Sports Then and Now

Ubaldo Jiminez has struggled at times in 2011, but is still capable of being a staff ace.

Ubaldo Jimenez is a very good pitcher. I am of the opinion that the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox should not trade for him, but I will never deny that he is a good pitcher. That’s what gets me worried.

The Colorado Rockies are a pretty decent team with a good core. Troy Tulowitszki and Ubaldo Jimenez are the core of that team. So, uh… why do they want to trade Ubaldo? I understand if they were just listening to offers but why did they just throw him into the market?

He has a career ERA of 3.62, yes. But since his terrific start last season he is 12-15 and his ERA jumped dramatically, including a 6.04 in July. So far this season it is 4.20, and that is against offenses like the Diamondbacks, Giants and Padres. Coming to the AL East, could he handle the offensive forces of New York, Boston, or even Toronto?

But it all leads to the same thing… If the price is so high, why is he even available? His numbers are not great the past year and a half and based on that he is not worth a Will Middlebrooks or Jesus Montero. Plus, they want even more for the young stud. His velocity has gone down too, according to scouts.

I just have a funny feeling with him. Why is the price so high for an NL West pitcher with decent stats over a year in a half? And if they think so highly of him, why is Colorado willing to trade a corner stone piece away?

Could Josh Beckett and the Red Sox bring home another World Series title in 2010?

The final countdown to the beginning of the MLB season has begun in earnest as we are now 5 days from opening night on ESPN where the Yankees face the Red Sox in what looks to me as it should be some of the closes races for all the divisions in recent years.

CC Sabathia vs. Josh Beckett should stir even the most casual fans as the Yankees attempt to repeat in 2010. They will be missing some key elements from last years championship club. Gone are Hideki Matsui, Johnny Damon, and Melky Cabrera and with Joba Chamberlain losing the battle for the 5th spot in the rotation to Phil Hughes, some of the experts are concerned that age may be creeping up on them as many of their key players, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada are all 35 years old and above.

Since the steroid issue is being monitored at it’s highest level since the testing began a few years back we are seeing less and less of career seasons from this age group. It’s nice to see the playing field becoming more level than in the past decade or so.

This still won’t stop the Yankees, Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays from fighting it out for the two spots for October baseball. They will clearly be the favorites in the American League along with the two other division winners to play in the post season.

However don’t be fooled into believing that the runner up in the Central Division won’t be fighting the AL East for the lone Wild Card position. Detroit, Chicago and Minnesota are all very capable of winning 90 plus games this year so all and all this could be real fun.

The two other long shot Wild Card contenders may just come from the AL West where the Angels, Rangers and Mariners are going to have a knock em out drag down battle for that crown. Read the rest of this entry →

Todd Helton and the Rockies are looking to regain their magic from 2007.

Flashback to only two years ago, 2007 and these same two teams were to meet in the NL Division Series. The Philadelphia Phillies had overcome a seven game deficit with 17 games to play. Trying to erase some ghosts of their own, particularly the “Big Choke” of 1964 when the Phillies blew a six game lead with 10 games to go against the St. Louis Cardinals, this team came charging down the stretch led by their big three Ryan Howard, Chase, Utley and NL MVP winner Jimmy Rollins.

However, the vast majority of the 2007 team weren’t even born in 1964, except for Jaime Moyer, when that Phillies team gave away that pennant in 1964. This team had a terrific September and beat the highly favored New York Mets to win the crown on the last day of the season.

Their opponent then as now was the Colorado Rockies who stormed through September that year like Sherman marching through Georgia to win the wild card. They lost one game in their last 50,(only kidding)but it certainly felt that way. They had a momentum going for them that eventually swept through not only the Phillies in three straight, but then swept the Diamondbacks in four straight to head into a classic match up with the now powerful and World Series experienced Boston Red Sox.

Read the rest of this entry →