Well, spring training opens up this week and before you know it, March 31st will be here and it will be time for a new season. Now, usually on that date, the team that won the world championship would open the season on March 31st so you would assume that it would be the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Not this season. Instead, baseball breaks tradition and instead we will have the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros. Why? Because the Astros are moving to the American League East and baseball has to celebrate that. Not a great choice for opening day. Giants and Dodgers is much better.
I don’t want to make fun of the Astros because of all the seasons that they finished in last place but this made the most sense all around. Now all the divisions have an even number of teams and there will be parity in the schedule. Not that it will be great since we still have to have 18 games within the division for all the teams. How many times can you watch the same teams play over and over again.
Anyway, a few weeks ago, Brandon Lyon was going to choose which team he was going to play for. The San Francisco Giants or the New York Mets. You would think the Giants would have the best shot but Lyon had said that he wanted to be a closer and he wasn’t sure if he would have that chance considering that he was going up against Cassilla and Romo so he signed with the Mets.
Should be interesting to see if the Mets will let him be the closer because if they don’t, then Brandon may be a little upset considering he turned down the World Champions. Might have missed a chance to get to the playoffs this year as well. Not to mention that the Mets have a long history of overworking their bullpen and having them make more appearances in the league every single year for at least what 7 years now.
If you think back to the years the Mets lost out to the Phillies, their relievers were out of the bullpen at least 90 times a year. 90 times. And Feliciano was out 108 times when he was in a Mets uniform. When Feliciano signed with the Yankees, he was told by Joe Girardi that he would never use a relief pitcher more than two days in a row so he would not get as much work as he is used to having. Not to mention that the managers in the rest of the league feel the same way. Good luck Brandon Lyon because Terry Collins uses his relief pitchers just as much as Jerry Manuel and Willie Randolph. Must be part of their playbook. Look at the stats if you don’t believe me.
Have to chuckle that the Giants picked up Ramon Ramirez. Last year, the Giants traded Andres Torres, and Ramon Ramirez to the Mets for Angel Pagan. Now all three are back together and they are sharing lockers next to each other. Don’t forget that Ramirez had a lot of work when he pitched for the Mets - 58 appearances in 63 games. Good thing he got hurt when he came out cheering for Johann Santana when he pitched a no-hitter against the Cardinals and hurt his hamstring. He would have been on track to break Feliciano’s record. At least he can get back to a normal schedule if he makes the Giants cut.
I think the question marks going into the season will be Lincecum and Zito. Might have been nice if the Giants would pick up Kyle Lohse. Worse comes to worse, you would have a six man rotation. I think that would be good since we could give the starters an extra days rest. Vogey had a tough stretch at one point last season.
So, where will Brian Wilson go? Looks like the Mets are out. Maybe the Cleveland Indians? They picked up Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn. At some point, he has to ask himself if it was worth it for him to throw his tantrum when the Giants wouldn’t sign him after a second Tommy John surgery. Made over $8 million for being on the bench last year. Maybe he could have stayed and he would have a chance to be a closer.
Anyway, looking forward to baseball. Should be fun especially with three games against the New York Yankees. Would like to see a sweep there for us. And of course, another World Series ring.
Rick Holman
Not this season. Instead, baseball breaks tradition and instead we will have the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros. Why? Because the Astros are moving to the American League East and baseball has to celebrate that. Not a great choice for opening day. Giants and Dodgers is much better.
I don’t want to make fun of the Astros because of all the seasons that they finished in last place but this made the most sense all around. Now all the divisions have an even number of teams and there will be parity in the schedule. Not that it will be great since we still have to have 18 games within the division for all the teams. How many times can you watch the same teams play over and over again.
Anyway, a few weeks ago, Brandon Lyon was going to choose which team he was going to play for. The San Francisco Giants or the New York Mets. You would think the Giants would have the best shot but Lyon had said that he wanted to be a closer and he wasn’t sure if he would have that chance considering that he was going up against Cassilla and Romo so he signed with the Mets.
Should be interesting to see if the Mets will let him be the closer because if they don’t, then Brandon may be a little upset considering he turned down the World Champions. Might have missed a chance to get to the playoffs this year as well. Not to mention that the Mets have a long history of overworking their bullpen and having them make more appearances in the league every single year for at least what 7 years now.
If you think back to the years the Mets lost out to the Phillies, their relievers were out of the bullpen at least 90 times a year. 90 times. And Feliciano was out 108 times when he was in a Mets uniform. When Feliciano signed with the Yankees, he was told by Joe Girardi that he would never use a relief pitcher more than two days in a row so he would not get as much work as he is used to having. Not to mention that the managers in the rest of the league feel the same way. Good luck Brandon Lyon because Terry Collins uses his relief pitchers just as much as Jerry Manuel and Willie Randolph. Must be part of their playbook. Look at the stats if you don’t believe me.
Have to chuckle that the Giants picked up Ramon Ramirez. Last year, the Giants traded Andres Torres, and Ramon Ramirez to the Mets for Angel Pagan. Now all three are back together and they are sharing lockers next to each other. Don’t forget that Ramirez had a lot of work when he pitched for the Mets - 58 appearances in 63 games. Good thing he got hurt when he came out cheering for Johann Santana when he pitched a no-hitter against the Cardinals and hurt his hamstring. He would have been on track to break Feliciano’s record. At least he can get back to a normal schedule if he makes the Giants cut.
I think the question marks going into the season will be Lincecum and Zito. Might have been nice if the Giants would pick up Kyle Lohse. Worse comes to worse, you would have a six man rotation. I think that would be good since we could give the starters an extra days rest. Vogey had a tough stretch at one point last season.
So, where will Brian Wilson go? Looks like the Mets are out. Maybe the Cleveland Indians? They picked up Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn. At some point, he has to ask himself if it was worth it for him to throw his tantrum when the Giants wouldn’t sign him after a second Tommy John surgery. Made over $8 million for being on the bench last year. Maybe he could have stayed and he would have a chance to be a closer.
Anyway, looking forward to baseball. Should be fun especially with three games against the New York Yankees. Would like to see a sweep there for us. And of course, another World Series ring.
Rick Holman