MARCO'S BASEBALL
BLOG-O-ROONIE 2017: SPRING BASEBALL KISSES THE BOO BOO
I'm in recovery from
post election nausea and box fever.
My wife somehow
convinced me that it was time to move my aged ass out of our two
story house of the last 14 years so I wouldn't keep landing on it as
I fall down stairs in my moments of dotage. She seems to be as sure
footed as a mountain goat. (A cute little mountain goat of course.)
But I can't seem to drink coffee and talk on the cell phone and walk
down the stairs at the same time. I have no idea why.
I keep plunging to
my death in more and more spectacular avalanches.
That and our house
being uncomfortably in the flood plain (with Onion Creek across the
street periodically looking like the Ganges in full flood) finally
motivated my Viking wife to make one supreme effort to move three
blocks up the hill to a new, one-story town house. Thus the boxes.
We've filled up about a thousand of them and are starting to load up
the Conestoga. I'm just glad she didn't insist on moving to Costa
Rica to get away from Trump.
But suddenly it's
time for pitchers and catchers to report to Spring Training! I'm
saved! Something to occupy my mind while I try to decide if I really
need to keep 6 used tuxedos. And enough books to re-start
civilization if Kim Jong Un blows us up.
Instead of worrying
about the Bowling Green Massacre I am so relieved that the Texas
Rangers didn't sign free agent Jose Bautista. It would
have been hard to root for him. Instead Jose re-signed for one year
with his old team in Toronto where I can continue to despise
his bat flipping hot doggery. I notice that The Mets kept
Yoanis Cespedes and the Orioles kept Mark Trumbo and I
am grateful for this new sense of team continuity that slightly
permeates baseball culture.
Of course Edwin
Encarnacion went to the Indians, making them the strongest
club in the AL. (Over the Red Sox and the Blue Jays.)
And the World Champs, the Chicago Adorables,
have to defend their title without their center fielder and lead off
hitter Dexter Fowler, who got stolen by their NL Central
rivals the Cardinals in some sort of payback for the Justin
Heyward take-away of last year. They also watched Aroldis
Chapman recamp to the New York Yankee bullpen.
But the Dodgers,
in some sort of spasm of actual front office intelligence, kept two
of their strongest players in third sacker Justin Turner and
closer Kenley Jansen. I can mindlessly pack up six U-Haul
moving boxes while day dreaming about the Dodger's chances of
repeating as NL West Primeros this season...
LA really needs to
win one this year or next. They missed a great chance when they had
both Kershaw and Matt Greinke pitching at a high level.
They mishandled Greinke's contract negotiation and lost him and last
season Kershaw's back acted up. Back trouble is a huge warning sign
that a power pitcher's prime is ending.
The Dodgeheads have
strong defense up the middle with Grandal catching, Corey
Seager at short, Joc Peterson in center and the new
addition, Logan Forsyth coming over from Tampa Bay to
play second. Power at the corners with Turner and Adrian Gonzalez.
Help for Kershaw with young arms Maeda and Urias and
old pros Kazmir and Rich Hill to fill out the rotation.
They even got a set up man for Kenley with Sergio Romo
bringing his slider south from San Francisco.
Some people thought
they should have upgraded all the way to Minnesota's second
baseman Brian Dozier instead of settling for Forsyth. Dozier
somehow hit 42 bombs while playing in that cold Yellowstone Park up
in Target Field. And he's only 30. But that would have meant
giving up yet another handful of prospects and that minor league
depth is still remarkable in the Dodger's organization. They're
bringing 65 guys to camp!
With their new found
clubhouse chemistry thanks to Mr. Sunshine Dave Roberts I see
the Heads maybe having... “The Year.”
LA's competition
hasn't done enough. The Giants signed Mark Melancon
to be closer, but one guy isn't enough to fix their horrible bullpen.
It helps but not enough. They also don't have any offense...again.
They keep relying on guys who keep getting hurt.
The DiamondHumps
severely underachieved last year. Greinke found out the difference
between pitching in a pitcher's ball park vs. that homer dome in
Phoenix. (It's almost exactly 2 runs on your ERA, Matt.) The Humps
will fight it out for third with...
