Without a doubt, that was the best World Baseball Classic ever. And I'm not just saying that because the United States won. The entire tournament was incredible. The passion of the players and the fans gave games an October-like feel and an intensity you just don't see in March. The WBC will always have its critics, but I think this year's event proved that when done right, it's a great thing.
It also guaranteed that the World Baseball Classic isn't going anywhere, so the haters just need to get used to it. I think it's also safe to say that more players are going to buy-in next time and the Team USA that tries to defend its title in 2021 will likely be even stronger than this year's champions.
I'm still going to be riding this high for the next couple of days, so you were probably expecting some sort of Best of the WBC post, but we're just 10 days away from the start of the regular season. That means it's time to start my annual six-part season preview. And it'll start where it normally does. In the division I know best. The AL East.
1. Boston Red Sox: The addition of Chris Sale made the Red Sox even bigger favorites in this division than they were going to be. Except...David Price will miss the start of the season and is out for who knows how long? And you'd also have to figure Rick Porcello will come back down to Earth after his Cy Young-winning 2016. I also think Sale won't dominate the AL East teams as much as he did in Chicago now that they're going to see him over and over again. Regardless, he's still the best No. 3 starter out there. I'm curious to see what their offense is going to look like without David Ortiz. Although, Pablo Sandoval returns after missing all of last season due to injury and he's roughly the same size as Big Papi, so I guess it's a wash there. They still have Dustin Pedroia and Hanley Ramirez, as well as a lot of really good young guys. Even if there's a sophomore slump or two, they've got enough movable parts to figure their way around it. As I see it now, either Mitch Moreland or the Panda is going to be the odd man out, assuming Brock Holt plays third.
Projected Lineup: Mookie Betts-RF, Jackie Bradley Jr.-CF, Dustin Pedroia-2B, Hanley Ramirez-DH, Xander Bogaerts-SS, Mitch Moreland-1B, Andrew Benintendi-LF, Brock Holt-3B, Sandy Leon-C
Projected Rotation: Rick Porcello, David Price (DL), Chris Sale, Eduardo Rodriguez, Steven Wright
Closer: Craig Kimbrel
Projected Record: 91-71
2. Toronto Blue Jays: Marcus Stroman, who shouldn't have been the MVP of the WBC, but that's a conversation for another day, thinks the Blue Jays have the best rotation in baseball. They don't. They don't even have the best rotation in the AL East. And after two years of going all in and having it pay off, Toronto will probably come back to the pack a little bit this season. The Blue Jays still have enough to make a playoff run, though, and I see them staying in the wild card hunt. They need to stay healthy, though, because they're nowhere near as deep as they used to be. Re-signing Jose Bautista was big, although there wasn't really a market for him, so they kinda overpaid to keep him even though no one else wanted him. Losing both Bautista and Encarnacion would've been a really big blow to a lineup that loves hitting home runs. They replaced Encarnacion with Kendrys Morales, which is a massive downgrade overall, but he'll still give them the home run power that they lost in Encarnacion. Most of their core group other than Encarnacion is back, so they're going to hit tons of homers and score plenty of runs again. The pitching's not as good as Stroman thinks, but it doesn't need to be. As long as the starters do an adequate job, the Blue Jays will be in the hunt for the wild card, and they've got a shot at the division if the Red Sox falter.
Projected Lineup: Melvin Upton Jr.-LF, Troy Tulowitzki-SS, Josh Donaldson-3B, Jose Bautista-RF, Kendrys Morales-DH, Russell Martin-C, Justin Smoak-1B, Kevin Pillar-CF, Devon Travis-2B
Projected Rotation: Marcus Stroman, Marco Estrada, J.A. Happ, Aaron Sanchez, Francisco Liriano
Closer: Roberto Osuna
Projected Record: 87-75
3. New York Yankees: When the Yankees sold off their stars last season, it was to spark a youth movement spearheaded by Gary Sanchez. Most people predict that the purge will pave the way to the next Yankees dynasty, perhaps as early as next year. As a result, the expectations aren't high this season. Which puts Joe Girardi in a very interesting position. Because if they don't make (or at least contend for) the playoffs, he likely won't be around to see next year. The Yankees have played a grand total of one playoff game in the last four years, and one playoff game in five years doesn't exactly look good on a manager who's expected to win every year. While I think it's a reach to say they're going to challenge for the division title, I can definitely see this team hanging around the wild card race. It really depends on how good Sanchez, Judge and Bird really are (and if they can handle the labors of a full Major League season). Let's not forget, the veterans on this team are pretty good, too, although Didi Gregorius is probably out until May with that shoulder injury he suffered in the WBC. There's been some clamoring to have Gleybar Torres start on Opening Day in his place, but I completely agree with the decision to start him at Double-A. But if Chase Headley struggles, we could see Torres playing third base in the Bronx later this season. Torres was the big prize in the Aroldis Chapman. After the Cubs borrowed him for a couple months and got a World Series title out of it, Chapman is back in the Bronx, keeping the bullpen as much of a weapon as it was last year. With Chapman back, Dellin Betances can move back to the eighth inning, where he's clearly more comfortable. With a bullpen this good, all they need is six innings out of the starter. And this rotation, while it doesn't have any front-line guys other than Masahiro Tanaka, is definitely capable of doing that.
