Friday, January 4, 2008

Power Rankings- Pre Season MLB


Not a whole lot of action this week since baseball pretty much shuts down around this time of year. A couple minor signings and a trade that shocked the west coast. With all that has happened; expect alittle relief and a bit of optimism for Shane, while Dews and MoDews prepares for a shocker.

1 (1). Boston Red Sox- Great mixture of youth and experience. Life is good in bean town.

2 (2) Detroit Tigers- Well, my hopes of Brandon Inge to San Francisco is all but shattered. Detroit says teams are interested but nobody wants to absorb the 3 year 19 million dollars left on his contract.

3 (3) New York Yankees- Hank was a hero and a goat this week. Hero for pretty much distancing the franchise from Roger Clemens. The goat for expecting baseball fans to be sympathetic toward his latest trade offer to the Twins. Hank is confused as to why the Twins havent accepted another offer NOT involving Joba. Get a clue Hank!

4.(4) LA Dodgers- Gonzo is still a Free Agent. Orioles management where are you???

5 (5) Chicago Cubs- I would be shocked if the Cubs made any more player moves. But expect them to remain on the top 5, at least until Spring Training.

6 (7) San Diego Padres- You continue to make noise. Jeff Devannon is a good 5th OF option and Robert Fick isnt half bad either. Well done

7 (6) LA Angels- Dallas McPherson rumors are running wild. This is good news for Chone Figgins.

8 (8) Cleveland Indians- No splashes made this offseason. Can ya blame them?? However, your were one solid SP away from beating Boston last year. *Insert hint here*

9 (9) Arizona Diamondbacks- Still in awe with the combo of Haren and Webb. 2 durable winners in my beloved NL West. Sheesh, how many times will my Giants get No-Hit this season.

10 (10) Colorado Rockies- They STILL need a second baseman badly. Marcus Giles is STILL available to. Hell if I were GM this would have been done weeks ago.

11 (11) Minnesota Twins- Im so proud of Twins management. Its like watching your child become potty trained. You may be a small market team but you wont get bullied on the playground. Your holding out for Joba and making Hank sweat. 2 Feats once deemed impossible

12 (13) Houston Astros- Other than Oswalt, who will start games?? Wandy, Bache, Williams?? Yeh, I thought so

13 (12) Philadelphia Philly’s- They could easily move up a slot with the acquisition of a quality SP. Perhaps John Leiber will come back?? Who knows

14 (14) New York Mets- MLB.com did a feature on Carlos Delgado.......Yes, MLB.com has nothing better to do right now.

15 (15) Milwaukee Brewers- People ignore the fact that this team has great quality pitching. But we saw what happened to this team in 2007 when they put an all 25 or younger squad on the field. They need some age. Perhaps Catcher, Jason Kendell is the answer. Think about it....

16 (22) Chicago Whitesox- Yes, Nick Swisher is THAT good. This was the deal that makes you competitors in 2008. He can play everywhere in the OF and 1b. You struck gold with this trade. You lost a few minor leaguers but who cares. Swisher is young and can only get better. More importantly, you got Swishers girlfriend, a playmate bunny in the trade. Not to shabby.

17 (16) Tampa Bay Rays- Rumor has it that Scott Kazmir is on the block. Ok, are you high Rays management?? Sure he always winds up on the DL before September but look at his numbers prior?? Very solid.

18 (19) Washington Nationals- Why the bump?? Well, Barry Larkin is now Elijah Dukes mentor now and word from Nats camp is that Dukes is in Florida right now working with Larkin. Dukes has so much talent but is troubled. Who better than a World Series winning, MVP, future HOF SS to save the day. Washington saw success in Dmitri Young so why not continue to trend of giving "second chances" Nats, you continue to impress me.

19 (17) Seattle Mariners- Carlos Siva's career stats: 55-46, 945IP with only 395K's, and has a 294AVG vs LHB and 282 vs RHB against. Tell me, is he worth 4 years, 55 million dollars to any of you? I know, I need to let this go........

20 (18) Atlanta Braves- Yeh.......Your blowing it guys. Rumor has it that the Braves are doing nothing and liking it.

21 (20) Toronto Blue jays- Nothing doing...

22 (21) San Francisco Giants- Im getting excited with the Dallas McPherson trade rumors. We need a 3b like we need air and he would fit perfectly in our system. Oh, Pedro Feliz may come back after failed attempts to land a 3 year contract elsewhere.......Yeh, im not thrilled either.

23 (23) Cincinnati Reds- The more I analyse the Hamilton trade the more it makes sense. You still have a great OF and you added a legitimate 3rd starter in Volquez. You still need a closer though.

