To hell with it. Here goes;
1. Boston Red Sox: Another year under the belts of Buchholz and Lester should give the Red Sox the top rotation in the AL. They still have vets Beckett, Lackey, and Matsuzaka to provide supporting roles, and no way Beckett can be as bad as last season, right? I think their offense is upgraded with the additions of Gonzalez and Crawford, even though they lost Beltre and V. Mart. These guys are a shoe-in for the playoffs, it is just a matter of how far they go.
2. Philadelphia Phillies: The best rotation in history? Maybe. Definitely the best that I can remember. How good is it? Their 5th starter, Joe Blanton, would be the Pirates' ace. Their offense is getting old though and will need to score some runs, but with these pitchers 4 RPG might win 100 games...
3. St. Louis Cardinals: Solid offense, solid pitching. Same old story for the Cards. Berkman and Theriot are upgrades so they may have the legs to overtake the Reds this year.
4. Chicago White Sox: I think Adam Dunn will make a big difference as he finally gets a chance to play for a winning team. Peavy will improve, and as long as their young guys progress (Beckham, Morel, Sale), the Sox should run away with the Central division.
5. Texas Rangers: They lost Lee, but they still have a pretty good pitching corps. If Webb can get them 30 starts AND be healthy for the playoffs, and Hamilton doesn't break down, they could make another run. Having Michael Young as your 4th best infielder is a nice luxury to have.
6. San Francisco Giants: They beat the Rangers in the World Series, but are below them in the power rankings? Well, they obviously overachieved last season and making a similar run will be damn near impossible.
7. Cincinnati Reds: Same team as last season, so not much should change. They have a lot of young starting pitching so they could be inconsistent, but should again challenge the Cards for NL Central supremacy.
8. Atlanta Braves: No way Nate McLouth hits as poorly as he did last season, and, if given a chance, I think he will be a decent starter this year. They need a proven first baseman and a closer, but I think they are close. Who knows what will happen in the first year in franchise history without Bobby Cox.
9. New York Yankees: They are running out of time to win with this group. Pettitte will probably come back later in the year, but with Jeter, Posada, and ARod all in the twilight of their careers, they are going to need big efforts from the supporting cast to sneak into the postseason. Shouldn't be too difficult considering who their supporting cast is.
10. Tampa Bay Rays: They just lost way too much. A tough offseason for the Rays as it looks like last season was their best chance to win in the next couple years. Jennings, Hellickson, Wade Davis, Birgnac, and Sean Rodriguez are all budding stars, but it will be too much for the young guys to shoulder this season to make the playoffs.
11. Minnesota Twins: No way Carl Pavano puts up the numbers he did last season, especially after signing a contart. Mauer, Morneau, and Liriano are good, but nothing better than mediocre after them. But, they always seem to overachieve so they could make another late season run.
12. Los Angeles Angels: Not sure why they didn't push harder for Beltre, Crawford, and Soriano since those are the team's biggest 3 needs and they have a lot of money to play with, but they didn't and now have to ride their injury prone pitching staff this season. It is a big IF, but if the pitching stays healthy, and Kazmir gets back to pitching like he used to, they might give Texas something to think about.
13. Detroit Tigers: It seems like Magglio Ordonez has been around forever. I remember when I used to confuse him with Rey Ordonez. That was a long time ago... He is going to give it another go though, and with a good combination of veterans and youth, the Tigers could compete with the White Sox and Twins.
14. Chicago Cubs: They traded away Gorzelanny so they woudl have a spot for Carlos Silva? I don't get it. Carlos Pena helps a little, as does Matt Garza, but this team has the potential to fall quickly in the rankings.
15. Milwaukee Brewers: Greinke makes them better, and re-signing Fielder was big (ha), but I still think they are a pitcher short to make a run. If they are still hanging around in the NL central in July they could make a move for a big name pitcher and make a run like they did a few years ago.
16. Los Angeles Dodgers: They needed to get a star LF to help Kemp and Ethier, so they got Marcus Thames. Good choice. Kershaw, Billingsley, and co. will keep them in contention but they will need to get a big bat if they want to get over the hump.
