MLB

2015 New York Mets Predictions

Chris McGlynn Baseball, MLB ,

by Brian Mandel

After months of waiting, Opening day or should I say Opening Night has finally arrived. Yesterday ended what was one of the craziest MLB offseason ever with a last minute trade that sent Kimbrel and Upton Jr. to the upstart Padres.

This wild offseason brought parity to a league that last season saw some of the most parity the sport has ever seen. Almost every team has chance to make the playoffs, and for the first time in the Sandy Alderson era, the Mets do too.

Last year the Mets ended off with a 79-83 record in what was thought of as a lost season with the absence of Matt Harvey while he was recovering from Tommy John. However, the team showed improvements throughout the season with players like National League Rookie of the Year Jacob deGrom, Gold Glove winner Juan Lagares and the Mets upstart bullpen full of young flamethrowers. Finally, after years of the front office saying next year, it looks like 2015 is the year where the Mets could contend for a playoff spot. Although, some people think the quite offseason will hinder the team this year, the real game changers are the return of Harvey and Wright to all-star form. .

Here are my grades and predictions for the Mets this season:

Starting Rotation: B+
Opening Day:
Bartolo Colon R
Jacob Degrom R
Jon Neise L
Matt Harvey R
Dillon Gee R

The rotation is seen as the Mets strength coming into the season and what could possibly carry them to a wild card berth. Every great Met team was centered around the starting pitching. Unfortunately, the rotation took a big hit with the loss of Zach Wheeler to Tommy John during spring training, but the Mets were able to recover slightly because of their immense pitching depth. The Mets were not able to trade Dillon Gee over the offseason and he was going to be an afterthought in the bullpen, but he was able to regain his rotation spot with the Wheeler injury. Look for Gee to be a veteran presence that will once again rely on off speed pitches. Bartolo Colon will be going into his final year of his contract and will keep his role as the underrated veteran innings eater on the team. Furthermore, deGrom hopes to build off of his rookie campaign. The two biggest question marks are Harvey and Neise. Can Harvey return to all-star form? Can Neise go through a full season healthy? If the team lives up to its potential it could be a top five rotation in the MLB. Also, look for the mid-season call ups of Noah Syndergaard (Thor) and Steven Matz, two guys who could be rotation staples of the future.

Bullpen: B+
Opening Day:
Closer: Jenry Mejia R
Set-Up: Jeurys Familia R
Carlos Torres R
Sean Gilmartin L
Buddy Carlyle R
Jerry Belvins L
Alex Torres L

The Mets bullpen is coming off one of their best seasons in recent memory. They went off the Cardinal’s mold of converting hard throwing starters in the minors into high leverage relief pitchers. Mejia and Familia look like one of the best young one two punches in baseball. Of course the bullpen did not escape Spring Training without and injury. They lost LOOGY Josh Edgin to Tommy John, but Alderson was able to recover with trades for Belivns and Torres. Look for rule 5 draft pick Gilmartin, long man Carlos Torres and minor league signee Carlyle to be solid role players. The biggest X-Factors of the bullpen with be the return of Bobby Parnell and Vic Black, two flamethrowers that can push the bullpen to an elite level.

Lineup: Ranging from C- to B+…let’s go with a B- for now
Opening Day:
Curtis Granderson L
David Wright R
Lucas Duda L
Michael Cuddyer R
Daniel Murphy L
Juan Lagares R
Travis d’Arnaud R
Wilmer Flores R
Pitcher
Why a range? This is the biggest question mark of the whole team. Hopefully, some of the Spring Training hitting and new hitting coach Kevin Long’s philosophy will translate to the regular season. Granderson looks to improve on a shaky first year with the Amazins’. It seems like reuniting him with his old hitting coach allowed him to change his approach using all fields. Coming off his shoulder injury David Wright, the heart and soul of the team, will make or break this line up. Lucas Duda is coming off his first 30 homerun campaign and for the first time will be coming into the season the starting first baseman. If he learns to hit lefties then the Met’s will that much more dangerous. Cuddyer and Murphy are both professional hitters and when healthy should be solid contributors to the lineup.   Defense was never a question for Lagares, but his hitting was. Last season he silenced some doubter by hitting .282. However, he had three separate trips to the DL and has to build off last year improving his OBP. The biggest question marks are d’Arnaud and Flores. We saw d’Arnaud’s potential last year in the second half, but he has to do that over a whole season. Flores’s name has been around for years but he hasn’t proven much in the Show yet. With all of the question marks of injury, down years and break out years the Mets offense can be anything form what have see the past five years to a solid line up from 1-9.

