A.L./N.L. Division Previews

It's been three and a half weeks since my last column, but as once Paul Newman once quipped in The Color of Money, I'm back. Today starts a four part series on the preview of each division plus a playoffs and awards winners column. And remember that if you want to enter the CBA prediction contest entries are due in a couple of days........so on to the divisions in the Pacific and Mountain time zones.


A.L. West

The offseason showed us that the party that was on top last year in this division, wanted to stay on top as the newly minted Los Angeles Angels of Anahiem upgraded thier pitching staff as well as thier infield and outfield to the tune of $51 million. All of that spending did not give them the two biggest upgrades in this division however, as the Mariners spent $114 million to upgrade thier corner infield positions. Texas added only a right-fielder while thier hoping that thier young kids develop at the pitching position. And Oakland downgraded thier staff - but only for the time being - as next they should be right back in the thick of things. Although none of the teams are similar in composition, they are all very solid and this division could produce the best baseball races down the stretch. But like anything in baseball this depends on many 'ifs', if Texas' pitching comes around, If Seattle's pitching comes around, If Oakland's young starters fulfill expectations, If Anahiem doesn't come down with any major injuries. I'll go on record now and say that all of the teams in this division will win at least 80 games.

Best Outfield Defense: Seattle Mariners. Seattle has three centerfielders playing in its outfield, which is exactly what they need in spaceous Safeco. Ichiro is a Gold Glove with one of the best arms in the league while Randy Winn and rookie Jeremy Reed also throw around some great leather.

Best Infield Defense: Seattle Mariners. The Mariners might have the best overall defense in the league with the squad they now sport after offseason signings and call-ups. Former Gold Glovers man the middle of the infield in Pokey Reese and Bret Boone, while the newcomers on the corners would have Gold Gloves by now if they weren't playing with so many other great glove men in the National league the past few seasons. Miguel Olivo is solid, but improving at catcher.

Best Hitting Team: Texas Rangers. The Rangers boast the best hitting infield in baseball while the outfield spots are solid as well. Teixeira, Young, Soriano, and Blalock combined for 120 home runs last season, the most in MLB. This season the Rangers will have newly improved Seattle and Anahiem lineups right behind them.

Best Starting Pitching: Los Angeles Angels of Anahiem. With Bartolo Colon returning to form at the end of last season, as well as the addition of a healthy Paul Byrd to eat innings, the Angels take this title away from Oakland - at least for one season. Look for the A's to take back this catergory after a year of seasoning for thier young starters.

Best Relief Pitching: Los Angeles Angels of Anahiem. Although they lost a team icon in closer Troy Percival, the Angels return Brendan Donnelly and Scott Shields, and add Esteban Yan to form a superb set-up trio. Francisco Rodreguez moves from the 8th inning to the 9th, and that remains the only question for this bullpen - can he close full time after filling in for Percival over the last two seasons. Texas(when back healthy) and Oakland(if youth serves) also have very good 'pens.

Impact Rookies: Nick Swisher, RF, Oak; Huston Street, Relief, Oak; Joe Blanton, Starting pitcher, Oak; Jeremy Reed, CF, Sea; Adrian Gonzalez, RF/DH, Tex; Chris Young, Starting pitcher, Tex; Dallas McPherson (rehabbing in AAA to start the season), 3B, LAA

1. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
The Angels are the reigning champs of the AL West and should be in that same spot at the end of this season. They upgraded with SS Orlando Cabrera, RHP Paul Byrd, and CF Steve Finley - who seems to defy the standards of ageing every season. Thier outfield might be the best hitting one in baseball as well as one of the top fielding. They let oft-injured Troy Glaus go and replaced him with rookie Dallas McPherson, who will start the year at AAA to rehab an injured disc in his back, so look for him around the start of May or so. Troy Percival also let for greener pastures but fill that hole with Francisco Rodriguez, a more than capable replacement who has filled in for Percival when injured the last few seasons. Two major questions are if this is the year that age catches up with CF Steve Finely and whether Garrett Anderson can stay healthy. Starter Kelvim Escobar will start the year on the 15-day DL.
How can they win the division?: As long as no serious cogs in thier engine get hurt, the Angels should win thier second consecutive AL West.

