30. Houston Astros- The Astros posted a major league worst 56 wins last
season, and once Hunter Pence was dealt to the Phillies midseason it became clear that the rebuilding process was underway. With inexperience up and down the lineup,
highlighted with promising young talents like J.D. Martinez and Jose Altuve, the
Astros will look to Carlos Lee to not only provide stability in the middle of the lineup
but also for veteran leadership. For the Astros to have any success this season, their
veteran pitching staff, headed by Wandy Rodriguez and Brett Myers, will have to
step up in a big way. In their final year as a National League team, the Astros will
struggle mightily and endure another season at the bottom of the barrel in the NL.
29. Seattle Mariners- In perhaps the biggest trade of the offseason, the Yankees
and Mariners swapped highly touted rookies, Jesus Montero and Michael Pineda,
filling glaring needs for both clubs. The Mariners offense was absolutely terrible
last season, finishing dead last in runs, on base percentage, batting average and
slugging percentage. The addition of Montero, accompanied by Dustin Ackley and
Kyle Seager, give the Mariners a solid nucleus they can build around. However the
Mariners offense will still labor through the season due to the lack of depth in their
lineup. Seattle will have to wait on the maturity of its youth to begin its turnaround.
A staple in the Mariners rotation, Felix Hernandez, has become one of the most
feared pitchers in the majors over the past three seasons. Following Hernandez
is Jason Vargas, a solid starter who will probably be there #2, and new additions
Hisashi Iwakuma and Hector Noesi will round out their 5-man rotation. Ultimately,
contending in the harsh AL West will not bode well for the Mariners, as they will be
in for a long season.
28. Oakland Athletics- Moneyball was awesome, Billy Beane is the man, and the A’s are fucked, barring another revolutionary equation that is. The A’s were on their way to having yet another great rotation with Cahill, Gonzalez, and Anderson until Billy unloaded Cahill and Gonzalez, replenishing with young studs Brad Peacock and Jarrod Parker, both of whom I expect to be in the starting rotation; Anderson underwent Tommy John Surgery putting his 2012 season in jeopardy. The A’s offense is filled with young talent, headlined by Jermile Weeks, Josh Reddick and Brandon Allen along with the Cuban defector, Yoenis Cespedes. Maybe even more hyped than Japanese pitcher, Yu Darvish, Cespedes is the next big thing to come out of the DR, which is baseball's version of Russia in hockey, constantly supplying young foreign talent. Unless these four have break out years, the inconsistency throughout the lineup will be too much to overcome for the offense to be effective. Perhaps the worst part for the A’s lies in the fact their division rivals, the Rangers and Angels, are the using the Yankees-Red Sox tactic of overpay for everyone and worrying about it later. The A’s are in some trouble for this season.
27. Baltimore Orioles- The polar opposite of the previous two teams, the
Orioles pitching staff was pathetic, coupled with playing in the unforgiving
AL East, and last season was an utter disaster. Last in ERA, WHIP, quality starts, and 29th in
batting average against, new GM Dan Duquette certainly had his hands full and thus
far has not delivered any viable upgrades to the staff, adding only two Japanese
starters that probably won’t be able to provide the needed support for the Orioles to become serious contenders. Fortunately, it's not all bad in Baltimore, they
do present a solid lineup. The key is health, Brian Roberts and Nick Markakis are
two of the better hitters in the game when not bitten by the injury bug; combine that
with J.J. Hardy, Matt Wieters, and Adam Jones and their offense could be a force to be
reckoned with. Realistically, Roberts is almost a lock to get hurt at some point in the
season and Markakis enters the season coming off abdominal surgery. Pair that with
rivals loaded with pitching talent and I foresee another struggle in Baltimore.
26. San Diego Padres- Right behind Seattle’s offense comes San Diego’s. The
Padres finished no better than 28th in the four major hitting categories. Playing in
PetCo Park doesn’t help, where all batters seem to enter slumps, with the exception
of Adrian Gonzalez. With players like Cameron Maybin and Chase Headley not
exactly panning out, the Padres will look to another big name prospect acquired
this offseason, first baseman Yonder Alonso. They also added Carlos Quentin, who they hope will be able to breathe life into that floundering Padres offense. The Padres
usual strength, their pitching, vanished this offseason as ace Mat Latos was dealt to
the Reds, Aaron Harang signed with the Dodgers and losing both Wade LeBlanc and
Heath Bell to the new-look Miami Marlins. To fill the voids the Padres got Edinson
Volquez, along with Alonso, in return for Latos and look to Cory Luebke who began
his transition out of the bullpen last season, to pick up the slack. The Padres have a
lot of upside, but the lack of pitching will come back to haunt them.