The Colorado
Rockies. They have a hellacious lineup. They got Ian Desmond
from Texas to give them a scary good infield with Arenado at
third, Story at short and LeMahieu at second. Ian will
try to learn first base. (* ALERT: Ian Desmond just broke his hand on
a Spring Training inside pitch. 8 weeks out.)
I actually resent
LeMahieu for sitting out the last week of the season to protect his
batting average from Danny Murphy...who was trying to help his
team win by playing. Polish up that batting crown LeMahieu...set it
next to a picture of Ted Williams to remind you of your
lameness.)
Of course, offense
is not the problem in Colorado, RockHeads...it's the pitching!
Rockies apologists are claiming that they have a bunch of fresh young
arms to rekindle the flickering Colorado baseball flame. Well, they
better throw real hard because we know what happens to breaking ball
pitchers at elevation. I still say go sinker ball if you're going to
pitch in Denver.
San Diego
Padres...they lost their football team in San D so now maybe the
fans will get more interested in their disaster of a ball team. Won't
help.
Moving West to East
for a change, The NL Central has already been awarded to the
Cubs, but I see possible trouble. For one thing, that starting
staff had a great year last year and one of the reasons was David
Ross, now retired. Ross framed pitches, especially for Lester.
All the pitchers loved him. Willson Contreras can hit and has
a great arm but he's not yet a good receiver. That will make a diff
to those starters.
Also, the loss of
Fowler leaves the Little Bearsie Wearsies with no real leadoff
hitter. And who plays center now? Heyward? Syzyzur? The Cubs
are short in the outfield.
They made up for the
loss of Chapman by signing Wade Davis and Kojie Uehara.
The Cardinals
should make up their minds about what kind of offensive team they
should be. Either get some power or get some speed. They have a bunch
of guys who are in-betweeners. Still, with their pitching talent they
are the main threat to Chicago.
Pittsburgh
insulted their great star Andrew McCutcheon all winter with
trade rumors and then moved him to right. They did little or nothing
to bolster their pitching staff. I've just about given up on them.
Kansas City and Cleveland showed how to win with a
small market team (at least for one or two seasons before you lose
everybody to free agency) but the Pirates seem like perennial “Not
Quites”.
Cincy Reds
had the worst pitching staff imaginable last year. Truly execrable.
Now they've lost their $50 million insanity-signee Homer Bailey.
Small market teams can't afford to keep that kind of money on the
books for non-productive players. They pay Votto a lot too,
but at least he delivers. The Reds will compete for last with...
The Milwaukee
Brauners. I refuse to pay attention to this team until they get
rid of Kid Steroid.
In the NL East the
Fabulous Floundering Metskies are ready to disappoint again
thanks to a tease of a starting staff. They can either be the
greatest collection of arms ever assembled or the youngest collection
of burnt out arms ever assembled.
Two years ago I
predicted that the Met's pitchers would take turns going down with
arm trouble. Hate to say I told you so. Zach Wheeler is back
after elbow surgery that took two full years to recover from. Think
he's going to be lights out right away? Think again. Harvey
(with that stupid Dark Knight nickname) turned into a head case and
passed it off as thoracic nerve syndrome. Well okay maybe he was
hurt. Maybe he's well now. But when you try to throw it through the
side of the barn every pitch...things break down.
Ask Jacob DeGrom.
He had the baseball world swooning at his buggy whip fast balls two
years ago. At 28 he's had only 3 years in the majors before going
under the knife. Likewise Matz. And Noah Syndergaard,
who pitched a terrific, dominating game in a losing effort in the
Wild Card game against Bumgarner and the Giants...he's nursing
an elbow full of bone spurs. Just a matter of time.
Ask Ye Not for Whom
the Bell Tolls, Mets fans...it tolls for your pitching staff. (Watch
for this sign in the stands in New York this year: “Bring Back
Bartolo!”)
The Nationals
made one of the stupidest trades I've seen...3 of the top
pitching prospects in baseball were in their system and they gave
them all up for who?...Aroldis Chapman? Chris Sale? Andrew
Miller? (They could have had any of them for those prospects.)
