Signor Baseball's "This May Be the Last" Belated MLB Preview

I fell in love with baseball when I was a little boy.

Knew the names of all of the players on all of the teams. 

Went to Spring training games every year.

My Mom used to drive me out Phoenix Muni to watch the AAA Giants play.

Never missed watching an All Star Game. 

Still remember Reggie Jackson hitting that home run off the light stanchion in Detroit. Damn, he hit the hell out of that one! And the AL finally won a game after years of losing.

Things have changed. Didn't watch an inning of this year's All Star Game or the Home Run Derby. 

I still love the "idea" of the game. The sounds of bat on ball, the slap of the ball against the leather of a glove, the smell of the hot dogs and the crunch of peanut shells under your feet.

But everything else that goes with it these days has put me off. 

Launch angles and the like. Everybody swinging for the fences on every pitch. The "highlight shows", which generally consist of .235 hitters hitting home runs. If you attend a game in person, the never ending, maximum volume, overwhelming "noise" at the ballpark.

And the ridiculous amounts of money. (Which to be fair plagues all our major sports.)

I suppose if I were a Dodgers' fan I'd have no problem with them buying up every available player.

But I'm not a Dodgers' fan. I am, or at least was, a baseball fan.

I guess I'm just getting old. 

Anyway,

NL East. 

The amazing thing about this division is how much money the Mets have spent to still be this bad. Awe inspiring, really. Atlanta, Philadelphia, and the Marlins (!!!) should battle it out until the last week or so--barring any major injuries, of course. Don't see too much difference between them. Maybe a Wild Card lurking in the bunch.Washington has some exciting young players, but not enough to close the gap between them and the aforementioned teams. And, if the past is predicative, they'll all be traded when their contracts come due. And for New York, well, its nice to be very rich. It's even nicer to be very rich and smart. They should work on that.

NL Central

Milwaukee is the class of this division. Cubs a few games behind. And St. Louis hanging around .500. Again, barring injury, etc etc. Would be nice if the Pirates can finally stay competitive after several years in the wilderness. Win more than you lose and you have a shot at a Wild Card. That applies to every division in the MLB these days. Cincinnati looked like they were ready to compete after last year, but they've fallen off despite some exciting young talent. Not enough pitching--like a lot of teams.

NL West

Los Angeles has spent a ton of money, and they've spent it well. They essentially have two complete sets of starting pitchers. Most teams don't have one. If they don't roll over everyone on their way to the World Series there ought to be a Congressional investigation. If the Congress still does that sort of thing. End of story. Arizona and San Diego will fight to be a distant second to the Dodgers and at least one of them will get a Wild card. I have no idea what they're trying to do in San Francisco--but it's not working. Colorado remains a last place team, Lord love them.

AL East

The injury bug has bitten the Yankees hard this year. Judge is out, Stanton is spending his usual half season on the IL, Cole isn't the same pitcher he was before his surgery. Frankly I'm surprise they're just 3 games out of first. If they can get everyone healthy in time, they can catch Tampa Bay. If not, they're a pretty sure bet for a Wild Card. Boston, Baltimore and Toronto are all bunched together behind the Yankees and Rays. And they all would take great pleasure in beating them down the stretch. And they are all capable of winning series against them. So, August and September could be very interesting. 

AL Central 

The Tigers, who ran away with this division last year, are mired 8 games under .500. That'll happen when your best pitcher is not at his best. They're not dead yet, but they are on life support. Chicago and Cleveland will probably go down to the last weekend, with the runner up grabbing a Wild Card. The Twins look like the textbook definition of a middle of the pack team. Not too bad, not too good. And the Royals are making noise about wanting a new ball park. Quelle surprise! Which will give the good folks of Kansas City at least something to talk about this season.

