Much to the chagrin of baseball fans sick of these two media darlings, the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox will battle one another in 2009 MLB Playoffs.
We predict both high profile clubs will survive their opening round matchups and meet up in the American League Championship Series. The Yankees will easily dispatch the Minnesota Twins while the Red Sox will eventually handle the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
As for the National League, prepare to see the upstart Colorado Rockies go against the wily St. Louis Cardinals with a trip to the World Series on the line.
The networks may not appreciate a NLCS without the Los Angeles Dodgers and/or the Philadelphia Phillies but we just don't see those teams moving on.
YANKEES-TWINS
On paper it's the Yankees, and then the Yankees and then some more Yankees.
Even causal baseball fans don't think the Twins can defeat The Empire or even take a game. It has nothing to do with the Yankees' superior starting pitching, bullpen and lineup. It has nothing to do with the fact that the only guy on the Twins team you'd take over his Yankee counterpart is Joe Mauer.
The main reason why the Twins will be swept out of the playoffs is they had to play an extra game.
That one-game playoff against the Detroit Tigers completely discombobulated the Twins' starting rotation. Teams involved in a 163rd game usually don't fair to well in the post season (2007 Colorado Rockies notwithstanding).
Besides, the Yankees have to win. Their $200 million-plus roster wasn't built to just win 103 games; it was built to win the 11 games necessary to be crowned World Series champions.
Yankees in 3.
RED SOX-ANGELS
The Red Sox and Angels met in the postseason in 2004, 2007 and 2008. In those three series, the teams played 10 games with the Red Sox winning 9 of them.
Will that trend continue in 2009?
The Angels have home field-advantage and the Red sox are a bad road team.
The Angels added Bobby Abreu to the middle of their lineup and so far he's paying huge dividends.
As for the Red Sox, catcher Jason Varitek is playing like he's 50 and David Oritz is no longer the Big Papi of old.
Not so fast.
The Red Sox have the best starting rotation in the majors while the Angels have a shaky bullpen. And with the addition of Victor Martinez, the Red Sox's lineup is better than it was last year.
We don't see any reason why The Nation's postseason dominance over the Halos will end. The Angels win at least one game but the Red Sox advance.
Red Sox in 4.
PHILLIES-ROCKIES
In their championship year of 2008, the Phillies were 79-0 in games they led after eight innings. In 2009, they're 79-10.
The culprit of their late inning demise (if you can call it that) is Brad Lidge. Last season Lidge converted 48 of 48 save opportunities including 7 of 7 in the post season. In 2009, he blew 11 saves on his way to posting a 7.21 ERA.
If the Phillies' closer problems weren't bad enough, the Rockies have a lineup that can actually exploit such a weakness.
Troy Tulowitzki, Todd Helton, and Clint Barmes possess the power necessary to really capitalize on mistakes. Corner outfielders Seth Smith and Braw Hawpe must be reckoned with as well.
With analogous power on the Phillies' side—Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Jason Werth, and Raul Ibanez—this series could break the scoreboard.
So who advances?
It's nearly impossible to predict anything when the Rockies are involved. They were 15 1/2 games out of first place on June 3. They didn't win the NL West but they did keep the Dodgers from running away with the division. Eventually, their pluck and tenacity made 2009 a
playoff year for the Colorado Rockies.
Rockies in 5.
DODGERS-CARDINALS
This series is a matchup of the Cardinals' veteran starting lineup and the Dodgers' awesome bullpen.
The Cardinals have two perennial Cy Young candidates in Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright while the Dodgers have Hong-Chih Kuo, George Sherrill and Jonathan Broxton coming out of the bully.
This series obviously comes down to how well the Cards bullpen can hold leads and how many quality innings the Dodgers' starters can give manager Joe Torre.
It should be noted that the Dodgers have the best ERA in baseball. While part of that achievement is due to the vastness of Dodgers Stadium, most of it is because of their stellar bullpen—not their starting rotation.
Both these ball clubs come into the postseason struggling. The Cardinals finished the 2009 campaign 1-6. The Dodgers were slightly better at 2-5.
In order to get red hot and rolling, the Dodgers need Manny Ramirez to start hitting like Manny Ramirez. They also need leadoff man Rafael Furcal to get on base. When he's swinging the bat well the Dodgers' lineup is tough to contain.
For the Cardinals, someone other than Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday needs to be productive. Maybe Ryan Ludwick or Mark DeRose?
Due to the way the Dodgers dominated most of the season it's hard to pick against them, but you have to go with starting pitching.
Cardinals in 4.
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