2014 - Year of the Tiger

Cobb slides cleats up.



Each of the four positions within Detroit’s opening-day infield this coming season will very likely be occupied by a different player than on opening day in 2013. Part of the reason for that is because of how Miguel Cabrera returns to first base, a role to which his defensive abilities are more well suited. Another part of the reason is owing to the departures both of Prince Fielder (via trade) and Omar infante (via free agency) this off season. Despite the changes, the probable infield contingent for 2014 (as depicted in the depth-chart image below) ought to rival, in terms of wins, any of those belonging to the last three iterations of the Detroit Tigers, each of which has qualified for the playoffs.



There are few, if any, clubs which could have dealt a four-win pitcher this off season, made basically no other alterations to its starting rotation, and still appeared likely to enter the 2014 season with a rotation full only of league-average starters or better. It appears as though Detroit is such a club, however. This isn’t to suggest, of course, that the trade of Doug Fister wasn’t curious in its way. It does suggest, though, that Detroit was working from a position of strength in this regard.
There is likely something to be learned about human behavior from Detroit’s relationship with Jose Valverde over the last year-plus. The club signed the gentleman reliever to a minor-league contract at the beginning of April, promoted him to the majors after just 3.0 innings of work at High-A Lakeland, and then re-installed him as closer before the beginning of May — this after Valverde demonstrated all manner of warning sign in 2012. None of this immediately concerns the Tigers bullpen in 2014 — unless Detroit acquires Valverde again, of course. Which, if they do that, he’ll pitch at replacement level.

Bench/Prospects

The Tigers aren’t presently teeming with what anyone would call a “surplus” of young talent. Nick Castellanos is decidedly the most impressive prospect in the system, and he’ll very likely be starting the season with the parent club. After Castellanos, there’s less in the way of impact talent, however. Catcher Bryan Holyday is rookie-eligible and looks promising as a backup catcher. Shortstop Eugenio Suarez is also not entirely without merit — but also unlikely to produce anything much in the majors in 2014.





Are the Tigers finally ready, they think so,  and ere's what they should look like. Rotation looks strong, strong closer. Defense should be better. Are they getting old ? Hunter and Vic Martinez are older, but they appear battle tested, and will walk away with AL Central. Watch for young Smyly to move up rotation order.

Damn Yanks or Damned Yanks

Them Yanks

If you think they would just sit there and go moo all winter waiting for green grass to grow under their feet, well forget that.

These are still for the most part your fathers Yankees, they added 35 year Carlos Beltran, they added 30 year old Brian McCann to catch re signed 38 year old Hideki Kuroda.

Jeter is back, and he is older, Big Tex is back at 1st base, and he is older and more fragile.  The Yanks lost Robinson Cano, and if you believe that does not hurt the Yanks, then your are smoking wacky tobacco.

The Yanks infield reads like an Abbott & Costello comedy routine of who's on first, doesn't it folks. They spent money, so what is knew, they got thee big fish, Tanaka, and that will help. But....Sabathia , Tanaka and prayer.
No more Mo ...and that will be different. First time in many a year.


Where will the team finish...I could do the same evaluation, like the O's and Red Sox, the batting averages, the ERA projections.









Just to satisfy those that"just wanna know", here you are. ( see above )

No Arod controversy since he is suspended for one year, but expect the tabloids to have many side stories as Alex decides to tell his side through the press.

The team has outfield, give them that at least, but that infield of Brian Roberts, Derek Jeter, Kelly Johnson and Teixiera is creaky and I guarantee won't hold up this season.

57 years ago this came out, wish I had a copy, but the Bronx Bombers were on top of the world, now they sit on top on the most money spent.

Who is their best player ?

Is it a 24 year old Japanese pitcher ?

Is it a centre fielder stolen from their hated Red Sox rivals ?

Time has caught up with this team, they just refuse to look at their own drivers license. If they were milk, we would have poured them down the drain.  But this organization has lasted a long time, and will re invent themselves, again.

It is their nature and their destiny to be the New York Yankees.

