Bluejays got RA Dickey

[bricks]

I'm excited.

[stonedstooge]

Wish the Royals would have got him. He would have been a nice fit

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by Shox

Dickey just had his career year. He will never reproduce the year he had in 2012.

I remember when people said that about Jose Bautista's 2010. And then 2011 happened.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

Yankees are still better, but Toronto should win between 84-89 games if they stay healthy.

I disagree. Blue Jays will win more games than that, and I'm not sure they're not better than New York.

Rotations:

1) Dickey vs. Sabathia (advantage - Yankees, but Dickey is hardly a one-year wonder)
2) Josh Johnson vs. Hiroki Kuroda (advantage Blue Jays)
3) Mark Buehrle vs. Andy Pettitte (They're the same guy at this point in Pettitte's career, but Buehrle is going to stay healthy - will Pettitte?)
4) Brandon Morrow vs. Phil Hughes (advantage Blue Jays, possibly significant)
5) Ricky Romero vs. Ivan Nova (advantage Yankees, but Romero bouncing back wouldn't be a surprise at all. He was excellent in 2011)

Advantage Blue Jays.

Lineup:
Reyes
Cabrera
Bautista
Encarnacion
Lind
Lawrie
Rasmus
Arencibia
Bonifacio

vs.
Jeter
Granderson
Cano
Teixeira
Youkilis
Alex Rodriguez
Cervelli
Brett Gardner
Ichiro (oops).

Advantage there, on paper, is Blue Jays.

[KC_Connection]

The Yankees still don't have a catcher, but isn't Ichiro in their OF now?

And ARod isn't even going to play until July if he does at all, so I'm not sure I'd really count him right now.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

The Yankees still don't have a catcher, but isn't Ichiro in their OF now?

And ARod isn't even going to play until July if he does at all, so I'm not sure I'd really count him right now.

That's what I get for going off of MLB.com depth chart. Is Ichiro's deal finalized? I missed that.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

That's what I get for going off of MLB.com depth chart. Is Ichiro's deal finalized? I missed that.

Not sure, but he's definitely been reported as signed. He's pretty suspect himself at this point in his career for a starting RF, but yeah, better than Dickerson.

[bricks]

Originally Posted by Shox

Dickey just had his career year. He will never reproduce the year he had in 2012.

Dude,

Step back and think about this for a second.

Look back at his last 3 years, the guy is a fine wine and seems to get better with age. His record is 39-28. The guy had averaged 200 innings pitched, gives up under 3 runs per game and led the league in strikeouts last year.

He may or may not have a season like last year but he seems like a guy that has "got it" late in his career. He's a late bloomer no question. He has perfected the knuckleball pitch and chances are that will prolong his career.

Most knuckleballers pitch well into their 40s anyway. Less velocity thrown behind that pitch which will also mean less stress, inflammation and wear and tear on the muscles, ligaments, tendons, joints in the arm. That's his pitch 70% of the time. He will pitch into his 40s and he really doesn't have to be a CY young candidate just pitch well and he will do that.

[Prison Bitch]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

I disagree. Blue Jays will win more games than that, and I'm not sure they're not better than New York.

Rotations:

1) Dickey vs. Sabathia (advantage - Yankees, but Dickey is hardly a one-year wonder)
2) Josh Johnson vs. Hiroki Kuroda (advantage Blue Jays)
3) Mark Buehrle vs. Andy Pettitte (They're the same guy at this point in Pettitte's career, but Buehrle is going to stay healthy - will Pettitte?)
4) Brandon Morrow vs. Phil Hughes (advantage Blue Jays, possibly significant)
5) Ricky Romero vs. Ivan Nova (advantage Yankees, but Romero bouncing back wouldn't be a surprise at all. He was excellent in 2011)

Advantage Blue Jays.

Lineup:
Reyes
Cabrera
Bautista
Encarnacion
Lind
Lawrie
Rasmus
Arencibia
Bonifacio

vs.
Jeter
Granderson
Cano
Teixeira
Youkilis
Alex Rodriguez
Cervelli
Brett Gardner
Ichiro (oops).

Advantage there, on paper, is Blue Jays.

I'll take the Yanks lineup any day. The rotations are pretty similar now. Let's see about the bullpens. The Blue Jays don't really have any great relievers, the Yanks always seem to. No doubt the gap is narrowed significantly but until the Yanks don't win 95 games, I'll assume they will continue to do so.

[GoChargers]

Originally Posted by Shox

Dickey just had his career year. He will never reproduce the year he had in 2012.

Except he's had three good years in a row and knuckleballers tend to pitch effectively well into their 40's.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

I'll take the Yanks lineup any day. The rotations are pretty similar now. Let's see about the bullpens. The Blue Jays don't really have any great relievers, the Yanks always seem to. No doubt the gap is narrowed significantly but until the Yanks don't win 95 games, I'll assume they will continue to do so.

I might take the Yankees lineup (though it's close), but I'll take the Jays rotation for sure right now.

As for bullpens, the fact that Casey Janssen isn't well known in the States doesn't mean he isn't a great reliever. He's been fantastic for a while now. I hope Darren Oliver decides not to retire...if he comes back, the pen would be excellent.

[mdchiefsfan]

As an Orioles fan, allow me to say:

[mcaj22]

who do the Orioles have to compete with these teams now

Chris Davis?

maybe Brian Roberts will play more than 10 games this year

hopefully one of these nobody pitchers they have might sniff a game against the Blue Jays 6th rotational man

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

I'll take the Yanks lineup any day. The rotations are pretty similar now. Let's see about the bullpens. The Blue Jays don't really have any great relievers, the Yanks always seem to. No doubt the gap is narrowed significantly but until the Yanks don't win 95 games, I'll assume they will continue to do so.

Definitely Wickedson.

The Yankees are a bunch of dying old hounds. They'll be fortunate to win 90.

[PGM]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Definitely Wickedson.

The Yankees are a bunch of dying old hounds. They'll be fortunate to win 90.

Heh, he outed himself the day he was mumbling about endowments.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by PGM

Heh, he outed himself the day he was mumbling about endowments.

And third tier revenue rights.

Y'know what? I think I'd prefer if it wasn't him. At that point you'd have an actual sample size of beaker idiots. What would be better than a single Wickedson? Two Wickedsons. A complete rebuttal to the Beakers assertion that they don't claim that jackass either and that he's just a random outlier to the standard Beaker.

Yeah, I'd definitely prefer that.