Can the Indians Contend?

The Cleveland Indians were one of the worst teams in the Major Leagues last year, but with a new season comes new hope. The team made a lot of changes in the offseason including hiring former Red Sox manager Terry Francona, jettisoning soon to be free agent Shin-Soo Choo, and bringing in Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn among others. Theoretically the team looks to contend this season, but with the powerhouse Detroit Tigers looking down from the top of the AL Central, contention will be anything but easy.

The Indians look to have a strong top of the order that is arguably as good as any in baseball. Michael Bourn is a preeminent leadoff man, and following him up with Asdrubal Cabrera, Jason Kipnis, Nick Swisher, and Carlos Santana is a strong top of the order. There's a bit of a drop off after that but Mark Reynolds, Michael Brantley, and Drew Stubbs have all been quality major leaguers at points in their careers.

The Indians should have enough offense to contend for at least a wild card spot, but the big question mark for the team is starting pitching. Ostensible ace Justin Masterson had a forgettable 2012, posting a 4.93 ERA  and 0.0 WAR. With only one truly good season with the Tribe under his belt there remain question about how good Masterson really is. I tend to believe he'll split the difference between his 2011 and 2012 season, and post ERA in the low 4s, but unless he can drop his walk rate he shouldn't be considered a top flight starter.

Even more questions surround former Cy Young candidate Ubaldo Jimenez who has been atrocious since coming over from the Rockies. I don't think there's any turning back for the Dominican at this point and he can only hope to be a league average starter. Zach McAllister and Brett Myers should be serviceable starters, but guys you'd more like as number 5s, than potential 2s and 3s. The club hopes to get something out reclamation project Daisuke Matsuzaka, but it seems unlikely that the former Red Sox will offer anything more than replacement level value.

The big hope for the Indians staff is that recently acquired Trevor Bauer and/or former top prospect Carlos Carrasco can catch lighting in a bottle. Bauer was dumped by the D-Backs but still remains one of the top prospects in the game. If he can live up to some of the hype this season, he would give a huge boost to a staff that desperately needs it. Carlos Carrasco is a bit more of a question mark as he attempts to come back from Tommy John surgery. Once the top prospect in the Phillies system before coming over to the Tribe in the Cliff Lee deal, Carrasco has been inconsistent in the majors thus far, but nonetheless has as much talent as anyone currently on the staff.

With a decent offense, great defense, and a solid bullpen the Indians could certainly contend if they can catch a few breaks with the pitching staff. Beating out the Tigers for the division title doesn't seem very likely, but with two wild card slots available the Indians still have a pretty good shot at a playoff spot. If the Tribe can find a way to acquire more starting pitching, they'd be in an even better spot, but as it stands now they'll need some career years from at least a couple of the starters if they hope to play in October.

Why Not Manny?

Let me start off by admitting that I am an unabashed Manny Ramirez fan, as much for helping to deliver two titles to the Red Sox, as the comedy gold he's wrought over the years. So the conceit of this post that a) he still has something to offer a team on the field and b) he wouldn't be a complete knucklehead, is admittedly pretty absurd. However, I'm not quite ready to lose Manny to Taiwan, so I'm going to attempt to shoehorn the mercurial 12-time All-Star onto some rosters.

Yankees 

The Yanks currently have brittle former Indian Travis Hafner penciled in at DH, and with the loss of Curtis Granderson for a month, the Bronx Bombers are in need of an extra outfielder. Sure by the time Manny actually gets in shape Granderson will be back, but he'll sell way more jerseys than whoever they throw out there. Plus, he can fill in at DH when Hafner inevitably goes down after the first month of the season. Would Joe Girardi stab him after about a week on the roster? Probably, but it would certainly lead to some snappy New York Daily News headlines.

Phillies

The Phillies are looking at some combo of Darin Ruf, Domonic Brown, John Mayberry Jr., and Delmon Young to patrol two outfield spots. Why not add a little Manny to the mix? He's probably in better shape than Delmon and can probably still get on base at a better clip than Brown or Mayberry. Would he be an absolute butcher in the outfield? You bet, but certainly the team responsible for signing Young can't be terribly worried about outfield defense.

Mets

The Mets need to make headlines this season and are also going into the year with an outfield that some pundits have actually considered calling the worst of all time. The solution to both problems: Manny. At the very least he'd be the first player to try to eat the giant apple in centerfield, which would be entertaining for all.