Batting lineup
Darrin Erstad, 1B
Jeff DaVanon, DH
Vladimir Guerrero, RF
Garrett Anderson, LF
Steve Finely, CF
Orlando Cabrera, SS
Rob Quinlan, 3B
Bengie Molina, C
Chone Figgins, 2B

Starting Rotation
Bartolo Colon, RHP
Jarrod Washburn, LHP
John Lackey, RHP
Paul Byrd, RHP
Kelvim Escobar, RHP
Francisco Rodreguez/Closer, RHP

2. Seattle Mariners
Seattle re-loaded in this offseason and will start the year with one of the most balanced lineups in all of baseball. Rookie Jeremy Reed will hit second and combined with Ichiro in his natural leadoff spot they should give the new guys, Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson plenty of opportunity to drive-in runs. Even moving to a new spacious ballpark both Beltre and Sexson should put up 35+ home runs each while playing gold glove calibre defense. Bret Boone should probably rebound from his horrible performance last season, though not to his peak numbers a few seasons ago. The bullpen will be solid but not spectacular, as it hinges on Eddie Guardado staying healthy with his weak shoulder. Although they lack an ace, they have plenty of young arms capable of becoming one, and all of thier pitchers underachieved last season - so some bounce back is to be expected.
How can they win the division? If Bret Boone become the player he used to hit like, If thier starters pitch to their talent level, if the bullpen stays healthy, if the new guys play even better than expected. Three of those four need to happen for them to have a chance to beat the Angels.

Batting lineup
Ichiro Suzuki, RF
Jeremy Reed, CF
Adrian Beltre, 3B
Richie Sexson, 1B
Bret Boone, 2B
Raul Ibanez, DH
Randy Winn, LF
Miguel Olivo, C
Pokey Reese, SS

Starting Rotation
Jamie Moyer, LHP
Gil Meche, RHP
Bobby Madritsch, LHP
Joel Pineiro, RHP
Ryan Franklin, RHP
Everyday Eddie Guardado/Closer, LHP


3. Texas Rangers
At first glance it appears that Texas GM John Hart is putting together the same type of club that he did with Cleveland in the 1990's. The Rangers have one of the best offenses in baseball, its too bad that they also have one of the weakest starting staffs as well. Help is on the way, but most of their young pitching will not be ready to help for years so for now thier hope rests in Kenny Rogers not showing his age and Chan Ho Park and Pedro Astacio coming back to form. Astacio has plenty of experience pitching in a hitters haven as he displayed success as a power pitcher in Colorado for many years - but he hasn't pitched that well in a long time. Their one pickup this offseason was a new rightfielder, which seemed counterproductive as they have a young'un in Adrian Gonzalez who was set to take over one of the corner OF spots. Their bullpen is good but Francisco starts the season injured, while the rest of the members logged A LOT of innings last season - so the effects are yet to be seen. Ryan Dreese emerged as a dependable starter last season, but has a ways to go to turn into a true no.1. Chris Young put on a nice display at the end of last season, showing the reason why he turned a pro-basketball career to stick with pitching. Look for Adrian Gonzalez to take the spot of David Delluci or Richard Hidalgo as the season goes on, depending on who falters first.
How can they win the division? They need to have thier infield put up better numbers than last season along with improvment from all of thier pitchers - namely the returns of Chan Ho Park and Pedro Astacio to days of past glory.

Batting lineup
Alfonso Soriano, 2B
Hank Blalock, 3B
Micheal Young, SS
Mark Teixeira, 1B
Richard Hidalgo, RF
David Delluci, DH
Kevin Mench, LF
Rod Barajas, C
Gary Matthews Jr., CF

Starting Rotation
Ryan Dreese, RHP
Kenny Rogers, LHP
Chris Young, RHP
Chan Ho Park, RHP
Pedro Astacio, RHP
Francisco Cordero/Closer, RHP


