topoftheworl
SEA 44: 106-56, Won Division, lost in NLDS to New York
Season 44 In Brief: The juggernaut rolled to 105+ wins again, but again went out of the playoffs early. Lou Crawford (.288/49/124) won the MVP and 2 more were finalists (Campos and Valdivia I think, can't remember). A lot of pitchers stood out but foremost was Bralin Kohn with 13 wins and 35 saves in 108 IP.
Season 45 Preseason: It was a tall order to improve this team but I think top did it with the trade of Tony Arias for legit #1 Julio Cano and more-than-adequate MR Quinn Lewis. A #1 SP was about the only thing you could say this team was missing.
Forecast: Their starting lineup (C Avila, 1B Mlicki, 2B Crawford, 3B Guerrero, SS Kennedy, LF Valdivia, CF Campos and RF DeLeon) is the most productive in the NL and has plus hitters at every position except maybe 3B. In the late innings (usually with big leads) they sub in their waves of defensive geniuses and make the #5 pitching staff even tougher to deal with (they've led the NL in good plays for 3 straight years). Cano obviously upgrades the rotation big-time, and Lewis is not actually a huge downgrade from Arias. Their pitching staff could well bump up a couple of notches this year. 110-52
Player Watch: Keep an eye on Carlos Valdivia in his age 35 year. He played all 162 last year and other than the usual early-mid 30's power declines he's aged very well. When this team starts to get old he'll be the first to show it (but probably not this year).
rdierkers
SEA 44: 106-56, Wild Card, lost Play-In to New York
Season 44 In Brief: 6 seasons for rdierkers, 6 90+ win seasons, 6 Wild Cards. Not bad. Unfortunately the Buckeyes hit the same hot NY squad in Round 1 that went on to take down Jacksonville in Round 2. Keith Jones (.293/49/124) had the breakout season on offense; J.P. Rapp (3rd Cy Young - 19-8, 3.20 ERA in 267 IP) and Aurelio Duran (7 wins, 7 saves, 1.76 ERA in 112 IP) paced the #1 staff in the NL (3.26 ERA).
Season 45 Preseason: Free agency left some hard-to-fill holes at Duran's setup spot, 3B (Wayne Langerhans) and 1B (Yamil Ibanez). Columbus geared up and met the challenge, signing FA's Jim Pressley (3B), Kory Atkins (1B), Phil Newfield (P), Roberto Almora (LF), and Willis McDade (P), and re-signing C Swindell, P Eibner and CF Shumaker.
Forecast: Almora might be the most stabilizing signing - he takes over in LF (they used 9 in LF last year) and lets Louie Almonte go full-time at 2B, Destin Harang full-time at 3B, and slots Pressley and Valaika as better-than-typical IF backups. Jones and Atkins give them 2 big power threats, so their offense could plate a few more runs. The rotation/LR group behind Rapp is very strong where it counts (2 and 3 starters Morey and Viciedo) and hides some minor weaknesses at SP's 4/5 and LR. They'll certainly miss Duran, but it might just mean more innings for Malachi Carver (2.47 ERA over 4 seasons), who would be starting on many teams. Andrew Lane's still knocking out his 56 IP a year of 3.00 ERA (or lower) at age 35.
Despite the many changes it's not an appreciably different team than last year's, and the record will be similar. 104-58
Player Watch: Rapp remains the most interesting pitcher in Hobbs. He can throw so many innings he moves the needle by himself.
justinuv
SEA 44: 81-81
Season 44 In Brief: Last year's edition slid from 8 straight 90-win seasons to 81. They got the usual big power numbers from Robbins (44/104) and Hayes (40/103) but still scored 73 fewer runs. The pitching actually improved a couple of slots to 7th (3.98). Willie Matos had one of his better seasons at 19-8, 3.52 ERA in 230 IP.
Season 45 Preseason: Couple of big FA losses in CF Chico Astacio and RF Kory Atkins. Looks like they'll fill in with Yusmeiro Valdespin in CF and Tony Huang in right, but they won't replace the lost production. The staff has a couple of additions - rookies Juan Castillo ( DITR who was a 19th-rounder in S41) and Manny Tabaka (Rule V'er and DITR - originally a 12th-rounder in S40).
Forecast: There's still a lot of talent here, although I don't think they'll reverse course and contend. Hayes is 33 now, and his power ratings are dropping. Robbins is 31 - his power will start dropping soon although I think his numbers will hold up better in his mid-30's than Hayes' will. Without Astacio patrolling CF, the rest of the lineup is pure pedestrian. The staff could hold up - Matos is still money and should be for several more years. Taveras is a decent enough #2. But the talent falls off there. Who knows what will happen this season...the 4-5 big talents may keep them floating for awhile. In a tough division, do you trade Hayes, Robbins and Matos at the break? Lots of mystery surrounding this team. 74-98
Player Watch: 3B Robbins...no matter how much we hear "ratings, ratings, ratings" if he gets off to a hot start he'll be a lot easier to trade.
klown61455
SEA 44: 65-97
Season 44 In Brief: Another rebuilding year for the Vikes. Dallas Sever (.292/31/96) was outstanding in a mediocre offense (677 runs - 12th). The staff was 14th in ERA (4.76); if there was a standout I guess it was Dave Waters (11-13, 4.08 ERA in 216 IP). They added P Henry Holm with the 4th pick of the draft.
Season 45 Preseason: Sever took off to OAK, so that's a chunk pf production gone. Very few changes - minor FA signing of C Ronn Richardson and a Rule V selection, SS Don Graves.
Forecast: More rebuilding as they wait on prospects to mature. Speaking of which, they have 3 good ones in AAA we're likely to see sometime this year: 2B Larry Cumpton (S40 #3 overall), IF Jose Benitez ($22MM-bonus IFA S41), and RP Mark Post (S41 #24 overall). These guys are all pretty much as good as they're going to get and would have a positive impact on the ML record. 65-97.
Player Watch: Comeback season for Mark Wallace? That would certainly put the mwr quest to bed early.
Division Race:
1. Jacksonville 110-52
2. Columbus 104-58
3. Dover 74-98
4. Cleveland 65-97
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