Chicago Cubs
The Cubs as of late have been a completely baffling squad, it is no secret that they have an extremely large payroll, but it really doesn't seem they have many players that would warrant large paychecks. Looking at their lineup there are three people who instantly pop out at you, and that is the left side of the field. Alfonso Soriano comes to mind quickly because he seems like the main offender of the Cubs overspending as he is definitely not having the impact that he is capable of. But on the topic of Soriano let me point out this one thing, his numbers would be stellar if he was still a second baseman and since Jeff Baker is Jeff Baker, it might not be a terrible idea to bring him back to his rightful place and maybe give Tyler Colvin or Reed Johnson a shot at starting. The other players on the left side are Aramis Ramirez, who is likely the most underrated third baseman in the league when he is healthy, and the up-and-coming shortstop sensation Starlin Castro. We can come to expect solid contributions from Marlon Byrd and serviceable numbers from Kosuke Fukudome. That leaves us with Carlos Pena hopefully having a comeback year, and whether or not Geovany Soto proves himself to be a consistent player after pulling himself out of a sophomore slump last year. As for their pitching staff, a perfect descriptor to use would be erratic, mainly because of Carlos Zambrano's presence. I am a big fan of Big Z, but whenever I see him pitch I know its either going to be a shutout or a blowout, he doesn't have an okay game ever. Matt Garza also strikes me as another erratic pitcher, he seems to get a lot of decisions, with not all of them being good. If we also pack in Randy Wells, I think you get my point. Lastly I would like to commend the Cubs for bringing Kerry Wood back for old times sake, but I still don't expect to see any games in Wrigley this October.
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| Anybody think this is a bad idea? |
Ah, the Reds were my sleeper team to make the playoffs last year (I announced that in February 2010, no lies), and we all know how that turned out. One playoff game without a hit, one MVP trophy, and one early exit thanks to the Phillies later we see these guys return but what do they have in store for us? The short answer is probably not another playoff run, I'm sorry. Joey Votto is very good, and I expect him to continue to be very good, just not as good as he was last year. Brandon Philips will probably follow the same path he went last year, shedding a few of his power numbers to be a better run scorer now that he has a set of guys to knock him in. I like their outfield because Johnny Gomes, Drew Stubbs and Jay Bruce all have extremely similar talent levels, and should likely all put up similar numbers except Bruce will have an extra edge in the rate stats, Stubbs will steal some bases, and Johnny Gomes will do none of the above. The rest of the offense is Paul Janish along with the Ramon Hernandez/ Ryan Hanigan duo putting up sub-par numbers and Scott Rolen failing to continue his amazing career revival. The pitching staff is comprised of ace Bronson Arroyo (fun fact! I believe Arroyo has the 4th most wins in the MLB since his trade to the Reds in 2006), Edinson Volquez trying to prove to Cincinnati that they didn't completely get the shaft by trading Josh Hamilton, and a trio of sophomore pitchers with varying potential. They do have one of the few bullpens that excites me, not because of any combination or talent, but just because Aroldis Chapman can throw 104 mph fastballs.
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| That's what I want to see from relief pitchers |
When of your starting nine I have to look at the specific pages for four of your guys just to figure out what their first name is, that's when your team may either be in complete trouble or not in a big market. Considering Houston itself is the 4th most populated city and 6th most populated metro area in the US, I think we might have to go with the first option. By the way the four players mentioned earlier are Humberto Quintero, Brett Wallace, Angel Sanchez, and Chris Johnson, with Johnson being the only one whom I took any interest in since he hit .308 last year. Bill Hall is one name that I did know, which doesn't necessarily mean that he will do much more in the season than hit another home run on Mothers' Day with a pink bat. In an attempt to not completely tear apart the entire team I will say that I love the balance of the outfield. Mixing Carlos Lee's power with Michael Bourne's speed and Hunter Pence's uncanny ability to hit .282 with 25 home runs in consecutive years could turn out to be a small glimmer of hope in a beautiful stadium inhabited by a mediocre team. As for their pitching staff, I can't say much more than it doesn't look to good, and that I desperately want J.A. Happ to outperform Roy Oswalt this season (not gonna happen, but a guy can dream.)