24 (24) St Louis Cardinals- Congrats on signing Matt Clement. Mark Mulder will make sure to save him a seat on the DL. What a pointless move.

25 (25) Pittsburgh Pirates- If Bay can stay healthy, they could be my NL sleeper team.

26 (26) Texas Rangers- Hows that pitching hunt going? Not to well from the looks of it. You wont play Baltimore every day ya know.

27 (27) Oakland A's- No, they wont lose any spots here because they managed to fill a need with that Swisher trade. Put Chavez in as DH and keep him healthy and newly acquired Ryan Sweeney will fill in at 3b. Problem solved. Now back to their pitching.....I know they are in a rebuilding year but Beane is to smart to NOT compete for 2007. I expect more action this month in Oaktown.

28 (29) Kansas City Royals- Oakland traded their franchise guy, but at least they had one to trade. KC is slowly earning my respect though. Expect them to move up once Spring training starts

29 (30) Florida Marlins- Congratulations!!! All you had to do was sign Jose Castilla, a veteran 3b to fill that hole. Rumor has it they are talking to Jorge Cantu to also compete for the 3b spot. I REALLY like these move. They may not have Miggy, but at least they are making an effort to replace him. You still have ALONG way to go and you hanging at this spot by a nose hair.

30 (29) Baltimore Orioles- I know im going to get flack for this but what have you done to remedy your dilemma?? You cant be in a rebuilding phase for the entire decade. No off season moves of benefit. All you have right now in terms of offense is Nick Markakis ( he reminds me of the AL version of Adam Dunn. Lots of power but no OBP, AVG, and K's ALOT) and Brian Roberts (who is rumored to be traded) Please, someone, give me a reason to respect this franchise.

9 comments:

Dews said...

ok, quick stats...

O's Offense in 2007:
6th in BA, H's, 2b's

O's Pitching in 2007:
5th in K's, 7th in BAA

This projects to me as a middle of the pack and not great team, not the WORST team in baseball!

Hell San Fran's "Vaunted pitching" staff stacks up pretty similarly to the O's

Pitching:
San Fran: 1057 .261 1.40 1.78 6.54
Bawlmore: 1087 .268 1.52 1.56 6.80

Offense:
San Fran: .254 .322 .387 .708
Bawlmore: .272 .333 .412 .746

You sure about that SayHey? :)

Dews said...

Also Markakis is more of a Grady Sizemore type with less speed man... Doesn't project as much of a power hitter in the future, though maybe up to 30+ hr's...

Dews said...

Nick Markakis...

.300 avg .362 obp .485 slg .847 ops

K'd 112 times, hit 23 HR's and stole 18 bases...

Grady Sizemore...

.277 avg .390 obp .462 slg .852 ops

K'd 155 times, hit 24 HR's and stole 33 bases...

SayHey Kid said...

These power rankings reflect the 2008, so let me explain why you dropped and SF is where they are now.

Orioles- A quarter of your offensive production is an Astro now and Roberts may be leaving as well. Bedard is ALL you have in regards to pitching and he is on the trading block. No bullpen and no closers to brag about either. Sizemore doesnt K nearly as much as Markakis and has a much higher OBP. Comparing the 2 is laughable but thats not saying Markakis is a bad player, just more like Adam Dunn. The rest of AL East is vastly improving where Baltimore does nothing.

Giants- SF is making an effort to compete. We are younger hence healthier and Rowand makes our OF rather good with Fred Lewis, Rajah Davis, and Dave Roberts. Our pitching suffered last year only because we had no run support. But like I said, we are making an effort to remedy that problem.

What has Baltimore done to fix their team?? You cant play the "Rebuilding" Card every year.

SayHey Kid said...

Remember Sizemore is a leadoff hitter and put up similar stats as a cleanup guy. Ill give you the comparison though. Well researched my friend...

SayHey Kid said...

Until the O's make some moves and them being in the AL East, Im afraid they will remain where they are.

MoDews said...

Sorry this is a little late haven't been on the site in a while.. How can you say that a person doesn't hit for average when he bats .291 and .300 his first two years in the league? Yes he might strike out a lot but lets look at who they have had protecting him in the lineup.. Not many players get put into the 3 slot in there 2nd year as a player. No you can't compare Markakis to Sizemore because they are completely different players. But in no way can you compare Markakis to someone who strikes out 180 time plus and bats under .260.

SayHey Kid said...

Your right, I miscalculated his career statistics, but you have to entertain the notion that his numbers will diminish this year. He has no protection in the lineup and unless Mora can step up (which has hasnt done in a couple of seasons) he will suffer.

MoDews said...

Yes I agree. Any lineup where you have Melvin Mora in front of you and either Kevin Millar or Aubrey Huff behind you is just asking for a bad season.