Milwaukee Brewers Offseason Recap and Preview
Although the result was not what they would have wanted, one good thing came out of the 2010 season for the Brewers:
Grade: B+
Notable Additions:
Zack Greinke, Shawn Marcum, Yuniesky Betancourt, Sean Green, Takashi Saito, and Mark Kotsay.
Notable Subtractions:
Dave Bush, Chris Capuano, Todd Coffey, Carlos Villanueva, Brett Lawrie, Alcides Escobar, Jeremy Jeffress, Lorenzo Cain, Gregg Zaun, Doug Davis, and Trevor Hoffman.
Why?: Yeah, sure they got two front-of-the-line pitchers (yes I do consider Shawn Marcum front-of-the-line when he is not in the AL East) but also look at all the players they lost. They lost: 4 starters, 3 relievers, two infielders, an outfielder, a catcher, and one prospect I didn’t bother to look up.
I think their rotation should be fine despite losing those four starters as they are a strong five… but if (read: when) one of their starters goes down in the season this offseason has created a canyon of talent between the 5 starter and next in line.
Their offense should be great as always and might even increase seeing as Prince is in a walk year and might get up a little extra for it. I am not saying he doesn’t try hard but for many stars it enables them to use their family as motivation to do well.
There is also the factor of good pitching affecting the hitting. It will be interesting to see whther this hurts or helps. As far as I can see, it will either help to not feel like they have to score 10 runs a game and they will relax/ hit better or they will relax too much and not score enough.
Predicted Record Range: 85-90 wins. I am not expecting that much of them because they did only win 77 games last year and didn’t imporve that much when you think about it. This is still giving them an improvement of 8-13 wins which is a lot for a team to accomplish (and in retro spect might be a bit much).
Up Next: Chicago Cubs
St. Louis Cardinals Offseason Recap and Preview
They thought they were the champs. They fought the Reds strongly:
They took the competition late into the season. Then this happened:
Grade: B-
Notable Additions:
Jim Edmonds, Ryan Theriot, Lance Berkman, Gerald Laird, Miguel Bautista, Ian Snell, and Nick Punto.
Notable Subtractions:
Brad Penny, Randy Winn, Pedro Feliz, Brendan Ryan, Aaron Miles, and Jeff Suppan.
Why?: Initially I was going to give them a C- but then I typed in all the notable additions and they are all solid players. I then looked and saw they didn’t have many subtractions worth crying about. They boosted each of the four Cardinal (pun intended) categories of Relief Pitching, Stating Pitching, Infield, and Outfield.
The losses are also solid players but everywhere they replaced the players and then added some more. This entry was supposed to be before Wainwright went out so I won’t count him as a subtraction but looking at these players they did decently in the offseason.
Predicted Record Range: 80-85 wins. The Wainwright isn’t enough alone to lower the wins THAT much so I say with his actual stats gone and the emotional blow it adds, 3-5 wins should be expected off of last year’s win total.
Up Next: Milwaukee Brewers
Cincinnati Reds Offseason Recap and Preview
For so long they had struggled at the bottom of the NL Central with the Brewers and Pirates but last year:
Washington Nationals Offseason Recap and Preview
The image of the year and perhaps the decade for the Nationals. Though they hope not.
Grade: B
Notable Additions:
Jayson Werth, Matt Stairs, Rick Ankiel, Chad Gaudin, Adam LaRoche, Jerry Hairston Jr., Tom Gorzelanny, Todd Coffey, and Alex Cora.
Notable Subtractions:
Adam Dunn, Lastings Milledge, Josh Willingham, Scott Olsen, Miguel Bautista, and Willy Taveras.
Why?: Now I know that the Jayson Werth deal was excessive and I would not have done it. To put it in perspective, they could have gotten Adam Dunn and a fourty million dollar pitcher or Adam Dunn and two twenty million dollar pitchers. I factored this into the grade, which is why the grade is not a B+ instead of a B.
What I saw though, was a team that is MUCH improved on defense (Adam Laroche, Rick Ankiel, and Alex Cora). Remeber that in the last few years this has been a problem. They also *improved* their lineup despite the loss of Dunn’s power bat with the signings of Adam Laroche (25 HRs a year) and Werth (who knows in the National’s line-up). They also got some bullpen and rotational stability with Gorzelanny, Coffey, and Gaudin acquired.
Predicted Record Range: 70-75 wins. Out of the Cellar baby!! I think that this number can actually be higher because of the stability they have now that they are a bit older and will be more consitent instead of many players that should be in AAA botching plays and pitching on hot and cold streaks.
Up Next: Cinncinati Reds
New York Mets Offseason Recap and Preview
Normally I provide a picture at the beginning of an entry to describe the team’s last season. The Mets are no exception:
Grade: B-
Notable Additions:
Chris Young, Chris Capuano, Boof Bonser, Chin-lung Hu, and Scott Harriston.
Notable Subtractions:
Oliver Perez, Luis Castillo, Pedro Feliciano, Hisanori Takahashi, Sean Green, Henry Blanco, John Maine, and Fernando Tatis.
