2011 AL East Preview

Joseph Aughtman — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 22:23:22 +0000

2011 MLB Season Predictions

Unassisted Sports Staff — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 15:54:12 +0000

Predictions about the upcoming 2011 MLB season, including division standings, season award winners and the World Series winner. Will San Francisco repeat or can a surprise team make a deep run?

2011 NL East Preview

Joseph Aughtman — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 03:42:36 +0000

2011 NL Central Preview

Joseph Aughtman — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 17:37:51 +0000

2011 Tampa Bay Rays Preview

Ian Price — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 02:57:48 +0000

2010 saw the Rays reemerge as one of the preeminent teams in the league, winning the AL East by one game over the Yankees. Their success can be credited to bullpen stability but the offseason saw a plethora of cost-conscious moves that were motivated by the front office’s endeavor to reduce payroll. How can the Rays be expected to fare in a competitive AL East?

2011 AL Central Preview

Joseph Aughtman — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 18:43:05 +0000

2011 AL West Preview

Joseph Aughtman — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 00:19:44 +0000

2011 NL West Preview

Joseph Aughtman — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 01:34:00 +0000

2010 MLB Offseason Grades

Joseph Aughtman — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 06:25:16 +0000

Team	Grade	Report
		They were easily the winners in the offseason by trading for Adrian Gonzalez and signing the best position player on the market in Carl Crawford. Re-signing Hideki Okajima was a good move for the pen.
		Besides the Red Sox, the Brewers made the big splash in the offseason by acquiring 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke in a trade with the Royals and Shaun Marcum. Marcum is coming off a solid season with the Blue Jays. They also picked up Yuniesky Betancourt in the Greinke trade. Signing Prince Fielder to a one-year, $15.5 million contract will avoid arbitration. They helped the bullpen by signing Takashi Saito to a one-year deal.
		In signing the top FA pitcher on the market in Cliff Lee, the Phillies now have the best pitching rotation the MLB has seen since the Atlanta Braves in the mid-’90s. The key loss for them was Jayson Werth, but they easily can replace him with top-prospect Dominic Brown.
		They made a big splash by signing the top FA-1B Adam Dunn to boost the power in that lineup. They also re-signed their big power threat and team mainstay Paul Konerko. They did lose their closer Bobby Jenks, but that move gives them a chance to sign a closer or trade for one.
		The offense will be much improved with the signing of Derrek Lee (1B) and trading for Mark Reynolds (3B) and J.J. Hardy (SS). All three guys are good upgrades in that lineup. They bolstered their bullpen by signing Kevin Gregg to compete with Mike Gonzalez and Kenji Uehara for the closer job.
		A good team has gotten better with the trade for Dan Uggla. He will now play 2B and Martin Prado can move to either 3B or 1B depending on Chipper Jones’ plans for 2011. They can use another arm in the bullpen, so look for Alfredo Aceves as an option available to them.
		The Cubs made a few big moves this offseason by grabbing three players from the AL East. They solidified their 1B situation by signing the power-hitting and smooth-defensive Carlos Pena to a one-year, $10 million deal. They brought back Kerry Wood to bolster their bullpen and get the ball to Carlos Marmol. In a trade with the Rays, they picked up Matt Garza, who can be their top starter if he can get it all together.
		They stacked their team for next season by signing catcher Victor Martinez to go with a very good offense already. They are going to lose Johnny Damon via free agency, but they still have a good lineup. They signed Joaquin Benoit, who is coming off a renaissance year in Tampa Bay.
		In losing Adam Dunn and gaining Werth, the Nationals got better defensively and faster. Werth is an above-average fielder and has enough speed to get about 20 SB a season. Signing Adam LaRoche to go with Werth gives them enough to replace Dunn.
		Besides signing Dontrelle Willis and Jeremy Hermida to minor-league deals, the Reds locked up some of their players in the offseason. Re-signing Jay Bruce and Bronson Arroyo was the important moves they needed to make. They lost Arthur Rhodes to the Rangers, which gives Aroldis Chapman a bigger role next season. They gave MVP Joey Votto a three-year, $38 million contract.
		The Dodgers made some key moves this offseason by signing Juan Uribe and Jon Garland away from the Giants and Padres, respectively. They re-signed Lilly and Kuroda to stay in the rotation and Matt Guerrier to stabilize the bullpen. With losing Martin to the Yankees, the Dodgers signed Dioner Navarro and Rod Barajas to platoon and take his vacated spot.
		After reaching the World Series, the Rangers did not have to make many moves to return to their glory of last year. They signed one of the best players on the market in 3B Adrian Beltre. This move makes Michael Young expendable and they can get another reliever or bench player and prospect in return. Signing Brandon Webb could be a real steal if he can return healthy next season.
		The World Champions made a big move in signing Miguel Tejada to replace Juan Uribe, who departed to Los Angeles. Another big loss was World Series MVP Edgar Renteria who is currently a free agent. Re-signing Pat Burrell and Aubrey Huff was huge for them and the offense. Those two played major roles for them in their World Series run.
