Kuzul

You know the story by now. The team is in last place and hasn't played a relevant game since 2008. They haven't been to the playoffs since 2005 and haven't seriously competed since 2006.When you go five years without being relevant, you risk losing the fan base. This is particularly true in a society that expects instant gratification. Houston fans tend to be of the bandwagon variety and the Texans are the hot ticket in town.Still, the Astros have a richer history than the other two major league franchises in town. They are poised to have new ownership. They are finally beginning the process of rebuilding.The elements are in place for the Astros to keep their place in the Houston landscape, but they are going to have to do some work this offseason to make it happen.Begin Slideshow

Jim Hendry has already gotten the pink slip, so a lot of the venom Cubs fans may have felt is gone. Now, it is time to pick up the pieces and move on. Unfortunately, there are a lot of pieces to pick up. The Cubs have a top-five payroll and stand in fifth place in their division. That alone tells you the kind of analysis that has been done. Furthermore, they haven’t been a factor in the division for several years.Interestingly enough, this team is not devoid of good players. Quite the contrary, when you look of the number of good players they have, you wonder how they stand in fifth place. This is one of those organizations that consistently makes you scratch your head. Some teams (say the Angels or Rays) make you wonder how they win. With the Cubs, you wonder how they lose. It takes some creativity. Key ...

The Red Sox and Yankees have been battling for the AL East so long it is hard to remember anyone other than Tampa Bay Rays actually competing with them. This year has been no different. Honestly, no one outside of Boston or New York particularly cares who wins the division. Both teams are going to the playoffs again and that is all that matters.Theo Epstein has abandoned his principles some in the past couple of seasons. He added Carl Crawford for a huge sum of money this season and added John Lackey last season. Neither lived up to his advanced billing, but in the new economic order, Boston doesn't have to worry about bad contracts as much as they used to.Key StatisticsTeam Payroll: $161.7 million (3rd)Lineup: 3.4Starting Rotation: 10.1Bullpen: 7.0Composite Ranking: 6.8Analysis Score: -3.8 LineupThe Carl Crawford signing was significantly out of character for Theo Epstein. For one, his style of ...

The 2011 campaign was supposed to be a better year for the Orioles. Andy MacPhail is on the hot seat and may not return. Of course, we have to remember that analysis and performance is not the same thing. When we look at analysis, we go back further than 2011. We look at performance going back to 2007 and sometimes further. Sometimes players just have down seasons and sometimes they get hurt without warning.It is hard to look at the Orioles and feel good about what they have done so far. The organization feels like an Etch-a-Sketch that seems to get partially erased every couple of seasons. Nothing seems to be sustained and so they are looking up at their rivals for another season. Furthermore, there is nothing on the horizon to make you think that won't be the case in 2012.Key StatisticsTeam Payroll: $85.3 million (18th)Lineup: 11.4Starting Rotation: 22.5Bullpen: ...