WCT Baseball Preview: The Saga Continues

Baseball season is underway, and we here at WCT are psyched. In order to prepare for the season (and so that in October we can brag about how right we were in the spring) we will preview how we think the 2007 season will go.

Today: The Awards!

We swear we made these picks before the season started.

AL MVP: Travis Hafner – There are many statistical measures that would tell you that Hafner is the best offensive player in baseball. Last year he led the American League with a 1097 OPS, and even SCORED 100 runs (if you’ve seen “Pronk” run the bases, then you realize how remarkable it is that he scored that many times). We feel like the only reason he ended up eighth in the MVP balloting last year was because the Indians sucked (NOT because he is a designated hitter. But that is another post for another day). That being said, we think the Tribe will be better this year (you can go ahead and substitute “hope” for “think” if you want) and if he stays healthy, Hafner will be right in the middle of it and will garner the votes he needs.

One week in: If it never stops snowing in Cleveland, and if teammate and WCT punching-bag Grady Sizemore doesn’t stop upstaging him by hitting home runs every game, Hafner has no chance.

AL Cy Young : Chien-Ming Wang – This is one of the few guys who looks like he has a legitimate shot to toss a new hitter just about every time he takes the ball. We have never seen a sinkerballer who can control a game and frustrate the opposing team the Wang can. And with the Yankee offense scoring six runs a night, there is really no limit to his potential.

One week in: Wang is on the DL and is going to miss at least a month. Oops. Eh, Halladay, or Santana will end up taking it.




AL Rookie of the Year: Daisuke Matsuzaka – Why is it that in one breath people like Peter Gammons (who we respect, and agree with about 90% of the time) say that the Japanese league is somewhere between AAA and the majors, and in the next breath they say that if you consider Japanese players rookies you are disrespecting their league? If Ichiro can win ROY, why not Matsuzaka? Or as the Kansas City Royals Broadcasters called him Daisuke Matsui.

One week in: Seven innings, six hits, one earned run, one walk, and ten strikeouts Thursday against the Royals. Now lets see how he does against a major league lineup (Zing!). If he is as good as everyone says he is, he should win 16 games easily. There are also like five guys for the Devil Rays who could also take this award. If Matsuzaka doesn’t get the votes, look out for Elijah Dukes.




NL MVP: Jose Reyes – We actually could have gone with any of about three Mets (Carlos Beltran and David Wright being the others) but Reyes does so many things to impact a game its hard not to choose him. At the plate, on the basepaths, in the field, he is arguably the most complete player in the game.

One week in: Yes, its only been one week, but he is slugging .720.




NL Cy Young: Jason Schmidt – this is the one pick that we made that may be out of the ordinary. We see the Dodgers as one of the two best teams in the entire National League, so we think Schmidt will be another guy who will benefit from being on a team that makes the playoffs. We think he could have won this award a couple of times in the past if the Giants had been better.

One week in: Five innings, three hits, one earned run allowed. If he stays healthy, he could make us look very smart.



NL Rookie of the Year: Chris Young – No, not the 6’10” pitcher for the Padres, the 6’2” outfielder for the Diamondbacks. To be honest, we have no idea who this guy is. All we know is that Gammons loves him, and that’s good enough for us.

One week in: Young is only batting .182 so far, but he already has a home run and 8 RBI.

WCT Baseball Preview of the Week

Baseball season begins in earnest today, and we here at WCT are psyched (Indians already up 9-2 on the White Sox!). In order to prepare for the season (and so that in October we can brag about how right we were in the spring) we will preview each division, and predict the order of finish of the teams.

Today: Baseball's best division, the American League Central

Detroit Tigers – We have a funny feeling about this Tigers team. They are easily the most talented team in the division, but they also remind us a lot of the ’06 White Sox. We have never understood the phenomenon of the “sophomore slump,” but if it happens to any or all of the talented rookie pitchers who carried this team all the way through October, they are going to be in trouble. Kenny “get that camera out of my face” Rogers starts the year on the DL, it will be interesting to see how well he pitches now that he won’t be able to use that mysterious brown substance that was on his left hand during the playoffs last year. The addition of Gary Sheffield will be big, because when Gary is mad, he hits the ball real hard. We see them winning the division, but not without a fight. Call us crazy, but we just have a hunch that this team won’t be as successful as they were last year, or as many experts think they will be.

Cleveland Indians – It scares us to say this, as Indians fans, but the Tribe looks very good on paper right now. The rotation, as long as everyone stays healthy (C.C. Sabathia, we’re looking at you) should be solid. They added Joe Borowski to replace Bob Wickman as the closer, and rest of the bullpen is above average. Trot Nixon should bring the veteran influence that they have needed. Travis Hafner is arguably the best power hitter in the league, and the WCT pick for MVP. If the Jhonny Perralta of 2005 returns rather than the Jhonny Perralta of 2006, then the Indians could have three young studs in the infield with Perralta, Josh Barfield, and Andy Marte. If they put it together, we see the Tribe ending up with the wild card.

