Blockbusta

I have got to say that the Cabrera-Willis trade seemed straight out of talk radio when I first heard it. So many players and too many big names for it to ever work. The two most popular players from the Marlins going Detroit and a slew of prospects going to Florida, including their two big name top prospects in Maybin and Andrew Miller. I think it is a great trade for both sides because it fits exactly what both teams are trying to do.

When you look at the Tigers, it is now clear beyond any doubt that they will go blow for blow with the Yankees and Red Sox. They have the deepest line-up in baseball, alongside a very solid starting rotation. The best part of their team is that their line-up is not made up of just power guys like the trap the Yankees had fallen into in recent years. Guys like Polanco. Renteria and Granderson supply a nice complement to the power of Cabrera, Ordonez and Sheff. I still think the Red Sox have to be the team to beat, but Detroit has shown the commitment needed to fight the superpowers of baseball.

At the end of the year it is going to come down pitching as always. The Detroit line-up is great, but the most important guys on this roster will be Verlander, Bonderman, Willis and Rogers. The Red Sox proved that this October, as the Cardinals proved the year before, and the White Sox the year before that.

METS
I would just like to address the Mets offseason really quick. The Mets were possibly the toughest team to figure out at the end of the year. Everyone felt they were the best team in the NL and that they should have been in the playoffs. The bottom line though was that they collapsed. How do you address an 88 win team, but also a team that a historic meltdown in September?

Well in a strict baseball sense it was very clear that the Mets needed help at the top of the rotation. The other aspect though that I felt needed to be addressed was the culture of the clubhouse. You can not go through such a long and drawn out collapse and then come back the next year with the same guys. There is too much bad history and karma for that. So lets take a look at who is gone as of now. Tom Glavine, Paul Loduca and Lastings Milledge are the biggest names that are already gone. Those are three pretty big personalities in that clubhouse. There will be different voiices speaking up to the media and different guys being vocal leaders behind closed doors. To me that was a big key in this offseason.

Speaking of Milledge, his trade was very controversial. So many Met fans were bothered not only by giving up on Milledge, but by getting so little for him. Well, I will say that Schneider and Church are not that bad. I am fine with a platoon of Schneider and Castro behind the plate. Combined I expect about .260-.270 AVG with 15-20 homers, and very good defense. As far as Church goes, I will mention a name that will make many people roll their eyes....Paul O'Neill. Look at O'Neill's numbers before coming to the Yankees at age 30 in 1993. While O'Neill had been established for about five years and Church has only been around for the past two, their numbers look pretty similar. Before coming to the Yanks O'Neill never hit over .276. They are both lefty, line-drive hitting right fielders who play very solid defense and are very hard nosed. Chruch may not have the intensity of O'Neill (not many do), but I can easily see him hitting .280-.290 with 20 homers and 50 doubles, while playing a strong right field. Not the front line pitcher Mets fans expected (unrealistically) for Milledge, but possibly a guy who can provide further balance and depth to this Mets line-up.

KNICKS
I am not trying to be insensitive, but there have been some off the court issues that have been out of the Knicks control that will be used as excuses in the future by Dolan and Isiah. When this season is analyzed by the Knick powers that be, I promise you that within their prognosis will be the fact that Randolph missed multiple games due to his Grandmother's passing and that Marbury had to go through the extremely difficult passing of his Father. I am not trying to disparage either one of these players or minimize wheat they must have gone through and continue to go through. I have lost loved ones and it is extremely hard. All I am saying is that no matter how you look at this Knicks team, it is a disaster. The Knicks management will bring these losses up as reasons for the teams troubles and that will be something that no one will be able to question. How can you without sounding like an insensitive asshole? Well, I will not question that. I will just say that I hope that the owner finally sees this team for what it is and cleans house, and not continue to give Isiah a way to stick around. Some day......

STKAFI