Fielding: B
Opening Day:
C: D’Arnaud
1B: Duda
2B: Murphy
3B: Wright
SS: Flores
LF: Cuddyer
CF: Lagares
RF: Granderson
Bench: Rueben Tejada, John Mayberry Jr., Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Anthony Recker

The Mets defense has anything from Gold Glovers to well below average defenders. Look for Lagares to anchor down center field catching anything that come his way. He is the first outfielder since Andruw Jones to have two years of 28 defensive runs saved in a row. However, Cuddyer and Granderson are both below league average defender, but Lagares should equalize that out. The captain, David Wright, will command the infield playing Gold Glove caliber defense at third. Although everyone thinks Flores cannot play SS, his arm counteracts his range. You will not see him making any web gems, but he makes all of the easy plays. At the keystone, Murphy will have below average defense. Duda will play above average defense at first. Finally, d’Arnaud did lead the league in past balls last year, but he is one of the best pitch framers in the Show. An important thing for team that will rely on their pitching. All in all the positives out way the negatives in the Mets defense and they will have an above average defense.

Manager: C+
Terry Collins

Terry Collins will be on the hot seat this year because this is now the time for the Mets to start winning. He is a fiery manger that will get out and argue with the ump. He also prefers veterans starting over the young players which is counter intuitive for a rebuilding team. Furthermore, his bullpen methods are not very good. He tends to pick one arm every year and burn it out. Many Mets fans want change asking for guys like Wally Backman. I’ll give Terry the benefit of the doubt.

Overall Prediction: 85-77
Like I have said before, the season is on the shoulders of David Wright and Matt Harvey. If they have good seasons, then the Mets can contend for a while card spot. The team will have to rely on the starting rotation and the bullpen. They are in the mold of last year’s Royals with a strong rotation and bullpen and solid starting lineup. Let’s Go Mets.

2015 New York Yankees predictions

Chris McGlynn Baseball, MLB ,

by Matt Luppino

Ah, it’s the most wonderful time of the year. No it’s not the holiday season, it’s not summer vacation, and it’s not even March Madness (technically it’s April Madness now).

That’s right.  It’s baseball season once again. A time when everything in a sport completely resets. A time when last place teams can win a championship a season later. And a time when Yankee fans once again revel in the past… wait, that’s every day.

This year’s 2015 Yankees face an uphill battle after what frankly the ball club will call an unsuccessful season last year. Finishing 84-78 while marred by injuries, the Bronx Bombers missed the playoffs for the second year in a row for the first time since the early 90s, and did not do much to improve. Yes, long time captain, fan favorite, and baseball icon Derek Jeter retired, going out in spectacular fashion in his last home game, but the losses of closer David Robertson, who signed with the Chicago White Sox, and starter Hiroki Kuroda, to the Japanese league, were also unexpected and could prove costly. And of course, after a year-long suspension filled with lawsuits and media hysteria, Alex Rodriguez returns to the diamond.

