A.J. Burnett rhp 5 years/$82.5M (2009-13) -5 years/$82.5M (2009-13) -signed by NY Yankees as a free agent 12/12/08 -09-13:$16.5M annually -limited no-trade clause (Burnett may block deals to 10 clubs each year) 2010 season stats: 15 losses, 5.26 ERA, 1.511 WHIP, 186.2 IP And tonight, 5 ER in what could have been just a small step toward earning his salary.
Actually, if the Yanks rally in this series and Puma comes up big...Puma would become a national hero.
If the Rangers go up 3-1, even though they'd still have Lee for a Game 7, ending it before then would go a long way toward their chances in the WS. The opportunity to set up their rotation and pitch Lee in up to 3 games could be big against either potential NL opponent. /stating the obvious
As much as I apreciate what Puma did here I still wouldn't cheer for him winning a ring in NY. **** that. Hamilton is Bruce Campbell. THIS..IS MY BOOOOOOM STICK!!
I really hope the Phillies make the WS. If it ends up being the Giants/Rangers I don't really see the Giants coming out on top.
Why not? The Giants have better and deeper pitching and their offense is much improved since last season, and even since early this season. They would also have home field advantage. Anything can obviously happen but I'd favor the Giants in that series.
The NLCS is far from over but if the Giants make it out and after seeing Cain pitch today I'd have to say the Giants would be the favorites with their pitching staff. Lee is fantastic but the Giants have Timmy/Cain/Sanchez all pitching great.
The Rangers certainly have the edge in offense over the Giants, and from looking at the past, NL pitchers have not typically done better when facing AL batters. Cliff Lee>Lincecum And the other Rangers pitchers have done suprisingly well this post-season.
Anything can happen but the Giants absolutely, positively have the better and deeper overall pitching staff, from starters on through the bullpen. I'm well aware of what the SP not named Lee have done this season and into the postseason but on paper, they don't match up with what the Giants have... not even close, everything considered. The Giants would also have the advantage in the pen as well as home field advantage. The safe bet is to pick the team with the superior pitching staff and home field advantage. Again, anything can happen but I see no logical baseball reason to favor the Rangers... even though they have Cliff Lee and a better offense. Even if Lee is better than any of SF's starters, it's marginal... very marginal... and after that, it ain't even close how much superior the Giants are in terms of pitching. Night and day.
