Crystal balling it

I usually eschew writing predictions (yet, strangely, I enjoy reading them when done by others...) because it's just more fun for me to sit back and see how things turn out. Watching games day-to-day, noticing trends and seeing how things play out just suits me better.

But there are a few things -- a few possibilities -- about the 2008 Major League baseball season that are intriguing enough to make me wonder about them out loud.

These won't be strictly Yankee-related, but in the words of Terrence Mann (crowbar in hand) in Field of Dreams, "There are no rules here."....

Yankee Young-uns

Okay, so the first intriguing thing about this season is Yankee-related, and it's the immediate future of the three young arms that will be such a big part of this season for the Bombers.

Simply put, with the uncertain health of Andy Pettitte, the one-year-older, not-really-any-better Mike Mussina, and the frightening -- frightening -- prospect of Kei Igawa just one level down in Class AAA ball, the Yankees need Ian Kennedy, Phil Hughes, and Joba Chamberlain to have bigger years than any fan has a right to expect from a group of rookie pitchers.

As year-long starters, Hughes and Kennedy have to combine for at least 25 victories -- and that's being conservative. Perhaps more importantly, they need to combine for enough innings to keep the bullpen in some kind of working shape through August and September.

As for Chamberlain... his role is so unsteday, who could blame him if at some point in the season the confusion starts to affect his performance? His early-season reliever slot may not last long if either Pettitte or Mussina, or both, go 1-4 in April.

There may be some nervous chatter among Yankee fans regarding these three -- and remember, no team has ever made the playoffs with two rookie starters pitching a full season -- but hey, at least the Red Sox are in the same boat with Clay Buckholz and Jon Lester. It will be fun to see which team's rookie hurlers go under. (On second thought, if it's ours, no it won't be.....)

I'll go out on a limb and say the Hughes-Kennedy combo goes 29-18, throws 360-plus innings, and holds its own all year. Give Chamberlain a 4-0 record out of the pen in the first half, with an ERA under 1.35, and 12 Ks per nine innings. After July, who knows what the Yankees will do with Joba?

Historic worsts

There is a better-than-average chance that this season could provide not just laughably bad, but historically bad teams in each league.

In the American League, the Baltimore Orioles don't just look bad on paper, but they have the bad luck of playing int he AL East, where the Yankees and Red Sox reside, and the Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays are both improved over last season.

The O's play 76 games in the division, and could quite possibly be as bad as 20-56 by season's end. And the out-of-division schedule -- against terrific teams such as the Angels, Mariners, Tigers, and Indians -- doesn't offer Baltimore much breathing room. The 2003 Detroit Tigers compiled the worst record in American League history at 43-119. The Orioles have the most losses all-time in the American League, with 8,724 during their 107-year history. Will they add 120 more in 2008 to break the single-season record? I think not, but it will be close.

Call it barely unhistoric, with the O's finishing 50-112.

In the senior circuit, the San Francisco Giants are in serious jeopardy of challenging the 40-120 record of the hapless 1962 New York Mets. The Giants have insisted that it's time to move on from the Barry Bonds era, which is fine, as long as they don't say they're moving forward.

The NL West division is loaded, with the defending league champion Colorado Rockies, defending division champions the Arizona Diamondbacks, last season's (barely) wildcard losing San Diego Padres, and a very strong Los Angeles Dodgers club. It can credibly be claimed that of all eleven other NL teams, only the New York Mets could challenge for even a wildcard in this division, that's how brutal this group is.

And San Francisco is poised to have its worst club, on paper, in decades. Will it be as bad as only 40 wins and 122 losses? That seems impossible, but with a very (probable) possible 15-61 record in their own division, the Giants could challenge history's worst teams.

Prediction: The 1962 Mets are safe, but barely. Giants finish 44-118.

Thirty and then some?

I'm still biting my knuckles to keep from screaming over the Yankees' failure to get Johan Santana from the Minnesota Twins, but at least he's safely in the other league and not in Boston.

Having said that, I hope he trips over one of Jose Reyes' bats in the clubhouse and twists his ankle in about six different places. Otherwise, barring any injury, this guy could become the first pitcher to win at least 30 games in a season since Denny McLain's 31-6 campaign in 1968. Santana is facing NL lineups, which will make his life much easier than it was in the American League. And, the National League is, on the whole, the league of lesser talent these days. If all the stars align - and yesterday's Met debut, a seven-inning Santana gem, indicate that they are well on their way -- Santana just might be unbeatable.

In fact, I think he will be. Hand Santana his third Cy Young, and first in the NL, to go with his 32-4 record.

Cano can do

Let's wrap this post with another Yankee note to bookend it the right way.

I'm already on record here calling it the Year of Robbie, and I'm not backing down. The Yankee second baseman was so hot in spring training that it didn't matter that it was only spring training. And new Yankee manager Joe Girardi is so high on Cano that he's likely to work overtime getting the most out of this ultra-talented young star.

Cano may not be the best second baseman in baseball just yet, but he's a year away, maybe half a year.

Cano's numbers in 2008: .335 BA, .395 OBP, .510 SLG, 195 H, 31 HR, 45 2B, 102 RBI, 40 BB, 70 SO.

And his first AL MVP Award.