This is the Thursday edition of the Pre Season MLB Power Rankings. Why so early? Well, the good doctor Gonzo will be in Vegas tomorrow and I, along with other members of this blog, will be to pumped up to even speak of anything other than this trip. Some significant movement in the rankings. Im sure you are all aware of the major trade of the year, and the other trade that never was.
1 (1). Boston Red Sox- No Santana, no worries. They still have the best, pound for pound, pitching rotation, bullpen, and closer in the game. And Ellsbury and Lester remain on the roster. Life is good in Bawston! Did I mention they made a trade for FORMER Giants closer and first round pick, David Aardsma. Well done!
2 (2) Detroit Tigers- Now that Tiger killer, Johan Santana is out of the division, the Tigers become that much better. They are micro-points away from taking the number 1 spot away from Boston. The Tigers have the best lineup in all of baseball and 5 proven starters. Whats holding them back is the inconsistent bullpen and an aging closer Todd Jones.
3 (3) New York Yankees- Biggest loser of the week by far. They had a solid deal in place and still couldnt find a way to snag Santana. But stupidity doesnt mean a loss in rank here. They still keep Cabrera, Joba, and Hughes and that aint bad
4 (4) Chicago Cubs- If they acquire Brian Roberts they could dethrone the Yankees in this PR.
5 (5) LA Dodgers- The Dodgers keep this spot because they still have the best pitching rotation, best bullpen, and best closer by committee in the NL
6 (13) New York Mets- I discussed this the other day, the Mets win BIGTIME because the NL East is stacked with left handed bats. Santana will make them all his drop in productivity and he has proven this during inter-league. He joins a pretty decent staff, which includes John Mainne, Pedro Martinez (when healthy), Oliver Perez, and Orlando Hernandez. Gonzo nailed this earlier, the Mets didnt give up much to pull this trade off. Damaged goods if you will. Also,The Mets have the payroll and a GM nutty enough to give him that 6 year 150 million dollar contract. This move easily puts NY among the NL's best.
7 (6) San Diego Padres- This team has to the tools to compete with LA.....Expect big things in SoCal
8 (7) LA Angels- Nothing new AGAIN. This team is still lacking depth.
9 (8) Cleveland Indians- The Indians are a big winner of the week as well. They are littered with left handed talent and now each and everyone of them will see a spike in productivity. But they still lack pitching depth.
10 (9) Arizona Diamondbacks- Peter Gammons nailed it, the NL West is by far the most competitive division in the league.
11 (10) Chicago Whitesox- Even Moses stopped to take a breather.
12 (11) Colorado Rockies- The only thing holding these guys back is the pitching. Can they repeat what they did in 2007?
13 (12) Houston Astros- The offense will be carrying the burden 4 days out of 5.
14 (14) Milwaukee Brewers- A very well rounded bunch of kids. Key word is kids. I think they will do alot better than people think.
15 (15) Tampa Bay Rays- Until someone gives me a reason why they wont scare teams, I still have them as my sleeper pick. Dont give me the Redsox and Yankees either. They bitch slapped both teams last season.
16 (16) Philadelphia Philly’s- The Phillies get the 2nd place award for moron team of the week. There is a reason we would not sign Pedro Feliz. Now he is your problem. Enjoy that career OBP of .280. Oh, and dont expect Chase or Howard to do much 5 games of the year. Thank you Mets.
17 (17) Washington Nationals- Seems that the time of completion for the new ballpark is on schedule. This makes me happy
18 (18) Atlanta Braves- Braves fans everywhere should be afraid. This team relies on its lefties. Kotsay and Franconia are sure to suffer a few days a year.
19 (11) Minnesota Twins- Yeh, you lose BIGTIME. Instead of an Ellsbury, or a Lester, or a Melky Joba or Hughes, you get Carlos Gomez and JACK SQUAT damaged goods. Good luck in rebuilding. You traded 2 solid pitchers this offseason, which leaves you with Boof and an gimpy Liriano. Oh, and word has it Nathan is on the block. Way to keep the fans happy Twins.
20 (20) Toronto Blue jays- Other than a few bats, I dont expect much noise in Canada this season.
