By: Peter Lewis
It
may be hard to believe, but it’s only been four months since the 2013 MLB
(Major League Baseball) season came to a close with the Boston Red Sox besting
the St. Louis Cardinals four games to two in the World Series.
With
less than a month left until the new seasons starts, teams in the American and
National Leagues have reported to Arizona and Flordia for Spring
Training. The four months leading up to this moment have not been
quiet, in only four months, the 32 teams of MLB were hard at work to contend
for this new season as well as react to changes around them.
The
biggest story to come out of the offseason has clearly been the continuation of
Alex Rodriquez’s fall from grace. A-Rod has been suspended by MLB
for the entire 2014 regular season, including post season play, for his role in
the Biogenics scandal.
The Red Sox World Series team lost
valuable players, including Jacoby Ellsbury, Stephen Drew, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia, with little to new additions. The Tigers
parted ways with Prince Fielder and Doug Fister, but did get Ian Kinsler and
Joe Nathan to keep them in contention. The Yankees attempted to
build up the pitching signing Japanese phenomenon Masahiro Tanaka and picked up Jacoby
Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran to attempt to bring life to the lineup with A-Rod
gone and Derek Jeter announcing 2014 will be his final season in
MLB. The Mariners though may have made some of the biggest moves in
the offseason: picking up Robinson Cano, Corey Hart, Logan Morrison and
Fernando Rodney. While time and the season will tell if they’re
ready to contend, it’s clear that the US Northwest is ready to compete.
Out in the National League the
defending league champion St. Louis Cardinals lost 2011 World Series MVP David
Freese and Carlos Beltran, but quickly picked up Jhonny Peralta, Mark Ellis,
and Peter Bourjos to continue the past seasons success and compete in an ever
more difficult NL Central. The Nationals after a stunningly disappointing 2013
campaign, signed Doug Fister and have made all moves they saw fit to get back
into contention with divison rivals the Atlanta Braves. The Braves look poised to go farther
in the 2014 post season. The San Francisco Giants, after a
disappointing and quiet 2013 season, avoided an offseason disaster by
re-signing their top players, as well as adding help to left field and the
batting to get the team back into contention.
WHAT
TO EXPECT:
THE
NATIONAL LEAGUE
NL
CENTERAL:
With
the moves needed made and the bullpen and rotation looking good enough to
compete, the St. Louis Cardinals are in very good position to go back to the
playoffs and redeem themselves in a possible return to the World Series in
2014. Yet, the road will not be easy by any means. The Pittsburgh
Pirates and Cincinnati Reds have shown they have the talent and coaching to go
far in the season and postseason.
By letting go Manager Dusty Baker
and bringing in Bryan Price, the Reds show that they want their talent to go
further than losing in the wild card game year after year.
In Pittsburgh
The Milwaukee Brewers will get back
Ryan Braun from his season ending suspension in 2013 after this role in the
Biogenics scandal, yet their other problems will hold the team back from being
a major contender for the division and wildcard.
The Chicago Cubs will begin
renovations of Wrigley Field after the 2014 season. This may be Cubs fans only thing to
look forward to as the Cubs look to, be in an awful position with a lack of
talent to compete for the wildcard, let alone the NL Central.
The Cardinals, Pirates, and Reds are
the clear top tier teams in the division, but it will most likely come down to
the Cardinals and Pirates. One will win the division and the other will
be the first wild card and receive home field advantage in the wild card game in
most scenarios. Either way, it will come down to if both teams can
overcome their usual season problems: bullpen troubles arising for the
Cardinals and the Pirates’ difficulties keeping streaks going, plus momentum
swings for both teams. Nevertheless, come postseason time, both the
Cardinals and Pirates will be major threats out of the NL.
The
most likely final standings for the NL Central:
1. St. Louis
2. Pittsburgh
3. Cincinnati
4. Milwaukee
5. Chicago
NL
East
After a miraculous turn around by
the Washington Nationals in the past years, 2013 was a colossal disappointment
to Nationals fans. Injuries
and controversies that plagued the 2013 campaign are over and the Nationals are
ready for a dramatic turn around in 2014 at the mound and the plate.
The Nationals main foe in the NL
East during their turn around as well as last year, the Atlanta Braves. The Braves without a doubt are stacked
with talent and well able to win a lot and give the National League
trouble.
The Mets looked to be ready for
major postseason ambitions in 2013, until star pitcher Matt Harvey went down
with an injury and will be out the entire 2014 season. The signing of
Curtis Granderson and Chris Young shows some hope for the batting order and
defense, but big positions at catching and first base remain a
question. There is hope for a winning record for the Mets without a doubt,
but postseason play may be a long shot. For
the Mets, the may just try to make it through 2014 without any problems and
look to 2015 and beyond as their return to big time contention.