25. Chicago Cubs- Losing familiar faces like Aramis Ramirez and Carlos
Zambrano and releasing Carlos Pena after just one season, Theo Epstein has begun
the reformation of the Cubs. His first acquisitions included David Dejesus, Ian
Stewart, and Chris Volstad. Losing a big chunk of their power, the Cubs will look
to Stewart to bounce back from his disappointing 2011 campaign. Also, they’ll look to
young Starlin Castro to continue improving after becoming an All-Star in only his
second season. In 2011, the Cubs pitching staff was disappointing, finishing near the
bottom in almost every significant pitching category. After re-signing Matt Garza,
they’ll bank on him and Ryan Dempster to have strong seasons. New additions Paul
Maholm and Chris Volstad should also improve their staff. Starlin Castro is a young
star in the making, and after adding young first base prospect Anthony Rizzo; the future
looks bright in Chi town.
24. New York Mets- When talking about the Mets, the first question that comes
to mind is "Will Johan’s shoulder hold up?" When healthy, he gives the Mets a bona
fide ace, unfortunately shoulder problems have plagued the lefty and left the Mets
hopes riding on his shoulders, literally. Although the Mets did not add to their
starting rotation, they have bolstered the back end of their pen with the additions of
closer Frank Francisco and Jon Rauch, who will look to have bounce back seasons
along with Ramon Ramirez. Providing a sigh of relief for Mets hitters, are the new
dimensions of Citi Field, which should allow them to jack more than the 25 homers in 2012. Conceivably, this should allow Jason Bay, Ike Davis, and David Wright to
flourish and get some of their confidence back. However I feel the glaring holes in
the rotation will be too much to overcome in a division that has become one of the
best in baseball this offseason.
23. Minnesota Twins- Ron Gardenhire seems to always have the Twins
competitive despite the lack of big name players on the roster. Last year, with
Mauer laboring and Morneau still suffering from concussions symptoms not even
Gardenhire put forth a competitive team. Combined with the impotent offense,
Minnesota’s pitching was woeful. Making it worse, they did nothing to address the
situation in the offseason except replace Kevin Slowey with Jason Marquis. If the
M&M boys along with Denard Span can come back strong and remain healthy in the
upcoming season, including new acquisition Josh Willingham, the Twins will put out a seasoned lineup that will be burdened with having to score a lot of runs in the
upcoming season.
22. Colorado Rockies- One thing you can count on in Colorado is their
offense and in 2011 they certainly didn’t disappoint, ranking in the top 10 in all the
significant batting categories (except slugging percentage- in which they ranked
11th). Signing Michael Cuddyer, a very underrated hitter, provides protection for
Tulowitzki and Gonzalez. Throw in Mr. 300, Todd Helton, and the Rockies meat of
the order will allow the their offense to thrive again. Now, the reason for the
Rockies struggles has been their pitching staff. Last season, the team finished near
the bottom of all the major statistical categories for pitchers. Making things worse,
the team said farewell to ace Ubaldo Jimenez when the season was determined to
be a wash. This season the Rockies face inexperience throughout their rotation,
which could face challenges especially in the launching pad of Coors Field. The lack
of experience will be too much to overcome, even for an offense that will plate a lot
of runs.
21. Chicago White Sox- Not many people knew about the 50 million dollar
giveaway the White Sox held outside of U.S. Cellular Field in 2011. The winners of the
contest were Jake Peavy, Adam Dunn, and Alex Rios. Sox fans must have certainly
felt this way last season. New manager, Robin Ventura, and hitting coach Jeff
Manto, really have their work cut out with not only Dunn and Rios but also Gordon
Beckham, the young talent out of Georgia whose play has been declining since his
debut in '09. Replacing Mark Buehrle and his 200+ innings a year will not be an easy
task. Hopefully, a healthy Jake Peavy can absorb those lost innings.
Along with Gavin Floyd and John Danks, together the trio could create a proficient
front end of the rotation. Losing their closer to the Blue Jays, the addition of the
highly touted rookie Addison Reed should allow Matt Thornton to step into the
closer role and solidify a White Sox pen that certainly went through its fair share of
ups and downs last season. If the White Sox hitters can turn it around they’ll have a
chance to be competitive with their solid starting rotation, but that’s a big IF.
-Palaz
Joe is the 2 man weave's baseball aficionado
