IBC

No really, we're going to finish these! Crazy right?

Angels

Strengths
Peter Bourjos is a useful major leaguer. That makes one useful major leaguer in the lineup. There are trades that I'm proud of, and then there are trades I'm not, and the Alex Cobb for Manny Ramirez deal is probably one I'd like to have back... who woulda thunk that the team with Taillon, Cole, and Bundy would actually front the rotation with Alex Cobb in 2014? Take that Baseball America. Cole is going to be decent this year and Taillon projects as usable. That's 3 real starting pitchers, perhaps a record for Stephen's iteration of the Angels (or Dave Taylor's for that matter...)

Weaknesses
Like I said, there's one useful major leaguer in the lineup. Chew on that.

Bottom Line
Another year in the cellar for Stephen, but at least he's not Z!

Astros

Strengths
Fertility, congrats on the new baby Nate! There's an interesting collection of moderately useful players on the Astros. I'm not sure exactly what direction this team is trying to take, but Masterson, Arroyo, Scheppers (today's start notwithstanding), and Henderson Alvarez are the makings of a decent rotation.

Weaknesses
I count 3 legitimate hitters in this lineup (looking at the roster, since Nate doesn't have an updated lineup, feel free to speculate on who I missed in the comments). In this division that isn't going to get it done.

Bottom Line
Nate will be better than Stephen and possibly Ropers, but he's not catching me or Brett

Gritty Gutty Uncrowned IBC Champion Oakland Athletics In the future please refer to us by our full name

Strengths
This is probably the best lineup I've ever had going into a season, with a legitimate guy everywhere except maybe left field, and we won't be replacement level there either. The bullpen, assuming Ryan Cook is activated early like we expect, should be another monster. Also, the park cannot be ignored here, as it turns just about anyone into an ace (see DiFelice, Mark; Saunders, Joe; House, T.J;, etc.).

Weaknesses
We're going to need that park, with Marcum out (what else is new?) Edwin Escobar is the #3 starter after McCarthy and Kluber, and he'll be number 2 when B-Mac goes on his annual injury sabbatical. Really expected better from Roark's projection. Rooting like crazy for a Johan Santana ace-like rebound year.

Bottom Line
Should be nip and tuck down to the finish with Brett again. What else is new?

Mariners

Strengths
Jose Abreu looks fucking legit. It broke my heart I wasn't in a position to draft him. Enjoy that guy. Assuming he isn't traded anytime soon Headley makes for a strong 1-2 punch with Abreu, and if Kendrys Morales ever signs he can hit too. Also, as I may have mentioned earlier, Byron Buxton is here. But he got hurt. So ha!

Weaknesses
So given that Ropers is in something of a fire sale mode I'm thinking there's no point in mentioning any/all of the weaknesses here. There's actually less here than I thought, I'm demoting Seattle below Houston

Bottom Line
Should be a photo finish with Anaheim for the bottom spot

Rangers*BOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!*

Strengths
Thunder na na na na na na THUNDER! (Sorry, Thunderstruck doesn't really lend itself to typed out fantasy baseball preseason preview form). That being said, HanRam/Cabrera/Fielder speaks for itself as the heart of the order, and the park doesn't hurt. Brett is finally moving Fielder to DH, and giving Cecchini a chance at 3rd, so there aren't obvious glaring defensive holes either. When Darvish gets healthy the rotation is also in better shape than it's been in years.

Weaknesses
Darvish isn't healthy. Something is weird about that situation. I hope he's OK because he's really fun to watch, but something is weird here. That matters because Globe Life Ballpark (that's what it's called now) has had the opposite effect on Ranger pitching that O.co has had, so we oughta be careful before we get too excited.

Bottom Line
On paper Brett looks like the favorite, but his GAGAR (grit and gut above replacement) is well below mine. Let's go A's!

Projected Standings
1. Athletics - Stealing a division win, losing in round 1
2. Rangers - WC, but winning the world series anyway
--
3. Astros - Top 15 pick
4. Angels - Top 10 Pick
5. Mariners - Top 5 Pick

And with that, we finished this year. Gillespie and d'Esterhazy will have to come up with some other snarky thing to say about me in 2014

What's everyone going to complain about now that you actually finished your "preseason" reviews? Oh, yes there is always that DMB projection disk thing.

Jake, Everybody knows you never go full rebuild. Z went full rebuild, man. Never go full rebuild. You don't buy that? Ask Bren, 2008, "the He/She Power ranking chick", Remember? Went full rebuild, he has been empty handed ever since....

That was going good right up until the double post! Doh! Oh the irony.

Anyways......Woohoo! The M's are in 1st place for a day!

Mariners wrote:What's everyone going to complain about now that you actually finished your "preseason" reviews? Oh, yes there is always that DMB projection disk thing.

Jake, Everybody knows you never go full rebuild. Z went full rebuild, man. Never go full rebuild. You don't buy that? Ask Bren, 2008, "the He/She Power ranking chick", Remember? Went full rebuild, he has been empty handed ever since....

