The AL West was one of the worst divisions in baseball in 2010.
Entering the season, projections were all over. Each team was picked to both win the division or finish in the cellar, depending on which prediction you read.
The shape of each club is a bit easier to tell going into 2011, but there are still several questions for each club and the players signed to them.
The Giants are the 2010 world champions, it’s in the books.
What is the Phillies‘ answer to the Giants? More pitching. Even willing to let go of all-star outfielder Jayson Werth, instead the Phillies have added Cliff Lee to their already formidable starting rotation. But is this the answer?
Game 1: Roy Halladay gave up all four runs to the Giants, losing, 4-3.
Game 2: Roy Oswalt, pitched like he deserved to win. Beating the Giants, 6-1..
Game 3: Cole Hamels pitched in a losing effort, 3-0 Giants.
Game 4: Joe Blanton, pitched horribly as did Madison Bumgarner. Giants pull through at the end with great bullpen effort, 6-5 Giants.
Game 5: Roy Halladay pitched great but the former two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum out pitched him. Came down to the bullpen with Phillies coming out on top, 4-2 Phillies.
Game 6: Roy Oswalt pitched lights-out again with Jonathan Sanchez coming undone lasting only two innings. But the Giants threw every pitcher and their moms at the Phillies, finishing the series with 3-2 win.
Every game in the NLCS was won and lost within a three-run difference except for Game 2. The Phillies have a far superior offense than the Giants, even without Jayson Werth in the 2011 lineup.
The Giants pitching staff faced much more of a challenge on paper than the Phillies had to with the Giants’ mediocre hitting. Every so called “expert” wrote the Giants off. Their reason? No offense.
These “experts” are now ranking Phillies the best starting rotation and team to beat out of the National League due to a Cliff Lee sighting in Philadelphia. Yes, the names in Philadelphia’s starting rotation should strike fear to opposing lineups other than Joe Blanton.
They are all formidable contenders for the Cy Young award, well maybe not Cole Hamels. The Cy Young winner Roy Halladay was not a shut-down pitcher like he should have been against “mediocre” Giants hitting.
The only dominant pitcher from the NLCS was Oswalt. Even then, it wasn’t so much his great pitching as it was Jonathan Sanchez’s horrible pitching and melt down.
Projected fifth starter Barry Zito should not be taken lightly because of his failure to pitch into the postseason. Zito, with his $126 million, seven- year contract has a bulls-eye on his back.
And when you sign for a biggest contract known to mankind for a pitcher and underperform, it’s hazardous to your health. But don’t be so quick to write Zito off. He was the only thing the Giants had going during early part of the season. And when everyone else struggled, he was a solid No. 2 pitcher next to Matt Cain.
When Barry Zito gets in control of his command and his 12 to six curve ball, lookout! He is unhittable. Talk about health hazard, wait until Cliff Lee struggles with his ginormous new contract especially in Philadelphia. A struggling 32-year-old pitcher with a giant paycheck doesn’t look too cute in a sports crazed city.
Talk about underperforming. Fact: Ryan Howard drove in zero runs in this postseason against the Reds and the Giants.
Sure, on paper, Lee, Halladay, Oswalt, Hamels, _____ fill in the blank, look like the best pitching staff to appear since the great Braves starting rotation during the ’90s. But Lincecum, Cain, Sanchez, Bumgarner and Zito ain’t no chopped liver.
Every game but one came down to the last inning in the NLCS. Which you have to not only have great starting rotation, but you also need to have great pen to hold the leads. The Giants come out on top in this category huge with Brian Wilson and everyone in between. The lasting visuals from the NLCS (well, at least one of it I’d say) is Brian Wilson striking out Ryan Howard, looking.
Again, on paper, the Phillies starting rotation looks great, more than great. And if starting four could win you the World Series championship, the Phillies would be the leading candidate.
The Phillies get it. It’s pitching. Great pitching will beat great hitting. They understand it, they experienced it the hard way and got Cliff Lee. But is that the answer as the experts claim it to be?
