Be that as it may, it’s still one of my favorite times of the year, and despite the not-too-rosy outlook for either Chicago baseball team, I’m excited for this upcoming baseball season.
The main reason I find this upcoming season so interesting is that the landscape of competition has dramatically changed. No longer is it just the Red Sox and Yankees spending close to $200 million on their respective payrolls. Thanks to some very lucrative TV Deals (among other things), multiple teams that were once considered “small market”, are now throwing money around like Pac Man Jones at a Strip Club.
• $200 million to keep Joey Votto in Cincinnati? Check.
• $245 million to get Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, and Heath Bell to the Marlins? Why Not?!
• $214 million to get Prince Fielder to play for his father’s Detroit Tigers? Sure.
All of this money being spent by teams not named the Yankees and Red Sox, as well as the introduction of a second Wild Card slot for the postseason, has leveled the playing field and should open up competition, which should make for a very fun season. Here are my predictions for the regular season, post season, and a few sentences about each team.
American League East:
1. New York Yankees: Despite Curtis Granderson returning to earth from his monster season last year, they’ll score enough to win the division, but their starting rotation will (once again) be exposed in October, as the entire roster continues to age with few prospects on the horizon.
2. Tampa Bay Rays: To quote Rocky from Looney Tunes – “I don’t know how’s youse done it, but I KNOW YOUSE DONE IIIIIT!” Nobody really has figured out how the Rays’ continue to make postseason appearances, but nearest I can tell it’s Run Prevention, One Ace starting pitcher in combination with Evan Longoria and some decent slugging percentages sprinkled throughout the lineup. They’ll make the postseason again, and we’ll still be scratching our heads.
3. Boston Red Sox: The post-Theo era has begun, and they’ll still have plenty of reminders of Epstein sprinkled throughout the lineup both good and bad. The good involves Ellsbury, Pedroia, Gonzalez, and Lester. The bad? Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett, and John Lackey (shudder).
4. Toronto Blue Jays: The Washington Nationals American League equivalent. The Blue Jays are close but they’re not quite there yet. Obviously they still have the most suspicious superstar in the game in Jose Bautista, in addition to some really good young players (looking at you Brett Lawrie). Unfortunately they are still missing an Ace starting pitcher to put them over the hump.
5. Baltimore Orioles: Are they even trying anymore? Seriously? They actually have a couple of good players in Wieters, Markakis, and Adam Jones. After that, it’s just a pile of black and orange puke from the owner on down. At least the hats will look cool though.
American League Central:
1. Detroit Tigers: What do you do when you already have one of the best hitters at first base? You sign another one of course! Seriously, they have two monsters in the middle of an already potent lineup, not to mention the best pitcher in the game surrounded by a sound rotation and capable bullpen. Tigers win the division easily.
2. Chicago White Sox: read Here.
3. Cleveland Indians: Year 5 of a rebuilding process that hasn’t gone well. How bad? Turns out one of their “pieces” Fausto Carmona isn’t really named Fausto Carmona but rather Roberto Hernandez Hereida. Did I mention he’s also 3 years older than he said he was? Still, at least he’s not Matt LaPorta.
4. Kansas City Royals: The good? Alex Gordon finally showed he can hit. Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, and Lorenzo Cain are going to get more playing time. The Bad? Bruce Chen is still their ace, which means you really don’t have a rotation.
5. Minnesota Twins: I might be wrong about this one, but Justin Morneau is still “dingy” in the head, Joe Mauer has become a singles hitter, Carl Pavano is still the head of the rotation, and the left side of the infield is not very good. The good news for the Twins however, Terry Ryan is back as GM and it’s only a matter of time before the Twins contend again. Just not this season.
American League West:
1. Texas Rangers: They don’t have a slugging first baseman….and that’s it. The Rangers are pretty much covered everywhere else. Sure they lost CJ Wilson, but they rolled the dice and acquired Japanese pitching sensation Yu Darvish. Their lineup is still solid-to-lethal (when healthy) and their bullpen should be better with Joe Nathan on board.
2. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: The Angels would be a World Series lock if this were the year 2003. That’s the year that their two highest paid players were in their prime in Vernon Wells and Torii Hunter (remember Albert Pujols’ deal is incredibly back-loaded). However, Wells and Hunter won’t be counted on for the bulk of their offense anymore, since Pujols will definitely provide plenty by himself. Their rotation of Weaver, Haren, and Wilson will propel them to wild card contention.
3. Oakland A’s: A big bag of “weird”. The A’s are putting all their eggs in the San Jose 2014 Basket. The problem is, the San Jose 2014 Basket might not (and probably doesn’t) exist! The A’s are young, might be pretty good eventually, but definitely have a player worth watching in Yoenis Cespedes. Oh and apparently they are the only team that believes Manny Ramirez can still hit an inside fastball….good luck with that.
4. Seattle Mariners: Yikes…would you believe this team has nearly an $80 million dollar payroll? Felix Hernandez is still awesome, Ichiro is drawing close to the end of his hall of fame career, and Chone Figgins is stealing money every time he gets paid. The Mariners DO have help on the way though in the minor leagues, and Jesus Montero will be fun to watch.
National League East:
1. Philadelphia Phillies: You hear that? That’s the sounds of the Phillies window closing. It’s not closed yet, but it’s rapidly descending. Here’s a list of guys on their roster over 30 – Ryan Howard, Cliff Lee, Chase Utley, Roy Halladay, Jonathan Papelbon, Jimmy Rollins, Joe Blanton, Shane Victorino, Placido Polanco, Carlos Ruiz, and our guy Jim Thome. Still good enough to win the division, but this will be the last time they will do so, before the major overhaul takes place.
2. Miami Marlins: To say the Marlins got a face lift is an understatement. The Marlins are the Heidi Montag of MLB. They’ve thrown a whoooole lot of money at this team, and it wasn’t limited to the roster as the name of the franchise has changed, as well as their stadium location. On paper, the Marlins will be nipping at the Phillies heels for the division, as long as their egomaniac manager doesn’t get in the way. Giancarlo “Don’t Call Me Mike” Stanton, remains one of my favorite players in the game to watch.
3. Washington Nationals: The Toronto Blue Jays National League equivalent. They’re close, probably closer than the Blue Jays are actually, but I see the Nationals ascending next season, not this one. The lineup is pretty good with a healthy Mike Morse, Rick Ankiel, Ryan Zimmerman and Danny Espinosa. The rotation is better than people think, but that’s not what makes the Nationals interesting. We all know that this team will live and die on the arm of Stephen Strasburg and bat of Bryce Harper over the next decade.
4. Atlanta Braves: This sentence hasn’t been written since 1989 – “The Braves pitching rotation is too thin”. That hasn’t happened in quite some time. Still the Braves have the best hitting catcher in Bryan McCann, the swollen Dan Uggla, and two of the more intriguing young players in Jason Heyward and Freddie Freeman. I guess the Braves will never be “Terrible”.
5. New York Mets: There are teams that spend money foolishly, then there’s the Mets, who spend money that they never had thanks to Bernie Madoff. The good news is that the payroll is down nearly 50% from last year, and there is actual talent on the roster in David Wright, Johan Santana, Lucas Duda, and Ike Davis. Keeping those players healthy on the other hand, isn’t one of their strengths, as they wait for 2014 to emerge from their own financial ashes.
National League Central:
1. Milwaukee Brewers: No Prince? No problem. The Brewers still have steroid-boy Ryan Braun, and plenty of other sticks in the lineup to drive in runs. Actually anybody who really pays attention to the Brewers knows that their strength really lies in their starting pitching with three guys throwing over 200 innings last season, none of which were Zach Greinke. The Brewers pitching should be enough for them to hang on and win this dogfight of a division.
