A local math professor described as baseball's chief geek picked the New York Yankees to win more games in 2010 than any other team in Major League Baseball. Bruce Bukiet said his modeling predicted the Yankees would have 103 victories, 10 more than the Rays and 11 more than the Red Sox, to cruise to an easy win in the American League East.
But you don't need fancy math to prove the Yankees are the best team in baseball. The core of their 2009 World Series championship team has returned, with two major exceptions in Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon. We'll see if Nick Johnson and Curtis Granderson can replace those clutch bats in the lineup. But you have Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira coming back to keep the heart of that lineup intact. On the pitching side, you have the dominant CC Sabathia, followed by AJ Burnett and playoff hero Andy Pettitte. And of course, the ultimate weapon: Mariano Rivera in the bullpen.
The Yankees definitely have some decisions to make about their team, but the only real weakness they have is the bench. That's not a major problem on a team with guys like Jeter and Tex who play almost every game. The only thing that could stop the Yanks is if a couple of their core guys go down with injuries, like in 2008. But if the Yanks can stay healthy, the chief geek will be proven right.
Thanks to the Silent Wind of Doom via en.Wikipedia for the photo.
But you don't need fancy math to prove the Yankees are the best team in baseball. The core of their 2009 World Series championship team has returned, with two major exceptions in Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon. We'll see if Nick Johnson and Curtis Granderson can replace those clutch bats in the lineup. But you have Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira coming back to keep the heart of that lineup intact. On the pitching side, you have the dominant CC Sabathia, followed by AJ Burnett and playoff hero Andy Pettitte. And of course, the ultimate weapon: Mariano Rivera in the bullpen.
The Yankees definitely have some decisions to make about their team, but the only real weakness they have is the bench. That's not a major problem on a team with guys like Jeter and Tex who play almost every game. The only thing that could stop the Yanks is if a couple of their core guys go down with injuries, like in 2008. But if the Yanks can stay healthy, the chief geek will be proven right.
Thanks to the Silent Wind of Doom via en.Wikipedia for the photo.
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