Thursday, August 30, 2012

David Aardsma To Begin Rehab Assignment Tomorrow


This post feels eerily familiar. Earlier we reported that Alex Rodriguez would begin his rehab assignment tomorrow for the Tampa Yankees and he will have some company in David Aardsma. Aardsma has been shut down since June when he felt some fatigue in his surgically repaired arm. If he can make it back without any set backs he looks like he could be in the bullpen come late September. Do not expect him to come back and be Mariano though just be happy that he is back.

TGP's Mega Prediction Game


Starting with the series tomorrow against the Baltimore Orioles, 8/31, The Greedy Pinstripes will be test running something that we plan to implement EXCLUSIVELY on TGP next season... A Mega Prediction Game. We will be running this from tomorrow all the way to the end of the season to see who is the best at wagering and predicting the New York Yankees.

No game is without a prize. The winner will receive a New York Yankees keychain seen HERE!

 Now here are the rules for the game:

You will predict the outcome of every game one series at a time. You will predict whether the Yankees will win or lose the game but will also wager a point amount determined by how many games are in the series. If there is a three game series , like the one starting tomorrow, you will be able to wage a 3 Pt, a 2Pt, and a 1 Pt game. In a four game series you will see a 4 Pt game added. For example:

8/31- 9/2 Baltimore Orioles Vs New York Yankees

Game 1 Win - 3 Pts(Kuroda)
Game 2 Win - 1 Pt(Garcia)
Game 3 Win - 2 Pts (Phelps)

All predictions must be submitted in the comment box, on twitter @GreedyStripes, or via email at TheGreedyPinstripes@gmail.com BEFORE the first pitch of the game. If it is not predicted before the first pitch of the game then you are penalized your highest point game. If you were to miss the prediction tomorrow then you would only be allowed your two lowest wagers. See example:


8/31- 9/2 Baltimore Orioles Vs New York Yankees

Game 1 MISSED (Kuroda)
Game 2 Win - 1 Pt(Garcia)
Game 3 Win - 2 Pts (Phelps)

Tie breakers will be whoever predicts the most perfect series meaning who gets the most series predicted correctly. If there is still not a winner then we will use the playoffs as a tie breaker. You MUST be a registered user to use the comment box to play the game. No anonymous users will be counted in our tallies or be eligible for the prize, although you can still play for fun if you would like.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask. I encourage everyone reading this to participate because it is completely free and really fun. I have run this now for 5 seasons in the Yankees forum at DailySportsPages.com and it has always been a big hit. This, again, is a dry run so any comments or feedback is appreciated. Go Yankees!!

Alex Rodriguez To Begin Rehab Assignment Tomorrow

Hallelujah!!!
Alex Rodriguez will start his rehab assignment for a broken hand tomorrow when he plays DH for the High A Yankees affiliate the Tampa Yankees. If all goes well with the hand Alex will be available in the field Saturday for the Tampa squad. Getting Alex back in the middle of that lineup can really change things, whether he is producing or not, so let us hope he gets back soon.

Take A Stadium Journey Of The Home Of The Trenton Thunder


Our friends over at Stadium Journey have done another visit to a park and this time it is Mercer County Waterfront Park, home of the AA Yankees affiliate the Trenton Thunder! This site will tell you everything you need to know about the park down to the food, the bathrooms, the lines, the fans, the neighborhood around the stadium, and really much more then you ever would think. Go check them out as they have a stadium journey for about every team you can think of. Great site and great guys!

Playoff Predictions : The Teams


We are a little over a month away from the playoffs with almost half the teams fighting for a playoff spot. With MLB adding a second wild card it has definitely made these games more interesting and maybe a little more parity to Major League Baseball. If the season were to end today this is how the playoff teams would rank and stack up:



East - New York Yankees (3.5 game lead) 

 Central - Chicago White Sox (3) 

 West - Texas Rangers (4.5) 

Wild Card 1 - Oakland A's (0.5)

Wild Card 2 - Baltimore Orioles (0.5)


 East - Washington Nationals (5 game lead)

 Central - Cincinnati Reds (8) 

 West - San Francisco Giants (3.5)

 Wild Card 1 - Atlanta Braves (3)

 Wild Card 2 - St. Louis Cardinals (0.5)

If the playoffs started today this is how the first round of the playoffs, including the one game playoff for the wild card teams, would look according to records and such:


Baltimore Orioles vs  Oakland Athletics

Wild Card Winner vs Texas Rangers

Chicago White Sox vs New York Yankees




St. Louis Cardinals vs Atlanta Braves

Wild Card Winner vs Washington Nationals 

San Francisco Giants vs Cincinnati Reds



I fully do not expect these standings to look like this come October baseball. There are too many teams out there who would love to spoil a playoff run. Here are the changes that I think are going to happen this September and early October:

I do not buy the Oakland Athletics as real contenders. They walk off a lot of games and it is to the point where they almost expect to walk off, which is great for confidence, but it is almost like they are relying on the walk off too much. Are the Angels good enough to make a run?

I really see Detroit making yet another second half push behind Verlander, Fister, etc. The White Sox are dealing with a tired arm of Chris Sale and a rookie in Jose Quintana to name a few. I expect the young pitching, mixed with the second half's biggest spoilers the Minnesota Twins, to knock the White Sox off their throne and all the way out of the playoffs. Plus they have Baltimore in front of them for the 2nd Wild Card and I see them as a much better team then the Orioles.

I do not buy the Pittsburgh Pirates. I did until they just continued to fade away from the Reds. They have a scary pitching staff that I would not want to see in a 1 game or 3 game series but they have to get their first and the Dodgers are MUCH improved. I see the Dodgers finding a way to get in that second playoff wild card spot. How can they not when getting Beckett, Adrian Gonzalez, Nick Punto, and Carl Crawford (for next season).

I think we see 3 playoff teams come from the AL East this season and 2 each from the NL West and NL East to round out the playoff teams.