It was hard for me to put the Phils back atop in a division that to me, seems ripe with dark horse usurpers. Mostly, because of this thought: "but what if Lee AND Halladay?" Which, I hate to say it, would've made me tremble in my fashionable AL boots. But here are the facts, Halladay is sitting sheriff above a rotation that has already proved itself worthy, and he should flourish coming from the AL (East, no less) to the NL.
Bullpen rotation-wise, I still think Brad Lidge is a liability, but if he falters the newly acquired Danys Baez will be there for support. Should shore things up a bit.
Chooch @ catcher, and a Howard/Utley/Rollins/Polanco infield is pretty intimidating, even if J-Roll's best years are behind him and Utley couldn't POSSIBLY have as good a late year/post-season as he did last year. Could he?
Even considering Raul Ibanez not living up to last season's freakishly good performance, the outfield of he, Victorino and Werth is borderline great.
2) The Atlanta Braves a.k.a. "the Atlanta Braves"
Derek Lowe won 15 last year, and if Tim Hudson returns to form, the rotation is formidable. The reason I can say this so assuredly, is that I've got Jair Jurrjens having his breakout, Cy Young caliber season this year. Tommy Hanson, their #4, went 11-4 with a 2.89 last year. Expect him to improve as well. This is a staff on the up-and-up.
The bullpen was solidified with off-season moves. Takashi Saito & Billy Wagner, as well as the Yanks' Michael Dunn should have a hold on things, in some configuration.
The infield, while aging at the corners in Chipper and Troy Glaus, is young & athletic in the middle and proficient all around. There's some pop in there. Lest we forget, Brian McCann is behind the plate; he's young, and he can hit.
I'd be psyched on an outfield of Melky, McLouth and Matt Diaz. Keep in mind Diaz hit .313 last season and McClouth hit 20 dingers. They won't land Damon, but if they do, I say I wouldn't mind filling out that lineup card.
3.) The Florida Marlins a.k.a. "the Big Fish starring Ewan McGregor"
Josh Johnson is a strikeout machine, and granted Anibal Sanchez gets his groove back, I'm confident enough in Nolasco and Volstad and other fillers-in to round out a strong, young, righthand-centric rotation.
The bullpen is the glaring flaw here, and if the question marks of the rotation flop, the thrifty Marlins are going to feel the sting of never buying mercenary arms.
That being said, the Fish infield alone is an RBI powerhouse, with Jorge Cantu manning one, re-upped and allegedly "happy" Uggla killing it at second, and Hanley Ramirez, the best young (or old) shortstop in the game looking to improve on last year's [impressive] line of 24HR, 106RBI, 27SB, and a .342 batting average. He is an MVP frontrunner whose numbers will almost assuredly rise, playing the meanest stop since, well, the man himself.
The outfield is anchored by rookie of the year Chris Coghlan, and his counterparts in Maybin and Ross are middling. The real problematics for these Miami-bound Marlins though, I believe lies in their dearth of accountable pitching options.
4.) the Washington Nationals "a.k.a. the Natinals, obviously"
2010 is the year. Unlike the cellar-dwelling Rays, who left the bottom of the barrel in a hurry, I predict a slower ascent for the Nats. John Lannan, Jason Marquis, and Stephen Strasburg. Something old, something new, etc. I've got [maybe undue] faith in this trio winning a decent crop of games. Time will tell.
They will find a closer in either Capps or Bruney, and the loser will be the 8th man. A strong enough 1-2 punch for me.
The infield is solid, Pudge will be more valuable I imagine for his game calling than whatever's left in his swing, but Dunn is at first and we all know that boy can crush 'em. Adam Kennedy at second. Zimmerman seeming like a guy who will make a nice, quiet career for himself, blasting off at third.
The Nat's outfield boasts Josh Willingham and Elijah Dukes, with Nygier Morgan waiting in the winds. This is nothing extraordinary, but nothing to shake a stick at.
5.) the New York Mets a.k.a. "the New York Mess"
Now, I know this will seem like my dislike for the Mets manifesting in an insult. I promise that this is my sincere prediction. Santana, when not being preserved for next-season duty after the Mets are mathematically eliminated from contention, will pitch like the ace he is, truly one of the best at what he does. It's... everyone else. The Met rotation is filled with mercurial starters who, as illustrated most succinctly by Oli Perez, can be either great or abysmal. When it comes to these Mets lately though, can you do anything but assume the worst? This bad feeling extends to K-Rod, who, I'm sorry, has never made me feel so secure. Maybe Kelvim Escobar can try to make sense of whatever refuse is left in that bullpen.