(quick aside: Everybody’s darling Grady Sizemore has GOT to cut down on his strikeouts. No one ever talks about this, but the Indians cannot continue to have their leadoff hitter striking out 140-150 times in a season. We love the guy, and we appreciate the way he plays centerfield, but he should be putting the ball in play a lot more often than he does. Or they should have someone who is more of a more contact-hitter, perhaps Barfield, lead off, and bat Sizemore third in the lineup)

(Update: Grady is already 1 for 1 with a leadoff home run, a walk, and two runs scored so we take back everything we said. For now)

Chicago White Sox – We don’t subscribe to the ridiculous idea that Ozzie Guillen is on the “hot seat” this year, but we think that he is beginning to become a distraction to his team. The Sox pitching staff fell apart down the stretch last year, and it cost them in the playoff race. This team will be able to score a lot of runs, but their bullpen lacks depth, and their starting rotation needs to be more like ’05 and less like ’06 if they are going to stay in the race.

Minnesota Twins – This team’s pitching staff looks is if it was assembled with a “Johan Santana, and pray for four days of rain” strategy. Too bad they play 81 games in a dome. Fransisco Liriano cannot return soon enough. One more thing: Honestly, who names their son “Boof?”

Kansas City Royals – Don’t laugh at us, but we think the Royals are going to be respectable this year, bordering on mediocre. 3B Alex Gordon is everybody’s early pick rookie of the year, and the outfield trio of Mark Tehan, Emil Brown, and David DeJesus is better than most people would think. It would not surprise us if they ended up somewhere other than the AL Central cellar, but we have them there just out of force of habit. They’re sort of like the opposite of the Braves of the 90s, until someone else proves that they can come in last in this division, we’re still going to go with the Royals.

WCT Baseball Preview of the Week

Baseball season is approaching fast, and we here at WCT can’t wait. In order to prepare for the upcoming season (and so that in October we can brag about how right we were in the spring) we will preview each division, and predict the order of finish of the teams.

Today: The totally jumbled National League Central

St. Louis Cardinals - The world champs come into the 2007 season once again as the favorites in the central division. They have a bonafide MVP in Albert Pujols in the lineup, and a bonafide ace in Chris "soul patch" Carpenter in the rotation. However, the most interesting thing about the Cards is the fact that they have decided to turn Braden Looper and Adam Wainwright into starters. Wainwright we guess we understand. He has at least two excellent pitches in his repotoire, and with the return of Jason Isringhausen, he is probably more useful to the team in the rotation rather than coming out of the pen. But Braden Looper? He was a disaster as a closer for the Mets two years ago, and average performer as the set-up man for the Cards last year. What is it with this team and bizarre position changing? Between these moves and the whole “Rick Ankiel as an outfielder” experiment, it makes you wonder if the manager of this team is drunk. Sorry, too soon?

(Quick aside: what is it with teams taking failed closers, i.e. Looper, Byung-Hyun Kim, and making them starters? What is the thinking there? “This guy can’t get hitters out when he only pitches one inning at a time, so let’s send him out there every fifth day and see if he can get hitters out pitching five or six innings at a time.” We have never understood the logic there.)

Milwaukee Brewers – the Brewers have seemingly become the trendy pick to challenge for the wild card, if not the NL Central division title. If that is the case, call us trendy. The Brewers have a lot of young players who are maturing at the same time and are poised to have breakout seasons in 2007. Ben Sheets and Chris Capuano are becoming a powerful 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation, and the addition of Jeff Suppan, if he can pitch all year the way he pitched in the playoffs last year, should add depth. Prince Fielder and Bill Hall in the middle of the lineup should be able to provide good run production, and how can we forget the “grittiness”, “guttiness”, “scrappyness,” and “grind-it-out-ness” that they acquired when the picked up Craig Counsell.

Chicago Cubs – The Cubs, or as we like to call them, the Redskins of baseball, once again won the off-season by overpaying for what we think will be an ill-conceived and ultimately disappointing lineup. Alfonso Soriano will be the everyday centerfielder for this team. We do not see that ending well. The Cubs also acquired Ted Lilly and Jason Marquis in the free agent market. Do you know what their combined records were last year? 29-29. And Marquis had an ERA over 6 and didn’t even make the postseason roster for the Cardinals. The bad new is these guys are scheduled to be the #2 and #3 starters for this team. The good news is this team's disappointing season should produce plenty of this

and maybe, if we are lucky, some of this

Cinci-Tucky, er, Cincinnati Reds – Aaron Harang has got to be the most underrated pitcher in the National League, and we think he will be a solid #1 on a surprisingly decent rotation. Did you know they are switching Ken Griffey, jr. to right field? That has got to be a shot to the ego. We have no idea who is going to close games for this team, so we can’t quite make them a wild card contender.

Houston Astros – The only hope for the ‘stros is Roger Clemens returning. Carlos Lee will provide some much needed pop in the middle of the lineup, but we just don’t think this team has enough depth in the rotation or bullpen to compete over the course of the season. They will also miss Willy Tavares.

Pittsburgh Pirates – Jeez, how many teams are in this division?! Jason Bay is a stud, and Adam LaRoche and Xavier Nady should provide good production, but this is a 90-100 loss team.