been looking for a job and paying for college, so I've had to think of some new ways to keep you all interested, and baseball is an absolute passion of mine and I love getting to share it for you.

With all that in mind: agree or disagree? Feel free to leave any comments below; they're greatly appreciated.

See Ya!

Thoughts on Cano

Hey guys, Drew back here. In case you haven't heard, Jay-Z brought my favorite player away from New York and all the way to Seattle. Yeah, you heard that right. It's unbelievable to me that a man who lives for New York took away one of the Yankees' finest pieces without putting a lot of effort into the negotiation. Alicia Keys brags on Jay-Z's classic "Empire State of Mind": "New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of". Mr. Carter obviously is infatuated with everything about the Bronx, but I guess he dropped that love when he went and took Robinson Cano as far from the Big Apple as possible. Hopefully Robby likes seafood and rainy days, because while Seattle is a beautiful city, there is no place like New York.

From a business standpoint though, it makes sense. The Yankees weren't budging from their original offer of 7 years and $170 million, and Seattle, fresh off a $2 billion TV deal, was willing to open their wallets for the star second baseman. After a supposed hiccup between Jay-Z and Mariners owner Howard Lincoln, the two sides eventually agreed to a 10 year, $240 million dollar deal. The move put Seattle back on the map for the first time since the times of Randy Johnson, Alex Rodriguez, Edgar Martinez, and Ken Griffey Jr. While the move doesn't project them to now be a playoff caliber team, they supposedly aren't done. They've been linked to free agents Nelson Cruz and Shin-Soo Choo, and have expressed interest in trading top pitching prospect Taijuan Walker for a David Price or Matt Kemp. The Mariners finally have the money they needed to contend with Texas and Oakland (who seemingly gets it done without all the money). This move also makes Jay-Z look great, as he was only $60 million off from his original goal of a $300 million dollar move, which at first sounded absolutely ridiculous to anyone but him.

Sure, the move makes sense for a Seattle franchise that is struggling tremendously to put fans in their seats. However, they can't stop here, or else they will essentially throw $240 million out the window. They aren't paying $24 million a year for Cano's age 41 season, they're paying $240 million over 10 total years in order to bring Seattle its first World Series championship. If they don't win during this next decade, the contract will be a colossal failure. Cano is already 31 years old, and if they expect him to put up similar numbers to what he's produced for New York during his prime years, they're crazy. Take a look at similar moves, especially Albert Pujols, who got the exact same deal as Cano but was a year older at that time than Cano is now. Pujols was expected to bring Los Angeles back to the top, but now they're drowning in his enormous contract as his performance is making him look like more and more of an average player. Seattle has the money and prospects to build a winner now, but they have to keep in mind there are plenty of other elite teams out there, including the Yankees, whose signings have already made up for the loss of Cano. With just Cano leading the way in New York's lineup last season, the team struggled tremendously. However, with the money they would've used mostly towards Cano, they've already signed Brian McCann, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Carlos Beltran, and seem to be far from done!

I'm not calling the Yankees geniuses for dumping Cano and his enormous contract off with the Mariners. I've never liked the way the Yankees have handled their roster. Since the days where they allowed players such as Jeter, Posada, Bernie, Pettitte, and Rivera to develop into All Stars, they've practically bought their whole team. Cano was one of the last remaining pieces that came straight out of their farm system, and he was in the midst of writing his script to being the next Yankee to take his career straight to the Hall of Fame. Instead, he chose to start a new chapter in Seattle that could make or break his chances to eventually be enshrined in Cooperstown. But in this day in age in baseball, the best business decision for New York was to let Cano walk. The Yankees certainly don't have to worry about money, however their revenues decrease significantly if they don't have a contending, playoff caliber team on the field, which was proven during their injury riddled 2012 season. With 3 potential All Stars now in the heart of the Yankees lineup, nothing could go wrong, right?

Wrong. Ellsbury is signed for 7 years and $153 million dollars, and he's faced numerous injuries over the past four years with Boston. McCann will most likely have to be moved to 1st base a few years into his 5 year contract, and you never know how Beltran's knees will hold up, especially in year 3 of his deal. The Yankees outfield now consists of tortoises Beltran, Wells, Soriano, and Ichiro, and hares Ellsbury and Gardner. At least one of those 6 is now expendable, Gardner easily having the most trade value. The Yankees believe that having two speed threats and top notch defenders would be a good thing, but I think their top priority should be finding a short term solution at either second or third base. I also believe New York needs to add a solid reliever that can close if needed such as Joaquin Benoit, or maybe even Grant Balfour. Nobody knows how David Robertson will fare stepping into Rivera's shoes, so having some dependability as backup will be key. I believe the rotation needs one more solid upgrade too, even despite their resigning of Hiroki Kuroda. I'm not confident enough in David Phelps to have him lock down one of their five rotation slots, but I'm willing to give Michael Pineda a shot at least in Spring Training to prove his worthiness. Without Cano, the Yankees should get by just fine, however, if they don't make the playoffs after all their spending it could significantly impact their financial situation as well. You're taking a gamble any time you go and add a big fish from free agency to your team, because besides for believing his talents will translate, you also have to hope he has the right mindset to get along with the players and become a leader. I think Cashman is choosing the right type of players for the team, specifically McCann, who draws a lot of leadership/talent comparisons to Thurman Munson.

While having Cano for the rest of his career would be a nice story, it was in the best interest of the Yankees organization to start off on a new foot, especially after the chaos that took place last season. The team wasn't awful, but it didn't offer a lot of hope towards current and future attempts at contention. The Mariners are right for giving Cano a chance to revitalize their organization, but only if they can add more pieces to surround him.

