Crosstown Rivals

4.01.2006

#2... The G.O.A.T.

There has never been a question about the greatest ballplayer of all time. Some would argue hit machine Pete Rose. Some would say old greats like Ted Williams or Joe DiMaggio. Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays fit in the argument too. Revisionists might throw in Barry Bonds or, if you're Peter Gammons, Nick Swisher or Scott Hatteberg. But in my mind there exists no doubt that the greatest player ever rests in a Manhattan townhouse that once also housed Jordanna Brewster, Mariah Carey and whoever else he dated. My eighth grade history teacher, a Red Sox fan, even described him as a "quality interracial ballplayer." The greatest player ever slots in between second base and third base every night for the Bronx Bombers. His name be Derek Jeter and there exists not enough server space on Blogger.com to do him justice in words. Let me begin: he has a .314 career BA. Beauteous, and, add that to a .389 OBP, the man is a god. Not to mention, he plays defense. He made that catch where he had to go headfirst into the stands, throwing cautions to the wind, the fearless leader did what he does best. And for all you naysayers, he could not have stopped nor could he have braced himself. Have you forgotten that relay he made to nail the fat and lazy Jeremy Giambi at the plate in Oakland? I can see it all coming back to me. Spencer's throw is off the mark, it will miss the cutoff man. OH MY GOD, here comes Jeter, with the backhand relay to Posada. Giambi is duck meat at the dish. What a beautiful play. I've never seen a better relay in my life. Jeter, also, in case you lived in a cave during the late 1990s, led the Yankees to four World Championships. How many did A-Rod win? Miguel Tejada? ~~Ozzie Smith?~~ Edgar Renteria? Cristian Guzman? Rey Ordoñez? Cal Ripken? Bobby Crosby? That's what I thought. And who else has 142 postseason hits? No one, that's who. This guy is worth the price of admission himself. The one time I was fortunate enough to get great seats for a Yankee game, I was four rows behind home plate, and I called out to DJ. He turned around (so did Johnny Damon when I called to him, but that's another story for another time). The guy has charisma. All of these things combined don't even make him the greatest player ever. The beast is the total package: a 118 VORP in 1999 with a 180 million dollar smile.

We love ya, DJ.

3.30.2006

The End of an Era

The world of sports has proved to us time and time again how volatile things can be. Studies and approaches to the games change frequently. Spitballs became prominent, amphetamines made their round and steroids dominated the 1990s and 2000s. A new era will begin in 2006, or rather an old era will end. And it is my time to pay homage to that era: the era of the career-destroying spouse.

Significant others who have destroyed careers:

Yoko Ono: Easy. Destroyed one of the greatest musical acts ever known to man since the Neanderthal Trio first played the tambourine.

Brigitte Nielsen: Took down Jets sack monster Mark Gastineau. Even though his hair was hideous, she singlehandedly swiped him out of football and therefore swept the Jets out of the 1986 championship.

Anne Heche: Didn't you sort of feel bad for Ellen DeGeneres after she came out and then her girlfriend went back to being straight? That was just weeeeeeird.

Teresa Heinz Kerry: Come now. Her way of life belied everything her husband stood for. She spoke pretensiously with a far-away accent, she drove around in a fleet of Hummers and she was totally unapologetic for it.

Shalimar: Not really a spouse, but driving around with a transvestite prostitute doesn't help your career if you want to have voice roles in Mulan and Shrek. Sure, Eddie, we believe you about the fact that you just wanted to drive him/her home.

Kevin Federline: What, you thought it was only women who could ruin a perfectly solid career? K-Fed turned the succulent pop tart into a hefty ho.

So, what, no mention of a story relating to a former Mets pitcher? Oh, right.

Anna Benson: Moved husband from Pittsburgh to New York to Baltimore while filling Jay Horwitz' doghouse in more ways than one. Here's to you, Anna Banana, may you find gratification in this sexy and single former Met. Have fun in Baltimore. Slut.

Let me also mention a damn good entry from MetsGeek about a pitcher who deserves more credit than he's ever gotten.

3.29.2006

Mets Wrap-Up (aka Kepp' your head in the game, Jeff)

Apparently Omar Minaya took a page out of Dick Cheney's book.

Did Minaya accidentally shoot Tony Bernazard in the face during a toucan hunt? Certainly not.

