Chicago White Sox 2009 Team Preview

Rotation: Mark Buehrle, Gavin Floyd, John Danks, Jose Contreras, Bartolo Colon
Bullpen: Bobby Jenks, Scott Linebrink, Octavio Dotel, Matt Thornton, Clayton Richard, Jeff Marquez, D.J. Carrasco

Offense:
1. SS Alexei Ramirez
2. C A.J. Pierzynski
3. LF Carlos Quentin
4. DH Jim Thome
5. RF Jermaine Dye
6. 1B Paul Konerko
7. 3B Josh Fields
8. CF Dewayne Wise
9. 2B Chris Getz

Bench: Corky Miller (C), Brent Lillibridge (INF), Wilson Betemit (INF) Brian Anderson (OF)

I guess I don’t get the wisdom of putting DeWayne Wise and his career .254 OBP (!!) in the leadoff spot, but that’s what Ozzie Guillen plans on doing.  Not that there’s really any great leadoff option here; the on-base guys in this lineup are all lumbering big-bopper types.  I can’t really see Carlos Quentin repeating the season he had last year, but there should be plenty of pop throughout the middle of the order even if he does regress.

The rotation is a little scary, especially in the back end.  John Danks could break out into a staff ace, but Mark Buehrle pitches to contact more than I would like. The one part of this team I like is the bullpen.  Several experienced hard-throwers for the late innings, and some versatile long men who can step in and start a game in the event that Bartolo Colon explodes like a pinata.

Defensively, the team is in very rough shape.  Jermaine Dye is most likely the worst RF in baseball, and DeWayne Wise does not have favorable minor league CF numbers.  Alexei Ramirez, who wasn’t a great 2B last year, will move over to SS.  The lone bright spot on the field will be Chris Getz, who flashed decent leather in the minors at 2B.

Starters: C-
Bullpen: B+
Offense: C-
Fielding: D+
OVERALL SCORE: 51.6 (C/C-)

Cleveland Indians 2009 Team Preview

Rotation: Cliff Lee, Fausto Carmona, Carl Pavano, Scott Lewis, Anthony Reyes
Bullpen: Kerry Wood, Rafael Betancourt, Rafael Perez, Jensen Lewis, Joe Smith, Masa Kobayashi, Zach Jackson

Offense:
1. CF Grady Sizemore
2. 3B Mark DeRosa
3. C Victor Martinez
4. DH Travis Hafner
5. SS Jhonny Peralta
6. RF Shin-Soo Choo
7. 1B Ryan Garko
8. LF Ben Francisco
9. 2B Asdrubal Cabrera

Bench: Kelly Shoppach (C), Jamey Carroll (INF), Trevor Crowe (OF), Josh Barfield (INF)

What did Cliff Lee do different last year?  In simple terms, he became a ground ball pitcher overnight.  His GB/FB ratio for the past 5 years:

2004 0.75
2005 0.81
2006 0.68
2007 0.71
2008 1.31

More ground balls, and slightly fewer walks, turned Cliff Lee into a Cy Young Award winner.  Can he keep that up?  He hasn’t been sharp this spring, with a GO/AO ratio back under 1 and an ERA over 12, but the whole non-correlation of spring stats applies.  All I know is that the rotation quoted above will look a lot different if Lee’s carriage turns into a pumpkin this season.  I’ll peg him for a good (not great) season in 2009.

Rotation Grade: C+
Bullpen Grade: A-
Offensive Grade: B-
Fielding Grade: C
OVERALL SCORE: (67.25 B-)

Minnesota Twins 2009 Team Preview

Rotation: Francisco Liriano, Scott Baker, Kevin Slowey, Nick Blackburn, Glen Perkins
Bullpen: Joe Nathan, Jesse Crain, Matt Guerrier, Craig Breslow, Luis Ayala, Philip Humber, Brian Duensing

Offense:
1. CF Carlos Gomez
2. 2B Alexi Casilla
3. C Joe Mauer
4. 1B Justin Morneau
5. DH Jason Kubel
6. RF Michael Cuddyer
7. LF Delmon Young
8. 3B Joe Crede
9. SS Nick Punto

Bench: Brian Buscher (IB/3B), Brendan Harris (INF), Denard Span (OF), Mike Redmond (C)

Before Francisco Liriano was injured, his fastball was regularly sitting at 95 MPH and was complimented with a 88 MPH slider.  When he returned over a year later, the fastball was 90 MPH and the slider was around 84 MPH.  The Twins hope he can slowly get his velocity close to what it was in 2006, when he was the best rookie pitcher in baseball.  If he can even come close to that, the trio of Liriano, Baker, and Slowey will be an AL Central institution for the forseeable future.

Rotation: C+
Bullpen: B+
Offense: B-
Defense: B-
OVERALL SCORE: 66.85 (B-)

That’s it for the AL Central.  For the record, I see no real powerhouse in this division, however, I have Deroit, Cleveland, and Minnesota being very close to one another, in terms of best team in the Central (and the Royals being a couple of steps behind, but not too far).  It should be fun to see these three go at it.

Next: finishing the NL East

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