Chicago Cubs Win World Championship!

A little late on this one but it has been a very busy month.  Cubs win the World Series!  Whoever thought they’d be able to say that in their lifetime?  I didn’t have a rooting interest in either team but was very happy that the teams with the longest droughts were facing off against each other.  In that sense I couldn’t be happier for the Cubs fans.  I’ve been lucky enough to watch Boston and Atlanta each win championships.  But waiting for those opportunities is horrible and nobody has waited longer than the Cubs.  And they did it in great fashion with a fantastic comeback. 

You have to feel for the Cleveland Indians fans.  They were so close and unlike the Cubs don’t necessarily look to be locks to make it back to the World Series next year.  Still it was a great year for them.  I have to admit about ¾ of the way through the season I had to look up their lineup because I really didn’t know who 90% of their starters were.  Terry Francona really did a good job managing this team through their injuries to get them as far as he did. 

Really this was a win for all baseball fans.  Again two teams and fan bases who had suffered so long deserved their day in the sun.  In the process they gave us a great World Series.  And it was tough to dislike Cubbie fans when they had suffered so long.  But now the gloves are off.  Others can now give them all kinds of grief as the Chicago fans revel in their newly found Championship.  Congratulations Cubs. 

Atlanta Braves Fire Manager Fredi Gonzalez

The Atlanta Braves fired Fredi Gonzalez Tuesday after the Braves started the season 9-28 already 13.5 games out of first place.  It was no secret this team would not be that good but this is not even close to what Atlanta had in mind.  It isn't Gonzalez's fault but I get why the team wanted to do something instead of just standing pat.  The timing of the firing is bad as they were in the middle of a road trip.  I'm thinking they may have been able to wait six more games and fire him after the team returned to Atlanta.  But the leadership thought it was time so they did what they had to.  To add injury to insult Gonzalez received an e-mail Monday night confirming his Tuesday flight back to Atlanta.  This was BEFORE he was notified he was fired.  That is a fail by Atlanta management.  Still the only surprise here was the timing. Gonzalez was 434-413 as the Braves' manager and I think he did a good job overall getting the Braves to the playoffs two times.  I've heard nothing but things about Fredi during his tenure with Atlanta.  Hopefully he'll find a good landing spot.  I think he deserves it.  Hopefully Atlanta doesn't go cheap and can bring in somebody of quality to turn things around.  I'd hate to see them go cheap now and waste an opportunity as they move into a new stadium next year.  As a fan I have hope.  There is always hope. 

2016 Boston Red Sox Preview

The Boston Red Sox of 2015 went 78-84 in what to many was a disappointing year.  While I agree I am just not as surprised.  I just didn't think the starting staff was that great.  I thought Rick Porchello and Clay Buchholz are both very good pitchers but not aces.  But there really wasn't anyone behind them.  Wade Miley, Joe Kelly, Eduardo Rodriquez and the rest of the staff were nothing more than what ifs.  With starting pitching an issue Boston addressed that with the signing of David Price.   Will that be enough?

The starting rotation could like this - David Price, Clay Buchholz, Rick Porcello, etc, etc.   This is   Price brings instant stability allowing the others to follow in what is probably their natural spots in the rotation.  For me the question marks are at 4 and 5 (better than last year when the questions started at 3).  I don't think anyone knows exactly what Joe Kelly will give you and Steven Wright also isn't a proven quantity.  Still most rotations look that way.  Price should give them "A" stuff and if Buchholz and Porcello pitch better Boston will be in a good position.  BOTTOM LINE:  Definitely an upgrade at the front end of the rotation but everyone else still has to do their part or it will be a disappointing season.

much better than last year's rotation that had Porcello and Buchholz at the top.

Boston's bullpen is much better with the addition of Craig Kimbrel, stud closer.   The bullpen was not good last year.  The Red Sox also picked up Carson Smith from Seattle who is a hard thrower.  That combined with Koji Uehara and Junichi Tazawa give the Red Sox plenty of options leading up to Kimbrel.  Lefties Robbie Ross and Tommy Layne will also be in the mix. 

