AL playoffs - first round

[RiverTheNuts]

Im gonna go out on a limb and say that the yankees miss the playoffs

[Toro]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

Is the first series still three out of five?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't think so. I'm pretty sure they are all best of seven now.

[daryn]

so you're saying they just changed it this year?

[Toro]

[ QUOTE ]
so you're saying they just changed it this year?

[/ QUOTE ]

Just going by what I thought I heard on WEEI this past week. There was some dicussion on how the Red Sox should set up their pitching rotation for the first round. The caller wanted Pedro to lead out with Schilling 2nd. Then there was discussion who would be 3rd and the guy said there would be no need for a 4th starter because it was only a 5 game serieds.

Then the host pointed out that no, they are all 7 game series now and that the Sox would likely go with a 4 man rotation.

Just what I heard, someone should check it out. We got to get this rotation straightened out now!

[Boris]

You're overstating the Twin's capabilities. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I always hype my A's.

[ QUOTE ]
Radke is also dominant

[/ QUOTE ]

Radke is good, not dominant. I don't think he's as good as the either the A's or Redsox second starter. He is better than anything the Angels or Yanks have to offer at this point.

[ QUOTE ]
The Twins are also awesome in the field.

[/ QUOTE ]

The Twins are awesome in the outfield. I've always felt that Guzman was a liability at SS. It's also hard for me to beleive they are better at first with Menkaiwyzzivvisitch now gone.

[Utah]

Radke is good, not dominant. I don't think he's as good as the either the A's or Redsox second starter. He is better than anything the Angels or Yanks have to offer at this point.

His stats compare very similarly to Shilling and Mulder
Radke: 29 games, 190 innings 3.59, 203 hits, 130Ks, 19 BB
Mulder: 27 games, 197 innings, 3.79. 176 hits, 124Ks, 70 BB
Schilling: 27 games, 188 innings, 3.39, 185 hits, 162ks, 28 BB

Additionally, Radke has been awesome as of late. Last night he blanked the Rangers for 8.

Santana is simply unhittable at the moment. The Royals tonight couldnt touch him as they had just one hit and 2 walks in 7 shutout innings. I think Santana had 11 strikeouts tonight.

doug Mientkiewicz was awesome at first but couldnt hit anything. Morneau has power and he has hit 16 homeruns in a very short time. He is still learning first though. I will agree with your assessment. Outfield is great. Infield okay at best.

[Utah]

Wow. Pedro pitched a great game tonight. Very similar to Santana. Santana's numbers were better but Pedro faced a much tougher lineup.

I would love to seem them face each other in the playoffs.

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

Pretty shaky limb considering they're about 7 games ahead of Anaheim.

[andyfox]

Yes, I suppose so. But they sure are inconsistent. Brown, at this point, might not be able to pitch at all. Mussina finally pitched a quality game the other day, and Vasquez was tough today after the first inning. Meanwhile, Gordon and Rivera suddenly look shaky. But your point is a good one: no team is perfect, every pitcher and hitter has bad days and bad stretches. And the Yankees, without Brown, might opt to go with a 3-man rotation of Mussina, Vasquez and El Duque. Not bad, but not great. Meanwhile, the season is 135 games old or so and the Yankees do still have the best record. So who knows.

Meanwhile, they better pull it together just to make the playoffs.

[andyfox]

Being underpowered at the plate is usally not much of a problem in those short series. Florida wasn't exactly an offensive powerhouse last year and the Yankees have ended up on top a few times with just above average offenses.

St. Louis sure looks awesome.