Kuzul

Spring Training will be here sooner than we think. The Phillies come into the 2011 season with some lofty expectations for themselves. They have mustered up one of the best rotations in the history of baseball with the surprising signing of former Phillie Cliff Lee.

Along with the rotation, the Phillies offense looks to get back on track after having a down year for what they’ve come to expect over the past few seasons. They still have the core group of players on the team, but they are all aging.

The window of opportunity for the team is closing, and that is probably why GM Ruben Amaro Jr. went all out for the next few years with the complete re-haul of the starting rotation.

Here are some fantasy predictions and the projected lineups for the 2011 Philadelphia Phillies.

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After seeing the Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays make their own offseason splashes this week, proceeded by the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles offseason marks happening earlier on, there isn’t a more accurate statement than “the AL East is the most dominant division in baseball.”

Sure, maybe the topic has been beaten to death, but it never ceases to amaze me on how competitive this division really is. For the past five years, the competitiveness in the division has really heated up. All five teams part of the ultra-tough division have competed against one another and never stop either and it’s entertaining.

For proof, look no further than this year’s offseason:

Boston Red Sox – The Sox acquire two of the games most prominent hitters in Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez.

Baltimore Orioles – The Orioles complete a roster overhaul, adding veterans Mark Reynolds, J.J. Hardy, Kevin Gregg and Jeremy Accardo.

Tampa Bay Rays – The Rays decimated their roster, trading away many of their key pieces for the future, but also made an effort to fill the seats in South Florida by recently signing Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez to one-year pacts.

Toronto Blue Jays – After being quiet all offseason, resigning many within the organization and stock-piling draft picks and prospects, they finally made their move – acquiring power-hitters Mike Napoli and Juan Rivera from the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for Vernon Wells.

New York Yankees – Brian Cashman was snubbed on numerous occasions this offseason, from big names like Crawford or Cliff Lee to smaller names like Kevin Gregg. They finally made their mark late, signing closer/setup-man Rafael Soriano to a massive contract.

This is just one offseason, but it’s clear that when one team makes a move in the AL East, it has a very big ripple effect on the rest of the division. The first move was made on Dec. 4 by Boston, and it continued from there. And this isn’t the only offseason that this has happened, the competitiveness during the offseason has picked up in recent years especially:

2006 – The Jays sign Frank Thomas and give Wells his big contract, the Yanks bring back Andy Pettite, the Sox sign Japanese phenomenon Daisuke Matsuzaka, where the Rays bring in their own Japanese star in Akinori Iwamura, and the Orioles vastly improve their bullpen while also signing Aubrey Huff in his heyday.

2008 – The Jays add all-star infielders David Eckstein and Scott Rolen, the Yankees name Joe Girardi their new skipper while adding Alex Rodriguez back to the MLB‘s largest contract ever. The Red Sox bring in a heavy bat in Mike Lowell. The Rays bank their prospect system, while the Orioles complete a pair of blockbusters, acquiring future key pieces in Adam Jones, Luke Scott and Matt Albers.

These are just three recent off-seasons, but it proves my point well. Whenever one of the teams in the AL East make a move, it has a very big ripple effect on the rest of the division and sooner or later all the teams react in some way.

Perhaps it’s due to the amount of money the division produces. The Yankees and Red Sox have a payroll that succeeds the $200 million mark, while the Jays and Orioles have support from their owners as well. The Rays have the least of the five, but still remain competitive.

Either way, if it’s something in the air in the Eastern part of North America or the world’s best baseball mind just happen to all run teams in the same division – the AL East is baseball’s most competitive division and until the entire league shuts down, it always will be.

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This past off season in baseball has been one full of player movement, with Jayson Werth kicking off the big dollar December by signing a contract full of zeroes with the Washington Nationals. Many players followed suit soon after.

A lot of players have changed teams, and many teams have changed their fortunes for it, but it is hard to say what this will all amount to on the baseball field as of right now.

One thing we can do, however, is look at each team’s signings and whittle down which were the best and worst signings for each.

So, here I spent hours to find out which signings were the best for each team, and which were the worst.