AL West 

Remember that guy with the big butt who hit all of those home runs for the Mariners last year? He's hitting .169 with 9 homers this year. Stuff happens, huh? Still, Seattle is only a game and a half out of first. They and the Rangers and the Astros are all hovering around .500. So, the division is wide open. Well, not for the A's, who are counting the days, months, years(?), until they can get out of Sacramento and into a shiny new stadium in, (checks notes), Las Vegas. Will this move make their half wit owner spend a little more on quality players? uh....sure. Maybe. And in beautiful Anaheim, home of Disneyland and the (checks notes), Angels, Mike Trout is wasting another year of what remains of his prime. Most players of that caliber would've demanded a trade years ago. But apparently Mike is a loyal company man.

 

 

Signor Baseball's 2017 AL Preview

The thing about Spring Training is, that while it might tell us a few things about the season ahead, it is completely unreliable about most things.

For instance, based on Spring Training 2017, you might think that the New York Yankees are going to win 120 games.

Ha ha ha.

AL East: For the aforementioned Yankees, too many unlikely things have to happen for them to really compete. No injuries to the pitching staff and big, full seasons from some young guys who have never played full seasons at this level. Of course, this could happen. But it's a long shot. Better to stick with the Red Sox and Blue Jays. Boston loses David Ortiz, and you never know how missing a dominant player and clubhouse personality will play out. However, their pitching should be improved and they have a lot of good hitters left. Toronto lost two big bats, but they'll still score plenty of runs and their pitching is strong enough to keep close to the Red Sox and in the running for a Wild Card. Down in Baltimore, the Orioles have a very good bullpen (when Buck Showalter remembers how to use them), which is good because their starters aren't impressive. They have a solid everyday lineup that can score runs in bunches. With those starters, they'll need them. One big question for the Orioles is whether or not Mark Trumbo can repeat his somewhat surprising homer barrage from last year. Unless everything miraculously falls into place, injury and young player wise, the Yankees look like a 4th place team and despite good starting pitching, the light hitting Tampa Rays once again pull up the rear.

AL Central: Looks like the Indians are a safe bet to repeat. Their pitching is superior and they've added a big bat in Edwin Encarnacion. Barring injury, Cleveland shouldn't have too much trouble winning the Central. Detroit is old and getting older, but premier players on the down slope are still often better than run of the mill players in their prime.  Verlander, Cabrera, Kinsler and Martinez are still potentially all-stars, and if the Indians slip a little the Tigers could sneak past them. Kansas City's pitching isn't nearly as dominant as it was a couple of years ago, and I can't see the Royals being anything more than competent. The Twins were awful last year. Minnesota should be better (they can't get much worse), and with the White Sox rebuilding, and liable to trade anyone of any value during the course of the season, the Twins could slip past Chicago and avoid last place. Little victories...

AL West: This has all the makings of a 3 team race to the bitter end, with the also-rans having a shot at a Wild Card slot. Houston, Seattle, and Texas seem very evenly matched.  None looks like a completely solid team. The Astros, with the addition of Brian McCann behind the plate, are incredibly strong up the middle. They are loaded with an excellent core of good, young, everyday talent. Their starters, however, once you get past Dallas Keuchel, are a big question mark.  The Mariners have better pitching than the Astros, but their everyday lineup is not as strong. Hamels and Darvish give the Rangers the best 1-2 starter punch in the division, but there's not much starting pitching beyond them. Their infield is solid, including Rougned "One Punch" Odor, and they will score a lot of runs, but their bullpen is just OK and their outfield is average at best. California, on the other hand, has the best all around player in the league, Mike Trout, and Albert Pujols, who even in the twilight of his career is still a potent hitter. But inferior pitching will doom the Angels to also ran status. And in Oakland, Billy Beane will eventually paste together another bargain basement contender with the A's. But not this year, alas.

Signor Baseball's 2015 AL Preview

Get out your needles and your "juice", A-Rod is back! That's right, it's time for our "National Pastime" to resume. Brace yourself for a summer of 4 hour games, endless pitching changes, blown calls even with replay, Tommy John surgeries, phenoms who fail, Cuban defectors, and all the other stuff that still fascinates those of us of a certain age or a certain mind set.

