2008 Baseball preview

Hey everyone, this is Andy's friend Jake. I style myself a baseball expert so Andy asked me to post some baseball stuff. So for my first post I thought I would post my division winners. Along with that something positive for each team along with a concern. Bold shows who wins the division and italics is for the wild card winner.

-Al East

Boston Red Sox
Good: Returning every key starter on a championship team. Key rookies should be play all season long too
Concerns: Pitching. How bad is Beckett’s back? Will it flair up. Schilling is probably done for the season. He was a key contributor and innings eater. Innings limits for Bucholtz and Lester
New York Yankees
Good: New manager. Joe Girardi will be a fiery disposition to the team. Players under Joe Torre the last year came to camp out of shape. Using the bullpen could become a key
Concern: Who’s going to eat the innings up this year? All three of the Yankee’s young guns are going to have innings limits this year. Near the end of the season, who’s going to be pitching?
Toronto Blue Jays
Good: Starting pitching depth. Easily could have the best top 3 guys in the majors. All throw hard and have great braking pitches.
Concern: Injury concerns all over. Will B.J. Ryan be back to what he was? Is Vernon Wells shoulder fine? Is Scott Rolen’s shoulder going to hold up? Will A.J Burner go to the DL?
Tamp Bay Rays
Good: Added pitching depth with Matt Garza in the off season. Top prospect Evan Langoria should hit the majors by end of May.
Concern: Scott Kazmir’s elbow. When an elbow barks or is strained Tommy John is more likely. It is especially true with guys who throw sliders. Will that happen this year?
Baltimore Orioles
Good: Andy McPhail has taken over. That means Peter Angelos the worst owner in baseball isn’t making decision any longer.
Concern: Every position other then right field and second base there are concerns about. Will Daniel Cabrera ever live up to his hype?

-Al Central
Detroit Tigers
Good: Traded for a future HOF player in Miguel Cabrera. Tiger possess a dominate lineup that is easily the best in baseball.
Concern: Pitching, both in the bullpen and starting rotation. Who is going to get the ball to Todd Jones the closer? There are health issues all over the rotation. Bonderman’s elbow, Kenny Rogers shoulder and age. Can Dontrelle’s era go over 6?
Cleveland
Good: Just like Boston, returning a very good team without losing any major pieces.
Concern: Carmona’s innings. When a guy jumps more then 30 innings from his career high they have problems the next year. Carmona's jumped 58 innings.
Kansas City Royals
Good: Trey Hillman as new manager, he’s a proven winner. Buddy Bell was just going through the motions. Hillman will improve this team month to month and will get them closer to making a play run next season
Concerns: Butler and Gordon. The organization is banking on both of these players and there are questions about both. Gordon has a hitch in his swing that wasn’t exploited at college or in the minors but was exploited at the MLB level. They are tinkering with it at the end of last year and this spring. I’m hesitant of doing that but it needs to be done. Butler’s problem is his weight, needs to slim down and play a position. You don’t want your DH being 22 years old.
Chicago White Sox
Good: A good lineup got better with the addition of Orlando Cabrera. He also will improve their defense as he is a two time gold glove winner.
Concerns: Other then Mark Burhle who is going to win games? Javier Vasquez is good but he never seems to put it together. Contreras had a good season a couple years ago but is back to a back of the end guy. They traded away an innings eater in Garland.
Minnesota Twins
Good: Locked up Mauer, Morneau and Nathan to long term contracts this offseason.
Concern: Who’s going to pitch for this organization? Liriano won’t be back to 100% until mid summer. Boof Boonser is a good pitcher but he isn’t a front line starter. Kevin Slowry is good but he also isn’t a front line starter.

-AL West
Seattle Mariners
Good: They have the best 1-2 punch of any team.
Concern: Who’s going to score runs? They have a few good players highlighted by Ichiro but Sextson and Beltre have been busts.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Good: Depth at starting pitching. They also have one of the best defensive outfields in the game. Small ball is key and they have players that fit their style
Concern: While they have lots of starting pitching, Lackey is now hurt along with Escobar. Escobar has a tear in his shoulder, more then likely he will be done for the season. Is Lackey’s injury going to linger?
Oakland A’s
Good: Got more for Dan Haren then Twins got for Santana who is the better pitcher
Concern: experience and leadership. The A’s are lacking it other then Eric Chavez. Will Chavez ever be the player he was?
Texas Rangers
Good: Daniels the GM has made some good trades that have strengthen Texas future.
Concern: Pitching as it always is. It is this team’s weakness as it has been since Nolan Ryan has been there. They need to develop it instead of trying to buy it on the FA market.