Here are my grades and predictions for the Yankees this season:

Starting Rotation: B-
Opening Day:
Masahiro Tanaka R
Michael Pineda R
CC Sabathia L
Nathan Eovaldi R
Adam Warren R

The entire Yankees team faces huge question marks, but this is one of their largest.  The rotation was largely affected by injuries last year, some of which are still not resolved.  Tanaka’s elbow, which shut him down after a masterful first half last season, appears healthy but not to full strength.  The same can be said about Sabathia’s knee, though the aging left-hander still needs to learn how to adjust to the lack of velocity in his pitches now, a fact that has haunted him the past few seasons. The addition of the young flamethrower Eovaldi is intriguing, but last season his control often escaped him.  This group has a lot of promise if they manage to pitch to their potential, but there is also a chance that Tanaka and Sabathia could reinjure themselves too.  The X-factor here: Ivan Nova is expected to return from Tommy John surgery in May or June, which would add another strong starter to this team and put Warren back in the bullpen, where he was very strong last year.  If he returns to form, Tanaka once again pitches like the ace we saw a glimpse of last year, and Eovaldi, and Pineda for that matter, find the strike zone, then this could be one of the stronger rotations in baseball.

Bullpen: A-
Opening Day:
Closer: Dellin Betances R
Set-Up: Andrew Miller L
David Carpenter R
Justin Wilson L
Esmil Rogers R
Chasen Shreve L

In spite of the loss of Robertson, one of the top closers in baseball, he could have just been replaced with someone even better.  Betances, an All-Star last season, struck out 135 batters in only 90.0 innings last season, a rate of 13.5 K/ 9 IP.  His ERA of 1.40 and WHIP of 0.78 were among the tops in baseball as well.  He has struggled this spring, but if the adrenaline of a regular season game kicks in, he should be a dominant pitcher once more.  Crafty lefty Andrew Miller offers a strong alternative, for he is equally strong against batters on both sides of the plate.  David Carpenter and Justin Wilson are hard throwers, righty and lefty-specialists respectively.  Plug Warren back into here, and this is one of the best pens in baseball.

Lineup: Ranging from C- to B+…let’s go with a B- for now
Opening Day:
Jacoby Ellsbury L
Brett Gardner L
Carlos Beltran S
Mark Teixeira S
Brian McCann L
Chase Headley S
Alex Rodriguez R/Garrett Jones L
Stephen Drew L
Didi Gregorius L

Why a range?  Because this lineup could be either really good or really bad.  On the good side, Ellsbury and Gardner can both be scary on the basepaths and will set up well for the heart of the lineup.  From the 1-7 spot in this lineup is homerun power, especially with the short porches at Yankee Stadium.  Plus, Gregorius, though not known for his bat, could still be an improvement over the groundball-specialist Jeter.  But, there are questions, mainly injuries.  Beltran, Teixiera, and McCann all suffered from injuries last year, and were rather ineffective when they were playing.  After a year of no baseball, we have no idea what kind of hitting shape A-Rod is in (though this spring has not been awful so far).  Ellsbury and Gregorius suffered minor injuries this spring, though appear to be healthy now.  And Stephen Drew frankly is not very good.  This lineup is very unpredictable, but has the tools in place to score some runs for certain.  If healthy, this is a Bronx Bombers-esque team.

Fielding: B-
Opening Day:
C: McCann
1B: Teixeira
2B: Drew
3B: Headley
SS: Gregorius
LF: Gardner
CF: Ellsbury
RF: Beltran
DH: Rodriguez/Jones
Bench: Chris Young, Brendan Ryan, John Ryan Murphy, Jose Pirela

There is a fairly glaring problem created by the return of Alex Rodriguez.  With two bad hips on a 39-year-old body, a year without baseball, and another 3rd baseman in Headley, Rodriguez is expected to spend most of his time at DH this season. Problem: Beltran and his two bad knees on a 37-year-old body are now forced to be an everyday right fielder.  This is not only a defensive liability, but is also a great plan to get Beltran injured.  Once he gets hurt, there is not a true backup. Garrett Jones is not much of an improvement, and while Chris Young could be, his lack of bat does not make up for it in the lineup. Otherwise, this is not an awful unit.  While Headley and Drew are not great, Teixeira is one of the best fielding first basemen in the game, and Gregorius is a huge upgrade over Jeter, who lacked range in his later years.  Gardner and Ellsbury can easily cover all of the extended left and center fields (and will probably need to cover most of right for Beltran) and are usually Gold Glove caliber fielders who make highlight reel players commonly. McCann is not a great fielder behind the plate, but he is adept at throwing out base stealers and is an excellent game caller.

