Preseason Prediction:
104-58, 1st in AL East, 24G in front of
Baltimore Orioles
Predicted Top Players:
RHSP
Marcus Stroman 15-7 3.47 168K 192IP
SS
Jim Hatfield .290/.364/.560 39HR 105RBI 19SB
LF
Nick Castellanos .298/.340/.538 31HR 105RBI 10SB
DH
Eugenio Suárez .286/.370/.542 40HR 113HR 24SB
Well, that is not out of the question after our stellar 2015. Gotta stay healthy. Gotta hope that the rookies can produce and the sophomore’s can repeat.
The huge questions going into 2014 are:
How will the glut of rookies and sophomores fare?
Can we win a playoff series, assuming we get there?
Can
Buchanan become a lockdown closer, or are we in trouble?
The Division:
The
Baltimore Orioles(77-85) are predicted to be the best of a bad rest with a 80-82 record. Their rotation is virtually unchanged with uninspiring names like
Nolasco,
Chen or
Dylan Bundy and their offense… well 3B
Manny Machado(23, 3.5*, .291-24-84 .881OPS 4.8WAR) has now two 4+WAR seasons at age 23 but 1B
Chris Davis(30, 2.5*, .203-19-75 .643OPS -1.8WAR) has crashed after leading the AL in homers(43) and RBI(117) in 2014. There IS some excitement over 21-year old LHRP
Josh Hader(21, 2.5/5*, 12-9 4.11 132K 2.6WAR AAA) making his debut, the #31 prospect in baseball.
The
New York Yankees(81-81) faltered after a strong April last season and are expected to finish with 79-83 bang around .500. With
Alex Rodriguez(retired),
Derek Jeter(retired),
Mariano Rivera(LAD, then retired) and
Andy Pettitte(retired) out and
CC Sabathia(PHI) and
Hiroki Kuroda(WSH) in the NL, this team is a shell of his former self. 2B
Robinson Cano(33, 2.5*, .287-25-115 0.9WAR) has become a $29.2M defensive liability with a contract for four more years and LF
Brett Gardner(32, 2.5*, .274-8-51 .736OPS 2.6WAR) may be on his way out as he is in the final year of his contract. Free agent signees RF
Carlos Gonzalez(30, 3.5*, .304-25-96 .888OPS 4.7WAR) and C/1B/OF
Jayson Werth(36, .265-21-74 .797OPS 3.5WAR) have performed… but there are simply too many well paid holes in this team.
Improving by 7 wins compared to 2014, the
Boston Red Sox(77-85) fans shall not expect a lot of improvement as Las Vegas has their over-under at 75 wins. There is some upside in them tho as the cheeky signing of knuckleballer
R.A. Dickey(41, 3*, 13-14 3.22 201K 4.3WAR) and the first full season of #84 prospect SP
Dan Royce(21, 2.5/4*, 3-3 4.95 31K 0.7WAR) could solidify their pitching. As for hitting, their lineup is the boulevard of broken dreams with players like
Xander Bogaerts(23, 2.5*, .282-6-24 .762OPS 1.1WAR), once a top prospect, OF
Jacoby Ellsbury(32, 2.5*, .239-15-57 .657OPS 0.5WAR) and his $21M salary, C
Miguel Montero(32, 2.5*, .249-13-54 .718OPS 2.5WAR, $13.5M till 2019) and 1B
Kevin Youkilis(37, 2*. .238-13-64 .721OPS 0.2WAR, $16.8M). The lone bright spot? OF/2B/SS
Mookie Betts(23, 4/5*, .278-17-70 .789OPS 27/33SB, 5.6WAR).
Tampa Bay(76-86) had playoff window from 2010-2014, but that one is now closed shut with
David Price(CLE) and
Edwin Encarnacion(ARI) out of the door, and especially that they didn’t flip
Edwin for prospects last deadline… rubbed many fans the wrong way. They still have SP
Alex Cobb(28, 2.5/3*, 10-8 3.60 150K 1.9WAR) as ace and potential trade bait, and technically, 3B
Evan Longoria(30, 3.5*, .276-33-11 .847OPS 5.1WAR, $28.4M till 2018) and LF
Desmond Jennings(29, 3*, .258-9-56 .712OPS 1.1WAR) should be in the mix of trade candidates this sommer.
