End of the Year MLB Thoughts...
By Scott Burks
A long, grueling 2009 regular season in Major
League Baseball has come to an end. Here are things that I took away
from the regular season...
The Mark Teixeira free-agent signing is the
best signing in MLB.
Teixeira was to my 2009 Yankees as was Reggie Jackson was for the late 1970s
Yankees -- the straw that stirred the drink. Teixeira finished leading
the American League in RBIs and tied for the AL lead in home runs (39).
He also helped keep the Yankees afloat while Alex Rodriguez missed time due
to an injured hip. Who knows if Teixeira will help take the pressure
off A-Rod in the postseason? But I know this: if the Red Sox had
gotten Teixeira instead, the baseball gods would have skipped the postseason
and given the World Series trophy to Boston.
Now for every good free agent signing, there
were some questionable ones -- most notably...
The Milton Bradley free-agent signing is
the worst in MLB. I have no idea why the Chicago Cubs decided to
give this power keg three years and $30 million. Had the Cubs been
paying attention like the rest of MLB? Bradley, while vastly talented,
has got some issues. He first struggled at the plate, then called out
the fans, got into confrontations with manager Lou Pinella, and finally
calling the Cubs organization "negative". Are you kidding me?
While Bradley did eventually apologize, it was
too little, too late. I would say that this was his last chance, but
there will always be another organization willing to give him a chance
because of his immense talent. What Bradley needs the most is
professional help.
Thank God for
the Tigers-Twins pennant race.
The pennant races have been anti-climatic for the most part this season.
Don't get me wrong, I loved seeing my Yankees leave the damn Red Sox in
their wake in the AL East. However, that is what makes pennant races
so great: a classic fight to the finish for division titles. For the
most part, we just did not have that this season -- except for the
Tigers-Twins pennant race. To be sure, Detroit choked that AL Central
division lead away the last few weeks of the season, but I loved seeing
Minnesota battle back and make that trademark late season push for the
postseason. It's even sweeter to see this come down to a one-game
playoff tomorrow afternoon.
It's good to see Toronto FINALLY get rid of
GM J.P. Riccardi. While I applauded this move by the Blue Jays, it
may have come a few seasons too late. Look, Riccardi
helped keep the Jays competitive in the rugged
AL East for a few seasons, but too many missteps were hard to overcome.
Could someone explain why Riccardi signed Vernon Wells to that ridiculous
contract? He also mishandled pitcher A.J. Burnett, allowing him to opt
out of his contract and leave without getting any compensation. The
icing on the cake was the way Riccardi totally bungled the Roy Halladay
trade scenario. The Blue Jays will not get anything near the
compensation for Halladay next season as they would have this season.
Hell, Riccardi should have been fired after the trade deadline for that
alone.
The New York Mets need to fire GM Omar Minaya.
Minaya has been a nightmare for the Mets the last two seasons. First,
he mishandled the firing of former manager Willie Randolph by doing so in
the middle of their road trip (and after a WIN no less). Next Minaya
inexplicably did not give pitcher Derek Lowe an additional year (total 4
years) and gave unproven pitcher Oliver Perez over $30 million instead.
This season Minaya's assistant had a bizarre meltdown on some of the minor
league players. Also keep in mind that Minaya brought in the same
players who had those back-to-back collapses in losing the NL East division
lead to the Phillies.
Sometimes breaking up is hard to do, but this
here is a no-brainer: FIRE MINAYA!
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