djtestudo

Since we had one for the NFL last year, I figured a baseball one might be in order.

Team: Baltimore Orioles

2003 Record: 71-91
2004 Prediction: 82-80

The Orioles are a much improved team to begin the 2004 season. They have three new batters, a revamped pitching staff, and a rookie manager in Lee Mazzilli.

Lineup:

The 2004 lineup is a powerful one. Leadoff is second-year 2B Brian Roberts, who played well last season while Jerry Hairston was hurt, and is continuing in Hairston's spot after a ST injury. Next is Melvin Mora, formerly a utility player, taking over at 3B for the departed (thank God) Tony Batista. He led the AL in batting for a large portion of the year until an injury slowed his production.

Third through fifth in the lineup are all newcomers. New shortstop Miguel Tejada replaces Deivi Cruz at SS, and hits third. Future Hall-of-Famer Rafael Palmiero returns to the Orioles after a five-year stint with the Rangers to bat cleanup. Catching will be Javy Lopez, who is coming off the best season ever by a catcher.

Sixth is the Orioles' best returning slugger, Jay Gibbons. Seventh will be a DH rotation of veterans BJ Surhoff and David Segui, and Jack Cust, an OPS machine. Eighth and ninth will be the Orioles two biggest suprises from last season, outfielders Larry Bigbie and Luis Matos.

Pitching:

Returning to the Orioles after half of a season in San Francisco, Sir Sidney Ponson will be the ace of a very young pitching staff. #2 is Eric DuBose, who pitched suprisingly well in half of a season in Baltimore last year. #3 will be Kurt Ainesworth, who came to Baltimore in the Ponson trade and was regarded as one of San Francisco's top prospects. #4 is Matt Riley, a former phenom in the Orioles system who had Tommy-john surgury but has returned to his former ability. Finally, the suprise of the spring was Eric Bedard, who was the Orioles top prospect before his own surgury two years ago, and has managed to pitch his way into the #5 spot. DuBose, Riley, and Bedard are all lefties in a division with a number of powerful left-handed slugers.

The bullpen is looking solid for this year. Former 15-game winner Rodrigo Lopez stands ready to help if one of the younger starters falters. Rick Bauer has proven to be an effective long- and middle-reliever. Lefties John Parrish and veteran Buddy Groom provide valuable middle-relief for this young team. BJ Ryan is considered as one of the hardest pitchers for a leftanded hitter to face in all of baseball. Mike DeJean is a former closer who will fit in well as a setup man and insurance for the closer. That man is Jorge Julio, who registered 36 saves last season, and was third in the rookie of the year voting the year before.

Overall:

This team is not a playoff team yet. The pitching staff is too unproven for that. However, the lineup can go against any in baseball and hold it's own. Very similar to the Blue Jays' situation.

I believe that the Orioles and Blue Jays will finish with nearly identical records around .500. Whichever finishes above gets third place, whichever finishes below gets fourth.

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Halx

That's way more indepth than I'm willing to go..

I will say this.. Dodgers place 3rd in the NL West. They lost too much of their bullpen to remain the awesome pitching team that they were last year. While they have gotten more competent bats, they still lack solid hitters. What I mean by that is.. Encarnacion, Bradley and Ventura are good players, but they aren't Dodgers.. they feel borrowed.

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Mondak

Well it is nice and all that you decided to write about the Os. I think they are not going to be too good, but they have a legit shot at second place in the AL-east. The Sox are a house of cards and ready to collapse. Every RedSock had a career year last year and they still feel short. Watch what happens this year.

I think the Os are going about rebuilding the right way and will be in good shape regardless of what they do this year.

The Doyers will be okay in the NL West I think, but it is going to be a fun race to watch. All members of the NL - West have a legit shot at the top spot. It will come down to whose pitching questions pan out the best.

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goddfather40

I see the Dodgers finishing in 2nd in the West (with only a 81-81 record mind you, I think the winner will win with maybe 86 games!). The pitching is just too strong for them too be too bad, for christ's sakes they won 85 games last year.