Finding your groove zone and oh them 2013 World Series champs

Find your grove zone

At times, batters once find their groove zone wonder if they will ever lose it, when will they re locate it if they ever lose it. Hit it to left field, right field, hitting is instinctive, and instincts are the best tools a hitter can have.

Batters
In Stephen Drew, Jacoby Ellsbury, Mike Napoli (re - signed ), and Saltalamacchia, Boston has lost to free agency a foursome that accounted for over 2100 plate appearances and 16 wins in the club’s championship 2013 campaign. A difficult thing, is what that would appear to be. One notes, however, that a team never loses a departed player’s performance from the previous season, but from the one ahead. Napoli and Saltalamacchia, for example, are unlikely to match their plus-.350 BABIP figures from 2013. discounts their likely 2014 value accordingly.
One notes also that Boston isn’t entirely ill-equipped to deal with those departures. Two of the organization’s more promising young players, Boegarts and Bradley appear to be reasonable — and very cost-effective — alternatives to Drew and Ellsbury. A.J.Pierzynski, meanwhile — whose signing was announced as this actual paragraph was being written — will likely provide as much in the way of wins as Saltalamacchia would have, with less of an investment. Some combination of Mike Carp and  David Nava ought to approximate Napoli’s two-win projection at first base. All told, the Red Sox are probably at a deficit of something like two wins.
This, of course, ignores how Boston might choose to utilize the payroll freed up by the aforementioned departures. That same foursome was paid about $30 million collectively in 2013. With a well-established starting rotation, Boston is in a position to focus its resources on upgrades among its field players. Pierzynski is one step in that direction. One supposes that an upgrade at first base/left field could be another.

Pitchers
It’s difficult to tell whether a year is a very long or very short unit of measure. Relative to the wild expanse of the universe, of course, each year is like a finger snap. For anyone reasonably well acquainted with John Lackey,, however, it assuredly seems much longer. The right-hander entered 2013 having not pitched at all the previous season — and having been a source of considerable angst among Bostonians when he had pitched before that. Over the course of this past year, however, he became the next-most dependable starter after Jon Lester on Boston’s staff. His 2013 strikeout projection, : 5.53 K/9. His projection for 2014: 7.54 K/9. Striking out two more batters per nine innings is of some benefit to a pitcher’s success.
While there’s likely to be considerable turnover among Boston’s field players, the pitching staff will enter 2014 relatively unchanged, it would appear. Ryan Dempster and Felix Doubrant are both candidates for the fifth spot in the rotation. Other than that, however, the rotation is pretty clear. Boston’s top two relievers in 2013,Uehara and Tazawa, are also returning.

Bench/Prospects
As noted above — and despite the fact that they’ve recorded only about 150 major-league plate appearances between them — both Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley appear to be important pieces for Boston entering 2014. Nor does that appear to represent the entirety of the Sox’ minor-league talent likely capable of producing something of note at the major leagues. Very promising infielders Garin Cecchini and Mookie Betts are regarded  as something better than replacement level — as is each member of the catching triumvirate of Daniel Butler, Ryan Lavarnway. Among pitchers there’s perhaps less in the way of ready talent, although Matt Barnes made his way to Triple-A by the end of the season and is reasonably well-acquitted , as well.

Depth Chart
Below is a rough depth chart for the present incarnation of the Red Sox, with rounded projected WAR totals for each player. For caveats regarding WAR values see disclaimer at bottom of post. Click to embiggen image.

February 3rd, 2014 and waiting for pitchers and catchers, and Orioles in 14'

The Plate

Find me anyone after the Super Bowl who is not actively checking when the boys report.

Most as of the end of the Super Bowl have started planning that winter trip to south Florida, or Arizona to follow the dream.

Right now the fields are covered, the grounds keepers have begun to cut and add more seed, and trim the foul lines.

The Field

Florida awaits the players so until then, we shall begin a short analysis of the teams in the American League.


