Are you ready to RUMBLE!!!! Baseball season is on its way and you'd better be ready. It's not gonna wait for you so ready or not here it comes! This year looks bright for these teams, starting in the American League, including the Red Sox and their all new defense, the defending champion White Sox, the Athletics with their young guns, and yes, I'll admit it, those Yankees. You can never leave those pinstriped pincushions (no offense, MVB) out of the picture. Well I love the Yankees, you might say. Bah humbug. They need to retire for a few years then maybe I'll change my mind about the pincushion name.
Oh yes, the National League. Well, allright. But maybe my next article can be about ridiculing the Yankees. It's mean, you say? Ok, I guess I won't write. I'll humble myself and follow the Fruits of the Spirit. In the National League, my picks are, the repeatingly good Atlanta Braves, them old redbirds(Cardinals), the Astros may be good, the D'Backs, and for a sleeper pick, the Dodgers.
Now to analyze them.
American League:
AL East Division Boston Red Sox- Theo Epstein's return this year helped the team morale a bunch. The returns of Big Papi, Manny Ramirez, and Jason Varitek(V-Tek) solidify the middle of the batting order, and new aquisitions Coco Crisp OF, Wily Mo Pena OF,Mike Lowell 3B, Alex Gonzalez SS, Mark Loretta 2B, and JT Snow 1B are great defensive players, and Loretta(.300 career batting average), Crisp, and Lowell(15 homers, 58 RBI's in I believe 128 games(?)) are pretty good hitters to add to the power of Papi, Manny, and V-Tek. The pitching is solid as well, with new aquisition Josh Beckett(15-8, 3.38 ERA), and relief pitchers Julian Tavarez(2-3, 74 appearances), and Rudy Seanez(7-1, 57 appearances). All hope lies on pitchers Curt Schilling and Keith Folke. Both were injured a great deal last year, and if they don't return to form, Boston's chances are damaged.
AL Central Chicago White Sox-When Jim Thome came to town, the Sox changed from a 1 run game philosophy to a more power surrounded philosophical plan. If Thome, 35 years old, can return to his old form, he and Paul Konerko(.283,40 HR, 100 RBI) could combine for 70 HR's and 200 RBI's. I don't need to go into depth about the Sox's superb pitching staff. They should have another Division title come October.
AL West Oakland A's- New faces Frank Thomas, Milton Bradley, and Esteban Loaiza(12-10,3.77 ERA) will impact the A's success. Loaiza joins a talented young staff that includes starters Barry Zito(12-13,3.86), Rich Harden(10-5,2.53), Dan Haren(14-12,3.73), Kirk Saarloos and Joe Blanton. Sophomore reliever Huston Street(18 for 18 saves) is amazing, and this year is his shot at stardom. Setup men Justin Duscherer, Jay Witasick, and Kiko Calero should have good years in the bullpen. The only problem with this picture is two of the newcomers, Frank Thomas and Milton Bradley. Thomas has been on the disabled list most of the last few years, and he need a standout year. Bradley has chemistry problems. This is his fourth organization, and everywhere Milton goes, he "breaks the good china", and he also has been on the DL following knee surgery last year. Good luck Oakland.
AL East New York Yankees-Oh them dreaded Yanks. Well, I guess they have a rightful place
here too. Newcomer Johnny Damon(.316,10 HR, 75 RBI, 18 steals) was stolen from
the beloved Boston Red Sox. He shaved his do while the Sox nation went boo hoo,
and now all he can do is say how happy he is to be a Yankee. Oh well. Let
bygones be bygones. He is just what the Yanks needed, and now Derek
Jeter(.309,23,73) can move back a slot in the order, as can A-Rod(.321,48,130,21
steals). Jason Giambi finally refound his groove(.271,32,87), and Gary
Sheffield(.291,34,123), and Hideki Matsui(.305,25,116) will round out the top six in
the order. It's Murderer's Row again. But, they have no pitching! The age and
injuries of big money starters Randy Johnson(17-8,3.79), Mike Mussina,
Chien-Mien Wang, Carl Pavano, Jaret Wright, Shawn Chacon, and Aaron Small are
horrendous. The bullpen is better with newly aquired relievers Kyle Farnsworth,
Octavio Dotel, and lefties Ron Villone and Mike Myers. They will setup Old
Reliable Mariano Rivera(7-4, 43 saves). This team is good, but can they win it
all, not to mention a division title? It all starts with pitching, as all the
greats can tell you.
Now for the National League:
NL East Atlanta Braves- They can't stop winning their division, can they? Well, 14 years in a row now they have been first. The problem is, they can't get past the Division Series, except of course a few times in the 90's. I feel they are just a good team in a very bad division. The Mets, Nationals, Phillies and the Marlins are horrible teams, as far as playoff contenders go, and the only team in the new millenium to reach the playoffs from the NL East besides the Braves is the Marlins, who won it all in 2003. But, never-the-less, I'll admit the Braves have some very impressive young talent, led by Jeff Francoeur, The Natural. New arrival Edgar Renteria replaces Rafael Furcal, and old Chipper Jones holds the offense together. The pitching still features grizzled old John Smoltz, who still has his fireball. Tim Hudson will co-anchor the staff with Smoltz, and the other starters are Horacio Ramirez and Jorge Sosa. Danny Kolb's closer experiment was disastrous, so Chris Reitsma will likely give it a shot this year. Lance Cormier and Oscar Villareal will set Reitsma up. The question remains, can they get past the Division Series?
