The thought of concession, let alone to the Bombers, has always have been
and always will be sacrilegious. No song here, guys….just some facts to
chew on.
Sure, the Little Ripper’s got a nice lead on the field. But its May 14th
for heaven’s sake. Not to pick at an old wound, but the Hoosier Daddies
enjoyed a considerably more commanding lead well into August a few years ago
and we all know who got the last “laffey” that year. Heck, if no one among
you is man enough to make a run at the Bombers, I’m half tempted to reverse
engines a la the Big Rippers and come after him myself.
Lets take a closer look, shall we?
This is an offense that has only one superstar hitter in Kinsler. The rest
of the offense is built around guys like Garko, Aybar, Figgins, Rivera,
Ordonez, Wells, Scott, Rolen, Kendrick. Are you kidding me? And there is a
suggestion that everyone should just step aside and allow him to accede to
the throne. Just for kicks, take a look at the total number of DL days for
Figgins, Rivera, Ordonez, Wells, Martinez, Scott and Rolen the last 3
years. ’nuff said.
I’ll admit that the pitching looks good on the surface. But look a little
closer. Galarraga’s ERA is now up past 4.6. Burnett’s ERA has been
climbing steadily and now exceeds 5.3 and he’s on a Yankees team that looks
like a disaster waiting to happen. Bedard has been great but is already
complaining about how his arm feels. The King might finally be coming
around, but with that pen behind him and that team (not) putting up runs for
him, there won’t be many wins. I’ll admit that Garza looks great. In fact,
he’s looking like a nice keeper at 15. But he’ll not nearly enough to
support a wire to wire victory. Joba has been decidely ordinary (1.55
WHIP) and looks like a guy that would be better off closing games than
starting them. Another pain in Mariano’s elbow and the next thing you know,
Mr. B finds himself even deeper in closers. And speaking of
closers….Morrow blows another one today (taking a win away from King Felix
in the process), Francisco is ailing and Andrew Bailey is…well….Andrew
Bailey. And don’t even get me started on the clown with the dead squirel
hanging from his chin.
The bottom line is that the Little Rippers haven’t yet been pushed. There
hasn’t been any of the consolidation of talent that has marked the last few
years of our league’s history. If the Nukes really are throwing in the
towel, there is enough talent on that team alone to push Buddha, the Big
Ripper or the Calamari to a title. And both the Hoosiers and the Red Hots
still have plenty of talent to move around themselves. If David Price nets
King Felix and Matt Garza, what is Evan Longoria worth? Hard to imagine,
but I’m eager to find out.
The year has only just begun. As I see it, at the very minimum, the Little
Rippers have a few more keepers that they should be compelled to move. If
the season ends with a Little Ripper title and the likes of Joba, Morrow,
Francisco, Garza and Masterson still on their roster, we should all be
ashamed of ourselves.
Now get out there and make it interesting. Otherwise, come June 1, I’ll be
entertaining offers for my beans
That is all.
TOeFuKi