Baltimore Orioles

Batters

Whether by design or not, Baltimore appears to be doing a bit of work with the stars-and-scrubs model of roster construction at the moment. Chris Davis, J.J. Hardy , Adam Jones,Manny Machado ,Matt Weiters : these are the names of five Oriole position players who are projected to record something better than three wins in 2014. Meanwhile, no other batter both (a) presently employed by Baltimore and also (b) expected to begin the season as a starter — no other such player is projected to produce anything better than even one win.
Provided the club is still looking to add talent, this actually isn’t an entirely unenviable state of affairs. Where it might be difficult to upgrade a roster full entirely of average players, there are very clear means by which to improve this roster. Like at DH, for example. Or second base, for other example. Or left field. Or even right field, where starter Nick Markakis has managed just three wins over the last three seasons.

Player	B	Age	PO	PA	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS
Manny Machado	R	21	3B	684	84	173	43	5	19	80	8	6
Matt Wieters	B	28	C	573	62	129	28	0	21	80	2	0
J.J. Hardy	R	31	SS	612	70	150	26	1	22	72	1	1
Adam Jones	R	28	CF	662	88	172	32	2	28	92	13	5
Chris Davis	L	28	1B	612	83	145	27	1	41	107	3	3
Michael Ohlman	R	23	C	388	42	92	20	2	8	39	4	0
Jonathan Schoop	R	22	2B	471	55	107	19	1	15	51	3	4
Michael Morse	R	32	RF	427	52	100	19	0	20	57	0	1
Nate McLouth	L	32	LF	482	57	103	21	3	11	35	17	4
Ryan Flaherty	L	27	2B	391	39	84	16	2	13	47	3	2
Danny Valencia	R	29	3B	513	55	123	29	2	16	68	2	4
Nick Markakis	L	30	RF	639	72	159	29	2	12	62	5	2
Cord Phelps	B	27	2B	475	51	104	21	3	10	50	5	4
Jason Pridie	L	30	CF	368	36	80	13	2	10	35	6	2
Lew Ford	R	37	CF	198	22	45	12	1	7	24	2	1
Steve Clevenger	L	28	C	298	27	70	14	1	4	27	0	1
Luis Exposito	R	27	C	319	30	67	17	0	7	31	0	1
Jemile Weeks	B	27	2B	592	67	129	20	7	4	38	17	6
Chris Snyder	R	33	C	260	26	50	8	0	9	33	0	1
Steve Pearce	R	31	DH	223	23	47	10	0	7	27	2	1
Trayvon Robinson	B	26	CF	478	50	95	17	2	13	47	15	6
Brian Roberts	B	36	2B	214	21	48	9	1	4	25	3	1
Alexi Casilla	B	29	2B	243	30	54	12	2	1	21	13	2
Conor Jackson	R	32	RF	214	21	47	10	0	4	19	2	1
Henry Urrutia	L	27	RF	428	45	114	17	2	9	41	1	1
Nolan Reimold	R	30	DH	257	29	54	8	1	10	28	3	1
Taylor Teagarden	R	30	C	143	11	25	4	0	4	14	0	0
Wilson Betemit	B	32	3B	253	26	56	12	1	7	27	1	1
Glynn Davis	R	22	CF	496	43	106	16	2	1	28	22	12
Chris Dickerson	L	32	DH	282	32	55	12	1	6	23	10	2
Francisco Peguero	R	26	RF	454	51	111	15	4	7	47	8	3
Brandon Wood	R	29	SS	313	27	61	12	1	6	28	1	0
Christian Walker	R	23	1B	486	48	122	23	0	9	45	3	4
Chih-Hsien Chiang	L	26	RF	531	50	121	29	2	10	52	2	2
Brenden Webb	L	24	RF	452	39	72	15	2	8	33	9	6