Manager: A
Joe Girardi

Girardi has never had a losing record in the Bronx, even though the injuries suffered in each of the last two seasons easily warranted it.  He is excellent at resting his players to keep them fresh when needed.  He is also a very good bullpen manager.  Of the 78 losses the Yankees had last season, only 27 were lost by a reliever, about 1/3 of the total.  Girardi knows how to match up against opposing lineups well, and is good at managing innings to keep a pitcher ready for the next game.  With three lefties in his pen and a plethora of long relievers at his disposal, do not expect this to change anytime soon.  Girardi is one of the best.

Overall Prediction: 82-80
I don’t see many of the Yankees staying healthy all season.  If they do, they can contend for the playoffs.  But they are too old and fragile for my liking.  The pitching especially could be troublesome; younger starters from last season like Shane Greene and Vidal Nuno have moved on, leaving open voids should anything happen.  With a fairly weak farm system, the Yankees will struggle to fill the gaps.  This could be a good season, or a disastrous one. We will wait to see the results.

Top five most successful sports cities

Chris McGlynn Baseball, Basketball, Football, Hockey, MLB, MLS, NBA, NFL, NHL, Soccer , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

As a continuation from yesterday’s piece, I thought it might be interesting to reflect back on the last 15 years of sports champions. More specifically, I am ranking the top ten sports cities in the US since 2000. This includes the five largest sports leagues in America, NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB and MLS. The rankings will mainly rely on championships won by a single city but I will also take into account appearances in the finals as well. Let’s see if your city cracked the top five.

#5 Chicago: 3 total titles in 6 total appearances
Chicago actually has fewer titles than San Antonio but gets the nod for the extra finals appearance and diversity across more than one sport. Chicago is home to the two-time finalist Fire of the MLS in 2000 and 2003. The Bears also claim the Windy City as home. Even though this NFL team hasn’t won a Super Bowl since 1985, they did make it to 2007 Super Bowl. Despite the Cubs century long struggle to win the World Series, the White Sox claimed a title in 2005. The other two titles came from the NHL side. The Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in 2010 and 2013. Chicago has seen championship berths from the spread out across these 15 years. The Bulls, despite all the success in the 90s, have not made it to the finals since the turn of the century.

#4 Miami: 4 total titles in 6 total appearances
Florida’s major city clocks in at number four largely due to the success of the Miami Heat during this decade. The Heat made it to a NBA-record four straight NBA Finals, winning the middle two. The Heat also locked up a championship back in 2006 as well over the Dallas Mavericks. So yes, most of the credit goes to the NBA team but the baseball team based in Miami has a World Series title as well. The Marlins, who back then were only the Florida Marlins but still played in the city, won the 2003 World Series over the New York Yankees. The titles from two different sports gives Miami a boost. Now if only the Dolphins could help the city out. Soccer could be springing up as well soon as David Beckham seeks to set up a MLS expansion team. For now though, Miami is nowhere close to jumping over the top three cities on the list.

#3 Tri-State: 6 total titles in 15 total appearances
This seems like it is cheating a little bit but it is hard to differentiate New York and New Jersey. Despite being called the New York Giants, Jets and Red Bulls, all of these teams play in New Jersey, along with the Devils. Either way, The Giants locked up two Super Bowl titles in 2008 and 2012. The Red Bulls made a Cup run in 2008, falling short to Columbus. The Yankees won two World Series titles in 2000 and 2009, the 2000 one over the cross-town rival Mets. The Yanks also made the 2001 and 2003 Series. On the ice, the Devils have two Stanley Cups from runs in 2000 and 2003 to go along with losses in the 2001 and 2012 final. Even the Nets, who back then played in Jersey, made consecutive title appearances in 2002 and 2003. Worth noting, New Jersey based teams have accounted for 4 titles in 9 appearances while New York teams only have 2 championships in 6 showings. Looks like Jersey is holding up their end of the deal…

