The NL team that I think has the better chance of making the World Series is the Giants.  I think the Giants cause a bigger threat then the Phillies because of their pitching.  Between Lincecum and Cain the Giants have two pitchers that can shut down any line in baseball.  The problem with the Giants is they don’t have the lineup to outscore the Phillies so if the Giants don’t get their pitching together they’ve got no chance.

The Braves hold less of a chance to beat the Phillies because they don’t have the quality pitching that the Giants do.  They do have a better lineup then the Giants but they still don’t have the pitching that the Giants do.

In the AL I think that the Rays have a better chance then the Rangers to beat the Yankees because the Rays pitching is better then the Rangers.  I think that the lineups are similar but the Yankees have the best lineup of the three teams.  Plus the Yankees have shown that they will step up in the playoffs just like they did last year.

Those are the reasons I think that we will see a rematch of last year’s World Series.

As I mentioned earlier a suspension would result in inconsistencies in my opinion.  This would be the first time in Favre’s career (to my memory) that he has run into any problems that would be under the personal conduct policy.  There are plenty of issues where players have done bad things and didn’t get suspended at all.  For example the commissioner cannot suspend a player for a drunk driving arrest even if he has had issues with the personal conduct policy.

Now I don’t think it would be fair to compare what is worse but a suspension of Favre would be saying to the common fan that what he did was worse.

Wait, what am I talking about, come on Commish, you’ve got 50 minutes until game time to suspend Favre.

I understand that teams have the alternated colored uniforms because they make extra revenue on jersey sales.  In fact in some cases I like the uniforms for their style and in 162 games I get tired of seeing the same uniforms out  on the field.  My issue is that it looks like a spring training game when both teams wear their alternate uniforms.

Maybe I’m too much of a traditionalist but I like seeing the white at home and gray on the road at least in the playoffs.  Without that it makes the games seem cheap.

I’m just glad they’re no longer reminding us that there is ONLY ONE OCTOBER.

What I think is the biggest part of this story is how people still buy into the Pats way of doing things.  The theory that no player is bigger then the team and no player can act out.  Not that I agree with players acting out and not as if they are part of a team but to act like the Patriots are better without Moss is ridiculous.  It was one thing when the Pats went with Brady after Bledsoe came off injury, or releasing Lawyer Malloy, or even trading away Deion Branch.  The Moss situation is much different then that.  Like Branch, Moss was their number one receiver but Moss was also a Pro Bowl receiver.  That is something that is not easy to replace.

I understand that Moss caused problems within the team and he was not shy when he wasn’t getting the ball.  Still they traded away their top offensive weapon.  As good as the rest of their receivers are there is a big hole without Moss.  The middle of the field was opened up for Welker because of Moss going deep and drawing the opposing team’s top corner and a safety.

I’m surprised that there has been as much support for this trade from the Pats’ perspective.  I understand that people trust Belichick to make the right moves but I feel this is arrogance by Belichick.  They cannot honestly believe that they are a better team without one of the top receivers in the NFL.

Now the biggest question is how will Randy Moss do in his second stint with the Vikings.  I think he will do fine teaming up with Brett Favre this season, past that who knows.  This is a great trade by the Vikings, they make themselves a much more threating team in the NFC this season.

The Giants are an interesting situation. Obviously Matt Leinart will not be starting if he were to be traded to the Giants. It will still be a good situation for Leinart, it could be a similar situation to what David Carr did the last few years with the Giants and it has worked out for him. Sitting behind Eli Manning could help Leinart in the long run but at the same time sitting behind Kurt Warner should have done the same thing.

The Raiders wouldn’t be a bad situation for Leinart either. Right now he would be a backup behind Jason Campbell but he still hasn’t proven that he will stick as a starting Quarterback in the NFL. I’m not saying Leinart is better then Campbell but it could end up being a competition between the two. I also think Leinart could get a chance this season because I don’t think the Raiders will be that good.

I think that the Bills would be the best situation for Leinart because he would step in as the best Quarterback on the roster. I defiantly think that if he were traded he would get a chance this season. I don’t think that Trent Edwards will be getting many more chances from the Bills in the future, in fact I think he is only starting this season because they couldn’t acquire a better player during the offseason.

One one side you have the Yankee Captain. Many people feel that he should play his entire career in pinstripes and never put on the uniform of another team.

On the other side you have people realize he is a 35 year old shortstop that could be asking for as much as $20 million a year for 5 years. Of course that is purely speculation but it could be what he is asking for.

The off season is a long way away but the Yankees need to weigh Jeter’s asking price along with their long term goals. Right now he is not a $20 million a year player, very few guys are. Not even the Yankees can afford to pay someone of Jeter’s talents $20 million to play shortstop.

If he is looking to go to another team it would be on a team with a better chance to win then the Mavs. If he were to opt out then I think he would become the top Power Foward on the market and the third best free agent player.

Ideally I would love to see him playing for the Knicks with LeBron James. That would be the perfect combonation for the future of the franchise.

That would be great for the Jets to add another top defensive player, even with the Jason Taylor signing. Since Rex is a creative defensive mind there could be plenty of situations Thomas, Taylor and Pace could be used to rush the passer.

I think signing Thomas would make a lot of sense for the Jets. It would be an improvement over Bryan Thomas and be a huge addition to the pass rush. Since the Jets added both Cromartie and Wilson they can afford to focus more on rushing the passer through blitzing and let the cornerbacks worry about the coverage.

UPDATE: Like I said the Mets needed to pray for rain and they got it.  Mets win 1-0 in a rain shortend 5 inning game.

To say the new Met lineup, with Reyes hitting third, is working might be premature.  I would agree so far it is working but it doesn’t have as much to do with the spot Reyes is hitting rather then how Reyes is hitting.  Its no secret when Jose plays better the Mets play better.  With Reyes on base in front of Jason Bay he has already improved at the plate.  That is the biggest reason that Bay has been able to get out of the slump he started the season with.  The other thing that is getting him out of the slump is that Bay is just too good a player to stay in a slump that long.  If the Mets moved Bay up to the third spot and kept Reyes at leadoff I think that they would be having the same success they have had the last few days.  Another thing that could be considered lucky is how well the bullpen is pitching.  I thought that the Mets had a decent bullpen going into the season but so far it has been the strongest part of the team.  Not only have they not lost games for the Mets this season, they have also kept the Mets in games that they fell behind in early.  If the team is going to succeed this season they will need to continue pitching this way.

I also believe the recent sucess has a lot to do with the talent on the Mets roster.  They still have All Star players like Jose Reyes, David Wright, Jason Bay, Johan Santana and K-Rod.  Along with those guys Mike Pelfrey, a former first round pick, is pitching very well.  He seems to be connecting well with new Met catcher Henry Blanco.  Jon Neise is also proving to be a good addition to the rotation.  Perez is improved, I understand thats not saying much but in the past he hasn’t even given the Mets a chance to win games he has started.  That isn’t the case so far this season.