Pitchers
Conveniently for the narrative created by the author above, the Baltimore starting rotation is constructed in almost the exact opposite way as its field players. Where there’s a considerable gap in talent between the best and worst of the latter, the former is at least — composed of pitchers likely to produce similar outcomes (if by different means). Here, from best to worst, are the projected ERA minuses (“ERA-s,” plural?) of the pitchers most likely to begin the season in the O’s rotation: 99, 100, 100, 103, 104. That, in the event that the reader is unacquainted with arithmetic, is only a five-point difference between starter No. 1 and No. 5. Not a bad thing, that, but indicative of a club lacking in high-end starters.
Insofar as it won’t feature Jim Johnson as closer, the Baltimore relief corps will have changed entering 2014. Insofar as Johnson-clone Ryan Webb— signed for two years and $4.5 million after being non-tendered by Miami — insofar as Webb will pitch for Baltimore, the relief corps will actually remain largely unchanged. Generally average, is what that would appear to mean.

Player	T	Age	G	GS	IP	SO	BB	HR	H	R	ER
Chris Tillman	R	26	32	32	187.0	167	66	27	176	92	86
Wei-Yin Chen	L	28	27	27	160.0	129	46	21	161	79	74
Bud Norris	R	29	30	29	173.3	158	64	22	172	89	83
Miguel Gonzalez	R	30	29	24	150.7	117	49	20	147	75	70
Kevin Gausman	R	23	27	27	147.3	129	36	18	151	75	70
Mike Wright	R	24	25	25	137.0	93	36	17	148	73	68
Scott Feldman	R	31	26	22	128.7	93	38	18	132	68	64
Jason Hammel	R	31	25	22	132.7	100	48	18	138	73	68
Darren O’Day	R	31	66	0	59.3	62	15	7	51	24	22
Dylan Bundy	R	21	13	13	78.0	59	33	10	81	43	40
Zach Britton	L	26	26	25	133.3	93	61	17	145	78	73
Eduardo Rodriguez	L	21	23	23	120.3	76	49	15	132	71	66
Brian Matusz	L	27	69	0	59.0	58	21	6	54	26	24
Tommy Hunter	R	27	70	0	81.0	69	17	12	79	39	36
Francisco Rodriguez	R	32	62	0	58.7	61	23	7	53	27	25
Troy Patton	L	28	51	0	58.7	47	16	7	58	28	26
T.J. McFarland	L	25	31	14	109.7	69	45	13	122	65	61
Ryan Webb	R	28	64	0	69.0	46	24	7	71	34	32
Kelvin De La Cruz	L	25	53	0	68.3	63	37	7	64	34	32
Zech Zinicola	R	29	36	0	45.7	35	16	5	47	24	22
Tim Bascom	R	29	25	13	88.3	55	46	10	96	55	51
Oliver Drake	R	27	32	0	42.7	34	18	5	42	22	21
Tsuyoshi Wada	L	33	17	17	93.3	70	41	16	103	60	56
Edgmer Escalona	R	27	47	0	57.3	48	20	9	57	31	29
Eddie Gamboa	R	29	24	18	103.7	61	43	15	117	66	62
Brad Brach	R	28	71	0	74.0	71	31	12	73	41	38
Tim Berry	L	23	26	25	132.3	76	50	19	155	86	80
Daniel Schlereth	L	28	24	0	24.0	22	18	3	23	15	14
Jon Rauch	R	35	41	0	36.3	28	12	7	39	22	21
Steve Johnson	R	26	27	18	100.3	84	57	17	105	66	62
Nick Additon	L	26	22	20	112.7	81	49	21	124	75	70
Devin Jones	R	23	26	19	117.3	75	43	21	136	78	73
Daniel McCutchen	R	31	39	3	61.7	41	25	10	69	40	37
Brock Huntzinger	R	25	41	7	78.3	55	38	13	87	51	48
Mike Belfiore	L	25	39	0	70.3	58	36	12	75	45	42
Chris Jones	L	25	41	0	68.0	41	40	8	76	44	41
Jake Pettit	L	27	24	23	124.3	70	46	23	148	88	82
Tim Alderson	R	25	39	4	80.0	56	33	16	91	56	52
Tyler Wilson	R	24	35	25	152.7	96	59	29	178	108	101
Zach Clark	R	30	24	22	116.7	50	71	17	141	87	81
Josh Stinson	R	26	38	21	128.3	67	79	20	148	93	87
Mark Hendrickson	L	40	31	0	51.3	23	21	11	64	41	38

***

Baltimore's season comes down to their pitching staff and the prospects coming through the system.

