Courtesy of Inner-City Newspaper
Early on in
the 2013 MLB season, there has been a great deal of interesting stories. My
biggest surprises are the Yankees, Red Sox, and Indians. My biggest
disappointments are the Dodgers, Angels, and Blue Jays. Here are my assessments
of all of these teams.
New York Yankees: My friends who are Yankees fans tell
me to never question this team because they always find a way to come through.
I made the mistake of subscribing to the notion that the bevy of injuries this
team had would derail them. I could not have been more wrong. Mariano Rivera
leading the league in saves (16) despite missing all of last season due to
injury is unbelievable, but GM Brian Cashman is the MVP of this franchise right
now. He was faced with the monumental setback of not having a healthy Derek
Jeter, Mark Teixeira, or Curtis Granderson to start the season. He responded by
making moves that were mocked at the time, but are paying dividends now. The
Yanks brought in OF Vernon Wells from the Angels, 1B/DH Lyle Overbay, 1B/DH
Travis Hafner from Cleveland. All of these guys seemed to be washed up because
of subpar play and age, and the great Yankee dynasty appeared to be in trouble.
The replacements have been proving me wrong, and Robison Cano has been doing
what he does too. They are sixth in home runs with 47, which no one saw coming.
While offense is usually a strong suit for New York, I have been pleasantly
surprised by the pitching staff as a whole. They are fourth in overall era
(3.46), and twelfth in bullpen era (3.33). Sabathia, Kuroda, and Pettitte have
all been very sharp this year, and they look like a solid top of a rotation.
Phil Hughes has room for improvement but is doing his job nonetheless. Mariano
is making a case for the Cy Young at the moment, sporting an astonishing 16-0
save record. He is going out with a bang in his final season and is reminding
us that a reliable closer makes such a huge difference in the MLB. The Yanks
are getting it done, and the recent return of Curtis Granderson only adds to
the optimism. Their division is tough, but manager Joe Girardi certainly seems
to have his team prepared.
Boston Red Sox: The last two years in Boston have been very problematic. Terry Francona was unceremoniously ushered out two years ago, and last years' Bobby Valentine experiment was a disaster. There were stories about how the Red Sox had been uninterested and immature, negative traits for a professional sports team. The Red Sox have looked very impressive this year, although they have struggled in May thus far. Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz have looked like their old selves, and new additions Mike Napoli and Shane Victorino have looked very good. Pedroia is hitting .338, Ortiz is batting .329, and Napoli has 33 RBIs. Their starting pitching has been great too. Clay Buchholz is one of the best pitchers in baseball right now (despite spitballing allegations), and Jon Lester is not far behind. Ryan Dempster has been a decent pickup as well. Their bullpen has not looked good, and it is really the only thing that has been holding them back. Another disappointment has been Jackie Bradley Jr., who has cooled off significantly after a red hot start and was sent back down to the minors. Twenty year old shortstop prospect Xander Bogaerts has been looking pretty nice in Double-A Portland, and there is hope that he will be in the majors at some point this season. An interesting stat about Boston is that they are seventh in the league in two strike BA, which means the players have confidence in their ability to get on base. They have responded well to manager John Farrell, and he has restored a sense of normalcy. The AL East is still stacked despite Toronto's ineptitude, and Boston finished in last place last year. A complete turnaround seems unlikely, but this team seems to be on the right path.
Cleveland Indians: Despite the fact that there is still a ton of baseball to be played, this season is starting to feel like a redemption story for Terry Francona. The shunned ex-Red Sox manager has the Cleveland Indians sitting in second place with a 21-16 record. His old team is doing pretty well too, but most would acknowledge that Bobby Valentine far worsened the Boston problem last year. Cleveland had a couple of key acquisitions over the offseason: OF Nick Swisher from the Yankees, OF Michael Bourn from Atlanta, and 1B/DH Mark Reynolds from Baltimore. They have a plus 23 run differential despite being in the middle of the road in pitching. A good portion of this newfound offense can be attributed to Reynolds, who leads the team with 11 homers. He automatically adds pop to a lineup because of his power, but his .291 batting average is far ahead of the .221 he finished with last year. He is on pace to have the best season of his career, which is impressive because he was cast off by Baltimore due to his subpar play last year. I liked the signing of Nick Swisher before the season started because I believed that he was not cut out for the bright lights of New York. He is now in a situation where he can have fun, and there is the added bonus of playing first base. His stats are not awe inspiring (.265, 5 homers,14 RBI), but he is a solid contributor to the lineup. Bourn is always a solid piece for a team to have because of his ability to hit leadoff. Carlos Santana has look amazing thus far (.325 BA, 7 HR, 16 RBI), and Michael Brantley has been very good despite his one homer. Justin Masterson and Zach McAllister have become a very good one-two punch in the starting rotation, although Ubaldo Jimenez and Scott Kazmir have been disappointments. This team has started to cool off as of late, so I doubt they will be in this position at the end of the year. But Terry Francona showed that he can do it before, so I am intrigued to see how far they go.