As for the Angels, they will win the West so long as they don't get the injury bug, and the A's awesome pitching isn't like the '65 Dodgers. I see the Angels winning 95 games and winning the West barely over Oakland.

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SAM821

Alright... I may be a homer... but the hell with in (arent we all??)

Florida Marlins

2003: 91-71 (World Series Champs!!! sorry had to throw that in)
2004 Prediction: 95-67

The champs return 7 of the nine world series starters this year, and 4 of the 5 starting pitchers.

Lineup:
Could be BETTER than last year... We lost Encarnaccion, Pudge Rodriguez, and Derrick Lee, and Replace them with Jeff Conine, Ramon Castro and Hee Sop Choi (hit a HR today). Plus we didnt have Miguel Cabrera until much later in the season... We could get some big numbers from these guys... with plenty of HR and RBI's, (probably even more than last year

Pitching:
Our starting pitching for the most part stayed in tact. We lost Redman, and replaced him with Darren Oliver... shouldnt be much of a drop off, and we may get AJ Burnett back in a couple of months...


Overall:
Our only weakness that i see is middle relief and closer... Im not sure how that will go. We may have to sign someone else... but i think overall, I'm look for another post season apperance!

Go Fish!

japhyryder

5th Expo's, at team that has no budget a poor minor league system, and a team with next to no pitching or hitting, they only took hits in talent over the winter, I just can't see them placing much higher

4th I hate to say it but I think it will be Florida, I wish it wasn't so, but they lost so much offense last year I don't think they could get much higher then 4th.

3rd Atlanta quite a good team I hope I am not underrating their pitching staff, I just don't think the magic will work. Like Florida they lost so much offense last year, I don't think the additions will make enough of a difference.

2nd Believe it or not the I will take a gamble on the Mets they have a good staff (really it is there weakest point) and a very good offense. The thing that will either make it work or they will get 4th place is the chemistry.,

1st. Philly, yes I am partial to them but without a doubt they have the best team on paper, so good in fact they were worried about who to send to the minors (most teams would use some of there minor league pitchers as starters)
Offense definately is the best in the division, starting pitching 4 All-Stars one future #1 pitcher, the best relieving core in maybe all of baseball. They may not be all razzle dazzle but they have good quality players at every position and some starters warming the bench. The thing that could and very well might kill them is Larry Bowa.

We shall see.

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Ace_O_Spades

Wow, i think all that i know is that the Toronto Blue Jays will miss the playoffs... again

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bellzboy

Chi White Sox

03: 86-76
04: 95-67

Sox led the league in BA this spring. They were quiet in the offseason, but didn't lose many people either. Offense has huge potential, Starting pitching is average, bullpen is shaky.

Lineup:
The Sox have a power packed lineup. There are 6 guys who can hit 20 homers, 3 or 4 that can hit 30, and Thomas hit 42 last year. Magglio Ordonez was in a slump last year... he hit .310, had 29 homers and 99 RBI. This lineup can put up lots and lots of runs. The only real question mark is their leadoff man, Willie Harris, who wishes he was at the mendoza line last year. Batting second will be Jose Valentine, who will hit only from the left this season after switch hitting previously. He has decent speed, good power, and a tendency to strike out. Batting third is Magglio, mentioned above, he is in a contract year and should put up huge numbers this year. Thomas volunteered to switch with Magglio to hit 4th this year, and it is a good fit, since he won't have the average Mags has, nor is he much of a baserunner, but has more power. 5th is Carlos Lee, who had a career year last year and looks to improve on his 113 RBI, since he will have more people in front of him, having batted second most of last year. Konerko is hitting 6th, and is looking to rebound from his atrocious start and end last year(he did well in teh middle of the season...). 7th will be Joe Crede, who has good power, and is getting better every year as a hitter. 8th is Aaron Rowand who hit very well at the end of last season and during Spring Training, hopefully he can bring that into the regular season. 9th will be Sandy Alomar or Miguel Olivo, Sandy is a decent hitter for a catcher, and probably knows more about pitchers than most of the Sox coaches. Miguel was pretty bad last year, but had a good Spring and should turn the corner in his second full season.