Without further ado, let us start off with the Arizona Diamondbacks…

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The Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2011 inducted two very different, yet (in my mind) two very deserving players. Roberto Alomar was perhaps the premier all-around player of our time, and Bert Blyleven was a strikeout machine who could at least keep his team in games, even if they didn’t get the win.

While the Class of 2012 will likely be empty, there are many active players who seem like sure things when their time comes. Albert Pujols, Roy Halladay, and Joe Mauer are examples of players who will probably have no trouble.

There are a few borderline cases as well, such as Andy Pettitte or Jim Thome (though 10 years ago, he’d have been in on the first ballot)

The following are 25 great players who are either great now or on the tail end of their careers. Unfortunately for them though, they will not be a part of the Hall of Fame for various reasons unless the Hall goes crazy like they did in the late 1960s/early 1970s (the inductions of Rube Marquard, Jesse Haines and Paul Waner really hurt the Hall).

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Over the course of the off season I’ve read my fair share of articles listing teams and their power rankings or their projected records for the 2011 season.  One trend that I’ve noticed is that the Philadelphia Phillies are the favorites of the National League (maybe all of MLB, but the Red Sox really stepped it up this year). Usually, the team to beat is the reigning World Series Champion, which this year is the San Francisco Giants. Even though some credit is given to them, they seem to not be given as much attention as the Phillies. Usually, a fan of the Giants such as myself would cry foul “East coast bias” or something similar to that, but let’s look at this for a bit.

First of all, the biggest debate won’t be decided until at least the All-Star Break come July. Whose pitching staff is better, San Francisco or Philadelphia?  Many have looked into this, so I wont go into too much detail, but it looks as if the starting rotations are both excellent.

Philadelphia has Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, Cole Hammels, and Joe Blanton as their starting five.  Roy Halladay is great, amazing even.  He won the NL Cy Young award this year.  How? He threw two no-hitters last year, one of which was a perfect game, and then he no-hit the Reds, who had a very nice offense all year that included the NL MVP Joey Votto.  He is no doubt an ace.  

Cliff Lee is next.  He has a career record of 102-61 with an ERA of 3.85, ERA+ of 112 and a WHIP of 1.256 all of which are not bad.  His real value is in the playoffs where, until this post season, he was undefeated with a 7-0 record in 10 games started.  Even with the two losses to the Giants, he is 7-2 with an ERA of 2.13 and a WHIP of 0.816.  Not bad at all, not the ace with Halladay up there, but a very solid pitcher.  

Oswalt is another solid pitcher.  Similar win-loss percentage and ERA to Lee, and a better ERA+ and WHIP.  He has completed 10 years in the majors.  Oswalt had a bit of a rough start in Houston in 2010, but really turned it around in Philly, as he went from a 6-12 pitcher to a 7-1 guy as soon as he ended up there.  

Next up is Cole Hammels.  Cole is 26, and getting better each year.  3.53 ERA, 1.176 WHIP, 123 ERA+, above an “average” pitcher, and I am going to guess that he’s going to improve.

Finally, we get to Joe Blanton, the number five starter for the Phillies.  Like most fifth starters, we see a drop off in the stats.  He has an above .500 win-loss record, but his ERA is 4.30, and his ERA+ is 99, below average.  His whip is around average at 1.343, but he gives up an average of 10.6 hits/9 innings.

Now to the San Francisco Giants.  The number one pitcher is Tim Lincecum.  The Giants ace is a former two-time Cy Young award winner.  He had a down year in 2010, as evident in his horrific August showing.  He still led the NL in Strikeouts with 231, and had an above average 119 ERA+ as well as having a 9.8 K/9 innings.  The playoffs showed what Lincecum could do when he was on.  He had a 14 strikeout game vs the Braves in his very first playoff appearance.  Additionally, he helped the Giants win their first Word Series title since moving to San Francisco by beating Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee. 