#2 Boston: 9 total titles in 18 total appearances
You know a city is dominant when they have more finals appearances than there are years in our criteria. Boston’s 18 championship runs is one less than the number one team on this list. The cities 9 titles are incredible though. The largest contributor has been the Patriots, with Super Bowl victories in 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2015 and losses in 2008 and 2012. The Red Sox have held up their end of the bargain as well, delivering 3 World Series titles in 2004, 2007 and 2013. The Celtics and Bruins even locked up a title each in 2008 and 2011 respectively. The little known fact is that Revolution actually have contributed the second most title appearances, with five. The issue is that they have come up short every time in the MLS Final. Still Boston’s titles are very impressive. They just couldn’t edge out number one.

#1 Los Angeles: 14 total titles in 19 total appearances
Wow. 14 titles in 15 years. It’s no wonder stars love going to Los Angeles. With teams in every one of the sports being considered but football, LA probably solid chances of succeeding but still 13 championships in 15 years in unprecedented. The LA Galaxy have brought home 5 MLS Cups in 7 attempts in 2002, 2005, 2011, 2012 and 2014. The Lakers have the same numbers with their titles coming in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009 and 2010. The Kings have been stellar of late, nabbing two Stanley Cups in 2012 and 2014. The Anaheim Ducks grabbed a trophy on the ice in 2007. The Anaheim Angeles added a World Series title in 2002 as well. When one city has three different teams winning titles in a single year (2002), there is really no discussion. This city has truly become Titletown since the year of 2000.

Disagree with the list, tell me who you think should have been included and who should have missed the cut.

Counting down the most successful sports city

Chris McGlynn MLB, MLS, NBA, NFL, NHL , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

So following the Super Bowl and now starting the long four-month lull until another championship game is played, I thought it might be interesting to reflect back on the last 15 years of sports champions. More specifically, I am ranking the top ten sports cities in the US since 2000. This includes the five largest sports leagues in America, NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB and MLS. The rankings will mainly rely on championships won by a single city but I will also take into account appearances in the finals as well. Let’s see if your city makes the list.

The cities just missing the cut are Houston, Philadelphia and Baltimore. Houston has two titles, both coming from their MLS club the Dynamo. The Astros made a World Series run in 2005 but got swept. The Texans haven’t helped. Philly has four appearances in the big game but only one victory. The Phillies won the World Series in 2008 but then lost the next year. The Eagles lost in 2005 as did the Flyers in 2010. Baltimore has two titles but both came from the Ravens. The Orioles did not do enough to really pad Baltimore’s resume.

#10 Kansas City 2 total titles in 4 total appearances
Not exactly a massive market but Kansas City has been a pretty solid sports city since 2000 when it comes to success. The forgotten team here will be the MLS club. The Kansas City Wizards, who is now Sporting KC, won the MLS Cup in 2000 and later made it to the 2004 final. 13 years later, Sporting KC left its mark with a MLS Cup victory. Then just this past year, the Royals made a shocking run to the World Series, eventually losing to San Francisco. The Kansas City NFL team, the Chiefs, could have boosted this city up the list some but they have had very little playoff success since 2000, not coming anywhere near the Super Bowl.

#9 St. Louis: 3 total titles in 5 total appearances
The St. Louis Rams were actually the first team to win a sports championship in the new millennium, taking home the 2000 Lombardi Trophy (which I ranked as my most exciting Super Bowl game of all time). The baseball team in St. Louis has done most of the heavy lifting though as the Cardinals have been among baseball’s best in the past 15 years. The Cards have two World Series titles from the 2006 and 2011 campaigns. This MLB team also came up just short in both 2004 and 2013, at the hands of the Boston Red Sox on each occasion. A little help from the Blues in the NHL could’ve pushed St. Louis above the next few cities on this list.