No, for Adam Eaton of the White Sox! OVERPAID! So now
they have a good leadoff hitter with no power who can play decent
defense and nobody to rebuild the pitching staff. If they'd gotten a
star, maybe I would have said they're going for it this year and they
had to pay. But they got the wrong guy for those arms.
Still the Nats may
make the Playoffs because they and the Mets inhabit a weak sister of
a division with 3 rebuilding clubs...Atlanta, Florida and
Philadelphia. Hard NOT to win some games when you play teams like
that 19 times each during the season.
Also, the Nats have
an interesting young player named Trea Turner who runs
very very fast and can play center or shortstop for them. He could
rev up their aging lineup. If Danny “Boy” Murphy has
another spectacular year at second and Bryce Harper awakens
from his 2016 snooze the Nats could do it this year.
Ooops! Slight
interruption here. We just spent a week moving to the new house and I
forgot that I can barely set up my own computer. Had to get the son
to come up from San Antonio to plug in the right cords and the cable
guy to rewire the new house (or something...I can't keep track of
what these tech guys are up to.)
Anyway, where was I?
Oh yeah...the American League Spring First Look...
If you noticed in
the National League rundown, the primary candidates for baseball
competence are exactly the same as last year: Washington and New York
in the East, Chicago and St. Louis in the Central, L.A. And San
Francisco in the West. It's almost a sure bet that the 5 playoff
teams will come from that group.
The American League
has at least a degree of doubt, mainly because the teams in the East
are much closer in relative talent and the West teams are also
closer, but mostly in team flaws that should keep the race close.
The Central
should be a runaway however, with Cleveland asserting its
new-found dominance over the fading Royals and Tigers
and especially over the rebuilding Twins and White Sox.
Cleveland
will be underrated this year because...well because they're
Cleveland and not Boston or New York. Just remember this team came
within a workout-room-rain-delay- pep-talk of knocking off the
Adorables in a seven-game series with only 2/5s of a pitching staff
and no Michael Brantley. Now they have Brantley back
(maybe?...that shoulder injury is tricky)and have added the best
clutch power bat in the game (now that Big Papi has hung it
up) in Edwin Encarnacion. The starters (Carrasco and Salazar)
are healed now and the bullpen (with multiple innings freak Andrew
Miller)is very, very strong. Their young Prince Lindor is
ready to have his third year break-out.*
*A quick aside:
did you ever notice how many great players have a break-out year in
their third season? I mean the real superstars: Ted
Williams (.406 season in 1941), Stan
Musial, Willie Mays, George
Brett...all the way back to Ty Cobb.
The pattern for a lot of superstars seems to be: rookie year make a
big splash, retrench in the second year while the league adjusts to
them, break out into major dominance in the third season. Of course
sometimes the first year is only a handful of games (Willie Mays went
into the army for a season)and sometimes injury postpones the break
out by a year or so (Bryce Harper, Mickey Mantle).
Following this
pattern, I'm predicting Lindor and Houston's shortstop Carlos
Correa are ready for their first big offensive season.
The
Royals and Tigres will compete for second place...sadly. These are
two great teams on the skids. At least KC made it to the
top...briefly. But now their two big offensive guns Lorenzo Cain
and Eric Hosmer are in their walk years, as is their popular
third sacker Moose Moustakis.(Watch the Yankees scoop
up Hosmer and his left-handed bat...Hosmer will go up to the 40
dingers a year-range in the Stadium.) The Royals great three-headed
monster in the bullpen has been decapitated with the loss of Wade
Davis and Greg Holland. Their young starter Ventura
was tragically killed. Swan Song for the 2015 champs...an admirable
team in so many ways.
The
Tigers still have a scary, veteran team on paper: Miggy
Cabrera at first, Kinsler at second, Castellano at
third, Iglesias at vacuum-shortstop, Upton and J.D.
Martinez in the outfield, Victor Martinez at DH. The
trouble is that those guys are rarely on the field at the same time
because of constant, rotating injuries. Miguel Cabrera is still
remarkably great, but fragile in the nether regions. Vmart is hurt
all the time now. The whole team is aging and so well-paid that
management has little room to augment.