Top Pitcher
Top Position Player
Baseball America announced their Top 100 prospect list:
#1 2B
Jose Lopez(5*), 20,
Houston Astros(S A)(NEW) (13th overall 2015)
#2 1
Victor Adan(5*), 19,
New York Mets(R)(+-0) (IFA signing)
#3 2B
Jaylin Harris(5*), 23,
Colorado Rockies(A)(NEW) (6th overall 2015)
#4 CF
Ryan McDonald(5*), 19,
Detroit Tigers(R)(NEW) (1st overall 2015)
#5 RHSP
Kadidku Letipilia(5*), 22,
St. Louis Cardinals(A)(NEW) (8th overall 2015)
#6 LHSP
Joe Peterson(5*), 22,
New York Mets(MLB)(NEW) (14th overall 2015)
#7 RHSP
Elijah Jones(5*), 18,
Pittsburgh Pirates(A)(NEW) (3rd overall 2015)
#8 SS
Neil Toms(4*), 23,
Oakland Athletics(A)(NEW) (21st overall 2015)
#9 RHSP
Dane Tyler(5*), 22,
New York Yankees(AA)(NEW) (9th overall 2015)
#10 3B
Chris Unger(3*), 20,
Detroit Tigers(R)(NEW) (3rd overall 2014)
Notable
Toronto Blue Jays on the list:
#18 RHSP
Juan Gonzalez(5*), 20, AAA, Scouting Discovery NYM 2012 (NEW)
#20 RHSP
Victor Torres(4.5*), 21, AA ,IFA signing 2013 (-9)
#39 2B
Alex Rivera(5*), 17, R, Scouting Discovery MIL 2015 (NEW)
#46 CF
Steve Snyder(3.5*), 23, AAA, 1st round 2014 (-24)
#54 C
Peter Kilgore(5*), 19, R, 3rd round 2015 (NEW)
#57 C
Bobby Cary(4*), 20, AAA, Scouting Discovery DET 2012 (+190)
#65 IF
Guillermo Cervantes(4.5*), 20, AA, Scouting Discovery HOU 2012 (NEW)
#68 1B
Joe Sokolow(4.5*), 23, MLB, 7th round 2013 (+124)
#85 LF
Jesse Winker(3.5*), 22, MLB, Trade CIN (-14)
#98 LF
Jorge Calvillo(4.5*), 17, R, IFA signing 2016 (NEW)
#150 1B
George Benton(3.5*), 20, A, 3rd round 2014 (+47)
#115 CF
Jake Harris(3*), 22, AA, 4th round 2012 (-23)
#119 RHSP
Julio Acosta(3.5*), 22, AA, 2nd round 2014 (-24)
#121 RHSP
Tommy Erikson(4*), 23, AAA, 5th round 2014 (+34)
#139 LF
Miguel Licea(4*), 19, A, Scouting Discovery TEX 2012 (+110)
#146 RHRP
Mike Smith(5*), 19, AA, 4th rounder 2014 (+151)
#164 CF
Ian Dellaripa(3,5*), 22, AAA, 6th rounder 2012 (NEW)
#167 RHSP
Greg Toomey(4*), 22, AA, 6th rounder 2015 (NEW)
#183 RHRP
Jorge Diaz(5*), 20, AAA, Scouting Discovery CWS 2012(+93)
#185 LHSP
John Hall(4*), 22, AA, 5th rounder 2015 (NEW)
#201 RHSP
Melvin Baiza(4*), 19, S A, Scouting Discovery BOS 2013 (NEW)
#202 RHSP
Mat Rose(3.5*), 19, A, 2nd rounder 2015 (NEW)
#204 RHSP
Ricky Paniagua(3,5*), 20, Scouting Discovery PHI 2012 (NEW)
#221 LHSP
bobby Olenick(4*), 23, A, 7th Round 2014 (+47)
#222 RHRP
Roberto Osuna(4*), 21, MLB (-110)
#227 RHSP
Javier Guzman(3.5*), 19, A, Scouting Discovery KCR 2013 (+31)
#229 RHRP
Emilio Farentino(5*), 17, A, IFA signing 2015 (NEW)
Depth for days. We are set up perfectly and you wanna now the next big thing?
Juan Gonzalez is already 3/5* and only 20. The kid could be a superstar veery soon.
By the way, some balancing soon? If we win a world series, we will receive another ‘punishment’ in order to make this more challenging.