But he is pulling the old hometown hose job. Rather than play Jeff Keppinger's superior numbers and awkward skinniness at second base, he's going for his second favorite player with two last names. His first is Flyers winger Turner Stevenson.

Why did he pick the attractive in-house candidate? Well, the Vance Wilson for Anderson Hernandez swap was only his second trade as Mets GM, after the Ryan-Fregosiesque Fatso for Run Fairy deal.

Keppinger was acquired in the (cartman voice)"Oh my god! They traded Wiggy!" deal, while Jim "I traded for Kris Benson Twice in a year and a half" Duquette was GM. Sure, he doesnt do anything but hit, but Minaya likes a good veteran 'stache over bench pop.

The last time a professional sports prospect was involved in this type of robbery, Maurice Clarett claimed he was innocent.

In other news, Omar Minaya has placed Heath Bell below Desi Relaford and Todd Zeile on his list of potential bullpen options. Bell, however, will be at Shea on Opening Day, as rookie Braves 2B Jon Schuerholz (yes, he does exist.) tried to take a hit out on him after watching Mets Weekly and finding his house. Said Schuerholz, "Daddy said that he needed me to fix their bullpen. I broke Wags' finger, beat the funk out of Chad Bradford, changed the prescription in Duaner's goggles and fed Jorge Julio 16 kilograms of fried chicken. I decided it was best to coat Heath's massage chair in Icy Hot and jump him."

Mets brass also decided to shove "Donnie Drysdale" in the pen. With the lethal bunch they've got out there, maybe Mr. Milledge will have to park his RV under the scoreboard and invite the gang for dinner. Just because KazMat's on the DL doesn't mean he can't cook (or not cook) his famous sashimi. "It made Mr. Saul Katz want to let me try on his ring. So, yeah, I give it to Anderson, he'll give me the second base job. If I can slip it in Julio's egg whites, maybe I can even be a veteran leader," Matsui said through his interpreter.

One final note, an obligatory plug for the city's greatest magazine. They ran a piece on Johnny Damon this week. Check it out.

3.27.2006

The Experts Weigh In

jump on the bannister

Following the 2005 season, the Metropolitans had seven quality major league starters (six if you are familiar with Victor Zambrano and Kazuhisa Ishii). They had Pedro, Glavine, Trachsel, Benson, Seo, Heilman, Zambrano and Ishii and starters with strong minor league showings behind them in Brian Bannister and Yusmeiro Petit.
Fast forward to Spring Training 2006. Petit is wearing the black and teal, Kris is in Baltimore and Jae Seo in Chavez Ravine after pitching for Team Korea.
These players were dealt away, along with the Hammer, Mike Jacobs and Grant Psomas in separate deals that netted Carlos Delgado, Steve Schmoll, John Maine, Armandito Benitez and Duaner "Goggles" Sanchez. Ishii has returned to where he should be, pitching for Japan's Yakult Swallows. The Mets are now left with a rotation of considerably less acclaim and a bullpen filled with strong and unproven arms. The rotation is still headed by P-Mart, of many injuries and ailments. Glavine slots in as the forty year-old #2, one who had a .330 BAA last ear. Trach will be the #3 starter, and, after spending much time on the DL last year, he resumed play with one terrific start and several mediocre ones followed. Trachsel has also not been solid in spring training. Victor Zambrano, the #4 starter, holds the position of wild card in the rotation. He has looked, to use scientific terminology, sick nasty during this spring, and I don't think it's unrealistic to think that he could continue this success during the season. He had a stretch of strong starts last year, although all of that was overridden by that game at Shea against the Brewers (which also made me think I needed to explain to Willie how one should manage a bullpen: one eleventh inning walk-off walk by Piazza where Loop and Hernandez threw two innings, next two games consisted entirely of bullpen blow-ups) where he was absolutely shelled in the first inning. The fifth starter is the only position in question. It could be filled capably by Aaron Heilman or Brian Bannister. Heilman has been an utter disappointment as a starter, while Bannister shot through the Mets' farm system last year. Heilman was lights-out as a reliever for the Mets last year, and, without a doubt, he should stay there.
The bullpen shapes up much better with the young Sanchez pitching the seventh, Heilman the eighth and Wags the ninth. Bradford, Julio and Royce Darren Pedro Ring Oliver Feliciano can then work situational duty and a Yusaku Iriki or a Heath Bell would fit in there somewhere.
With Heilman in the rotation and Bannister in AAA, the Mets not only waste a valuable starter; they waste a valuable reliever with a devastating change-up.
Brian will show up and pull what Dontrelle Willis did in 2003. Let the B-Train get rolling.

