Around the League in 30 Days: Oakland

The report card would give the last 8-10 years of Oakland baseball anything but A's but what's the outlook for 2010 with the prodigy Billy Beane running shop? The most notable players on the roster are Andrew Bailey and OF Rajai Davis, who provides speed and stability at the top of the lineup.

Looking back - The A's had yet another AL-ROY last year in the person of All-Star closer Andrew Bailey. The rookie-righty was handed the closer roll early in the season and he held on tight and never looked back. The NJ native throws hard but has been experiencing some elbow issues this spring which is scary news considering he had Tommy John surgery once before.

Who's In - Beane, notorious for not spending a cent and paring payroll at every turn, actually spent some cabbage this off-season. Did he spend it wisely? Coco Crisp. Is that Money Ball? I'm not going to claim to be a disciple of his pontifications but Crisp brings nothing to the table that this team will benefit from what I can see. He has speed but his inability to get on base negates the speed factor automatically. DH Jack Cust was retained and we all know what Cust brings to the table, homers and K's. That said, I'm still baffled as to why he ever sees a fastball. Ben Sheets missed last season recovering from surgery and is being called on (and paid) to be the ace of this Oakland staff. 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff was acquired from the Padres for Scott Hairston and the net result should be an improvement for the A's. Edwar Ramirez, was just acquired from the Texas Rangers and the former Yankees' RP could be a solid innings eater in front of Bailey.

Who's Out - Nomar, Bobby Crosby, Adam Kennedy, Santiago Casilla, Scott Hairston, and Dana Eveland who were all on last year's roster are gone. Most of them should be filed under the who cares category if you asked me.

Who cares? - The players worth paying attention to on this team are C Kurt Suzuki who is not only a solid defensive catcher but he also is a strong contributor in the lineup (.274/.313/.421 in '09). Daric Barton and Kevin Kouzmanoff are at a stage in their careers where their offensive contributions must increase. To call Barton a disappointment thus far is an understatement. Kouzmanoff has been solid but he must take his game to the next level. Eric Chavez is listed on the depth chart to backup at first and third but the chances of him contributing anything are slim. Justin Duchscherer was retained to provide solid innings out of a rotation that sorely needs the help.

The skinny - the A's are destined for last place. There are so many if factors that need to perfectly align for the A's to be successful and that does not even take the rest of their division into consideration. If they break 72 wins, I'd consider this season to be a success.

Around the League in 30 Days: Emerald City Edition

The Mariners have all but fallen off the face of the Earth since disbanding in the early part of the 2k aughts. Superstars like Randy Johnson, Alex Rodriguez, and Ken Griffey, Jr. were shuttled out of town and a new, and less successful era in M's baseball, began. The only problem was that they replaced hit machine Edgar Martinez with hit machine Ichiro Suzuki and there was nothing else done to replace the production from the aforementioned trio of superstars. Last season saw the Kid return to Seattle, albeit a fraction of the player he once was Griffey still put together a quality season in a semi-reduced role.

Ins - Cliff Lee. The M's acquired the big lefty who impressed during the 2009 playoffs in a multitude of stifling starts. Speedy Chone Figgins was signed to bring another solid OBP guy to the top of the order, a good compliment behind Ichiro. Hard throwing Brandon League and Chad Cordero are parts of the bullpen. Eric Byrnes, aka Jayson Werth Light, is here as a 4th OF bumping my man Ryan Langerhans down on the depth chart. 1B Casey Kotchman was acquired via trade from the Red Sox and Ryan Garko was signed as a free agent. Enigmatic Milton Bradley is here but if I were a betting man I'd throw my cash on a mid-season blow up resulting in Bradley's final exile from the MLB.

Outs - Russel the Muscle has joined the Tribe but you already know that since you're an avid OFC follower. His HR output will be missed but his high K totals will not. Adrian "the bust" Beltre is heading East to try to kick-start his flailing career in Boston. Bill Hall, we hardly knew ye - traded for Kotchman. Kenji Johjima is back in Japan after a brief, lackluster run in the USA.