Cliff Lee and the starting rotation isn’t the answer. It’s a big part of it, but it’s the entire pitching staff. From starting rotation and the bullpen. Being able to close out the lead and hold the score within close distance to give offense a chance to win it in the end. Which Cliff Lee and the Rangers should know very well.
The 2010 world champions San Francisco Giants deserve their due respect. It’s only been a couple of months since baseball came to a close with the Giants winning it all despite everyone writing them off.
From the Braves to the Phillies to the Rangers, the Giants won convincingly. People call it luck and a hot streak. And luck may happen once, but if that luck happens for three straight series, maybe it’s talent, not luck.
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Money makes the world go ’round, even (and especially) in Major League Baseball.
If nothing else, money makes baseball’s off-season much more interesting, with teams handing out absurdly large contracts left and right, to the likes of Carl Crawford, Jayson Werth and Cliff Lee.
The teams that contend year after year–the New York Yankees, the Boston Red Sox and the Philadelphia Phillies, among others—are among the biggest spenders, while those that always struggle or only occasionally have good seasons—the Pittsburgh Pirates, the San Diego Padres and the Oakland A’s, to name a few, spend only a fraction of what the former teams do on their payrolls.
Of course, more money doesn’t necessarily result in more wins; just ask the New York Mets, the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
With that in mind, the following list is a ranking of all 30 MLB teams based on how much money each spent per win earned in 2010. Admittedly, there is much more to evaluating the success or failure of a franchise than just dividing its opening day payroll by the number of victories it earns, both in the regular season and the post-season.
That being said, there is still quite an interesting mix across the spectrum, with a remarkably large percentage of 2010’s biggest winners coming from baseball’s batch of frequently frugal spenders.
In this day and age of high-priced free agents and long-term contracts for players that have one or two good years left, it is comforting to see my beloved Rangers continue to make good decisions.
Signing Lee would have been an awesome signing, and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little disappointed, but at least he didn’t go to the Yankees.
I honestly can’t say that I blame either side for the actions they took. Philadelphia is a good place for Lee to go, and the Rangers refused to do something that made them uncomfortable and didn’t fit in their long term plan.
The common action after losing a major free agent would be to go right out and sign somebody else to fill the hole, but this year there was no such signing out there, so rather than making a rash decision the Rangers took a deep breath and looked what other options might be out there.
Zach Greinke was being actively shopped, so the Rangers took a look, as any wise team would. Once again, the demands being made didn’t fit into the Rangers long-term plans, and ultimately didn’t appear to be worth the price to be paid.
So the Rangers said thanks for considering us, but we’ll pass.
They did make a few signings that could prove to be great for the team, or just be low-risk signings that we forget about by this time next year.
Brandon Webb was once an elite pitcher, but has struggled with some injuries in recent years. If he can return to only half his previous form it will be worth it, because we really haven’t invested that much.
Every Rangers fan had legitimate hope that Lee would come back to Texas, or that we would make some other big signing, but that just isn’t how it played out. And not much else has really taken place since then.
It would be easy to get frustrated that the team isn’t doing a whole lot, but that is exactly why I am thrilled with the management right now. It has a plan and is sticking to it. It is obviously working, or else the Rangers wouldn’t have made it to the World Series last year.
There has been some talk of moving Michael Young around to accommodate the signing of Adrian Beltre, and if they are do, they are just plain stupid.
Michael Young has been the pillar of consistency for this team, and ultimately the glue that holds it together. He is the consummate team player that every team needs.
Beltre, on the other hand, is inconsistent, and at this point extremely overpriced. I have all the faith in the world that management will make the right choice based on how they have acted thus far, but stranger things have happened.
So as the new year passes, I would personally like to say thank you to the Rangers management for doing nothing. The opportunity will come to make a big move, but for now, just hold tight.
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Go ahead, read that title over a few times and let it settle in. It appears that the Cleveland Indians are not only trying to sign Bartolo Colon, but they may end up in a bit of a bidding war for the services of the 37-year-old righty.
