How can resist playin ball for the Japanese?

2008 Pre-Season Power Rankings

1. Boston Red Sox- They were the best in 07’, and the lineup improves with Ellsbury full time in center field and Clay Bucholz in the rotation. If they acquire Santana, they will be near impossible to unseat from the number one spot.
2. Detroit Tigers- With the additions of Miguel Cabrera and Edgar Renteria, the 06’ AL Champions manage to bolster their lineup into the most formidable in the league. Still they have a thin rotation and bullpen which will eventually catch up to them in the playoffs and simply can’t match the depth of the Red Sox.
3. Cleveland Indians- The 07’ Central Division have basically stood pat other than bolstering their bullpen with the acquisition of Kobayashi, but the same strong pitching staff that carried them to the 07’ ALCS should help them cruise to a wild card birth.
4. Arizona Diamondbacks- A young team filled with potential will only get better with the acquisition of AL All Star starter Dan Haren to make up one of the best one-two punches in baseball. This young team will now be a year older with more experience and are now ready to make an impact in the playoffs.
5. Los Angeles Angels- The Angels managed to improve their starting pitching by acquiring Jon Garland from the Chicago White Sox. The acquisition of Torii Hunter will improve the lineup but also gives them a jumbled mess of talented outfielders vying for playing time.
6. New York Yankees- The Yankees will still have a powerful offense but their pitching remains suspect as the success of the rotation will depend on the reliability of their three young starters, Hughes, Chamberlain, and Kennedy. Obviously a trade for Johan Santana would boost the Yankees significantly.
7. Philadelphia Phillies- Even with the loss of Rowand the lineup is strong, probably the best in the NL, and the theft of Brad Lidge from the Astros will allow Brett Myers to slot back into the rotation where he belongs, which gives them two legit front-line starters.
8. Toronto Blue Jays – Their pitching staff may be the most complete in the majors, but their offense is just too weak to compete with the two juggernauts ahead of them. They need a major offensive acquisition, but the prospects don’t look good.
9. Atlanta Braves – A full year of Teixeira bolsters the offense, and the additions of Glavine and Jurrjens improve a rotation that badly needed depth.
10. New York Mets – The loss of Glavine and the questionable health of Pedro Martinez leave the Mets with more question marks than sure things in their rotation going into next year; Minaya needs to make a move to get a rotation piece, and he’s running out of prospects with which to do it.
11. Los Angeles Dodgers – This ranking depends on the Dodgers finally wizening up and playing their talented youngsters instead of over-the-hill retreads. Kuroda is questionable, but they have a deep rotation and Andruw Jones is prepped for a rebound year.
12. Chicago Cubs – The rotation should still be relatively strong, and Fukudome adds badly needed OBP to their lineup. In the weak NL Central, they’re the cream of the crop.
13. San Diego Padres – A pitiful lineup that has lost some of its best parts (Milton Bradley, Mike Cameron, Marcus Giles) won’t turn any heads, but the combination of a strong rotation, a premiere pitcher’s park and Kevin Towers’s magic ability to cobble together bullpens out of thin air will make the Padres a contender yet another year.
14. Seattle Mariners – If they let young guns Jones and Clement play then the offense will be above average, and their bullpen is as impressive as it was last year. A solid starter or two could push them up even higher.
15. Milwaukee Brewers – Doug Melvin’s moves this year have been highly questionable, trading for older bullpen arms and signing others to overpriced contracts (10 million for a year of Gagne? Really?), and as always, the success of the rotation rests solely on the health of walking injury Ben Sheets. Still, the lineup is powerful and Fielder and Braun are a fantastic middle of the order combo.
16. Colorado Rockies – Yeah, they’re the defending NL champs, but a lot went right for them last year. Jimenez and Morales could strengthen the rotation, but both are hit or miss, and Francis overachieved. The team will be good, but they’re stuck in a good division; this team could probably win the NL Central.
17. Minnesota Twins – This is assuming they enter next season without Johan, which is a safe bet at this point. If Liriano comes back strong and Delmon Young learns to take a pitch, this team might finish above .500. They finally removed the offensive black hole that is Nick Punto from 3^rd base, and Adam Everett is an A+ defender at SS, but the offense is still a bit too weak to compete with the two elite teams in the AL Central.
