Every year, there seems to be some trendy prediction that everyone loves to make before the season. For example, last year, everybody (myself included) seemed to think the Mariners were looking like a playoff team. Or the year before that, when several people were convinced that the Royals had a shot to be that year’s Rays. Granted, sometimes, these risky, yet trendy picks do actually work out, such as two years ago, when several writers were picking the Rays to be 2008’s “this year’s Rays team” before we actually had that term (because, you know, that was the year it first happened). In any case, I have been seeing a couple of predictions recurring much more than they should be for 2011, and I just want to be the person with enough foresight to say why they won’t happen before they happen. Because I pointed these out, they’ll probably all happen just to prove me wrong, but nonetheless, I will begin.
Tag: Carl Crawford
MLB Fantasy Baseball: Best Player to Draft from Each Major League Team
We have been waiting since last October for the fun of the MLB season to start anew. On Mar. 31, 2011 we will get our wish. By that day, all clubs are required to reduce rosters to 25 players and play ball! We have seen changes occurs this offseason as we typically do each year but one thing seems to remain consistent. The same powerhouse teams appear to be set to make a run at the postseason and the World Series.
The Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies highlighted the offseason free-agent frenzy. The Red Sox’s biggest moves were signing both Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez to long-term deals. They simultaneously managed to re-sign their tenured slugger David Ortiz to a one-year contract.
Meanwhile, the Phillies signed Cliff Lee to bolster their already stellar starting rotation and make them favorites in the NL to make a trip to the World Series.
Many other teams have made significant moves as well. Rather than go into further detail about which teams have made what moves, let us go over who the best players are from each of the 30 MLB teams’ rosters as they stand today. This analysis will help determine which players to draft for your fantasy squads heading into the 2011 fantasy baseball season.
MLB Preview 2011: Projecting the Boston Red Sox Starting Lineup for 2011
When it comes to his lineup, Boston Red Sox Manager Terry Francona has a lot of difficult decisions to make. He was handed some of the best puzzle pieces around and was told to “Tetris” them together to the best of his ability.
Francona better invest in those extra big pencil erasers that you used to buy in elementary school. You know, the ones that fit onto the end of the writing utensil over the small eraser that’s already attached to the pencil. I think Tito will be going through quite a few of those.
Not only will he spend this Spring Training figuring out the Red Sox best lineup, but he must also figure out secondary lineups for certain pitchers (lefties or righties) and certain ballparks. In addition he will need to run scenarios in his head to see what he would switch around if, say Jacoby Ellsbury gets in a slump or Youkilis were to become injured. What would his back-up lineups look like?
What if they would need to call some players up? Who would be the most likely minor leaguer to make the trip to Fenway and where would they best be suited in this batting order? There is a lot on Tito’s plate right now, but I don’t think he would want it any other way.
It’s my job to figure out the best way for Francona to set the 2011 Boston Red Sox starting lineup and your job to tell me where I went wrong or right (I’ll always take positive reinforcement) in the comment section.
Major League Baseball in 2011: Everyone but the Boston Red Sox Can Pack Up Now
Like the dawn of every baseball season, by now the fans of all 30 MLB teams—with the likely exception of the Kansas City Royals and the Pittsburgh Pirates—have managed to convince themselves that they have a chance this year. Hope springs eternal when every squad boasts identical 0-0 records. The spring of 2011 is no exception.
But for those of us loyal members of Red Sox Nation—I would say “card-carrying members,” but most of us are too savvy to fall for our sneaky front office’s money-laundering scheme—we know better. You see, 2011 is our year.
Yes, of course we say this every year, including one unfortunate dry stretch lasting longer than some countries’ lifespans. And yes, we pretty much have to win it all this year, as our annual payroll edges ever closer to $200 million.
Nevertheless, there is something magical dusting that Bostonian seaside air these days. The Celtics (first in their conference) and Bruins (second in theirs) are making a run at championship trophies again this season, after disappointing finishes for both teams last year. But the Hub is a baseball town first and foremost, and recent events have served only to strengthen that claim.
Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez, the dynamic duo acquired in the offseason, have tilted the star-studded AL East decidedly in Boston’s direction once again. Are we favorites, as Mark Teixeira (he of the Yankees’ $207 million annual payroll) unconvincingly declared last month? Perhaps, perhaps not. But we are certainly among the most formidable contenders in a year in which baseball may once again lay claim to the title of “nation’s most beloved sport” as the NFL grapples with a possible lockout.
Heart-warming tales of inter-division camaraderie notwithstanding, Sox and Yankees fans know well enough to understand that, once the first pitch is thrown in Boston’s home opener against New York on April 8th, the gloves come off.
Bill Lee and Thurman Munson may be long gone from the diamond, and today’s players navigating a free-agency world may not resent their on-the-field rivals on a personal level anymore. But the fan frenzy continues unabated, and—as it always has—our enthusiasm will provide the spark to ignite another year of the nation’s most vaunted rivalry.
There will be no confetti pouring down in the Canyon of Heroes this fall, New Yorkers. There will only be the sound of silence, and the distant roar of a victory parade a few hours north on I-95.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
2011 Boston Red Sox: Five Necessary Changes to Their Starting Lineup
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.
2011 Fantasy Baseball Rankings: MLB’s Top 20 AL Outfielders
These are the players who I believe to be the top 20 fantasy baseball outfielders in the American League going into the 2011 season.
Here are my other 2011 fantasy baseball rankings:
MLB Preview 2011: Analyzing the Rays’ Key Matchups in the AL East
This year’s American League East is going to be a very hotly contested division. With all five teams easily capable of putting together .500 or above seasons, the order of finish could be dictated by just a few games.