Blake Swihart kept the starting catching job after coming up from AAA in May last year when injuries hit the parent club.    He only logged 288 at bats but his .274 batting average and 5 homeruns are encouraging.  Hanley Ramirez moves to first base after a year in which it was evident he isn't an outfielder.  His .249/.291/.426 line also suggest he wasn't much of a hitter even if he was able to hit 19 dingers.  Star shortstop Xander Bogarts had no such issues.  He hit .320/.355/.421 with seven homeruns and 81 runs batted in.  At 22 years of age I am really hoping to see this guy in a Red Sox jersey for a very long time.  Second baseman Dustin Pedroia comes off an injury plagued year in   Otherwise his numbers were good starting with a .291 average and 12 homeruns.  At third base is Pablo Sandoval who had a bad year hitting after being signed to a big contract.  He hit .245/.292/.366.   That won't cut if for a third baseman on a big contract.  BOTTOM LINE:  If the infield has a year up to par with what they are getting paid then this will be a huge year.  I'll just hope for something in between that and last year.  Pedroia and Bogarts are stars who produce.  Sandoval and Ramirez need to prove they are too.

which he only played 93 games.

The outfield will consist of Mookie Betts, Rusney Castillo, and Jackie Bradley Jr.   Betts came on to finish strong posting a .291 average, 18 homers, 77 RBI's and 21 stolen bases.  He looks to be the real deal while the rest of the outfield is shaky at best.  Jackie Bradley Jr. has had all of one good month since his highly anticipated promotion to the majors and Rusney Castillo hasn't done much else other than battle injuries.    BOTTOM LINE:  Bradley Jr. needs to live up to some of his potential while Castillo must show he was worth his signing coming out of Cuba. 

Big Papi will retire after this year as he turns 40 years of age.  David Ortiz will retire a Red Sox legend who has been there for three world championships and been a great ambassador for the Red Sox and the city of Boston.  He can't be thanked enough and it isn't just about his personality and leadership.  He will leave having hit over 445 homeruns for Boston while hitting .288 and slugging .566.  He will truly be missed.  Even at age 39 he hit 37 homeruns and drove in 108 last year.  Wow.  BOTTOM LINE:  Assuming his bat doesn't fall off the end of the earth Ortiz should be solid again at DH. 

I think this team wins more than 78 games this year.  Most people will say they are a good team.  I think they are a good team but need many, many players to perform like they are expected to prior to anointing them anything better than a third place team.  For me it begins with the starters.  If they can pitch well as a whole the bullpen should be able to hold leads and I think the offense will be able to score enough runs for this team to win.  I'm going to say they win 86 games this year.  I am not sure that puts them into the playoffs but it is a step in the right direction. 

1.Mookie Betts  OF

2.Dustin Pedroia  2B

3.Xander Bogaerts  SS

4.David Ortiz DH

5.Hanley Ramirez  1B

6.Pablo Sandoval  3B

7.Rusney Castillo  OF

8.Blake Swihart  C

9.Jackie Bradley Jr.  OF

1.David Price

2.Clay Buchholz

3.Rick Porcello

4.Joe Kelly

5.Steven Wright

CL  Craig Kimbrel

Atlant Braves 2016 Preview

Teheran

The 2015 Atlanta Braves finished 67-95 last years, 23 games back of the New York Mets.  This year's team doesn't give me much hope that they will do better than the 2015 version.  In 2015 Atlanta used 60 players in total and 37 different pitchers while trying to figure out who they were.  Looks like these numbers were the most ever by a Braves team.  And they are still trying to figure things out.  This year will need a lot of things to go right for almost anything good to happen.  This team is clearly in rebuild mode leaving only Freddie Freeman and Julio Teheran as future building blocks from what was a 96 win team in 2013.  Andrelton Simmons and Shelby Miller, whom I thought was part of the rebuild have been traded, pushing out any hope of being a decent team a few years out.

