This is the scene outside the new Nationals Park in Washington, DC. The Nats host an exhibition game tonight against the Orioles. The first official game from the new ballpark is Sunday night against the Braves.Saturday, March 29, 2008
Opening Weekend at Nationals Park
This is the scene outside the new Nationals Park in Washington, DC. The Nats host an exhibition game tonight against the Orioles. The first official game from the new ballpark is Sunday night against the Braves.
Friday, March 28, 2008
AL Central Preview
By Kevin Lynch
The Cleveland Indians are the reigning champions of the American League Central Division, but the Tribe will be hard-pressed to remain atop the division, as Detroit made some much-needed improvements throughout their lineup to try and unseat the Wahoos.
The Tigers finished in second place last year, four games behind the Indians. In an attempt to return to the top of the American League, where the Tigers were in 2006, Detroit raided the Florida Marlins, adding power-hitting third baseman Miguel Cabrera and left-handed pitcher Dontrelle Willis.
Cabrera hit .320 last year with 34 homers and 119 RBI. He's young and he's only going to get better. Hitting behind Gary Sheffield, Magglio Ordonez, in a lineup that also features Carlos Guillen, Placido Polanco, Curtis Granderson and Ivan Rodriguez, the Tigers should have little worry about scoring runs.
It's preventing the other teams from scoring that should have veteran skipper Jim Leyland pulling out his hair.
If they can get past the starting pitching, which is talented and deep, into the bullpen, teams will have a chance to outscore the Tigers.
Justin Verlander, Kenny Rogers, Jeremy Bonderman and Willis are a solid four-man rotation, with Nate Robertson, a nine-game winner, in the fifth starting spot.
The weak spot for the Tigers is the bullpen, which is anchored by veteran closer Todd Jones, who saved 38 of 44 chances last year. Lefties Bobby Seay and Tim Byrdak and right-handers Jason Grilli and Zach Miner will serve as the late-inning stoppers for Detroit.
The Minnesota Twins finished in third place last season and should be back there this year after losing ace pitcher Johan Santana and perennial gold glove centerfielder Torii Hunter.
The Twins added troubled young phenom Delmon Young from Tampa Bay and veteran pitcher Livan Hernandez, but that might not be enough to offset the loss of Santana.
Offense is a strength for the Twins, who are led by former MVP Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer and Young.
Starting pitching depth is questionable behind Hernandez, who won 11 games last year for Washington. Scott Baker and Boof Bonser combined for 17 wins last year and Francisco Liriano is trying to come back from elbow surgery.
The Cleveland Indians are the reigning champions of the American League Central Division, but the Tribe will be hard-pressed to remain atop the division, as Detroit made some much-needed improvements throughout their lineup to try and unseat the Wahoos.
The Tigers finished in second place last year, four games behind the Indians. In an attempt to return to the top of the American League, where the Tigers were in 2006, Detroit raided the Florida Marlins, adding power-hitting third baseman Miguel Cabrera and left-handed pitcher Dontrelle Willis.
Cabrera hit .320 last year with 34 homers and 119 RBI. He's young and he's only going to get better. Hitting behind Gary Sheffield, Magglio Ordonez, in a lineup that also features Carlos Guillen, Placido Polanco, Curtis Granderson and Ivan Rodriguez, the Tigers should have little worry about scoring runs.
It's preventing the other teams from scoring that should have veteran skipper Jim Leyland pulling out his hair.
If they can get past the starting pitching, which is talented and deep, into the bullpen, teams will have a chance to outscore the Tigers.
Justin Verlander, Kenny Rogers, Jeremy Bonderman and Willis are a solid four-man rotation, with Nate Robertson, a nine-game winner, in the fifth starting spot.
The weak spot for the Tigers is the bullpen, which is anchored by veteran closer Todd Jones, who saved 38 of 44 chances last year. Lefties Bobby Seay and Tim Byrdak and right-handers Jason Grilli and Zach Miner will serve as the late-inning stoppers for Detroit.
The Minnesota Twins finished in third place last season and should be back there this year after losing ace pitcher Johan Santana and perennial gold glove centerfielder Torii Hunter.
The Twins added troubled young phenom Delmon Young from Tampa Bay and veteran pitcher Livan Hernandez, but that might not be enough to offset the loss of Santana.
Offense is a strength for the Twins, who are led by former MVP Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer and Young.
Starting pitching depth is questionable behind Hernandez, who won 11 games last year for Washington. Scott Baker and Boof Bonser combined for 17 wins last year and Francisco Liriano is trying to come back from elbow surgery.
