Ponson on my mind

The rematch of the 1980 LCS begins today with Sidney Ponson making his Royals debut in the newly renovated K. Mark Feinsand has a higher opinion than I do of Sir Sidney and agreed to answer a few Royals/Yankees questions. Feinsand has covered the Yankees for nine years, the last three with the NY Daily News. You can read more of his writing here.

How excited are you that the Yankees will get to face Sidney Ponson and Horacio Ramirez in the three game series?

I certainly sense your sarcasm here, but I happen to like Ponson a lot. He's not a frontline starter by any means, but he gives a good effort every time and is one of the most accountable pitchers I've ever covered. As long as he stays out of trouble. Which he did in New York, I think he can eat some innings and be an asset to the Royals. That said, I'm sure the Yankees hitters are licking their chops at the prospect of facing him.

We certainly differ on Ponson and I really hope you are right.

I thought the same you do about Ponson until I covered him. He stayed clean in NY and was actually a great clubhouse guy. Could be okay at the back end of the rotation.

I've seen 2009 predictions for New York that range from the World Series to the 3rd place in the AL East. Where do you think they'll finish?

In our season preview, I predicted a 97-65 season and a first-place finish in the AL East for the Yankees, with the Red Sox winning the wild card and the Rays missing the playoffs.

I have the Indians winning the Central, though I have the Royals finishing third behind the Twins and ahead of the Tigers and White Sox.

I also predicted that the Angels would win the World Series, though that was before John Lackey's arm trouble popped up. If Lackey isn't healthy, the Yankees would become my pick to win it all.

The Yankees aren't the youngest team in baseball so are there any prospects that will come up and make a splash this year?

Brett Gardner is the starting center fielder, and while his stats won't be too flashy, he should hit .260-.270, steal 40 bases and play good defense.

Phil Coke is also someone to watch, a power lefty out of the bullpen. Phil Hughes is opening the year at Triple-A, but he'll be the first one up if a starting pitcher gets hurt.
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I also asked Journal News writer Peter Abraham the same questions over at Baseball Digest, you can read that here.