Ya Can't Go Back?

Who says ya can’t go back? Tell that to Jason Giambi. Tell that to Tom Glavine. And now Ken Griffey. Wouldn’t it be nice for all these once-greats to become future greats too? These are three players you have trouble rooting against. Even when Giambi was a Yankee, I couldn’t do anything but wish him well.

It’s shaping up as quite a season….one to remember. That is, if you like the Yankees and Dodgers. As far as I can see, if the Dodgers manage to get goofy Manny, they’ll be big trouble for any team, even the Yankees.

The Dodgers have re-signed Casey Blake and Rafael Furcal. And they just picked up a very nice second baseman in Orlando Hudson. They’ve got a pretty fair starting rotation and some very steady relievers, a team you can be sure that Joe Torre will use to his advantage, and theirs for that matter.

And who will be their competition? The friggin’ Padres? The Rockies? Yeah, there will be Arizona to contend with but that shouldn’t be all that difficult for a team with a lot of returning veterans, a team that came pretty close last year to winning it all. The Giants could make some noise though.

Lincecum, Cain, Zito, Johnson, Sanchez and Lowry….they’re the starters for the San Francisco Giants this year. Not too shabby, Jerry. Of course, the lineup doesn’t score too many runs, but maybe they won’t have to. I can definitely see the Giants winning a lot of games this year, and, once again, that NL West is nothing to write home about.

The Yankees will have it a little tougher. Make that a lot tougher. The Rays won the division last year, of course, and that was with some guys having bad years. The Red Sox just re-signed Varitek. That should make the pitching staff a lot happier, and, if nothing else, he is the captain.

Pedroia will be back, probably stronger than ever, and then there will be Big Papi coming off a down season. There’s another pretty fair pitcher on board in Brad Penny, and I see Rocco Baldelli listed on their depth chart behind J.D. Drew in right. The only position player on their team that I don’t like is Julio Lugo at short. And Orlando Cabrera is still out there…..

But it’d be a mistake to count out the Yankees. That’s really quite a lineup they’ll have. And one that should have a great deal of motivation to finally win something. I won’t run through the pitching again. We all know who they are. I don’t like their centerfield outlook, but hey, Nick Swisher will be a much tougher out than Melky ever was.

I’d look for better seasons from some of these Yankees too. They could have a lot of guys having last hurrahs. Godzilla, his knees have been fixed. Posada, he’ll be back, Damon, he should be just as good as ever, probably a little better.

A good pitching staff should help energize that entire team. In fact, it’s hard to believe the Yankees could have been so stupid as to waste an entire year with just two or three leigtimate starters. But then, Cashman was never that bright. If there’s a weak link on the Yankees, he’s it. Money can’t cure everything.

It’s a shame though that it looks as if it’ll be the same contenders again. But then it always looks that way. Who would’ve believed the Rays could go to the World Series last year? Except my brother, of course. And there were the Rockies before that.

Dark horses? I don’t know but I kind of like what the Oakland A’s have been doing, and I think the Marlins and the Cards might finally do something too.

The A’s added Matt Holliday besides Giambi and that should add about fifty to sixty homers right there. They’ll have a very improved lineup and it looks as if the team won’t be moving so that should give them some stability too. I’m not that crazy about their pitching staff but Billy Beane always seems to come up with something. And look for Jack Cust to put more than a few over the wall.

They’ll have the Angels to contend with though, so I wouldn’t look for them to win anything outright, but who’s to say they couldn’t grab the wildcard? The AL East teams will be knocking the heck out of one another so I wouldn’t imagine anybody’s record in that division will be too overpowering.

In the AL Central, there will be the Indians, another team I have hopes for, and the White Sox and Twins will be there too at the end. But somehow, those teams never seem to have much luck. So, the A’s might just have a chance to sneak in there. And if Giambi can help put them over the top, so much the better.

Just as the AL East teams will be knocking one another about, a similar situation should develop in the NL East with the Phillies, Mets and an improved Marlins team. The Cubs should win the NL Central again, but there’s not much else to contend with in the Central. So the Giants might just have a shot at a wildcard too.

Giambi may bring the A’s back but Glavine and Grifffey will have their hands full to have any effect whatsoever on the Braves and Mariners. I’m as romantic as the next guy, but there’s a limit to what I can believe. The Mariners have a LOT of question marks..

The Braves had nothing last year. They look to have nothing this year too. Not that this makes me very unhappy. If there is a team I hate in the NL as much as the Yankees in the AL, it’s the Braves.

But I’ll be hoping Glavine can make his mark on them anyway, while I wait for Griffey and Giambi to put thirty or so over the wall.