Results tagged ‘ CC Sabathia ’
CJ on the Rangers, Darvish & flipping the page …
C.J. Wilson has a pretty marquee matchup coming up Friday, when he returns to the ballpark he called home for the last seven years, faces the teammates he went to two straight World Series with and goes toe-to-toe the man his old club essentially chose to spend money on instead of him.
Below are some highlights of what Wilson (pictured left) told reporters about the matchup from Minneapolis. He mostly downplayed the emotions of returning to Texas and facing Yu Darvish. But he did say he expects to get booed, confirmed that the only formal offer he ever got from the Rangers was a three-year deal just a few days before Opening Day 2011, stated that he doesn’t blame the Rangers’ front office for moving in a different direction and recalled a time when he told GM Jon Daniels on a bus that he needed to make sure young guys like Derek Holland and Elvis Andrus were taken care of.
Here goes …
On the upcoming matchup with his old ‘mates: “Obviously, when you change teams within the division, at some point you’re going to play your old team, and they’ve won the division the past two years because they’re great hitters. So that’s the objective for me, to prevent the other team from scoring runs. I have a tall task.”
On what could be an emotional Friday: “I think the biggest thing will just be that we’ll be playing in front of a huge crowd in a stadium that’s relatively hostile to our team – and I’m sure will be fairly hostile to me. I think a lot of people will boo me and stuff. It’s happened before in other stadiums, as well. Hey, some of them booed while I was there when I was a reliever, you know. The main objective is just focusing on the baseball aspect of it and preparing to get their guys out.”
On following the Rangers’ hot start: “Well, it’s on T.V. every day. ‘Oh, they can hit? I didn’t know that. They’re good hitters? Oh yeah.’ They were always good hitters. I knew that. I played with them for so many years. I know them really well.”
On facing Darvish: “I think it’s interesting, obviously, that we both kind of slotted into the rotation the way we did, that that’s the way it lines up. But it’s not the National League, so I don’t have to face him. I would be very prepared for his repertoire of fastballs and curveballs and splitters. He throws a lot of those to left-handed hitters, so I would be focusing on that if it were the National League, but it’s not. My job is to focus on facing Nelson and Michael Young and Josh Hamilton. Who I pitch against means nothing.”
On switching teams: “I’ve had a lot of time to practice different scenarios in baseball. High school – I transferred high schools. Junior college – I transferred to college. Minor leagues. Major leagues. Teammates are now opponents. Opponents are now teammates. There’s a lot of different stuff that goes along with it. But we’re just uniforms pitching against uniforms for a lot of fans. For me, it’s a much more academic pursuit than an emotional pursuit if that makes any sense. I study it, try to find a weakness, try to pitch to that weakness and then try to win the game.”
On his conversation with Daniels the night of Dec. 8: “Jon Daniels called me the night before I signed and was like, ‘Is there anything I can do to tell you not to sign with the Angels?’ I kind of laughed. I was like, ‘Well, you could make me a contract offer.’ It’s pretty simple.”
On whether he feels the Rangers wasted his time this offseason: “All I’ll say is that I had a really good relationship with a lot of guys, front office, coaches. Obviously, in any organization there’s going to be some people that maybe you don’t interact with as much. … But what it comes down to at the end of the day is you have to do what’s right for you. They moved the way they did because that’s the way Jon Daniels, Nolan Ryan and the ownership group wanted to go. There’s nothing wrong with that. You can never begrudge over changing directions. There’s nothing wrong with that. They have a young core of players that they want to lock up – Elvis Andrus, Neftali [Feliz], Derek, those guys. And I sat down on a bus before a game with Jon Daniels and told him, ‘Whatever happens, you have to sign Derek, you have to sign Elvis, you have to make those guys feel comfortable and make them feel like part of the future.’ And I told him that because it has nothing to do with me, it has to do with those guys, and I like those guys. At the end of the day, I’m not going to begrudge anybody for what they did or didn’t do. That quote ["the Rangers wasted my time"] was taken a little bit out of context in that I could’ve signed with the Angels right away, with how hard they were pursuing me. That’s kind of what it was all about, because I was like, ‘Whoa, they want me more than anybody else, so I’ll just go with them right now.’ That could’ve happened in November, but it didn’t because my agent and I were talking about it. There was some sort of conversation in regards to, ‘Well the Rangers want to meet with us and do this and that,’ and it just never materialized in that sense. It’s not a waste of my time baseball-wise.”
