New York Yankees Season Preview

2012 Season: 95-67 1st in AL East

The Yankees offseason has been interesting to say the least. The saga that was the 2013 offseason had a huge impact on their lineup, which finished second in the American League in runs scored last year. There’s no questioning that the Yankees relied heavily on their offense last year to win games and if the Yankees can’t put up the same offensive numbers that they did last year they are going to have a tough time making the playoffs in an improved AL East. So what exactly happened this winter that could dethrone the perennial power of the AL East? Lets keep a running total

Jeter’s ankle injury that he suffered in the playoffs designated him to the couch for the offseason, so it will take him a while to get back into playing shape, which is no easy task at the tender age of 38. Nevertheless, you can never count Jeter out; he’s a legend and will undoubtedly find a way to make himself a useful tool for the Yankees in 2013.  However, the combination of age, lack of an offseason and a big injury leads me to believe he won’t be able to put up the same numbers that he did last year (.316 BA and 216 hits). So they’ve, in effect, gotten worse at shortstop.

Alex Rodriguez had a rough October in 2012 which involved a well publicized benching due to dismal performance. To top it off, he found himself linked to steroids yet again and also has to have hip surgery which will sideline him for two months. To be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if A-Rod was done forever, but that’s a separate debate. In response to the A-Rod saga, Cashman signed Youkilis who batted under .240 last year which is worse than Rodriguez’s .270. Now the entire left side of their infield has gotten worse.

Nick Swisher left via free agency to the Cleveland Indians. I mean, how hard is it to replace .270 with 25 bombs right? At least they got Ichiro right? Bad news Yankees fans, Ichiro had an awful year last year by his standards and he wont hit that many homeruns even with the short porch in right field. Hopefully that was just a blip in his stellar career, and maybe Ichiro still has a 210+ hit season left in that body, but at the age of 39 depreciation is a real thing.

Russell Martin also left via free agency to the Pirates and now Francisco Cervelli will take over. He hit .246 in Triple A last year and last time I checked major league pitchers are a little tougher to hit. Decrease at catcher production.    

Then the ultimate boom exploded on the Yankees, Curtis Granderson has a broken forearm and will be out for ten weeks. There goes 43 homeruns from last year and an overall decrease in the Yankees outfield production. 

So if team that relies heavily on their offense gets worse at 6 of the 8 offensive positions, don’t expect them to have much success the following year. The Yankees may try to make a big move in the middle of the season and but in the most competitive division in the world a slow start will break your season.

Prediction: 82-80 4th in AL East

The Yankees will dig themselves in a deep hole going into the All Star break. With an average pitching staff their offense needs to be elite throughout the whole season. Don't worry Yankees fans, once Trout's contract is up with the Angels he'll be dressed in pinstripes and you'll be back to your winning ways. 

-Blake Dale Lepire

Baltimore Orioles Season Preview

2012 Season: 93-69 2nd in AL East

The Baltimore Orioles were a big a surprise last season. They had gone fifteen years without a playoff appearance, but timely hitting, big power and stifling bullpen propelled them to October baseball in 2012. For a while the Orioles were known as the bottom feeders of the AL East, so it was refreshing to see their name on the top of the standings. I was quick to jump on the Baltimore bandwagon last year, but I think baseball fans everywhere are curious to see if the Oriole’s can sustain their success. 

Offensively Adam Jones, Nick Markakis and Nate McLouth led the way last year, but look for Manny Machado and Brian Roberts to bust on the scene this year. Manny Machado is a 20 year old phoneme that got called up two-thirds of the way through the season last year. With experience he is going to be a star in the Bigs and don’t be surprised if he has a huge impact sooner than expected. Brian Roberts is a former All Star who has had injury problems the last two seasons. However, reports are saying he is the healthiest since the 2009, which is great news for the Baltimore organization. Roberts can be a force at the top of the lineup with his ability to get on base and steal bases. With these two guys coming back the Orioles’ offensive will improve, but pitching will make or break their season

If Baltimore is going to make it back to the playoffs, their bullpen is going to have to repeat their efforts from last year which boasted an even 3.00 ERA. The Orioles bullpen led all playoff teams in innings pitched, and had six guys who finished the season with an ERA in the 2s. Jim Johnson had an incredible year as the closer saving 51 of 54 tries and posted a 2.49 ERA in the toughest division in baseball. Many of their relievers had career years in 2012 and Baltimore is going to rely on them once-again to pick up a very average starting rotation. 

Prediction: 86-76 3rd in AL East

 The resurgence of the Blue Jays will make the AL East tougher than ever and I don’t know if they have enough magic to complete another 90 win season. The Orioles bullpen will pitch well but not good enough to make up for their lack of starting pitching. 

