2013 Major League Baseball Thread: A Grand Finale

Johan Santana may be out for the entire season, and there's talk that his career could be in jeopardy. Gotta say I kinda feel bad for him, but then again, its the Mets, so I don't really care much.

And I must admit, I'm kinda worried as a Yankees fan this season, just because we'll most likely get off to a slow start, and with the way the rest of the division seems to have improved in the past year, I could very easily see them spending some time in last place.

 

And it starts....


In Minnesota, with a 20 degree windchill....

 

There's been an interesting debate on First Take this morning about the Top 5 Greatest Yankees of all-time, and whether Jeter deserves to be that list over people like Mo or Yogi. I gotta say, I'm kinda torn on if he does, though I think its mostly because I was never really a Jeter fan until recently.

 

I'm not a Yankees fan, but if I were to list the top 5 of their organization it be:

Babe Ruth
Lou Gehrig
Joe Dimaggio
Mickey Mantle
Reggie Jackson


Honorable mentions to Dave Winfield, Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra, & Derek Jeter

 

The media's not talking about the Giants again? Cool. Enjoy watching our 3rd title in 4 years, guys t:

 

I think the top 4 has been pretty constant, but the #5 spot is where the debate comes in. Reggie was definitely a great contributor, but I think the fact that he only played 5 of his 21 seasons there, he gets overlooked because he's not a Yankee "Born and bred". Ruth wasn't either but he played the majority of his career there and pretty much gave life to the franchise.

 

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Also:

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Top five greatest Yankees as just a player, Jeter, no. As a personality and the face of the organization (and of Baseball, really), he is definitely the fifth face on the 'Mount Rushmore' of Yankees with Ruth, Gehrig, JoeD, and Mick.

Definitely psyched that Baseball is back. And I didn't realize until yesterday that Vernon Wells is on the Yanks. If he can get some of his old form back, it could be a great addition.

Opening day....Go Yanks!

 

I agree that as a player, he's not there. But aside from his popularity, I think his leadership and overall demeanor of trying to keep things all business on the field gives him those intangibles that help separate him from most other players.

And for some reason, I feel like Wells is going to be like Andruw Jones was, where he was once great, but is not there any more but can lead to some good surprises every now and then.

 

Vernon Wells is nothing but a desperation move.

 

Anyone else get the feeling that the Yankees really don't want anything to do with A-Rod? I just heard they didn't even announce him with the rest of the team, even though he there's and in uniform.

 

The guy still provides pretty decent value when compared to the rest of the leagues 3B but they would gladly trade him if they didn't have to eat nearly all of his contract. He simply has to much baggage.

 

I've always been partial to Mariano and whether or not you're not a fan of the closer roll or saves in general, and if he would even have those totals if not for being another team, but just his numbers in the regular season and especially the postseason have been impressive. I admire Jeter but I'd personally would take Mo.

 

Well this is a surprise, and certainly not an April's Fool Joke, but Robinson Cano has fired Scott Boras as his agent, in favor of .... Jay-Z?

http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/sto...-new-york-yankees-switching-scott-boras-jay-z

Yeah, one argument I heard is if you were to replace Jeter or Mo in those World Series teams, whose absence would be felt more? Jeter may be clutch, but he was never the guy you expected to provide homeruns or RBIs, but rather to score runs, but Mo was expected to shut the door and finish the game, which he did just about everytime except that 2001 Series. As for Yogi, its hard to go against a guy who has a ring for every finger on both hands.

 

I saw a commercial on the MLB Network where Andrew McCutchen said he "plays for October."

If that's true, then might want to consider playing for another team.

 

This was a fun day at Dodger Stadium....here's how they set up the Magic Johnson first pitch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9u1gg1FCaXI

 

yankees arent making the playoffs buddy

 

Age and all those contracts are catching up with them. To trade for Vernon Wells really says something.

 

Let's Go Blue Jays!!!

 

I think this could be an interesting season because on one hand, the expectation are really low, which can be a good thing since the pressure to succeed is not fully there, so they may be able to do better than we may think. But at the same time, they can do really bad, and with their age and the era of the recent dynasty coming to an end, we could see a slip in quality for a few years. The Yankees may be the most well known and most successful team in Sports, but I think sometimes people seem to forget that they've had their share of crappy teams, and this just may be the beginning of another transition period.