On his time in Texas: “I had a lot of fun. That was a great team. We had more fun playing baseball the last two years with that team than any team I’ve ever played on, even junior college. … The guys are great, the guys are fun, and that’s why people love watching them. Adrian Beltre’s head-touch thing, the deer and the antlers, and I was a big part of that. I enjoyed that. So it was fun living that, and I’m trying to bring that over here, that fun, extroverted thing. So I learned a lot. But there was never a case of me wanting to leave or anything like that. So I just want that to be clear.”
On staying in touch with his old teammates: “Some guys, yeah, but that’s a two-way street. I have five years with these guys, trying to get to know [Mark] Trumbo and [Peter] Bourjos. Colby Lewis I’ve known since 1999, we exchange text messages, but for the most part, we’re trying to beat those guys, therefore, our wins come at their expense and their wins come at our expense. That’s why you play, to win. So that’s a very weird grey area for a lot of guys.”
On how his old team’s hot start, and his new team’s slow one: “The guys are loose and they play good baseball. There are a lot of teams that have got off to hot starts. We’ve gotten off to a pretty poor start because we were out of sync. Some games are pitching wasn’t good, some games our hitting wasn’t good, some games we did both of those and played bad defense. If you fire on all cylinders, it doesn’t really matter what your roster consists of, you’re going to win the game. If we play the way we have been, we have a lot better chance of winning than we did in the first 10 games of the season.”
And, finally, on his impressions of Darvish: “He’s on TV every time he pitches. He’s tall. Has a really tight uniform. He’s a right-handed guy with 95-mph fastball, couple different breaking balls, like A.J. Burnett a couple years ago stuff-wise, he’s 6-foot-5, tall, lanky, long arm, hip turn, from a scout standpoint, that’s what you see, though he’s got two extra pitches. But like I said, I don’t bat off him. If I did, I know exactly what I’d be looking for, but I don’t talk about that. It’s none of your business.”
Some Angels.com links …
- Angels focused on themselves, not Rangers
- Wilson bracing for boos, Yu, in Arlington
- Born to run, Mike Trout makes rapid rise to Majors
- Offense comes to life, and Ervin Santana celebrates
- Notebook: Mike Scioscia tossed, Dan Haren on his back, Angels shutout seven times, Peter Bourjos biding time, etc.
– Alden
Starting pitcher extensions?
OK, so Howard Kendrick has already agreed to terms on a four-year extension (physical pending), and general manager Jerry Dipoto previously indicated that he’d also like to lock up Kendrick’s middle-infield partner, Erick Aybar.
But what about the starting pitchers? More specifically, what about Dan Haren and Ervin Santana?
The Angels have some leeway with both because they hold 2013 club options in each case. But as you all know, teams love locking up quality starting pitchers long term (though the Angels may not be able to fit that into their agenda this offseason). So let’s take a closer look at each of their cases …
Haren
Basics: He won’t be 32 until Sept. 17 and is heading into the final guaranteed season of a four-year, $44.75 million contract. For next year, the Angels hold a $15.5 million option — nearly $3 million more than what he’ll make in 2012 — with a $3.5 million buyout.
Numbers: Haren has been remarkably consistent and durable in his first seven full seasons, averaging 226 innings, 34 starts, 14 wins and a 3.49 ERA while making three All-Star teams and finishing Top 5 in Cy Young voting once (in 2009). In that 2005-11 span, the Monterey Park, Calif., native ranks sixth among qualifiers in WHIP (1.15, just ahead of Jered Weaver‘s 1.16 mark) and second in strikeouts (1,368, trailing only CC Sabathia‘s 1,417). He does allow a lot of fly balls — his groundball-to-flyball rate was tied for 57th in that same span — but Haren has never been on the disabled list. Not once!
