Theres 3 days until the greatest day of the year! Heres teams #15-#11 in Jakes super OFFICIAL power rankings. 15. Pittsburgh Pirates The miracle team of 2013 will have their work cut out for them once again in 2014 if they want to nab one of the two wild card spots in the National League. SP Francisco Liriano was arguably the best signing of last season and paid major dividends for Pittsburgh throughout 2013. He was signed for a miniscule 1yr/$1million (Plus incentives and an option) contract at the beginning of 2013. Liriano proceeded to post a 3.02 ERA and finish 9th in NL Cy Young votes last season. If he continues to have the same kind of success in 2014, it could prove to be the best contract in the Pirates’ history. So while the top of the rotation has a big-time arm is Lirano for 2014, it lost one in SP AJ Burnett (who signed with the Phillies this offseason). Replacing Burnett was the number one priority for the Pirates this offseason, so the Pirates attempted to make another Liriano-esque move by signing talented, yet struggling, SP Edinson Volquez. Volquez will hope to recover from a terrible 2013 season, with the Pirates in a NL Central division that he is familar with from his time with the Reds. The 2013 NL MVP, CF Andrew McCutchen, is the leader of this Pirates’ team and when you have a player like McCutchen on your side, you have to feel pretty confident about your ability to win games. Couple McCutchen with the impressive young LF Starling Marte and you start to realize that this Pirates team could possibly be for real. Keep your eye on Marte during what should be a major breakout season for him, if you didn’t know who he was before reading this, you definitely will at the end of the season (And my fantasy team will thank him for that). The main issue with this Pirates team is that the rest of the offense isn’t all that special. In fact, in 2013, no other starter on the Pirates (with the most games played at the position) hit over .255. RF Jose Tabata and SS Jordy Mercer, who eventually earned their respective jobs towards the end of last season, will hope to continue their success and provide the Pirates’ two stars with a little support. This Pirates team could possibly find themselves in the wildcard game once again, but a lot of things would have to go their way. I have them finishing with a respectable record, but 3rd in the NL Central. 14. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim For the first time since 2010, the Los Angeles Angels decided not to acquire a big name player via free agency or trade. Instead, they sent coveted power-hitting 1B Mark Trumbo to the Diamondbacks for two young starting arms in Tyler Skaggs and Hector Santiago. The Angels hope that these two will help to solidify a back half of the rotation that struggled mightily in 2013. The top of the rotation will continue to be led by SP C.J. Wilson and SP Jered Weaver, both of whom posted ERAs below 3.40 last season. As far as the pitching staff goes, the biggest problem lies with the bullpen. Closer Ernesto Frieri was certainly not bad, but he was not as effective as he had been in years past. He’ll need to return to his dominate ways if the Angels bullpen is to be a strength this season. Now we move on to what should be one of the best offenses in baseball. Many, falsely, believe that the Angels offense was putrid in 2013, when in actuality, they were quite good, finishing 7th in runs scored in all of baseball. The disappointment is simply a product of expectations for this star-studded Angels team. CF Mike Trout has quickly become the best all-around player in all of baseball. A combination of speed, power and pure baseball acumen, Trout is the most dangerous player in our game today. Three years ago, we might have said the same of his current teammate, 1B Albert Pujols. Unfortunately for Angels fans, Pujols has since fallen off the pedestal and last season hit a measly .258 in 99 games played. It should be noted that Albert Pujols was hampered with a foot injury for nearly all of last season, however. If the injury is healed and Pujols can return to being a feared slugger, the Angels could be in a very good situation in 2014. But that’s not all, the Angels also feature 5-time Allstar Josh Hamilton. If Hamilton can find the swing that earned him the 2010 MVP award with the Rangers, the Angels will have the best offense in baseball. Can that happen? I think it very well might. Look for the Angels to be a major factor in the AL West and shoot up this list in a hurry if their stars can return to form. 13. Cincinnati Reds This is one of the rankings that I’ve thought deeply about for a few days now. The Reds are a really talented team with very good pitching and one of the best pure hitters in the National League in 1B Joey Votto. However, they lost who I think was the most important part of their team last season in CF Shin-Soo Choo. Choo was a wizard at getting on base last season and was one of two reasons why they finished 2nd in the NL in OBP last season (the other being Votto). Replacing Choo this season is one of the most highly talked about young players in the game right now, CF Billy Hamilton. Hamilton is known for one thing, his other-worldly speed. He is quite possibly the fastest player to ever play the game. However, getting on base was one thing Hamilton did not do well in AAA in 2013. Can he improve that stat and become one the game’s best leadoff hitters in 2014? It’s possible. One thing’s for sure, if he gets on base, there will be no stopping him. The rotation for the Reds is certainly a bright spot. Ace Johnny Cueto will