With all eyes on next season, many now begin to predict who will win it all next year. Every sports person will now say that the Yankees will win it all again in 2001. Here are my top five reasons why the Yankees won't repeat: 1. They weren't that good this year. If they had been in any other division in baseball, they would not have made the playoff this year, wild-card included. They were like the 1997 Indians who were a mediocre team that got hot at the right time. 2. They will be overhauling big parts of the roster. No Paul O'Neill, no Tino Martinez, no David Cone. Possibly no Scott Brosius or Chuck Knoblauch. Will their replacements respond to Joe Torre as well? Will they respond to each other as well? 3. Pitching. Cone is gone. Clemens can't be a good pitcher forever. He had some good post-season games, but he is on the downward slope. Orlando Hernandez was not consistent this season. Their two best pitchers, Clemens and Hernandez have seen their best days. 4. David Justice. After one good season in Cleveland, the Indians were thrilled to get rid of him. Atlanta was more than happy to let him go in exchange for Kenny Lofton and pocket lint. New York will soon find out why. 5. Manny Ramirez will wilt under the New York City media pressure. New Yorkers won't baby him like Cleveland did.
Here are some articles by interesting people to let you know what's happening in the baseball universe:
Keith Law gives MLB five ways to improve the game. (By the way, if you're not reading Baseball Prospectus, go do it now. www.baseballprospectus.com) http://espn.go.com/mlb/columns/bp/848644...
Here's the Elias player rankings: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/...
Many players have already filed for free agency (just look at any sports news page) but here are all of the potential free agents. http://espn.go.com/mlb/s/2000/1020/82867...
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