3.25.2006

Dyslexia's 2006 Predictions

Recently, Schuyla and I posted our predictions for the 2006 season. What we lacked was justification for our picks. Coming up in a series of articles, I'm gonna give you
a. Not just the winners of the divsions, but how the teams will place/how many games I feel that they'll win.
b. Justification for every choice I made in the previous article. Good times promised. We start with the NL East. Controversy abounds.

NL East:
1. Hotlanta
2. New York (otherwise known as the Kaz Matsui's)
3. Washington
4. Philadelphia
5. Florida

Why would you say such things?

Starting at the top: Bobby Cox is hands down the best manager in the league. Back to back MOY (trendy, isn't it?) reinforces that. With Cox on the bench, Atlanta is just absolutely unbeatable in this division. And what does everybody say every year? 'The Braves won't win the East this year, I like the (insert trendy pick here).' This year, in a vastly improved division, that trendy pick happens to be the Mets. Sorry, Flushing, the Braves aren't going anywhere for a little while longer. They have better starting pitching (Smoltz, Hudson, Ramirez, Thomson and Sosa. Also, throw Kyle Davies into the mix) than the rest of the division. They've got a scary infield. If Renteria produces, he and Larry will form a ridiculous left side. They have Andruw, who will not fall on his face as many have said. (You heard it here. Repeat 50 HR season.) And of course, they have Francoeur, who, apart from Zach Duke, is my favorite NL rookie who didn't play in many games last year but still was ridiculously successful. Reitsma is shaky, and now, injured, as a closer, but they've got some semi-decent/questionable middle inning and set-up men so if he can do an o.k. job, this team has pretty clear sailing. 96 games.
The Mets. They're good. Good enough to compete for a Wild Card spot. But there are just so many questions surrounding this team that it's impossible to pick them. You look at the Mets' depth chart and they're just absolutely loaded. There is not a hole in this team (other than 5th starter and 2nd base). But the whole thing has the look of a train on some unsteady tracks. Willie Randolph has proven nothing as a manager save that he can tell us what Asian relievers he believes have funk. The pitching could collapse Jenga style if Glavine is too old/injured or if Pedro can't recover. Will they crumble in August like they always do? I can pick them 2nd and possibly winning 88/90 games, but they're not stable enough to dethrone a perennial power like the Braves. Look for an exciting race with an anticlimactic conclusion, like the Mets getting swept by Atlanta in the 2nd to last series of the year.
The Nationals third, ahead of the Phillies you ask? I don't like the Phillies. I don't like the way they're built. I don't like them without Bowa (NY pride). Most of all, I don't like that Lieber is their ace. The Phillies can't win jack with a bunch of 12 win pitchers. (Lieber won 17, but with a 4.2 ERA) All the moves they made suggest that they are ready to make some significant noise. But when they let Millwood go they doomed themselves. As you may have already been able to glean, I believe starting pitching wins championships. In fact, I am an eyewitness to countless years of Yankee baseball that support this theory. And even with these great players like Utley and Howard and Rollins and Abreu, they're just another o.k. team because of their pitching. The Nats have a vastly underrated one in Livan. And don't sleep on John Patterson. It wasn't too long ago that after like 5 starts last year he had an ERA under 1. Nick Johnson is gonna be huge. I can't believe we let him get away. Now, granted, the left side of their infield is Guzman and Zimmerman, probably the worst left side in the league. Plus, Guz just went on the 15 day DL so who the hell they're gonna start at short I haven't the faintest clue. However, in Guillen, Johnson, Vidro, and Soriano, they have the players to get things done. Throw in the league leading save men Cordero, and they finish with around 82 or 83 wins. Phillies are close, I'll give em 80.
Oh, and the Marlins? I'm not writing about them. They are a goddamn joke. Dontrelle and Miggy (the new Miggy) can only take you so far. Cabrera is top 10 or 15 players in baseball but Willis was more than shaky for the U.S. The New York Ranger loving part of me says they can do it with one great player and a helluva goalie/ace... but nah. Look for a ugly season. Really ugly. 65 wins.