While nothing has been confirmed as of yet, Colon told reporters prior to a start during yesterdays Dominican League playoffs that there were three teams interested in potentially signing him. Of course, the team that’s already been talked about all winter are the Indians. That’s not a surprise. What is a bit of a shocker are the other two teams.
Who are the other two teams? As hard as this is to believe, it appears as though the Texas Rangers and the New York Yankees have been scouting Colon. The Rangers and the Yankees were both the rumored winners in the Cliff Lee sweepstakes at one time or another during this past offseason. Now, they apparently decided to find another Tribe starter.
Rumors were abound that both teams were fishing around Ontario and Carnegie to see if Fausto Carmona was available in a deal. When that door was politely closed, they apparently decided that it was imperative to sign anyone that used to wear Chief Wahoo on their jersey.
I seriously couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried.
Colon was fairly dominant in his seven starts for Águilas Cibaeñas, going 2-1 with a 1.47 ERA. The Indians, in need of a veteran starter, were known to be interested in their former ace. While Colon being a factor in free agency is somewhat jokeworthy, it may turn out that the joke is on the Indians after all.
The culprit of this potential battle for Colon’s services is former ace Cliff Lee. While I’d like to think that Lee didn’t do this on purpose, I’m starting to wonder. Is there some greater conspiracy at work here? Did Rocky Colavito bury an old jersey under home plate at the Jake? Is Jaret Wright somehow involved?
When Lee spurned both the Yankees and the Rangers by signing with Philadelphia, the move certainly took the Yankees by surprise. There’s no doubt that the Yankee-ego had all but assured itself that Lee was a lock. Nobody spurns the Yankees when they throw around that kind of cash. Oops.
Both the Yankees and the Rangers teams have been actively seeking players that can add depth to their rotation. The Rangers have been more active. The Yankees, well, haven’t. They seriously didn’t have a back-up plan in place, until now of course.
After the Lee debacle, the Yankees have been hoping that Andy Pettitte would return for one more season, but with retirement seeming more and more likely for the lefty, the Yankees may be ready to turn in another direction. Apparently, Bartolo Colon may be at the top of their list.
Seriously, that’s hard to say with a straight face.
The Rangers weren’t as stoic and whiny as the Yankees after losing Lee. They went out and signed Brandon Webb to a one-year, $3 million incentive-laden deal. Webb has only made one start since the start of 2009, so the gamble is obvious for the Rangers, but they have contingencies in place.
It’s believed that the Rangers would like an alternative to Webb should the lefty not pan out, and since they only dropped three million, they had money for another insurance policy. Enter Bartolo Colon.
Both teams seem set for return to the playoffs, and at the very least, are a lot closer to the playoffs than the Tribe. If that’s important to Bartolo (and that’s questionable), the Indians may not have a chance in this fight.
Cleveland is the one team that can guarantee Colon a sure-fire spot in the rotation. I’ve read some stuff saying that Colon would be the #5 starter, but the number by his name doesn’t matter. As long as he’s healthy, he’ll start for the Indians.
The Yankees and Rangers would likely spot start him unless someone didn’t pan out. In other words, he’d end up in the same situation that he walked out on in Boston and Chicago, his last two major league destinations. So perhaps these three teams are on some even ground.
Still, you have to find the ironic humor in all this. Cleveland needs a starter, and they’ve been universally panned for even considering Colon. The former Cy Young winner is believed to be long past his MLB prime, has spent the better part of the past ten years eating (although he’s supposedly in great shape), and seemed to be an easy get for the Tribe, should they decide to go that route.
Now, Bartolo Colon has not only managed to become relevant, but has potentially placed himself in the middle of three teams looking for a starter. Only in Cleveland.
The ultimate irony in all of this is Cliff Lee. He was acquired by the Indians many moons ago through a trade with the now-defunct Montreal Expos. Who did Cleveland give up to get Lee, Grady Sizemore, Brandon Phillips and Lee Stevens? How about Bartolo Colon. So Colon left because of Lee in 2002 (which was a good thing), and now, perhaps he’s done it all over again (perhaps another good thing).
