(1) Are the Florida teams for real?

(2) Yankees/Mets ... hopeful or hopeless?

(3) Jamie Moyer--life begins at 30.

(4) Is there any significance to Memorial Day weekend as a key part of the season?

(5) The Washington Nationals--have they been possessed by the spirits of Jeffrey Loria and David Samson?

I do think the Rays are the genuine article. This is a well-balanced roster--they’re hitting .260/.327/.396 (101 OPS+) and are seventh in the AL in runs scored with 212 and Carlos Pena, Carl Crawford and Jonny Gomes haven’t really shown up yet. Dioner Navarro has bounced around so much in his career already that folks forget how young he is and his minor league totals suggest that he may simply be coming into his own as a hitter. As a club they’re getting solid situational hitting and indications are that they really haven’t started to click offensively yet.

The rotation, which was already doing well this year (4.02 ERA) has gotten back Scott Kazmir and he’s picking up where he left off last year and has a 1.57 ERA despite facing the Red Sox, Yankees, A‘s and Angels. Best of all, nobody is older than 26 years old. The bullpen (3.41 ERA) is an experienced one and nobody is having a major outlier of a season. The addition of Jason Bartlett has stabilized the infield defense and they can afford to carry his stick to keep his glove out on the field. It’s a team without an outstanding weakness that is strong in almost every category (except stolen bases--69% success ratio).

The Marlins I’m still not sold on but their sweep of the Diamondbacks has given me pause. Their starting pitching--which was among the worst in the NL--in starting to show signs of life. In their sweep of the Snakes the starters posted a 0.95 ERA in 19 IP walking four and whiffing 23. It’s a young, talented--but very raw group of starters and if they find their range … look out. Their bullpen has a solid ERA despite the number of base runners allowed and they’ve got a lot of pop in that lineup. The infield defense with Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla is a concern but few middle infields provide that kind of production. 

(2) Yankees/Mets ... hopeful or hopeless?

Well, I said on the Mike Gill Show on Wednesday that I think the Yankees are poised to go on a tear. They scuffled in the early going in both 2005 and 2007 only to win at least 94 games. The bullpen is fine, their top three starters are doing the job, Ian Kennedy is showing signs of life and adding Joba Chamberlain won’t hurt if he’s handled correctly. The biggest problem with the Yankees is their poor situational hitting (.239/.323/.366 with RISP) with Robbie Cano, Jason Giambi, Hideki Matsui and Alex Rodriguez being the biggest culprits. Their history suggests that they’ll turn that around.

The only real concern the Yankees have is that the AL East is going to be a brutally tough division--especially if the Blue Jays start to get anything resembling a consistent offense.

Right now, either the New York media or Mets fans need to get a grip. Even after being swept by the Braves they’re one game below .500 and 4.5 games out of first. They have to remember that the Braves/Marlins/Phillies are going to be stomping each other over the remainder of the season. If the Fish are indeed for real the top four spots in the East are going to fluctuate all season long. Let’s take an objective view of the Mets: They have, right now, three serviceable starters and the rotation is fifth best in the NL, second best in the division behind Atlanta.

The bullpen walks less than the league average (among relievers) and after a shaky start, Aaron Heilman has a 2.93 ERA striking out 17, walking five in his last 15.1 IP. Pedro Feliciano, Joe Smith and Scott Schoeneweis have an aggregate ERA of 2.63 and Billy Wagner has yet to give up a run--this is a solid bullpen. Yeah, the lineup has a couple of issues but they’re at positions where you can look for a bat without having to worry too much about defense (first base and left field). However, the team hits as well with RISP as they do normally. Let’s face it--if Omar Minaya grew a pair and signed Barry Bonds the offense would improve immeasurably--even if Bonds “only” hit .260/.420/.500.

Regardless, other bats will come available as the season wears on and only a massive choke job will prevent the Mets from staying in it long enough to upgrade the lineup. Don’t forget, the Mets have scored five or more runs 20 times and 0-2 twelve times--it can put runs on the board and good pitching can shut it down. Another bat will help (or Carlos Delgado waking up). The talent is here, this is a contender but Omar Minaya and Willie Randolph have to keep their wits about them and remember this fact. By all means, pick up another bat but don’t let a sweep by a good team cause a panic--it happens over 162 games.        

(3) Jamie Moyer--life begins at 30.

Well, I covered this off in this week’s Pujols Awards and you’re a click away from reading my jaw-dropping amazement at a guy who couldn’t even find a job in 1992 despite throwing left-handed. Do you have any idea how bad you have to be to be a southpaw and not find any takers? He found one in 1993 and 200 wins later he’s now in select company.

(4) Is there any significance to Memorial Day weekend as a key part of the season?

Remember the 2007 Mets and Rockies? Nuff said--unless you’ve gotten off to a start like the 1988 Baltimore Orioles (0-21) there’s still well over 100 games to play.

(5) The Washington Nationals--have they been possessed by the spirits of Jeffrey Loria and David Samson?

Well … I think any region thinking of getting into bed with any part of the MLB cartel to fund a stadium really should take note of what is happening in D.C. As I stated at THT--these people are nymphomaniac fiscal succubi . They are literally evil, all they care about is getting more from those who have less. These people are immoral, greedy, selfish people with nary a shred of conscience. Many wonder why I generally side with players in management/player disputes--well here is a big reason. Ballplayers devote their entire youth to developing their skills with zero guarantee of success.

Once they sign a contract, the club holding their rights will do everything in their power to delay the arrival of arbitration and free agency rights. Often it takes anywhere from 10-15 years of enduring bus rides, injuries, slumps, options down to the minors, acrimonious arbitration hearings until that day when it’s time to collect their rewards.

That day finally arrives, and these soulless, mercenaries who--while already among the wealthiest men in the country, who cheerfully and gleefully demand money that should be spent on the care and education of our young, the support of the weak and elderly and protecting the population at large so they can become still wealthier without lifting a finger … They have the unmitigated gall to imply that the player--the guy who spent 10-15 hard years to reach this point--one of a very small minority who do so, is greedy for being unwilling to subsidize (thereby giving more free money to these epitomes of avarice) people who suck the lifeblood out of the common man like maggots feasting on a putrefying corpse.

I laugh when I hear fans lament about greedy players. The players are freaking Mother Theresa in comparison to owners. The only time they have any use to humanity is that day when they will create work for the death care industry. Sadly, their corpses will saponify rather than decompose because maggots are not inherently cannibalistic.

Best Regards

John