Coming up in the predictions of Dyslexia:
The Central.
The rest of the divisions (except the AL East. You can get my predictions for the East in my coverage on each team. Next is Baltimore by the way)
MVP's, ROY's, CY's and managers of the year.
Plus, my playoff spots.
And...
a bracket!

3.24.2006

More, more more.

There have been plenty of hot news items this offseason. A busy FA period meant plenty of new faces in new places, Game of Shadows, the inaugural WBC, and the demise of Alfonso. To a certain extent, Crosstown has been covering these stories. What we haven't been following is the day to day news that might not make huge ripples in the world of sports but that are important or humorous nonetheless. For example, while I might cover lightly the end of the WBC, I haven't written anything on Jorge's poor little nose. And while Schuyla' wrote on Soriano, he hasn't written anything about Billy Wagner's bird. This small entry is just a reminder/informant that if you scroll on down the sidebar past the ad and 'what we're reading', you'll find 'Mets and Yankees player news', courtesy of Rotoworld. That has pretty much all you need to know. Check it out if you're looking for news about injuries, performances, or other day to day nuances of the baseball world.
Thanks,
Dyslexia

p.s. 1,000th hit recently. That's a nice milestone, thanks for reading.

Rank the NL East! (Outfield)

As part of the lead-up to the season, I am ranking every team in the NL East by position and then establish a clarion dominance from one squad. Today: Outfielders.

Left Fielder:
1. Pat Burrell (PHI) (.281/.389/.504/32 HR/117 RBI/0 SB in 154 G with PHI)
2. Cliff Floyd (NYM) (.273/.358/.505/34 HR/98 RBI/12 SB in 150 G with NYM)
3. Alfonso Soriano (WAS) (.268/.309/.512/36 HR/104 RBI/30 SB in 156 G with TEX)
4. Ryan Langerhans (ATL) (.267/.348/.426/8 HR/42 RBI/0 SB in 128 G with ATL)
5. Chris Aguila (FLA) (.244/.272/.282/0 HR/4 RBI/0 SB in in 65 G with FLA)

A very talented group that now includes Alfonso Soriano, but Burrell's stats are clearly superior to those of the others. He's younger than Soriano and Floyd and he's a better hitter than Langerhans and the sorry excuse for a starting outfielder Aguila. Floyd had a season on the rebound and he became one of the first sluggers to conquer Shea, where he put up an OPS more than 120 points higher than on the road (.927 at home versus .805 on the road). Burrell's stats, despite playing in a much smaller park than Floyd, Langerhans, and Aguila, represented a comeback from his disappointing 2003 and 2004 seasons. Those seasons he put up OPS+ numbers of 89 and 110, while this year he put together a season with a 125 OPS+, although still far from his career high of 149 OPS+ in 2002. Pat the Bat is also a Metslayer, having smacked 14 homers against the Metropolitans in 193 AB over the last three years. Aguila, although a disappointing fifth outfielder in his major league career, put up strong stats last year in 35 games at AAA Albuquerque (.355/.412/.630/7 HR/25 RBI/8 SB). Langerhans is an interesting character as he put together a strong season in terms of getting on base, but a weak season as far as power was concerned, as he hit 20 homers at AAA the year before. The case for ranking Soriano third is argued similarly to the case against acquiring him, except RFK is an even tougher park to hit in than Shea.

Center Fielders:
1. Andruw Jones (ATL) (.263/.347/.575/51 HR/128 RBI/5 SB in 160 G with ATL)
2. Carlos Beltran (NYM) (.266/.330/.414/16 HR/78 RBI/17 SB in 151 G with NYM)
3. Aaron Rowand (PHI) (.270/.329/.407/13 HR/69 RBI/16 SB in 157 G with CHW)
4. Ryan Church (WAS) (.287/.353/.466/9 HR/42 RBI/3 SB in 102 G with WSH)
5. Reggie Abercrombie (FLA) (.274/.317/.485/15 HR/45 RBI/19 SB in 76 G with High-A Jupiter)