#8 San Francisco: 3 total titles in 5 total appearances
The San Francisco Giants have been baseball royalty over the past five years. In that time span, they have nailed down three World Series titles. San Francisco also made a trip to the Series in 2002, eventually losing in Game 7 to the Anaheim Angeles. The football team in San Francisco is pretty good as well. The 49ers came close for years to making it back to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1995. They finally accomplished that goal in 2013, but came up short against the Baltimore Ravens. Close, but no cigar. That Super Bowl victory could have vaulted San Francisco past the number seven city on the list.

#7 Pittsburgh: 3 total titles in 5 total appearances
If this were an all-time list, Pittsburgh would have to be higher up on it. As it is only since the year of 2000, the city takes a drop. This has still been a successful city though when it comes to sports titles. The Steelers have earned two of them, in 2006 and 2009. They also came up a touchdown short in 2011 of winning another one against the Packers. On the ice, the Penguins have been one of the top teams in the NHL for some time now. They are perennial contenders and managed to make a Stanley Cup run in 2008, losing to the Detroit Red Wings, before returning the following year to beat those same Red Wings. Unfortunately, the Pirates haven’t been much help to the Pittsburgh cause in a while. Pittsburgh has been good, just not as good as…

#6 San Antonio: 4 total titles in 5 appearances
Amazing that a city with only one professional sports team can make the list. Well that’s what happens when the San Antonio Spurs are that one team. After a win in the NBA Finals in 1999, the Spurs watched as the Lakers won three consecutive titles to open the 21st century. The Spurs retaliated by winning three out of the next five. After an eight-year finals drought, San Antonio got another shot at a ring in 2013, eventually losing in Game 7 to the Heat. The rematch the following year though fell the other way giving the Spurs their fourth title since 2000.

That is the bottom half of the list. Check back in tomorrow for the top half of the countdown.

The end of an era

Chris McGlynn Baseball, MLB

A legend said goodbye last night. Fans waved to their leader as he took the field one last time. Family and friends gathered to meet him as he walked off that diamond in the Bronx. The last of the “Core Four” walked away from a place he called home. Derek Jeter played his last ever game in a pinstripe uniform in the house that he has so famously built.

All of this of course happened after the Yankee captain stepped into that batter’s box one last time and hit an opposite field single to score a man from second and end the game against the Orioles. The game doesn’t mean anything in the standings, but it certainly means a lot to all of the fans who watched it unfold. Jeter walked it off and then took one last walk around his home to wave farewell to all the people who had come to watch him one last time.

They used to call the old Yankee Stadium “The House that Ruth Built.” There have been some to coin the new home as “The House that Jeter Built” and after last night, they definitely should. In case you weren’t aware, Derek Jeter has been on his farewell tour all season. He played in his final all-star game, he passed Honus Wagner to move into number six on the all-time hits list and he gave Yankee fans one last season of fun.

Now, I will be the first to say that all of the praise Jeter has gotten this year for his play. He really has been average at best, especially by the standard fans have come to expect of him. But it has been fun to watch him go. He has been the iconic face of the most successful sports franchise in the world. And now, it seems like suddenly and too soon, the sporting world must say goodbye to the Yankee shortstop. And upon his retirement, it makes you wonder who is going to that kid from Kalamazoo as the face of this Yankee team. (I say replace for lack of a better word cause no one can really replace what he has done). Could it be David Robertson? Or Brett Gardner perhaps? Or maybe someone we don’t know yet? There is no real way of knowing until it happens.

But until then, the baseball world will be engrossed with just how amazing of an ending that was to one of the most respected and successful careers in all of sports. The only guy who might have done it better is John Elway. And I say might of. The fans at the stadium let Jeter know how much they appreciated his two decades of work chanting, “THANK-YOU JE-TER” for the majority of last night. Jeter kept it as classy as ever and thanked the fans for all their support and saying he didn’t know what they were thanking him for. He was just doing his job. But now I am going to say it too. Thank you Jeter for proving that there is a right way to go about being a professional athlete. Thank you for being respectful, passionate and humble playing for all these years. So this is farewell captain. Thanks for all the memories.

The sun has truly set on an era. What a way for it to end.