Closer Joe Nathan, who saved 37 of 41 chances last year anchors a solid bullpen.
The Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals battled for the bottom of the AL Central last year, and the White Sox should have just enough offense to fend off the surging young Royals again this year.
Powerful Nick Swisher joins Jim Thome, Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye, a trio that combined for 93 homers last year. Joe Crede appears to be the starting third baseman, coming back from back surgery.
Like many other teams, offense isn't the problem for the White Sox.
Mark Buehrle is a 10-game winner who anchors the veteran starting staff. Javier Vazquez won 15 games last year, but John Danks and Jose Contreras combined to lose 30 for the southsiders.
Bobby Jenks saved 40 of 46 in the bullpen for Chicago, but the rest of the bullpen boasts a bunch of inflated earned run averages.
The Royals replaced Buddy Bell with a manager who never played or coached a day in the big leagues, but who has enjoyed tremendous success managing over in Japan. Trey Hillman is a no nonsense guy who expects attention to detail and has been getting that so far from his young squad.
KC brought in Jose Guillen from Seattle to provide some pop in the middle of the batting order. Guillen hit 23 homers last year. Young stars on the rise, Alex Gordon, Billy Butler and Mark Teahan are expected to have breakout years. If not, it will be another long year for the Royals and their fans.
Gil Meche won nine games as a high end free agent starter for KC last year. Brian Bannister (12 wins) and Zach Greinke (7 wins) both had ERAs under 4.00 last season, and give the team a solid starting rotation. Joakim Soria saved 17 of 21 after being acquired by the Royals midway through last season.
Which brings us back to the Tribe.
Led by a quartet of seasoned hitters and a pitching staff anchored by the Cy Young winner from last year, Cleveland fans have every reason to be excited by the prospects of the 2008 team.
Manager Eric Wedge said the Tigers needed to make the improvements they did, while the Indians feel their position players from last year and the pitching staff are good enough to get them back to the post season.
Grady Sizemore, Travis Hafner, Victor Martnez and Jhonny Peralta all hit more than 20 home runs and Sizemore, Hafner and Martinez each drove in more than 100 runs last year.
And that was despite a down year by Hafner, who hit only .267.
"We have been spoiled by what he's done the past couple years," Wedge said of Hafner during the Indians press tour in January. "He still drove in 100 runs... I'll take that."
The Indians got plenty of pop from young first baseman Ryan Garko and veteran third baseman Casey Blake, and there is no reason to expect much drop off in their production this year.
Asdrubal Cabrera took over the second base job from Josh Barfield last year and came through with a .283 average with three homers and 22 RBI while playing exceptional defense.
Jason Michaels and David Dellucci form a solid platoon in left while rising young star Franklin Gutierrez (13 homers, 36 RBI) is ready to play right field every day for the team.
C.C. Sabathia is the ace of the pitching staff, with veterans Jake Westbrook, Fausto Carmona (19 wins), Paul Byrd (15 wins) and Cliff Lee rounding out the rotation.
Joe Borowski saved 45 games out of 53 chances last year. Japanese import Masa Kobayashi (227 career saves in Japan) has been brought in as an insurance policy to anchor the back of the bullpen, along with Rafael Betancourt and Rafael Perez, the lefty-righty combination that locked down many late inning rallies last year for the Tribe.
The Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals battled for the bottom of the AL Central last year, and the White Sox should have just enough offense to fend off the surging young Royals again this year.
Powerful Nick Swisher joins Jim Thome, Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye, a trio that combined for 93 homers last year. Joe Crede appears to be the starting third baseman, coming back from back surgery.
Like many other teams, offense isn't the problem for the White Sox.
Mark Buehrle is a 10-game winner who anchors the veteran starting staff. Javier Vazquez won 15 games last year, but John Danks and Jose Contreras combined to lose 30 for the southsiders.
Bobby Jenks saved 40 of 46 in the bullpen for Chicago, but the rest of the bullpen boasts a bunch of inflated earned run averages.
The Royals replaced Buddy Bell with a manager who never played or coached a day in the big leagues, but who has enjoyed tremendous success managing over in Japan. Trey Hillman is a no nonsense guy who expects attention to detail and has been getting that so far from his young squad.
KC brought in Jose Guillen from Seattle to provide some pop in the middle of the batting order. Guillen hit 23 homers last year. Young stars on the rise, Alex Gordon, Billy Butler and Mark Teahan are expected to have breakout years. If not, it will be another long year for the Royals and their fans.
