Theres 2 days until the Orioles Opening Day! Heres teams #10-#6 in the OFFICIAL Power Rankings of Jake Radford. 10. Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves came into Spring Training a few spots higher on this list than they currently are. The Braves were hurt quite badly by losing two of their starting pitchers, Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy, to Tommy John surgery. The pitching staff will be hurt by losing these two, but don’t be confused into thinking that they will be poor without them. Young starters Mike Minor and Julio Teheran are two arms to watch in the 2014 season. If they can continue to grow and progress in the Braves’ diminished rotation, the Braves may not have anything to worry about at all. To ensure that the rotation will be less of a concern, Atlanta signed SP Ervin Santana after hearing about the injuries to give themselves a durable starter in the middle of the rotation. The back-end of the bullpen will continue to have a dominating presense in world-class Closer Craig Kimbrel. Kimbrel has become the best closer in baseball over the last few years and won’t be giving away any late leads that Atlanta’s powerful offense gives him. The offense is led by 1B Freddie Freeman and LF Justin Upton, two of the national league’s youngest and most prestigious sluggers. While these two don’t have to be perfect throughout 2014, the offense will rely on them to be the main source of power after losing C Brian McCann to the Yankees. 24 year-old SS Andrelton Simmons will be a very important part of this Braves team. The young star won the NL Platinum Glove in 2013 and contributed with the bat as well, hitting 17 homeruns, a very respectable number for a shortstop. Simmons is already one of the game’s best middle infielders, can he take the next step into truly elite position player status? It’s quite possible. This is a talented Braves team and I expect them to battle it out with the Nationals for the division crown until very late in the season. 9. Oakland Athletics The Athletics took a different approach than nabbing the usual cost-efficient acquisitions, that GM Billy Beane has become known for, when they traded for Closer Jim Johnson in the offseason. Johnson will replace former closer Grant Balfour who was signed by Tampa. Johnson struggled to keep the lead for Baltimore in 2013, blowing 9 saves throughout the season. Oakland hopes that Johnson will be able to regain the form that resulted in him making the allstar team in 2012. The rest of the pitching staff for Oakland was extremely dominant in 2013, finishing 2nd in ERA and 1st in WHIP in the American League. They decided not to rest on their laurels in the offseason though. Oakland did not resign troubled ace Bartolo Colon, but they signed a resurging SP Scott Kazmir in his stead. Kazmir could make this rotation even better in 2014 and that’s pretty scary for AL offenses. The Athletics’ offense is good but it’s not necessarily great. Last season they were led by a breakout performance from 28 year-old 3B Josh Donaldson. Donaldson hit .301 and finished 4th in AL MVP votes. You have to wonder if his huge season out of nowhere was simply just a fluke, but we’ve seen this before in Toronto slugger Jose Bautista. So nothing is out of the realm of possibility. One of the more interesting names to watch in this Athletics’ lineup is LF Yoenis Cespedes. The Cuban-born outfielder was stellar in his rookie season in 2012, but suffered a sophomore slump in 2013. If Cespedes can rebound in 2014, Oakland will have the reliable slugger that they seemed to be lacking at times last season. Oakland does have questions, but for the most part, they are a very solid team, one that should be able to contend for the division title deep into the season. It’s hard to see them besting the Rangers over 162 games though. 8. Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are a very good team in baseball’s toughest division. They would likely be a lock for the wildcard game, at least, in any other division. Alas, the AL East brings with it a schedule that will destroy teams that don’t have the depth to compete in it. The Rays have a solid starting lineup, but their bench is really lacking and could hurt them if they are inflicted with the injury bug in 2014. Don’t let that take away from the talent at the top of their lineup though. 