Comparables: We’re probably looking at a five-year deal here — the same thing Cliff Lee, A.J. Burnett, John Lackey and C.J. Wilson got at around the same age. Wilson got $77.5 million last month and had only been a starter for two years. Burnett and Lackey each signed for $82.5 million (Burnett heading into ’09, Lackey heading into ’10), but Haren’s numbers and durability have topped both. Then there’s Lee, who got a $120 million contract to return to the Phillies last offseason. Lee already had a Cy Young Award in his back pocket by that point, but his cumulative numbers paled in comparison to Haren’s — 99-57, 3.88 ERA, 1,346 1/3 innings, 1.258 WHIP and 1,035 strikeouts over the previous seven-year span.
Santana
Basics: He turned 29 on Dec. 12 and is heading into the final guaranteed season of a four-year, $30 million contract (signed just before his fifth season). The Angels hold a club option for 2013 at $13 million — nearly $2 million more than he’ll make in 2012 — with a $1 million buyout. They have not yet begun extension talks with Santana, a source said.
Numbers: Santana has been rather inconsistent through his first seven seasons, which has seen him combine for an 87-67 record, a 4.22 ERA, a 1.305 WHIP and an average of 185 innings and 148 strikeouts per season. In that span, he ranks 38th among qualifiers in strikeout-to-walk ratio and 85th in groundball-to-flyball rate. His walk total has been up the last two years, but Santana is coming off one of his best season in 2011, when he threw a no-hitter, posted a career-low 3.38 ERA, his second-lowest WHIP (1.220), his second-highest strikeout total (178) and his most ever innings (228 2/3).
Comparables: The four-year, $56 million contract Mark Buehrle signed with the White Sox in July 2007 (which paid him $14 million every year from 2008-11) may be a good gauge here. Buehrle had a bit better numbers through his first seven full seasons — 103 wins and a 3.79 ERA while averaging 225 innings and 129 strikeouts — but the rise in starting-pitcher contracts since that time may put Santana’s on par, or perhaps even slightly higher.
– Alden
A week of moves — and non-moves
At 2 p.m. ET, as I sat in my seat just before a 2 1/2-hour flight from New York to Chicago (I’ll be covering the Yankees in the South Side this week), I shut off my phone and immediately started thinking about what would await me once I had service again. The non-waiver Trade Deadline was only two hours away. Where would Heath Bell go? What will the Yankees do? Who will land B.J. Upton? Then I touched down at O’Hare Airport, and realized all of that was a non-story.
Bell was the guy that was sure to be pitching elsewhere the rest of this season, the Yankees — as is their custom — were sure to make some sort of splash, and Upton was sure to be dealt after having his name in rumors for so many years. But none of that happened, Hiroki Kuroda didn’t waive his no-trade clause, James Shields stayed put in Tampa Bay, and the White Sox held on to Carlos Quentin.
That’s right, the biggest thing I’m taking away from the Deadline is what actually didn’t occur.
Now, on to the obligatory post-Deadline-winners-and-losers story. I know that in trades there really aren’t supposed to be any “winners” or “losers” (Neither side makes a deal if they don’t feel they’re “winning,” too, right?), but certain teams simply make out better than others.
Here are the three biggest winners and three biggest losers among the contending teams. And as always, we’ll get the bad news out of the way first …
Losers
Yankees: As MLBTradeRumors.com pointed out, this was the first time since 1999 that the Yankees went through an entire July without making a trade. And even though they’re 22 games above .500 and nurse a 6 1/2-game lead in the American League Wild Card race, they needed to add two pieces that they didn’t get: A starter and a lefty reliever.
Perhaps J.C. Romero, currently pitching for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, will work out for them, and veteran relievers can usually be had in August. But I was in the minority in thinking they should’ve dealt their prospects for Ubaldo Jimenez, who they were reportedly in on. I would’ve given up two of either Ivan Nova, Manny Banuelos and Dellin Betances, and one of either Jesus Montero and Austin Romine. Whether or not that would’ve been enough to get the deal done, I don’t know, but it doesn’t seem the Yankees were willing to come anywhere close to doing that.
