Milwaukee Brewers: The Brewers won 83 games in 2012, finishing third in a top heavy NL Central. Given that they lost all-star first baseman Prince Fielder to the Tigers in he 2011 offseason, this was a fairly large surprise. Frankly, with Ryan Braun and Corey Hart manning two of the outfield spots, the Brew Crew looked to be an addition or two away from competing in the Central. For whatever reason, they made basically no transactions in the offseason, and will struggle to stay afloat with teams like the Cardinals and Reds on the rise. The Brewers supposedly made a push for Josh Hamilton, but came up short. Their largest offseason acquisition was Tom Gorzellany, who on any other team would be a fourth or fifth starter. Shaun Marcum departed for the Mets, and unless Mike Fiers has another outstanding season, the bullpen looks to be in dire straights. Even if Rickie Weeks can bounce back (.230 average in 2012), and closer John Axford can get back on track (4.67 ERA in 2012), the Brewers seem to lack the talent to compete with the likes of Cincinnati and Saint Louis. If only Ryan Braun could pitch, too..
Pittsburgh Pirates: No one knows what happened to the Pittsburgh Pirates from the first half of 2012, The Bucs went in to the all-star break with a 48-37 record, and seemed primed to break their streak of 20 years without a playoff berth, or even a winning season. By August 8, they were 16 games above .500. They had hitting (Andrew McCutchen, Garrett Jones and Jose Tabata), they had pitching (James McDonald, AJ Burnett and Wandy Rodriguez) and they had talented youth (Starling Marte). Somehow, though, they ended up four games below .500, which is the largest collapse in the history of baseball. It is impossible to predict exactly where the Pirates will end up this year, but conventional wisdom says that they will end up in the cellar again. They certainly have the talent to compete with the higher level teams, as they've shown in the first half of each of the last two seasons. With no major additions or subtractions, the 2013 Pirates will be the same as the 2012 Pirates. Maybe they can convince Bud Selig to make the schedule 81 games. Until that point, though, Pittsburgh fans shouldn't get their hopes up. Like the Brewers, Pittsburgh will likely be stuck in purgatory; not bad enough for a top draft slot, but not good enough to make the playoffs.
Chicago Cubs: The Cubs had a deceptively good offseason, signing pitchers Edwin Jackson in free agency and Kyuji Fujikawa from Japan. These are not moves that are going to put the Cubs over the top (or even get them there), but they are solid additions to an already decent pitching rotation. Jackson will join a rotation that already boasts Jeff Samardzija and Matt Garza. Samardzija proved last year that he has the stuff to be a top of the rotation starter, and Garza, pending a successful return from a season ending triceps injury, is a career number one starter. If closer Carlos Marmol can bounce back from an awful 2012, he and Fujikawa will fill out the bullpen nicely. Anthony Rizzo having his first full season in Wrigley has quite a bit of promise. He and Starlin Castro appear to be the young cornerstones of the future on the North Side. Other than Castro and Rizzo, though, the Cubs are fairly weak offensively. Newly acquired Scott Hairston will join Alfonso Soriano and David Dejesus in the outfield. Cubs coaches insist that Brett Jackson will be getting quite a bit of playing time, which would mean something has to give. though everyone has written off the Cubs, they have the potential to give the Cardinals or Reds a scare. This is probably not the year that the drought ends, though.
Saint Louis Cardinals: Chris Carpenter's career is likely over due to a nerve injury, and Kyle Lohse is a free agent. Those two things aside, the Red Birds are a team to watch this year. Not just because they are very talented all around, but because they are masters at pulling talent out of thin air. For example, outfielder Jon Jay had the best WAR (wins above replacement) of his career last year (3.3). The world renowned Pete Kozma had a .333 average in 82 at bats. Lance Lynn has 18 wins, something that no one could have foreseen. Throwing these upstart players in with veteran stars like Carlos Beltran, Matt Holliday and Yadier Molina caused a potent team offensively and defensively. Expect nothing less from the Cardinals this year, especially considering the young talent that is just arriving at Busch. Top prospect Oscar Taveras, who has had quite the interesting offseason, has torn up the minor leagues thus far and could be doing the same to NL Central pitching in the coming year. Talented young arms Shelby Miller and Trevor Rosenthal are set to have their first full seasons in the big leagues, and Carlos Martinez might not be far behind them. The Red Birds should be capable of making the playoffs this year, though the division race is going to be tight.
Cincinnati Reds: The Reds seem to be in the midst of creating the Big Red Machine 2.0. They have two light-tower power bats in Joey Votto and Jay Bruce. Brandon Phillips is a perennial all-star, and Shin-Soo Choo was one of the major acquisitions in the offseason. Aroldis Chapman is going to become a full time starter this season, joining Jhonny Cueto, Jonathan Broxton and Mat Latos in the rotation. The Reds don't have a weakness per say, though it will be interesting to see what the bullpen
can do. Billy Hamilton will likely make his major league debut, which will give the Reds speed, and even more hitting prowess. It is not much of a matter of if the Reds can make the playoffs, as they are very likely to win the division or take a wildcard spot. The question is if the Reds can get momentum in the playoffs, and not choke in the National League Division series again. The Reds could be a safe pick for the Fall Classic this year, but they have to figure out their playoff problems first.
*All statistics courtesy of Baseballreference.com
No comments:
Post a Comment