The first thing that caught my attention was Rafael Soriano and Untuckgate. I couldn’t fathom how a guy who untucked his jersey after he recorded a save garnered so much attention from the media. Who cares if he does that? MSM does, I soon realized. He was vilified by baseball purists as a player who broke the sacred “unwritten rules” by showing up an opponent. OK, whatever. Manager Joe Girardi said he had his closer’s back and that it didn’t bother him, which seemed to quash the controversy. (more…)

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I knew it was a long shot that the Yanks would sign Manny, but I still held out hope they would. Manuel Aristides Ramirez was one of two Red Sox I loved (no homo, not that there’s anything wrong with that), despite how much he killed the Yanks. It would’ve been something to see him rake in Yankee Stadium.

I don’t know why I like him so much. I guess it’s because he just does whatever he wants to and is so dirty at the plate. That guy could hit like no other (and probably still can), and I firmly believe that if the whole steroids thing didn’t go down he would’ve been regarded as the best right-handed hitter in the last 20-25 years.

As much as I would have loved to see Manny in pinstripes, I must admit the move makes no sense. He can’t play the field to save his life and Posada will be the DH in 2011. There just isn’t room for him. Plus, I don’t think he would’ve wanted to cut his dreadlocks to adhere to the Yankees’ rules.

Oh well, I think the team will be just fine without him.

NOTE: the format change. The Futility List is all about that… futility. Sure, many another website will give you a nice and clean MLB team/player power rankings, listing the league from top to bottom, but I say let’s just get down with the bottom of the barrel. The Futility List will give you the top ten worst things that went down the previous week, as well as give you a nice picture of a chick with whom your attempts to pick up are futile. This week, we have Brooklyn Decker.

1. Chien-Ming Wang has been one crappy pitcher, which is so obvious, I probably should have just said, “Boy, it sure does suck to get shot.” No crap, Captain Obvious. Let’s look at what Wang did last week: 0-2/2.1 innings/16 ER/61.71 ERA/14 H/3 BB/7.29 WHIP. There’s now talk that Wang might NOT. EVER. PITCH. AGAIN!!! Okay, that’s obviously not going to happen, but maybe Wang needs to take a trip to find his mojo again.

2. Whoever is in charge of the Washington Nationals uniforms because last week during a game, both Ryan Zimmerman and Adam Dunn wore NATINALS across their chest… yes, without the O. What a dumb cck.

3. The anal Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Manny Acta for suspending Elijah Dukes for being five minutes late because he was signing autographs for Little Leaguers. “Change the culture”… what a crck f ish!

4. Washington Nationals the team (1-10) – They’ve lost three straight games to the Florida Marlins in the ninth inning and their -21 run differential is second worse behind the Arizona Diamondbacks who are at -22. Source of consolation? Not really because at least the D-backs have won more games (4-8).

5. Chris Carpenter was attempting to comeback like L.L. Cool J this season, although you shouldn’t call it that. However, due to an oblique injury, Carpenter will have to wait four to eight weeks to get back onstage to spit his rhymes… I mean throw his pitches.

6. Potential free-agent pitchers signing with the New York Yankees as 20 home runs were hit in four games at the new Yankee Stadium, which is a record for the first four games at a new stadium. Not exactly looking like a place to keep your ERA down if you’re a pitcher.

7. Alyssa Milano is opening up a boutique in Citi Field. Samantha. The chick that tried to jumpstart her career by doing Poison Ivy 2 and getting some ink to show she moved past the child roles. Maybe I’m just hating on her, but why? In related news, Tony Danza will be the store manager and when asked, “Who’s the boss?” he replies, “Alyssa.”

8. New York Yankees attendance, which has to be partly due to the prices… YOU THINK?!?!?!?!

9. Manny Ramirez said that he would go back to play for the Cleveland Indians and that if he and Chicago White Sox DH and former Indians teammate Jim Thome were free agents after this season they should. Problem? Ramirez has an option to renew his contract after this season, so does this mean he won’t? Ah, Manny being Manny.

10. Ryan Zimmerman and the Nats have agreed to a reported 5-year contract worth $45 million and I don’t know why Zimmerman would subject himself to such punishment. The man is obviously a masochist.

The season starts tonight when the Atlanta Braves visit NL East rival and defending World Series champions, from the City of Brotherly Love, the Philadelphia Phillies. Looking at last year before the season, some people didn’t think the Phils would win their division, let alone the ultimate MLB prize, a championship ring. People just get it wrong sometimes. However, the exercise of predictions is always a fun one to partake in, particularly for a writer that loves baseball. So, that said, below are my prognostications for the upcoming 2009 season with some brief comments for each division results. After choosing the World Series champs, I’ll predict the individual awards as well. Agree or disagree, leave a comment!

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