Los Angeles Dodgers: Considering that this team has been throwing big money players on top of what was already a good nucleus, it is inexplicable that they have such a bad record. Over the last two years this team added 1B Adrian Gonzalez, OF Carl Crawford, SS Hanley Ramirez, and pitchers Zach Greinke and Josh Beckett. The expectations were raised because ownership showed no limit on the money they were willing to spend. But things have not clicked, and there are a few reasons why. Firstly, starting pitching has been an issue. Clayton Kershaw has looked like a stud as usual (3-2, 1.62 ERA), but injuries to Zack Greinke and Chad Billingsly have decimated the staff. Hyun-Jin Ryu has looked okay, while Beckett has unsurprisingly looked abysmal. There are bright spots in this team's lineup, but the offense has been a point of concern too. Much of this is due to lack of power, which is ironic considering that Mark McGwire is their hitting coach this year. Gonzalez has an impressive .350 batting average, Crawford and A.J. Ellis have looked nice, and both Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier have contributed. But it is a huge problem when the team leader in homeruns has five (Crawford). They are 28th in the league in homers and runs scored. Hanley Ramirez will help the lineup when he returns from injury, but he still will not help them hit for more power. When teams spend a bunch of money on star players, they usually tend to lack depth. They have not been able to replace injured players, and it is showing. The NL West is looking good this year with the Giants, D-backs, and Rockies all having winning records. I do not see an improvement occurring until the pitching picks up, though Zach Greinke did return recently. Billingsly, however, is still on the DL for a while. Ownership might want a refund on the best team money can buy.
Los Angeles Angels: The Dodgers are not the only team in LA who has been underachieving this year. The Angels signed Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton, the two biggest prizes of the last two offseasons respectively. They also added P C.J. Wilson and C Chris Ianetta in the last two years. Mark Trumbo has developed into a fine player, and Mike Trout had one of the best rookie seasons in the history of the sport last year. They are a middle of the pack team in almost every offensive category, but their pitching is 28th in ERA. The fact that Wilson leads the team with an ERA of 3.88 tells the whole story. A big problem for this team has been the injury to ace starting pitcher Jered Weaver. He has only started two games this year, thus being a non-factor so far. Trumbo, Trout, and Howie Kendrick have all been successful this year but Pujols and Hamilton have been less than impressive. Pujols has been driving in runs at least, but Hamilton has looked flat out bad. His numbers (.214, 5 HR, 12 RBI) are not ideal for a star player. He claims to have a sinus issue that makes him sensitive to stadium lights, and last year he claimed to have trouble seeing due to excessive caffeine consumption. This is cause for concern, especially considering that Hamilton has a past tarnished by drug abuse. Though his current issues are probably unrelated to his previous addictions, the pressure will continue to mount if the poor play continues. Angel fans can take solace in the fact that Pujols also struggled early last year, so Hamilton can have a similar resurgence. Still, it is getting close to panic time. The Rangers are dominant, and Oakland is solid. Even Seattle is playing acceptable baseball, so the Angels can only hope to compete for a wild card spot. Big money players are not carrying the load, and manager Mike Scioscia must be called into question. His teams have seemed to underachieve ever since his 2002 World Series title. This team needs to figure out a solution before it is too late.