So, what does all this mean?
I’m still not sure that I even want the Indians to sign Colon. There’s nothing that indicates he can be effective at 37, or 47, or however old he may be. I can tell you that having the Yankees and Rangers interested sure makes me want the Indians to sign him all the more.
I know that it’s not very Sabr of me, but such is life. It may be the only win the Tribe can get against the Evil Empire and the World Series runner-up Rangers this season, so I’ll take what I can get.
The real humor in all this is that it’s distinctly possible that Colon has made these comments with the direct intent to garner more cash with whomever he ultimately signs with. It’s a common ploy for most agents and players to let it be known that they are wanted somewhere else, and Colon has been around the block a few time.
For some reason, this all makes some sort of strange, ‘you have to be kidding me’ sense. The New York Yankees and Texas Rangers outbidding the Indians for Bartolo Colon.
Shhhhh, I hear Jamie Moyer is available.
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The Phillies‘ recent acquisition of Cliff Lee is drawing the attention of baseball writers all over the country. Many of them commend GM Ruben Amaro Jr. and his bold decision to acquire the lefty, but others are not quite as generous.
Although Cliff Lee left money on the table, it still took Philadelphia a boat load of money to bring him back into red pinstripes. So much money actually, that the Phillies are even being compared to the New York Yankees who are infamous for purchasing the top free agents on the market without any financial limitations.
Now I must confess, I am a die-hard Philadelphia Phillies fan, but it does not take a genius to see that the Phillies are by no means like the Yankees. Here are some reasons (they are in no specific order):
1. The Phillies Payroll Is a Lot Smaller Than the Yankees’
I am not saying the Phillies and Yankees are not comparable. They both have very high payrolls, they both purchase and trade for stellar players and they both have comparable lineups. However, the Phillies payroll is around $50 million smaller than the Yankees payroll of over $210 million.
$50 million is a lot of money! To put that in perspective, the 2009 payroll of the Florida Marlins was smaller than $50 million. With the big names in free agency this season and an extra $50 million, the Phillies could have re-signed Jayson Werth, still have inked Cliff Lee, signed free-agent outfielder Carl Crawford, acquired the top left-handed reliever on the market in Scott Downs and they could use the remaining money to upgrade the bullpen even further. Now that team would be “Yankee comparable.”
The Phillies have also publicized their interest in getting rid of starting pitcher Joe Blanton to help reduce the large number that is the Phillies payroll. They have acknowledged that a large sum of money was spent and they are planning on loosening the payroll with a trade. If they do not get this done however, they have many contracts ending after the 2011 season, and they will eat Blanton’s salary until they lose players to free agency like Raul Ibanez, and possibly Jimmy Rollins and Brad Lidge. Needless to say, after losing those hefty salaries, they will have more money to spend on other players.
2. Cliff Lee Was Once a Phillie
In July of 2009, the Philadelphia Phillies were looking to ink a top-of-the-rotation starting pitcher to assist them in their quest to their second straight World Series. Roy Halladay was their prime target, but J.P Ricciardi’s asking price was far too high, so they settled for Cliff Lee. Lee instantly became a fan favorite in Philadelphia leading them to their second straight World Series.
Before the 2010 season began, the Phils were looking to re-attempt to acquire right-handed pitcher Roy Halladay. Philadelphia fans had already made shirts that said “Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee,” but GM Ruben Amaro Jr. felt that the Phillies needed to replenish their farm system, so he sent Cliff Lee away to Seattle for prospects that turned out to be quite mediocre.
This move was very unpopular in Philadelphia, and at the next trade deadline, Ruben Amaro redeemed himself with the acquisition of right-handed starting pitcher Roy Oswalt. This had already given the Phillies one of the top rotations in all of the majors, but it was not enough as the Phillies fell to the San Francisco Giants in the NLCS.
