Tag Archives: mlb

2018 MLB Season Preview: Oakland A’s

The Oakland A’s aren’t too far away from their ‘Moneyball’ days. They still rely on young homegrown talent and basic sabermetric strategies that Billy Beane helped usher into baseball. They just lack some of the star power like when Miguel Tejada, Jason Giambi and Barry Zito were first breaking into the big leagues.

Another issue with this A’s team is that their best young pitchers are either not quite ready for the Majors or will miss the season due to Tommy John surgery.

Can Billy Beane compete with this group of players or will they need to add another starter to get through the year?

Here is the 2018 MLB season preview for the Oakland A’s.

Continue reading →

2018 MLB Season Preview: New York Yankees

The New York Yankees are once again making the biggest moves in baseball. They traded for the best power hitter in the Majors and only gave up Starlin Castro and some ‘okay’ prospects. The Marlins just wanted to get rid of Giancarlo Stanton’s massive contract and the Yankees obliged.

Youth is a huge key to the Yankees success. They need their future stars like Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez to keep improving. Judge was making hard contact with every ball that met his bat, but strikeouts were a huge issue down the stretch. Can he cut down on strikeouts and keep his power stroke?

Here is the 2018 MLB season preview for the New York Yankees.

Continue reading →

2018 MLB Season Preview: New York Mets

The New York Mets didn’t make any big money additions this offseason. They opted to spend frugally and sign some veterans to team-friendly contracts.

The Mets starting rotation hasn’t been able to stay healthy. They had a stockpile of young starters, but they keep falling apart. Nearly every starter has had Tommy John at this point. That surgery is rarely a career-ender, but Matt Harvey keeps finding new ways to get injured. Hopefully they all have healthy and productive seasons.

The NL East have two of the worst teams in the Majors. Can the Mets pad their win total enough to steal a Wild Card spot?

Here is the 2018 MLB season preview for the New York Mets.

Continue reading →

2018 MLB Season Preview: Minnesota Twins

The Minnesota Twins have yo-yo’d between being competitive and ‘on-the-cusp’ the last few seasons. Everything lined up and their young players made advancements in their progression. They won 85 games and earned the second Wild Card spot in the American League.

Most teams sat on their wallets this offseason, but the Twins made an effort to add some veteran pitching to their team to surround all the youth. They were able to find some deals and signed Lance Lynn late in the offseason for a fraction of his going price.

Can Byron Buxton and Jose Berrios build on last season’s breakout performances?

Here is the 2018 MLB season preview for the Minnesota Twins.

Continue reading →

2018 MLB Season Preview: Milwaukee Brewers

The NL Central is a tough division to navigate for the Milwaukee Brewers when the Cubs and Cardinals are two of the best teams in the National League. They bolstered their offense this offseason with two big additions of outfielders Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain.

Milwaukee needed to add to their starting rotation this offseason, but they whiffed at adding any top-of-the-rotation starters. They just added a few veteran ‘fifth starters’ with no upside.

The Brewers have a ton of speed and will have the green light to run, like last year. Milwaukee could ‘steal’ a few games if they can easily get runners in scoring position.

Here is the 2018 MLB season preview for the Milwaukee Brewers.

Continue reading →

2018 MLB Season Preview: Miami Marlins

The Miami Marlins were sold to a Derek Jeter-led group was made official late last year. He took over as CEO of the team and is in control of the baseball decisions. I’m sure it wasn’t totally his call, but he spent the entire offseason getting rid of payroll.

The Marlins are expected to call-up a lot of young talent to fill the large void the former plays left. Unfortunately, the farm system isn’t stocked with enough young blue chip talents to adequately step into those roles.

There are still a few Marlins players on the roster that could fetch a decent return. Will Jeter pull the trigger on deals to send JT Realmuto and others elsewhere?

Here is the 2018 MLB season preview for the Miami Marlins.

Continue reading →

2018 MLB Season Preview: Los Angeles Dodgers

The Los Angeles Dodgers come into the season with a payroll of $178 million. That amount is due to rise soon with ace Clayton Kershaw in a contract opt-out year and a few young players due to hit arbitration in the coming years. The front office may need to make some hard decisions when it comes to money.

Those decisions are at least a year away, so the Dodgers just need to use their resources to improve this year’s team. They could be in the market for bullpen help as they get closer to the playoffs.

Can the Giants or Rockies catch them in the NL West?

Here is the 2018 MLB season preview for the Los Angels Dodgers.

Continue reading →

2018 MLB Season Preview: Los Angeles Angels

The Angels made the biggest move this offseason when they won the sweepstakes for the Japanese phenom, Shohei Otani. He will be in the six-man starting rotation and will be their designated hitter most games. It has been a long time since a starting pitcher could hit as well as Otani. You would probably have to go all the way back to some black-and-white footage.

The Angels have a lot of talent around superstar Mike Trout, but his teammates are getting long in the tooth. Ian Kinsler and Albert Pujols have both seen better days and newly-signed infielder Zack Cozart might end up being a bad signing.

Can the Angels make the postseason in 2018?

Here is the 2018 MLB season preview for the Los Angels Angels.

Continue reading →

2018 MLB Season Preview: Kansas City Royals

The Kansas Royals are no longer World Series contenders. They had a nice run with homegrown talent. They saw some of those guys leave for big money deals, but they still have a competitive squad coming into the season…but could look different by season’s end.

The Royals were able to keep one of their core homegrown talents that led them to a World Series title a few seasons ago. Mike Moustakas was hoping to land a huge contract after belting 38 homers last season. He turned down a qualifying offer, but found the landscape barren. Teams are saving their money for a talented free agent class next offseason. Moose came back for a deal that’s about half of the qualifying offer he turned down.

Will the Royals make any more moves towards a full rebuild?

Here is the 2018 MLB season preview for the Kansas City Royals.

Continue reading →

2018 MLB Season Preview: Houston Astros

The Houston Astros did everything right last season and won the World Series. They were arguably the best team from beginning to end.

Houston didn’t stand pat hoping the current squad was good enough to win another championship. They went out and traded for another arm (starter Gerrit Cole) to bolster what was already one of the best rotations in the Majors.

The AL West is always a competitive race. Nearly every team in the division made big moves this offseason. It will be hard for Houston to repeat last year’s success against an improved Angels and Mariners rosters.

Can the Astros repeat and win back-to-back rings?

Here is the 2018 MLB season preview for the Houston Astros.

Continue reading →

2018 MLB Season Preview: Detroit Tigers

The Tigers look a lot different than they did going into last season. They traded a lot away and now are just a mix of aged-out veterans and replacement-level players.

I hate to throw Hall of Fame candidates like Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez in the ‘aged-out’ category, but age finally reared its ugly head last season. They are clearly on the downside of their prolific careers.

The Tigers fired manager Brad Ausmus at the end of the season and hired a manager with experience, Ron Gardenhire. He managed a rebuilding team during his 13-year tenure as the Twins skipper. He’s the perfect guy for this job.

Here is the 2018 MLB season preview for the Detroit Tigers.

Continue reading →

2018 MLB Season Preview: Colorado Rockies

I like the current trajectory of the Colorado Rockies. They have been slowly amassing talent and all of their call-ups have been effective. They have many young position players in the minors, but they lack arms at that level. Could they flip a few of their blue chip prospects for a true ace?

Jon Gray has improved over the last two seasons, but can he be leaned up in pressure situations? Also, can the end-of-the-rotation starters hang with other team’s pitchers in the same role?

Charlie Blackmon had a career year in 2017. Can he keep up those numbers or is a regression candidate?

Here is the 2018 MLB season preview for the Colorado Rockies.

Continue reading →