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The Future of Power Starts Today
On the mound tonight for the Washington Nationals is the phenom himself, Stephen Strasburg. However, it’s another number one pick overall that will make headlines.
Highly publicized and high draft pick outfielder Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals organization makes his debut tonight in Los Angeles against the Dodgers. He has been called the future of power hitting, and rightly so. In his one year of junior college, he hit 31 home runs in just 66 games; breaking the old school record of 12. The 19-year old hasn’t batted all too well in Triple A Syracuse, hitting only .250 with one home run. Fortunately for Harper, the Nationals have a lot of faith in the Las Vegas native. Harper was ranked by Baseball America as the number one overall prospect prior to the 2011 and 2012 season. Harper is set to replace third baseman Ryan Zimmerman in the lineup after Zimmerman was placed on the 15-day DL for inflammation in his right shoulder.
“Magic” In New Dodger’s Ownership
Do you believe in Magic..? For an astounding $2.15 billion dollars, a sum decided Tuesday night, Frank McCourt believes. That’s how much the Los Angeles Dodgers will cost Magic Johnson’s group. Johnson’s group of investors beat out two others… one that included St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke, and another that included billionaire Steve Cohen and former major league manager Tony La Russa.
The record amount for a major league team would top the $845 million paid in 2010 for the Chicago Cubs. More importantly for Dodgers fans, it will take McCourt out of the Dodgers ownership loop after eight long years. McCourt bought the franchise for $430 million in 2004 but took it into bankruptcy. He won’t be bankrupt anymore once the deal closes though. Read More >>
Opening the MLB Season, Japanese-Style
This Saturday, MLB spring training officially kick’s off when pitchers and catchers report to Peoria, AR training camp for the Seattle Mariners. The Mariners are starting off spring training particularly early this year, because of a two-game MLB season-opening series with the Oakland A’s, March 28-29, in Japan. As Japan continues to struggle rebuilding from a 9.0 magnitute earthquake, and a subsuming tsunami / near nuclear meltdown, proceeds from the two-game series will go to the benefit of Japan’s tsunami victims.
This will be Ichiro’s first time playing an MLB game in his native Japan, where he played the first eight seasons of his professional career with the Orix BlueWave baseball club. Since entering the MLB, Ichiro became the first, and has become the longest tenured, Japanese player in MLB history. When the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami hit, Ichiro donated 1.2 million of his personal income to funding relief causes. Ichiro is such a celebrity in Japan that his agent, Tony Attanasio, has been quoted as saying “When you mail Ichiro something from the States, you only have to use that name on the address and he gets it (in Japan). He’s that big.”. You can even get to his Wikipedia page just by keying in the searchterm “Ichiro“. Read More >>
Start The Year Off Right: A new years resolution for each MLB team
New Year’s resolutions always sound good and start with ambition.
Unfortunately for most, that ambition eventually fades and the dedication wanes.
Arizona will be hoping for another stellar season from Ian Kennedy. (AP Photo)
However, failure to execute in Major League Baseball MLB can lead to a loss of money, jobs and fans. Teams, players, managers and executives who want to succeed next MLB season might want to follow these suggested resolutions (teams listed in order of 2011 finish):
AL EAST
New York Yankees: Stop waiting for A.J. Burnett to live up to his $82.5 million contract. He clearly isn’t the answer to the pitching problems, so find someone else.
Tampa Bay Rays: Trade B.J. Upton as soon as he has a hot streak. The longer they wait to deal him, the less he will be worth to another team.
Boston Red Sox: Serve more grilled chicken and root beer in the clubhouse. The fried stuff and the alcohol didn’t work so well in 2011.
Toronto Blue Jays: Find another starting pitcher to complement Ricky Romero. Also, write Bud Selig a thank-you note for creating the second wild-card berth.
Baltimore Orioles: Stop taking so much pleasure in beating the Red Sox and focus on getting those suddenly not-so-inexperienced pitchers to take the next step in their development.
NL EAST
Philadelphia Phillies: Keep pitching and keep reminding people that the playoffs can sometimes be a crap shoot where a hot hand can prevail.