In short, any starting rotation that features King Felix and Cliff Lee is worth paying attention to. Assuming both stay healthy, 60-65 starts should be games that the M's are in the running. The rest of the rotation features converted lefty reliever Ryan Rowland-Smith and Pirates cast-off Ian Snell. Smith has had good success in his brief starting stint in the majors, if Snell returns to form from his early days w/the Pirates, the Mariners could see a good amount of quality starts from their 3rd and 4th starters. Both big ifs, but what if is not a big one? Then there's Erik Bedard. The once promising lefty starter that just does not stay healthy. Getting anything out of Bedard this year is a plus and it's likely a win-win for both parties since Bedard is fighting for his baseball life at this point. All that being said, the M's are better than the '09 version of the team. They'll break .500 with 84 wins, but still will finish the season looking up to the Angels.

Coming Soon...

Fans, friends, and followers!!! There's a new and improved format coming soon. Also, we'll be launching our summer collection so be ready to wear the freshest new gear courtesy of OFC! Most importantly, this gear is ALL custom made so you'll likely be the only person wearing it!

As for the format - posts will fly out in a more structured manner to get you all of your favorite blog categories in an organized fashion - e.g. Eating Out: _____ will be a featured post on Monday and Thursday, giving you a heads up on where to eat the coming weekend.

Stay tuned or die.

Around the League in 30 Days - The Kings of Queens

Any fan of the Metropolitans would love to erase 2009 from the memory banks. The promise of a new stadium, new additions, and probably some vitriol after watching the Phillies win it all in 2008 had Mets' fans ready to do battle in '09. There was only one problem, the team was not quite as ready as the fans.

Many an expert predicted first place or the playoffs at the very least for the Mets. And why not? The division is poor after the Phillies and there's not much in terms of a threat from other NL Central or West non-division winners. Reality set in as injury after injury after injury befell the Mets however, a real turning point came as Luis Castillo botched an IF pop up that handed the Yankees a win in a game that was a sure loss. That loss deflated not only the confidence of the team, but the fans jumped the shark too.

Who's here? - Additions could feasibly include Jose Reyes, who played in only 36 games last season; Carlos Beltran (a saga befitting a soap opera); Jason Bay (a legit right handed bat but NO defense and do not say you weren't warned!); Gary Matthews Jr (the most overpaid, overhyped stiff in baseball); and Rod Barajas (though I'll take me some Omir Santos any day.) The Mets also bolstered the pitching staff by importing Ryota Igarashi and Hisanori Takahashi from Nippon and are relying on John Maine to come back and provide solid IPs out of the 3 slot. There are also some proven MLB arms that could be waiting in the wings in the form of Kelvim Escobar, Elmer Dessens, RA Dickey, and Josh Fogg.

Who's missing? - Beltran, still. But in reality, Carlos Delgado who anchored the IF and the lineup is gone.  If you say that you'll miss Jeremy Reed, Tim Redding, JJ Putz, Gary Sheffield, or Anderson Hernandez, I'll tell you that you are obviously out of touch with everything that has gone wrong w/this club over the last few years. David Wright? Yeah, where have you gone with your 10 HR season last year? Fernando Martinez!! Somehow this guy is spending another year, or at least starting one, in the minors?!? My advice to Mr. Minaya, trade him now. Get the highest possible value you can for him because you apparently have no interest in giving one of the top prospects in your organization a shot.

The low down - To win the East will take work. The Phillies are coming off back to back WS appearances and have a pitching staff that managed to get better by adding Roy Halladay. The Nats are improved as referenced a few posts ago. The Marlins and the Braves are pretty solid and have made their own additions as well. If healthy I still can't see this team finishing anywhere above 3rd but I'll peg them for 4th, ahead of the Nats but just behind the Braves, 78 wins.

Around the League in 30 Days: Snake Charming in Arizona

The D'backs wasted no time in making some big noise this fall - partaking in the 3-team blockbuster that shuffled Curtis Granderson to NYY and a host of pitching talent to AZ. That talent includes SP's Edwin Jackson and Ian Kennedy. For starters, the D'backs play in the worst division in baseball from an offensive point of view. Combine that with the larger, pitcher friendly parks and the Wild Wild West becomes a crap-shoot for all four teams. The Snakes won their 2001 WS title on the backs of Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling and no disrespect to those two but this staff has a lot more depth.