And
the pitching...can you believe this team could have had a rotation of
Verlander, Scherzer, Porcello, Anibel Sanchez etc.? Now they
have Verlander and some hopeful babies. The timing is all off,
Tigers.
Maybe
they can rally enough to make a bid for a wild card. I'd like to see
them have one more shot at glory.
The
Twins are rebuilding but somehow think that doesn't have to
include pitching?? It's a shame Joe Mauer has to spend the
rest of a distinguished career hitting singles for a last place club.
The
White Sox have gotten a bunch of young, good prospects and are
going to let them go out and play. More power to them. They at least
accepted that they weren't a contender and did something about it ala
the Cubs. Next they'll trade
Todd
Frazier, Melky Cabrera and starter Jose Quintana (at least
by July). They just dumped Brett Lawrie to clear second base
for Moncada. The White Sox will probably have a juggernaut in
place by 2020.
A
better race should be expected in the AL West because the Rangers
have slipped a little, the Astros haven't added enough and the
Mariners have completely overhauled their team to try to win
something before Cano and Nelson Cruz are too old.
Nobody in the division has enough pitching.
The
Astros are counting on Keuchel to bounce back into Cy Young
form. They are also assuming that Lance McCullers, Colin
McHugh and Doug Fister are legitimate rotation fillers.
(?)Big question mark by that statement. They think Giles can
get his head screwed on straight and become a lights-out closer. I
don't know, maybe he can but he sure didn't look that good last year.
Their
big additions in the off-season were Carlos Beltran and Josh
Reddick. Both are low average/good power threats at this point in
their careers. Beltran is exceedingly old but should be an ok DH most
of the time. Reddick will strike out a lot but hit some dingers much
like Colby Rasmus did for them last year. I rate these
additions a C+. At least Reddick has a good arm in the outfield. I
guess they're moving Springer to center?
The
main thing you have to like about Houston's chances are their two
superstars...Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve. Altuve
especially can carry the team with his high average, high on-base and
surprising power to go with stolen bases and good defense. Not to
mention high level leadership and inspiration. (“If that little
guy can go out and dominate, I've got to get my ass in gear!”) Just
a great, great player. They need to rest him a little bit every now
and then...he wore down in the stretch last year.
Correa
is a talent bomb about to go off. If he gets his swing grooved you
could see the second coming of young ARod...hopefully an
unjuiced version. The Astros are also hopeful about Cuban import
Yulieski Gurriel at third and rookie Alex Bregman at
first. If those guys are as good as advertised, the 'Stros could be
Da Bomb!
The
fly in the Astro's ointment...besides their questionable
pitching...is the Texas Rangers strange habit of beating the Holy
Shit out of them in the season series.
Four
years of both teams in the same League and Division: 2013 Rangers 17
wins Astros 2. 2014 Rangers 8 Astros 11. 2015 Rangers 13-6. 2016
Rangers 15-4. That's why the Rangers went to the playoffs the last
two years. They dominated their chief rival.
The
Rangers have spirit. They are led by a player who is finally getting
the acknowledgment he deserves. I speak of Adrian Beltre. (And
I still can't believe that the Red Sox let this guy walk after one
season in 2010...Beltre had a season of .321/.365/.553 with 28 bombs
and 49 doubles. The Sox had him and Vmart and Epstein
let them go so they could play Youkilis and trade for Adrian
Gonzalez and Carl Crawford. Beltre and Martinez
went on to star for Texas and Detroit respectively and Boston
finished last 3 out of the next 5 years.)
Along
with infield vets Beltre and Andrus the Rangers have some
great young position players in right fielder Nomar Mazara and
second baseman Rougned Odor. (They also have a potential star
in Jurickson Profar if they can find a position for him. He
may be able to hop around the field like Brock Holt of the Red
Sox.)
I
don't much like Shin-Soo Choo and Carlos Gomez as the
other outfielders because Choo is going to get hurt anyway and Gomez
is a hotdogging hothead. They got Napoli to play first and
he's good in the clubhouse and a nice long ball threat when he's not
whiffing helplessly on sliders in the dirt.
The
big catch (bad pun alert) and an addition that could make a huge
difference is catcher Jonathon Lucroy coming over from
Milwaukee. Lucroy is one of the top five catchers in the game. A
clutch hitter; a steady defensive force. This is a major advantage
for the Strangers.