-Blake Dale Lepire

WBC: Pool D

Canada

IBAF World Rank: 6

Canada has failed to make it out of the first round in the last two WBCs and if they want to advance this year it’s going to come down to their opening game with Italy. They have the talent to hang with the best teams, but they’ve had problems beating the teams they are supposed to beat. Italy is a very strong team but they pale in comparison to Mexico and the U.S. Canada has to take care of Italy and then find a way to squeak out one win versus either the U.S. or Mexico. However if they find a way to advance, don’t count on seeing them in San Francisco; they don’t have quite enough firepower to consistently compete with the best teams in the world. Justin Morneau and Brett Lawrie will be their team leaders offensively and Jon Axford from the Brewers will anchor their bullpen.

Mexico

IBAF World Rank: 11

I have to start out by saying Mexico has the worst hats in the tournament… by far. Anyways, they proved by beating the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean Series Championship that they can be pretty good, but I am not completely sold on our southern neighbors. Don’t be surprised if Mexico comes out flat after their Caribbean Championship and one slip up in Pool D can ruin your whole tournament.

Italy

IBAF World Rank: 9

While everyone is focused on the North American threesome, Italy will be ready to spoil someone’s tournament. The second best European team has a lot of good players including the Chicago Cubs’ first basemen Anthony Rizzo and the Dodgers’ Nick Punto. The Italians lack of pitching depth keeps them from being a threat to advance deep into the tournament, they beat Australia in 2006 and Canada in 2009 so don’t be surprised if the Italians find a way to beat someone in their pool this year. Heck, one win may be good enough to advance to the second round.

United States of America

IBAF World Rank: 2

The roster speaks for itself, but the Americans only problem is their lack of continuity. Many teams in the WBC have had experience playing as a team, but the U.S. does not at all. The amount of All Stars on their lineup is enough to get them past the first round, but in order to win the whole thing they will need to come together as a team very quickly. There is no physical reason why the U.S. can’t take home the trophy, but we’ll see if the star power can overcome the lack of chemistry.

 

Prediction:

USA                2-1

Canada         2-1

Italy                 1-2

Mexico            1-2

Bold represents teams advancing

WBC: Pool C

Dominican Republic

IBAF World Rank: 13

First things first, the Dominican Republic are not the 13^th best team in this tournament; they are easily one of the top 5 teams. For whatever reason their recent international play has resulted in a low ranking, but the addition of many All-Star major leaguers makes them one of the best teams coming in. They have the best infield in the tournament with Adrian Beltre at third, Jose Reyes at short, Robinson Cano at second and I am suggesting they put Hanley Ramirez at first. However, as is the case for many teams, they will go as far as their pitching takes them. Edison Volquez, Alexi Ogando are their best starters and Francisco Rodney is their best reliever. After disappointing efforts in the last two WBCs, look for the Dominican to make a big splash this year.   

Spain

IBAF World Rank: 16

Most of the players on Spain’s roster weren’t actually born in Spain, which tells me baseball has a lot of work to solidify Spain as a baseball country. They have had success in international play and are considered the third best team in Europe right now. However, baseball can only become a global sport if Europe jumps on and the Spanish roster is very discouraging. Currently, it seems that they have all of the players from Cuba, the Dominican, Venezuela and the US who weren’t good enough to represent their own country but use their Spanish descent as an opportunity to play in the WBC. In my experience when you have second tear players, it doesn’t give you a great shot in a world-class tournament.

Puerto Rico

IBAF World Rank: 12

The amount of talent in the MLB of Puerto Rican descent is down from recent history, and it shows in their lineup. Yadier Molina and Carlos Beltran are both world-class hitters, but their supporting cast isn’t strong enough to make them a real threat this year. Puerto Rico’s biggest weakness is their pitching, it doesn’t match up well with the high-powered Dominican and Venezuelan lineups in their group. However, Puerto Rico is a great baseball country and takes pride in their baseball history, so they are never a team you can overlook.

Venezuela

IBAF World Rank: 8

Venezuela did arguably the best job recruiting MLB players to participate in the WBC. I believe that they have the best lineup in the tournament. Which will look something like this.

Elvis Andrus              SS

Carlos Gonzales         OF

Miguel Cabrera         1B

Pablo Sandoval          3B

Martin Prado             OF

Asdrubal Cabrera     2B

Salvador Perez          DH

Miguel Montero         C

Gerardo Para             OF

Highlighted by Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera, this lineup boasts last years World Series MVP, a former batting title winner in CarGo, a rising star in Andrus and the best offensive catcher in the MLB outside of some guy named Buster. Their offense has a chance of being really deadly if all of they hit to their capabilities. However, the key to the Venezuelan success will be their pitching. Felix Hernandez will give them a chance to win every game but the Venezuelans will go as far as Carlos Zambrano and Francisco Rodriguez take them. Both guys have proven to be erratic pitchers, but if they perform well Zambrano gives them another great starter and Rodriguez can shorten the game, giving Venezuela a great chance of playing far into the tournament.

Prediction:

Venezuela     3-0

D.R.               2-1

Puerto Rico    1-2

Spain              0-3

Bold represents teams advancing