Here exists two wealthy All-Stars, one with eight straight gold gloves and 300 HR and one who's a back-to-back all star with a near 40-40 season under his belt and five 100-RBI seasons during his time. One was born on April 23, 1977 and the other on April 24, 1977. Although the slightly older one put up gaudy statistics, the 119 million dollar man put up stats comparable to those of #3, Aaron Rowand, who was acquired for Jim Thome. Andruw Jones had arguably his greatest year ever, as he put up phenomenal power numbers and his VORP went from 28.6 to 52.8. His average and OBP rose narrowly, but everything else went through the roof. Beltran was a disappointment. Although one can argue his speed (42 SB/3 CS to 17 SB/6 CS) was affected by nagging injuries all year, his power failed to translate to the Mets and he became mostly a singles hitter, as his VORP dropped from 65.5 last year in between Kansas City and Houston to a disgusting 17.6 in Flushing this year. Mike Cameron had an equal VORP. Despite all of his struggles last year, Baseball Prospectus gives him a 48% chance to improve and predicts a season of 23 HR, 81 RBI and a .283 batting average. The Phillies made a move by snagging the former World Champion centerfielder. Rowand is arguably an upgrade over the Jason Michaels/Kenny Lofton platoon in centerfield, despite the fact that Lofton hit .335 and Michaels hit .304, while Rowand hit .270. Lofton also stole 22 bases, more than Rowand. Yet Rowand has more power and is a player in his prime, while Lofton is obviously over the hill. Church is a promising prospect, after he put together a strong half-season in the District of Columbia last year. Abercrombie is an utter joke, as he was a 25 year-old in the Florida State League last year. He's the proverbial five-tool prospect who has never been able to put it all together, similar to an Alex Escobar, Jason Tyner or Alex Ochoa, guys who dominated the Mets' minor league system during the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Right Field:
1. Bobby Abreu (PHI) (.286/.405/.474/24 HR/102 RBI/31 SB in 162 G with PHI)
2. Jose Guillen (WSH) (.283/.338/.479/24 HR/76 RBI/1 SB in 148 G with WSH)
3. Jeff Francoeur (ATL) (.300/.336/.549/14 HR/45 RBI/3 SB in 70 G with ATL)
4. Jeremy Hermida (FLA) (.293/.457/.518/18 HR/63 RBI/23 SB in 118 G with AA Carolina)
5. Xavier Nady (NYM) (.261/.321/.439/13 HR/43 RBI/2 SB in 124 G with SDP)

A down year from Abreu where he was nearly surpassed in NL East right field supremacy by the newcomer National Guillen and the hot prospect Francoeur. He still put together his seventh consecutive 100-walk, 20 SB, 20 HR season, something utterly phenomenal. Most of his homers were hit during the Home Run Derby, as he jacked a tournament record 41 dingers, while his post-All Star numbers were disappointing: .260/.376 /.411/6 HR/44 RBI. He is also clearly on the downside of his career, something that does not bode well for future Abreu seasons. Guillen, deposed hothead from LAA of A, came over to the Nationals for Juan Rivera after irreconcilable differences with manager Mike Scoscia. At 29, he still has some good years left in him, and, after a very strong first half last year (.310 BA, 18 HR), Guillen needs to fight the demon of trailing off during the latter half of the season. Francoeur put together a nice rookie season with the Braves, as he hit a solid .300 after a midseason call-up. Francoeur also tied for the league lead in outfield assists. However, he started to flame out at the end of the season (.235 BA in September/October). Braves fans must hope that it was fatigue from a long season, not that pitchers were finally learning how to get him out. The battle between Xavier Nady and Jeremy Hermida for the bottom of this list wasn't even close. Hermida, while young and inexperienced, put up great numbers at AA last year. He demonstrated power, speed and an even more remarkable statistic: 111 BB, 89 SO. He demonstrated excellent patience at the age of 21, something boding well for his future prospects. Another thing to note is that he smacked 4 homers in 41 AB as a September call-up for the Marlins. He had a memorable first career at-bat, which was a grand slam. He also hit .293, which was his average for the whole season. Nady is a platoon player at best: a prospect who has failed to harness his power. He's versatile and certainly has potential, but he probably won't do much for the Mets.

That was fun. Rotations later?