Two
problems: the pitching staff and the Disabled List.
The
former is highly dependent on having Cole Hamels and Yu
Darvish both pitching at a high level. Darvish was babied last
year coming back from elbow surgery. He has to pitch more effective
innings this year. Hamels totally fell apart and looked nothing like
an Ace by the end of last year. He got lit up in the Playoffs. They
need him to rally because the rest of the starters are very iffy.
The
bullpen is hardly overwhelming either. They have three young power
arms in right-handers Jeremy Jeffress, Keona Kela and
Tanner Scheppers. Only Jeffress has had a decent season
before....31 for 32 saves for the Brewers a couple of years ago. All
of these guys throw hard but have put up miserable results. If they
get hot the Rangers could be scary.
But
it's the DL that's really scary. The Rangers have had epic injury
problems the last few years. Most of their pitching staff, Prince
Fielder, Profar, Choo...so many really serious injuries have
decimated the team...and yet they come back and win two years in a
row. Even with those major losses. Fate has to let up and even out,
doesn't it?
I
look forward to watching both the Astros and the Rangers play...I
love Altuve and Correa and I love Beltre and Odor and a lot more of
the players on both teams.
I
will pick the Rangers to prevail in that division because
of
their record of handling the Astros head to head. Also I think the
Rangers pitching is a better bet than Houston's. (Unless Houston goes
out and trades for a number one type starter before July.) Should be
an excellent pennant race...especially because...
Seattle
just might smoke them both! I mean, come on Seattle! If not now,
when? The law of averages says Seattle can't keep screwing the pooch,
season after season. I mean, everybody hates Safeco
Field...especially hitters...but it can't hurt that young pitching
staff any to have those fences so far away. I mean, Cruz and Cano can
still reach them.
The
Scariners have Cano, Cruz, Kyle Seager, and top flight
additions Jean Segura at short and Carlos Ruiz (to
platoon with Gosewich at catcher) along with a host of other
new players who haven't learned to lose up there in the Northwest. I
think they could do it.
The
pitching has to get a lot better. Which is why I applaud the
additions of Segura to play short and team with Cano in the middle
and Ruiz to be a veteran steady hand for the pitching staff. That guy
was a God for the Phillies pitching staff. He's old and slow and
can't hit now but so what...did you see what Ross did for the Cubbies
last year? The Mariners young staff needs a great game-calling
catcher to nurse them along. And he just may revitalize King Felix
and get another great year or two out of him.
I'm
watching the Seattle RainGods this Spring...if they show signs of
life early instead of waiting til August to make a move like last
year I'll notify you!
The
California Angels...Oh God what a disaster! They've surrounded
their four good players (Trout, Calhoun, Pujols (DH only) and
Andrelton Simmons (defense mainly) with aging mediocrity and a
very weak pitching staff. I think management is desperate but they
have too much money on the books with people like Pujols and Josh
Hamilton (still!) to make much of a difference. So they take
chances on young pitchers, professional bench warmers and aging vets.
Once again Angels: WELCOME TO HELL!
If
the Strangles don't watch out, Trout will leave in free agency and
they'll have nothing to show for his Angels career but one playoff
appearance. (3 games-and-out against the Royals in 2014...Trout went
1 for 12.)
Oakland
is far from competitive but they are stirring. It will probably take
them another year or two to finish the rebuild.
So
far we have 6 possible playoff teams in two divisions. Not bad. Now
we can add 4 more from the AL East...because who knows what the frick
is going to happen over there?
Everybody
is in love with the Red Sox because their pitching looks so much
better with Sales coming over and improvement (perceived on paper
only) in the bullpen. Mookie Betts is everybody's darling.
They think Jackie Bradley Junior is going to hit 26 homers
every year. (He's not.) They have enough power so that they won't
miss Ortiz that much. Wrong...expect a major post-Papi hangover. Not
everybody can come up in the big spot and deliver. Hanley and
Mookie did a little bit last year, but they had Papi to lean on and
scare the pitchers into throwing fast balls to the mere mortals of
the lineup.