Toronto Blue Jays: A common theme of all of my disappointing teams is spending money too frivolously. The Blue Jays are no different. They made two blockbuster trades over the offseason. On brought them SS Jose Reyes and starters Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle from Miami. The other brought them the 2012 NL Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey from the Mets. They also signed Melky Cabrera, who was playing elite baseball last season for San Francisco until he was suspended for PED use. Dickey's biting knuckler took the league by storm last year, and the Jays expected much of the same this season. Safe to say things have not gone according to plan. They have the third worse run differential in the league, which is strange considering that they are tied for the second most homers. This means their pitching is absolutely awful. Brandon Morrow leads the team in ERA with 4.69. Dickey got off to a horrendous start this year, currently with a ERA of 4.83 and only three wins. He is starting to look like a competent MLB pitcher again lately, but he was brought in to be the ace. Frankly, the starters have not been doing their jobs. They would be in far more trouble if Casey Janssen was not doing his job at the closer position. Offensively, their power has been the only silver lining. They do not have anyone hitting over .300, so their homers are not driving in as many runs as they should. This should improve when Reyes returns from his ankle injury, but he is not expected to come back until the All-Star break. Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista have carried the power load, hitting 11 and nine respectively. Melky Cabrera is leading the team in BA at .278, but only has one homer. He's probably off the roids. It is way too early to bury any team, but the AL East is too good for Toronto to think they can recover easily from this bad start. The four other teams in the division look so much better right now, so there is doom and gloom in Toronto.
Boston Red Sox: The last two years in Boston have been very problematic. Terry Francona was unceremoniously ushered out two years ago, and last years' Bobby Valentine experiment was a disaster. There were stories about how the Red Sox had been uninterested and immature, negative traits for a professional sports team. The Red Sox have looked very impressive this year, although they have struggled in May thus far. Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz have looked like their old selves, and new additions Mike Napoli and Shane Victorino have looked very good. Pedroia is hitting .338, Ortiz is batting .329, and Napoli has 33 RBIs. Their starting pitching has been great too. Clay Buchholz is one of the best pitchers in baseball right now (despite spitballing allegations), and Jon Lester is not far behind. Ryan Dempster has been a decent pickup as well. Their bullpen has not looked good, and it is really the only thing that has been holding them back. Another disappointment has been Jackie Bradley Jr., who has cooled off significantly after a red hot start and was sent back down to the minors. Twenty year old shortstop prospect Xander Bogaerts has been looking pretty nice in Double-A Portland, and there is hope that he will be in the majors at some point this season. An interesting stat about Boston is that they are seventh in the league in two strike BA, which means the players have confidence in their ability to get on base. They have responded well to manager John Farrell, and he has restored a sense of normalcy. The AL East is still stacked despite Toronto's ineptitude, and Boston finished in last place last year. A complete turnaround seems unlikely, but this team seems to be on the right path.
Cleveland Indians: Despite the fact that there is still a ton of baseball to be played, this season is starting to feel like a redemption story for Terry Francona. The shunned ex-Red Sox manager has the Cleveland Indians sitting in second place with a 21-16 record. His old team is doing pretty well too, but most would acknowledge that Bobby Valentine far worsened the Boston problem last year. Cleveland had a couple of key acquisitions over the offseason: OF Nick Swisher from the Yankees, OF Michael Bourn from Atlanta, and 1B/DH Mark Reynolds from Baltimore. They have a plus 23 run differential despite being in the middle of the road in pitching. A good portion of this newfound offense can be attributed to Reynolds, who leads the team with 11 homers. He automatically adds pop to a lineup because of his power, but his .291 batting average is far ahead of the .221 he finished with last year. He is on pace to have the best season of his career, which is impressive because he was cast off by Baltimore due to his subpar play last year. I liked the signing of Nick Swisher before the season started because I believed that he was not cut out for the bright lights of New York. He is now in a situation where he can have fun, and there is the added bonus of playing first base. His stats are not awe inspiring (.265, 5 homers,14 RBI), but he is a solid contributor to the lineup. Bourn is always a solid piece for a team to have because of his ability to hit leadoff. Carlos Santana has look amazing thus far (.325 BA, 7 HR, 16 RBI), and Michael Brantley has been very good despite his one homer. Justin Masterson and Zach McAllister have become a very good one-two punch in the starting rotation, although Ubaldo Jimenez and Scott Kazmir have been disappointments. This team has started to cool off as of late, so I doubt they will be in this position at the end of the year. But Terry Francona showed that he can do it before, so I am intrigued to see how far they go.