In Philadelphia, hopes for the
Phillies to get back to their winning ways as seen before 2012, will not be
back in 2014. Since Ryan
Howard went down with an injury in the 2011 NLDS, 2012 and 2013 became
underproductive and injury plagued for the former allstar. Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels will keep
the team from totally faltering, but an aging roster of over paid and past
glory players will keep the city of Philadelphia
As for the Marlins, the hopes of
becoming a major threat with the opening of their new stadium in 2012, new
coaching, and new players are long gone and reality returned to Miami. The roster is in shambles and on
paper new players should help, but how many times have we heard that out of Miami
The Marlins, Phillies, and Mets are
not a threat for the NL East or wild card, plain and simple. The Nationals and Braves, however,
will most likely be locked in battle for the NL East, the wild card looks to be
out reach for either team due to the talent in the NL Central and West. Expect a battle that could easily come
down to the last game of the season to decide the NL East.
Projected
final standings for the NL East:
1. Atlanta
2. Washington
3. New York
4. Philadelphia
5. Miami
NL
West
The
Los Angeles Dodgers after a change in management put a lot of money into new
players in hopes of turning the team around, while it looked like it wouldn’t
work at the beginning, the Dodgers made a quick turn around and become a major
contender in the NL. The
offseason moves made by the team only add to the power of the bats and pitching
looks to still be a challenge to any batter that gets in their way. The Dodgers will clearly contend for
the NL West and NL Pennant in 2014.
As stated earlier, the San Francisco
Giants are in prime position for a rebound and may very well be able to compete
very competitively with the Dodgers.
However
though in the NL West, the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres have
quietly built up their teams and are ready to make a move for the NL
West. The improvements and new talent picked up by the Diamondbacks look
to put them in a position of postseason contention, where the Padres talent
showed signs of taking the next step forward into major contention, if that
same talent form 2013 improves as expected in 2014, this may very well be the
case for the Padres.
As for the Colorado Rockies, a
surprising winning filled start in 2013 fell apart and the team never
recovered. Offensively,
lighting could strike twice, but pitching wise, the team has little hope to
compete with a newly more competitive NL West in 2014.
With
the exception of the Rockies , the NL West is
wide open. The Dodgers are
the favorite to win the division, but the remaining three teams have a shot at
the last wild card spot. The
Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Giants, and Padres have the potential to finish in any
order, and it wouldn’t be a major shock, but there is a possible safe bet to
how they’ll all finish.
Projected
finish for the NL West:
1. Los Angeles
2. Arizona
3. San Francisco
4. San Diego
5. Colorado Rockies
AL
Central
The AL Central like the NL East will
be a two team race. The
Detroit Tigers even with the loss of Fielder and Fister, will still compete
very well in the American League. The
newly built Kansas City Royals though will be very much up there with the
Tigers in 2014.
The remaining teams in the division:
the Chicago White Sox, Minnesota Twins, and Cleveland Indians have some good
talent, but most likely will find problems that will keep them from postseason
play in most cases. The
White Sox are in the process of rebuilding, the Twins have fallen off the face
of the Earth after a major rebound two years ago, and the Indians, while the
surprise team last year, will face an uphill battle against the Tigers and
Royals all season.
On paper, the Tigers and Royals will
be the favorites, with the Indians giving a scare every once in a while, but in
a sport where anything can happen and momentum swings rapidly, we shall see.
Nevertheless,
the most likely final standings out of the AL Central:
1. Detroit
2. Kansas City
3. Cleveland
4. Chicago
5. Minnesota
AL
East
Defending World Series Champions,
the Boston Red Sox have done every correct step to ensure they’ll have a major
shot at repeating as AL East Champions and go far in the postseason, the
question is who will compete with them and most likely get the wild card?
The Yankees have the money and are
doing everything to prepare for a change as the team ages and players
leave. With A-Rod out and
Derek Jeter set to play his last full season, the Bronx Bombers made many
offseason moves to compete even with the loss of Robinson Cano. As every year, the team looks on paper
to be the favorite, but past years of rising inconsistent play and injuries are
inevitable to show up in 2014. They
may not be severe on the record, but could be enough to keep the team out of
the playoffs.
In
Tampa Bay, even with the large cap salary wise against teams in their division,
the Rays are in prime position to win the wild card and still on paper can be a
World Series contender if all things go right, and for the Rays, past years
have shown this may be a possibility.
This may be the year this happens, and the Rays are showing they are
nowhere near hesitant to pounce on this opportunity.
As for the Toronto Blue Jays and
Baltimore Orioles, the talent is there, but problems will keep them at
bay. Toronto Baltimore
Projected
final standings in the AL East:
1. Boston
2. Tampa Bay
3. New York
4. Baltimore
5. Toronto
AL
West
In the American West, the Texas
Rangers and Oakland A’s are the top dogs and either will win the division or
wild card. The talent,
coaching, and management sets these teams ahead of the other three teams in the
AL West.
The Los Angeles Angels lineup of
Pujols and Hamilton, that puts a tight grip on the payroll, shows no signs of
doing anything spectacular this year.
The Seattle
Mariners made shocking big moves, but most likely won’t be a major threat this
year.
As for the Houston Astros….
Projected
final standings in the AL West
1. Texas
2. Oakland
3. Seattle
4. Los Angeles
5. Houston
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