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| Chris Johnson... Not that one! NO not that one either! There he is! |
Amazingly it turns out that your team gets better after the family of the league's commissioner sells the franchise, and you might have thought that sports were fixed. After spending most of my life in mediocrity, the Brewers have been steadily improving in the past years, and it looks like this year they have pieced together a squad that I would not hesitate to call a baseball team. Lead by slugger Prince Fielder and overall great player Ryan Braun, this team starts out boasting an incredible three-four punch in the middle of their lineup. Add to that the emergence of Casey McGehee and Corey Hart last year and the steady improvement of Rickie Weeks, this team has a hell of a lot of pop in the bats. Unfortunately they won't be getting the much needed stolen base threat and overall run scorer out of Yuniesky Betancourt, Carlos Gomez or Jonathan Lucroy, so this Brewers team is going to have to win games the Earl Weaver way, with pitching, defense, and the three-run homer. I think the last part should be no problem, and the defense doesn't strike me as anything that will lose them many games this season, so lets look at their pitching. I think that the management thought the same way that I did, and kept together the offense from last years 77-85 team, and decided to bolster up on starting pitching for the coming year, and I sure think they did a fantastic job. The most relevant move is to relegate last year's ace Yovani Gallardo to the second spot with the acquisition of former Cy Young winner Zach Greinke, and also bringing in Shaun Marcum to hopefully continue his success with the Blue Jays last year. With these three and the possibility of some solid outings from Randy Wolf and Chris Narveson, I expect this Brewers team to improve their record a lot from last year.
Pittsburgh Pirates
Could I have chosen a better segue from the Brewers to the Pirates than that video? But anyways, anybody who has watched baseball over the last decade knows the only reason to pay attention to the Pirates is to see who your favorite team may be getting when the trade deadline comes around, which is a pity because they have possibly put together a team that could have some potential. Starting with Andrew McCutchen they have at least one elite player on the team, which is more than could be said about a couple of teams in the league. Much like the Reds pitching staff, the Pirates also have a trio of sophomores in Pedro Alvarez, Jose Tabata and Neil Walker, but the difference is that all of them have what seems to be a good amount of potential. If they decide that McCutchen could serve better as a second hitter (which I think could be a good idea with his power potential) Jose Tabata could be put into the leadoff spot and do pretty well, while Pedro Alvarez could show himself to be a hitter with true power from the hot corner, and Walker possibly showing himself as a do-it-all second baseman. Unfortunately they also have Lyle Overbay, Chris Snyder and Ronny Cedeno starting which may offset any good the young players do, but lets try to look at the positives. Expecting Garrett Jones will continue to do this thing and slug a few homers, we can see if the pitching can do anything to help the cause. All signs point to no for that considering the starter with the best ERA last year was Ross Ohlendorf with an ERA of 4.07, which isn't horrible until you consider his 1-11 record. This team is a lost cause that may threaten to barely climb out of the cellar if everything goes right.
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| The only guaranteed bright spot out there |
Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday. I really think that is all I need to say about the Cardinals offense, except maybe a mention about the possible emergence of Colby Rasmus as a star. As is usual, the NL Central is the Cardinals division to lose. They have the three players previously mentioned, got Lance Berkman to add a little extra pop to the lineup, and also found Ryan Theriot to be an offensive improvement compared to Brendan Ryan last year. Skip Schumaker comes back for another year as second baseman after a rough 2010 season, but he might be able to prove himself again by returning to his old form and hitting .300 again this year. I am also very curious to see what this season will bring for David Freese who spent last season bouncing back and forth between the pros and AAA. And they also still have Yadier Molina, who even though he is primarily known as the best defensive catcher in the league, is also deceptively good at the plate and is only 2 years removed from a season in which he saw himself hit over .300. I thought a little while ago that the Cardinals were easily going to run away with the division this year like they are expected to, but then it was announced that Adam Wainwright was going to miss the season (he was going to be my Cy Young preditction), and threw my opinions off a bit. They still have Chris Carpenter, but the drop from Wainwright to Jaime Garcia as your second pitcher is pretty devastating even though I have very high expectations for Garcia this year. But we shall see how this season pans out.
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| Expect to see this a lot. |
NL West Final Standings
1. St. Louis Cardinals
2. Milwaukee Brewers
3. Cincinnati Reds
4. Chicago Cubs
5. Houston Astros
6. Pittsburgh Pirates
I guess there wasn't any surprises this time (even though I did consider having the Brewers win it, but it didn't feel right). Tune in eventually when I will have the AL East for you.
Christopher Johnson!!!
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