Matt Cain is second up.  The Workhorse of the Giants staff, Cain is also the “Veteran” of the staff, as he has been in the Giants’ rotation the longest of any of the current starters.  This year, Cain showed his usual consistent self posting a 3.14 ERA, 130 ERA+, 1.084 WHIP, and four complete games including two shutouts.  We also can’t forget his stellar post season.  Cain went 2-0 in three starts with 21.1 innings pitched, a WHIP of 0.938, and an ERA of 0.00.  He gave up one unearned run through 21.1 innings.  

Now on to Jonathan Sanchez, the only Giants starter with a no-hitter.  As many have said before me, Sanchez’s stuff is nasty.  If he was more consistent, Sanchez could very well be the ace of the staff. Sanchez may have an ERA+ of 101, barely above average and an ERA of 4.26, but he is very much improved over the past years, as his ERA dropped 1.17 points from 2009 to 2010.  While Sanchez led the league in Walks, he also led the league in batting average against, allowing an average of 6.6 hits per nine innings and a .204 BAA.  In September and October, Sanchez showed how good he is when he is on.  He was 4-1 with an ERA of 1.01, a WHIP of 1.037, and a BAA of .151.  Unfortunately, he sometimes can let games get away, as seen in the playoffs, especially in the NLCS when he had to exit the sixth game in the second inning after giving up two runs and three hits as well as walking two batters.  Overall, Sanchez is improving though, and I expect more improvement in 2011.  

The Giants’ fourth starter is young Madison Bumgarner.  Because he has only played in parts of two seasons, we’ll just look at his 2010 stats.  He has a 7-6 Win Loss record, an ERA of an even 3.00, a WHIP of 1.306, and an ERA+ of 136.   Not bad at all, especially considering his rookie status.  Moving into the postseason, Bumgarner went 2-0 with an ERA of 2.18, and a WHIP of 1.113, including his eight-inning shutout performance vs. the best lineup the AL had to offer in the World Series.

Finally, we arrive at Barry Zito as the Giants’ fifth starter.  Zito is the only starter on the starting rotation that is over 30.  That being said, he has also performed the worst.  A three time all-star and former Cy Young award winner, Zito was a promising player when he crossed the Bay into S.F, but he has not performed well since then.  He’s gone 40-57 with an ERA of 4.45, a WHIP of 1.408, and an ERA+ of 97. He did show promise at the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010, however, and is solid as a fifth starter.  I have faith that he will step up as his contract is nearing it’s end, and I hope that he can pull it together and at least grab a .500 record in 2011.

As you can see, both rotations are stellar.  In numbers, I can now see why people are saying that Philadelphia has the best rotation, however, we have to keep in mind that in the post season, the Giants beat each of the Phillies pitchers (except Joe Blanton), and the Giants have a much younger squad.  While injuries are possible for anyone, with age comes the greater risk, so I’d say that the Phillies are more likely to get unlucky.  That being said, and because I am a die hard Giants fan, I’d have to say that it could go either way, but I’ll lean towards the Giants and their torture.

Staring Pitchers aren’t the only pitchers though, the bullpen plays a huge part of a team’s success. This is the weakest part of the Phillies’ pitching staff.  Their closer, Brad Lidge had a perfect season in 2009, but in 2010 only had 27 saves.  While his ERA and WHIP are both better than average, he is still somewhat inconsistent.  The rest of the Phillies bullpen is average at best with Madson being their best reliever.  Besides his 2.55 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 64 K’s, the next best is Conteras with a 3.34 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP, and ends up with Baez at a 5.48 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP.

The Giants on the other hand have a very good bullpen that includes former TYIB Reliever of the Year Jeremy Affeldt, Santiago Castilla, Javier Lopez, Sergio Romo, and Brian Wilson.  Affeldt was injured for part of the year and didn’t seem to bounce back too well until his masterful relief appearance in game six of the NLCS. Santiago Casilla is a great strikeout pitcher with a K/9 of 9.1 and a nice 6.5 H/9. Lopez was wonderful at shutting down left-handed batters, and Romo is a good set up man for the man who led the league in saves, Brian Wilson.  As proof to the bullpen’s strength, anyone can look to that sixth game of the NLCS when the ‘pen had to pitch seven innings of shut out ball to stop the Phillies and take the Giants to the World Series.

