Since we will be avoiding football talk for a little while seeing as how both of us got our hearts stove in pretty well in the last five weeks or so, the time has come for a look into the baseball season. Pitchers and catchers will be reporting starting next week, and excitement is running high for a lot of teams. Personally, I’m ready for the season to start. Somehow I think this winter holds little promise for the Bs or Cs or Noles. Though curling is about to start… So here goes nothing. I'll do this by division, in the predicted order of finish, with key (according to me) acquisitions and departures listed. We'll start in the West where good offseasons have a couple teams eyeballing October already.
The Wild West:
Los Angeles Angels of Disloyalty:
Acquisitions: Joel Piniero, Hideki Matsui, Brian Stokes
Departures: Vlad Guerrero, John Lackey, Chone Figgins, Gary Matthews
First, I find their name switcharoo gay. Was
Anaheim so bad? Anyway, they finally got revenge on the Sox last postseason for 1986, 2004, 2007, and 2008, but we got John Lackey, so now their rotation is anchored by... Hair Weaver? He's a good number two or three in the big time, but he's not going to top a championship rotation. They expect an ace to rise to the surface early on, and someone certainly needs to fill those shoes. On the other hand, K-Rod who? Fuentes is the man, and they will not lose late very often. I am also deathly afraid of Eric Aybar. He's going to be really, really good for a long time. Brandon Wood for Figgins seems to be a downgrade at third, but they have solid defense and steady hitting with Hideki picking up some of the slack from the Impaler, which is all you need these days, post-steroids. God I miss them. I want to say that the Mariners will overtake them this year, but I think it will be a tight race down the stretch, and I think the Angels know how to handle it a little better. Here's your division winner. Projected record: 94-68
Seattle Mariners:
Acquisitions: Chone Figgins, Ryan Garko, Eric Byrnes, Casey Kotchman
Departures: Miguel Batista, Adrian Beltre, Mike Sweeney, Kenji Johjima
The New Home of Chode Figgins (whom I actually like, except his name). Him and Ichiro on the same team? Their OBS is going to be insane, and maybe even lead to some runs being scored in cavernous Safeco. This team should always be better than it is, but they have been steadily collecting the pieces for a run, and maybe this is the year they prove to have enough. King Felix needs to put that staff on his back and prove that he is more than sexy numbers. He has the goods to win in October, and he needs to show some leadership and get them there. With seasoned Cliff Lee next to him in the rotation (who they somehow got for a Hardee's Thickburger), hopefully he'll get the push he needs. That has got to be the best one-two punch in the West, perhaps even in the League. There are a lot of options behind them, though a lot of question marks (Chad Cordero? for instance), but the two guys at the top have big shoulders. Combine that with some young talent and the good karma of having Junior Griffey in the DH slot, and you got yourself a ball club. Unfortunately, every year these guys look good and are a popular pick to win the division. Personally, I'm not going down that road, thanks in part to the presence of underachieving Kotchman starting at first and criminally insane Milton Bradley in left. I say they take second in the Wild West, but I think they make a race of it, and there may be a consolation prize at the end. And there's always an outside chance that I could be wrong and they pull it off. I wouldn't be too surprised. Projected Record: 91-71
Texas Rangers:
Acquisitions: Colby Lewis, Vladimir Guerrero, Rich Harden
Departures: Kevin Millwood, Hank Blalock
My boy Alex's
AL team, so I'll try to be positive. To start, you can't go wrong with Vladimir Guerrero, who gave me nightmares as an Angel. Francisco Squared is developing into a very good closer, and will hold leads. The rotation is looking good despite losing Millwood to the O's, with Scott Feldman ready to take the reins at the top. They made some productive acquisitions in getting Harden and getting back Colby Lewis (who needs to stay healthy). Still, they are going to need more out of the back end, though Sal is a talented catcher and might be able to wring it out of them. He can hit too, as can this whole team, which is still dangerous at the plate again even without Hank Blalock, who in a bad 2009 season still hit 25 jacks. If young Hamilton and Bad Vlad can stay healthy they will be OK. Overall there is nothing particularly wrong with them, but there is nothing extraordinary either. This division is going to be very tough this year, and I think coming out over .500 will be a victory for this team. Projected Record: 83-79
Oakland Athletics:
Acquisitions: Gabe Gross, Ben Sheets, Kevin Kouzmanoff, Jack Cust,
Coco Crisp
Departures: Scott Hairston, Jeff Gray, Nomar Garciaparra, Bobby Crosby, Adam Kennedy
The story in
Oakland is one of a dice shoot not unlike the Sox of last year, and with less in reserve for when they crap out. Their Spring Training camp is being turned into a veterans' hospital, and they are in desperate need of some of those geezers and walking wounded to come through this year. Their star third baseman (Chavez, who has never been healthy), most of their rotation (Sheets, Braden and Duchscherer) as well as young Joey Devine, who had an ERA under
0.60 in limited action in 2008 but didn't pitch at all last year, are all coming off injuries. Strangely, with all this going on, Nomar, Bobby Crosby, and Adam Kennedy were all allowed to leave the geriatric convention. It is going to be a lot of new faces this year, and admittedly there is some young, healthy talent mixed in, but they didn't really land any difference makers. Overall there is not a whole lot of certainty in the pitching staff and not a whole lot of strength in the lineup, and while I wish
Coco well, I can't see these guys winning a whole lot of games in a retooled and competitive West. Their bullpen was good last year (3rd overall ERA) but they traded away one of their better young arms in Jeff Gray and with that dodgy rotation I don't think it will matter this year even if they are that good again. In fact, I bet they end up dealing their young gun Andrew Bailey before the deadline, because crappy teams don't need closers. Projected Record: 69-93
No comments:
Post a Comment