The Yankees’ hope is that just one of those three arms becomes the quality of starter Ubaldo currently is, and if you have a chance to get an arm like that now — when he’s expandable, when he’s under club control for a while and when he’s extremely affordable — you do it. Right now, the Yankees have the great CC Sabathia, and then four guys they don’t know what they’ll get out of on a nightly basis. Not good enough.
Diamondbacks: The D-backs have a real shot at winning the National League West, but they didn’t do enough to get it done. Jason Marquis and Brad Ziegler were nice and necessary additions to their rotation and bullpen, respectively, but they needed to upgrade their offense to somehow shorten the gap separating them from the Giants. Instead, San Francisco added a bat, and Arizona didn’t.
I get that the D-backs didn’t expect to compete this year and they prefer to hold on to their top prospects. But had they gone after a big bat, they would’ve had a good shot at superseding the Giants. Now? I can’t see it happening.
Tigers: I understand their hesitancy to give up a prospect like Jacob Turner, but frankly, I would’ve liked to see the Tigers do more for their rotation than just Doug Fister. Maybe one more mid-level starter like that for a team that ranks 14th in the AL in starting-pitcher ERA.
Winners
Cardinals: Fans didn’t seem too happy that they dealt an asset like Colby Rasmus and didn’t really get any long-term pieces in return. And I get that. But I give general manager John Mozeliak a lot of credit for going all in on this season — a year that could be the final one with Albert Pujols at first base and Tony La Russa as manager.
They got a necessary arm in their rotation in Edwin Jackson, who’s an impending free agent who won’t clog up their payroll and, thus, hurt their chances of resigning Pujols; they got righty Octavio Dotel and lefty Marc Rzepczynski for a needy bullpen; and they were able to pluck away from a position where they have a suitable replacement in Jon Jay.
Perhaps they could’ve waited to deal Rasmus — a guy who definitely needed a change of scenery — when his stock rose again, but then they wouldn’t look this good right now. And right now, they look like the best team in the NL Central. The Rafael Furcal acquisition is fine; I’m just not sure how much he has left.
Phillies: There was no more perfect fit for the Phillies than Hunter Pence. With him, their offense now looks on par with that vaunted rotation because they have that right-handed bat that was so critical to their production in years past. This past offseason, the Phillies added Cliff Lee to give them a ridiculous starting staff, but they lost Jayson Werth to the Nationals and missed that right-handed bat to hit behind lefties Chase Utley and Ryan Howard.
Now, they have that right-handed bat again in Pence, and they have him in the books until 2013. Pence is having a fine season, and he came into Philadelphia with an .865 OPS. He’ll get plenty more chances with runners in scoring position now. And Phillies fans will love his energy. The Phils had to part ways with their two biggest prospects, but Domonic Brown and Vance Worley stayed put. That’s another positive.
Indians: Yeah, they did give up a big chunk of their farm system to get Ubaldo. But I just love the spirit of this trade, especially from a team that has so far only been known for parting with aces — from Lee to CC. This has been a magical season in Cleveland, and somehow they’re still in it despite a shaky rotation. It doesn’t look so shaky anymore.
The others
Braves: Michael Bourn is the perfect fit for that team; gives them their first leadoff hitter since Furcal.
Brewers: Francisco Rodriguez was a big pickup, and they got some insurance at second base. But they’re crossing their fingers that Rickie Weeks returns to full health soon.
Pirates: They got a couple of bats in Ryan Ludwick and Derrek Lee – two guys who know the NL Central well — and didn’t give up much.
Reds: Was surprised they were in on some of the big guys, but they have a rather large deficit, and that may have played a part in them standing pat.
Giants: Zack Wheeler is a good prospect, but Carlos Beltran is a good middle-of-the-order bat that should fit in perfectly in due time.
Red Sox: They got a nice rotation arm in Erik Bedard and a utility man in Mike Aviles; not flashy, but effective.
