Idiots

I check NYTimes.com about once an hour at work.  Keeping up with current events is part of my job so this is excusable for me.  When I drift over to the sports and auto pages, I know I am pushing my luck.  Today, I read this piece on AL predictions from Tyler Kepner of the NYTimes Bats blog.

As the title might indicate, I disagree with the gentlemen's assessment.  First, he admits that he picked the Mariners to make the playoffs last year.  That's not such a terrible admission considering it was a relatively trendy pick this time last year.  What bugs me is that he doesn't learn from his mistakes.  First, he picks the Yankees to win their division, a homer call which I'm fine with.  But then he picks the Red Sox over the Rays despite the Rays getting better in the offseason and the Red Sox buying and getting older.

The real transgressions though are that he puts the Mariners last again to spite them or himself for their epic collapse last year.  Law of averages says that the Mariners can't have all the bad breaks they did last year.  In fact, the team is almost the same as the over-hyped team of a year ago.

Second transgression is picking the Royals to win the AL Central.  This is exactly the same thing as picking the Mariners to win the West last year and for some reason he doesn't get this.

Certainly, it doesn't help that the guy picks the Indians to finish last based completely on the fact that they signed my friend SW's relative by marriage, Carl Pavano.  Why would a team finish last because they signed a former flash in the pan pitcher to a low-risk incentive laden deal?  Also, there were another 4 guys who didn't make the rotation would could all step in as a starter.  At least when I do my predictions, I take a few minutes to check out a depth chart.

Also, the A's will finish last because they signed Giambi.

Regardless, I'm pretty sure I'm more informed than this random Yankees fan who happens to write for a high-profile publication.  I'll stand behind this enough to say that if his standings are closer to the final standings than mine, I will buy and wear a Yankees hat for a week before donating it to some poor sap of a Yankees fan friend of mine (or charity, but I don't want to do that to the homeless or poor).