Now that the WBC is over, we are under two weeks until opening day. It's time to preview each team and what we can expect in 2009. I will start with the best division in all of sports, the AL East.
Projected order of finish
1. Boston Red Sox- That was very painful to type, since I'm a Yanks fan, but I have to consider the Sox the overall best team in the game on paper. The lineup is solid all the way around. Young stars such as Jason Bay, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury and Kevin Youkalis mixed in with a veteran power bats David Ortiz and J.D. Drew, the Sox will not have a problem scoring runs. Add in an emerging star in Jed Lorie and a healthy Mike Lowell and the lineup is solid. The only concern with the Red Sox is health. The do have aging vets in Ortiz, Drew, Lowell and Varitek and not much depth if they get banged up.
When it comes to pitching, that is the Red Sox real strength. A top of the rotation consisting Dice-K, Josh Beckett, John Lester is as good as it gets. Lester may be the best of the 3. The bullpen is the real strength of this team. The back end is solid with Jonathen Papplebon. In front of him is a surplus of solid arms including: Justin Masterson, Hideki Okijima, Takashi Saito and once he gets healthy John Smoltz. The Sox look to be the first team since the late 90's Yankees to really be able to shorten the game effectively. All the starters need to do is give them 6 innings and the game could be over.
Down on the farm, the Sox have a surplus of great young arms that Theo Epstein has refused to deal. The best being Michael Bowden. Expect him to get the call this year and help the Red Sox already solid staff win this division.
2. Tampa Rays- No surprising anyone this season, but the Rays won't have to. This was supposed to be the year that they started to compete, but they arrived a year early. The rays won't win the division, but they will return to the post-season, holding off the Yankees to win the wild card. Offensively, they have speed and power and will score some runs, even though that's not really the blueprint of this team winning games. It's defense and pitching.
The Rays have added a couple nice pieces to last years AL Pennant winning team. Right hand power in Pat Burrell who will DH and OF Matt Joyce who is another nice young player who can hit for average and power. Add that to the great young core with Crawford, Upton, Longoria and Pena and the Rays won't be a one hit wonder. This team should be around for a while.
On the hill, this team has a surplus of young arms. the rotation featuring: Kazmir, Shields, Garza, Sonnanstine and possibly phenom David Price. All 5 will continue to get even better and expect Garza to take the largest step forward this season. The only weakness may be at the back end of the bullpen. They have good, solid arms in the pen but may be able to make a pitch for a back end kind of guy around the trading deadline. I don't think Troy Percival will hold up health-wise for a whole season, as has been the trend.
Tampa still has the best farm systems in the majors. So expect some of the young guys to keep coming up and producing for the Rays.
3. New York Yankees- After missing the playoffs last season, the Yanks went on another huge off-season spending spree, adding Mark Texiera, C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. They will be in it til the very end, but when it is all said and done, the Yanks will fall a game short of the Rays for the Wild Card. They never get off to good starts in April, and having to play without A-Rod will ultimately cost them.
Offensively, the plan was to have A-Rod hitting in front of Texiera, but now Tex will have to shoulder a huge portion of the production, which has never been his strong suit. There are other problems the Yanks face offensively. At second base, which Robinson Cano will they have? The one who looks like a future batting champ or last years version? Secondly, Xavier Nady had his best season as a pro last year. Can he match or increase the production, since he will bat clean up until A-Rod returns. Who will be the center fielder, Gardner or Cabrerra? Can Posada and Damon stay healthy and produce? As you can see, there are way too many questions for a team with a 200 million dollar payroll.
One place the yanks don't have questions is the starting rotation. The additions of Sabathia and Burnett, the re-signing of Pettite added to holdovers Wang and Chamberlain and you have the best starting rotation in the game. The Yanks had a need and they filled it big time. The big question is... Who is going to get the ball to Mariano Rivera? That to me separates the Red Sox and Rays from the Yankees. The bullpen is very weak and it could cost the starters to get overworked by August.
The notion has always been that the Yankees never have a farm system, but that is simply not the case. They usually just deal them instead of bringing them up. They have spent so much money that great prospects such as Austin Jackson is buried. Despite the stellar look of the rotation, the guy with possibly the best stuff, Phil Hughes, is also buried at AAA. Don't look from any help from the Yanks farm team this season, quite frankly because there is no where to play them. If anything, expect the Yanks to try and fill a hole at the trading deadline again, by taking on a big contract for a bit of youth.