Los Angeles Dodgers: Considering that this team has been throwing big money players on top of what was already a good nucleus, it is inexplicable that they have such a bad record. Over the last two years this team added 1B Adrian Gonzalez, OF Carl Crawford, SS Hanley Ramirez, and pitchers Zach Greinke and Josh Beckett. The expectations were raised because ownership showed no limit on the money they were willing to spend. But things have not clicked, and there are a few reasons why. Firstly, starting pitching has been an issue. Clayton Kershaw has looked like a stud as usual (3-2, 1.62 ERA), but injuries to Zack Greinke and Chad Billingsly have decimated the staff. Hyun-Jin Ryu has looked okay, while Beckett has unsurprisingly looked abysmal. There are bright spots in this team's lineup, but the offense has been a point of concern too. Much of this is due to lack of power, which is ironic considering that Mark McGwire is their hitting coach this year. Gonzalez has an impressive .350 batting average, Crawford and A.J. Ellis have looked nice, and both Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier have contributed. But it is a huge problem when the team leader in homeruns has five (Crawford). They are 28th in the league in homers and runs scored. Hanley Ramirez will help the lineup when he returns from injury, but he still will not help them hit for more power. When teams spend a bunch of money on star players, they usually tend to lack depth. They have not been able to replace injured players, and it is showing. The NL West is looking good this year with the Giants, D-backs, and Rockies all having winning records. I do not see an improvement occurring until the pitching picks up, though Zach Greinke did return recently. Billingsly, however, is still on the DL for a while. Ownership might want a refund on the best team money can buy.
Los Angeles Angels: The Dodgers are not the only team in LA who has been underachieving this year. The Angels signed Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton, the two biggest prizes of the last two offseasons respectively. They also added P C.J. Wilson and C Chris Ianetta in the last two years. Mark Trumbo has developed into a fine player, and Mike Trout had one of the best rookie seasons in the history of the sport last year. They are a middle of the pack team in almost every offensive category, but their pitching is 28th in ERA. The fact that Wilson leads the team with an ERA of 3.88 tells the whole story. A big problem for this team has been the injury to ace starting pitcher Jered Weaver. He has only started two games this year, thus being a non-factor so far. Trumbo, Trout, and Howie Kendrick have all been successful this year but Pujols and Hamilton have been less than impressive. Pujols has been driving in runs at least, but Hamilton has looked flat out bad. His numbers (.214, 5 HR, 12 RBI) are not ideal for a star player. He claims to have a sinus issue that makes him sensitive to stadium lights, and last year he claimed to have trouble seeing due to excessive caffeine consumption. This is cause for concern, especially considering that Hamilton has a past tarnished by drug abuse. Though his current issues are probably unrelated to his previous addictions, the pressure will continue to mount if the poor play continues. Angel fans can take solace in the fact that Pujols also struggled early last year, so Hamilton can have a similar resurgence. Still, it is getting close to panic time. The Rangers are dominant, and Oakland is solid. Even Seattle is playing acceptable baseball, so the Angels can only hope to compete for a wild card spot. Big money players are not carrying the load, and manager Mike Scioscia must be called into question. His teams have seemed to underachieve ever since his 2002 World Series title. This team needs to figure out a solution before it is too late.
Toronto Blue Jays: A common theme of all of my disappointing teams is spending money too frivolously. The Blue Jays are no different. They made two blockbuster trades over the offseason. On brought them SS Jose Reyes and starters Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle from Miami. The other brought them the 2012 NL Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey from the Mets. They also signed Melky Cabrera, who was playing elite baseball last season for San Francisco until he was suspended for PED use. Dickey's biting knuckler took the league by storm last year, and the Jays expected much of the same this season. Safe to say things have not gone according to plan. They have the third worse run differential in the league, which is strange considering that they are tied for the second most homers. This means their pitching is absolutely awful. Brandon Morrow leads the team in ERA with 4.69. Dickey got off to a horrendous start this year, currently with a ERA of 4.83 and only three wins. He is starting to look like a competent MLB pitcher again lately, but he was brought in to be the ace. Frankly, the starters have not been doing their jobs. They would be in far more trouble if Casey Janssen was not doing his job at the closer position. Offensively, their power has been the only silver lining. They do not have anyone hitting over .300, so their homers are not driving in as many runs as they should. This should improve when Reyes returns from his ankle injury, but he is not expected to come back until the All-Star break. Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista have carried the power load, hitting 11 and nine respectively. Melky Cabrera is leading the team in BA at .278, but only has one homer. He's probably off the roids. It is way too early to bury any team, but the AL East is too good for Toronto to think they can recover easily from this bad start. The four other teams in the division look so much better right now, so there is doom and gloom in Toronto.
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