4. Oakland Athletics
The Moneyball Era is officially going to be started this season in Oakland. Gone are the products of the old adminstration - Miguel Tejada, Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, Ramon Hernandez, Jason Giambi - and in thier places are Nick Swisher, Bobby Crosby, Rich Harden, Joe Blanton, and Huston Street. The only holdovers are Eric Chavez, and the youngest and most accomplished of the big three, Barry Zito. The last three offseason Billy Beane has also brought in three players he has pined for in the past - Eurbiel Durazo, Mark Kotsay, and Jason Kendall. You can officially say that this team is now his, and we will be finally able to see if moneyball works on a true scale. That said the A's posses the only true Ace of the division in the former Cy Young winner Zito and have a very solid bullpen. Calero and Cruz are power pitchers and Japanese import Yabu can eat up the middle innings while newcomer Huston Street is capable of closing games already - but will probably have to wait till next year(or at least till the trading deadline) to get his chance with Octavio Dotel manning the 9th. The team only has one true power hitter in Chavez, while the rest of the team is can hit 15-25 HR's apiece. Long not able to hit LHP, Chavez has apparently worked on his swing this season to allow him to hit for better avg. against southpaws, we'll have to see if this results his his first .300 batting average. The team will still be good this season, but only being good will not how the west will be won this season. Look for the A's to be back on top next year.
How can they win thier division? All of the young pitchers tear through the majors and develop at phenomenal rates, otherwise its wait till next year.

Batting lineup
Mark Kotsay, CF
Jason Kendall, C
Eurbiel Durazo, DH
Eric Chavez, 3B
Eric Byrnes, LF
Scott Hatteberg, 1B
Bobby Crosby, SS
Nick Swisher, RF
Mark Ellis/Kieth Ginter, 2B

Starting Rotation
Barry Zito, LHP
Rich Harden, RHP
Dan Haren, RHP
Joe Blanton, RHP
Kirk Saarloos, RHP
Octavio Dotel/closer, RHP




N.L. West

The Giants got older, the Diamondbacks spent money like water, the Rockies cut salary like water, the Padres swapped centerfielders, and no one knows what the hell the Dodgers were doing. With Barry Bonds announcing that he's out until at least mid-season this division becomes wide open for the taking, unless that team happens to reside in the state of Colorado. And Bonds isn't the only starter thats injured on an N.L. West team either as Padres new CF Dave Roberts, Colorado 3B Garrett Atkins, Colorado closer Chin-Hui Tsao, Dodgers pitcher Brad Penny, Dodger Closer Eric Gagne, Dodger OF Jayson Werth, and Dodger reliever Darren Driefort all start the year on the on DL - though most should be back by the end of April. Any of the four teams not named the Rockies can take this thing if they can jell before any of the rest of the other teams. With Bonds the Giants would be near-locks to win, without him they are just average, like everyone else.

Best Outfield Defense: Los Angeles Dodgers. Even though the outfields in Arizona and San Francisco both sport two former Gold Glove winners, the Dodgers get the nod in this division. The N.L. West's Outfields will be full of slow plodders and guys playing out of position this season, and with two bonafide CF's in J.D. Drew (who will play RF) and Milton Bradley the Dodgers can cover the space in the outfield like no other team in thier division.

Best Infield Defense: San Francisco Giants. There are outstanding infielders on other teams in the west (Helton, Greene, Izturis) but no other team has 5 solid to great defenders like San Francisco does. Mike Matheny, J.T. Snow, and Omar Vizquel are some of the best in the game at thier positions. Ray Durham is a consistent gloveman at second, while Edgardo Alfonzo has lost some 15 pounds this offseason and has regained the quickness he once had in his career.

Best Hitting Team: San Diego Padres. No one on thier team really sticks out at you when you look at it, but they are a solid order 1-8. They have speed and on-base percentage at the top, followed by guys who can knock them in 3-7. If number 8 hitter Sean Burroughs could finally find that gap-hitters stroke he came up with instead of a singles hitters stroke this lineup can be dangerous.

Best Starting Pitching: San Diego Padres. Again, the names dont catch you right away with this team, but they are solid through and through. Even though the loss of David Wells created a gap in their 5th starter spot they recently picked up Tim Redding, one of Houstons prized prospects a few back, in hopes a change of scenery does him well. The rest of the San Diego rotation is very good with Ace-in-the-making Jake Peavy, a man who posseses ace stuff in Adam Eaton, a savvy solid vet in Woody Williams, and a 200 inning a year eater in Brian Lawrence. Giants pitcher Jason Schmidt is still the best in the division, with Peavy coming closer to his level.