White Sox: I’m just glad they didn’t sell off all their pieces; they still have a shot.
Angels: Did nothing, which was pretty surprising.
Rangers: Got two big pieces for the back end of their bullpen in Koji Uehara and Mike Adams.
– Alden
** Filed this week: Pence trade fills Phils’ need for a righty slugger; Cards, Giants take on win-now modes with deals.
Yeah, um, Roy Halladay is, uh, pretty good
OK, so maybe you didn’t need me to tell you Roy Halladay is a good pitcher. But it was interesting to see just how much of a throwback he is.
Pitchers, as you know, rarely pitch entire games anymore, and “durability” usually means 200 innings. Not for Halladay. The Phillies’ ace (and, yes, even though they signed Cliff Lee, he is the unquestioned ace on that team) is essentially unmatched in terms of complete games over the last few years.
Consider:
* From 2003-11, Halladay has notched the most complete games in baseball with 54. The No. 2 man on that list? CC Sabathia, with 28.
* The 54 complete games by Halladay is more than the total for 26 teams.
For that eight-plus-year span, Halladay has 134 wins (first in the Majors), 1,743 2/3 innings (fourth), 1,333 strikeouts (sixth), a 3.03 ERA and a 4.79 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The 33-year-old right-hander’s last complete game came Wednesday against the Nationals, giving up two runs and striking out nine in the process. He has given up just three runs in 22 innings this year and has 22 strikeouts with only three walks.
Yeah, The Doc is pretty good.
And he’s actually pretty funny, too. This ad was a good one …
– Alden
* What I wrote this week: The Rockies are doing what they never have; turning a double play can be a dangerous game; MLB family honors Jackie Robinson.
Carp and Waino: The dynamic duo that barely was
The news Thursday that Adam Wainwright would require season-ending Tommy John surgery put an early damper on the Cardinals’ playoff chances, further clouded the future of Albert Pujols in St. Louis — and may have put an end to one of the best pitching duos of the new millennium.
In fact, there is a very good chance that the dynamic pitching pair of Wainwright and Chris Carpenter has ceased to exist.
If so, we barely got our fill.
Wainwright won’t be pitching this season. We know that. What we don’t know is what the future holds for either of them, and there’s enough haziness to seriously doubt both will be together as Cardinals in 2012.
Since the 29-year-old Wainwright finished in the Top 5 in Cy Young voting at least once over the previous two years — actually, he finished in the Top 3 twice — all he needed to do to trigger his 2012 and ’13 club options (totaling $21 million) was not finish this season on the disabled list. Now, he will. And now, the Cardinals have a choice on whether or not to pick up his options (both must be picked up at the same time).
Surely, $9 million in 2012 and $12 million in 2013 is a pretty good bargain for one of the best pitchers in baseball, especially given Tommy John surgery’s sparkling track record. But who knows what the state of the Cardinals will be at that point, given Pujols and possibly manager Tony La Russa — he holds a mutual option for 2012 — may not be there if the 2011 season is an unsuccessful one.
That brings us to Carpenter.
The 35-year-old (36 on April 27) has a $15 million club option on his contract for the 2012 season. With the Cardinals likely trying to save every penny to sign Pujols to the lucrative extension he seeks, it’s hard to envision them picking up the options of both Wainwright and Carpenter (perhaps either).
It’d be understandable, but also a shame, because it’d mean we didn’t get to see enough of this spectacular duo of pitchers. Carp was recovering from his own Tommy John surgery when Waino burst onto the scene as a starter in ’07. And now, Waino’s own elbow-ligament damage could put an early end to these two leading the Cardinals’ rotation.
But that’s all speculation at this point. So here is some hard evidence of just how good they were in the only two years they were together (2009 and 2010), brought to you by my friends at the Elias Sports Bureau …
* During that time, the two combined for 72 wins — the most by teammates in a two-year span since Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe matched them in Boston from 2002-03.
* Their combined winning percentage of .692 (72-32) ranked second among starting-pitching teammates since ’09 (minimum 40 starts each). First were CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte, who combined for a .714 winning percentage (65-26).