hopefully remain healthy this season after pitching extremely well in an injury-shortened 2013 season. Closer Aroldis Chapman might be the biggest concern for the Reds in 2014. The flame-throwing closer was involved in an extremely scary incident in a Spring Training game against the Kansas City Royals where a line drive found the pitcher’s face and narrowly missed his eye. The young phenom was taken to the hospital where he underwent a 2 hour operation to repair a broken bone above his left eye and was said to be “very lucky”. Chapman will be out 6-8 weeks and it will be very interesting to see how the bullpen fares without the reliable closer finishing out each game. It could prove disastrous for the beginning of the season and that’s one of the biggest reasons why I only have them at 13 on this list. 12. Baltimore Orioles Here it is, the one you’ve all been waiting for, the preview for the 2014 Baltimore Orioles. Yes, this is my team and yes, I’m terribly biased. However, I will do my best to provide you with a non-partisan view of the greatest team on planet Earth. Okay, now that I’ve got that out of the way, we’ll move on to the team itself. Baltimore added two major free-agents during the offseason in SP Ubaldo Jimenez and OF/DH Nelson Cruz. Jimenez, who has been up and down since being traded from Colorado to Cleveland at the trade deadline in 2011, is an interesting choice to add stability to a rotation that has been wildly inconsistent, aside from ace Chris Tillman. General Manager Dan Duquette is hoping that the Jimenez who we saw finish 2nd in baseball in ERA in the second half of 2013, is the Jimenez that we’ll see in the future. Another area of concern for the Orioles is what to do with the closer role that was left vacated after CL Jim Johnson was traded to the Athletics in the offseason. Right now, the spot seems destined to go to RP Tommy Hunter, who flourished after being moved to the bullpen in 2013. One issue with Hunter is that he tends to leave balls up in the zone, which results in him being taken deep quite often in the bandbox that is Camden Yards. Look for LHP Zach Britton to potentially take over the role if Hunter struggles early. Britton has been extremely impressive in Spring Training, showcasing an electric sinker and pinpoint command. The offense has been the strong point for the Orioles in recent years though so if the Orioles look to contend this year, it will likely be on the backs of sluggers like 1B Chris Davis, CF Adam Jones and SS JJ Hardy. Davis is coming off a career-year in which he led the major leagues in homeruns with 53, RBIs with 138 and finished 3rd in AL MVP votes. Can he continue putting up such fantastic numbers? I doubt it. Look for him to settle into, a still amazing, 40 homeruns and 110 RBIs in 2014 and beyond. Who’s the x-factor for the Orioles lineup in 2014? That honor belongs to Platinum Glove 3B, Manny Machado. Machado will start the season on the DL while finishing his recovery from knee surgery in the offseason, but once he returns he’ll continue to be one of the American League’s brightest young stars. The Miami product finished 1st in the AL in doubles in 2013 and will look to turn a few of those into homeruns this season. If he continues his progression and the Orioles pitching makes a quick turn-around, they will contend in 2014. After all, O’s for October. 11. Arizona Diamondbacks The Diamondbacks have a chance to prove a lot of people, who think they will regress, completely wrong in 2014. They made a big move in the offseason to acquire slugger 1B Mark Trumbo from the Angels and he should add to a lineup that already features another one of the game’s top young hitters in 3B Paul Goldschmidt. Goldschmidt snuck up on a lot of people last season to lead the National League in many categories and finish second in NL MVP voting. The combination of Goldschmidt and Trumbo are enough to make pitchers terrified to pitch against the D-Backs. When you couple that with the amazing consistency of contact hitters 3B Martin Prado and 2B Aaron Hill, this team has the ability to put up some offensive numbers in 2014. With that said, this offense is not without its questions. C Miguel Montero is coming off the most disappointing season of his career after putting up fantastic numbers in 2011 and 2012. If Montero can regain his top form, this offense may just be unstoppable. The pitching is really where I have questions about this Arizona team. Starting pitchers Patrick Corbin and Wade Miley were very solid in 2013, but the rest of the staff struggled with consistency and that really hurt the team when it came to the end of the season. To rectify that problem, the Diamondbacks signed reliable veteran SP Bronson Arroyo in the offseason. How much does Arroyo have left in the tank though? The 37 year-old had another very good season in 2013 but he’s moving to another park that gives up a lot of homeruns. If he starts getting tired and leaves balls up in the zone, it could have some disastrous results for the Diamondbacks. Some of the biggest news for the Diamondbacks actually came today in which RP David Hernandez announced that he had a torn UCL and would require Tommy John Surgery. The news is awful for a bullpen that struggled last season and was hoping to improve in 2014 with some new faces. Nevertheless, the offense should make up for most problems the pitching may face this season. This is a strong Diamondbacks team and you shouldn’t be counting them out come September.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Mar 2014 02:54:29 +0000
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