Best Relief Pitching: Los Angeles Dodgers. Sure they traded away Guillermo Mota last season. And sure Darren Driefort's career is probably over due to injury. But still the Dodger bullpen charges on, remaining on top in the N.L West. They are still anchored by the best closer in the game today, Eric Gagne, who is supported by Duaner Sanchez, Yhency Brazoban, and Giovanni Carrara. The Padres are a close second with outstanding guys in the 7th, 8th, and 9th - Scott Linebrink, Akinori Otsuka, and Trevor Hoffman respectively.

Impact Rookies: Jeff Francis, Starting pitcher, Col; Clint Barnes, SS, Col; Jeff Baker, 3B, Col; J.D. Closser, C, Col; Garrett Atkins, 3B, Col; Brad Hawpe, RF, Col; Koyie Hill, C, Ari; Brad Hasley, Starting pitcher, Ari;


1. San Diego Padres
The Padres can pull it out this season as long as thier two young pitchers, Jake Peavy and Adam Eaton, continue to develop. Peavy is already on the verge of ace-dom and one more season like he had last year will solidify this status. Thier everyday lineup is solid 1-8 with everyone on the team capable of putting up a nice avg with some pop (minus Dave Roberts). Xavier Nady will fill in for Dave Roberts till he gets back from injury sometime in April and will then fill the utility spot for the team. Thier bullpen has one of the best 7th, 8th, 9th inning combinations in baseball. The signing of Woody Williams give the young guys another mentor-type to replace the loss of David Wells last season. With Barry Bonds on the shelf till who knows when, this division should be thiers for the taking.
How can they win the division? Hope that Barry Bonds stays out as long as possible to make the Giants inconsequential.

Batting lineup
Dave Roberts, CF
Mark Lorretta, 2B
Brian Giles, RF
Phil Nevin, 1B
Ryan Klesko, LF
Ramon Hernandez, C
Khalil Greene, SS
Sean Burroughs, 3B

Starting Rotation
Woody Williams, RHP
Jake Peavy, RHP
Adam Eaton, RHP
Brian Lawrence, RHP
Tim Redding, LHP
Trevor Hoffman/Closer, RHP


2. San Francisco Giants
The Giants were put together to contend this year and next, coinciding with what Barry Bonds said would be the final two seasons of his career. The Giants solved two very large holes from their team last year by signing SS Omar Vizquel and Closer Armando Benitez, two of the best in the league at thier positions. They also added Mosies Alou, Manager Felipe's son, to the lineup to create some protection for Bonds, but will play him out of position in RF. This presents a major problem however as it pushes San Franciscos best, and only, young player, Pedro Feliz, to a utility role for the season (at least when Bonds comes back). Feliz just also happened to be the teams second best power hitter last season, and would have been the third best on this seasons squad. Alou also makes the Giant outfield very old and immobile - former Gold Glovers Marquis Grissom and Bonds are not what they used to be, which will cause major problems with balls not hit right at these outfielders. They still have one of the top pitchers in the game in Jason Schmidt, but not much help after him. The rest of the rotation is solid but the young guys Noah Lowry and Jerome Williams need to develop further for this team to be taken seriously in the playoffs - if they get there. The defense and game-calling of new catcher Mike Matheny will more than be able to offset the offensive loss of A.J. Pierzynski.
How can they win the division? Hope that Barry Bonds stops feeling sorry for himself as soon as possible, otherwise they are just another run-of-the-mill team.

Batting Lineup (while Bonds is out)
Ray Durham, 2B
Omar Vizquel, SS
J.T. Snow, 1B
Moises Alou, RF
Pedro Feliz, LF
Edgardo Alfonzo, 3B
Marquis Grissom, CF
Mike Matheny, C

Starting Rotation
Jason Schmidt, RHP
Kirk Rueter, LHP
Bret Tomko, RHP
Noah Lowry, LHP
Jerome Williams, RHP