Now that we’ve finished with pitching, we can move on to hitting.

The Phillies will probably have a lineup consisting of:

1. Jimmy Rollins    

2. Placido Polanco

3. Chase Utley    

4. Ryan Howard  

5. Raul Ibanez    

6. Shane Victorino  

7. Domonic Brown  

8. Carlos Ruiz      

All in all a very reasonable threat to score.

As we move to the Giants, we see they’ll have: 

1. Andres Torres

2. Freddy Sanchez

3. Buster Posey

4. Aubrey Huff

5. Pat Burrell

6. Pablo Sandoval

7. Miguel Tejada

8. Cody Ross.

Looking at the two lineups, I would say Philadelphia has an edge in the hitting department, unless Sandoval really steps up his game to his 2009 numbers, Aubrey Huff, Andres Torres, and Freddy Sanchez all do as well as or better than 2010, and Miguel Tejada becomes the power boost that S.F. needs.

Looking at the numbers, I can still see why Philadelphia is the “team to beat”, but you can never write off the San Francisco Giants.  They were written off in 2010, and they made it all the way.  The base statistics may say one thing, but team chemistry also matters, and the Giants have a big advantage on that aspect of the game.

As we look forward to the beginning of Spring Training and the 2011 season we don’t know if the Phillies will be the best team out there, and we don’t know if the Giants will repeat as World Champions. All that is certain is that we are all looking forward to a great season and hopefully a fun and eventful rematch between the Phillies and the Giants.

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Unless you live under a rock, you have heard Cliff Lee is coming back to Philadelphia. As familiar as this may sound now, think back to what your reaction was a little more than a month ago when this shocking announcement was made.

Phillies fans were in utter disbelief. They had many questions, all of which were difficult to answer.

How did the Phillies have enough money to sign the most sought after player on the market to a multiyear, multimillion dollar deal, especially after that being the main reason not to re-sign Jayson Werth?

Why would Cliff Lee want to sign with the Phillies, when the Yankees offered him more years and more money and the Rangers were the closest team to his home?

Didn’t the Phillies just trade Lee one offseason ago? Why would Lee want to come back to Philly after how management treated him following the previous year’s World Series run?

All of these are very understandable, putting into question the reason which drove Cliff Lee to return to the city of brotherly love.

There are many reasons that people say why Cliff Lee chose Philadelphia as opposed to New York, Arlington or other cities that may have been in the hunt.

Two reasons clearly stand out.

The first is fairly obvious: Cliff Lee is committed to winning.

After he won the Cy Young Award in 2008 for the Indians, Lee became recognized in the national spotlight. He was traded to the Phillies in the midseason of 2009 and has not looked back since.

Lee has enjoyed two deep playoff runs, and in both of these, he was the featured pitcher on his staff. He has been treated with postseason success and loves pitching in big games.

However, Cliff Lee has been on the losing side of both of the last two World Series.

He has a bitter taste left in his mouth, with something not yet accomplished: a World Series ring to add to his resume.

The Phillies and their four aces give Cliff Lee the best chance at winning his first World Series. Lee is committed to winning, and no other team out there gave him the same opportunity. And who wouldn’t want to be in the same rotation as Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels?

Winning is definitely what keeps the fans excited, but this still does not completely explain why Cliff Lee came back to Philly. It is only one of the two reasons why he came back, and arguably the least important of two.

Cliff Lee was once just a mediocre college baseball player. He went to Meridian Community College and later transferred to Arkansas. He was drafted by the Montreal Expos but was never a standout player in their organization.

Back before Cliff Lee had any baseball career or fame, all he had was his family. He had his wife, Kristen, and his infant, Jaxon.

Jaxon was diagnosed with leukemia at four months old while Cliff was still in the minor leagues. He had a 30 percent chance of living. Lee could not believe the news and was in complete shock.

Jaxon suffered various setbacks during the process, but he fought through the cancer the whole time. Lee never liked to talk about the illness, even though he spent much of his time in the hospital.

Lee’s son received a bone marrow transplant that saved his life, and Lee’s performance on the field paralleled his son’s improvement in the hospital.