		The Yankees missed out by not getting any of their top free agents (Lee, Crawford, Werth), but they did improve the bullpen by signing Rafael Soriano as a setup man and Pedro Feliciano as a lefty-specialist. Signing Russell Martin brings some toughness to the team as the backup catcher. There has been rumblings of the Yankees talking to teams for another starting pitcher, and with Nick Swisher expendable, look to see them try to ship him around.
		They didn’t really make any huge moves so far, but they kept a good bat in Jim Thome to be a DH and come off the bench in pinch-hitting situations. Look for them to make one or two small moves before opening day.
		They lost the speed at the top of the order in Rajai Davis, but they got some much needed power in Hideki Matsui, who will bring some veteran leadership and pop in the order. They also signed Grant Balfour to help setup in the pen to complement their great pitching staff.
		Acquiring Omar Infante and Michael Dunn in the Uggla trade was decent, considering they were not going to be able to sign him to a long-term deal. They signed veteran lefty reliever Randy Choate to get out lefties from the bullpen. They made a couple of questionable moves by signing Javier Vazquez and John Buck. Vazquez is coming off a tough year with the Yankees and Buck is coming off just one good season.
		Not needing to make many moves, the Rockies made two of the biggest moves by re-signing Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki. They are probably the best 3-4 hitters in the league.
		They made a nice deal to get the speedy Rajai Davis, who will be a good leadoff man for them and has the chance to score about 120 runs with the power in that lineup. They traded away Shaun Marcum for a very good prospect in Brett Lawrie, who will be a good 2B in a few years.
		The offense was improved by trading for Ryan Theriot and signing Lance Berkman. Berkman is coming off a couple of disappointing seasons in Houston and New York. They signed Gerald Laird to spot Molina behind the plate and Brian Tallet to help the pen.
		Giving Gonzalez to the Red Sox was a hard one to swallow, but the prospects they got in the trade will help them for years to come. They filled in the void that Tejada left at SS with former Rays team MVP Jason Bartlett. They made other very nice moves by signing Brad Hawpe, Orlando Hudson and Cameron Maybin. Aaron Harang and Dustin Moseley were signed to help the starting pitching and replace Garland.
		Losing three of their top players will be hard to replace, but they will be able to bounce back with the signings of Melvin Mora, J.J. Putz, Xavier Nady, Juan Miranda, and Zach Duke. These guys will do many things for a struggling club that looks to improve in 2011.
		Cleveland didn’t make many moves just like the Twins, but with how bad of the season they had in 2010, they needed to make at least a couple of moves to make them contend. They didn’t.
		The Astros didn’t do much in the offseason besides signing Bill Hall and trading for Clint Barmes. These guys should help a struggling offense from 2010 but they still won’t be enough to contend in the Central.
		Seattle did not sign any offensive help to their historically bad lineup in 2010. Look for them to sign guys on the cheap while they are out there looking for a job near spring training.
		The new GM hasn’t made any big moves and doesn’t plan to in the offseason They would really like to unload Luis Castillo, but don’t look for that to happen until the trade deadline.
		In giving away their best player in a trade with Milwaukee, the Royals went from bad to worse. They got some good prospects in return for Greinke, including Alcides Escobar. They signed Jeff Francis, who could return to form if he can stay healthy and get it together. Melky Cabrera was signed, but if he can’t lose weight and get back to shape, he may not make it through spring training with the club.
		After having a lot to do this offseason, the Pirates did what they could with their resources. They signed Lyle Overbay and Garrett Atkins to help the offense, which has a chance to be OK next season. They signed Scott Olsen and Fernando Nieve to help out in relief. Still, Pittsburgh could have 100+ losses.
		This was a bad offseason for them. Their dreams of signing Crawford and Beltre were hindered by the Red Sox and Rangers respectively. They may have another down year in 2011, and could be overtaken by the A’s.
		The Rays have dismantled their entire roster, leaving the question, “How much longer until Evan Longoria asks for a trade?” They lost Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, Jason Bartlett, Matt Garza, Rafael Soriano, and the list goes on. The team got a lot of picks and prospects in return for these players so it looks like after some tough years ahead, the Rays could do what they did in 2008-2010 in the future.

Top 2011 MLB Free Agents

Ian Price — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 07:33:51 +0000

1.) Carl Crawford – LF

Player	2010 Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG
		110	19	90	47	.307
Potential Destinations:			Los Angeles Angels		Detroit Tigers

Crawford put together his most complete season as a major league player in 2010, and just in time, as he is now likely to be offered one of the most lucrative deals in history. Having averaged approximately 55 steals per 162 games played since 2003, Crawford will bolster any team’s ability to generate additional hustle runs all the while putting opposing pitchers who go to the stretch on edge. The Angels and Tigers are two teams that have already expressed interest in Crawford, with the Angels being thought of as a team willing to pay the heftiest sum for a corner outfielder.

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