18. Cincinnati Reds – If they get Bedard they actually have a chance to win the NL Central, but even if they don’t, they have a good offense that is improved by the additions of young stars Jay Bruce and Joey Votto and they’ve made some improvements to a weak bullpen.
19. Texas Rangers – They were surprisingly strong in the second half last year, and the team has seemed to really fall in line behind Ron Washington. On paper the team doesn’t look particularly special, but you can’t argue with results, and they do have a few legitimate young stars, such as Jarrod Saltalamachia.
20. Houston Astros – They’ve gutted most of their farm system to win this year, a dubious prospect with the lack of starting pitching behind Oswalt, but the offense is legit, and Valverde should replace Lidge nicely.
21. Tampa Bay Rays – Still too weak to compete in the AL East, but making positive steps; they have very strong young pitching, and a potentially potent lineup with young stud Evan Longoria filling in at 3^rd base and superstars like Crawford and Upton. They made some smart short-term moves to add veteran depth to the bullpen, and even if they can’t win it all, they have a chance to finish over .500, which is just what this team needs.
22. St. Louis Cardinals – They’re getting Carpenter back, but the rest of the rotation is weak, the bullpen is spotty without Percival and the offense is highly questionable outside of Pujols. Pretty much any team in the NL Central could take the division, but the Cardinals will need a lot of luck to win it.
23. Kansas City Royals – They have a decent young core with Gordon, Butler, and hopefully the resurgence of Teahan, but the rotation doesn’t have much outside of Meche and Bannister. Another team making positive strides, but not there yet.
24. Chicago White Sox- Kenny Williams has made some good moves to acquire young talent in Carlos Quentin and shored up the infield with the trade for gold glove shortstop Orlando Cabrera. Their bullpen is still a mess even with the signing of Linebrink and the rotation is relying on some very suspect pieces (Contreras, Danks, Floyd).
25. Washington Nationals- GM Jim Bowden has made some good acquisitions, but the outfield is still far too crowded and the rotation is mostly made up of spare parts and retreads. Manager Manny Acta is tremendous in getting the most out of his limited talent and this roster is legitimately better than last year.
26. Oakland A’s- GM Billy Beane has made the fire sale official with the trade of All Star Dan Haren and Joe Blanton is most likely next to go. The lineup lacks experience but does have some superior talent including rookie of the year candidate Daric Barton and powerful catcher Kurt Suzuki.
27. Florida Marlins- Once again building for the distant future, GM Larry Beinfest chose to trade his top young hitter Miguel Cabrera and his most experience rotations piece to the Tigers for their two top prospects in Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin and four other lesser pieces. The Marlins still have a special player in Hanley Ramirez, but the lineup is just too weak without Cabrera to anchor it.
28. Baltimore Orioles- This ranking assumes that the Orioles will trade Erik Bedard and Brian Roberts, two of their three best players. Even if they keep them, the team that is currently constructed will struggle to be .500. Without them, they will be in full rebuilding mode and would be lucky to finish with fewer than 100 losses.
29. Pittsburgh Pirates- Since 1993 the Pirates have been in a constant rebuilding mode and this year should be no different, however new GM Neil Huntington has been reluctant to pull the trigger on any major deals and the roster currently constructed isn’t talented enough now or young enough to win in the future, but this is a team in dire need of a shakeup.
30. San Francisco Giants- Like the Braves of old, the Giants live by the mantra of “Lincecum, Cain, and three days of rain”, except the old Braves teams actually had some offense. This team was already one of the worst offenses in the league and has now lost its best player. This team is old, has no offensive punch and few significant offensive prospects to bolster the lineup in the future. This team is in trouble, not just for 2008 but for years to come.

Disappointment of the year- Colorado Rockies, they won’t necessarily be a bad team, but they won’t look like the team that basically swept through the month of September and the first two rounds of the playoffs.

Surprise of the year- Texas Rangers, no I don’t expect them to win the AL West or even finish within five or ten games, but this team has a real shot to finish above .500 and sometimes that’s all a losing team needs to reverse its culture.

Zak Baris and Steven Oppenheim

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