Predictions for '06?

[DoubleX]

Anyone have any predictions for '06? Here are some of mine:

- The Yanks will win the AL East (but that's as far as I'm going for now)

- Robinson Cano will make his 1st All-Star team

- Randy Johnson will be better than last year

- Shawn Chacon will emerge as a frontline starter

- Wil Nieves will win the backup catching spot in spring training (beating out Kelly Stinnett)

- Hideki Matsui will struggle this year

- Johnny Damon will be disappointing

- Jaret Wright will become the most reliable setup option (and that might not be saying much).

[TonyStarks]

Farnsworth gets eaten up by New York.

Cano will hit .285/18HR/70RBI.

Cashman will get about 12 'Evil-eye' looks from Georgie this year.

Matsui will put up the same exact numbers.

Randy will have a better year: 15-8.
Moose will break down.
Small will come out the pen and do about a 3.10 ERA.

[Aussie_Stengelese]

- AL East doesn't get the Wild Card. Yanks win East (By 5 games).
- A-Rod has a strong Post-season to avenge 05.
- Jeter to return to the All-Star game.
- The pitching staff, both starting and bullpen, will change quite a bit by mid-season.
- Pavano won't be a Yankee by mid-season.

As you can tell, I'm still nervous about the pitching staff. We have the names, but will they perform... :noidea

[Tinyballer]

Wang Chien Ming and Shawn Chacon become frontline pitchers who get around 15-17 wins.
Robinson Cano hits 25hrs
Johnny Damons does his usually thang

[TonyK]

NY 97 wins
BOS 92 wins
TOR 91 wins

[Retire21]

Just some thoughts:
Damon-.295/20/80
Jeter-.320/25/90
Giambi-.300/35/110
A-rod-.295/40/120
Sheffield-.280/30/110
Matsui-.310/20/85
Cano-.290/15/80
Posada-.275/15/70

Mussina-18/180/3.05
Johnson-21/250/2.80
Wang-15/120/3.50
Wright-12/125/3.85
Chicon-13/130/3.90
Pavano-gone

Rivera-45svs/1.20era

Yanks win east by six
Arod flops in postseason

[SoxSon]

Just some thoughts:
Damon-.295/20/80
Jeter-.320/25/90
Giambi-.300/35/110
A-rod-.295/40/120
Sheffield-.280/30/110
Matsui-.310/20/85
Cano-.290/15/80
Posada-.275/15/70

Mussina-18/180/3.05
Johnson-21/250/2.80
Wang-15/120/3.50
Wright-12/125/3.85
Chicon-13/130/3.90
Pavano-gone

Rivera-45svs/1.20era

Yanks win east by six
Arod flops in postseason


I think Damon will end the season hitting at least .300.
I also have the feeling that Mussina will not enjoy his year.

[pacewon]

Giambi will lead the AL in OBP again.

Yankees win division, Toronto second, Boston third.

[SoxSon]

Giambi will lead the AL in OBP again.

Yankees win division, Toronto second, Boston third.

Ouch, pace...that hurts. ;)

In that case, I'll pick Boston to win the division, with Toronto coming in second. I'm not sure who'll be third yet. :D :laugh

Oh, as a sidenote, I also think that Cano is going to have a breakout year.

[pacewon]

Ouch, pace...that hurts. ;)

In that case, I'll pick Boston to win the division, with Toronto coming in second. I'm not sure who'll be third yet. :D :laugh

Oh, as a sidenote, I also think that Cano is going to have a breakout year.

Heh :)

I should add a disclaimer to my division pick... I'm assuming good health for all three teams. While all three have their share of injury concerns, the Yankees and Red Sox probably have more depth to cover them up. If Halladay, Burnett, and Glaus all get hurt again, as they have in the past, I can see Toronto in the tank real fast. Assuming health though, their pitching scares me. I'd take their top 2 of Halladay and Burnett over any 2 the Yanks or Sox have to offer.

[SoxSon]

Heh :)

I should add a disclaimer to my division pick... I'm assuming good health for all three teams. While all three have their share of injury concerns, the Yankees and Red Sox probably have more depth to cover them up. If Halladay, Burnett, and Glaus all get hurt again, as they have in the past, I can see Toronto in the tank real fast. Assuming health though, their pitching scares me. I'd take their top 2 of Halladay and Burnett over any 2 the Yanks or Sox have to offer.


Toronto could potentially be a mighty force this season...no argument here. I've gotten too used to it being a two-horse race. :)
Personally, I can't even pretend all good health with Boston or New York. There are health concerns on both sides that simply won't stay gone this season. You're right, though. At least we have the bandaids.