Why?: Had I done this entry when I planned, I would have given them a C. With the subtractions of Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo they actually did not hurt their chances of winning this year by that much. It also set them up for the future rather well not having to worry about the contracts of those two.
The only thing that it could be interpretted negatively as is, as a declaration of defeat by the Mets (that would be Mets fans that say this). Yes, it is a declaration of defeat, but come on, did Mets fans really expect them to get to the playoffs this year (some do).
Maybe this is just my talk radio trained ear overreacting to Mets fans expecting their team to do well. I wish them well for all the Mets fans in New York (Although, a worse team does mean more empty seats) but I just don’t see it this year… at all.
Predicted Record Range: 65-70 wins maybe they go on more extended versions of the tears last year because of injured players coming back but I also see two players in contract years that could act as trade bait. This number is assuming either Calos Beltran or Jose Reyes gets traded mid-season. If not, see this number go up maybe even by double digits.
Up Next: Washington Nationals
To try and hide this entry (as to not get hate mail from Mets fans) quickly I will try and get the Nationals Recap and Preview up ASAP.
Florida Marlins Offseason Recap and Preview
For those who know the Marlins, you know that they build up their team every few years to do well and break it apart the next year:
Atlanta Braves Offseason Recap and Preview
At least they lost to the eventual champions.
Grade: B
Philadelphia Phillies Offseason Recap and Preview
I think it’s safe to say the first year of the Roy Halladay Era in Philadelphia went well for the Phillies. The playoffs under their standards but still pretty good.
Grade: A
Notable Additions:
Cliff Lee, Delwyn Young, Brandon Moss, and Brian Bass.
Notable Subtractions:
Jayson Werth, Nate Robertson, Greg Dobbs, Jamie Moyer, and Chad Durbin.
Why?: They got Cliff Lee and this might have varying responses. Some may say higher than an A some may say lower. The reason I gave the Phillies an A is because Lee was the only difference maker they signed but that one player caused a HUGE spike in Phillie mentions and stock sale.
Did they gain enough in net player Werth (heh, how’d that get in there?) to deserve an A? No. Did they also go overboard the set budget and break their own rule about signing pitchers? Yes. However, the whole Lee situation has done them infinite wonders as far as publicity is concerned and therefore ticket sales (which is why I won’t go to Philadelphia that much this year). So, I did factor in what it did for them as a business as well as what it did for them as a team.
I also learned to never underestimate a Young, as demonstrated by both Dimitri and Delmon (did these people have names not in D?). So, the signing of young Delwyn did not hurt my grade.
Not much else happened besides the Cliff Lee signing but as those of you reading since December know and as those of you who haven’t can see here, I thought highly of how this signing was set up in the previous years.
Predicted Record Range: 94-99 This may seem a bit low considering how much I have lauded them in this entry but their line-up has pacified considerably with the loss of Utley and worth(so that’s where it went). Do I think that they will win the World Series if/when Utley comes back full force? Yes, but until then they will struggle in streaks to put runs up. I actually have the NL East being a race if not the Braves winning it.
Baltimore Orioles Offseason Recap and Preview
Baltimore Orioles 2010:
Toronto Blue Jays Offseason Recap and Preview
The Blue Jays lose possibly the best pitcher in the league and what do they do:
Oh, nothing much. Just hit the most home runs of any team in the major leagues.
Grade: B-
Notable Additions:
Frank Fancisco, Rajai Davis, Carlos Villanueva, Sean Henn, Corey Patterson, Octavio Dotel, Chad Cordero, Jon Rauch, and Juan Rivera.
Notable Subtractions:
Vernon Wells, Jeremy Accardo, Kevin Gregg, Scott Downs, John Buck, Shawn Marcum, and Lyle Overbay.
Why?: I know that they lost three really good bullpen guys, but look. They also gained four former closers. I know that they lost two middle of the line-up hitters but got a bonafide lead off hitter and whatever you consider Juan Rivera and Corey Patterson to be.
The only thing that suffered in the offseason was the rotation. Not only because of what you might think in Marucm leaving for Milwaukee but also John Buck leaving. With Buck leaving the pretty consistent Blue Jay rotation has had three catchers in three years (or more?) and it is tough. I would make the analogy to Quarter Backs in football playing in different systems every year. It is tough to have to keep adjusting. Just when you get comfortable pitching to a certain catcher he leaves town.
Will the Blue Jays continue to hit home runs? I have no idea. All I know is that even though there were more homeruns, there was also a way lower team AVG. Takee Aaron HIll for example, normally he hits around 15 HRs and bats .280 but last year he hit 24 HRs (or something like that) and had an AVG of around the Mendoza line.
One thing I would tell people is to watch out for Blue Jay prospects in the future. With the new GM, Alex Anthopoulos, the Blue Jays invested a whole lot into scouting, which may pay dividends down the road.
Predicted Record Range: 77-82 wins I see them declining a bit even though they have people like Kyle Drabek coming up because I don’t think they can keep the home run production up in 2011.
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