17. Florida Marlins: A good, young rotation surrounded by a young, talented offense. They will be inconsistent but could potentially move much higher in the rankings as the season progresses.
18. Oakland Athletics: Have the best young rotation in the league, but no offense to back it up. Even Godzilla cannot save them.
19. Colorado Rockies: They have 3 stars, but other than that it is mediocrity. Todd Helton is the only starting 1B I'd want to have less than Overbay. He needs to get his hands on some Deer Antler PEDs. Ray Lewis knows where to get them.
20. Toronto Blue Jays: My adopted team still has a long way to go to catch the Rays and Yankees, but they are on the right track. Their minor league teams are loaded, they have 5 quality, young starting pitchers, and Lyle Overbay is off of their roster. Not that the Adam Lind/Travis Snider/Edwin Encarnacion combo is much better, but their pitching alone will give them hope of leaping Tampa and New York in the next few years.
21. New York Mets: Not sure why I have them this high considering Santana is out until May or so, but their offense is potentially good barring injuries. That is the best I can say about them...
22. Baltimore Orioles: Maybe I was too generous with this team's ranking last year, but they still have a decent offense especially after adding Reynolds and Hardy. The pitching though, is one of the worst in the league.
23. San Diego Padres: They lost Gonzalez and Garland and think they could be better than the overachieving team of last season? Not likely. Mat Latos, all missing T's of him, is a legitimate ace.
24. Cleveland Indians: Take a look at Grady Sizemore's career numbers and try to tell me he is not the most overrated player of all time. These guys don't have enough pitching to contend, but Carlos Santana, Michael Brantley, and Choo are reasons to get excited.
25. Washington Nationals: They have like 12 #4 starters and zero 1-3 pitchers. Not a recipe for success. At least Adam LaRoche adds another team to his list for his bid to play on all 30 teams.
26. Arizona D'Backs: Did anyone else notice the ungodly numbers Daniel Hudson put up last season after he was trade to Arizona? Is it fitting that the last pitcher to put up those kind of numbers in the second half of the season during their rookie campaign just got traded to them? Let's hope he doesn't follow the example set.
27. Houston Astros: This team just needs to scrap the roster and start over. Is there a less exciting roster than the Astros'? I say no. "Oooo Hunter Pence just hit a wicked double." Do they say wicked in Houston? Whatever, they suck.
28. Kansas City Royals: Losing Greinke means they have no shot to contend this year. However, the pieces are definitely there for this franchise to move on up the Central Division in the coming years, especially with the Tigers and Twins getting older, and the Indians... well.. they are the Indians.
29. Seattle Mariners: Poor Jack Wilson. One terrible franchise to the next... Felix Hernandez, God-Like as he is, cannot do it alone. Hell, even having Cliff Lee didn't help. Neither does having Franklin Gutierrez as your second best hitter.
30. Pittsburgh Pirates: OVERBAY! OVERBAY! OVERBAY! Sorry guys, the Pirates are terrible. In 2 more years though...
That was a lot of rambling... Let me know what ya'll think.
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5 comments:
I am blown away that you had Tampa ranked 10th overall with as much as they had lost. This was before they signed Manny and Caveman and AFTER they traded Garza (I believe). They have lost too much to be that competitive this year. I know anything is possible in baseball. But, Tampa I believe will finish 4th or last in their division.
1. I hope the entire team dies of some horrible flesh eating bacteria.
2. Joe Blanton would not be an ace for the Pirates. He is the same as all of their current pitchers.
3. Really? You have them ranked third? Lance Berkman and Ryan Theriot jump them up this far?
4. Have we not learned that you can never predict the AL Central? The White Sox will not be the 4th best team. Sorry.
5. Agree, but they should be up in the fourth or third spot.
6. Making another run like that impossible? Lincecum, Cain, Sanchez, Bumgardner...yeah, they suck.
7. Will Chapman become a starter? How will that affect them?
8. Nate McLouth will put up Barry Bonds-like numbers. And by that I mean, the Barry that is retired and sitting at home.
9. I do not get how you have them this low, yet the White Sox so high? I mean, sure the Sox picked up Dunn, but the Yankees still have some good hitters. I thought that Texeira guy was good, I guess I was wrong.