3.22.2006

Swimming with Devil Rays

Tampa Bay Devil Rays:
2005- 67-95 (.414) 5th place, AL East
Manager: Joe Maddon (Why did you have to go, Lou?)
Strange Fact(s): 1. Zim is filling a position known as "senior baseball advisor". Huh.
2. They have Wiggy!
Key Addition(s): Sean Burroughs
Ace in the Hole: Delmon Young
X Factors: Can Kaz (the other one) be a dominant ace? Can Burroughs produce the way everyone always expected him to? Will Jesus become a reliable closer or will they have to follow the closer-by-committee idea as has been suggested? Carl Crawford.

Overlook: Well, well, well. Like they say, come April every team has a new slate. For all we know, the Diamondbacks could be an 110 win team and the Cardinals might be the new punching bag of the Central. Uh... not quite. The D-Rays might have a new mentality, a great one pitcher, and the best prospect in baseball, but they don't have enough to put it together as of yet. As much as everyone loves all their twenty-something players, they're still developing and they don't know what it's like to win yet. Regardless of how cool Carl Crawford, Rocco Baldelli, Jonny (yea there's no h wanna fight about it) Gomes, and Jorge Cantu are, they still have no bullpen, not enough power, and are playing in the best division in baseball. In the NL West, they could win 85 possibly 90 games, but when you're constantly bumping heads with the likes of New York, Boston and Toronto, they simply can't compete. Give it a few years, and then I like 'em.

Analysis:

Starting Lineup:

Catcher: Toby Hall- .287/.315/.368/5 HR/48 RBI in 135 games
Key Stat: 432 AB's, only 39 SO's. That's about 11 per. He's not wasting many at bats at the end of the order.
1st Baseman- Travis Lee- .272/.331/.426/12 HR/49 RBI in 129 games
Key Stat: Has never hit above .275 or had more than 90 RBI's in his career. The deifinition of slightly above average. He sucked as a Yankee.
2nd Baseman- Jorge Cantu- .286/.311/.497/28 HR/117 RBI in 150 games
Key Stat: With 117 RBI's, Cantu was 7th in the AL. Wow, I didn't see that one coming. Definitely gonna be a star. However, batting third he's ripe for hitting into too many DP's. Gotta work on better placement, finding holes. (He can get lessons from DJ perhaps?)
3rd Baseman- Sean Burroughs- .250/.318/.299/1 HR/17 RBI in 93 games w/ San Diego
Key Stat: As a 9th pick in the '98 draft, Burroughs has hit only 11 HR and driven in only 133 RBI in 4 years of play. (432 games) Also, injury prone. Only 93 games last year and was never effective. Hits fairly well for average, but no power. No wonder they stuck him in dead man's land- the 8 hole. Can he rebound?
Shortstop- Julio Lugo- .295/.362/.403/6 HR/57 RBI in 158 games
Key Stat: Good leadoff man. With that .362 OBP he's fairly reliable, and once he's on he's got a lot of speed. 39 stolen bases last year.
Left Field- Carl Crawford- .301/.331/.469/15 HR/81 RBI in 156 games
Key Stat: God who doesn't love Carl Crawford. He's on his way to becomig a 5-tool player. I mean he hit .300, 80 RBI's even from high in the order, good in left, fastest man in baseball not named Gathright/Suzuki, all-star in '04... oh right. The key stat. 22.6 power speed number last year. It's another crazy Bill James stat (what the hell is secondary average, anyway? whatever it is Bonds had a 1.086 secondary average in '04. How is that possible!?), but it means he's well-rounded okay.
Center Field- Rocco Baldelli- .280/.326/.436/16 HR/78 RBI in 136 games in '04
Key Stat: 30 BB in 637 AB's. I swear to God the guy never walks. He either hits it (184) or strikes out (128). His name is Rocco though, cut him some slack.
Right Field- Aubrey Huff- .261/.321/.428/22 HR/92 RBI in 154 games
Key Stat: In '03, he had a remarkable year. Since then, his BA, OBP, and SLG have all dropped steadily. In BA, the difference between '03 and '05 is 50 points, in on base, 25 points, and in slugging, 77 points. The guy is deteriorating.
DHing- Jonny Gomes- .282/.372/.534/21 HR/54 RBI in 101 games
Key Stat: a 3/1 K/BB ratio will not help. However, as he continues to play, he'll continue to learn, and with the experience will come patience. Most of the time. (reference Soriano) Also, questions abound? Does he have the tools to be effective batting 5th?
Bench: Well, OK I guess. They only go as deep as Gathright, Josh Paul (who I for some reason like even though he was a goddamn Angel), and Wiggy take them.
Key Stat: Joey Gathright is so good. Josh Paul as I've already explained has a soft spot in my heart. And Ty was a Met. (By the way how do Mets fans feel about him?) All this leads to the fact that their bench is pretty cool. But also pretty much can't produce. Paul is terrible and mostly is a defensive replacement, Wigginton just can't do jack for crap, and Gathright, although he has game-changing speed, has really no other baseball talent. Maybe their collective okness can mold together into one good player. I don't have a stat prepared. Deal.