2. St. Louis Cardinals: The defending champs lost one of the most dynamic players in franchise history this offseason, and they still should be considered realistic contenders for the division. The Cardinals made a very savvy two year deal with Carlos Beltran, who while not Albert Pujols, still has value. Add Beltran to a lineup already featuring Lance Berkman, Matt Holliday, Jon Jay, David Freese, and Yadier Molina, and it’s far from “average”. Their rotation however is a bit iffy. Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright are battling injuries again, and those who aren’t injured won’t have Dave Duncan to rely on since Duncan is on a leave of absence. Still, the lineup should be enough for them to at least contend for the wild card.
3. Cincinnati Reds: I’d be very happy choosing the Reds to win the division. The problem is, I keep looking at their pitching and I stop right in my tracks since it is quite ordinary at best. Not to mention I’m not wild about their manager either. Joey Votto is now very rich in addition to be very good, and Jay Bruce is one of the more unheralded left handed sluggers in the game. Newly acquired Mat Latos is about to find out there is a huge difference between pitching at Petco Park, and The Great American Ballpark.
4. Chicago Cubs: Read Here
5. Pittsburgh Pirates: Hey! Andrew McCutchen can play! Nobody else on the roster can however, but that’s neither here nor there. That will change eventually if their much ballyhooed prospects come to fruition. Hey, at least they’re not the Astros.
6. Houston Astros: Ladies and gentlemen, for the second year in a row, here is your official “Worst Team in Major League Baseball”! Besides the awful product on the field, besides the upcoming switch to the American League, the real reason why the Astros suck is their newly minted owner Jim Crane is a raging racist ass bag who coincidentally loves golf (scroll down to the Astros Section). If I had more time, I think I can come up with a good argument for contraction.
National League West:
1. San Francisco Giants: “To Hit, or Not to Hit” is the question the Giants seem to ask themselves every season. Last season they obviously chose NOT to hit as they were dead last in the National League in Runs Scored per game. That is going to change this year however, as new additions Melky Cabrera and Angel Pagan will definitely hit, plus (drum roll) Brandon Belt will be given the reins at first base and I predict he will fulfill the promise he showed last season. A lineup that goes from one actual hitter to five in combination with arguably the best rotation in baseball, means the Giants will win the division.
2. Arizona Diamondbacks: What a weird, yet good team. It’s pretty amazing that this bunch won 94 games last year. Justin Upton is also one of my favorite young players in the game, but other than him, there’s nobody in the lineup that really strikes fear in the hearts of starting pitchers. The Diamondbacks are a pretty good fielding team however, and their rotation is solid if unspectacular. They’ll hang around for a while but eventually fade.
3. Los Angeles Dodgers: You would think a team with the Cy Young Award winner (Clayton Kershaw) and a guy who should have won the MVP (Matt Kemp) on it would do better than 82 wins last year, but they didn’t. Then again with all the turmoil surrounding the embattled and thankfully former owner Frank McCourt, it’s amazing the Dodgers even took the field most nights, in many respects. This season should be more conducive to success for the Dodgers, with better days on the horizon.
4. Colorado Rockies: Like the Reds, I really want to like this team, but then I just look at their pitching and that’s the end of it. I mean seriously, what the hell is Jamie Moyer still doing there? Moyer was pitching when I was in 5th grade! The Rockies have the best shortstop in the game in Troy Tulowitzki, along with Carlos Gonzalez, Todd Helton, and the recently acquired Michael Cuddyer. That won’t be enough to overcome their pitching woes however, and believe me when I tell you, they are WOES.
5. San Diego Padres: While it hasn’t been locked up yet, the Padres are in position to make an $800 million TV deal. That money will do wonderful things for this franchise, which is already ranked 2nd best minor league system thanks to some offseason trades. Until that TV Deal is secured however, Padres fans will be attending games strictly for their awesome ballpark because the product on the field is very ignorable.
POSTSEASON:
AL East Winner: Yankees
AL Central Winner: Tigers
AL West Winner: Rangers
AL Wild Card: Rays, Angels
AL Champion: Rangers
NL East Winner: Phillies
NL Central Winner: Brewers
NL West: Giants
NL Wild Card: Marlins, Cardinals
NL Champion: Brewers
World Series Champion: Texas Rangers
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