First of all, the Dodgers finished fourth in the NL West last season, so let’s not kid ourselves…this isn’t about Dodgers versus Giants. But what can the Dodgers do to win the division?
On paper, the team is good. But how can they separate themselves from the Giants and Rockies? All three have a legitimate ace. All three have offensive holes. So what’s the difference?
Terry Francona has been given a Ferrari and is expected to drive it into the winner’s circle. But to maximize the potential, he will need to take good care of it throughout the rigors of a 162-game schedule.
It would be hard to really screw up this lineup, as stacked as it is, but there are some changes that need to be made to make sure the team runs like a well-oiled machine. He’s got the pieces, now its time to put them in the right places.
When early predictions start coming out, and people express their inevitable outrage over certain winners and losers, some teams seem to get loads of support, and it’s difficult to understand why.
This is a closer look at those teams, pointing out exactly how groundless the adoration and lofty expectations truly are. Be realistic. You’ll sound smarter.
When you spend a draft pick or auction money on a player, you are paying for their stats, not their name. So let’s look at a few stat lines that can be had at discount.
I did three 12-team mock drafts on three different websites back-to-back and averaged out the draft position for the projected rounds you see on each player. The stat lines are a projection I expect both players to be close to.
The New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers (by virtue of being the defending AL champs) Philadelphia Phillies, and San Francisco Giants (by virtue of being defending world champs) can be considered the early favorites to play in the 2011 Fall Classic.
But who else? There are five teams in each league that aren’t being talked about as much, and should be.
Michael Young has told Texas he wants out. He told the press he wants out.
One would think he has earned the right to leave with dignity after Texas told him they wouldn’t try to deal him, as they were trying to, and then told him they would deal him, after they had severed negotiations.
That being said, this isn’t the NBA. No player has ultimate power over ownership. Young will stay in Texas, and will play the season out like the consummate professional that he is.
But why does Texas need him?
It is preposterous to think we know what is going to happen as the season progresses. There will be injuries. There will be trades. There will be unexpected distractions that impede a team’s progress.
That being said, this is how one person thinks the 2011 MLB Postseason might go, if the teams stay as they are, and no key players get hurt, and players don’t crash into unlucky, year-long, Adam Lind-status slumps.
There isn’t much content online about auction drafts. I think that’s mostly because its more challenging and therefore less popular.
You can auto-draft (a.k.a. skip the draft) and end up with a very good team. Going into an auction, the best laid plans win.
While the auction never goes exactly as planned, the guy who does the best job at executing the plan will end up with the best team, at least out of the gate. There are many different strategies for auctions, and I cannot adequately explain them all, but here are a few simple rules to follow.
Ervin Santana has been good but not great. He was 17-10 last season, with a 3.92 ERA, 1.320 WHIP and he chewed up 222.2 innings. At 28 years old, he isn’t likely to improve very much, but he could hold those numbers for some years. The Yankees lost Andy Pettite this week, who had a career 3.88 ERA, so Santana could be a logical replacement. But why would the Angels deal a valuable piece of their young rotation?
Andy Pettite says he has thrown his last professional pitch. The first of the Yankees famed “Fab Four” has called it quits after 16 seasons, 13 spent in the Bronx. He retires with 240 wins, a 3.88 ERA, 1.357 WHIP and 2,251 career strikeouts. But more impressive than those numbers are his postseason tallies. He pitched in 13 playoffs, 30 playoff series, and eight World Series. He finished his career with 19 playoff wins, including five in the Fall Classic.
Now, the Yankees are left with a weaker rotation than they already had. Everyone agrees they need to go get something, but what fits?
Here are 10…maybe 11…ptions.