NL Central St. Louis Cardinals-The Redbirds have a lethal offense. Man, if they were the Yankees, I'd say "it's another of those Murderer's Rows". Well, in St. Louis they call it a Gashouse Gang. Anyway, there's Albert Pujols, who had another monster year, and of course that NLCS home run in Houston. Man, they're still talkin' about that smash. Also Jim Edmonds and a healthy Scott Rolen. Retired Larry Walker will be missed, but new players Juan Encarnacion and Larry Bigbie, along with part-time Cardinals John Rodriguez and So Taguchi will spar for left and right field. Also new infielders include Junior Spivey and Aaron Miles are aboard. The pitching staff features Cy Young Chris Carpenter, Mark Mulder, Jason Marquis, Jeff Suppan, and former Oriole Sidney Ponson. Assuming Ponson doesn't get into any legal trouble, the rotation is solid, and the bullpen is strong, with new relievers Braden Looper and Ricardo Rincon helping the rest of the crew set up star closer Jason Isringhausen. I think the Cards have a shot this year, but, as I stated earlier, it all starts with pitching.
NL Central Houston Astros-Rocket Roger Clemens will not be eligible to resign with the Astros until May 1. And he may retire before then anyway. So, except for Clemens, the rest of the Astros is the same as last year, but wait, they signed Preston Wilson, who is a dynamic offensive AND defensive aquisition, and should complement the Morgan Ensberg and the Killer Bees, of whom only two remain, wrinkled Craig Biggio and Lance Berkman. The pitching staff looks hot though, even without the Rocket, with 20 game winner Roy Oswalt, Andy Pettite, Brandon Backe, and young pitchers Wandy Rodriguez and Eziquiel Astacio. The only question mark is the Astros road record, which was awful last year, at 36-45. They should win the Wild Card, if anything. Look for them to either get on fire down the stretch, or fade away.
NL West Arizona Diamondbacks-One sentence. The hottest chance in the majors. If they catch aflame, they can expect a Championship Series, and perhaps a, oh can it be, World Series. The D'Backs are my pick for the breakout team of the year. Among others, bigshot pitcher Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez was aquired from the White Sox for unhappy pitcher Javier Vasquez. Also signed was former Brave catcher Johnny Estrada, and free agent center fielder Eric Byrnes. Troy Glaus is gone, but Chad Tracy, who had a good year with a .308 BA,27 HR, and 72 RBI's, will start at third. If he can stay error free(had 29 errors two years ago as the starting 3B), he should have a breakout year. The weakness of this young team is their bullpen, as finally they decided on closer Jose Valverde last year. He had only 15 saves, and the setup men need to perform well to get the ball to Valverde. Former closer Miguel Batista, aquired in the Glaus trade, must successfully make the transfer to starting pitcher for the Diamondbacks to have their chance. If he does well, THEN I will pick the D'Backs to go to the Series. Lots of IFS, huh. Well, the D'Backs ARE an IF this year. It is up to them.
NL West Los Angeles Dodgers-My sleeper pick. Maybe I just like Nomar Garciaparra. Or is it because Adrian Beltre is on a hot streak? Who knows. Rafael Furcal, signed from the Braves via free agency, will play short, and Nomar will switch to first. 3B Bill Mueller was signed from the Red Sox, and CF Kenny Lofton and pitcher Brett Tomko were also signed. As mentioned earlier, Milton Bradley is gone, which may be a good thing. Workhorse Tomko was added to a strong rotation that includes veterans Brad Penny, Derek Lowe, and lefty Odalis Perez. The success of the bullpen depends on the health of Eric Gagne, but new aquisitions Dany Baez, who had 41 saves and a 2.81 ERA and Lance Carter will help out a good setup team. Health is an issue for the Dodgers, so their season depends on health.
Well, that rounds out my analysis, and special thanks to Baseball Digest as a reference guide to player names and rosters, and not to mention stats.
The last thing I want to do is predict for fun the winners this year.
Division Winners:
AL:
AL East:Boston Red Sox
AL Central:Chicago White Sox
AL West:Oakland A's
AL Wild Card:NY Yankees or Cleveland Indians
NL:
NL East:Atlanta Braves
NL Central:St. Louis Cardinals
NL West:LA Dodgers
NL Wild Card:Astros or Diamondbacks
AL Championship Series:
Chicago White Sox vs. Oakland A's
NL Championship Series:
St. Louis Cardinals vs. Diamondbacks
World Series:
Cardinals vs. A's
ALSO, here is a fun prediction for this year's sluggers, except you fans get to vote!