Catcher AJ Pierzynski returns after an excellent year in which the 38

Freeman

year-old batted .300.  It is hard to believe Atlanta will get that from him again this year but he is a good veteran presence for the pitching staff.  Not sure who the catcher of the future is but AJ has the stick for now.  Freddie Freeman will again anchor first base.  Freddie is a stud but has nothing around him in that lineup.  He hit .276/.370/.471 with no one to protect him.  Jace Peterson returns at second base. He has to cut down on the strikeouts (120) while getting his average (.239) up to be anything near effective.  Erick Aybar is the SS they received from the Angels in the Simmons trade.  He is just a place holder for super prospect Dansby Swanson whom they received from Arizona for Miller.  Adonis Garcia is the third baseman and his 10 homeruns and .497 slugging in 198 plate appearances last year is encouraging but his .293 on base percentage is not.  Hopefully he'll be able to get on base more while giving Atlanta a much needed power threat to complement Freeman.  Also I hope he found his fielding glove or he may just give back everything in field he provides at the plate.  BOTTOM LINE:  Freeman is Mr. Steady but what the rest of the infield will provide is anybody's guess. 

The outfield should field Nick Markakis, Ender Inciarte, and Hector Olivera.  Markakis had a good year albeit with almost no power with three homeruns in 612 at bats.  Again a very good year batting .296/.370 but getting no power from a corner outfielder is hard to swallow.  Ender Inciarte also comes from Arizona in the Miller trade and  looks like a nice center fielder.  He hit over .300 last year and hit .278 his rookie year.  I think he is a nice piece for a team who didn't have a long term answer in center.  Hector Olivera comes over from the Dodgers.  He hasn't played in the majors yet so this should be interesting.  He will turn 31 this year so he needs to produce soon as there isn't a huge window for him.  He also has an injury history but for now I'll hope that he'll live up to some of the hype.  If someone falters Nick Swisher could log major innings for the Braves.  BOTTOM LINE:  Should be a nice outfield but whether or not it is a very good one will depend on Olivera.  If he falls flat I'm not sure what plan B is.  And Atlanta must find some power out there somewhere.

The starting pitching could be fluid.  Julio Teheran is back after an 11-8 season with a 4.04 ERA.  Not his best year but this was a bad team.  To have a winning record was minor miracle.  He and his 200 innings will anchor the staff.  Bud Norris had a horrible year with Baltimore and San Diego, and his spring training is not going so well, but will probably be one of the starters to begin the season.  Matt Wisler returns after a decent rookie effort going 8-8/4.71 ERA/109 innings.  Hopefully he can build on that and be a 30 start guy.  After that it is sketchy.  Williams Perez, Mike Foltynewicz and Jhoulys Chacin are all in the mix.  I have no idea what this staff will provide.  I like Teheran but after that I just don't know.  We may see a revolving door if these other guys can't be steady on the mound.  BOTTOM LINE:  The defense had better be good behind these guys because I think opposing teams will be able to hit them.  This is the weakest link in my eyes on a team that will be pretty bad.

Vizcaino

The bullpen will be serviceable.  I'll take that for now.  While Arodys Vizcaino is the closer of the future I wouldn't put it past Atlanta to use veteran Jason Grilli in that capacity early in the season to showcase what he can do and use him as trade bait though Grilli is dealing with injury which may cement his spot as a setup man.  Atlanta traded for former Brave Eric O'Flaherty due to issues with the other left handers in our bullpen.  Not a good sighn.  BOTTOM LINE:  Otherwise I think the bullpen will be ok if not spectacular.  Just need to get to Vizcaino or Grilli in the 9th and things might be ok. 

I am not sure this team is as good as last year's and it only won 67 games.  This could be a horrible year.  The upside would be all these young guys play up to potential or expectation and things click.  It worked for the Cubs.  But this team isn’t full of grade A talent prospects like they were.  Even at their best this team isn't a contender so it doesn't give me much to hope for.  Still I am looking forward to seeing what some of these young players can do.  Who is Olivera?  Can he be a nice bat in the outfield?  Will infielders Garcia and Peterson have solid years?  I'd like to see Arodys Vizcaino do well again.  So while my hopes aren't high there are plenty of stories within the team.  And hope is all I got this year...

  C: AJ Pierzynski

1B: Freddie Freeman

2B: Jace Peterson

SS: Erick Aybar

3B: Adonis Garcia

LF: Hector Olivera

CF: Ender Inciarte

RF: Nick Markakis

SP: Julio Teheran

SP: Bud Norris

SP: Matt Wisler

SP: Williams Perez

SP: Manny Banuelos

CL: Jason Grilli