-NL East
Atlanta
Good: They have pitching depth again in Atlanta. Bullpen should also be improved with the return of Mike Gonzalez from injury.
Concern: Mark Kotsay. They need him in CF to solidify the outfield. His back will be a concern all season long
Philadelphia Phillies
Good: One of the deepest lineups especially in the NL. Pat Burrell is in a contract year and could have a huge season.
Concern: Brad Lidge. They need this guy to be the closer so that Tom Gordon can be the setup man and Bret Myers stays in the rotation.
New York Met
Good: Have 2 of the top players in the game in Reyes and Wright. Both are young and should still improve.
Concern: Johan Santana. I believe that he is going to have arm problems this year. Last season he didn’t throw his slider for the last 2 months at the end of the season. The twins could have afforded them instead they spent the money on Nathan. That should raise red flags to met fans.
Washington Nationals
Good: Moving into a new ball park, it has to be better then JFK stadium.
Concern: Who’s going to pitch for them? They have to have the worst pitching at the MLB level.
Florida Marlins
Good: Cut payroll by trading their two star players. It’s the Marlin way. They also finally got financing for a new stadium.
Concern: Inexperience. Most of the players don’t have more then 2 year MLB experience. Starting pitchers have health concerns.

-NL Central
Chicago Cubs
Good: A good deep lineup with a decent starting staff should equal a divisional crown. Japanese player Fukedome could be an impact bat and ROTY candidate.
Concern: Curses, bartman 2 appearing? Also the lack of a dominate starter, Zambrano is good but he isn’t a dominate number 1.
Milwaukee Brewers
Good: A very good core of young players should make the Brewers good for some time. Braun could be an even better hitter now that he doesn’t have to worry about making 40 errors a season
Concern: Injuries to starting pitchers. Ben Sheets needs to be healthy for this team to beat the cubs. Someone in the bullpen has to step up or it’s a huge weakness.
Cincinnati Reds
Good: Dusty Baker should improve the team. Some young pitching seems to be coming along.
Concern: Is there enough pitching to last this whole season or is it another year away. They need to win now with Griffey getting older and Dunn in his walk year.
Houston Astros
Good: A good offense should score a lot of runs. Hunter Pence looks like the real deal.
Concern: Who’s going to pitch behind Roy Oswalt? No pitching at all in the starting role.
Pittsburgh Pirates
Good: New ownership is moving the team in the right direction. That is to draft and scout talent.
Concern: Almost all positions have question marks. Will Jason Bay rebound or is he now on the decline?

-NL West
Colorado Rockies
Good: They return everyone but Kaz Matsui. Tons of young talent here and most of it will be in its first full big league seasons.
Concern: Is this the team that dominated in September and October or the team that was just average for a majority of the season? Also can they hit away from Coors field?
Arizona Diamondbacks
Good: Good young team that should be getting better. A very good rotation lead by Brandon Webb and Dan Haren.
Concern: Will the bullpen which got them to the playoffs be as good as last year? Will all the talent they have live up to the hype? Is Eric Byrnes going to regress or stay at this high level?
Los Angeles Dodgers
Good: Joe Torre should be a calming influence to a divided clubhouse. Good starting pitching should keep them in games.
Concern: Who is going to hit for power in this lineup? 3rd base is a weakness until Nomar comes back or prospect Andy Laroche comes back from injury. Is Andruw Jones slide going to continue or does he have a bounce back year?
San Diego Padres
Good: Padres have great starting pitching lead by Jake Peavey. Chris Young keeps on improving and Greg Maddux is just a magician with the ball. Mark Prior could be a huge mid season call up.
Concern: Other then Adrian Gonzalez I don’t like any of their hitters. Who is going to score runs?
San Francisco Giants
Good: They finally let Barry Bonds walk away. That guy is a club house killer. Some of the best starting pitching in the game resides in here. It should keep them in games.
Concern: When Bengie Molina is your cleanup hitter there is a problem. Aaron Rowland is a good player but did he have a career year or is he going to perform that well with the bat again?

Well there you go. I will be posting a lot about the royals throughout the season. For those of you who don't know, the Royals got their own T.V. network. This year out of the 162, 88 are going to be in HD. Opening day is just 2 day away, everyone enjoy!