MLB Rankings
No one knows if the St. Louis Cardinals will re-sign Albert Pujols to play first base or hire Terry Francona to be their next manager.
But it doesn’t matter. The Cardinals still are an easy choice for No. 1 in the first MLB Power Rankings for 2012. They deserve that much after the way they finished 2011.
How all 30 MLB teams stack up heading into the Hot Stove season:
1. St. Louis Cardinals
With or without Pujols, they should enter 2012 as the team to beat. Remember, ace Adam Wainwright will be back.
2. Texas Rangers
The bitter taste of coming so close could carry over into 2012. But manager Ron Washington and DH/infielder Michael Young won’t let it.
3. Philadelphia Phillies
Their lineup is slipping, but any team with this rotation is bound to win a lot of games. In the regular season, anyway.
4. Detroit Tigers
All they need is a little more depth. They have everything else, including the game’s best starter in Justin Verlander and the best hitter in Miguel Cabrera (in the opinion of Zack Greinke).
5. New York Yankees
Will 2012 be the year for young starters Dellin Betances and/or Manny Banuelos? If so, this ranking will prove to be too low.
A Question of Dominance – There isn’t a dominant 100-win team in the majors this season!?
Why we don’t believe: Despite numerous injuries, the Philadelphia Phillies remain on pace for 102 MLB wins and a dominant season. Already, the club meets two standards of greatness:
Pitching. Even with the rotation’s fab four down a man, the trio of Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee can hold its own with the prime years of the Atlanta Braves’ Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz, a threesome destined for Cooperstown. Halladay is regarded as a harder-throwing version of Maddux, Lee is a more powerful Glavine and Hamels is on a career track every bit as impressive as Smoltz’s at the same age.
Experience. Five of the Phillies’ eight regulars have had starring roles in the team’s four-year run as the NL’s best club. All have won a World Series, two pennants and four division titles. They know how to win, evidenced by the club’s major league-best record despite an offense that has yet to find its stride.
We believe this instead: From top to bottom, the Boston Red Sox have a better roster than the Phillies. The Red Sox, in fact, might have the best blend of lineup, rotation and bullpen since the New York Yankees in the late 1990s. Boston has outhit Philadelphia this season, its trio of Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz almost matches the Phillies’ big three and its bullpen is led by the game’s most intimidating relief tandem, Jonathan Papelbon and Daniel Bard. Since their 2-10 start, the Red Sox have won at a march-to-greatness .652 pace.
What else we believe: The Yankees are another team capable of dominating. They have the game’s most power-packed lineup, a top ace in CC Sabathia and the best closer ever in Mariano Rivera. Their shortcoming has been a lack of success against the Red Sox. With nine more meetings, greatness remains within both clubs’ reach.
Slow Start? What Slow Start?
OK, time to stop the MLB nonsense about whether the Indians are for real.
They’re as real as Justin Masterson’s sinker, Shin-Soo Choo’s right arm, Carlos Santana’s batting eye, Orlando Cabrera’s experience and Asdrubal Cabrera’s talent.
Try this for real: The Indians own a majors-best 66 run differential and an MLB best 18-4 home record. They’ve scored the second-most runs in the A.L. and have the fourth-best ERA. They’re 7-2 against the A.L. East with the revived Red Sox returning to Cleveland looking for revenge after that three-game sweep they absorbed in the season’s first week.
Ron Washington knows they’re for real. Asked if he knew the Indians would be in first place when in spring training he asked Manny Acta to be an MLB All-Star coach, the Rangers managed replied, “I knew the Indians would be tough. They have some talent.”
Washington might have been one of the few to believe that two months ago. But he’s no longer alone. The Indians sit atop the MLB Power Poll for the fourth consecutive week. The Poll is convinced.
1. Indians (1). You can ask the Reds if the Tribe is for real. The Indians’ weekend sweep was first over Reds since 2004.
2. Cardinals (14). When talking about N.L. MVP candidates, Matt Holliday would be the place to start. Unless you started with Lance Berkman.
3. Red Sox (13). About that 2-10 start, perhaps the Red Sox just wanted to play fair and give the rest of the league a head start.