21 (21) Seattle Mariners- How the hell do you fuck this one up. Not only did you put your cards on the table to early, you find out Baltimore didnt even show up for the game. Without Bedard they are a mediocre team at best and whats funny, they know it.
22 (22) Cincinnati Reds- If Dunn can keep his k's under 2 times a game, they could be my NL sleeper pick
23 (23) San Francisco Giants- As I continue to weep. Sabean says the FA signings are complete. I dont know which is worse, empty positions to fill or our young OUTFIELDERS platooning at 3rd and 1st. But hey, at least Nate and Dan can hit. We could easily have the worst infield defense in baseball.
24 (24) St Louis Cardinals- Very little shot to compete. The good news is Carpenter is working out pain free. The bad news is they still have Mulder and Clement to DL.
25 (25) Oakland A's- It will be a long year in the bay area
26 (26) Pittsburgh Pirates- Its quiet time in Pittsburgh
27 (27) Texas Rangers- I expect very little in Alrington this season. Lots of homers on both sides of the field
28 (28) Kansas City Royals- They may win a few more games now that Santana is out of the division.
29 (29) Baltimore Orioles- You all know my thoughts on the O's. No need to rub O's fans noses in thier crap every week
30 (30) Florida Marlins- Yeh. They could shock people during Spring Training.
27 comments:
Two names you O's haters are gonna learn next two years.
Nolan Reimold and Matt Weiters.
Weiters possibly this year as he is apparently the most developed person drafted since Zimmerman for WAS, so he may make the jump this year...
Heh...yes, Santana will make all of the NL East's lefties his daddies.
Weiters has talent no doubt, but that is to be determined. Orioles management has no clue on how to run a farm system
its david aarsdma
Yes, my bad for the typo
Also don't forget names likes Billy Rowell and Brandon Erbe.. also the 2 pitchers the O's got from Houston.. One has potential to be pretty decent.. Hopefully Adam Jones is wearing an O's uniform by the end of the week
It doesnt look good right now Modews. The Orioles are FINALLY realizing Bedards value and is currently negotiating on a long term deal.
If the O's do trade him for Adam Jones, I would agree that he would immediatly upgrade that outfield
it was never a matter of the O's just magically being incapable of recognizing a good thing, it was just that Bedard had made it pretty clear he didn't want to resign with them...
Its funny how lots of money changes ones opinion on that though, or possibly could...
In an article on MLB yesterday, Bedard never said such a thing. In fact, he felt the team had abandoned him by not even trying to negotiate a deal.
Dont blame Bedard for this foul up, this was all upper managements issue
dominant pitching is always the hardest thing to come across so the best thing for the o's would be to sign bedard long term. that said...they are looking at a package that i consider significantly better than what the twins got for the best pitcher in baseball. either way it seems like the o's are in good position with bedard. i'm a pretty big fan of tillman. he was one of the top arms in his draft class. add in jones and that alone is better than what the twins got.
doesn't matter who said what when and where at this point, the fact remains that if we can trade Bedard for a group of prospect with a possible star (as opposed to the lower class that the Twins got for Santana), then we're filling in more of the many holes we have on the team.
If Management fucked up before and didn't follow through right with the extension, then it just provides more reason to trade him, as he obviously would be unhappy if he stayed.
Roberts can probably fetch us some B level pitching prospects that could help as well, instead of keeping him and letting him wither away in Baltimore while the "Kids" play.
It just doesn't make sense to hold on to people that are going to be beyond their peak 3 years from now in Baltimore. The need to rebuild the right way for once without all this sentimental bullshit.
Im not saying "trade" or "dont trade" him right now. Steve nailed it. Pitching, especially dominant left handed pitching is tough to come by. Especially Bedard who won 13 games in the AL East, AND missed 2 months.
Of the flip side, If the trade goes through, you get one HELL of a good Centerfielder and a half way decent starter.
Back to Brian Roberts. Do you honestly think an All-Star 2nd baseman like Brian Roberts is worth a mediocre Starter? Your insane. He hit .290 in a pitching dominant AL East and still did very well. And he has done well for years now. Im sorry dude, I cannot agree with your logic here. Bedard yes, Roberts no
Roberts will bat that this year yes, but whats the point of holding on to him now, letting his skills go to waste on a rebuilding team when we're at least 3 years away from competing?
