There was no greater surprise in 2008 than the Tampa Bay Rays, the team who finished with the worst record in baseball in 2007, making it to the World Series. Led by a strong pitching staff and star rookie Evan Longoria, the Rays took the entire league by storm and came up just short, losing to the Phillies.
Projected Lineup:
C - Dioner Navarro
1B - Carlos Pena
2B - Akinori Iwamura
SS - Jason Bartlett
3B - Evan Longoria
LF - Carl Crawford
CF - BJ Upton
RF - Matt Joyce
DH - Pat Burrell
Projected Rotation:
#1 - James Shields
#2 - Matt Garza
#3 - Scott Kazmir
#4 - Andy Sonnanstine
#5 - Jeff Niemann
Position Battles:
#5 Starter - Niemann looks to have the job for the time being, but he has been extremely injury prone in the past. With a solid month or two in AAA, Wade Davis could force his way up.
2009 Outlook: The Rays play in baseball's toughest division, so proving that 2008 was not a fluke will be that much harder. BJ Upton's shoulder has healed and Carl Crawford will look to get back on track after injury woes kept him from getting going in 2008. The signing of Pat Burrell was a very good pickup because of Burrell's power and more consistent bat at the DH spot for the Rays.
The rotation will need to be fantastic for them to have any chance to repeat. Luckily, Shields, Kazmir, and Garza provide an excellent backbone. Each should get better in 2009, and that alone may be enough to keep them on top. Also, at some point the young David Price will be called up and will add to the already solid pitching of the Rays. The bullpen was led by Australian sensation Grant Balfour, he too will need to be excellent if they have title hopes in '09.
Projected Finish: 1st place, AL East.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
2009 Preview: Boston Red Sox
In 2008 the Boston Red Sox were American League Wild Card winners and they were one win away from playing the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series. It was a roller coaster year for the Sox from Big Papi's injury, to Dustin Pedroia's MVP year, to Beckett's injury, to the outstanding play of Kevin Youkilis, to a playoff berth, to finally a heart-breaking playoff exit. Also, Dice K and Jon Lester really stepped up for Boston's rotation, as they just kept on winning games for the team. It was an overall good year, with a devastating finish.
Prjoected Lineup:
C - Jason Varitek
1B - Kevin Youkilis
2B - Dustin Pedroia
SS - Jed Lowrie3B - Mike Lowell
LF - Jason Bay
CF - Jacoby Ellsbury
RF - JD DrewDH - David Ortiz
Projected Rotation:
#1 - Josh Beckett
#2 - Daisuke Matsuzaka#3 - Jon Lester
#4 - Tim Wakefield#5 - Brad Penny
Closer - Jonathon PapelbonPosition Battles:
SS - Throughout the season Lowrie and Julio Lugo should split at short stop and whoever has the hot bat should get more of the playing time. Lowrie should begin the season as the starter.
#5 Starter - Right now Brad Penny looks to have the job won, but that does not mean it will be his all season. The Red Sox have Clay Buchholz and John Smoltz, who they signed in the off season, so either one of them could fill in for Penny if he starts to not pitch well.
2009 Outlook: The Red Sox should fight for another playoff berth in 2009. They return the same offense that they had a year before, which consists of the AL MVP Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, David Ortiz, and Jason Bay who should really power the offense once again. One thing that will make a big impact on Boston is the health of David Ortiz. If he can stay healthy than Boston should have no real offensive problems, but if he gets hurt again than the team will need to do some rotating of players and hope someone steps up, like Drew did in 08.
The pitching staff looks the same as in 2008, with the addition of Brad Penny and Smoltz who look to add to the already good pitching staff. Dice K made some big strides last year and is now one of the premier pitchers in the league and is showing why Boston payed top dollar to sign him. Jon Lester also had a breakout season last year going 16 - 6 and pitching in real big games when Boston needed a win. The big key to the staff is Josh Beckett and his health. If Beckett can stay healthy than this staff can be one of the best in all of baseball, but if gets hurt than either Buchholz or Smoltz will have to step up.
Projected Finish: 2nd Place, AL East
Saturday, April 4, 2009
2009 Preview: New York Yankees
2007 was the start of the Joe Girardi era for the New York Yankees and it did not start off so great. The Yankees finished 3rd in the division and missed the playoffs for the first time in a decade. They were plagued by injuries and poor pitching. On the bright side, Mike Mussina had a brilliant year by winning 20 games for the first time in his career and Alex Rodriguez even though he did not play the whole season still put up great numbers. Outside of those two, everyone else on the team was pretty average and that led to their 89 - 73 record last season.
