I think it is now time for another addition of Ranking the Divisions. It has been long enough and I am in a writing mood (speaking of writing, check out Kris's recently started baseball blog - thefourthstarter.com - I contribute). Now I must preface the upcoming post - I will not be doing an NL Central version. If someone would like to do one, be my guest. But My opinion could be considered tainted, since I am in the thick of the soon to be 5 team race. So without further ado...
AL East
1. Yankees - Again the cream of the crop
Positives - Roster is solid. Both pitching and hitting. Arod and Youk are top of the line CIs, and his outfield is very good. His pitching staff is loaded.
Negatives - Age could be a factor with the possibility of Arod missing time, Johan starting on the DL, and Youk hasn't been the picture of health either, freak injuries or not. His Middle Infield is a glaring weakness.
2. Bosox - Jeff has built a very solid team, adding depth to a team that was crucified by injuries last year.
Positives - MCab is a stud, plain and simple. Possibly the second most dangerous hitter outside of Albert. Cargo turned himself into a star last year. Reyes has star potential, but really needs to get over himself and just play. Dejesus, Torres, and Montero fill out his line-up with solid players.
Negatives - Money could become a problem next year. Jeff spent a lot of money to get his team where it is. Is Jason Bay done? Is Cargo really that good? His rotation lacks a true ace.
3. Tampa Bay - Mike has a bunch of really good young players, his depth is a bit thin.
Positives - Longoria, Price, and Hanley are all stars. Youth is also on this teams side. Best minor league system in the division.
Negatives - Playing time could be an issue. Will Jennings start in the minors? Will Nady get enough at-bats to help this club. Will Matt Wieters turn into the star that everyone thought he would? Is Hellickson as good as he is supposed to be? Where youth is a positive, it is also a negative. You really don't know what you are getting. If everything hits right, they could battle it out with the sawx, and Yanks for the AL East crown. Depth will still be needed, and they have money unlike their MLB counterparts.
4. Baltimore - New GM has rocked the FA market, building a competitive team from a pile of dung.
Positives - He has some very decent players in Kendry, Michael Young, Juan Pierre, and Melvin Mora. He also has some guys that could turn into solid regulars with Bourjous, Gillaspie, EY Jr, and Torrealba.
Negatives - Pitching is not a strength. The guys that I mentioned above could get very little PT, making them useless. But, I think we can all agree that the new GM has finally started something in Baltimore.
5. Toronto - It kills me to put Daniel here considering what he accomplished last year, but his line-up and rotation are riddled with question marks.
Positives - He has a foundation of a good team with V-Mart, Zobrist, Huff, and Brett Anderson.
Negatives - The best way to put it is his team has many question marks. Is Lopez the 2B in Colorado (or is Michael Young)? Is Scott Sizemore the 2B in Detroit? Is Huff as good as 2010? Was Zobrist's 2009 or 2010 a fluke? This team could also be very good, the potential is there. But, what made Daniel's team so good last year could be his undoing this year. Everything hit last year. Every move paid off. It could very well be the same this year, but only time will tell.
AL Central
1. Twins - Taking a cue from the real life Twins, this GM has thrown money around like a drunken billionaire.
Positives - Tex, Big Papi, Posada (now out from behind the plate), Abreu, and Brian Roberts are all excellent hitters. Cahill, Hudson, Wainwright could soon be supplemented by Beckett.
Negatives - This may have to be the year because father time is not on the side of this team. All of this team's best players are north of 30, and some are a fart away from 40. Adam Jones needs to step up and realize his potential. If that happens, age might not be such a factor. His minor league system is Kate Moss thin.
2. White Sox - Rick has had maybe the best off-season of any GM.
Positives - A lot of power on this team. Excellent young, cheap pitching.
Negatives - And this is nit-picking, the White Sox lack one true game changer. A true star. Eithier is very good, as are Stubbs and Chris B. Young. Pena needs to learn how to lay off a change up. If this isn't the year for Rick, then I think next year will be. Wigginton's contract was excessive for someone who could be a part timer in Colorado.
3. Cleveland - This team could easily be in 1st if everything breaks right.
Positives - Joey Votto, Choo, 3 very good starters, 2 excellent ready now prospects in Montero and Kipnis.
Negatives - Carlos Quentin - could be a star, could be a dud. Sandoval and Escobar could also be very good, or useless. As I said if everything breaks right, and Montero reaches the majors this year, look out for the Injuns.
4. Royals - This placement is on potential alone. The depth in the minors is astounding, but they may not reach the bigs this year, making the Royals #5, but they will be a team to be reckoned with sooner than later.
Positives - Prince, Carlos Santana, and a decent if uninspiring pitching staff
Negatives - a lot of question marks. They get #4 on potential alone. Maybin could finally break out, Morel could be very solid, Espinosa could be very good, or they could all stink. That is the problem with potential. However, Freddy has 3 or 4 aces on the horizon, and a very powerful if not patient CI. Add that to two of the best players at their position and this team has nowhere to go but up.
5. Detroit - Could easily be ahead of KC, but the talent level is lacking to jump over CHW, MIN, and CLE.
Positives - Crawford is a beast, a very good pitching staff.