[TheKingofKings]

-Jeter wins another gold glove
-Damon bats 279.
-Arod has a breakthrough season
-Cano emmerges as a potential all-star
-Small struggles in the 'pen
-Johnson gets 12-14 wins and has an ERA of around 3
-Sheffield struggles
-Williams retires before the end of the season

[The Big C]

What would you consider a breakthrough season for A-Rod at this point in his career?

[pacewon]

Toronto could potentially be a mighty force this season...no argument here. I've gotten too used to it being a two-horse race. :)
Personally, I can't even pretend all good health with Boston or New York. There are health concerns on both sides that simply won't stay gone this season. You're right, though. At least we have the bandaids.

Weird as this may sound, the Devil Rays will be a threat to the both of us in a few years. The amount of talent in their system right now is mind-boggling, and they're gonna have a high draft pick again this year.

Oh, one more prediction I mean to add, and I hate to say it, but I'm close to certain that Aaron Small is going to tank this year. He's 34-years old and his career ERA+ is 92. His career record in the minor leagues is 90-91. I don't really blame the Yankees for throwing a million bucks at him and giving him a roster spot, because we owed him for the miracles he performed in '05, but I'll be beyond shocked if he has an ERA under 5.00 and/or lasts the entire season.

[DoubleX]

What would you consider a breakthrough season for A-Rod at this point in his career?

I suppose it would be proving his critics wrong, which is pretty much regularly coming through in the clutch.

[DoubleX]

Weird as this may sound, the Devil Rays will be a threat to the both of us in a few years. The amount of talent in their system right now is mind-boggling, and they're gonna have a high draft pick again this year.

I couldn't agree with you more about the Devil Rays. Their team features a number of stars in the making who are all under 24 - Carl Crawford, Rocco Baldelli, Jorge Cantu, Jonny Gomes, BJ Upton, and Delvin Young. On the pitching side, they have a bonafide ace in the making in Scott Kazmir, but I don't think there's much else. So they'll have to beef up the pitching some, but their positional players should really be something nice to watch in a year or two.

[SoxSon]

I couldn't agree with you more about the Devil Rays. Their team features a number of stars in the making who are all under 24 - Carl Crawford, Rocco Baldelli, Jorge Cantu, Jonny Gomes, BJ Upton, and Delvin Young. On the pitching side, they have a bonafide ace in the making in Scott Kazmir, but I don't think there's much else. So they'll have to beef up the pitching some, but their positional players should really be something nice to watch in a year or two.

DoubleX, I think Crawford, Baldelli and Cantu are exactly twenty-four, while Gomes is twenty-five. Also, add Gathright to the list (he is 24), but assuming he can learn a bit more about baserunning and continue the trend he's started at the plate the last two seasons, he should prove valuable as well. No other potential stars in the bullpen aside from Kazmir, true.

The point is you're both right. Baltimore is starting to look like the poor cousin around here. Should be an interesting season of development in the East, if nothing else.

Oh, as another sidenote, it would be really hard for ARod to have any kind of breakout year, particularly after such a strong showing last season. He's already "broken out." :) Perhaps a "breakout" postseason, but we all know that's been just a matter of time anyway.

[DoubleX]

Oh, as another sidenote, it would be really hard for ARod to have any kind of breakout year, particularly after such a strong showing last season. He's already "broken out." :) Perhaps a "breakout" postseason, but we all know that's been just a matter of time anyway.

I don't know if I expect A-Rod to do again what he did last year. Last year may have been the best season of his career, considering how Yankee Stadium disfavors right-handed hitters. Then again, he is a terrific player, and now that he's seemed to have reached a comfort level with being a Yankee, I wouldn't be surprised if he continues to plug away like last year for a few more years.

A-Rod gets a lot of flak everywhere, including here in New York. Such is the price you pay when you sign a quarter of a billion dollar contract and are your own little footnote to the rivarly. I personally love watching A-Rod play. It's not that often you can say you had the privilege of watching on a daily basis one of the best to have ever played. I know we Yankee fans have been spoiled with that kind of player (Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Berra, Mantle), but it's a first in my lifetime (the closest thing in my lifetime is Mattingly's peak).

As for his post-season hitting, for his career he's been a very good postseason hitter (.305 average, 0.927 OPS), and even last year he was better than his numbers seemed because the Angels just weren't pitching to him. But until he has that signature moment as a Yankee, he'll always be dogged by the criticism.

On a side-note to a side-note, can you imagine how many homers A-Rod would have belted had he joined the Red Sox? I think he would have a down year first, just as he did with the Yankees, as he became acclimated to the new high-pressured atmosphere, but once he settled in with Boston, I'm thinking 55-60 for him would certainly be attainable, with 60-65 a definite possibility (especially considering he hit 48 last year with Yankee Stadium as his home).

