Yankeees in 2012- magical!

The 2012 season promises to be a thrill ride and I predict it ends with a great post season run.  This team has a mythical quality to it some Hall of Fame calibre talents sprinkled on this roster- Jeter, Cano, ARod, and Rivera are the obvious inclusions- Cano is well on his way to being the Jeter of Yankees  second basemen( Willie Randolph, Bobby Richardson come easily to mind), ARod is already in the HOF based on achievements as is Mo Rivera- the rarely disputed best ever closer,  CC will be in that group in a few more years, durable and excellent.

That is not all, the overall team has a deep footprint too: Teixera will likely be an all-time Yankee great and so will Curtis Granderson who may yet inch into the upper echelon of HOF talent- his turn-around since becoming a Yankee has been amazing.  He is now among the elite offensive players in the game even without a brilliant hitting average, or any statistic that stands out except the one that matters most - scoring and driving in- runs on the scoreboard.

The pitching has CC Sabatthia , Rivera, and Robertson- who is on a path to being a great middle reliever- the Yankees have had this as a characteristic- back to the 50"s on their great teams.  Never the best starters but the best combination of starting-relief-closer.  Jeff Nelson, Mike Stanton, Sparky Lyle, Luis Arroyo- a long list of notable and a few great middle relievers-- Robertson has a chance to be at or near the top of the list. The starter that is missing is Pineda- wait till next year when he and Joba Chamberlain come back to add something special in that season.  But for now, we have much to savor- a bench of former greats- Andruw Jones, Eric Chavez and the very good Raul Ibanez( although i would have brought back Matsui who will help lead Tampa to the post season at the expense of Boston and Toronto this year)- I pick the Yankees to win the division, Detroit the central with Tampa and Baltimore to be the Wild Cards leaving the Angels to go home empty  in the West far behind Texas.

The Yankees will have to find gold in the minors, or bring in a vet like Roy Oswalt but they have enough now to get to the top-- extraordinary players even by all-time standards-- my advice, watch as much as you can!