Bench/Prospects
One will note the author’s careful wording in the Batters section above regarding those field players who are projected  to produce less than a win in 2014. The wording is necessary, on account of there are actually two players in the organization, Michael Ohlman and Johnathan Schoop projected to approach league-average baseball value in 2014. The former is a catcher/corner-type; the latter, an infielder who’s split his minor-league career between second and short. Neither appears likely to begin the season, however, with a substantial role at the major-league level. Among pitchers, one finds celebrated prospect Dylan Bundy‘s name among those projected here. He’s expected to return at some point in the middle of the season following Tommy John surgery.

It is almost Christmas

Time for Santa Claus to look at his list to see what the Jays, Leafs and Raps are asking for.


Top 10 Asks

10) Leafs would like David Clarkson to stop taking stupid suspensions since they paid him $ 100 million dollars ! Seems like it.

9) Raptors looking for a bench, calling are carpenters, Raps need a bench.

8) The Argos jumped in and hoped they could be granted some new coaches for Defense and Special Teams, cause the other teams stole them.

7) The Jays are trying to get some cheap parts for replacing Arencibia, and Bonafacio, and maybe Lind.

6) Leafs would like a win, no, just a win before Christmas

5) Raptors want to stop owners crapping on hopeful trades for Kyle Lowry.

4) Argonauts would be hoping Zach Collarus is kept and them Ottawans do not take him

3) Jays to get lucky and find the Yanks and Orioles shave their budgets...hahaha

2) The Leafs are still asking for that win streak to vault them back into contention

And the number # 1 ask this Holiday Season if the Toronto TFC, and what do they want for Christmas ? Somebody get them some players that can actually play and a coach that does not want to leave after 2 weeks.

Well, Santa is no miracle worker, but he will see what he can do.....

Sox are red, sox ain't white, sox are champs, to the cards g'nite

In 6 games, the Red Sox ended a long struggle from last place, through mad bombers at the Marathon, through doubt, and scorn.


Then the season unfolded, with a new breed of Sox, their whiskers barely showing.




Sox showed themselves, and the city that they were Boston Proud, which became their season long battle hymn.



The beards of Boston, the rally monkey, the A's handle bar mustaches, these are all methods of team bonding , and Boston's beards were the NHL's version of playoff beards, just half the season, plus the pulling and tugging.



Ortiz and his Sox family, Dave O doing a Willie Stargell like post season impersonation led his group and like Stargell ages like fine wine.

Oh those Indians !

Who dat ? Who has climbed into the Wild Card ?


The Clevelands have caught up to the Rangers, who while not quite in free fall, are certainly making it easier on those below them. The Rays had a pitching gem pitched last night, an 8 and a third game tossed by Mr. Cobb.


The Tribe had 7 shutout innings from reclamation project Scott Kazmir over the Astros, who really want the calender to move faster.



The schedule for them Indians is way too favorable, give them a week and they may have passes the Rays.  This might set up an interesting AL playoff match up as follows.


If the A's can catch Boston and have the best record, they would play the Tribe. Setting up the Tigers and Sox, in a real pick'em series.  Tiger pitching I think would prevail. If Sox and Tribe win, it sets up Francona against his old team.

Watch the Tribe in the last 8-9 games, and just so I can say I said so, there is a chance of a 3 way chance of a tie in the AL Wild card, and NL Central, if the Cards falter. 

I see the Cards winning outright, and the Pirates hosting a one game playoff with the Reds, the other races are done, and they are setting up rotations and will rest veterans with the call ups.

After the Indians and Eric Bedard finish off the Astros, they get the sad sack White Sox, who are destined for the laundry, as there sox are dirty.

After a deuce with Chicago, they finish with the Twins, the 2nd worst record. 

Here come the Tribe.