4. Baltimore Orioles- After the top 3, the final 2 teams in the division have a huge hill to climb, but if Tampa can do it, it is possible. I got the O's 4th, because the do have a ton of young talent and we should get to see some this year.
The O's committed to the future by signing Brian Roberts and Nick Markakis to long term deals. They still have Aubrey Huff and Melvin Mora who both put up solid numbers every season. They added Ryan Freel and Felix Pie via trade to add some depth and Adam Jones in his second year in the bigs should be better. Expect Matt Wieters to be up by May and win the Rookie of the Year.
The staff is a train wreck after Jeremy Guthrie for the time being. The O's have a ton of good arms progressing their way to the big club. Expect two or three to get the call this season. The O's will close games with George Sherril and Chris Ray, but there just isn't much behind that.
5. Toronto Blue Jays- The Blue Jays tried to take a run at the division the last couple of seasons, but they just didn't have the resources to compete. I pick them last this season, because I feel they will deal the work horse Roy Halladay this season, leaving them with some unproven arms in the rotation.
Offensively they still have some talent. Vets Vernon Wells, Lyle Overbay and Scott Rolen could all have decent seasons. Toronto still has some youth with Alexis Rios and expect Travis Snyder to come along and make an impact. After that though, there isn't much.
The staff after Halladay has some good arms, just not top end guys. One who could make the jump is Jessie Litsch. His stuff is good, but every Blue Jay pitcher spends significant time on the DL. These guys must stay healthy. The Blue Jays rotation is that bad at the moment, that Brian Bullington has a chance to make the opening day roster.
That's how the AL East should shape up. Tomorrow, we will take a look at the AL Central.
Showing posts with label Tampa Rays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tampa Rays. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
Who is this years Tampa Rays?
It's getting real close to my favorite time of the year- baseball season. Watching the WBC has gotten me very excited for opening day and got me thinking of some stuff to write. The first topic that came to mind is- Who is the 2009 version of the Tampa Rays?
Everyone knows the story of the 2008 Rays by now. The same Tampa franchise that was the perennial last place team in the toughest division in all sports, the AL East. The same Tampa team that often picked in the top 3 of the MLB draft for the last decade. That's right, the same Tampa team that stockpiled so much young talent that it was able to overtake the Yankees and Red Sox to win the division. The same Tampa Rays that made an improbable run to the World Series. What team can duplicate that feat in 2009?
The answer is simple. No one will do it. No one will sneak up on anyone and win their division. There are some good young teams that can compete and probably win their division; most notably: Tampa, Arizona, Cleveland and maybe Florida. If either of these teams made it to the playoffs, I wouldn't be shocked. Though I don't feel there will be another team like Tampa this year, I do have two in mind that can make great strides and possibly contend.
First of all i really like the Cincinnati Reds in the NL. They were my sleeper last season and really disappointed. I love the young talent on this team and they continue to draft well. They have some pitching. If Edison Volquez and Jonnie Cueto continue to progress and Aaron Harang has a bounce back year, then the Reds suddenly can have a decent staff. Harang is they key for this team. He has to be the innings eater he was two seasons ago. He can still be a 15 game winner and will need to be for the Reds to contend.
Offensively, I like this team alot. They can be explosive. A combination of young studs and a few veterans. The Reds have as much good young talent as anyone. Joey Votto and Jay Bruce are future all stars. If Edwin Encarnacion and Brandon Phillips have good season, then Cincinatti will score some runs. They are a young and very athletic team. They added Ramon Hernandez, a good hitting catcher, but the key to this years Reds might be Willy Taveres. Taveres will be at the top of the order and could swipe over 60 bags, but he needs to get on base more often then he did in Colorado.
With more young talent coming up through the Reds system, they could potentially hang in the Wild Card race for a while this season. Ultimately I think their bullpen is weak and could use a right hand power bat, but I like the direction the Reds are headed.
In the AL, I actually like the Royals. Ok, I will wait for you to stop laughing, but this is a team that has some talent as well. I don't see them winning anything, but I think they can be in the hunt for a while this season. The AL Central can be had by anyone and while ultimately I think it will come down to Cleveland, Minnesota and Detroit; I look at Kansas City and think why can't these guys win that division. The other teams aren't that much better than them.
