Tagged: disappointment (maybe?)

April 12, 2011

Cincinnati Reds Offseason Recap and Preview

For so long they had struggled at the bottom of the NL Central with the Brewers and Pirates but last year:

Grade: D

Notable Additions:

Edgar Renteria, Jeremy Hermeida, and Dontrelle Willis (if he ever figures it out again).

Notable Subtractions:

Jim Edmonds, Arthur Rhodes, Aaron Harang, Micah Owings, and Orlando Cabrera.

Why?: Let’s calculate the net worth relative to last year, shall we? A colombian for a colombian makes me more likely to see a Reds game, but hinders them defensively and does not do anything for their offense there. An Edmonds for a Hermeida does not help them in any aspects except maybe future production. Aaron Harang and Micah Owings for Dontrelle Willis lowers the pithing talent substantially and slightly lowers the offensive production of the position (Owings is great hitting pitcher but Willis was pretty good himself).

Then there is the outright loss of Arthur Rhodes. He had a career year last year but if he returns to anywhere near that it will be a big loss to their bullpen that might be covered by the emergence of Aroldis Chapman.

Overall, they had an answer to all their losses but they were lower quality versions. When you replace parts of a high quality machine (that may or may not be red) with lower quality parts then the quality of the machine as a whole will be lower.

Predicted Record Range: 85-90 wins. Like I said in the above paragraph, the team will be of lower quality. Granted, they still have the no-fluke MVP of last year but they also had A LOT of comeback wins which are not easily repeatable.

Up Next: St. Louis Cardinals

April 11, 2011

Florida Marlins Offseason Recap and Preview

For those who know the Marlins, you know that they build up their team every few years to do well and break it apart the next year:

2010 was not a built up year:

Grade: C-

Notable Additions:

John Buck, Javier Vasquez, Omar Infante, Greg Dobbs, and Randy Choate.

Notable Subtractions:

and his name is… Dan Uggla, Cameron Maybin, Jose Veras, and Andrew Miller.

Why?: They did add two good players in Buck and Vasquez and replaced the hole left by Uggla at Second base with Omar Infante, but I still think that losing a person who could possibly become the best power hitting Second Baseman of all time outweighs this. Maybe I’m crazy to think this but I think that Dan Uggla will leave the Marlins in a rebuilding stage for more time than they thought.

Other than this there is not much else. I can’t see their rotation or bullpen being affected by the departure of a minor piece in each (Miller and Veras). Not much to report other than the Uggla trade.

Predicted Record Range: 75-80 games. Like I said, not much of a loss considering the compensation but the Uggla trade will put a dent in the Marlin Fan Van.

Next Up: Mets

I will not be getting the Saturday ballhawking entry up until AT LEAST wednesday because even though I smartly toook my camera with me to take pictures of FP games I stupidly did not bring the cord needed to upload pictures.

April 3, 2011

Philadelphia Phillies Offseason Recap and Preview

I think it’s safe to say the first year of the Roy Halladay Era in Philadelphia went well for the Phillies. The playoffs under their standards but still pretty good.

Grade: A

Notable Additions:

Cliff Lee, Delwyn Young, Brandon Moss, and Brian Bass.

Notable Subtractions:

Jayson Werth, Nate Robertson, Greg Dobbs, Jamie Moyer, and Chad Durbin.

Why?: They got Cliff Lee and this might have varying responses. Some may say higher than an A some may say lower. The reason I gave the Phillies an A is because Lee was the only difference maker they signed but that one player caused a HUGE spike in Phillie mentions and stock sale.

Did they gain enough in net player Werth (heh, how’d that get in there?) to deserve an A? No. Did they also go overboard the set budget and break their own rule about signing pitchers? Yes. However, the whole Lee situation has done them infinite wonders as far as publicity is concerned and therefore ticket sales (which is why I won’t go to Philadelphia that much this year). So, I did factor in what it did for them as a business as well as what it did for them as a team.

I also learned to never underestimate a Young, as demonstrated by both Dimitri and Delmon (did these people have names not in D?). So, the signing of young Delwyn did not hurt my grade.

Not much else happened besides the Cliff Lee signing but as those of you reading since December know and as those of you who haven’t can see here, I thought highly of how this signing was set up in the previous years.

