Is this the baseball betting year that the Yankees don’t make the baseball betting playoffs?
It seems like baseball betting every year, come rain or shine, or the case of this baseball betting season, blizzards, the Yankees always seem to some how make the MLB betting playoffs. They don’t always win the baseball betting World Series, although they do that a lot as well, the team always seems to be there in the post season.
Entering the 2007 baseball betting season, this team again has a tremendous amount of talent. However, so does its MLB betting division rivals and there is very good reason to speculate that this could be the MLB betting year that the Yankees watch the baseball betting playoffs from home.
Granted, this is not a team that will struggle to stay above .500, rather the talk of the Yankees missing the baseball betting playoffs has more to do with the improvements made by the other teams in the MLB betting division rather than any appreciable worsening of the Yankees. This is still the same team that posted the best baseball betting record in the majors last year with 97 wins and won the division by a ten win margin, but the things have changed and most experts have the Yankees finishing third in the NL east behind the much improved Toronto Blue Jays and the Boston Red Sox. It should be one helluva baseball betting battle.
One of the big questions for the Yankees this baseball betting year is the same as they faced last MLB betting year: pitching. In the off-season, the team tried addition by subtraction by letting Randy Johnson go. He just couldn’t catch on last baseball betting year and had the worst season of his baseball betting career. However, he was quickly replaced with the signing of Andy Pettite. One aging has-been for another. Pettite still has some gas in the tank but to expect anything more than 10 MLB betting wins as a number three or four starter is crazy, but the Yankees will make him the number two in the rotation. Some how it seems that GM Brian Cashman believes he’ll get Roger Clemens to sign on for a few moths as well, or else he likely would have made bigger moves to acquire pitching in the off season.
At the top of the rotation Chien Ming Wang, is really coming into his own as a pitcher and was very impressive in 2006 baseball betting season. He could be a Cy Young winner in the next few baseball betting years if he continues on this pace. The question mark in the rotation here is Kei Igawa a dominating pitcher from Japan who has never thrown a pitch in America. The Yanks want him to step in as the number three starter and contribute immediately. He should be up to the task though, but could trail off from fatigue late in the baseball betting season. Expect the Yankees to make a move for pitching down the stretch.
At the plate the lineup is still very potent as A-Rod and Derek Jeter hold down what might be the best left side of an infield in the history of the baseball betting game. Look A-Rod to have a big baseball betting year as he tries to step out of the shadow of Jeter and the media soap opera that surrounds him in New York. There really aren’t any weaknesses in this lineup. Jorge Posada’s bat his slipped a bit at the plate but he’s still so valuable managing the pitchers that what he lacks with his bat he makes up for with his catching.
The outfield is stacked and is an opposing pitchers night mare. Johnny Damon is a lead off extraordinaire and Bobby Abreu and “Godzilla” both can destroy opposing pitchers with power and average. Robinson Cano looks like he’s going to be a huge star this baseball betting season if he can stay healthy, and he’s probably the best second baseman in all of baseball and MLB betting. The only other weak spot here is Doug Mienkeiwictz. His bat is pretty awful but his glove is solid. We could also see a move here down the stretch. Jason Giambi is not the player he used to be either in other baseball betting seasons, but if they can get 25 homers from him, that’s still pretty decent considering the rest of the talent in the line up.
The Yankees are very good, but their pitching is going to cost them in the baseball betting playoff race against teams like Blue Jays and Red Sox that go at least three deep with top tier pitchers in their rotations. The Yankees just can’t compete with that unless they bring in a top gun after the break, but it might be too late by then. Look for the Yankees to get close to 90 wins but finish third in the AL East this baseball betting season.