Orioles

Dan Duquette's biggest free agent signing of his career came when he lured Manny over to the Red Sox. Maybe he can recapture a little of the 2000's Sox magic (sure he got fired two year after signing Manny, but whateves) by bringing Manny on over to the O's. MLB Depth Charts tells me that the Orioles currently have a Wilson Betemit/Danny Valencia platoon penciled in at DH, so yeah, Manny could definitely be useful to that roster. Plus, Manny would've made a pretty awesome Wire character.

Blue Jays

If the Jays sign him he could become a Canadian citizen and recreate his famous American citizenship celebration. That's if he even realized he was in a different country. Plus, who wants to see Adam Lind at DH on that team anyway.

Marlins

Manny lives in the Miami area and the Marlins are gonna need to sell tickets after their latest fire sale fiasco. There's no way most people in Miami realize he hasn't been good in years and Jeffery Loria is certainly not above bamboozling his fan base.

Royals

Can't be any worse than Jeff Francoeur.

Diamondbacks

Kevin Towers seems intent on having an outfield logjam at all times, so go ahead an add Manny to it. Plus, you can tell him it's Mexico and watch with glee as he trots out to the field in a sombrero.

Indians

Just kidding Terry Francona.

Red Sox

Please...pretty please. At least give him one of those bullshit special assistant to the GM job, I just want Manny back in my life.

Dealing with Major Red Sox Injuries

My post yesterday about how the Yankees' will deal with the loss of Curtis Granderson for the first month of the season, got me thinking about how the Red Sox would deal with a major injury to a position player. This came up quite a bit last season with almost every starter hitting the DL at some point and the team did not have the depth to make up for it. In this post I'm going to take a look at how the team would deal with a starting position player going down for a significant amount of time.

Catcher

Unlike most teams in the Major Leagues, catcher is actually a spot where the Sox have some depth. The Sox will look to open the season with a Jarrod Saltalamacchia/David Ross platoon, with some Mike Napoli mixed in on occasion. The Sox also have prospect Ryan Lavarnway waiting in the wings. Although Lavarnway didn't hit well during his Major League stint last season, most believe he will eventually make a big impact in the majors. Should Salty or Moss go down for a significant portion of the season, the Sox would more than likely look to Lavarnway to fill the hole and possibly never give it up.

First Base

The Sox are going to look to newly acquired Mike Napoli to do the bulk of the work at first base this season, but having only played 133 career games at the position and having a balky hip, they'd be wise to plan for a trip to the DL for the former Ranger. The three options the team are looking at in camp are former Mariner Mike Carp, 36 year old journeyman Lyle Overbay, and last year's International League MVP Mauro Gomez. The man most people see as the alternative the Sox would go with is Mike Carp who has been basically replacement level in parts of 4 season with the M's. However, I think the Sox would be more wise to go with Mauro Gomez whom Fangraphs' Steamer system rated as the second best player in the league without a starting position. At 28, Gomez is far from an up and coming prospect, but his numbers in the International League (and his cup of coffee with the big club) indicate that Dominican may be a late-bloomer who could become an above average power threat.

Second Base

Perhaps the biggest possible injury that could happen to the Sox this season would be losing former MVP Dustin Pedroia. Although no team in the majors really has much depth at second, most teams also don't depend on their second basemen as much as the Sox do. The two best candidate in camp right now are 4A utility infielder Pedro Ciriaco and Brock Holt who was acquired from the Pirates in the Joel Hanrahan deal. Although Ciriaco started off hot when getting the call up to the big club last season, he tailed off, and his minor league numbers would lead you to believe that he would not be a suitable long term solution. Brock Holt, however, is an intriguing young man who has opened some eyes in spring training. Holt had a cup of coffee with the Pirates last year in which he neither distinguished, nor embarrassed himself. If the Sox are looking for steady replacement level play than Ciriaco will be their man, but if they're looking for the higher upside play, it'd be Holt.

Shortstop

At the starting shortstop position this year the Sox will look to Stephen Drew to bounce back to form after missing parts of the last couple of seasons with a broken ankle. Drew was a very productive player when healthy back in his Diamondback days, but having not played a full season in three years, the Sox will be holding they're breath that they get a full one out of him this year. The Sox will no doubt look to the same Ciriaco/Holt duo they have waiting in the wings at second, but should Drew go down for the season at some point and the Sox are in contention, they may make the bold move of calling up Baseball America's number 8 prospect in the country Xander Bogaerts. Although teams usually are not keen on calling up 20 year olds, the success of Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, and to a lesser extent Manny Machado, may make teams in the thick of a playoff race rethink that philosophy. I don't think is a particularly likely scenario, but if the Sox are in the thick of a pennant race and Bogaerts continues to rake in the minors, fans may be clamoring to see him with or without a Drew injury.

Third Base

The Red Sox hope to get a full season out of last season's breakout performer Will Middlebrooks, and they do not have much depth to help out if he doesn't play out the string. The most likely fill in would be the aforementioned Ciriaco, with Holt never having played third base in his professional career. As I mentioned before Ciriaco would be a replacement level fill-in, so a long term injury to Middlebrooks would probably cause the club to do some hard thinking. Xander Bogaerts projects to play third for the Dutch WBC team, so if the Sox are in contention and Middlebrooks goes down (or is ineffective) the Sox could look to plug-in Bogaerts at third, much like the Orioles did last year with Machado.

Outfield

The Red Sox will start the season with big free agent signing Shane Victorino in right, talented but oft-injured Jacoby Ellsbury in center, and clown prince of outfielders Jonny Gomes in left. The Sox will look to break camp with a combination of the aforementioned Mike Carp, fan favorite Daniel Nava, and hater of doors Ryan Sweeney as their backup options. Although anyone of them could prove a capable replacement level short term fill-in, a long term injury could cause the Sox to call up Baseball America's 31 overall prospect in the country Jackie Bradley. The Sox already have long term designs on sticking Bradley in center if Ellsbury walks after this season, so another devastating injury to Ells could cause the Sox to speed up the process. A big injury to one of the other two outfielders may cause the Sox to shift alignments and stick Bradley in center and Ellsbury in left, as Bradley is considered to have one of the best gloves in minor league ball. Entering his age 23 season, Bradley is probably closer to big league ready than Bogaerts, so the team would likely see it as less of a developmental risk to call up Bradley this season.

Replacing Curtis Granderson

The news that Yankees' outfielder Curtis Granderson went down with a broken forearm Sunday must have panicked the Yankee faithful. The Yankees already had enough questions coming into the season before their best power hitter went down for at least the first month of the season. After the initial shock of the injury wore off, I'm sure most fans realized it wasn't going to sink the Bronx Bombers' season however. A slow start could certainly put the team behind the eight ball in the ultra-competitive AL East, but if the team can get league average play out of the Granderson replacement(s), they should be able to tread water.

The big question facing the Yankees' is if they can fill the hole with a league average player. In this post, I'm going to look at that teams options, and size-up which player or players would be best suited as the Granderson placeholder.

Internal Options:

The Yankees have four main options to fill in for Granderson currently in camp, only one of which is on the team's 40 man roster. The most attractive option to fill in is journeyman Juan Rivera. Rivera has been a below replacement level hitter since 2009, but has shown signs in his career of being a very competent hitter with no obvious platoon splits. Rivera's .286 OBP in 339 plate appearances last year for the Dodgers was terrible, so the Yankees are certainly not looking at a world beater here. However, Rivera seems most likely to fill the role of castoff veteran having a mini-career renaissance, that have held together the Yankees' lineups for the past few seasons.

The other three options seem to be no better than place holder or platoon options. Matt Diaz has made a career out of being the Braves fourth outfielder. Diaz' .364 career OBP against lefties would make a good fit to platoon against southpaws, but his numbers have been on the decline and he may not have much left in the tank. Utilityman Jayson Nix could do some spot fill in duty as well, but having a corner outfielder with a career OBP of below .300 isn't gonna help the team. The last option on the internal roster would be one of two prospects, Zoilo Almonte or Melky Mesa. Neither hitter has much plate discipline, but if one can catch fire and opening some eyes during spring training, they could find themselves breaking camp with the major league squad.

External Options:

The Yankees external options are fairly limited, and if I had to bet I'd say the team stays away from them. The first option would be to sign an aging free agent and hope for a reinvigoration playing in the Bronx. The veteran free agent with the most left in the tank offensively is probably Carlos Lee. Lee played mostly at first base last season, but has played the majority of his career in left field (albeit as one of the worst defensive outfielders in the game.) Lee was below league average last season, which he split between the Astros and Marlins, but had been very good major league hitter every other season of his career. The two biggest issues with signing Lee however are that he'll be a butcher in the outfield and that he'd probably be unhappy with a bench role upon Granderson's return. Old friends Johnny Damon and Bobby Abreu are available as well. Abreu can still get on base at a pretty good clip, but coming into his age 39 season, may very well be washed up. Damon couldn't manage to hang around on the lowly Indians' roster last season, so their isn't much reason to believe he would be able to contribute for the Yanks.

The only other option for the team would be to make a trade. Two names that pop-up are highly paid veterans Alfonso Soriano and Vernon Wells. Although the Cubs and Angels would likely pick up most of the bill for either player, the Yankees would still have to deal with an unhappy fourth outfielder when Granderson comes back. It's possible the Yankees could add another replacement level outfielder into the mix, but no one worth speculating about.

I think most likely the Yankees will break camp with a Juan Rivera-Matt Diaz platoon. The Yankees like their veteran retreads as much as any team in the league, and a month out of those two players wouldn't kill the team's season. I think this option is the one most likely to play up to replacement level, and hold the fort for Granderson's return.

AL West Preview

The AL West is one of the more competitive divisions in baseball, but it could be decided by one of the worst teams in baseball history. The Houston Astros make their American League debut this year, fully stocked with a roster full of dudes you've never heard of before. You can pencil the top 3 teams (A's, Rangers, and Angels) in for at least 12 wins from the expansion-level Astros, but if one of these teams can really make hay and take 17 or 18 games from Houston, that could go a long way towards deciding the division winner.

Oakland A's 

The Oakland Athletics surprised the baseball world by beating out the powerhouse Rangers for the AL West title on the final day of the season in 2012. The A's look to sustain the magic coming into the '13 season, but one can't help but think the team's in for some regression, especially from a pitching staff that looks to feature several second-year starters, mixed in with an oft-injured ace (Brett Anderson), and a 39 year old coming off a steroid suspension. The teams three major acquisitions were inconsistent but solid when healthy former Diamondback Chris Young, brittle but talented infielder Jed Lowrie, and underrated catcher John Jaso. The losses of glove-first shortstop Cliff Pennington, platoon first baseman Chris Carter, and pitcher Brandon McCarthy aren't huge losses, but Carter's bat may be missed if projected first baseman Brandon Moss regresses to his pre-2012 form and McCarthy would have added depth to the staff.

Saying the Athletics will not make the playoffs would be a foolish statement. Although I believe the Angels and Rangers have more talented rosters, many said the same last season and the A's still took the division. I expect some regression from outfielder Josh Reddick after his breakout 2012, but I think Yoenis Cespedes' continued progression should pick up some of the slack. The pitching staff is the key to whether the club experiences another postseason run or falls out of it before the trade deadline. Young starters Jarrod Parker, AJ Griffin, and Tommy Milone all look like possible regression candidates, but if Brett Anderson can make 30 starts (no safe assumption) the staff has potential to be excellent. 

Texas Rangers 

Can AJ Pierzynski and Lance Berkman make up for the losses of Josh Hamilton and Mike Napoli? That's the big question facing the Rangers coming into the season, and the easy answer is no way, but the overall lineup depth may allow the Rangers to make up for losing two of it's heaviest hitters. One of the underrated ways the Rangers may have improved this offseason was by sending former "face of the team" Michael Young to the Phillies. Manger Ron Washington felt the need to insert Young into the lineup nearly every day despite the former-All Star's below replacement level play. Lance Berkman would have to return to his 2011 form if the team hopes to continue it's 90-plus winning ways, but that seems like wishful thinking after the 36 year old only played in 34 games for the Cardinals last season.

The Rangers' look like they'll be in the hunt for a playoff berth this season again, but they do not have the powerhouse squad of the past few years. If Yu Darvish can improve off his impressive rookie season, the Rangers should have a solid pitching staff, but the back end is still a bit of a question mark. With Colby Lewis and Neftali Feliz hoping (praying) for a second half return, the Rangers will likely look to patch the hole with converted reliever Alexi Ogando and top prospect Martin Perez. The Rangers will need some good breaks to beat out the Angels and A's for the division, but a wild card berth is a decent proposition.

Los Angeles Angels 

For the second offseason in a row the LA Angels have been among the biggest spenders in free agency. Last year's signings of Albert Pujols and CJ Wilson weren't enough to get the team into the playoffs, but the team hopes that acquiring controversial slugger Josh Hamilton will yield better results this year. Losing rental player Zack Greinke to their cross-town rivals will certainly hurt the pitching staff (as will the loss of Dan Haren, albeit to a far lesser degree), but the team hopes to plug the holes with solid, but unspectacular bottom of the staff options Jason Vargas and Joe Blanton. If Tommy Hanson, whom the team acquired from the Atlanta Braves, can re-capture a sniff of his early-career form, the Angels will have a quality staff that should be good enough to take the division.

The Angels talent is the class of the AL West for sure, but the same could be said of the team coming into last year. A full season from wunderkind Mike Trout and the Albert Pujols from the last 3/4 of 2012 should be enough to propel the team into the playoffs (and that's without even bringing up sluggers Hamilton and Mark Trumbo.) The bullpen could be an issue over the long haul, with the team counting on Ryan Madson coming off Tommy John surgery and possible regression candidate Ernesto Frieri, but Angels GM Jerry Dipoto certainly wouldn't be shy about going out and making an upgrade if need be.

Seattle Mariners 

The Mariners' attempted overhaul of the team probably did not go as they envisioned, but the team is certainly...well...different. The team made two big trades to bring in the bats of Kendrys Morales and Mike Morse, but sent away quality contributors Jason Vargas and John Jaso to make the deals. The Mariners certainly look like they'll hit more dingers this season, but I don't think that'll necessarily translate into wins. The other big move for the team was the recently completed contract extension to ace Felix Hernandez. The huge extension given to King Felix may look like a huge chunk of change for a non-contender to pay, but I think it'll be worth it, if only so Mariners fans have something to feel good about in the future. 

The Seattle Mariners will have a tough row to hoe if they hope to make it through the top heavy AL West and secure a playoff berth. The only way I see that happening is for an awful lot to break right for the team. They would need prodigious output from one or both of their top pitching prospects Taijuan Walker and Danny Hultzen, which is a bit farfetched. They would also need former prospects Dustin Ackley, Jesus Montero, and Justin Smoak to all break out, which is as close to impossible as the Mariners going back to their old trident logo.

Houston Astros 

The Houston Astros are about as bare-bones as an MLB squad comes nowadays, but I think the team's recent selling-off has been a good thing. The Astros certainly won't be contenders anytime in the near future, and while the trading away of anyone not nailed down may result in a box office hit, the Astros regime seems to be moving in the right direction. The big league squad doesn't have many big name players to speak of, besides last year's All-Star Jose Altuve and way past his prime Carlos Pena, but stockpiling prospects will hopefully pay dividends down the road. 

The best case scenario for the Astros this season is to not lose 100 games. That's a pretty low bar, but the team has failed to even achieve that since 2010. Prospect seasoning is the name of the game for the 'stros this year and hopefully the team's losses do not poison the well for some of the team's young talent. The future is uncertain for the Astros, but with a solid farm system and knowledgeable GM Jeff Luhnow, Astros fans can be cautiously optimistic about their future.

NL West Preview

I begin my foray into the world of season previewing (for preview seasoning see my food blog), by taking a look at the National League West. Four of the five teams seem to have stayed the course with their franchise building philosophies; while the Diamondbacks have been busy doing god knows what. Let's break it down team-by-team.

San Francisco Giants

The World Series champs have decided to keep the band together in an attempt to defend their crown. The re-signing of Angel Pagan makes all the sense in the world, by I'm a little more skeptical that re-upping Marco Scutaro was the right move. Giving three years to a middle infielder in his late 30's never seems like a smart move and it looks to me like the G-Men (is this appropriate for the baseball Giants) are once again overrating "clutch hitting." Bringing in Andres Torres for another go around with the squad seems to be a good "low-cost, high-reward" move, after a couple lost years for the outfielder with the Mets.

I think the Giants have a pretty good chance at making the playoffs once again, either by beating out the Dodgers for the division crown or by picking up a wild card slot. The offense doesn't look to be much improved, but the pitching staff should remain one of the top in the NL. If Timmy Lincecum can rebound from his horrendous '12 season to be even a mediocre hurler the staff could single-handedly carry the team to another post-season berth. It's impossible to predict World Series winner's in this day and age, but if the Giants could do it in two of the past three seasons, I see no reason they can't run through the post-season with a little bit of magic again.

Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers have continued their brute force roster building philosophy they've had under their new ownership group by signing the best pitchers available on two different continents. Of course no one is going to argue that South Korean import Hyun-Jin Ryu is anywhere near Zack Greinke's class, but the lefty does add depth to a pitching staff that looks to be pushing more-than-capable major league starters like Chris Capuano and Ted Lilly into long relief. Of course the headline of the offseason was the acquisition of Zack Greinke. It was obvious for the day the new ownership group put pen to paper, that they were going after Greinke, and at the low-low cost of $147 million they got they're man.

The big question coming into the season will be if the Dodgers' plan of throwing around as much money as possible will translate into a successful season. If heavy hitters Matt Kemp, Adrian Gonzalez, and Hanley Ramirez can stay healthy and reasonably productive, I see no reason why the team won't make the postseason. If the team gets anything out of Red Sox cast-off Carl Crawford that's gravy, and believing in Luis Cruz as an everyday third baseman is a little far-fetched, but the rest of the lineup should be able to fill-in those potential holes.

Arizona Diamondbacks

What the heck are the D-Backs doing? Shipping out Justin Upton, Trevor Bauer, and Chris Young to make room for Cody Ross, Martin Prado, and Heath Bell seems insane. The organizational line seems to be that they want grinders and "clubhouse guys" over finesse and aloof players, but in practice that has led to a squad that looks to be inferior to how it looked coming into the offseason. The Upton trade is especially puzzling. A 24 year old former MVP candidate coming off a down season isn't the sort of guy any team would trade, but he wasn't enough of a dirt dog so off he goes. Martin Prado will probably pick up some of the slack in the short term, but looking down the line I don't see how this team will generate much excitement.

Despite the questionable offseason, the 'Backs (nobody calls them that) could still secure a wild card spot if everything breaks right. Their pitching staff has some good depth with the addition of Brandon McCarthy and if Daniel Hudson can return at any point from Tommy John Surgery, the staff could be one of the best in the NL. The offense is pretty mediocre, but a big rookie season from centerfielder Adam Eaton and a return to form by catcher Miguel Montero could spell an under-the-radar post-season run by the snakes.

San Diego Padres

Looks like more of the same this season from the Dads. The team's only offseason acquisitions seem to be predicated on getting low-level pitching depth. A full season from Carlos Quentin would be huge for the team, but that is asking a lot from a man who's only player more than 120 games twice in his 7 big league season. The big question surrounding the club all year will be whether or not they'll trade third baseman Chase Headley. After Headley's breakout '12 season his stock is at an all-time high and although he's under team control for the next two seasons, it doesn't seem likely the team will contend with him in the fold.

It will take nothing short of a miracle for the Padres to make a playoff run. If everything breaks right (Quentin staying healthy, Carmon Maybin living up to his potential, Yasmani Grandal continuing to develop after a 50 game suspension) the Padres offense could be above-average. The pitching staff on the other hand is a horror show. Default ace Edinson Volquez is as mediocre as they come and the like of Clayton Richard and Casey Kelly can only aspire to even a Volquez-esque level of meh. Youngster Andrew Cashner does remain the lone bright spot, but after spending most of last season in the bullpen a full season in the rotation would be a big step up. The Dads also have Cory Luebke waiting in the wings after undergoing Tommy John surgery last season, but I would expect this non-contending club to be slow with bringing him back.

Colorado Rockies

Lastly, we have the lowly Colorado Rockies. The Rockies have a pretty nice little bullpen group and that's about the best thing they have going for them. The only offseason move of note was adding lefty Wilton Lopez to the pen for the Astros, in a good but ultimately meaningless move. There's potential for an above average offensive club if Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez can stay healthy, but offense has never been the Rox' problem. Starting pitching is now and has always been the teams Achilles heel. Pitching in the thin air of Colorado will always be a struggle and I seem to be the only person who applauded the team's attempts at thinking outside the box by going with a four-man rotation last season. It looks like they'll be going back to the traditional five man starting staff his year, but I think the club should push forward in trying to find a way to field a competitive staff by unconventional means.

I'm not going out on a limb by saying the Rockies won't be making the postseason this year, but I don't think their future is quite as grim as it would seem. The team has good young core up the middle with Wilin Rosario behind the plate (as terrible defensively as he is prodigious with the bat), Josh Rutledge at second, Tulo at short, and solid Dexter Fowler in center. Add in Car-Go in left and Tyler Colvin wherever and you have the makings of a decent young offense. Pitching development is obviously the big key to the team's future. Jhoulys Chacin, lefty Christian Friedrich, and Drew Pomeranz have all the potential in the world, but if they will live up to it in the house of horrors that is Coors Field, is anyone's guess.

Season Previews....Coming Soon

Introducing First to Third, one humble writer's attempt at baseball blogging.

My first six posts will be a division-by-division breakdown on each team's offseason moves and how I think each team will fare this season. Obviously this is not breaking new ground in the world of baseball blogging, but I hope that my insights will prove to be humorous and/or informative, I'll settle for either.