I realize the 30 Teams in 30 Days posts took a serious hit the past few weeks, but as a student in his final year of schooling, I've had a lot of things to do and haven't been afforded the chance of posting daily anymore. Hopefully I'll have a lot more time now. That said, here is the 2005 MLB season preview...
AL East
1. New York Yankees (100-62)
2. Boston Red Sox (92-70)
3. Baltimore Orioles (80-82)
4. Tampa Bay Devil Rays (70-92)
5. Toronto Blue Jays (68-94)
The Yankees are just simply the best team in baseball, end of story. Their only weakness last year was pitching, and they substantially upgraded their bullpen and rotation. The Red Sox improved too, but losing Pedro Martinez will be more of a loss than Boston faithfull want to believe.
The Red Sox essentially dealt Martinez and Derek Lowe for David Wells, Matt Clement and Wade Miller, while that upgraded thier depth, it took away two "stoppers" and guys you could really count on. I'm not sure thats the case with any of those three.
The Orioles upgraded an already good offense, but again have very little pitching, stop me if you've heard that before. The Devil Rays should be fun to watch, their managed well and have a lot of young guys on the horizon. I'm not saying anything about the Blue Jays because they don't even deserve that much recognition.
AL Central
1. Minnesota Twins (89-73)
2. Cleveland Indians (85-77)
3. Detroit Tigers (78-84)
4. Chicago White Sox (72-90)
5. Kansas City Royals (63-99)
This division improved, well two teams did, but the Twins are still the class of the Central. I like the Indians a lot, but didn't have the guts to pick them ahead of the Twins. They have a good young offense (Boone, Haffner, Martinez, Bard) and a good young staff which got the addition of Kevin Millwood, but the Twins are solid.
Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer will be the best players at their respective positions in the next few years, Santana is one of the best pitchers in the league, and Lew Ford is the best player you've never heard of.
The Tigers will be interesting to watch. For the second straight year they made a big splash in free agency (last year it was Ivan Rodriguez, this year it's Magglio Ordonez). They have a very good offense and now a good bullpen to match (Ugeth Urbina, Kyle Farnsworth, Matt Ginter and Troy Percivil). Too bad they don't have good starting pitching, or they'd compete for the division crown.
The White Sox took a big step back by trading Carlos Lee for Scott Podsednik (Don't you have to get more for a young power hitter than a journeyman minor leager who is a one trick p0ny?) They also brought in Jermaine Dye, good luck with that. A.J. Pierzynski is one of the most hated teamates in the league and the Sox are embracing him with open arms. Mark Buhrle, Freddy Garcia, Jose Contrares and Orlando Hernandez (besides being the top 4 guys in their rotation) are all Jeckyl and Hides, Frank Thomas is hurt, Paul Konerko wants a new contract, the bullpen is shaky, I could keep going on. Sounds like a long year for Ozzie and the southsiders.
The Chiefs could have just as good of a record as the Royals. That's all I am saying about them.
AL West
1. Oakland A's (88-74)
2. L.A. of Anahiem Angels (87-75)
3. Seattle Mariners (81-81)
4. Texas Rangers (70-92)
It would be too easy to pick the Angels to win this division, plus I have a hard time picking against Billy Beane. The A's pitching is still good, They improved their offense, and the bullpen will get a big shot in the arm when Huston Street becomes the closer at midseason.
I don't know what it is, but I just don't buy the Angels. The pitching staff is still suspect, they lost some key guys in the bullpen and are replacing the left side of their infield and their centerfielder. Yes, the new starters are better than what they had last year, but you still have adjusting to do. That, and I'm waiting for Steve Finley to break down.
The M's offense will be very good, but just like the Rangers and Orioles, they don't have any pitching to keep them from getting into 10-8 games.
Wild Card: Boston Red Sox
Playoffs
ALDS: Yankees over A's
Twins over Red Sox
ALCS: Yankees over Twins
AL MVP: Eric Chavez
CY Young: Johan Santana
R.O.Y.: Nick Swisher (OF Oakland A's)
First Player Traded: Ugeth Urbina
First Manager Fired: Tony Pena
Don't Be Surprised If: The Royals are retracted during the season
Saturday, April 02, 2005
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