On
the other hand, there is definite reason for optimism among the
Fenway Faithful. I speak of Benitendi being an instant batting
champ candidate in left. Brock Holt being a band-aid for any
position. Hanley coming back strong from his outfield nightmare and
playing a quite decent first base. (And Hanley hitting!) Porcello
proving himself. Sale coming over. Price not being hurt that
bad this Spring (!) Stephen Wright maybe being well enough to
pitch his knucklers again. Good depth in the rotation. (Pomeranz,
Rodriguez, Kelly).
Xander Bogaerts establishing himself as a star at short.
Plus
there might be a delightful summer birthday present with Blake
Swihart. He's still learning to catch but he's getting better.
They had to bring him up too early because of injury emergencies last
time. Then he got hurt in the outfield. But he's always been a great
switch hitter. Those in the know say he's a can't-miss star hitter.
They might let him DH and fill in at catcher once in awhile just to
get his bat in the lineup. (Especially from the left side because of
all the right handed hitters in the Sox lineup and the lack of Papi.)
The
Sox had problems at third base last year. This Spring they'll look at
Pablo Sandoval again. From all reports, he's skinny, strong
and ready to go long. They can always stick Brock Holt over there
'cause he always produces. (He was their best hitter in the playoffs
last year.) And on the way up, they have the top third base prospect
in the game in left-handed hitting Rafael Devers, the
Dominican Dandy who hits with a lot of power and can handle himself
around the bag. Devers is only twenty and can probably wait a year or
two but he might be better than whoever else they try.
The
keys for the Sox are: Pedroia, Hanley Ramirez, Mookie Betts,
Craig Kimbrel and David Price.
Petey
has to be the leader he's always been to pick up the Papi-slack.
Hanley has to keep hitting in the clutch (yes, to pick up even more
Papi-slack), Mookie has to be able to carry the team's destiny with
his incredible talent (Papi-slack squared), Kimbrel has to be lights
out as the closer to let the bullpen settle into a rhythm. And David
Price has to keep pitching at a high enough level to steady the
rotation and let Sale and Porcello pitch without too much pressure.
I
just don't see how the Sox can fail to at least win a wild card, but
then, they've proved me wrong before!
Toronto
was close last year and they are tired of tasting the bitter fruit of
defeat in the playoffs. They lost their big stick when Encarnacion
took Cleveland's money over the Canadian dollars and high taxes.
Jose
Bautista made himself look ridiculous a year ago when he informed the
world before his free agent walk season that he wouldn't take a home
town discount to stay in Toronto (where the friendly fences helped
make him a home run star) and would be expecting a 5-7 year free
agent contract at $20 million plus a year thank you very much. (Even
though he's already 36!) All must bow to me and my transplendant
excellence. (Insert bat flip here.) Chew on this Jose...nobody wanted
you for more than one year. You were lucky to re-sign with the Jays
for a one year $18 mil.
Troy
Tulowitzki was healthier than usual last year (131 games) but
just didn't click. 24 dingers is good but .254 isn't. This guy has
gotten to play in two of the best hitter's ballparks in the majors
and I think this has inflated our opinion of his prowess. Good
player. Not a HOF candidate.
The
team leaders are Josh Donaldson at third and Russell
Martin at catcher and they are both very damn good. Martin
should get some credit for what the Jays young pitchers did last
year. That's the big hope with this team...the pitching staff...
Aaron
Sanchez won the ERA title with 3.00. Marcus Stroman had a
good WAR. Marco Estrada looked good with his change-up. They
got key wins at the end of the season when they brought The Ancient
One, Francisco Liriano to the Great White North. So there is
reason for optimism. But if they think they're getting another 20-win
season from J.Happ, they've been smoking too much medical Mary
Jay.
Toronto
looks like a formidable threat to Boston to win the division. I think
both clubs will make the playoffs.
Last
year the Baltimore Orioles faced those Jays in the Wild Card
Game and lit a stink bomb when manager Buck Showalter decided
to keep his lights-out closer Zach Britton in the bullpen to
save him for....what exactly?
The
Birds bring essentially the same roster back for another try. They
plan to hit a lot of homers and hope the good bullpen can hold the
fort. I think they lack depth and starters.