Lee’s son was diagnosed as cancer free in 2006 when he was five years old.  But during the Lee family’s quick stop in Philadelphia more than a year ago, they found something that offered them insurance in case anything every happened.

The Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia is ranked as one of the top children’s hospitals in the August 2010 issue of U.S. News and World Report. The Lee family felt really comfortable with this hospital treating their son if anything ever came back up.

Cliff Lee is all about the family, his first priority even before baseball.

So why did Cliff Lee return to Philadelphia after all? 

Maybe his return was about more than just the game: the security of his family.

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As the spring draws closer, the talk of pitchers and catchers starts circulating amongst the fans.

Philadelphia Phillies fans, and baseball fans in general, start to grow restless as thoughts of homeruns and Cy Young Awards dance in their heads.

With a tumultuous offseason almost over, the Phillies roster has been altered in a big way.  It will be interesting to see the effects of the big addition of pitcher Cliff Lee and the departure of right handed hitter Jayson Werth.

The following list consists of 10 things that have to happen for the Philadelphia Phillies to have a shot at another World Series win.

The wait for spring training is on and the let the excitement grow, Enjoy!

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With most of the top free agents now signed and teams starting to take shape as we approach spring training, I thought I would share my pre-pre-season perspective on the relative strengths (and weaknesses) of all 30 major league teams. I have broken the article down into three installments, and will publish one of the segments each day this weekend.

Part I (Saturday) examined the three teams I view as the weakest in baseball; Part II (yesterday) covered the teams in the middle of the pack; and Part III (today) previews the 10 teams I believe to be the best in baseball.

Without further ado, here is how I see things:

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In preparation for the 2011 MLB Fantasy Baseball season, The Fantasy Fix team will preview a team’s pitching rotation each day. Tyler starts the series with the National League East’s Philadelphia Phillies.

The Fantastic Four have come together to defeat the evil competition in the NL East.

In 2009, we saw the first glimpse of Cliff “Mr. Fantastic” Lee. He made 12 starts going 7-4 with 79.2 IP, a 3.39 ERA and struck out 74 during his successful stretch with the Phillies. Lee was this offseason’s most coveted free agent, and stunned the baseball universe with his decision. However, getting a taste of World Series savor with the Texas Rangers, Lee now joins the rest of his super hero friends in the City of Brotherly Love to try yet again to win it all.

Last year, Mr. Lee won 12 games in 28 starts while posting a 3.19 ERA, striking out 185 and walking only 18 batters in 212 innings. In 2011, Lee should see an increase in wins with all the same stuff: many strikeouts, few walks and a solid ERA in the low to mid three’s.

Beginning with opening day, Cliff will find himself in the midst of a friendly competition with superhero friend Roy “The Thing” Halladay as they dual it out for the title of ace of the rotation.

In his first year in Philly, Roy “The Thing” Halladay used his super-human arm and strength to take down any hitter in his sight. Five complete game shutouts, one perfect game, a no hitter in his first postseason start and a Cy Young to cap it off, Halladay was easily baseball’s top pitcher in 2010.

As 2011 approaches, there is no reason for him to lose his title as the games best arm. His health is no longer a concern as he is about to enter his sixth straight season of 30+ starts. Despite allowing 24 home runs last year, we can say the hitters’ advantage at Citizens Bank Park is not a major liability. Halladay posted a stellar 2.44 ERA and 1.04 WHIP.

Cick Here To Continue Reading>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

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The 2010-2011 MLB off season was one for the books. Whether it was news regarding Carl Crawford’s free agency or whether or not Zach Greinke would be traded, there was never a dull moment this winter for baseball fans. Very few teams remain in the same position as they were in November.

While there are still a handful of significant free agents still on the market such as Carl Pavano and Vladimir Guerrero, it is time to reflect on the unfolding of this winter. Which deals were the most significant? Who were the winners? Who is going to regret their aggressive behavior down the road?

In this article, I will examine the 25 most significant transactions from free agent signings to trades to re-signings. These transactions are not ranked based on how good the player(s) involved were, but how much the transaction will affect the team’s outcome. 

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