The AL Beast might have lost its crown as the top division this year, as the NL Central looks equally competitive in my arbitrary opinion.
Baltimore
Strengths - Vacek finally got himself out of the AL East and left the Orioles to new GM Jason, who faces a daunting rebuilding project to catch up to the top of this division. Baltimore has a healthy minor league system, which won't be touched on, and some solid young bats in the lineup to build around in Kevin Kouzmanoff, James Loney, and Andre Ethier. Mike Sweeney is hoping to be this year's Frank Thomas for the MLB A's, and if he succeeds he should prove a valuable trade chip at the deadline for Baltimore, while Jason Botts has always been a nice AAAA slugger, maybe he'll project. Carlos Marmol has a ton of talent in the bullpen, why he isn't the Cubs' closer I haven't the foggiest.
Weaknesses - The starting rotation doesn't really have an established pitcher among the group. Scott Baker is probably the most established, but he has been up and down the last few years and is hardly a sure thing. Dana Eveland and the rest of the starters looks like a back of the rotation fodder. Depth in the pen and the lineup will also be major issues.
Final Word - This team is a work in progress, there's little point in evaluating it for this year as its final incarnation is many steps away.
Boston
Strengths - Bren is strong along the infield with Youkilis, Pedroia, top prospect Jed Lowrie, and Andy LaRoche. Travis Hafner will continue to mash from the DH spot and Chris Snyder should project behind the plate. Beckett, Webb and Beuhrle are a strong 1-2-3 punch at the top of the rotation, and the sudden emergence of Jeremy Guthrie along with a midseason return from Chris Carpenter gives Bren rotation depth to match anyone in the league. Travis Buck exploded onto the scene last year and can play all three outfield spots. The bullpen led by Neshek and Okajima is top-heavy but strong.
Weaknesses - The bullpen is a question mark as after Hideki Okajima and Neshek there isn't much in the way of established talent, beyond the injury prone Brandon Lyon. Outfield depth is a major concern, particularly with the way Buck has shown himself injury prone. The other OFs include Luke Scott, David Murphy (who's at least a year away), Kevin Mench (a platoon OF) and the mercurial Elijah Dukes (who almost certainly won't project well after last year). On the infield Andy LaRoche's projection is questionable, if he doesn't get it maybe Youk moves to third, Hafner to first and Catalanatto into the lineup? There is also a real risk that Lowrie doesn't get a usable projection, in which case Bren will be scrambling for a shortstop. Travis Buck and Jed Lowrie for Julio Lugo maybe? Consider it on the table.
Final Word - Familiar faces from years past like Vlad Guerrero, Victor Martinez and Michael Young are long gone, and the thinner lineup will have to lean on the deep rotation to compete with the Yankees.
New York
Strengths - Lineup, Rotation, Bullpen, Bench, Farm System
Weaknesses - Sense of decency
Final Word - Fuck you JB, Fuck you.
Tampa Bay
Strengths - Pat Tullar (Pat Jr., Other so and so is played out) seems to be following the Jagger/Perryman rebuilding method intently, stocking his team with prospect after prospect, none of whom we are going to touch on in this review. Only three positions in the lineup will be stocked with established major leaguers, the extra-scrappy David Eckstein at SS, the barely-established Billy Butler at DH, and the venerable Kenny Lofton in CF. What the hell is Kenny Lofton doing on this roster? After that its a bunch of youngsters and AAAA projection types. There is a ton of talent on the pitching side too, but only Andrew Miller, the moderately talented Jesse Litsch and Aaron Laffey, and the not so talented Todd Wellemeyer have seen the bigs from the rotation side. In the bullpen are random veterans Al Reyes and Keith Foulke, likely midseason trade bait behind the newly emerged Heath Bell.
Weaknesses - Umm... do we still have that rule about needing 25 active players? Of the 50 guys on the DRays roster only 21 projected last year, and only a couple of prospects look certain to join the DB from my quick glance down his list. Pat Jr. might struggle to comply with this rule. A lot of my commentary on the Astros also fits for the Devil Rays, there's no point in evaluating the 2008 version, they aren't here for that.
Final Word - The talented Baby Rays are years away from competing and will get another high pick in this year's draft to add to the stable, getting crushed by design.
Toronto
Strengths - Santana and Smoltz will give it one more go, boosted by the surprise promotion of Justin Duchscherer to the rotation. Takashi Saito and Mike Timlin are still chugging along in the bullpen, giving this top heavy staff strong support in the late innings along with Manny Corpas. There is a ton of power in the lineup, from the surprising Jack Cust, Miguel Tejada, Carlos Pena, and Derrek Lee. Yunel Escobar was a nice surprise at SS and gives the Blue Jays a young cornerstone at the position. Curtis Granderson, Mr. 20/20/20/20/20/20/20/20/20/20/20/20 is a great piece in CF.
Weaknesses - Age is a huge factor on this roster. Smoltz, Saito, Timlin, and Wakefield are pushing or have hit 40, and Tejada appeared to be rapidly aging last year (or perhaps was coming down from the juice). After Smoltz and Santana we're looking at I assume Pat plans to use him at 3B, as the other options are the possibly retired Corey Koskie and Aaron Fucking Boone who's definitely on the downside. It really hurts to lose Barry Bonds, who will almost certainly find a team to sign with the day Pat decides to cut bait and release him, or at least that's what would happen if he was on my team. Defense is also a big question mark, as Tejada will be moving to a new position, and Jack Cust needs to DH but there are two 1Bs in Derrek Lee and Carlos Pena.
Final Word - The depth on this roster isn't great, so this team will need some luck with injuries to keep pace with New York, but their ability to score runs in bunches and the power at the top of the rotation should keep this team in contention all the way through.
Final Word on the division - JB wins again, then loses in the first round again. He's the Peyton Manning of the IBC. The race between Bren and Pat for the WC, which this year should include Minnesota and Kansas City at least to September, will be a big test of the value of pitching vs. offense. I'm leaning towards pitching, though I'd be more confident if Bren had one more lights out pen arm, and predicting that the Red Sox take the AL Wild Card.
Jake's Arbitrary Spring Training Preview - AL East
Moderator: Giants
Following out the string the players I got for Mauer and Paps led to the core of a 100 win team. With Mauer I was maybe a .500 team, gotta make that deal.Yankees wrote:What were you thinking dealing Mauer? Even though I hooked you up with Papelbon! Then you dealt him away, what were you thinking?
I hate having Red Sox on my team, but I can at least tolerate Papelbon for the time being.