Less
predictable is what the New York Yankees will do this year. Their
starters are pretty good: Tanaka,
Sabathia, Severino and whoever else. The bullpen is fantastic.
They got Aroldis Chapman back (and get to keep the great prospects
they got when they traded him to the Cubs.) Plus they have Betances
and Adam Warren to set up.
The
problem is the lineup. Projected middle of the lineup hitters are
Matt Holliday and Chris Carter. Carter hit 41 homers
for Milwaukee but struck out 202 times. He hit .222 and had a
.321 OBP. That's really, really bad. Holliday has been a worthy
performer in the game but at 37 he is playing out the string. Brett
Gardner and Jacoby Ellsbury show flashes but are basically
middling first and second place hitters. Ellsbury especially has
really disappointed since his days with the Red Sox. He doesn't hit,
doesn't hit for power, and only steals 20 bases now. He hasn't topped
30 doubles since 2013. Warning to general managers: don't buy a
player for 5-7 years if he's going to be over 33 or so by the end of
the contract and his whole game is based on speed.
The
Yankees are trying to bridge until their young players develop.
Gregorius at short and Castro at second are already
productive. They think lefty Greg Bird can be a good power
threat at first. The most excitement is reserved for Gary Sanchez,
who hit 20 bombs in his first 50 games last season. He may the next
great Dominican player. Has catching skills too.
But
in all sobriety, I don't think the Yankees will win the division this
year. Not unless about half the roster has a career year. I just
don't think they match up with Boston and Toronto yet.
Neither
will the Tampa Bay Rays. And a half. Somebody should put this
team out of its misery and move them to San Antonio or North Carolina
or somewhere. I know I say that every year, but really, it makes me
mad to watch a team scout so well and draft great pitchers and just
not be able to keep anybody in free agent years. The Oaklands and
Tampa Bays of the baseball world haven't been allowed to succeed
because they have bad ballparks and rotten locations for their
ballparks. The commissioner should step in and facilitate a positive
change. Baseball has been too successful lately to be dragging around
wounded-duck- franchises like this.
So
my first look at the upcoming season counts 10 American League clubs
that have a chance to make the playoffs. That's the kind of
competition that makes the summer tick! Lots better than the National
League, but the super teams even out: Chicago and Los Angeles in the
National and Boston and Cleveland in the American.
Here
are some top fives for your amusement:
Top
five Little Miss Sunshines:
- Dave Roberts
4.Mike Trout
3.Adrian Beltre
2.Jose Altuve
and...
1.Mookie Betts
All
time? Ernie Banks!
Top
Five All Time Scary Brushback Pitchers:
5.Sal Maglie
(“The Barber”)
4.Bob Gibson
3.Don Drysdale
(he made Willie Mays
hit the dirt virtually every time Mays came to bat against him. “If
I didn't he'd absolutely kill me” was Drysdale's excuse. Willie
never complained either. He knew better.)
2.Randy Johnson
and...
1.Carl Mays
(Only pitcher to ever kill a man in major league baseball.
(1920...Ray Chapman)
Mays was demonized for years but this one event changed baseball
profoundly. They outlawed Mays' favorite pitch...the spitball...and
started bringing fresh white balls into the game more frequently
which led to the end of the dead ball era and more hitting and
homers.)
Top
Five “Not Enough Mustard for that Hot Dog” Players:
- Carlos Gomez
4.Rougned Odor
3.Bryce Harper
2.Jose Bautista
and...
1.Jose Bautista
Top
Five All time “Not Enough Mustard for that Hot Dog” Players:
5.Babe Ruth
4.Reggie
Jackson
3.Ricky
Henderson
2.TIE:
Jeff (“Flaps Down”)Leonard
and David Ortiz
and...
1.TIE:
Jose Bautista and Leon “Daddy Wags” Wagner.(At
least I think it was him. He played for San Francisco, St. Louis,
the Cleveland Indians and the California Angels in the 60's. Hit
around 30 taters a year. Big left handed hitter. When he'd get
hold of one he'd hold a pose on his follow- through and shout
out...”BATBOY!” Then he'd drop his bat and go into his home
run trot.
UPDATES
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