In general, the American League seems to be racing towards something like parity, irrespective of the amount teams can spend. This has nothing to do with the triumph of the free market, by the way. The smart boys in Vegas have a whole bunch of teams bunched around the 84-85 win mark, with none clearly dominant.

Which means Signor Baseball has no idea who is going to win.

But having no idea about what you're talking about is as American as, well, baseball, so here goes:

In the East, the Orioles are the class of the division, unless the dreaded--and inevitable--BSFS, (Buck Showalter Fatigue Syndrome), has started to set in. If it hasn't, Baltimore, which is loaded everywhere, might run away by mid Summer. By the way, Mrs. Franklin, young Ben Jr. and I had tickets to game six of the ALCS at Camden Yard last Fall. But there wasn't a game six because the Orioles got blown out by the Royals. The Royals! After a down year, Boston went out and bought bunches of ball players. A Panda now plays third base and a shortstop now plays left field. Most everybody in the Red Sox lineup can hit, a few of them can actually catch the ball, and if their pitching stays healthy they can hang close to the Orioles. Toronto has Russell Martin at catcher, which means the Blue Jays will probably make the playoffs, because teams with Russell Martin at catcher almost always make the playoffs.You can look it up, as they say. In the big city, the New York Yankees will need an injury free year from their entire team, especially their pitching staff, to contend. The odds of that happening are the same as the odds of Alex Rodriguez ever getting into the Hall of Fame. Derek Jeter's replacement, Didi Gregorius, has a major league glove, superior range, and a suspect bat--but if everyone else could hit, it wouldn't matter. Unfortunately, everyone else can't hit...Gardner, Texeira, McCann, Ellsbury, and a couple others can still play a little, but most of them are on the downward slope career wise, and unless everything falls into place the Yanks will battle the Rays to stay out of last place. How Tampa reacts to losing their manager and their best starter is anyone's guess. Their handful of faithful fans will be sad, but the vast majority of Floridians won't care a bit.

The Central should be a free-for-all right until the bitter end. Detroit has gone from having three number 1 starters (for all the good it did them in the playoffs last year) to just one to start the season. But they still have a lot of punch, and if Verlander can return to form the Tigers will be fine. Cleveland has a solid manager, a Cy Young winner and some good young hitters. Chicago added pitching and hitting. And Kansas City is the defending American League champion. So put those four teams in a hat and pick one. I'm going White Sox, Tigers, Indians, Royals. But it could be the exact inverse of that. Or something in between. Anything is possible in this best of all possible worlds. I mean, the Royals, for God's sake, were in the World Series last year. The Royals! That couldn't happen again this year...Could it? In this harrowing time, full of uncertainty, one thing is certain: The Minnesota Twins will finish last. Sorry Minnesotans...at least you still have all of those nice lakes to enjoy. 10,000, isn't it? That should keep you busy.

Out West, Texas had a nightmare, injury plagued season last year, and should've been primed to bounce back to close to a .500 record. Unfortunately, they've already lost their best starter for the entire season. A cynic might say this was God's punishment on Texas for giving us the Bush family. I will leave it to the theologians to hash that out. Besides, a .500 record wouldn't get the Rangers to the top of the division. Seattle is better, Oakland is better, California is better, and the Astros are, uh...never mind the Astros. But the A's traded away a big bat for a rent-an-ace only to fall apart late last year, and the Angels have spent a ton of money recently with disappointing results, so let's take the Mariners to win. I mean, why not? After the Super Bowl our hyper caffeinated friends in the Northwest need something to lift the gloom. Let's put the A's second, and the Angels, who seem to be acting like complete pricks in l'affaire Hamilton, third. That leaves the two Texas teams battling to stay out of the cellar. The Good Book tells us that one day the first shall be last, and the last shall be first. Or something like that. But not this year. Sorry Houston.

Of course, like a Republican presidential candidate, I could be wrong about everything. No matter; nobody--besides the NSA--is keeping track of this stuff anyway...