And speaking of A-Rod's power, I'm very glad to see him entering into the WBC. A lot of players have been dropping out, and not that I can blame some of them, especially pitchers or other players like Robinson Cano that just wouldn't get any playing time and would thus be better served at spring training. However, it's hard not to be suspicious of some the the players that have dropped out, namely hitters, namely Barry Bonds. :). The testing for the WBC is the much more stringent olympic testing, and I have read/heard that it could detect traces of substances that an athlete may have put into their body many months before. So I think a lot of atheletes that are clean now, might not be participating in fear that the testing will reveal some substance they used like 6-months ago. So A-Rod going in to me says that he has nothing to hide and that he's clean.

[Myankee4life]

Damon .276/12/43/.377/.489 128RS 22SB
Jeter .323/25/86/.401/.548 133RS 17SB
A-Rod .282/44/137/.407/.604 130RS 17SB
Giambi .273/34/117/.448/.594 112RS
Sheff .277/27/119/.387/.555 99RS
Matsui .326/37/138/.411/.598 104RS
Posada .266/22/82/.392/.541 81RS
Cano .287/19/77/.341/.536 76RS
Williams .259/17/54/.337/.529 55RS

Johnson 18-8 3.36 216K's
Mussina 13-15 4.89 127K's
Pavano 14-7 4.36 133K's
Wang 16-8 3.88 147K's
Chacon 16-6 3.25 156K's

Wright 6-7 4.55
Farnsworth 4-3 4.78
Myers 2-2 2.67
Dotel 6-3 4.25
Rivera 3-1 2.33 46SV

Chacon, Wang, and Johnson will be are saving graces.
Our Bullpen is gonna be awful
Matsui will have his best season
Arod's not gonna hit .300
Jeter's last great season
Sheff on the decline as so Rivera

We wont win this year...........97W's......elimanated in ALCS or WS

[Coal Cracker]

I couldn't agree with you more about the Devil Rays. Their team features a number of stars in the making who are all under 24 - Carl Crawford, Rocco Baldelli, Jorge Cantu, Jonny Gomes, BJ Upton, and Delvin Young. On the pitching side, they have a bonafide ace in the making in Scott Kazmir, but I don't think there's much else. So they'll have to beef up the pitching some, but their positional players should really be something nice to watch in a year or two.
But can they afford to hold onto all of them? And I'm not sold on B.J. Upton being anything special. He may hit well at the ML level but his fielding is subpar- at best.

- The Yanks win the AL East by at least five games
- Three starters win at least 15 games
- The bullpen will be better than most expect
- Posada will have a very poor season
- Cano will have a big breakout year

[Yankees]

Upton has absolutely no range, I really can't see him playing short at the ML level (and I try to close my eyes at the AAA level:ughh )

New York
Boston
Toronto (very close, though)
Baltimore
Tampa Bay

Damon No idea
Jeter .310
Giambi .298
Rodriguez .305
Sheffield .285
Matsui .300 (I hope)
Posada .265
Williams .230
Cano .290

Johnson 18-10, 3.3 ERA
Mussina 13-14, 4.7-5 ERA
Pavano 15-10, I hope
Wang 16-8, 4 ERA
Chacon 17-8, 3.7 ERA

The bullpen will me mediocre, at best, with the hopeful exception of Rivera.

[DoubleX]

But can they afford to hold onto all of them? And I'm not sold on B.J. Upton being anything special. He may hit well at the ML level but his fielding is subpar- at best.

- The Yanks win the AL East by at least five games
- Three starters win at least 15 games
- The bullpen will be better than most expect
- Posada will have a very poor season
- Cano will have a big breakout year

His fielding is subpar, and I do somewhat think that he'll be one of those players that never fulfills his potential. But right now, he's still a hot prospect, so until he does officially bust, you have to count him among the Devil Rays bright and strong future.

As for holding on to their players, I'm guessing they'll have to make some of those tough decisions down the road that most small-mid market teams have to make with their homegrown stars. I'm guessing since these players are all still pretty young, that the Devil Rays probably have most of them wrapped up under contract for at least a few years. I also think that both Crawford and Baldelli were given extensions not too long ago. Also, there is new ownership in Tampa and they seem committed to turning things around, so perhaps they'll get things turned around and do a better job about investing in the team and creating an attractive atmosphere for fans. I really do hope for that for the Devil Rays. I actually think changing the name is a good thing for them - fresh start, new attitude and all.