Daniel Lovell has won more than two dozen awards for his columns, editorials and investigative journalism. He is actively addicted to the Internet, soda and New York Yankees baseball.
Well, it's official. Baseball is over for the season.
Sure, there are games to be played. And, in some small way, I'll be rooting for the upstart Rays or Joe Torre's Dodgers to send the dastardly Red Sox home without a World Series title. But once Yankees and Cubs were knocked out, the season was really over for me.
And there always next year, right?
The Yanks have some big decisions to make over the coming months. Whether Jason Giambi, Bobby Abreu, Mike Mussina or Andy Pettitte return is a mystery. I think you could count on Pettitte coming back. Mussina's 50-50. Abreu should come back. Giambi's done.
So I realized in pondering some of these questions that if the Yankees go to the market looking for a first baseman and a right fielder, there are two who obviously stand out as candidates: Mark Teixeira and Manny Ramirez.
Manny in pinstripes? Yep.
Manny's just the kind of player the Yanks love to spend money on. He's got the big bat and all the numbers. And he'll cost a fortune. Add to it his rapidly advancing age, which will make him prone to injury, and you've got a perfect storm.
It might sound silly, but I'm anxious to get the postseason over with, just so the Hot Stove season can begin. I think the Yankees will be a better team in 2009, especially with the addition of a top-flight pitcher. And Alex Rodriguez -- if the past is any indicator -- will have a monster year.
So...stoke the fires. Let the trading begin. Well, after someone sends the Sox packing.
