Season 49 AL East Preview

 

 

Buffalo Ruffalos

gman981981

Season 49

Offseason

Gman had a busy Hot Stove League season, pulling off several trades, mostly to stockpile young talent.

Outgoing, were SPs Stephen Cook, Keith Gray and Nelson Drake, DH Mike Fassero and RF Alex Lewis.  New faces (in the majors) are C Emilio Fox and Setup man George Abraham.  1B Darby Williams was acquired in RuleV and looks to be useful.

Outlook/Forecast

Looks like game 20 will be like Christmas morning in Buffalo.  The current players look to be mostly placeholders for a wave of guys at AAA.  There are some interesting players like Rico "3 True Outcomes" Azocar at DH, a pretty good bat in 1B Shooter Bauer and a couple of good defenders in CF Dolf Adams and SS Gene Sutton.  Otherwise a lot of AAAA player so lets move on to the minors.  Rusty Wood will either play second or move Adams there and take over CF.  I would do the latter and let that 99 range rack up the + plays in CF.  He also has a pretty good bat and will hit 20-25 homers.  LF Otis Hayes is a very good power/average combo.  IB Giomar Ontiveros is similar but a level lower.  Tom Olson, Carlton Franco and Brian Thomas are all SS prospects that project to corner IF/OF players.  None are great hitters, but all should have big league careers.  Shortstops Dwight Sellers and DJ Rodon are legitimate defenders and might make for a good platoon there.  Some fun players there.

The pitching rotation is anchored by Ted Shaw, Anthony Stone and Don Christiansen.  More or less the whole rotation is composed of mid to bottom of the order guys.  Help is on the way from AAA again though.  Innings eater PT Ramirez will probably be the best of the bunch with Darrell Ross chipping in.  In the pen, AJ Sweeney has gone from a waiver pickup to closer.  And he may thrive in the role.  Abraham and Bono Decker get the ball to him, While Fausto Garces and Melky Elias.  In general, the pitching is average to a little below.

A good group of AAA players save Gman from the MWR this year, but there are more on the way for next year.  He is going to be a force in the East by the next couple of seasons are up.  IF the MWR doesn't get him.

Toledo Walleye

pak4427

Season 49

Offseason

Welcome mat out for RP Andres Morlan and SS Al Park.  Don't let the door hit you in the a$$ to SP Paul Kinney, CF JD Crocker and SS Alfonso Thomas.

Outlook/Forecast

Any team with 2 hitting anchors, like 3B Alex Reid and RF Donald Ritz are pretty likely to be contenders.  Both guys can mash.  With guys like CF Garabez Espinosa, C Bernie Guzman  and 1B Napoleon Rogers in support,  Toledo's lineup is pretty formidable.  A pretty good CF, Bill Treadway can't even break the lineup.  Look for them to improve on last year's above average numbers.  Jimmie Noesi, is a great contact/speed guy in AAA who is about ready to be called up if there is a need at 1B or LF.  

When it comes to pitching, Toledo has a life size Paul McKinney shaped hole in the rotation.  Andy Cobb was an OK number two starter, but he is no ace.  Ted Buckley, Santiago Fuentes and Jose Aceves  back him up in the rotation with various hopes of being a number 2 or 3 starter.  The bullpen is equally average or below.  Harry Armas has been promoted to the closer role.  He has some quality attributes, but is in trouble if he has to face many lefties.  Newcomer Morlan, Peter Yosida, Joe Lynn and Chi-Chi Velez are all ML caliber, but not especially high quality.  Basically the pitching is pretty likely to let down a good offense.  At least C Polin Martin's 91 PC can help out when he plays.

Boston Beer Bellies

torrone

Season 49

A pretty boring offseason in Boston....much like the rest of Torrone's life I suspect.  SP David Rosado was traded for 1B Blake Kohlscheen, a pretty decent power hitter who should really like Boston.  Other than that, nothing that looks to affect the Big League squad.

Outlook/Forecast  Any team in Boston should be able to score some runs, and this team will do just fine in that regard.  No big stars, but some solid bats.  With rookie slugger Moises Tavarez  handling 1B, They also have Wilking Guerrero's nice glove at short and Melvin Lloyd at 3B With Ricardo Castro at 2B.  This had me scratching my head a bit, as Lloyd would made a very good 2B and Castro would be better moved to RF.  Francisco Telis is the guy who should really be manning third.  All in all, a good position group, with Tavarez looking like a potential All-Star if he can loft enough fly balls over the Green Monster.  The OF doesn't look very inspiring on paper,   Youngster Dane Chirino and Darin Gil will get time in the corner spots around Gold Glove CF Alberto Calles.  No much pop from the first two, and next to none from Calles, who is the kind of guy who makes me sad.  I want his glove out there so bad, but is the wiffle bat worth it?  Tomas Bastardo is a good catcher and Kohlsheen will do just fine at DH.

Jerrod Gillaspie, Yohan Lugo, Jesus Guapo, Mycal Shumpert and Russell Howell make up the rotation.  All are solid, but most project around a #3 SP.  George Griffin is about as good as any of them, but he has started out great as a setup man.  Look for him to move in to replace any starters that falter.  In the pen, rubber armed Phillip Adams can be inked in as a solid 100 appearances.  John Kang, Enrique Diaz and Adys Valdivia anchor the back end of a closer-less pen.

Trenton Traders

gogogadget

Season 49

Offseason  Big time changes in Trenton this year.  gogogadget had plenty of budget and really cleaned up in FA with a good class to choose from.  Paul Kinney, Sam Teagarden and Julio Cano are aging but still among the best pitchers in Hobbs.  3B Kenny Miller is also a fine acquisition, and Touki Epstein is still a solid OF. .Among his free agent losses, the only one that is likely to hurt significantly is DH Bo Stewart, but his removal allows Cayones to move to DH.  Third baseman Charles Lorraine, C Eugene Martin and pitchers Diego Romo and Paul Tanaka were all pretty replacable.

Outlook/Forecast  The offense starts with C Yasiel Cayones.  His MVP days are likely over, but he still swings a potent power bat.  He is well supported by Miller, Epstein, SS Yorman Martin, 2B Brandon Francoeur, 1B Engel Bastardo and RF Joey Levis.  This was probably the top offense in the AL last year leading in OPS, HR and Runs scored, and they improved incrementally.  The efense will probably be below average overall, but they can score enough, and their staff is good enough to make that a minor problem.  

Paul Kinney becomes the immediate staff ace.  Although it makes me wince to think of paying a 39 year old version of him $15M/year, he is still a great pickup.  Cano is still a fine pitcher and Vasco Alonso makes a much better fit as a #3 SP vs being an ace.  Odrisamer Balboa and Gerald Gilheeney combine tandem starters to round out the 4 man staff,  Teagarden combines with Jaime Addison to make a great 1-2 punch to finish games.  Rookie Aurelio Gomez is the main bridge reliever and should be a good one one he gets acclimated to The Show,

AL East Conclusion:  I really like Trenton's chances.  They should dominate the division and look like a WS team to me.  Boston should be over .500 and be a dark horse wild card challenger.  Toledo will edge out Buffalo for third.