Gil Meche won nine games as a high end free agent starter for KC last year. Brian Bannister (12 wins) and Zach Greinke (7 wins) both had ERAs under 4.00 last season, and give the team a solid starting rotation. Joakim Soria saved 17 of 21 after being acquired by the Royals midway through last season.
Which brings us back to the Tribe.
Led by a quartet of seasoned hitters and a pitching staff anchored by the Cy Young winner from last year, Cleveland fans have every reason to be excited by the prospects of the 2008 team.
Manager Eric Wedge said the Tigers needed to make the improvements they did, while the Indians feel their position players from last year and the pitching staff are good enough to get them back to the post season.
Grady Sizemore, Travis Hafner, Victor Martnez and Jhonny Peralta all hit more than 20 home runs and Sizemore, Hafner and Martinez each drove in more than 100 runs last year.
And that was despite a down year by Hafner, who hit only .267.
"We have been spoiled by what he's done the past couple years," Wedge said of Hafner during the Indians press tour in January. "He still drove in 100 runs... I'll take that."
The Indians got plenty of pop from young first baseman Ryan Garko and veteran third baseman Casey Blake, and there is no reason to expect much drop off in their production this year.
Asdrubal Cabrera took over the second base job from Josh Barfield last year and came through with a .283 average with three homers and 22 RBI while playing exceptional defense.
Jason Michaels and David Dellucci form a solid platoon in left while rising young star Franklin Gutierrez (13 homers, 36 RBI) is ready to play right field every day for the team.
C.C. Sabathia is the ace of the pitching staff, with veterans Jake Westbrook, Fausto Carmona (19 wins), Paul Byrd (15 wins) and Cliff Lee rounding out the rotation.
Joe Borowski saved 45 games out of 53 chances last year. Japanese import Masa Kobayashi (227 career saves in Japan) has been brought in as an insurance policy to anchor the back of the bullpen, along with Rafael Betancourt and Rafael Perez, the lefty-righty combination that locked down many late inning rallies last year for the Tribe.
Look for the Tribe and Tigers to be in a dogfight for the top spot in the AL Central again this year. As long as they take care of business against the Twins, White Sox and Royals, both teams could represent in the post season. But remember, it's a long season, and the marathon begins Monday, March 31.
Kevin Lynch has covered sports for 67 years.
Kevin Lynch has covered sports for 67 years.
The Worst I Could Imagine
This isn't strictly baseball-related, so bear with me.
Next week, Amanda and I are traveling to Los Angeles. One of the highlights of the trip is that we're going to a taping of the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. I have never been to a TV Show taping before. I've been looking forward to this for weeks.
I've been checking their ticketing website waiting patiently to find out who the guest would be for this show. On Thursdays, they tape two programs. One airs on that night and then the later taping airs on Friday night. We're going to the late taping.
The guest for the early taping? Jennifer Love Hewitt. Nice. That would be a good show to attend.
The guest for the late taping? The one we'll be attending... It's difficult to even type the name.
It's Rosanne.
I am so terribly disappointed. If I had to name the top three people I would never want to see, she would be all three.
Especially after this performance:
So if you set your DVR to record the show on Friday night, April 4, perhaps you'll hear a heckler.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Two Games Down, 2,428 To Go
We are officially 0.08% through the 2008 season and my finger is on the panic button.
Two games have been played -- chances are, you've seen about two innings worth -- and already I'm doubting some of my draft strategy.
Manny Ramirez has been amazing. In the opening game, he wallopped two two-run doubles. This morning, he cracked a home run. Manny's on pace for a 81-405-0-.333 record breaking season! He went for $31 in Gabe Paul.
Meanwhile, Rich Harden looks like the pitcher that everybody knew he could be but didn't have the guts to put him on their fantasy team. Harden limited the Red Sox to three hits (with three walks) and one run over six innings -- and K'ed nine batters. Pretty strong. Really strong.
Harden went for $9 in our Gabe Paul auction, $14 in LABR, $10 in Tout Wars. I feel like an idiot for not bidding that extra dollar. What if this is the season that Harden finally stays healthy and puts it together? This is another perfect example of why keeper leagues rule. The Mud Hens invested $9 in a pitcher that could, reasonably, be a $25 earner for the next three seasons. (And if he blows out his elbow, the Hens could simply pickup a middle reliever and shave $4 off his roster.)
How many people will scramble to pickup Brandon Moss and Jack Hannahan. With JD Drew and Eric Chavez not exactly the models of resiliance, these two guys could get valuable playing time. Drew and Chavez owners are taking notice.
And we're not even .1% into the season.
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