Pitching:
The opening day starter is Mark Beuhrle, and he will win 15-18 games, with ease, especially with run support this year, which he didnt have much of last year. Loaiza is next, and he won 21 games last year with a wicked cut fastball. Hitters seemed to be figuring him out at the end of the year, but he added a couple new pitches in the offseason and should get 15-18 games as well. Third is Jon Garland, who, according to Sandy, has some of the best stuff on the staff. He is poised to have a breakout season and should get 14-16 wins with ease, especially if he is left in games longer than Jerry Manuel let him. Scott Shoenweis was in the bullpen the last couple years and had a horrible spring. I'm not sold on him and I would like to see him switch places with Neel Cotts, who has some great stuff, though he is very young. Dan Wright should be good enough for a 5th starter, he posted 14 wins a couple years back and that would be more than enough for us.

Bullpen:
Here is where it gets ugly. They have really only one good reliever, and he is a setup man, in Damaso Marte. He had a great year last year, but started this year off by giving up 5 in the ninth on two homers. Billy Koch is penciled in as the starter, and it looks like he is gettttign some of his velocity back, but he will never have the 100 mph speed he had before, and will be working on pitch placement now more than blowing the ball by people. The Sox are poised to lose a lot of close ones in the 8th or 9th, but hopefully the offense will make games a little harder to win late.

gov135

Cleveland Indians

I predict the Indians will finish second in the AL Central.

Watch out for Alex Escobar. For you fantasy folks, you may want to keep an eye on this kid. He's a player. The rest of the outfield should be solid, sporting Jody Gerut, the Sporting News's Rookie of the Year last year. The Tribe is hoping Matt Lawton will play well enough in the first half to use as tradebait. Lawton is no fan of Cleveland, and Cleveland brass is no fan of Lawton.

On the infield, the Indians have the best young catcher in the game in Victor Martinez. He'll play only two out of three or so until the Indians are convinced he is settled. Omar Vizquel should have a good season left in him, injury is the unknown factor here. The rest of the infield is a hode-podge of talent that is capable of having a big season, and just as capable of losing a starting job.

The starting pitching will carry the club this year. CC Sabathia had a great opening day outing, only to suffer a no decision as the bullpen let him down. Jason Davis can pitch. Jason Stanford is an interesting number five, he was an Olympic team qualifier who has a bright future, just not alot of experience. Cliff Lee may end up being the best pitcher on the staff. A big, strong lefty, his best stuff can dominate hitters.

There you have it: a young pitching staff, some promising outfielders, and an infield anchored by the veteran Vizquel and the young Martinez. There are some serious holes in the batting order, the defense is a question, and the club will only go as far as a seriously shaky bullpen can take them. But in the AL Central? I think second is attainable.

cameroncrazy822

Sox win the East, and Yankess in as the wild card. They are the two best teams in the Baseball (and the AL) so it really doesn't matter how much improved the Orioles are since they aren't in the same league as either of the the Sox or the Yanks. Sorry, I'm an O's fan thru and thru but I'm also realist.

bond007

Texas Rangers

03: last place
04: last place

If the Rangers could finish last with A-Rod, I'm fairly confident they can finish last without him!

djtestudo

I dunno...I think Texiera, Soriano, Young, and Blalock might have something to say to that

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"Final thought: I just rented Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine. Frankly, it was the worst sports movie I've ever seen."
--Peter Schmuck, The (Baltimore) Sun

grumpyolddude

Yep, Texas may be better than anyone expected, but the AL West is going to be tough, top to bottom.

Al Central... them whats pitches and catches gooder than the rest of 'em, win, 'cause tons-o-runs will be scored.

In the East... absolute power corrupts. Sox and Yanks BOTH fall down!

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bellzboy

Well the White Sox starters have given up a total of I think 9 runs over 4 games....

And the proper quote is "absolute power corrupts absolutely". (Says the nerd )