10. I don't know if I should disagree with you or agree with you. I mean, it makes sense that they get worse, but then, it is the Rays and maybe they will end up winning the whole damn thing this year.
11. I completely agree with ya on C-Pav. His statistical nerd numbers were not nearly as good as his old timey stats.
12. Why didn't they push harder for those guys? BECAUSE THEY JUST GOT VERNON WELLS!!!! Oh wait, that is a horrible contract to pick up. Kind of like taking on Matt Morris.
13. Sure, I'll agree with this.
14. At least they have Castro.
15. I would probably put them closer to the Cardinals/Reds and have them all down in the 11-15 range...know what I mean?
16. Sorry, I do not see them going out and getting a big bat or big pitcher or anything. Has this divorce thing been settled yet?
17. Yep, until they trade Hanley in June. Just a crazy prediction.
18. Whatever, I could care less about this team.
19. And thus we begin the crying about Overbay...
20. Yeah, Overbay was the reason they did not beat the Yankees/Rays last season.
21. Agree.
22. Umm, I might put them a little lower. I was high on their young pitching, but I do not think they improved any last season, so therefore they suck.
23. I kept saying this team would come back to earth last year, but they never really did until the last month.
24. Umm, a little hyperbole? The most overrated player of all time?
25. Bryce Harper is going to convert to pitcher and end up being their ace.
26. I did notice that.
27. Haha, they have a guy named Wandy...
28. They were going to contend this year with Greinke? I do not remember ever thinking that.
29. HAHAHAHA the Mariners really suck.
30. I hate to be the one to keep harping on this, but who should the Pirates have signed to help them win the division? Or should the goal be win 82 games? Should they have offered Beltre a seven year 120 million dollar contract (probably what it would take to convince a guy like that to play in Pittsburgh) and then move Pedro over to first? Oh wait, they should have ponied up the money and signed A-Gonzalez. I am not directing this just at you, because I have heard this from plenty of Pirates fans recently. Who else was available to the Pirates? And now I'm done.
Josh, I think you misinterpreted some of my comments. And of course there is hyperbole in some cases and of course the Royals wouldn't have contended anyway, I'm just getting my points across;
3. The Cardinals underachieved last year. They have a new start and there is no reason they should not be ranked as high as we had them last year, which was pretty high. Berkman and Theriot aren't great but this team was already at the top without them.
4. The White Sox prediction is a stretch, just throwing it out there. These are my PRE-PRESEASON rankings.
6. I stand by my near impossible prediction for the Giants. Not enough offense. No way Cody Ross saves them again.
9. The Yanks could move up if Hughes and Sabathia start out hot, but Burnett, Nova, and question mark are not going to get many wins, and the defense on the left side of their infield is very questionable.
10. Price, Hellickson, Davis, Neimann, Shields. 5 reasons they will not finish 4th.. That said, the Blue Jays are gaining and COULD pass them.
12. This was before the Wells trade, but I think the Blue Jays got more out of that.
19/20. The Overbay thing is obviously a running joke at this point.. I honestly don't care about it either way now.
22-30. All the teams suck, Orioles could be the best of them or the worst of them.
23. Everyone was saying they would come back to earth...
25. Harper will go the Babe Ruth route and just pitch and hit cleanup.
28. The Royals sucked either way, but in the AL Central there is always a chance. Not anymore.
30. Last and definitely least, I was certainly NOT suggesting they sign other people. Not sure how you got that from what I said in this post, or any other comment this year. In my opinion... okay I started a rant but I'll just start another post so we can all argue about it there.
I realize these are prepreseason rankings. not a big deal at all. i figured being a snarky prick about all of them was more fun than saying "I agree" for most of them. haha.
only a few we really disagree on. i just wonder if we are going to see a ranking system from one of us more often than we did last year (i admit to failing last season).
It is too much work to do baseball rankings more than once a month.. which I tried to do last year I think.
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