Opending Day Bitches! / Pointless Exercise II

It is upon us. The 2008 season is finally going to fire on all cylinders today and 2008 is the year of retribution for the Mets. The theme today seems to be forgetting 2007, which is just plain silly. Why would you want to forget? I have done stupid thing upon stupid thing in my life and I would never trade that in for the world.

I mean, how else does anyone learn anything. Why not use that horrific collapse to fuel your desire to bury everyone else in the league? Why would you want to forget that and perhaps take things for granted again if you are cruising in late August? Why would you want to perpetuate complacency? I say quite the contrary. The Mets need to remind themselves of 2007 (and 2006 for that matter) every day of the season to give them something to play for.

Individual Award Predictions:

National League
MVP
1) David Wright
People know he got snubbed last year and that is going to give him a bit more attention this year. Of course the Mets absolutely kicking ass will not hurt either. However, he will be hurt by the fact that Beltran and Reyes are going to be amazing as well, but in the end, he will be the best player on the best team and will get the nod as he continues to step up his game.
2) Ryan Braun
Dude is good. The Brewers are good. The only thing that might hold him back is his transition to left. However, he played short in college so I think he will adjust fine because he is a tremendous athlete which was evident when you watched play third last season. He may have butchered things a bit, but he was able to make some sparkling plays on some tough balls.
3) Mark Teixeira
I am thinking big for Mark this season. The Braves might just miss the playoffs, but he will be tremendous this season in the field and at the plate.

CY Young
1) Johan Santana
Dominating from start to finish, he will breeze past 20 wins and lay waste to everyone. Nice.
2) Brandon Webb
He's my fantasy team's ace and I am not sure if you got the memo, but he is really good. I like them the D-Backs as the best in the West and he will be their driving force yet again.
3) Jake Peavy
Hard to believe he was born in the 80's. He is entering his prime and I see no reason why he will not be just as devastating as last season. However, he was reeeeaaaallly good last year so I expect a slight pullback, but that will still leave him as one of the top five starters in the NL.

ROY
1) Jay Bruce
Late start and all, he will be the last guy standing. The Mets had it down to him and Pelfrey in the 2005 draft and the Mets look like they chose wrong. Bruce is a stud.
2) Edison Vólquez
Is he even a rookie? I think he might be and he was lights out this spring. Of course, I think a large part of his 2nd place finish will be the fact he is in the bigs from day #1, but he will be pretty impressive as well.
3) Kosuke Fukudome
While good, there are plenty of young guys who are just flat out better.

American League
MVP
1) Grady Sizemore
This is finally the year he goes from star to mega-star.
2) Alex Rodriguez
Just another Hall of Fame like season for A-Rod...ho-hum. Thankfully, he will be sitting in October because this is the year the Yankees miss the playoffs.
3) Miguel Cabrera
I know he is the sexy pick this year, but is finishing third really that bad?

Cy Young
1) Justin Verlander
I think this guy is going to be huge this year and he will be the ace for the AL Central winning Tigers. Huge offense behind a great arm means lots of wins and the voters love them wins.
2) Erik Bedard
If he is healthy enough for 32 starts, he is going to compile some scary numbers.
3) Dustin McGowan
Boom. Dustin McGowan just finished third in the Cy Young voting. What are you going to do about it? 

ROY
1) Evan Longoria
It is hard to ignore all the love he is getting. He will be up for good sooner rather than later and the kid should be ripping from day #1. With an impressive offense, he should be able to put up some rather impressive stats as well.
2) Clay Buchholz
On the universe's best team, the best rookie pitcher in the MLB should have a fine season.
3) Phil Hughes
What about Joba? It's about compiling and Phil should be able to do that better since he will be in the rotation from day #1. He'll be out a few weeks as usual, but assuming Joba is going to go from lights out set-up man to lights out starter mid-season is a stretch for me. If he stays in the bullpen all season, he gets this spot.

* * *

100k turned out to see this siliness. However, it is pretty interesting to see a game played in that type of field.

Pelfrey wins by default. Let us see if he can step up his game for once.

Outside of New York, people are talking some Mets baseball.

Ohio likes the Mets. Third overall? I'll take that.

Chicago likes the Mets......at least I think that is what they are saying.

Canada like the Mets, but I still do not like Canada.

Pittsburgh thinks Johan can win 25 and I agree.

Jack Morris seems to be bat shit crazy these days. Santana's change-up is gold. Pure gold. He has made a living off of it so far and I would advise him to keep doing exactly what he has been doing.

Klap likes El Trigres to win it all. Not a bad choice, but I think the World Series that was supposed to happen in 2006 actually happens in 2008 and the Mets will be the last team standing.

Wright is focussed.