Let's continue to the infield: Daniel Murphy plays an inept first base. Luis Castillo, as he so wonderfully displayed during Interleague play last year, is no longer the gold-gloved Luis Castillo of old, Reyes is hiding and will continue hiding, to disastrous effects, a hammy injury. David Wright is good, good-looking and prone to getting his brains scrambled like eggs by fastballs. That is all that will be said about David Wright. Add in the rotating door that is the catching position, coupled with their failure to lure Bengie from Frisco, and I see an infield that'll play like a minefield: in that they'll be carrying the dizzied, limbless casualties of early-June away quicker than they can be replaced.
Gary Matthews Jr. is a colorless, back-up bound addition and Jason Bay learned the Met protocol right off the bat by getting injured BEFORE the season. Jeff Francoeur, a player I've always liked, will need to become the centerpiece of whatever pastiche the Mets will frantically glue together during the cataclysmic mid-season meltdown they've now got down to an artform.
They say, it's always darkest just before sunlight. Channeling that, I predict the Mets going all the way to the bottom before they ever rise back to the top.
Up Next: the NL Central
I was a bit bored, so I decided to put forth what I think is our ideal line-up this season and why. Here’s what I came up with:
ReplyDelete1. The Shortstop, #2, Derek Jeter, #2- The Captain. If he didn’t prove he is one of the best lead-off hitters in the league last season, I don’t know what you were watching. Not only did he lead the team in BA, but he lead in OBP as well. He also is unselfish and will sacrifice himself everytime, if the play is right.
2. Nick Johnson- With his power numbers down, I want this lefty hitting behind Jeter to advance him on the bases. He carries a career .402 OBP into the season and I feel we don’t have anyone else who can fill this spot. If we are going to sign a OBP DH, which I disagree with, at least put him in a spot where that can be productive. (with our big bats behing him)
3. Mark Texiera- This is a no-brainer, he seemed to shake the New York freshmen woes pretty quickly, so expect a full season of production from him this year.
4. Alex Rodriguez- No off-season troubles this year, an entire off-season resting his hip. I think this could be another MVP season for our clean-up hitter. That’s of course if our own 1st basemen doesn’t steal his thunder.
5. Jorge Posada- At this stage of the line-up, we have a few comprable guys who can fill these slots. None of which are as clutch as our catcher, who like Jeter last year, will want to disprove all of the people who say he is too old.
6. Nick Swisher- I like the idea of stacking our switch hitters in the middle of the line-up. This will give the other managers fits with their bull-pens later in the games. Also, Nick had a nice season last year and I hope will be out to prove he can be a full-time starter and last year wasn’t a fluke.
7. Robbie Cano- I would like to put him higher in the order, being that he hit .320 last year (second highest on the team) and showed that he has been working on his patience at the plate. The only thing holding me back is his .207 BA with runners in scoring position last year. He still had 85 RBI with that average, so imagine how many he could have if he stops pressing in those situations. Look for him to move up to 6 or even 2 with a hot start and a less than impressive start from Swish or Johnson.
8. Curtis Granderson- I wasn’t crazy about this move when they made it, and the more I look at his numbers the more I don’t understand it. I think his problems last year were due to home run envy. He incrased his HR total (from 22 in 08 to 30 in 09) RBI increased a little as well (66 to 71, very little) but every other stat went down. It also seems to me that lefties have figured out how to get him out. Look for the short porch to help him out a bit, but not much, and there’s always the freshmen New York factor that can come into play.
9. Brett “the Jet” Gardner- Before he got injured last year he was in talks of a possible Rookie of the Year, also look for him to gain a little more power so the outfield will back off him a bit. If he can bat around .280 (which he was right around before the injury) he can easily steal upward of 50 to 60 bases. With Jeter behind him, this can be the best run-scoring 9 to top punch in the majors.
The only addendum I will add is when Posada sits, which he will probably be every Burnett gets the start again. Cervelli should be put in the 7 slot. Though only a short stint in the majors last year, it seems he can hold his own at the plate. I am not saying he is going to be a better hitter than Granderson this year, but, with the already weakening of our line up sans Posada, I think it is a good choice to break up the lefties (Cano/Granderson) in the order to not allow one lefty specialist a free run at the both of them in one inning.