3. Los Angeles Dodgers
Dodgers GM Paul DePodesta decided to completely revamp his team this offseason, letting go of offensive forces Adrian Beltre and Steve Finley, defensive stallwort Alex Cora, and Starting pitching reclamation project Jose Lima during the offseason without so much as an offer to them. He replaced these parts by overpaying Derek Lowe, overpaying an aging Jeff Kent, signing a strikeout prone SS to play 3B in Jose Valentin, and overpaying the oft-injured J.D. Drew. Depodesta decided to significantly downgrade his team defense while minimally upgrading his team offense - and thats only if Kent doesn't continue his slide and Drew decides to have another injury free season (which would be his second). On the bright side, once again the Dodgers have a solid rotation 1-5, even with no clear cut no.1 starter. The new 5th to replace Jose Lima is Scott Erickson who seems to be pitching like he did 5+ years ago, while Elmer Dessens replaces Wilson Alvarez who replaced Brad Penny till he comes back at the end of April. Starting pitcher Edwin Jackson might get a chance at some point in this season to start fulfilling all the long drawn out hype he has recieved. The Dodgers stil boast one of the best bullpens in the league, with Gagne being the top closer around (when he gets back in a couple weeks). The Dodgers have enough money that they could have kept Beltre and Finley as well as signed J.D. Drew and to play one of the corner spots and even signed Kent to play 1B, but alas, they decided to go in this direction.
How can they win the division? The new guys must play like they never have before, both defensively and offensively. The pitchers must continue to be solid as well as hoping that they signed the Derek Lowe of 2002 and the playoffs last season, not the Derek Lowe of the last two regular seasons. Pray that Gagne and Penny aren't seriously hurt.

Batting lineup
Cesar Izturis, SS
Jayson Werth, LF
J.D. Drew, RF
Jeff Kent, 2B
Milton Bradley, CF
Jose Valentin, 3B
Hee-Sop Choi, 1B
Jason Phillips, C

Starting Rotation
Derek Lowe, RHP
Odalis Perez, LHP
Jeff Weaver, RHP
Elmer Dessens(Brad Penny), RHP
Scott Erickson, RHP
Eric Gagne/Closer, RHP


4. Arizona Diamondbacks
The Diamondbacks claimed they were broke by $80 million dollars after last season ended. Then they went out and spent $85 million on free agents, not counting the money picked up in trades for OF Shawn Green, OF Jose Cruz, and SP Javier Vasquez. Not too bad for a franchise about to declare bankruptcy. These moves smack of a team about to make a run at the playoffs, but unfortunately all these moves are going to do is cost a lot of money for fourth place in thier division while keeping the youngsters down. Troy Glaus' shoulder cannot be counted on to the tune of $45 million, especially after they let Richie Sexson walk for the same reason (another brainbuster of a trade by this team). And new starting pitcher Russ Ortiz hasn't done well outside of pitchers parks in his career so it should be interesting to see how a pitcher who leads the league in walks does in a hitters haven. Unfortunately this team hasn't made many good moves since winning the championship in 2001, and signing guys to block blue chip youngsters they have in thier place doesn't seem to make much sense either.
How can they win the division? Every team above them must have a down year while the D-back pitching staff must throw lights out for the season. The offense might be able to carry them somewhat as thier 3-4-5 hitters are excellent - when not injured. The bullpen must also sort itself out as no one has more than 3 years MLB experience.

Batting lineup
Craig Counsell, 2B
Royce Clayton, SS
Luis Gonzalez, LF
Troy Glaus, 3B
Shawn Green, RF
Jose Cruz Jr., CF
Chad Tracey, 1B
Koyie Hill, C

Starting Rotation
Javier Vasquez, RHP
Russ Ortiz, RHP
Brandon Webb, RHP
Shawn Estes, LHP
Brad Hasley, RHP
Brandon Lyon/Closer, RHP


5. Colorado Rockies
You read the impact rookies section correctly, all of those players are expected to have significant playing time this season for the Rocks. The Rockies will start three rookies definently, while a fourth might take away time from Dustin Mohr in RF, while also starting a rookie in thier rotation. This is in addition to starting two more second year players in 2B Aaron Miles and LF Matt Holliday. I guess you could say this is a rebuilding year for the boys from Coors. The team moved former starting sensation turned experimental closer Shawn Chacon back to the rotation, and they have to other guys who have pitched decently at Coors in Joe Kennedy and Jason Jennings but....if this team wins 70 games I think I would die of shock. The team still does have one of the best players in baseball in Todd Helton. They also recently picked up Byung-Hyun Kim from the BoSox and do not know yet if he will be in the bullpen or in the rotation.
How can they win the division? If a mysterious illness befalls the other four teams in the division and makes them call up thier AAA teams, and even then its iffy.

