2008....A Season To Remember.

Without further ado....here are 10 (plus a few more) reasons why this season was so memorable. In no particular order.....

- Okay, so I lied. Granted, watching years upon years of futility at the Trop got old, but I can say I stuck by the Rays. I believed in them, but honestly, I predicted a playoff berth next year, not in 2008. The greatest bullpen turnaround in 70+ years, and 9=8. Joe Maddon, you will be AL Manager of the Year. Nobody deserves it more, even though I have to say Terry Francona is quite underrated.

-Josh Hamilton....If the Rays hadn't given up on him, imagine him in RF for us....we would be unstoppable. On a more general note, he had over 100 RBI's.....something like 117, if my facts are straight. He is a serious MVP contender, and he, along with Ian Kinsler and Milton Bradley, kept the Rangers in the wild card hunt until September. Now imagine if they had pitching.

- Mets...they collapsed. Again. On the last day of the season. To the Marlins, again. Now, there's no doubt this is a good team, and I, sadly predicted a trip to the World Series this year. Again, I was wrong. But we can put almost all the blame on Wagner getting injured, and the bullpen. Amidst this, however, Carlos Delgado had a monster 2nd half of the season...winding up with 30+ HR's and 100+ RBI's. Johan had 16 wins, and should've had more, but the bullpen seems to hate him. Wait until next season, Mets fans....


- Manny gets traded....to the Dodgers. A reminder of why teams are so active at the trade deadline, the Manny trade was arguably the most important of the season, with regards to Sabathia. He raked at the plate after arriving in LA, and is the reason they got into the playoffs. Sure, the Dodgers didn't have a great record in the regular season, but keep in mind, the 2006 Cardinals won the World Series that year with only 83 wins. I think they will re-sign Manny in the offseason, but who knows?

- Cliff Lee. 22-3 record, and there's no way anyone saw this coming. Even though I predicted Lee would have a better season this time around, I didn't see this. The AL Cy Young award is his, guaranteed, as should be the AL Comeback Player of the Year award. Hats off to him.

- Francisco Rodriguez, 62 saves. Enough said. Too bad the Angels couldn't advance. He'll still take that record to the bank....I think he'll be a Met.

- Mariners. No words can describe what happened here. The Bedard trade isn't looking so hot, how is it? Oh well. At least Jose Lopez had a good season.

- Twins/White Sox. Most people thought they would be the AL Central doormats. Not so. If Minnesota had made the playoffs, Gardenhire would've received Manager of the Year considerations. He really made the best of what players he had. And Chicago....the embodiment of the phrase "live by the HR, die by the HR."

- Yankees. After years of spending on the big-name free agents, it bit them. Hard. sadly, the postseason streak is over. Now, this offseason, we'll see if they go after Sabathia/Teixiera/insert hypervalued middle reliever.

- Albert Pujols. .462 OBP%. That's reaching base nearly 1/2 the time! He's got my MVP vote....and what an underrated player. Also, I should include Ryan Ludwick's contributions here. He'll get some MVP votes too.

- CC Sabathia. Comparable to the Rick Sutcliffe trade over 20 years ago, Sabathia was a workhorse. Okay, so he won't win a Cy Young. But he spurred the Brewers to dizzying new heights (okay, the Brewers' first playoff berth since 1982) but he was excellent. Lights-out almost the whole way, it's a shame he got shelled against Philly in the NLDS.


Well, that's my post everyone. Hope you enjoyed, and feel free to comment if you wish. Also, be looking for a section on Keeper/Dynasty league rankings in the next few days.


-Brad, AKA Mr. Baseball.

The Opening.....

Hey guys, I'm Brad, and welcome to my blog. I think you'll find that I offer a fresh insight on fantasy sports in general. I will be covering fantasy baseball and the MLB here, as those paths have a tendency to cross. I currently manage a highly competitive hybrid dynasty league on ESPN.com, and I'll give you the link if you're interested. Anyways, I hope you'll e-mail me with questions, as I'll be answering questions during this busy offseason in MLB. Until next time, Ciao!

-Brad