Adrian Gonzalez has provided the offensive punch the Red Sox were hoping for when they traded for him this offseason. (AP Photo)
4. Giants (6). Latest wrist injury to Mark DeRosa could be the end, making his the saddest in a season that has seen more than its share of injuries.
5. Phillies (4). Chase Utley is back in time for rematch of last year’s divisional series against the Reds. Time for the rest of the Phillies’ offense to return, too.
6. Yankees (15). What a debut: Right-hander Hector Noesi gives Yankees four scoreless innings to win 15-inning marathon in Baltimore, providing the difference between a so-so and a good week for the club.
The Good and the Bad
Discounting the Tampa Bay Rays before the MLB season started didn’t take much dissection or discussion.
That determination was fairly simple. The team lost a franchise player in Carl Crawford, had to trade away a front-line pitcher who hadn’t reached his ceiling in Matt Garza, lost a premier relievers in Rafael Soriano, Joaquin Benoit and Grant Balfour among others in the bullpen, middle-of-the-lineup presence Carlos Pena and shortstop Jason Bartlett.
When the Rays started the season 0-6 and 1-8, it seemed the small-market team that could, could no longer, and the American League East was once again a two-team race.
But then, the last three weeks happened.
GOOD NEWS
Stinging Rays. After those first nine games, the Rays were averaging about two runs per game, and that number was helped greatly by a nine-run outburst in their only victory. They also produced two or fewer runs seven times. Meanwhile, the pitching was giving up nearly five runs per game.
From that point, Tampa Bay went on a tear, winning five in a row and eight of nine to reach .500. And over the past week, the Rays have stayed strong, winning five games that included a sweep in frigid conditions at Minnesota to finish April 15-12.
Over the 12 games preceding Sunday’s loss to the Angels, pitching had been key. Behind starters David Price, James Shields and Wade Davis and relievers Kyle Farnsworth, Joel Peralta and Juan Cruz, the Rays have a 2.85 ERA and a 1.069 WHIP.
Offensively, the Rays have stepped up their production, averaging 7.7 runs per game in the last 13 games. And over the last six, the Rays hit .273 and averaged 6.8 runs per game.
The distraction. The moniker isn’t meant in a negative way as Dodgers right fielder Andre Ethier has provided an on-field distraction to the mess the organization has become at the top.
Break Up The Birds
Depending on how full their dance cards were this past weekend, teams have either 159 or 158 games remaining before the end of the regular season. So trending topics might not be trends by the end of this week.
But even the premature anointments and panic attacks ringing in cities throughout the major league circuit can’t deny some eye-opening MLB performances, both bad and good.
BAD NEWS
Red Sox swept
The biggest shock of opening week was baseball’s expected best team being swept at Texas. The Red Sox have been an easy pick to win the American League pennant, but when they stepped into the home of last season’s A.L. winner, the Rangers gave them a prompt beatdown.
Texas outscored the Sox, 26-11, and hit 11 home runs with their starters allowing nine of those, including three by ace Jon Lester and four by Clay Buchholz. Now, three games into a new season, the Sox have the same concern they had last season: starting pitching.
With Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka, both injury unknowns, taking the next two starts, the Red Sox are fortunate they play Cleveland next.
“We’re not very happy with the series. That’s an understatement,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. “There’s a difference between being aggravated as opposed to sitting around and panicking.”
Refusing to panic is understandable. But how about this: Since 1900, 163 teams have started the year 0-3 and only six made the playoffs (4 percent). The bright side is that two of those teams, the 1973 Athletics and 1914 Boston Braves, won a World Series.
Bay Area blunders
The defending World Series champs went into rival territory and looked like they were still sweating out the champagne from their parade. The Giants dropped three of four to the Dodgers.
The constants were still there—Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain combined to pitch 13 innings without allowing an earned run. But Jonathan Sanchez and Barry Zito threw 11 2/3 innings and allowed seven runs.
Two of Sanchez’s runs were unearned, partly because he botched an easy bouncer. As a whole, the Giants’ defense was hard to watch. It committed five errors in the first two games, and had several other defensive lapses by corner outfielders.
Left fielder Pat Burrell and right fielder Aubrey Huff looked old and slow and failed to get to balls an average outfielder should convert into outs.
Paging Cody Ross!
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