Pitching - Brandon Webb is poised to come back in late April and he is the Ace that the team lacked last year. After winning 22 games in 2008, Webb threw one game in '09 and then was shut down for surgery. A healthy Webb throwing every 5th day is paramount to the team's overall success. Behind Webb is the equally deadly Dan Haren, who was acquired to be starter 1-b for a bag of balls from the "genius" Billy Beane. That trade was so awful the real Genius would have known better than to make it. Sure it netted two lefty starters for the A's but Brett Anderson and Dana Eveland are not much to squawk about. That said, Jackson slides over as the third or fourth starter at best - which is ideal considering he'll give you about 20-24 decent starts and another handful of crap. Kennedy is an anomaly, former 1st round pick that had a tumultuous run in the Bronx that included surgery to repair and aneurysm. 

The 'pen is decent, with lefty Clay Zavada providing solid relief and the best mustache in MLB since Rollie Fingers. Don't believe me? Check it out! Chad Qualls is the "closer" but he's not the most reliable late inning guy around.

On the Offensive - Mark Reynolds is the thunder, Justin Upton is the thunder and the lightning. Reynolds can drop bombs with the best of them and he strikes out like a combo platter of (Rob) Deer served with sides of Reggie and Mickey. Today's baseball says this is ok but I have my reservations. Upton, however, was just rewarded for his contributions at the ripe old age of 22, with a $51.25MM deal over the next 6 years. He has all five tools and he uses them really well. Chris Young roams CF but his numbers have steadily declined since 2007 and I wouldn't be remiss to call this a do or die year for him. S. Drew is another player that needs to rebound to be more like the 2008 version and less like the 2009 edition.

Outlook - Webb is key, pitching always is. There's no clear cut favorite in this division but each team, Padres not included, have at least two dominant SPs. Webb/Haren can rival any tandem in baseball when healthy because they're always on. I'm pulling the Snakes out of the pit and marking them for a close 2nd place in the West.

Around the League in 30 Days: Mistake by the Lake, IV or is it V?

The Jake by the Lake is back! And I am talking about Westbrook. The once hapless Indians became the once mighty Indians with an amazing run that not only produced a World Series appearance but also over a decade straight sold out games. The Tribe is in another rebuilding phase and they are slowly showing some signs of life, tricky when you consider they've lost two of the games top left handed starters (Sabathia and Lee) in the past two years. The pitching staff also needs Fausto Carmona to return to his once dominant form that has essentially disappeared over the last couple of seasons with injuries and lack of command besting him. Kerry Wood closes out games, if/when healthy and is a solid 9th inning weapon. 

Incoming! - This offseason did not have a lot of new faces come to the Jake. Russell Branyan is here to play 1B and strike out 150+ times. Re-tread players like Tom Mastny, Jamey Wright, Shelley Duncan, and Anderson Hernandez are all in camp to try and claim a spot on the roster that is void of holes for starting positions. Austin Kearns is in camp too and could win a spot and see time in the OF, DH, and possibly 1B assuming he latches on.

Positives - the OF is really good w/Choo in right, Sizemore (who MUST bounce back to form and stay healthy) in center, and Matt LaPorta in left. LaPorta is being given the chance to prove he's worth all the hype. Michael Brantley is lurking in case Sizemore gets hurt, again; LaPorta doesn't produce, or Choo needs a day off.

The rest of the story - The IF is weak, with Jhonny Peralta being the most reliable bat of the bunch. The pitching staff is even weaker with Jake Westbrook attempting to return from injury, throwing in 5 games since 2007 - which is, ironically, the last time Fausto Carmona was worth anything in the rotation. Carmona's K/BB ratio is nearly 1:1 for the last two seasons, over 240 IP and that just does not cut it at the big league level.

2007? - Something happened in Cleveland that would make for a good case for Robert Stack, et al, to peer into. Since then, not only have Westbrook and Carmona all but disappeared, but Travis Hafner has just not stayed healthy. Pronk anchors this offense and lacking his bat from the 4 hole spells trouble for a team that has very little pop outside of his presence.

Outlook - Strong division that had a lot of improvement. No chance to fight their way out of last place for Chief Wahoo's Tribe. Repeating 65 wins may prove to be difficult.