Major League Baseball Spring Roundup:
| Author: Michael Licata |
| Date: 03/27/2010 |
It's almost April and warm weather means the Major
League Baseball season will start in a few weeks. Most teams upgraded their
rosters during the offseason. It still seems like the best teams reside in
the eastern division of both the American League and National League.
The Philadelphia Phillies improved by adding arguably
the best pitcher in baseball in Roy Halladay. They gave up Cliff Lee in the
deal, but Halladay proved himself against some of the best teams in the
league playing with Toronto in the AL East. The Phillies return the deepest
lineup in the NL, with Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jayson Werth and Raul
Ibanez. Placido Polanco adds a solid bat at the top of the lineup, along
with solid defense at third. The pitching depth behind Halladay should be
pretty solid, with Cole Hamels and Joe Blanton providing solid 2-3 and J.A.
Happ will fit well into becoming a quality fourth starter and the ageless
Jaime Moyer filling out the starting five. Brad Lidge continues to close
tough games with Ryan Madson in the eighth inning. It's too early to start
predicting where each team will end up, but with Halladay and Polanco,
expect the Phils to compete in a third consecutive World Series.
It's expected to be the last season for Bobby Cox in
Atlanta. The team wants him to go out on top. A lot of that will ride on
their newest right fielder, Jayson Heyward. The 20 year-old carries a lot of
promise and will look to help the Braves contend all season. The rest of the
team has solid players in important positions. Expect Jair Jurrjens to
really have a breakout season after posting some impressive numbers each of
the last two seasons. Trading Javier Vasquez may impact the pitching staff,
Atlanta will miss his 238 strike outs from the 2009 season.
The Los Angeles Dodgers expect to contend again, with
Manny Ramirez and a solid pitching staff without a clear number one starter.
The San Francisco Giants are the biggest threat to unseat the Dodgers in the
NL west The Giants finally add some bats to the lineup, possible with the
addition of Mark DeRosa and Aubrey Huff to go along with that impressive
pitching staff. St. Louis will win 90 plus games again with Adam Wainwright
and Chris Carpenter anchoring an impressive rotation. The Chicago Cubs are
expected to play well, anchored by gifted position players at a lot of
positions to go along with an impressive starting rotation.
The National League seems like an overall stronger
league with Halladay and some other key players switching leagues. The
defending champions reside in the American League. The New York Yankees
added important players like Curtis Granderson and welcomed back Vazquez.
Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon leaving means that on base machine Nick
Johnson will assume the role of designated hitter. Phil Hughes won the fifth
starter position over Joba Chamberlain which ends the starter experiment for
Chamberlain. The Yankees lineup will continue to be loaded and Granderson
only adds an important piece.
The Boston Red Sox poise one of the biggest threats to
un-seed the Yankees. Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and offseason addition John
Lackey lead one of the best starting rotations in baseball. The addition of
Adrian Beltre and Marco Scutaro helps both defensively and offensively for
the Red Sox. Many critics think that the Red Sox' offense will stutter at
points, but don't expect it to be the case. David Ortiz will return to
hitting the ball well, as long as he gets protection in the line up. Mike
Cameron's addition should help improve Boston's lineup. If the offense does
stutter early in the season, expect general manager Theo Epstein to give up
some prospects for San Diego Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez.
Expect a team out West to impact the pennant race this
season. Except it's not the one every body's used to. The Seattle Mariners
traded for Cliff Lee and expanded the quality of the defense. Baseball more
so than other sports relies on statistics to determine the success of a
team. The Mariners are expected to have the best defense in baseball. Felix
Hernandez should once again contend for the Cy Young Award. Jack Wilson and
Chone Figgins up the middle should save a few more runs for their pitchers.
Franklin Gutierrez should continue to anchor the outfield along with hitting
machine Ichiro.
Spring Training is the time for all fans to be optimistic about their teams. The same teams will continue to be leading the standings. It's still too early because injuries and the long 162 game schedule hasn't started yet. Expect to see a great AL East race all year, the Minnesota Twins should win the AL Central and it might be a good race between the Angels and Mariners in the west. The Phillies should win the NL East. The Cardinals should win the Central. The NL West is wider than previous seasons and it should be a good race between the Giants, Rockies and Dodgers. It's March, optimism reigns, so let's play Ball!
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