Projected Lineup:
C - Jorge Posada
1B - Mark Teixera
2B - Robinson Cano
SS - Derek Jeter
3B - Alex Rodriguez
LF - Johnny Damon
CF - Brett Gardner
RF - Xavier Nady
DH - Hideki Matsui
Projected Rotation:
#1 - CC Sabathia
#2 - Chien-Ming Wang
#3 - AJ Burnett
#4 - Andy Pettite
#5 - Joba Chamberlain
Closer - Mariano Rivera
Postion Battles:
CF - Brett Gardner won the spot in spring training but that does not mean that it is his all season. If he starts to falter, then Melky Cabrera will be eager to get in and prove that he is the starting center fielder.
2009 Outlook: This past off season the Yankees did what they do best, which is spend money. They went out and get CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, and Mark Texiera in hopes of another return to the playoffs and another World Series Championship.
The offense looks as if it will be really good as long as everyone can stay healthy. They have a fairly old lineup and Alex Rodriguez is the first person to go down with an injury. A-Rod's injury should hurt them at the beginning of the season, but when he comes back he will put up the number that he always does. Jorge Posada is healthy and is hoping to improve on his awful 2008.
The pitching on paper looks as if it should be one of the best, but it is definitely the weakness of the Yankees. AJ Burnett is known for not staying healthy and so nobody knows how he will do. CC Sabathia started off really slow in the AL last year with the Cleveland Indians and then turned it on when he moved to the NL. So it should be interesting to see how he does back in the AL, in a very tough AL East. Joba Chamberlain has not proven to be a consistent solid starter yet, but he is still young. This could be the year that he turns it around and becomes the stud starter than everyone is expecting him to be. Finally, Mariano Rivera is old and skills are dimenishing, but he can still get the job done. If he can stay healthy, then the Yankees will be fine in the late innings.
Overall, this team could be really good or they can be an average team, but it really depends on players staying healthy and the consistency of the starting rotation. They will definitely be in the race for a playoff spot, but I do not know if they will actually make it.
Projected Finish: 3rd Place, AL East
Projected Lineup:
C - Jorge Posada
1B - Mark Teixera
2B - Robinson Cano
SS - Derek Jeter
3B - Alex Rodriguez
LF - Johnny Damon
CF - Brett Gardner
RF - Xavier Nady
DH - Hideki Matsui
Projected Rotation:
#1 - CC Sabathia
#2 - Chien-Ming Wang
#3 - AJ Burnett
#4 - Andy Pettite
#5 - Joba Chamberlain
Closer - Mariano Rivera
Postion Battles:
CF - Brett Gardner won the spot in spring training but that does not mean that it is his all season. If he starts to falter, then Melky Cabrera will be eager to get in and prove that he is the starting center fielder.
2009 Outlook: This past off season the Yankees did what they do best, which is spend money. They went out and get CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, and Mark Texiera in hopes of another return to the playoffs and another World Series Championship.
The offense looks as if it will be really good as long as everyone can stay healthy. They have a fairly old lineup and Alex Rodriguez is the first person to go down with an injury. A-Rod's injury should hurt them at the beginning of the season, but when he comes back he will put up the number that he always does. Jorge Posada is healthy and is hoping to improve on his awful 2008.
The pitching on paper looks as if it should be one of the best, but it is definitely the weakness of the Yankees. AJ Burnett is known for not staying healthy and so nobody knows how he will do. CC Sabathia started off really slow in the AL last year with the Cleveland Indians and then turned it on when he moved to the NL. So it should be interesting to see how he does back in the AL, in a very tough AL East. Joba Chamberlain has not proven to be a consistent solid starter yet, but he is still young. This could be the year that he turns it around and becomes the stud starter than everyone is expecting him to be. Finally, Mariano Rivera is old and skills are dimenishing, but he can still get the job done. If he can stay healthy, then the Yankees will be fine in the late innings.
Overall, this team could be really good or they can be an average team, but it really depends on players staying healthy and the consistency of the starting rotation. They will definitely be in the race for a playoff spot, but I do not know if they will actually make it.
Projected Finish: 3rd Place, AL East
Friday, April 3, 2009
Pitching Projections Are Up!
We finished up our pitching projections today, they can be found in the "Projections" section on the right side of our page. You can also email us for the projections in excel or .pdf format.
Our methodology for the pitching projections was pretty much the same as it was for the hitting projections. The biggest difference is that 2008 is weighted much heavier for the pitchers, due to the higher year-to-year swings in their stats.
Our methodology for the pitching projections was pretty much the same as it was for the hitting projections. The biggest difference is that 2008 is weighted much heavier for the pitchers, due to the higher year-to-year swings in their stats.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)