For the Tampa Bay Rays, the new look of the franchise gives them a new set of advantages and disadvantages over their division rivals. While the other teams within the division spent big bucks this offseason, the Rays were able to cut their payroll from over $70 million to approximately $42 million without sacrificing a tremendous amount of production.
While this is a great feat in terms of business, the results on the field will determine how smart the Rays really are. Here are some of the big matchup advantages and disadvantages the Rays have going into the 2011 season.
2011 AL East Forecast: Who Will Have the Biggest Impact on His Team?
The AL East is regarded by most as the toughest division in baseball, and there’s good reason.
The powerhouses, otherwise known as the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox reside there, as well as the young and exciting Tampa Bat Rays, and the up and coming Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles.
With the competition for the AL East crown beginning to form, lets take a look at those who will have the biggest impact on their teams success.
Boston Red Sox 2011 Newcomers: Welcome To Beantown, Boys
This past calendar year has been nothing but heartbreak after heartbreak for New England sports fans.
(All 29 other sports regions/cities roll their eyes collectively).
We’re no Seattle or Cleveland, but these have been somewhat trying times for fans that have high standards for success.
A quick recap: The Red Sox didn’t make the playoffs due to freak injuries to their two best players; the Bruins blew a three game lead in the Eastern Conference semi-finals to a Philadelphia Flyers team made up of unwashed heathens; the Super Bowl favorite Patriots tanked in their first playoff game against the Jets; and the Celtics lose the NBA Finals game seven against the Lakers. Rough stuff.
Also, that NBA deadline deal which took Kendrick Perkins out of green was another unexpected occurrence that was unsettling, to say the least.
And through all that, I’ve remained positive. Why, you ask?
Did you see who the Red Sox signed this offseason?
Honestly, I don’t think Boston was all that bad last season. Eric Patterson and Daniel Nava started more games than anyone should ever ask of them; John Lackey ate a whole lot of nachos; and Adrian Beltre really liked kicking people in the chest super hard.
Despite all that, they almost won 90 games last season. Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz proved to be a fearsome one-two punch to build a rotation around; Jed Lowrie showed some real glimmers of being a versatile major league baseball player; and that Daniel Bard guy threw the ball wicked hahd, dude guy.
Now, everyone is healthy, and there are some fresh faces that make this team the clear favorite in the American League.
Philadelphia Phillies: Why They Will Not Win the World Series in 2011
Late February. Optimism fills the air in Major League Baseball.
The reason?
Baseball is back.
Granted, it is only a lowly beginning. Late February is the time for spring training games in Arizona and Florida. The exhibition games, though it is good to see that baseball has returned, are just that: exhibition games.
Spring training is mostly optimistic because of the fact that it is the time of the year when everyone believes they have the chance.
Obviously, there are pretenders. I’m sorry Pittsburgh, but it doesn’t look like the Pirates will be resurrected anytime soon. Likewise for many other teams.
The Phillies, as ESPN would put it, are not pretenders, but contenders.
With arguably one of the strongest pitching rotations of all time, the Phightin’ Phils seem to many people the inevitable 2011 world champions. There is already talk on the Philadelphia FM sports radio station, 97.5 The Fanatic, that Phillies manager Charlie Manuel will have a statue of him erected outside of Citizens Bank Park.
That statement is incredibly premature, but it is not far-fetched to say that the Phillies are favorites to win the Fall Classic.
It will not happen.
I’ve been trying to take this thought over the air onto Into The Night, Tony Bruno’s weeknight radio show, but I’ve been repeatedly told that I am too young to get on the air. So I decided to take this matter to the BleacherReport community.
Anyway, the main weakness that the Phillies roster presents to me is the fact that there are many holes in the offense.
I am a Yankee fan, so I have been ragged on this offseason by the “Phillies Phans” because of the fact that the Phils nabbed the jewel of the free agent market, Cliff Lee, away from my Bombers. The argument that I fought back with on that matter is extremely relevant to the reason why the Phillies will not be, as Chase Utley might say, world bleeping champions come November.
That argument is this: while the Phillies may have put up the gaudiest offseason on paper, they had a bad one in the sense that they did not acquire what they needed to avoid repeating the disappointing end that the 2010 season had for them.
Think about it.
The Giants, in the entire NLCS, scored an average of 3.3 runs per game. That is not much compared to the league average, which sits around four. This is an indication that pitching was not the problem.
The Phillies just could not hit with the Giants. That was with a good right-handed bat in the lineup, Jayson Werth, whose signing with the Washington Nationals will prove a decent to severe detriment to Philadelphia’s lineup. They will be exposed by left-handed pitching.
Compared to the rest of the NL East, getting to the playoffs should not present much of a problem for the Phils. The regular season is a test of depth and pitching throughout a 162-game grind. I predict that Philadelphia will take the division easily, posting at least 95 wins.
However, with that being said, the postseason is filled with teams that boast excellent pitching staffs, making the playoffs a battle of the team that can hit. The team that can effectively hit and manufacture runs consistently has the best shot at glory.
The team, as of now, that should win it all is the Boston Red Sox. Getting Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis back from injury-ridden 2010 seasons combined with excellent pickups Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford will help the offense emerge as the best in the majors. Combine that a pitching staff lead by John Lester which, although maybe not as prodigious as the Phils’, is excellent and the Red Sox should be the favorites.
Now, of course, nothing is ever for sure in the world of baseball. The injury bug can bite and midseason acquisitions can shake up the balance. For now though, the Phillies must add a consistent right-handed bat to their lineup to get them over the hump.
They’re right there, yet they need one extra push. For now, my prediction is a 101-61 record, an NL East crown, but a loss in five games to the Red Sox in the World Series.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com