2B Ben Zobrist, 3B Evan Longoria and 1B James Loney all continued to have solid offensive seasons in 2013, yet nobody really hit exceptionally well except for Longoria. Well, Longoria and rookie sensation RF Wil Myers, who was acquired from the Royals in exchange for James Shields during last offseason. Myers, who was called up before the halfway point of last season, was instrumental in the Rays making (and winning) the Wildcard game. He won the AL Rookie of the Year award and if he continues his onslaught, the Rays offense will have yet another bat to compliment Longoria in the middle of the order. The real strength of this Rays’ team can be found in their pitching staff though. Ace David Price continued to show last season why is one of the most dangerous starting pitchers in the game. The star lefty finished with a 3.33 ERA and a WHIP of 1.098, leading a staff of pitchers who are extremely talented in their own right. SP Alex Cobb was having a career year in 2013, posting a 2.76 ERA before being hit in the head by a line drive that knocked him out for the next two months. Hopefully Cobb will be a little luckier this season, stay healthy and continue to progress into one of the best pitchers in the AL East. One big question for the Rays coming into the season is whether or not new Closer Grant Balfour can stay healthy throughout the season. Balfour agreed to a deal with the Baltimore Orioles before the Orioles backed out due to a failed physical. The Rays were less worried about the the 36 year-old’s arm and decided to give him a chance to be their closer in 2014. Balfour could play a big role in whether or not the Rays have success in a division that could finish in any possible order. 7. New York Yankees The Evil Empire was extremely busy this offseason, signing stars such as CF Jacoby Ellsbury, RF Carlos Beltran and C Brian McCann to help fill an lineup that lacked explosiveness in 2013. Ellsbury will likely be the most dangerous of the group if he can stay healthy throughout 2014. Unfortunately for the Yankees, he’s proven to be about as good at getting injured as he is of a player. Regardless, when he’s healthy he may just be the best option out there to bat in front of SS Derek Jeter at the top of the order. Speaking of Jeter, this is the last season that we’ll see a #2 in Yankee pinstripes. Jeter’s announced retirement might just spur on the rest of the Yankees to try just that much harder to send the Yankee captain off on top. DH Alfonso Soriano is the most intriguing player to watch for me in this Yankees lineup. Since being traded from the Cubs in the middle of 2013, Soriano has surged back to the top of his game and helped lead the Yankees in the second-half of last season. The explanation for his sudden improvement after the trade is probably due to two things. One being that he had a much better lineup around him in New York, the second being that he might just like hitting in Yankee Stadium. It’s a homerun-happy ballpark and it’ll be interesting to see how it continues to affect Soriano and how it begins to affect newcomers like 2B Brian Roberts and 3B Kelly Johnson. The starting rotation for the Yankees recieved a huge boost when they signed the offseason’s most sought after pitcher in Masahiro Tanaka. Many scouts differ on how they believe Tanaka will fare in America, but one thing’s for sure, he’s been nothing but impressive in Spring Training, posting a 0.857 WHIP. The biggest question for New York in 2014 is undoubtedly how the bullpen will survive without Mariano Rivera making the ninth inning obsolete. RP David Robertson will take over the closer role in 2014. He’s had a lot of success in the past but it’s no secret that this season will involve more pressure than the 29 year-old Robertson has ever faced. How he handles that pressure will have a lot to do with where New York finishes in 2014. 6. Washington Nationals The club in our nation’s Capital is one of the strongest in the National League. The Starting Rotation was absolutely lethal in 2013 and should be even more dangerous in the coming season. SP Stephen Strasburg pitched quite well in 2013, finishing with a 1.049 WHIP and striking out more than a batter per IP. Trading for SP Doug Fister should improve the back-end of a rotation that was already very good. However, SP Jordan Zimmermann was the only Nationals pitcher to throw for over 200 IP in 2013. The rotation will have to fix that in 2014 if the Nationals are going to take the next step into truly contending for the National League pennant. I wouldn’t be surprised if the bullpen sees some serious changes in the middle of the season. Closer Rafael Soriano was decent in 2013, but nothing more than that. Meanwhile, Setupman Tyler Clippard continues to be a dominant force in the back of the pen for the Nationals. Expect Clippard to take over the job and quickly if Soriano struggles early, which I suspect he will. The Washington offense is very good but not quite great…yet. LF Bryce Harper has way too much potential to not take a giant step forward eventually. Could 2014 be the year that he does that?In 100 less at-bats than he had in 2011, Harper reached nearly the same amount of doubles, RBIs and homeruns in 2012. I think his steady uptick in productivity will take the giant leap forward in 2014 and he’ll help lead the offense in Washington. Even if Harper doesn’t take the huge step forward, it’s not like the offense is without other big bats to help shoulder the load. 3B Ryan Zimmerman continues to be a consistent bat in the middle of the order and RF Jayson Werth had a fantastic season in 2013 (The best of his career) that didn’t recieve nearly enough attention. The Nationals have the bats, and they have the arms. Can they put it all together in 2014? It just might be the year for them.
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 01:40:42 +0000