Predicted Starting Lineups and Rotations for Yankees and Mets

With spring training activities starting soon, most teams are just a few last minute free agent signings away from being ready for the 2014 season. The Yankees have spent enough money this offseason and should resist the Masahiro Tanaka sweepstakes, or any other expensive pitcher still avaliable. For the Mets, we all already know that they don't like giving out big contracts anymore, and after giving each Curtis Granderson and Bartolo Colon decent-sized contracts, the only spending left for them to do is for the bullpen. With that, here are my final 2014 New York Yankees and Mets.

Lineup:
Jacoby Ellsbury* CF
Derek Jeter SS
Carlos Beltran* RF
Brian McCann* C
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alfonso Soriano DH
Kelly Johnson* 3B
Brian Roberts* 2B
Brett Gardner LF
(Brendan Ryan, Ichiro Suzuki, Austin Romine, and Eduardo Nunez are on the bench)

Rotation:
C.C. Sabathia
Hiroki Kuroda
Ivan Nova
Michael Pineda
Adam Warren

For the bullpen, David Robertson is the closer

Lineup:
Curtis Granderson* LF
Daniel Murphy 2B
David Wright 3B
Chris Young* RF
Lucas Duda 1B
Travis d'Arnaud C
Juan Lagares CF
Ruben Tejada SS
Pitcher Spot
(Ike Davis, Eric Young, Anthony Recker, and Josh Satin make up the bench)

Rotation(Unfortunately, no Matt Harvey):
Bartolo Colon*                                        
                                                                                                        Jonathan Niese
                                                                                                        Dillon Gee
                                                                                                        Zack Wheeler
                                                                                                        Jenry Mejia

The Mets shouldn't rely on Bobby Parnell as their closer. Andrew Bailey, who is the cheapest closer still avaliable, would be a good fit as closer for the Mets


*new addition

Deals Galore

Ian Desond and Jordon Zimmerman of the Washington Nationals, both signed 2-Year deals with their respectful club. Also Max Scherzer signed a One Year Deal with the Tigers. Scherzer, last years Cy Young award winner avoided arbitration by making this move.

Who's Bradley Holt?

If your a Mets fan, (like me) you remember when all the buzz was about Brad Holt signing with the Mets in 08. He was doing interviews, and was on consecutive top 100 lists. He had a great fastball at 94 Mph, but coudnt get strikeouts. Fatigue plagued him in 2 of his Minor Leauge seasons. Holt now a free agent, and 27 has a good case for the majors.

Expanded Instant Replay approved

• Here are the Instant Replay rules:
• The following play types will be subject to review:
• Home run
• Ground rule double
• Fan interference
• Stadium boundary calls
• Force play (except the fielder’s touching of second base on a double play)
• Tag plays 
• Fair/foul in outfield only
• Trap play in outfield only
• Batter hit by pitch
• Timing play (whether a runner scores before a third out)
• Touching a base (requires appeal)
• Passing runners
• Obviously, all other plays are off limits. We saw a little bit of this during the Fall Leauge. 

Kershaw signs 7 year extension with LA

Fittingly, Clayton Kershaw, the best pitcher in baseball, has received the richest contract ever given out to a pitcher. The deal is worth 215 million for 7 years, which is nearly 31 million per year. Kershaw, who is just 25 years old, would have become a free agent after the 2015 season. In 2013, Kershaw won the NL Cy Young award for the second time with a 16-9 record, a ridiculous 1.83 ERA, and 232 k's in 236 innings pitched. Just so you know how amazing that ERA is, no pitcher in baseball has ever  recorded an ERA that low since Boston's Pedro Martinez with a 1.74 ERA in 2000. Also the 1.83 ERA is the lowest by an NL southpaw since, who else, the Dodgers Sandy Koufax in 1966 with 1.73. Kershaw and Koufax are now the only two Dodger pitchers ever in their long history to win multiple Cy Young Awards.

Pepper Archives #3

1965 World Series Game 7! Enjoy!

Kershaw Extension+ Pogo PepUpdate

Clayton Kershaw, the NL Cy Young award winner has agreed to a 7 Year $215 Million dollar extension with the LA Dodgers.

Here's a Pogo Events Pepper Update:

Why is Tim Raines not getting the votes?

If it wasn't for Ricky Henderson, the man who stole more bases than anyone else and hit for an average, Tim Raines would have been in the Hall Of Fame. Both speedsters played at the same time, and had mainly the same attributes. Raines had a 290 Batting Average over his career, got over 2,000 hits and stole for more than 800 bases. Raines is 5th All time in Stolen Bases, and every person that has more steals are in the HOF. The main competition is Ricky Henderson, the man who stole over 1400 bases, and was a first ballot HOFer, which is a rare accomplishment.  However, Henderson hit for a lower average and had a much lower WAR (wins above replacement). All in all Raines has a case for the Hall, it's no secret that he has been over shadowed by Henderson, but now that he's been elected, I expect Raines to get more votes.

Offseason Tracker 1-14

-This week, Aubrey Huff and Dallas Braden retired. Recently there have been reports that Michael Young is seriously considering retiring. Other notable players that retired this offseason include Mo Rivera, Andy Pettite and Roy Halladay. 

-Derek Holland's surgery looks bigger than what we originally thought. After surgery, doctors said Holland could miss the whole 2014 season.

- Stephen Drew is getting interest from 5-6 clubs, according to agent Scott Boras

Masahiro Tanka to sign soon

Multiple reports suggest Tanaka will sign with a team this week. His posting time will be up later this month.  Masahiro is clearly going to sign with a big market club, however there is a chance he goes to a small market club like Arizona or Baltimore. The Dodgers are the front-runners due to their relationship with Casey Close, Tanaka's agent.