Negatives - Fairly average at most positions. If Loney and Kazmir can rebound, if Damon still has something left in the tank, and Danny Valencia is the real deal, this team could also be very tough, but like I said...if.
AL West
1. Oakland - Should I even bother giving positives and negatives? The trade for Ike put this team over the top in my book. No team is perfect - JJ could get injured, Ike could go into a sophomore slump, Smoak could be a dud, Kila could also be a dud, and Swisher had a career year last year. That is a lot to go wrong in one season to bring the A's back to the pack.
2. Texas - Roy has assembled a very good team plain and simple
Positives - A very strong line-up, and a very solid pitching staff
Negatives - Sizemore's health, Cruz's health, Kinsler's health. All three of those guys are integral to the success of this team. If they spend a lot of time on the trainer's table, then that could sink this team. CI2 could be a problem. Will Thome get enough PT? Will Dan Johnson finally prove he is MLB worthy, and worthy of a 3 year 4 million dollar contract?
3. Seattle - They get the nod over the Angels because of the potential of some of their kids.
Positives - King Felix, Beltre, Ackley (if the scouting reports are to be believed), and McCann.
Negatives - Just about everything else. Seattle has a lot of bad money tied up in useless longterm deals, that were inherited from a previous GM. Lots of holes in the Line-up and rotation.
4. Angels - they could easily be better than Seattle, but they too have their own problems.
Positives - Sabathia, Ichiro, Jeter are still tops at their respective positions. Vlad may still have something in the tank. A decent rotation.
Negatives - No starting CI. Age. A lot of money tied up in their stars, and Jorge Cantu. The former GM built this team in a way similar to filling a retirement community.
NL East
1. Phillies - Lots of hitting, lots of pitching
Positives - A lot of stars on both sides of the ball.
Negatives - a very expensive team to run. Not a lot of youth. Contracts to several players could end up killing this team, if the players cannot remain productive into their more formative years.
2. Braves - Slowly closing the gap between them and the Phils, it may have to wait until 2012.
Positives - Heyward, Dunn, Morneau, Prado, and Uggla. Excellent young pitching staff.
Negatives - Very few, but this team need Morneau to be himself, Uggla to prove that 2010 wasn't a career year (same with Prado), and Heyward to become a star in order to go toe to toe with the Phils this year. Like I said 2012 could be different.
3,4,5 - Marlins, Mets, Nats - order doesn't really matter
Marlins - This team was gutted of it's 2009 playoff glory. Their is help on the way, and the Molinator has been agressive this off-season, but the pieces just aren't there.
Mets - This team is a mess, by no fault of the past two GMs. They now have an excellent minor league system, which will be Greene's legacy, and they have a ton of money, but this goes to show you what one bad GM, and a month of control can do to a team. The current GM has his work cut out for him.
Nats - Jake built it up, then tore it down, all in the span of one off-season. The Nats are now loaded for war in 2013. They could finish above the Marlins and Mets if some of their AAA prospects reach the majors before September.
NL West
1. Rockies - Howe has assembled an All-Star team
Positives - Wright, Zimmerman, Pedroia, Mauer, Tulo, Rasmus, and 2.5 aces. This is also what happens when good GMs take advantage of bad GMs
Negatives - Could use another bat or 2, but has the prospects to make that happen, when someone falls out of contention. Can Mauer stay on the field? Can Granderson hit lefties? Minor stuff - this is the best team in the NL.
2. Dodgers - Last years champs, could very well repeat, but have to get past the Rox.
Positives - A fantastic young ball club. This team is going to be good for a very long time, if the press clippings are to be believed.
Negatives - Again, this is nit-picking... Can Johnson and Weeks sustain there career years? Can Corey Hart? Can Matt Kemp return to elite status. Is Brett Wallace washed up as a prospect as many are saying? Are Brown and Morrison ready to be above average, or even average MLB players. Is Manny done? Those questions are why I give the nod to the Rox, over the Dodgers. Personally I think MJ should make a play for Hanley, he has the specs.
3. D'Backs - Building a good nucleus, but the two teams above them are elite, and will be hard to leap frog.
Positives - Jose Bautista, Jay Bruce, and Mark Reynolds build a formative core of their line-up. A very decent 1-5 rotation.
Negatives - Omar could have adopted a very different team had it nor been for the previous GM. He did a good job of assembling talent from a team that was lacking outside of Reynolds and Ubaldo. They will still need help in the hitting department. Plus is Bautista for real? Can Reynolds go back to being a monster? Is Pagan for real? Again, only time will tell.
4. Padres - Chris went and cut the fat, and is on his way to assembling a cost effective competitive team.
Positives - Matt Latos is the one proven star on this team. Tori Hunter is good but the sun is setting on his career. They have a few other decent bats and arms
Negatives - This team is in the process of being built from the ground up. This is another situation where from GMs have hindered the current GM. I have faith in Chris but it is going to take a while, and a lot of losing.
NL Central...
This is where we come to the Mad Libs portion of our rankings.... You fill in the blanks because I ain't.
