After an exciting weekend of action, Major League Baseball's post-season has been finalized.
The opening round looks like this:
National League: New York Mets vs. Los Angeles Dodgers; St. Louis Cardinals vs. San Diego Padres
American League: New York Yankees vs. Detroit Tigers; Minnesota Twins vs. Oakland Athletics.
The 2006 season has been full of surprises, including the resurgence of the Tigers, and disappointments, such as the collapse of the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox, the last two World Series champions. The postseason will likely bring similar uncertainty with the field appearing wide open in both leagues.
Meanwhile, the Toronto Blue Jays head home on Sunday after a weekend series with the New York Yankees, having shown improvement from 2005 but still falling short of making an impact in the race for a playoff spot. Can 2006 be deemed as success after the club leap-frogged Boston late to finish second in the AL East?
On Monday at 11 a.m. EDT, Globe baseball reporters Jeff Blair and Larry Millson will join us for an on-line discussion to review the regular season and preview the race toward the World Series.
Mr. Blair will participate from New York City, where he'll follow the fortunes of both the Mets and Yankees as the city dreams of another Subway Series. However, there are several stumbling blocks that may prevent a rematch of the 2000 World Series, including the Mets' ability to deal with the loss of ace Pedro Martinez and whether the star-laden Yankees can finally stay healthy and live up to their lofty billing.
Mr. Millson is set to head to Minneapolis later on Monday to cover the series between the Twins and Oakland. He's currently in Detroit, where he watched the newlook Tigers for the past week.
Mr. Millson and Mr. Blair were online earlier, answering questions from readers.
Editor's Note: globeandmail.com editors will read and allow or reject each question/comment. Comments/questions may be edited for length or clarity. We will not publish questions/comments that include personal attacks on participants in these discussions, that make false or unsubstantiated allegations, that purport to quote people or reports where the purported quote or fact cannot be easily verified, or questions/comments that include vulgar language or libellous statements. Preference will be given to readers who submit questions/comments using their full name and home town, rather than a pseudonym.
David Leeder, Sports Editor, globeandmail.com: Welcome, Jeff and Larry, and thanks for joining us today to take questions from the readers of globeandmail.com. We've already received quite a diverse mix of questions and comments, so let's get started right away.
R.J. from Pickering, Ont., writes: Obvious first question. Who do you like to win it all, and why?
Larry Millson writes: The easy pick would be the Yankees but the more fun pick is the Twins who have come from nowhere in June and will be bolstered by whatever injured starter Brad Radke can give them in the playoffs. They will have rested Cy Young probable Johan Santana primed a ready and in Joe Nathan they have probably game's dominant closer at this time. If Francisco Liriano were able to pitch, this would be a stronger pick. But I love the way the Twins play the game. This pick may be more from the heart, but so be it.
Jeff Blair writes: R.J., I picked the Athletics to beat the Mets earlier this year. I'm sticking with the Athletics ... not sure about the Mets because of their injury problems. But considering how bad the NL is, they picked a good year to have Pedro get hurt.
Darren Yourk from Port Colborne, Ont., writes: How realistic is it to believe Vernon Wells will be in a Jays uniform on opening day next year? Who is more likely to bounce back next year Josh Towers or Russ Adams?
Jeff Blair writes: Darren, I think it's almost a certainty that Wells will be back - with or without an extension. The signals about the extension have been better in the past two weeks than earlier in the year, because I think hearing Rangers owner Tom Hicks calling out Wells's friend Michael Young has Vernon thinking twice about whether he really wants to play at home in Texas in two years. It's going to take $15 million per year to get the deal done. The Blue Jays, I'm told, will pay that because Wells has shown himself to be irreplacable. Another factor working in the Blue Jays favor is at Wells' age, this won't be his last contract. If he's happy here - verbal and body language suggests it is - there's no reason to not take the deal. But even if he doesn't sign, a team that has designs on contending could do worse than having a motivated Wells in their lineup.
5