Predicted Record Range: 94-99 This may seem a bit low considering how much I have lauded them in this entry but their line-up has pacified considerably with the loss of Utley and worth(so that’s where it went). Do I think that they will win the World Series if/when Utley comes back full force? Yes, but until then they will struggle in streaks to put runs up. I actually have the NL East being a race if not the Braves winning it.

March 30, 2011

Toronto Blue Jays Offseason Recap and Preview

The Blue Jays lose possibly the best pitcher in the league and what do they do:

Oh, nothing much. Just hit the most home runs of any team in the major leagues.

Grade: B-

Notable Additions:

Frank Fancisco, Rajai Davis, Carlos Villanueva, Sean Henn, Corey Patterson, Octavio Dotel, Chad Cordero, Jon Rauch, and Juan Rivera.

Notable Subtractions:

Vernon Wells, Jeremy Accardo, Kevin Gregg, Scott Downs, John Buck, Shawn Marcum, and Lyle Overbay.

Why?: I know that they lost three really good bullpen guys, but look. They also gained four former closers. I know that they lost two middle of the line-up hitters but got a bonafide lead off hitter and whatever you consider Juan Rivera and Corey Patterson to be.

The only thing that suffered in the offseason was the rotation. Not only because of what you might think in Marucm leaving for Milwaukee but also John Buck leaving. With Buck leaving the pretty consistent Blue Jay rotation has had three catchers in three years (or more?) and it is tough. I would make the analogy to Quarter Backs in football playing in different systems every year. It is tough to have to keep adjusting. Just when you get comfortable pitching to a certain catcher he leaves town.

Will the Blue Jays continue to hit home runs? I have no idea. All I know is that even though there were more homeruns, there was also a way lower team AVG. Takee Aaron HIll for example, normally he hits around 15 HRs and bats .280 but last year he hit 24 HRs (or something like that) and had an AVG of around the Mendoza line.

One thing I would tell people is to watch out for Blue Jay prospects in the future. With the new GM, Alex Anthopoulos, the Blue Jays invested a whole lot into scouting, which may pay dividends down the road.

Predicted Record Range: 77-82 wins I see them declining a bit even though they have people like Kyle Drabek coming up because I don’t think they can keep the home run production up in 2011.

March 24, 2011

New York Yankees Offseason Recap and Preview

Another year, another playoff. The only time the Yankees have missed the playoffs in my life time was in 2008 and they were closing a historic stadium:

I mean even Manny has to accept the simple truth that the Yankees will always be at least good:

Grade: C-

Notable Additions:

Raphael Soriano, Russell Martin, Pedro Fecliciano, and Freddy Garcia.

Notable Subtractions:

Andy Pettitte, Javier Vasquez, Austin Kearns, Chad Gaudin, Kerry Wood, Lance Berkman Marcus Thames, and Dustin Moseley.

Why?: Another season of the Bronx is burning? I must have had at least half a dozen people ask me “Do you think the Yankees are making the playoffs this year?” My answer, I ‘m not sure. It isn’t because the Yankees aren’t a playoff caliber team but I see the Red Sox beating them for the division. As for the wild card, there are 3 really good teams in the AL Central, 3 great line-ups, and 3 solid pitching staffs. I don’t see this division as a purely “win it and in it” division. The wild card race will be competitive this year because there are three teams that will keep the pace up all year.

However, let me get something straight. The Yankees are not a horrible team all of a sudden because of the losses they took. Yankee fans see eight names in the “Notable Subtractions” section I see mid summer pick ups and easily replaceable players (except Pettitte) but losing Pettitte will not destroy this team. I will remind people that this team won NINETY FIVE games last year. I know they lost Pettitte but they didn’t have him for half of last year and he is not worth ten games in and of himself.

As far as the other players lost go. Most were the product of mid season trades anyway. Meaning, the Yankees were not afraid to lose them. The Yankees will almost always have mid season acquisitions because they will almost always be in the hunt (how they always have trade pieces is another issue).

Predicted Record Range: 87-92 wins They will slow up a little. Maybe I’m just a spoiled Yankee fan but I think they will indeed contend once more. Another thing to take into account is the impact Jesus Montero will have on the line-up which I cannot account for.

To parents: recaps of our last two games will be up tomorrow. To everyone else: the study I mentioned in some entry I can’t remember about adults’ perception of baseball will be up before next Sunday.