I did a full rebuild in 2010

Mariners wrote:What's everyone going to complain about now that you actually finished your "preseason" reviews? Oh, yes there is always that DMB projection disk thing.

Jake, Everybody knows you never go full rebuild. Z went full rebuild, man. Never go full rebuild. You don't buy that? Ask Bren, 2008, "the He/She Power ranking chick", Remember? Went full rebuild, he has been empty handed ever since....

Haha. Well played. Saw that with Full Kozma last year. Never go Full Kozma either.

Athletics wrote:Gillespie and d'Esterhazy will have to come up with some other snarky thing to say about me in 2014

Oh, we'll come up with something. Don't you worry.

Mariners wrote:What's everyone going to complain about now that you actually finished your "preseason" reviews? Oh, yes there is always that DMB projection disk thing.

Jake, Everybody knows you never go full rebuild. Z went full rebuild, man. Never go full rebuild. You don't buy that? Ask Bren, 2008, "the He/She Power ranking chick", Remember? Went full rebuild, he has been empty handed ever since....

I'd "LIKE" this post a million times if I could.. Full rebuild.. lmao.

And I guess Jake forgot about a pitcher on my roster named Lohse.. Scheppers aint even going to slot into the rotation this year. And look for Biddle to come through. Rotation is looking pretty solid, and the pen should be a force. The D is improved in Houston, as is the farm. The lineup still lacks the thunder previous lineups had when I was the BRM of the IBC. But, we will continue to try to rectify that.

All in all, should be another year hovering around .500 I think. But nice job, actually getting these done Jake.

It is flat out hard to replicate what Z is doing in his chase for Rodon. I would have said I would have scored the least amount of runs in the league (ever) but Z might do that before me.

As for my team, yup, kind of shitty, my older prospects have fallen flat, got some talent still on the way, but I am not trading a TOR SP for a hitter that isn't much better than Bourjos (which isn't a lot since his worth comes with his defense and speed).

And what the hell, where is my top 5 pick prediction, you only game out four of those (Sea, Cle, Wsh, and SD)...or do you have me jumping over another team with my staff of aces (present or future) and no name lineup?

In all seriousness I think that there are three keys to a successful build from scratch within our rules:

1. Be patient - don't get 60-70% of the way there and start paring down your assets to shortcut to competitive
2. Consolidate - with such a small roster and the level of attrition in baseball, you have to find a way to consolidate some of your really good prospects into youngish major league studs
3. Maximize you roster - this goes hand in hand with the second one, but you have to use as many of your 50 roster spots on assets as you can for as long as you can, and keep churning the bottom of your roster

If you're as good at making good trades as JP and Pat G are, you can build in some extra margin for error and not be quite as fanatical about #3 as, say, Jagger, Pat T and I were, but I think that those three things are common factors in successful building and where we've gone against them we've hurt ourselves a little. #1 was the hardest for me.

Too be fair, if this Aiken kid is a quarter good as they are saying, I may have to take him. #SuckinForAiken

Rangers wrote:In all seriousness I think that there are three keys to a successful build from scratch within our rules:

1. Be patient - don't get 60-70% of the way there and start paring down your assets to shortcut to competitive
2. Consolidate - with such a small roster and the level of attrition in baseball, you have to find a way to consolidate some of your really good prospects into youngish major league studs
3. Maximize you roster - this goes hand in hand with the second one, but you have to use as many of your 50 roster spots on assets as you can for as long as you can, and keep churning the bottom of your roster

If you're as good at making good trades as JP and Pat G are, you can build in some extra margin for error and not be quite as fanatical about #3 as, say, Jagger, Pat T and I were, but I think that those three things are common factors in successful building and where we've gone against them we've hurt ourselves a little. #1 was the hardest for me.

I can agree with that. I started my build in the 2009-2010 offseason I think (I don't call it a rebuild since that seems to indicate it was once built). I'm hoping I'll be competitive this year and get stronger next year.

Here's just some of my future studs that were busts:
Lars Anderson, Michael Saunders, Justin Smoak, Brian Matusz, Zach Stewart, Zach Britton, Kyle Blanks, Carlos Carrasco, Phil Hughes...

Of course some of these guys have turned out to be serviceable MLBers, and some of them still have a chance to be impact MLBers, but it just shows, so many of the top ranked "can't miss" prospects end up being nothing great.

But you just have to be patient. Sometimes these guys labeled as busts end up reaching their potential, and sometimes you get good drafts that result in a few good pieces. Selling off your picks and prospects for aging mediocre MLBers can keep you spinning your tires as a .500 team for a long time.

Nationals wrote:Too be fair, if this Aiken kid is a quarter good as they are saying, I may have to take him. #SuckinForAiken

I believe what you meant to say was, #TankinForAiken

Mariners wrote:

Nationals wrote:Too be fair, if this Aiken kid is a quarter good as they are saying, I may have to take him. #SuckinForAiken

I believe what you meant to say was, #TankinForAiken

I think he's refering to fellatio.

Orioles wrote:

I think he's refering to fellatio.[/quote]

lol