Batting lineup
Aaron Miles, 2B
Clint Barnes, SS
Todd Helton, 1B
Preston Wilson, CF
Matt Holliday, LF
Dustin Mohr, RF
Jeff Baker/Garrett Atkins, 3B
J.D. Closser, C

Starting Rotation
Joe Kennedy, LHP
Jason Jennings, RHP
Jeff Francis, LHP
Jamey Wright, RHP
Shawn Chacon, RHP

Sosa to Umpires: "High Heat is soooo Reeeeeeeel"

One day after having debuting like the Orioles had hoped, getting two hits including a home run, Sosa mananged to get himself ejected from a spring training game while arguing balls and strikes. Going out to play the field for his second inning in an Orioles uniform Sosa continued to argue about a high strike three curveball and got tossed by the 2nd base umpire. Baltimore better hope that Sammy hits about 150 HR's this year because he sure seems to be on edge so far this season. About two weeks ago he began that mini war-of-words with Dusty, Woodie and some of the other Cubs. That back and forth lasted only a few days but was very productive on the unintentional comedy front. Maybe Sosa is only happy while hitting home runs now, or maybe he was just going through 'one of those couple of weeks', but either way - even if he hits .350 with 70 bombs - the team is much better off without a walking distraction for the next 8 months.


On the outside looking in...

The good news is that Ron Santo received 6 more votes than he did when the veterans committee convened two years ago, the bad news is that he still fell short of the 75% vote required to get him into the Hall of Fame. Needing 60 votes to get the 75% needed, the former Cubbie great only got named on 52 of the 80 ballots turned in. Another sad day in the life of a man where truly great days would be a blessing. Stricken with Diabetes since the age of 18 he amazingly played nearly every game each season during his 15 year career from 1960 to 1974. Now having a feat like that doesn't put you in the Baseball Hall of Fame, but how does being one of the premier players of the 1960's at a premium position not?

People make a big deal out of career stats overall, but isn't the vote for the Hall of Fame supposed to be comparing the player to his peers at the same time and position he played? If the voters of the Hall of Fame actually went by those characteristics Ronnie should have been voted in during the fifteen year period after his eligibility began. Santo was probably a victim there because of two things, he didn't praise himself while playing (or after -much like the reason why Ryne Sandberg wasn't in on the first ballot), and the foolish thinking of some Hall voters that the 60's Cubs can't have anymore Hall-of-Famers because they never won anything. Frankly, what a load of horsecrap. First and foremost Santo was the top gloveman in the National League during his time, if not the entire major leagues, winning 5 straight Gold Gloves from 1964-1968. Baseball analyst Pete Palmer has Santo as the 4th all time in his Fielding Runs stat at 168, meaning Santo saved 168 more runs over his career than the average 3rd basemen.

And Santo wasn't a slouch at the plate either. Although he was helped by playing half his game at Wrigley during his career, he managed to put up some very good stats. Four times he led the league in walks and twice in on-base percentage. And even if I don't like the Win Shares stat that Bill James has come up with to include players all-around games and their effect on teams, you cannot ignore Santo's results. He led the league in this catergory in 1967 with 38, and from 1964-67 he had over 30 each time, which is supposedly an MVP level season. Only Hall-of-Famers Willy Mays and Hank Aaron, as well as fringe HOF'er Dick Allen had more during that time. Over the entire decade of the 1960's Santo placed 6th with 249, despite playing only half of 1960 and hitting poorly during his sophomore campaign. Did I mention that he did that in the best pitching dominated decade since the dead-ball era of the early 20th century? So honestly, how can anyone keep this man out of the HOF. The only thing going against him is his last poor season and retiring at the age of 34, before serious decline could have set-in. But how can you hold that against him. Its amazing he lasted as long as he did playing with Diabetes, which back then was not nearly as controllable as it is today. So again, honestly, how the hell can anyone keep this man off of his ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame.