1. Colin- Really solid offense led by Cabrera and Trout, the top two players according to every ranking everywhere. Seven players hit .290 or better in 2012. Above average speed and Trout could go for 60+. Nice top three with Hamels, Darvish, and Medlen, good mid-level guys in Wilson and Lohse, and contributing players on the back end. If Medlen takes the leap everyone is projecting and Hyun-Jin Ryu does well this could be an excellent staff. Colin is one of three teams with no closers, and drafted/kept player well enough to take the spot start over...
2. Kurt- The two-time defending champion. Offense is strong once again. "Tough to see Posey duplicating that monster year" says one bitter writer. Getting Votto and Longoria for a full year is a trade off anyone would take. The rest of the infield on the whole is good. The outfield could feature three 20/20 guys in CarGo, Choo, and Harper. No true number 1 pitching options but still a deep staff filled with 2's and 3's where everyone will need to contribute. If Alex Cobb and A.J. Griffin make a leap, this pitching staff can be very solid but never elite. Most of the pitcher's on his roster will probably be spot started by mid-April, rendering this analysis relatively useless.
3. Power across the board including some elite options mixed in, with six players hitting 28 or more HR's in 2012. Only one elite speed option in Desmond Jennings. Couple of red flag players with Jeter, Hart (regression) and Utley/Ortiz/Granderson (injuries and old age). Alex is giving a lot of his past players second chances, which isn't necessarily a bad idea. His team last year was the second consecutive contender to fall to the power of Evan Longoria's Last Day Dick Swings. Alex could be set with keepers for a long, long, loooooong time with McCutchen, Stanton, and Rizzo. Another solid 1-2 punch with Sale and Greinke (seems like a trend in the league) and he backs that up with Matt Moore, James Shields, and (gulp) Josh Johnson, who has been tearing up spring training. 4 closers will have him competing for saves week in and week out. If Julio Teheran can break out this year. "I can definitely see this team making a deep playoff run." Says one contributor.
"This team will lose to me again" Says the other contributor.
4. Jarrett – Extremely thin on infield power but will burn up the basepaths with double digit SB's at almost every position, infield and outfield (and just for good measure, has Billy Hamilton stashed on the bench). Same exact outfield as last year, and for good reason (Braun, Hamilton, Cespedes, even Milky is back!) If things break right, which seems very likely, he might have the best staff in the league. Kershaw, Bumgarner, and Latos will be great. "Fucking asshole who I needed last year Lester is a prime bounce back candidate." - says one of our experts.
According to one expert: "I fucked over Richie with Lester, then I fucked over Jarrett with Lincecum. Now Jarrett has both and I hope they're good, just to piss off Richie"
Brett Anderson and Shelby Miller are good mid-tier options. And if Lincecum could ever figure it out, yikes. But he has Lackey so he automatically has the worst staff in the league. No closers.
5. Ben – Might have the best infield in the league, power and speed well
represented. Outfield might be a little suspect but if Ellsbury can return to
top-10 form, watch out. Matt Cain leads a pitching staff that has potential but
definitely has some question marks. Wainwright and Scherzer (2 and 3 for Ben)
were much improved after the all-star break last year but will they start slow
again? Might be hard for Kuroda to duplicate last year's numbers with an
improved AL East. Beckett might be the wild card, had a good early spring. "Ben's team is pretty uninteresting. It will be good, not great, and make the playoffs probably" -ESPN's Matthew Berry.
"Matthew Berry sucks. I think Ben's team is interesting." -Kurt
6. Richie – Richie comes in on the list pretty low because he put Kurt at #3 in his power rankings. Two time defending champ listed third in the preseason rankings?! Anyways...
Could get 20+ HR's from every position – including the
CI/MI/UTIL spots (once Hanley gets back) and should be at least competitive
with SB's. Might lose AVG every week this season. "Pitching staff is extremely
top-heavy with Felix and Strasburg, huge drop off after that. Relying on
bizarro Roy Halladay, Tommy Hansen, and James McDonald hasn't won anyone a
championship." says one contributor, which basically translates to "He has two good pitchers" Lots of saves opportunities.
7. Drew – Kid has the same team every year. Infield definitely has some
potential but overall, too many question marks to give good grades here. He'll
need big years from Middlebrooks, Asdrubal Cabrera, Eric Hosmer and Jurickson
Profar, who's starting the year in AAA. The outfield is a little bit better but
this will ultimately be one of the weakest hitting teams in the league.
Pitching is once again the backbone with Verlander, CC, and David Price.
Gallardo is a 4th option despite being a 2nd option on pretty much everyone
else's roster. Back end of the staff is not ideal (Hughes, Dempster, Burnett,
Kennedy) but there's enough there to all but guarantee the best pitching staff
in the DD this year. Mixes in 3 to 4 closers depending on the decision with
Chapman.
8. James – One of the few team that can call the MI positions a strength
(Tulo, Reyes, Kipnis) but overall, below average team speed. Should get close
to 30+ HR's from Trumbo, Holliday, and Alvarez, and might get a couple others
to chip in with low 20's. If Adam Jones comes crashing back down to earth this
is an average offense at best.. One anonymous writer said "Pitching staff features three 20 game winners
from 2012 in Gio, Weaver, and Dickey, but I have to be honest – I think
Dickey's going to have issues in the American League." Vogelson and Ogando are
good depth pieces. Only two closers with limited save opportunities, they won't
be too much help. However, with only 7 teams having closers, the two will get him a victory every third week. Lastly, a scout for the Cleveland Indians says "James has two many Mariners. The only way you can win with four members of your favorite team is if your favorite team is Kurt's team from last year."
9. TJ- A few elite power hitters (Bruce, Pujols, Bautista) but it's mediocre
after that. Might be tough to carry the HR/RBI categories. Average to below
average speed. He'll need a resurgent year from Ryan Howard and career years
from Justin Upton and Freddie Freeman to compete consistently on offense. To be
honest, I don't really know the people on his pitching staff very well. No true
ace of the staff (top 2012 win totals are 13, 13, 11, 10) and no one with more
than 168 K's. If Craig Kimbrel can throw 300 innings, TJ should be fine.
10. Adrian – Healthier, slower Kemp leads the way with newly acquired Beltre,
but this team won't lead the league in homers. Headley is missing at least the
first month of the season and is due to regress on top of that. Needs breakout
seasons from Wieters, Ike Davis, and Yasiel Puig to really be a threat on
offense. Solid 1-2 punch with Cueto and Lee, but is only average after that. 3
very good to excellent closers should net him a good 5-10 saves a week. When asked why he ranked Adrian so low, one contributor said "My iPad was running out of battery and I just threw the last part together." Sorry Adrian.