Now, one could compare the Phillies to the Yankees, accusing them of stealing the No. 1 free agent on the market, but as poor as the excuse may sound, Cliff Lee is an exception.
Amaro had earlier stated before the signing that the Phillies payroll is very tight and it would take only a rare exception to expand the payroll any further. Although Cliff Lee was the top free agent in the free agency pool this year, the Phillies would not have spent that money on Carl Crawford; not once did the Phillies even mention that they were attempting to sign the top outfielder on the free-agent market.
Letting Cliff Lee go in the first place was a mistake—Amaro knew Cliff Lee wanted to be in Philadelphia. Opportunities, like getting the top pitcher on the free-agent market for much less money, rarely ever occur. Cliff Lee had a connection with Philadelphia and it is not much of a surprise that they got him; if his name was “Liff Cee” and he never played for the Phillies, they probably would not have tried to get him.
If you want to compare the Phillies to the Yankees, do not start comparing them after the signing of Cliff Lee, because, although it is improving the team’s already-stellar rotation, Cliff Lee has a connection with Philadelphia.
3. Most Phillies Have Been on the Team Since Drafted
Philadelphia’s core lineup and the majority of their team consists of players that were drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies or players that came into the majors from the Phillies farm system. Some of their best players—Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Carlos Ruiz, Shane Victorino, Cole Hamels and Placido Polanco (left Philadelphia then came back)—emerged from the Phillies farm system and became the highly regarded players that they are today.
The Phillies’ large payroll is merely a result of retaining their Philadelphia products. The New York Yankees have two players that they once drafted: Derek Jeter, ariano rivera, robinson cano, brett gardner, and phil hughes. Now it is true that the Yankees have a lot of young talent currently in their systems, but trades do occur and some of those players will be on different clubs in the future.
So as you can see, the Philadelphia Phillies may be comparable to the New York Yankees, but in terms of accusations towards the Phillies for purchasing the top players on the market, the Phillies are very different. Let me know what you think. Thanks!
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Let me start by saying that, while it’s non-zero, the chances of Felix Hernandez being traded this winter are pretty small.
Felix has stated many times that he loves Seattle. He has a no-trade clause that we know includes the Yankees. We don’t know the other teams, but the team that may be the most willing to give up a huge package is probably out of the running.
Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik has also stated that he has no interest in trading the King. While that may be because he can’t due to the contract and ownership’s wishes, he still said it. This is a front office that traded for Cliff Lee without a soul knowing about it until it was done. They’re tight-lipped, and when they do say something, you can generally take it to the bank.
We also have seen one offer that the Mariners turned down. A couple summers ago, they didn’t feel Adrian Gonzalez, Clay Buchholz and their choice of a few more Red Sox prospects were enough. That would have been a pretty impressive haul, so to turn that down lets you know something.
This is baseball, though. It’s a weird game, and you never know what sort of surprise you’ll see. So here are 10 trade packages that could pique their interest.
Brian Cashman and the entire Yankees organization are still hiding under the covers. It’s been a rough offseason for New York; not necessarily because they missed out on talent, but because the organization was continually embarrassed.
It started, of course, with Cliff Lee. After we were led to believe that Lee would be a Yankee without any kind of disturbance, the Phillies walked in and lit the Yankees desires on fire. No big deal, everyone said, the Yankees just didn’t want to spend that kind of money. That’s fine, but maybe we should have heard that earlier.
Derek Jeter also earned a spot on this list as well. As if it wasn’t ridiculous enough for Jeter ask for five or six years, his agent decided to take it to the next level and call the Yankees actions “baffling.” The Yankees won that battle without ever shedding a drop of sweat, but an embarrassing result for Jeter is an embarrassing result for the Yankees
Then, to add insult to injury, Kerry Wood decided to sign with the Cubs for a fourth of the money he could have made with the Yankees. I want to be a Cub for life, he said. Don’t ask me what’s going through his mind.
