Forgive me for my last week’s blunder of not posting a power ranking. I had it all complete, but due to a really bad day (and formatting errors) I decided not to rush and post a crappy looking blog. This week is different, Im going to New York this weekend to see the family (and hopefully offend some Yankee fans). Back to baseball, I listened to a lot of sports radio this week and they all pretty much bashed the Red Sox v A’s Japan series, citing that games were on to early and that jetlag will effect both teams season. To them I say “Get the Fuck over it”. What I saw in Japan was nothing less of success. The Tokyo Dome was sold out (which is more than I can say for most MLB stadiums), teams looked rusty yet effective, and most important; I listened to baseball at 7:30 in the morning. Ah life is good.
1 (1) Boston Red Sox (1-1) - Perhaps the pitching is not as good as I thought. Dice-K was far from good and Papelbon looked like Joe Borowski. Give it up to Manny though; he made people forget that Ortiz went 0-9 with 4 k’s.
2 (2) Detroit Tigers (0-0) – Miggy got his contract extension. Fear him!!
3 (3) Chicago Cubs (0-0) - the Brian Roberts talks are over with no Brian Roberts. No matter, Ryan Theroit and Mike Fontenot are not bad options at the 2b spot.
4 (4) LA Dodgers (0-0) – This team is in some serious trouble. Both 3b options are hurt as well as Jeff Kent. I said this before but they lacked infield depth before the injuries. If the pitching is nothing less than flawless, expect the Dodgers to exit the top 10 quickly.
5 (5) New York Mets (0-0) – The Barry Bonds rumors are crushed and thank God for that.
6 (6) New York Yankees (0-0) – They managed to lose to the Pirates the day Legends Field's name was changed to honor George.
7 (7) San Diego Padres (0-0) – Expect them to move up soon. No significant injuries and a lot of good momentum going into Opening Day.
8 (8) Cleveland Indians (0-0) –C.C is my man. Everyday that passes without an extension is good news for A’s fan.
9 (10) Arizona Diamondbacks (0-0) – I still think they have a terrible offense, but when you have a rotation like they have, who cares. Haren and Webb had good springs. Owings also did pretty well.
10 (11) Chicago White Sox (0-0) – Thank GOD Joe Crede got hurt now rather than later. Rumor had it that the Giants were aggressively pursuing him.
11 (9) LA Angels (0-0) – Yes, they are out of the top 10. Lackey is out through May and now Santana is out for the year (if not his career). This leaves Weaver as their number 1. He isn’t bad but he is all the pitching they have right now.
12 (12) Colorado Rockies (0-0) – Well, my man Marcus Giles was cut which saddens me. Lets see if Jason Nix can fill the void at 2B.
13 (13) Houston Astros (0-0)- Matsui will miss 2 weeks due to that pesky Anal Fissure. I wish I could say I feel for ya.
14 (14) Milwaukee Brewers (0-0) – I don’t see a single weak link in their starting lineup. They could easily steal the wild card in the NL.
15 (15) Tampa Bay Rays (0-0) - I have high hopes for the Rays this season. I do have them winning the wild card (which Dews quickly pointed out that it contradicts my Power Rankings). Dew’s- it’s a long season. You have to earn your spot!!
16 (16) Seattle Mariners (0-0) – Will Ichiro’s bad spring carry into opening day? Doubtful but if it does, the M’s are in trouble.
17 (17) Philadelphia Philly’s (0-0) – Well, looks like Anna Benson will be fornicating with the Lehigh Valley Ironpig’s if husband Kris cheats. Lucky Anna!!
18 (18) Toronto Blue Jays (0-0) – Scott Rolen is out for 4-6 weeks with a broken finger. Not to significant enough for the Jays to lose a spot. Marco Scururo proved last season with the A’s that he is more than a spot utility guy. He should fill in nicely if called upon.
19 (19) Washington Nationals (0-0) – My only regret this spring is NOT drafting Lastings Milledge on any of my 4 fantasy teams. He had a rock solid spring.
20 (20) Atlanta Braves (0-0) – Wow, I never thought I would live long enough to see Mike Hampton pitch again. This time, he could be back to his former self.
21 (21) Minnesota Twins (0-0) – I have a new favorite pitcher in Twin-town, Nick Blackburn. I’m not sure if he will make the rotation but regardless he had a very solid spring. I would expect him to make the rotation come June.
22 (22) Cincinnati Reds- (0-0) – Homer Bailey was sent down to AAA, which is fine for Reds fan. Their rotation was quite impressive this spring. And it looks like Corey Patterson may win the CF spot.
23 (24) Oakland A's (1-1) – The A’s were obviously the better team in Japan. If not for Emil Brown’s moron base running skills, they would have swept the Saux. Blanton looked good and Harden looked like Nolan. The A’s played small ball to the “T” and could make me a Bay Area believer again.
24 (23) San Francisco Giants (0-0) – Another injury and this one is serious. Our “Dustin Pedroia” clone, Kevin Frandsen, is out for the season. Bad news for him means good news for Giant’s fan; Eugenio Velez is sure to make the 25 man roster and start at SS (I hope). I would petition for him to play 2B but Durham is having a PHE-NOMINAL spring.
25 (25) St Louis Cardinals (0-0) – Once Pujol’s gets shut down for the season (which he will) the Oriole’s may not be the worst team in baseball.
26 (26) Pittsburgh Pirates (0-0) – Their ace, Tom Gorzellany was solid against the Yanks in his final ST start. He was the one guy in Pittsburgh that actually looked good this spring.
27 (27) Texas Rangers (0-0) – And they are the lucky winner in the John Patterson sweepstakes. If he can stay healthy he is an immediate upgrade in the Ranger rotation. The mystery is; when will he join the team? Rumor has him pitching in the minors for a little while. Side note- They demoted “Salty”.
28 (28) Kansas City Royals (0-0) – ROY candidate Billy Butler was named the DH. Apparently Ryan Gload is supposed to have a great season at 1B. We shall wait and see about that.
29 (29) Florida Marlins (0-0) – My man Dallas McPherson was demoted. Apparently they have more hitters than I thought (insert sarcasm here).
30 (30) Baltimore Orioles (0-0) - Be patient Oriole fan. Your time to prove me wrong will come very soon. And by the way, Keeping Brian Roberts is a good thing. If he puts up 2006 and 2007 numbers, he will be worth twice as much in July.
5 comments:
Small ball to a T? We scored almost all of our runs off of home runs.
You can play small ball and hit homeruns. Im mainly referring to the smart baserunning(other than Emil Brown of course) and not swinging at every pitch thrown.
I thought I was complimenting ya buddy
That's not small ball, that's SMART ball
also for the record, Jeremy Guthrie is the opening day starter for the O's...
I seem to remember a discussion about that a while back.
Cubs need to give the O's Pie for Roberts and Payton and call it a day already. These delays are starting to piss me off, though it does look like it'll be July when he's finally dealt (if not soon after the season starts).
Small ball is smart ball.
Yeh, well its not the Cubs that are hesitating on this deal. The O's are stalling (as they always do) until the time is right. They were patient on Bedard and look what they got? A clean-up hitter and a closer.
Post a Comment