Sip's Top 10 for the First Ten Days

The Mets are 5-3. Not bad. I love the Mets as you all know. But I also love baseball and there has been a lot of really cool/important ish going down over the first ten games of the season. Here's what has me shaking in my boots.

1. A-Rod.

It pains me to say it, but this run of his is pretty impressive. The guy is in a zone unlike many we have scene.

But more importantly to the Yankee hating world, my feelings towards A-Rod have changed over the last couple of weeks. That is, when he is playing really well, he seems like more of a Yankee. Seeming like more of a Yankee makes me hate him more.

So now I redefine earning one's pinstripes.

You know how Yankee snobs like to talk about the mystique and what not? I have a different definition of "earning one's pinstripes": the day you become truly hatable is the day you've earned your pinstripes.

When A-Rod is choking we hate him, but also laugh at him. When he plays like A-Rod we hate him and he is making the Yankees win. Double-NO-NO.

2. The "NL Least" no more.

The Braves look pretty good. The lineup is pretty solid 1-6 and if they keep getting good pitching out of Kyle Davies and Chuck James, then watch out.

The Marlins also look great, especially when Jorge Julio is not pitching. This team is young and dangerous.

3. Jose Reyes, national superstar.

I get all sorts of text messages and e-mails about Reyes. Everyone is watching him now. He is changing fantasy teams and getting more press on SportsCenter/Baseball Tonight.

4. The D-Backs are back.

Another young team is a year older and pretty dangerous. With Byrnesy at the helm and Stephen Drew, Conor Jackson, Chad Tracy and co. following his lead this team looks pretty strong.

Their rotation is 4-deep and solid (Webb, Unit, Livan, Doug Davis) and they play in a very weak division.

7-3, not a bad start.

5. The $126 Million Man.

Barry Zito found a lot of money this offseason and apparently forgot how to pitch. 0-2, 8.18 ERA. Not too great.

Zito starts slowly often and people in San Francisco don't care about baseball anyway, so I would imagine everything will even itself out come June.

6. The best young player in the game.

He doesn't play for the Mets or the Twins or the Marlins. It looks like he plays in the Pacific Northwest.

Two starts later and "King" Felix Hernandez (2-0, 0.00 ERA) looks like he might be the best pitcher in baseball today. He dominated the A's on opening day and then outdueled Dice-K on Wednesday night. He's throwing a 98 MPH sinker with control and has command on his breaking pitches.

I watched both of his starts and it is almost a joke. The guy is untouchable.

An amazing stat: Of the 58 batters he's faced, only 7 have hit the ball out of the infield. 28 ground balls, 18 strike outs (courtesy of Buster Olney, Baseball Tonight).

7. Speaking of Dice-K.

Two starts later and the guy looks pretty damn solid. He looks like a 1-2 guy in the rotation(1-1, 2.57 ERA) as was widely forecasted. His fastball, if you believe the radar gun, is touching the mid-high 90's and his variety of breaking stuff is as wide as advertised.

Most importantly, when he pitches, I want to watch and so do a ton of Japaneese people. Translation: the Red Sox are going to make a ton of their money back on this investment.

$103 mill on Dice-K is not the same as $103 mill on another pitcher. The Red Sox are getting a bargain if this guy continues to pitch the way he has.

8. The AL Central: the best division in baseball.

The Tribe are back. I love this team.

With the White Sox, Twins and Tigers, this division is a murderers row. These guys will all beat each other up all season, which may cost them in the postseason.

And the Royals look a little less worse than they used to be.

9. Speaking of the worst-- The Nationals.

This is the worst team in baseball. Find me a baseball fan that can give you their Starting rotation and I'll give you a Tony Tarasco Mets jersey.

They have no pitching. And sadly, they don't have much hitting.

Ryan Zimmerman is good and will be great. Felipe Lopez is fast. Nick Johnson is hurt. Austin Kearns peaked two years ago. Ryan Church might be the most interesting player on this team. Ryan Church I say.

These guys are so bad that they might challenge the '62 Mets. Enough said.

10. Speaking of Bad Part II-- The greatest fantasy league of all time.

There was a ton of buzz when my buddy Zimmy picked up Joakim Soria the other day. Could he be the new Royals closer? Maybe.

Other big names filling up the waiver wire:

John Buck, Henry Owens (NEW METS! RIP), Lee Gardner, Jason Hirsch, Fausto Carmona, Paul Maholm and Robinson Tejeda.

Outside of Owens I can't imagine many of you have heard of many of these guys.

Buck, was in the Beltran-to-Houston deal and Tejeda used to be a Phillie, but to the normal world, these names shouldn't mean much.

But in our sweet little bottom half payroll, they are paying major dividends.

Did I mention how much I love my fantasy league?

There's ten for you. Shoot us a line if you got something else.

VCD,
Sip

(Pics courtesy of Mit.edu, The Sportreport.com, sugoi.com)