* Their combined ERA of 2.65 over the last two seasons is the most by starting-pitching teammates in a two-year span since Roger Clemens and Roy Oswalt combined for a 2.57 ERA in Houston from 2005-06 (minimum 40 starts each).
* Combined, Wainwright and Carpenter notched three Top 3 finishes in Cy Young voting in their two-year span. That hasn’t happened since Clemens and Oswalt did it from 2004-05.
– Alden Gonzalez
** Check out my column on how Wainwright’s injury affects the landscape of the National League Central
Too early for MLB power rankings? …
1. Boston Red Sox (89-73): The Red Sox have the best lineup in baseball after adding Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez (pictured right, by The Associated Press), they have a very good bullpen after key offseason additions, and their rotation is very deep. But they’ll have to stay healthy — something that didn’t happen last year.
2. Philadelphia Phillies (97-65; lost in NLCS): The old saying says, “You’re only as good as your next day’s pitcher.” If that’s the case, put the Phillies in the World Series right now. Lee, Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels is arguable the best rotation foursome in baseball history. And their offense is still scary. But the bullpen, as usual, is a question mark.
3. San Francisco Giants (92-70; won WS): They’re the defending champs, and their pitching staff is as good or better than anybody’s in baseball. But can their spare-parts offense carry them deep like it did last year? Hard to believe they can repeat without a more-consistent bat.
4. Texas Rangers (90-72; lost in WS): Not being able to get Lee hurts, especially when considering pretty much everybody in that rotation outperformed last year. But their starting staff is still solid, their bullpen is very good and, after the addition of Adrian Beltre, they have one of the best offenses in baseball.
5. Atlanta Braves (91-71; lost in NLDS): Filling the big shoes of Bobby Cox is a whole lot easier when inheriting a team like this one. Fredi Gonzalez has a dynamic lineup, especially with the addition of Uggla – though they’ll regret that extension — plus a solid rotation and a really good bullpen.
6. St. Louis Cardinals (86-76): I expected the Cards to be a lot better than they were last year, and I don’t expect them to disappoint again this year. Lance Berkman could end up being a liability in right field, but if healthy, he can give them a big middle-of-the-order bat. Regardless, two dynamic duos — Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday, and Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright — should lead to title contention.
7. Milwaukee Brewers (77-85): It took a major toll on the farm system, but the additions of Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum give the Brew Crew one of the best 1-thru-5 rotations in baseball. And Prince Fielder is still there. The Brewers will be legitimate title contenders.
8. Colorado Rockies (83-79): The Rockies have a bright future with Troy Tulowitzki, Carlos Gonzalez and possibly Ubaldo Jimenez – if he agrees to an extension after the 2011 season — locked up. Their present looks very good, too. They have great depth, a solid rotation and a good lineup. Lots to be excited about in the Mile High City.
9. Chicago White Sox (88-74): Looks like the South Siders are going for it all this year after signing Adam Dunn and Paul Konerko – or perhaps they’re setting it up so that Ozzie Guillen is the main culprit if they don’t win it all in 2011. Regardless, they have a power-packed offense and some nice arms. It’s up to Ozzie to bring it all together.
10. New York Yankees (95-67; lost in ALCS):
The Yankees have issues, yes — they’re aging, they have holes in the rotation and the bullpen is spotty. But they’re still the Yankees. And as long as Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano, Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia and Mariano Rivera are there, they’re a major threat.11. Cincinnati Reds (91-71; lost in NLDS): The Reds were a surprise team last year, but I don’t think they did enough this offseason to stay on top. Their pitching staff is still deep and talented, but they needed to make bigger moves this offseason — mostly on offense — to take the next step, especially when considering how much better the teams in their division got.
13. Minnesota Twins (94-68; lost in ALDS): The Twins always seem to find a way, and they’ll be fine again if they resign Carl Pavano and Jim Thome (as expected). A healthy Justin Morneau will be huge, too. But their bullpen took a major hit, and while the White Sox and Tigers got better, they really didn’t.