Why not deal him for prospects that could be ready in 3 years when you're competitive?
You know, like dealing a backup catcher for a few no-name prospects pitchers? :)
Your getting a ton of prospect this season, from Houston and from Seattle. The O's need a foundation, someone to build around. Why not a rare type of Second Baseman/Lead off hitte such as a leadoff like Roberts? Do you honestly believe Sean Marshall is the answer??
You obviously cannot build around Melvin Mora or Kevin Millar right?
Yeah it makes no sense to hold on to Bedard or Roberts.. The O's have many holes to fill and keeping 1 pitcher and 1 all star 2nd baseman isnt going to win them enough games to even be considered a .500 ball club. If they deal away roberts and bedard and make smart decisions with all these prospects they are raking in.. they could have a very good rotation and lineup in the next 3-4 years.. If they hold on to Bedard and Roberts.. by the time the rest of the team is ready they will be getting past there prime.. whereas prospects that we got for them could be coming into there prime.. The key is to not rush these young guys and to have patience for the next 3 years.. but they have to deal away Bedard and Roberts even though it saddens me because Roberts has been my favorite Oriole for the last 4 years..
And your right.. by the time Mora's stupid contract is up Billy Rowell should be ready to assume that position.. and the O's have a few 1st base prospects.. one pretty decent named Brandon Snyder that should take over 1st base duties shortly
Also seems to me that Markakis is good enough and mature enough to take over a young team.. I think it would be fun to watch a group of young 20 year olds learning baseball together
I dont know, I think the Florida Marlin strategy is the wrong way to go. It works, KINDA, in Florida because their management is build around that philosophy.
Without protection, Markakis's bat becomes useless. Roberts is good for a .400 OBP and 40SB, which gives Markakis alot of good chances for RBIs. If your gonna trade Roberts, make it meaningful. Dont get me wrong, i like Sean Marshall, he is a VCU grad just like me =). But he wont come close to saving this franchise.
Mora is a waste, im shocked the O's arent forcing him in any trades. I would have sent him to Houston along with Tejada. That to me would have made the trade worth something.
Haha I agree.. I can't understand why they gave Mora a no-trade claus.. Just further proves Angelos' idiocy.. and I don't disagree about how much Roberts is worth.. it's tough to find a consistent lead off hitter with speed and a little power like him.. I hope we get at least his worth because I know what kind of player he his and can be in the national league.. and yes Markakis might have a frustrating year this year.. but even Cal Ripken's numbers weren't phenominal every year :).. maybe if the O's do everything right they can lure Tex away from Atlanta next year.. He wants to play in Baltimore.. its just a matter of time.... and money
Mora has a no-trade clause.
Markakis, as well as most the roster is gonna be pretty well unprotected while they go through the growing pains.
BTW, This is not a Marlins philosophy, this is just standard rebuilding for rosters that get really old and useless without a good farm system.
You'll be dealing with this unless you guys deal away your pitching in San Fran very soon...
Talk about an old team...
Nice 2007 answer Dews, but its obvious to me you dont pay attention to teams other than Baltimore. We have 3 guys over the age of 35. How are we old Dews??? Can you name someone other than Vizquel, Durham, and Aurillia that is older???
The Giants may be rebuilding but at least we are signing quality FA's and not making moron trades. That, and we have a top 5 rotation, 4 of which are home grown. Tell me.... how we are just like the Orioles??
What helps the Marlins is that no matter what they do, that fan base will stick with them. Who else do they have in Miami to chear for?? Baltimore is competing daily for their fan base. If they trade a fan favorite, they will lose fans to Washington, Boston, NY, Philly, and Atlanta. Fans in this region are very dynamic.
Isn't dave roberts older? He looks older than 35 if he isn't.. And Wynn must be getting close
steve kline as well..
Did you really just say the Marlins have a solid fan base?
Roberts and Kline are 34.........And Roberts may not even start. Davis (23) and Lewis (24) Winn (32) and Rowand (29) round out the rest of our OF
And yes, Roberts does have that Greg Oden look to him.
Oh wait, he is 35.....my bad modews
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