On a personal note though, I'm going to miss the heck out of Robinson Cano. He's been my favorite player besides for the Core Four members for years now, and if you've been to my blog before, you'd know he's an enormous part of my collection. I'm currently not planning on parting ways with any of my Cano PC, and I'll continue to add to it, but probably to a lesser extent. He's still one of my favorite players, I mean you can't blame him for taking a contract worth $65 million more than the next best offer. Had he agreed with Seattle if they only offered $20-30 million more than the Yankees did, I'd be genuinely upset in him and probably would look to sell a majority of my collection of his. However, this deal was too enormous for him to pass up, even if it means being stuck in gloomy Seattle for the next decade (which won't happen anyway most likely- see Alex Rodriguez's Texas contract and Prince Fielder's Detroit deal). Cano was the first player I really followed from the very beginning, as he was an up and comer when I first started to follow baseball. I've been honored to watch him develop into the Hall of Fame caliber player he's become, and he's been a heck of a lot of fun to root for. I'll continue trying to be a fan of his, up until Seattle and New York face off in the playoffs. It's going to be fun.

I'm going to miss you Robby Cano, don't you know?

See Ya.

My Take on the Big Yankees Moves

Hey everyone, Drew back here. As the free agency period is starting to slow down and come to a close, Yankee fans seemed to wonder where GM Brian Cashman had been. Normally, Cashman and the Steinbrenner family are all over the free agents every winter, but it seemed different this year. Obviously, the team's weakness from last year was our starting pitching, with struggles from Phil Hughes, Bartolo Colon, and more famously, AJ Burnett. Burnett has been consistently awful through his 3 seasons in the Bronx, and for about $16 million a year, Cashman did the wrong thing taking him on. But you can't necessarily blame him for the signing. Burnett had been a very solid #2 pitcher for several years, and his performance demanded a salary of maybe just a bit less than what he got.

But when I heard about the big trade that went down yesterday between the Yankees and Mariners, I was a bit stunned. In case you haven't heard, the Yankees sent their top prospect Jesus Montero and a potential starter in Hector Noesi to Seattle for their young future star pitcher Michael Pineda and pitching prospect Jose Campos. I was in shock when I received the Yankees News Alert text message, because of the way they brought up Montero. His hitting skill was un-matched by most catching prospects, and his overall future talent was predicted to be of All Star caliber. I invested in a few of his autographs and was extremely excited for his call up to the big leagues. Last September, he made a splash when they finally called him up for his cup of coffee at the end of the season. He hit .328 in 18 games, slugging 4 home runs, and knocking in 28 runs, which in my book is an unreal first month in the big leagues! 2012 will be his official rookie season, now with Seattle, and he may do even better in a less covered team in the Mariners.

Michael Pineda is going to be a beast in the major leagues, from what all of us fans got to witness last year. With very minimal run support, the 6'7 right hander still managed to win 9 games and sported an ERA of 3.74. He collapsed as the year went on, but he showed many signs of promise. I actually had gotten 2 of his autographs through the mail last season, and I owned him at some points of last year's fantasy baseball season. I'm not sure how he'll stack up in New York, with all of the media and pressure that has scared away many other solid players that just couldn't perform in the environment. My take on his collapse last year was that he lost confidence in his ability to help his team win games, because the Mariners offense didn't give him much/if any run support all season. Also, he was only 22 years old, and it's very hard for a young pitcher, no matter how talented, to pitch that well against so many All Star hitters for an entire year.

While I am a fan of Pineda, I still don't understand why Cashman decided to deal the future face of our franchise, once Jeter retires. The deal does even out in the end, but after how Yankee fans fell in love with the future hitting star late last year, I couldn't believe he would allow his stint to end. They have wanted many top of the line players over the years, and in order to get those guys, they would have to surrender Montero. In fact, a few years ago they could have gotten Cliff Lee from Seattle, if they gave him up. But Cashman wouldn't do it. Finally, he did it. Hopefully he did it, and got the right guy out of it.

Based off their 2011 performance, Pineda's numbers top most of the other big name pitching free agents' stats. CJ Wilson was pretty much the only pitcher that topped him last year, but Wilson is inconsistent and did very poorly in the playoffs. I'm really going to miss Jesus, and I wish him the best of luck in Seattle.. well as long as Pineda can perform to the ability the Yankees management thinks he can!

Immediately following the trade, the Yankees also announced they had signed former Dodgers pitcher Huroki Kuroda to a one year, $10 million dollar deal. I honestly don't know a whole lot about Kuroda, besides the fact that he's an aging pitcher who had one of his better seasons last year, although he also did not receive much run support from his Dodgers teammates. I think judging off of what I've read he could make a solid number 4 starter, and if he doesn't turn out well, he could be a long man in the bullpen, because they certainly have many other arms to test out in the rotation! The rotation now looks to consist of: Sabathia; Pineda; Nova; Kuroda; and either Hughes; Burnett; or Garcia in the 5th spot. I could see them putting Hughes in the bullpen, because as we've seen, he can be dominant in that role. Burnett may either be traded prior to the season or could fill a bullpen role, as much as he won't like the idea. But honestly, I don't think it matters how happy he is, because he earned the role he now has, by failing to perform at the level his contract wanted him to.

Nobody wins in the offseason, because simply, there aren't any games to play! With the Angels signing Pujols and CJ Wilson, the Marlins signing Jose Reyes; Heath Bell; and Mark Buehrle, and all of the other big moves,  it's been an interesting offseason for sure. I hope a few years from now the Yankees won't regret yesterdays moves, but we're going to have to wait and see!

What are your views on the big moves in the Bronx? Who do you think got the bigger edge in the deal?

See Ya!