Starting Rotation:

Ace- Scott Kazmir- 10-9/3.77/172 hits, 174 SO, 100 BB in 186 innings
2nd- Mark Hendrickson- 11-8/5.90/227 hits, 89 SO, 49 BB in 178 innings
3rd- Casey Fossum- 8-12/4.92/170 hits, 128 SO, 60 BB in 163 innings
4th- Seth McClung- 7-11/6.59/106 hits, 92 SO, 62 BB, 109 innings
5th-Doug Waechter- 5-12/5.62/191 hits, 87 SO, 38 BB, 157 innigs
Closer- Jesus? (Colome, but if he's not available, the real Jesus)- 2-3/4.57/54 hits, 28 SO, 18 BB in 45 innings
Bullpen- Terrible in general. They've got Dave Miceli and Chad Harville. And they're pretty good compared to the rest of the staff. Enough said.

Final Thoughts:

Maturity is what they need. I don't know what kinda damage this team'll be making 3, 4 years in the future, but as of now, they're going nowhere. Pitching is just all around a weakness, and their entire lineup is pretty much made of players who everyone knows can produce but who can't seem to get it all together. Also, I can't seem to find Victor Zambrano on their roster. He must of been left off the team. (ah that never gets old)

Prediction: 74-88 (talented enough to win 75 but no pitching = no .500) 4th, AL East

Rank the NL East! (Around the Infield)

As part of the lead-up to the season, I am ranking every team in the NL East by position and then establish a clarion dominance from one squad. Today: Infielders.

Catcher:
1. Brian Schneider (WAS) (.268/.330/.409/10 HR/44 RBI/1 SB in 116 G with WAS)
2. Paul Lo Duca (NYM) (.283/.334/.380/6 HR/57 RBI/4 SB in 132 G with FLA)
3. Brian McCann (ATL) (.278/.345/.400/5 HR/23 RBI/1 SB in 59 G with ATL)
4. Mike Lieberthal (PHI) (.263/.336/.418/12 HR/47 RBI/0 SB in 118 G with PHI)
5. Josh Willingham (FLA) (.324/.455/.676/19 HR/51 RBI/5 SB in 66 G with AAA Albuquerque)

No Piazza here anymore. A bunch of average hitters with average power. Schneider stands out being younger than Lo Duca and Lieberthal, but putting up better power numbers than Lo Duca and similar numbers to Lieberthal in a much tougher park. Schneider is also the best defensively, as Lo Duca and Lieberthal have deteriorated with age while McCann and Willingham are unproven youngsters, the latter who was moved to left field at one point. However, Willingham is a 27 year old rookie, while McCann is a 22 year old Met killer in training who left the Braves confident enough to trade Johnny Estrada. Expect him to be on the top of this list before long.

First Base:
1. Carlos Delgado (NYM) (.301/.399/.582/33 HR/115 RBI/0 SB in 144 G with FLA)
2. Ryan Howard (PHI) (.288/.356/.567/22 HR/63 RBI/0 SB in 88 G with PHI)
3. Nick Johnson (WAS) (.289/.408/.479/15 HR/74 RBI/3 SB but 8 CS in 131 G with WAS)
4. Adam LaRoche (ATL) (.259/.320/.455/20 HR/78 RBI/0 SB in 141 G with ATL)
5. Mike Jacobs (FLA) (.310/.375/.710/11 HR/23 RBI/0 SB in 30 G with NYM)

Mets and Marlins make a swap. Mets go from worst to first; Marlins from first to worst. Delgado is a machine, driving in 100 runs nearly every year of his career. Howard is a player with a lot of promise who could produce a lot of runs this year. LaRoche and Johnson are enigmas, as they are not typical run producers at first base. Johnson is consistently a good hitter for average and he takes walks, making him more valuable than the challenged LaRoche. Jacobs, however, might have a case for bein on the top of this list this year, as his eyepopping numbers took place in one-fifth of a season. However, based on recent production, the Mets easily have the edge in this category.

