Optimism abounds in New York today as the NY baseball teams both had successful weekends. The Mets rebounded from the depths of non-offensive baseball Friday night by winning 2 huge games against the Dodgers over the weekend. They also got early dividends from their rookie call-up and the acquisition of two veterans from the Atlanta Braves. Relatively new SU subscriber and frequent commenter, Mark N., wrote this morning:
“Met’s trade for some offense, promote another hitter and are making a run. I’m looking forward to a subway series.” Sure, why not get excited?
Meanwhile, SU believes that the Yankees had their “Minolta Turning Point of the Season” moment on Saturday night when they rallied from a 5-0 deficit behind Alex (“Don’t call me A-Rod”) Rodriguez’s 3 homeruns and John Ryan Murphy’s unexpected 3-run dinger in the 9th inning. They followed that up with a strong pitching performance yesterday by Evoldi and another Stephen Drew homerun which guarantees him another 3 weeks on the roster (unfortunately). SU is starting to believe now as they are getting more offensive contributions up and down the line-up. Even Chase Headley did something over the weekend which is huge as he is in there every day and just cannot be that mediocre all the time.
A-Rod was interviewed last week and had this revelation. SU is paraphrasing but it’s basically this: “I went from being Alex in Seattle to A-Rod in Texas. Now this year I’m back to being Alex again and just having fun playing baseball.” SU says hey, whatever floats your boat and keeps you playing well. Many suspect he is still using PEDs but SU does not. While the chemists are usually ahead of the testers, he has too much to lose both financially and in the court of public opinion if he is caught again. SU enjoys watching him hit and he is starting to look like the 2009 version now.
Is Mark N. right? Subway series? SU says the National are definitely not world beaters and that is the Mets’ path to the playoffs. Supposedly they are heavily scouting Bruce on the Reds. Makes a lot of sense – big bat. Time to believe?
Sports Update Intergalactic 
The Mets trade was huge. Alderson has taken a lot of heat this season but he made just the right move. Didn’t have to give up anything and got two guys who completely change the lineup. He was paying attention to the context. They don’t need a great hitter. They’re in second place with a pathetic offense. Better to get two average hitters who are still huge upgrades over the guys they were marching out there every night. Still not a fearsome lineup but it doesn’t need to be. The biggest thing the Mets need to worry about is the Nationals. If that team plays to its ability, there are no moves the Mets can make that would keep them close.
In addition to Drew, CC also got bailed out this weekend. Not sure how his season can continue like this. It’s one thing to not live up to your salary but it’s another to be truly awful and that’s what he’s become. It’s a good thing they’re building a cushion in the standings. If they’re in a pennant race late in the season, I don’t see how you send him out there every 5th game. Also, I don’t see him making the post season roster.
Alex has too much to lose to be cheating? I’m not so sure. What if he thought that without cheating he’d be hitting .220 with 5 HRs? If he really thought his performance was linked to drugs, he might still take the risk. I don’t know. I hope he’s clean and I hope he does well as long as he’s wearing the Yankees uniform.
Yankees are the real thing while the Met’s are once again teasing their fan base.
i agree that the series against the twins, who do very well at home and had all the momentum pointing their way after Friday’s thrashing of the Yankees. I believe the Yankee’s are keeping themselves balanced psychologically by not getting too high or too low emotionally… but just enough to have good energy in the dugout with the right blend of seasoned vets and newcomers. Though they still due depend too much on the long ball, at least it is coming from many players. Last night 4 of their 7 runs came from the bottom of the lineup. Such overachieving with no end in sight. Just maybe the bottom are coming more into their own…. maybe.
Do we want Price on the team? Yes, provided it doesn’t cost us our top prospects. Signing him to a 3 year deal would help as well if we can make this happen.
Now on line to win (almost) 92 games. GO YANKS !!!
PS Subway series? The Wolverines have a better chance to beat Ohio State.
I don’t believe the Yankees really need that extra high end starter. Plus if they did trade for a guy like Price, it would put Girardi in an awkward spot with CC. I think for team chemistry reasons you need to leave him in the rotation for the rest of the year and just hope he is not horrible. I agree with Seth that he could very well be the odd man out in the post-season assuming Evoldi keeps coming on. But… Tanaka and Pineda are not sure things health-wise and if one of them goes down, CC is back in the mix. He needs to spend time in Texas this week with Andy Pettitte and understand how to change speeds better. It’s not just about location but also slowing it down more.
I am not prepared to react to Andy’s line about Michigan football — yet. But I am very excited for the upcoming season and the start of the Jim Harbaugh era in Ann Arbor. I did note that Ohio State’s QB Braxton Miller will be a wide receiver this year which makes Urban Meyer now only have to choose between 2 studs at that position. I do think the Mets have a chance here as the NL East is pretty weak. But to get all the way to the World Series is a stretch of course.