Kansas City has some good young pitching. Zack Grienke is a future all -star and has the stuff of a staff ace. Luke Hocheaver and Brian Bannister also have great stuff, they just have to learn to win more consistently. In the back end of the bullpen, Joakim Soria converts almost every save opportunity, so they have a strength there as well. Filling the spots in between the third starter and the closer is a challenge however.
The Royals also have some good young hitters, including Alex Gordan. They have added some good pieces as well. While they don't have the household names, guys like Mike Aviles, Mike Jacobs and Coco Crisp make the Royals a better team. They will need holdovers Billy Butler, Davis DeJesus and Jose Guillen to have solid years though and I don't know if it's possible.
Much of the Royals talent lies in it's minor league system. They need to find a way to get guys like Kila Ka'aihue, Carlos Rosa and Daniel Cortes into the mix. Again, while I don't think it's going to happen, if everything goes right, then they could surprise.
Look it's easy to go out and predict the obvious teams will contend, I'm trying to find a struggling team here and these guys fit the bill. I guess we will find out in October
Everyone knows the story of the 2008 Rays by now. The same Tampa franchise that was the perennial last place team in the toughest division in all sports, the AL East. The same Tampa team that often picked in the top 3 of the MLB draft for the last decade. That's right, the same Tampa team that stockpiled so much young talent that it was able to overtake the Yankees and Red Sox to win the division. The same Tampa Rays that made an improbable run to the World Series. What team can duplicate that feat in 2009?
The answer is simple. No one will do it. No one will sneak up on anyone and win their division. There are some good young teams that can compete and probably win their division; most notably: Tampa, Arizona, Cleveland and maybe Florida. If either of these teams made it to the playoffs, I wouldn't be shocked. Though I don't feel there will be another team like Tampa this year, I do have two in mind that can make great strides and possibly contend.
First of all i really like the Cincinnati Reds in the NL. They were my sleeper last season and really disappointed. I love the young talent on this team and they continue to draft well. They have some pitching. If Edison Volquez and Jonnie Cueto continue to progress and Aaron Harang has a bounce back year, then the Reds suddenly can have a decent staff. Harang is they key for this team. He has to be the innings eater he was two seasons ago. He can still be a 15 game winner and will need to be for the Reds to contend.
Offensively, I like this team alot. They can be explosive. A combination of young studs and a few veterans. The Reds have as much good young talent as anyone. Joey Votto and Jay Bruce are future all stars. If Edwin Encarnacion and Brandon Phillips have good season, then Cincinatti will score some runs. They are a young and very athletic team. They added Ramon Hernandez, a good hitting catcher, but the key to this years Reds might be Willy Taveres. Taveres will be at the top of the order and could swipe over 60 bags, but he needs to get on base more often then he did in Colorado.
With more young talent coming up through the Reds system, they could potentially hang in the Wild Card race for a while this season. Ultimately I think their bullpen is weak and could use a right hand power bat, but I like the direction the Reds are headed.
In the AL, I actually like the Royals. Ok, I will wait for you to stop laughing, but this is a team that has some talent as well. I don't see them winning anything, but I think they can be in the hunt for a while this season. The AL Central can be had by anyone and while ultimately I think it will come down to Cleveland, Minnesota and Detroit; I look at Kansas City and think why can't these guys win that division. The other teams aren't that much better than them.
Kansas City has some good young pitching. Zack Grienke is a future all -star and has the stuff of a staff ace. Luke Hocheaver and Brian Bannister also have great stuff, they just have to learn to win more consistently. In the back end of the bullpen, Joakim Soria converts almost every save opportunity, so they have a strength there as well. Filling the spots in between the third starter and the closer is a challenge however.
The Royals also have some good young hitters, including Alex Gordan. They have added some good pieces as well. While they don't have the household names, guys like Mike Aviles, Mike Jacobs and Coco Crisp make the Royals a better team. They will need holdovers Billy Butler, Davis DeJesus and Jose Guillen to have solid years though and I don't know if it's possible.
Much of the Royals talent lies in it's minor league system. They need to find a way to get guys like Kila Ka'aihue, Carlos Rosa and Daniel Cortes into the mix. Again, while I don't think it's going to happen, if everything goes right, then they could surprise.
Look it's easy to go out and predict the obvious teams will contend, I'm trying to find a struggling team here and these guys fit the bill. I guess we will find out in October
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