14. Oakland Athletics (81-81): This is my surprise team of the year. Billy Beane has established a phenomenal young pitching staff and a great defensive team. If only they could’ve acquired a couple of the big bats they needed. (I give their stadium a lot of the blame for that.)
15. Chicago Cubs (75-87): The Cubs sure look like they’re going for it by trading for Matt Garza, signing Kerry Wood to a two-year deal and giving Carlos Pena $10 million. On paper, they look good. But that seems to be the case a lot in the Windy City, and somehow it never comes to fruition. Why should I believe otherwise now?
16. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (80-82): It has been a very disappointing
offseason for Angels general manager Arte Moreno, who lost out on Crawford and Beltre despite badly needing offensive help. They have potential in their rotation and a good bullpen that will be great if they get Soriano. But it seems they took a step back this offseason.
17. Los Angeles Dodgers (80-82): The Dodgers still have pieces in that lineup that can do some things, as well as a deep rotation. Don Mattingly will keep them relevant in his first year on the job.
18. San Diego Padres (90-72): This was the kind of reality Padres faithful expected, even after a surprising 2010 season that should’ve led to a playoff berth. No Gonzalez, and Heath Bell is a very likely Trade Deadline chip. But they still have a great pitching staff and a very good defensive team. I just don’t know where their offense will come from.
19. Tampa Bay Rays (96-66; lost in ALDS): It’s a different Rays team now, with no Crawford, Soriano, Benoit, Pena or Garza. But that’s a savvy front office, and their array of young players give them a great future once again. But it’s a retooling year in Tampa Bay. And they won’t be as relevant in the AL East as they have been.
20. Florida Marlins (80-82): The Marlins needed bullpen help, a catcher and another arm for the rotation this offseason and got all of that. They also have a great bunch of young position players and two franchise-type guys in Hanley Ramirez and Josh Johnson. But it looks like another .500 year in South Florida. Nothing more, nothing less.
21. New York Mets (79-83): The Mets have toiled in obscurity this offseason, and maybe that’s a good thing. This is a year about finding out their identity and improving for the future — not competing.
22. Washington Nationals (69-93): Mike Rizzo lost out on Lee, and he overpaid enormously for Werth. But they vastly improved their defense (with Werth and Adam LaRoche), have a nice lineup and boast a few nice, young pitching arms. D.C. is still on its way to becoming a place where free agents will actually want to be at some point.
23. Baltimore Orioles (66-96): O’s look to have a pretty impressive lineup, but they need a lot more pitching — especially in the bullpen — to compete in baseball’s toughest division.
24. Toronto Blue Jays (85-77): They’re another team that had its bullpen get completely stripped, and I don’t expect Jose Bautista and Vernon Wells to equal their 2010 season and keep them competitive. Not a bad rotation, though, and Alex Anthopoulos has made some nice forward-thinking moves thus far.
25. Houston Astros (76-86): Brad Mills led the Astros to an impressive second half last year, but they have a long, long way to go.
26. Seattle Mariners (61-101): The M’s were a big disappointment last year, and they will struggle once again in 2011.
27. Arizona Diamondbacks (65-97): Kevin Towers has gone to work on retooling that dreadful bullpen, but there’s a lot more work to be done in Arizona than that.
28. Cleveland Indians (69-93): Indians are still waiting for the young players they got back from trading two Cy Young Award winners (Sabathia and Lee) to come through. Until that happens, they’ll go nowhere.
29. Kansas City Royals (67-95): With the pieces they have in their farm system and in the big leagues, the Royals seem set up to be a competitive team as soon as 2012. But not in 2011.
30. Pittsburgh Pirates (57-105): The Pirates have issues. Their Major League roster is unimpressive, and their farm system isn’t great. All they can hope to do is avoid another 100-loss season.
– Alden Gonzalez
Clean livin’, by C.J. Wilson
ARLINGTON — The Rangers did something really cool after they beat the Rays to advance to the American League Championship Series for the first time in their history. They waited on Josh Hamilton and C.J. Wilson to come around the corner, and then they sprayed them with ginger ale.
Alden Gonzalez
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