AL playoff contender breakdown (part I)

the contenders — angels, yankees, a’s, indians, white sox, red sox.

l.a. angels (of anaheim)

what i like about them:

  • vlad guerrero, garrett anderson, darin erstad
  • some quality bullpen guys like f-rod, lackey, and donnelly (even though the #s may not be as good this year)
  • more consistent than the a’s
  • they are important to my playoff scenario that excludes the yankees and white sox

what i don’t:

  • their name (little-emphasized fact: los angeles= the angels) so we have = the angels angels if accurately translated from CA’s other native language. can’t we just go back to the CALIFORNIA angels? this makes no sense. the marketing gods were drunk here.
  • their starting pitching…i don’t trust it. bartolo colon used to pitch for the indians. he was pretty good, but he never had that ACE mentality. odds are good he won’t ever get it.

yankees
(like)

  • starting pitching starting to come around and johnson beginning to earn his money
  • rivera. enough said.
  • scary hitters swinging bats.

(don’t like)

  • bullpen questionable other than rivera
  • their defense
  • derek jeter (overrated)
  • steinbrenner (evil)
  • yankee fans (delusional)

oakland a’s
(like)

  • rich harden and huston street
  • future met barry zito. there’s something attractive about a scruffy musician-type with a wicked curveball. he would be a star in NY. just steer the guy away from cashman and the bronx.

(don’t like)

  • inexperienced starting pitching
  • weak bullpen (in my opinion anyway)

look for the second part of the preview later in the week. Go TRIBE!!!!

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