FanNation

Coletrain said 05/23, 06:58 PM
Here it is. Finally a truly meaningful TD topic. So who'll turn out better this year? Yanks or Marlins? Right now, the fish have the edge. But I believe (shocker!) the Yanks will turn out with more W's in the left column. I'll start off on just listing reasons why the Yanks are a good team on their own without comparing them to anyone yet.

2nd Half- The Yanks have started off slow for the past few years and they've still made the playoffs. Starting off slow is nothing new for this group of ballplayers. Why do they pick it up after the All-Star Break? 2 main reasons:

Batting Line-up: The Yanks have struggled with hitting on a consistent basis so far but that'll change. Last year Cano, Damon, Abreu and others started off slow but then hammered the ball in the 2nd half. The same thing will happen this year. This line-up is like a huge monster truck. Takes a while to get going, but once it hits it's stride you can't stop it.

Andy Pettitte- One of the best clutch pitchers of this generation, he's been a great pitcher in the 2nd half and he matters so much to this team. He's the anchor with Wang.

Another thing is the lack of a clear threat for the Wild Card in the AL. Cont.

Coletrain said 05/23, 08:46 PM
"that just because this has happened in the past, that means they'll be able to do it again this year?"

Here's the thing Ghost: Little has changed between with this team the passed few years. Their biggest move during the offseason was picking up LaTroy Hawkins. This is the same basic crew that has been tearing it up after the All-Star break for the past few years. You should be able to see the pattern with this ballclub right now.

About the Yanks pitching, Kennedy and Hughes will improve. Kennedy had his best start of the season against the O's on Thursday and that was the true Kennedy. Hughes has nasty stuff. Once both the young guys get going (which they will because they've always been highly regarded and they've shown in the past they can win in the bigs) and Pettitte gets going, you have a pretty good rotation.

Now about the AL. Besides of the Red Sox, what other team is dominating? No one. The Rays are gonna fall. Their line-up is still inexperienced (and hasn't been that good at all when you look at the stats) and the Angels still have some holes. The Tigers and Indians, 2 teams that were supposed to be great, have been busts.

I'll get on the Marlins next arg.

Coletrain said 05/23, 09:45 PM
"you have some revelation or shall I go by what the Yankees have actually done this year?"

Oh come on Ghost. My logic makes perfect sense. This is the same team that has come back from bad starts at least 2 years in a row. Simple logic says they have the stuff and will do it again when the rest of the AL isn't as good as years past.

Now about the Marlins. They've played some great baseball. BUT, I think they're just overachieving right now. Uggla is a streaky player. He has great power but is up and down as far as everything else goes. The hitting is good but they're still very young and very inexperienced. They're all just hot right now.

The pitching is another area where I can see them keeping up in. Olsen's career ERA is 4.58 and Mark's is 4.93. You think they're keeping this up? The bullpen is pretty solid but in the big game it's not the most trust-worthy unit.

Here's the thing with the Marlins. I think they're hot right now because the NL East hasn't been as good as a division as it was primed to be and they're riding the "no one believes in us" wave. Like the Rays. That may work now, but not in the long haul. This Yanks team has proved more than Florida.