Apologies to Ty.

Kepner, that is, not Cobb.

Yesterday, I berated the NY Times for not running a proper baseball preview, only to discover that those sneaky petes on 41st Street were doing it today.

It's not exactly in the tabs' league—just two pages, no special focus at all on the local teams (mentally and spiritually, the Times floats somewhere in the ether, above all time, space, and dimension—but still, full predictions. And all by Tyler Kepner.

They are, mind you, a little weird.

Among other things, Kepner expects the Orioles to beat out the Red Sox for second place in the AL East, and a wild card spot. On the basis of what, you ask? Why, because of Kevin Gausman, and Andrew Cashner (their free-agent acquisition with the 42-64 lifetime record), among other things.

I know, I know. I was thinking the same thing: could this be another Kevin Gausman? And never mind that their lights-out closer will miss at least half the year with a ruptured Achilles:

"...it would be no surprise if Manager Buck Showalter finds a way to squeeze this team into the playoffs for the fourth time in seven seasons."

Ah, so we're relying on the magic of Buck now! Well, I'd sooner go with the magic of ODUMODU.

I respect Buck, too, but I think Casey Stengel was the greatest manager who ever lived, and when he didn't have the horses, particularly the pitching thoroughbreds, he didn't win. Buck won't, either.

Ty picked the Astros to repeat, which is perfectly reasonable, but based in part on his claim that they "got better" in good part by picking up Gerrit Cole—someone I feel will be what Cole would've been for the Yankees, which is subtraction by addition.

AND...the Times did pick the Yanks to win their division over the Red Sox, which is rather like the College of Cardinals picking the Protestants in the Thirty Years' War.

More importantly—it counts for the fifth straight, unanswered Yankees article, and puts our yearly total at, Soccer 46, Yanks 30. We're closing the gap!