Projected Lineup: Jacoby Ellsbury-CF, Brett Gardner-LF, Gary Sanchez-C, Matt Holliday-DH, Greg Bird-1B, Starlin Castro-2B, Chase Headley-3B, Aaron Judge-RF, Ruben Tejada-SS (Didi Gregorius)
Projected Rotation: Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia, Michael Pineda, Luis Severino, Chad Green
Closer: Aroldis Chapman
Projected Record: 85-77
4. Baltimore Orioles: Adam Jones should've been the MVP of the World Baseball Classic. I don't know what tournament the voters were watching, but he was clearly the guy who made the biggest difference for Team USA. And his catch wasn't just the play of the tournament, it was the turning point. Speaking of the catch. Who did he rob of a home run? None other than teammate Manny Machado, who tipped his cap as he came off the field. Jonathan Schoop was also in the WBC with the Netherlands, and Baltimore's home run or strikeout duo of Chris Davis and Mark Trumbo is also back in the middle of the lineup. This year they've even moved Trumbo to his natural position of DH after the adventure of putting him in the outfield for most of last season. The question with Baltimore is always whether or not they'll have enough pitching to contend. It becomes even more of a question now that Chris Tillman is going to miss the start of the season. They've got a really good bullpen with Brad Brach, Darren O'Day and lights-out closer Zach Britton, though. Kinda like the Yankees, the Orioles really only need their starter to give them six. And they're going to score plenty of runs (they'll also have plety of games where they score 1 or 2). As a result, the AL East will likely be a four-team race once again this year.
Projected Lineup: Hyun Soo Kim-LF, Manny Machado-3B, Adam Jones-CF, Chris Davis-1B, Mark Trumbo-DH, JJ Hardy-SS, Jonathan Schoop-2B, Seth Smith-RF, Welington Castillo-C
Projected Rotation: Chris Tillman (DL), Kevin Gausman, Dylan Bundy, Ubaldo Jimenez, Wade Miley
Closer: Zach Britton
Projected Record: 81-81
5. Tampa Bay Rays: Poor Tampa Bay. They've regressed back to their Devil Rays days. It's not that bleak, but you get the picture. The rest of the AL East has simply gone back to as good as it used to be, and they've all got more resources than the Rays, which makes it hard for Tampa Bay to keep up. Nevertheless, they made the smart decision to lock in some of their core guys Problem is they don't have enough of them. Even still, Chris Archer and Jake Odorizzi are a very good 1-2 at the top of the rotation, and Alex Colome is a worthwhile closer. Archer and Odorizzi can't pitch every game, though. And the Tampa Bay lineup is certainly nothing to write home about. It's Even Longoria, Kevin Kiermaier and a bunch of guys who wouldn't be starters on any other team. Regardless, the Rays are probably going to have a say in who wins the AL East. They're going to end up with a winning record against one of them. And that could be enough to cost someone the division title or a wild card.
Projected Lineup: Kevin Kiermaier-CF, Colby Rasmus-LF, Evan Longoria-3B, Logan Morrison-1B, Corey Dickerson-DH, Brad Miller-2B, Steven Souza Jr.-RF, Matt Duffy-SS, Luke Maile-C
Projected Rotation: Chris Archer, Jake Odorizzi, Alex Cobb, Blake Snell, Matt Andriese
Closer: Alex Colome
Projected Record: 68-94
Simply put, Boston is the best team in the AL East. But the Red Sox will need everything to go right in order to win the division again. Because they're not so much better than everyone else that they'll just be able to run away with it. In fact, the Blue Jays, Yankees and Orioles are all capable of challenging for the division crown. The combination of pitching and hitting make the Red Sox the clear favorites in the AL East, though.
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