The Red Sox also did a small number on the Evil Empire. In an attempt to swarm the tabloids of the baseball world, Theo Epstein decided to take a shot at signing Mariano Rivera. Although Rivera swept it off with virtually no thought, the last thing the Yankees needed was to be on the wrong side of a joke.
To top it off, another small Yankee dream was diminished. The Yankees missed out on Zack Greinke, mostly because they didn’t want to give up their entire minor league system, but also because they were never too excited about bringing him to New York.
Here are the two ways to look at the Yankees’ 2010-11 offseason: (A), the cynical view, would be to say the Yankees two best additions are Russell Martin and Pedro Feliciano—not too inspiring; (B), the optimistic and realistic view, would be to say the Yankees will enter the 2011 season with the same team that won the 2009 World Series.
Ultimately, this offseason was hyped up beyond belief for the Yankees. But the problem was that the actual Yankees organization had different plans. Cashman would have loved to add Lee or Crawford, but evidently he wasn’t too eager to sign either of them; at least for the prices the market demanded.
However, that is not a reason to let this offseason slip away. A couple weeks ago, the Yankees were hit with their lowest luxury tax since 2003. Clearly something is missing. Not to say the Yankees should spend for the sake of spending, but there is still room to improve.
By now it is quite obvious that the Yankees are not going to improve their starting pitching. If, by some miracle, Prior can help this team, the Yankees will have a great pitching staff; but don’t count on it.
As it stands, the Yankees starting rotation is projected to have a higher WAR in 2011 than it did in 2010, so the Yankees can feel comfortable entering the season with C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Phil Hughes, Ivan Nova and a fifth starter of their choice. (The Yankees still await a verdict from Andy Pettitte.)
But with the remaining money the Yankees have left on the table, they can still make significant improvements to their bullpen.
If the Yankees want to take a risk, they can go with a young Chad Cordero or a much older Brian Fuentes. Both can be labeled as “very high risk, very high reward.”
If the Yankees want to make a big splash, they can strike a deal with the Royals for Joakim Soria. But after the Yankees listened to ridiculous offers for Greinke, it is unlikely that these two teams can work anything out this offseason.
Then, there is Rafael Soriano. The Yankees have been clear throughout that they do not want to spend the money he will demand. But if things get too close to the finish line, it wouldn’t hurt the Yankees to spend some of their extra cash on a guy who had 45 saves last season.
When I heard that the Yankees were having “internal conversations” about Manny Ramirez, it became evident that the Yankees just weren’t taking this offseason seriously. There are plenty of places to improve, and it’s time for Cashman to wipe away the tears and get something done.
Listen to Jess on What’s on Second: The Seamheads.com Radio Hour Monday nights at 9 p.m. ET. Follow him on Twitter @jesskcoleman or send him an e-mail at jess@jesskcoleman.com.
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With about only three months before the first regular season game, the time for baseball writers/bloggers to make their predictions about the 2011 MLB season is beginning to draw near. There are a lot of questions that will be answered in the 2011 season, such as: have the Phillies created a dynasty, can the Yankees rebound after losing out on big players this winter, and can Joey Votto carry the Reds back into the playoffs?
When making predictions for an upcoming season there are three important factors that I weigh into my decision making.
First, the stats; sabermetrics is an unbelievable tool and, with the right analysis, can really give you some unprecedented insight.
Second, the gut; sometimes you have to look past stats and trends and go with the gut feeling. Numbers are very helpful, but they can only take us so far – don’t underestimate your gut feelings.
Third, and finally, luck; anything can happen – from a sore elbow finally requiring surgery to a player hurting his leg trying to tie a shoelace…some things cannot be foreseen.
Without further ado here is a look at, what I believe, will be the 50 best players fore the entirety of the 2011 season along with a speculation as what some of their year end stats may look like…
With a large part of the 2011 offseason over, teams’ rosters are becoming more and more clear.
Which starting rotations are the best in baseball for the 2011 season?
In this article, I will list the top 10 starting rotations in Major League Baseball.
Let me know if you agree/disagree with any of my picks in the comments section.