Second Base:
1. Chase Utley (PHI) (.291/.376/.540/28 HR/105 RBI/16 SB in 147 G with PHI)
2. Marcus Giles (ATL) (.291/.365/.461/15 HR/63 RBI/16 SB in 152 G with ATL)
3. Jose Vidro (WAS) (.275/.339/.424/7 HR/32 RBI/0 SB in 87 G with WAS)
4. Kaz Matsui (NYM) (.255/.300/.352/3 HR/24 RBI/6 SB in 87 G with NYM)
5. Dan Uggla (FLA) (.297/.378/.502/21 HR/87 RBI/15 SB in 135 G with AA Tennessee)

Well, this group includes a talented yung thumper in Utley, a leadoff hitter and proficient on-base man in Giles, an erstwhile All-Star in Vidro, a former shortstop fallen out of favor, and another unproven youngster with a funny name. This is one funny bunch, despite the fact that it does not include new Nationals left fielder Alfonso Soriano. Uggla's numbers are quite nice, though he was a 25 year old in Double-A, something that gives him a distinct advantage. If Vidro can stay healthy, it is likely that he could lead the pack.

Shortstop:
1. Jimmy Rollins (PHI) (.290/.338/.431/12 HR/54 RBI/41 SB in 158 G with PHI)
2. Jose Reyes (NYM) (.273/.300/.386/7 HR/58 RBI/60 SB in 161 G with NYM)
3. Edgar Renteria (ATL) (.276/.335/.385/8 HR/70 RBI/9 SB in 153 G with BOS)
4. Cristian Guzman (WAS) (.219 /.260/.314/4 HR/31 RBI/7 SB in 142 G with WAS)
5. Hanley Ramirez (FLA) (.271/.335/.385/6 HR/52 RBI/26 SB in 122 G with AA Portland)

An intriguing group. Reyes is only six months older than Ramirez, but he has put together 2 partial seasons and one full season in the major leagues. Ramirez stalled at AA in the Red Sox farm system and wound up being moved in the Josh Beckett trade. Rollins is the best hitter among the bunch, Renteria the most experienced, Reyes the fastest and Cristian Guzman the one who has played the most games in a Minnesota Twins uniform. Renteria is an interesting reclamation project for the Atlanta organization after he made 30 errors at short and fell out of favor quickly in Boston. I see Reyes and Ramirez maturing this year, while Renteria will not produce much for the Braves. Rollins will try to continue his hitting streak at the start of the season, but, as a .253 April hitter the past 3 seasons, it is unlikely he will match Joe D.

Third Base:
1. Miguel Cabrera (FLA) (.323/.385/.561/33 HR/116 RBI/1 SB in 158 G with FLA)
2. David Wright (NYM) (.306/.388/.523/27 HR/102 RBI/17 SB in 160 G with NYM)
3. Larry Jones (ATL) (.296/.412/.556/21 HR/72 RBI/5 SB in 109 G with ATL)
4. Ryan Zimmerman (WAS) (.326/.371/.528/9 HR/32 RBI/1 SB in 63 G with AA Harrisburg)
5. David Bell (PHI) (.248/.310/.361/10 HR/61 RBI/0 SB in 150 G with PHI)

It killed me to write this one. When I originally typed it out, I had D-Wright ahead of Cabrera. Cabrera benefited from a productive supporting cast (he was protected by Carlos Delgado and had Juan Pierre and Luis Castillo ahead of him), while Wright protected Cliff Floyd. If Willie does as he says and bats Wright sixth, he should be fired. The lefties should, without a doubt, be split up in the order and Carlos Beltran should not be a #3 hitter. Larry Jones still had a productive season despite being overwhelmed with injuries. However, it is likely that his foot will continue to bother him this season and he will miss significant time. Normally, I don't take minor league stats that seriously, but Zim has been extremely productive. He put up a gaudy AA line after playing 61 extraordinary games at UVA, where he hit .393 with a .469 OBP. He was drafted in the first round last year, and he will be ridiculously productive in the future. David Bell is old, he's having back pain now, what else is new?

Fun stuff. Outfielders and pitchers later.