The New York Yankees are gunning to defend their 2009 World Series title, but there will be a host of contenders looking to dethrone them in 2010. Here is the Daily's preview of the upcoming MLB season, beginning Sunday with the Red Sox-Yankees game in Boston.
AL East
Offseason Winners: Sensing an urgent need to counter the defending champion Yankees' monster haul last winter, the Boston Red Sox augmented their rotation with John Lackey, and strengthened their team defense with center fielder Mike Cameron, third baseman Adrian Beltre, and shortstop Marco Scutaro.
Offseason Losers: First-year Toronto Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos finally pulled the trigger on a trade involving ace Roy Halladay, bringing three prospects — pitcher Kyle Drabek, catcher Travis D'Arnaud and third baseman Brett Wallace — to Toronto. But none of the players in that trio are sure things, which makes the return insufficient for arguably the best starting pitcher in baseball.
Key Players: The New York Yankees lost Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui in free agency, but reloaded their roster with Javier Vazquez, Nick Johnson and Curtis Granderson. Can Vazquez maintain his success in the AL? Can Johnson stay healthy? Can Granderson find a way to hit southpaws? If the answer to all three of those questions is "yes," a second consecutive pennant might be a cinch.
X Factor: Tampa Bay Rays lefty David Price has yet to display the dominance that led Tampa to pluck him with the first-overall pick in 2007. But Price has all the tools to improve significantly on his 4.42 ERA and 1.35 WHIP for last season, and is the most talented pitcher on manager Joe Maddon's staff. If he puts it all together this season, the Rays — who finished 15th in the majors with a 4.54 rotation ERA last season — might quietly field one of the best starting rotations in the AL.
Projected Standings:
New York Yankees
Tampa Bay Rays
Boston Red Sox
Baltimore Orioles
Toronto Blue Jays
AL Central
Offseason Winners: The Detroit Tigers nabbed improving righty Max Scherzer in the trade with the Diamondbacks and New York Yankees, added Johnny Damon in free agency to bring consistency to the top of the order and should see an uptick in offense at the keystone, as rookie Scott Sizemore is more athletic than Placido Polanco, who will be playing for Philadelphia this season.
Offseason Losers: Although the Minnesota Twins added Orlando Hudson and Jim Thome to their lineup this winter, they did little to bolster a pitching staff of no-names. That could come back to bite them now that closer Joe Nathan has been lost for the season.
Key Players: Chicago White Sox GM Kenny Williams has developed a strange affinity for has-been, overpaid outfielders, seemingly hoping that one or two of them will rediscover some long-lost magic. Andruw Jones and Alex Rios both have the potential to be impact bats, but it's unclear if either of them will ever return to prominence.
X Factor: The White Sox were essentially out of contention at last year's trade deadline, so their acquisition of righty Jake Peavy largely flew under the radar. But despite moving from one of baseball's most pitcher-friendly parks to U.S. Cellular Field, where keeping the ball in the yard is a challenging task, Peavy has the stuff to thrive atop the Southsiders' rotation.
Projected Standings:
Chicago White Sox
Minnesota Twins
Detroit Tigers
Cleveland Indians
Kansas City Royals
AL West
Offseason Winners: Seattle Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik was a busy man in his first full offseason at the helm, signing Chone Figgins to become his second baseman, Casey Kotchman to play first, and Milton Bradley and Eric Byrnes to share duties in left-field and at DH. But the biggest move of all may have been importing lefty Cliff Lee to form a dynamite duo with Felix Hernandez in the Seattle rotation.
Offseason Losers: The Los Angeles Angels sat and watched while their division competitors in Seattle and Texas picked apart their roster, as Figgins went north, and DH Vladimir Guerrero and lefty reliever Darren Oliver went south to Texas. Meanwhile, former ace John Lackey was signed away by the Boston Red Sox, a perennial postseason foe.
Key Players: GM Jon Daniels upgraded each part of the Texas Rangers' roster this offseason, adding Guerrero to the lineup, Oliver to the bullpen, and both Rich Harden and former top prospect Colby Lewis to the starting rotation. That was a reasonable strategy, given that the Rangers didn't excel at any particular aspect of the game, ranking 10th in runs scored, 18th in rotation ERA and 15th in bullpen ERA last season.
X Factor: The Oakland Athletics have an excellent team defense and a bounty of young pitching prospects, but their offense lags behind. That should change once top prospects Michael Taylor and Chris Carter work their way into the big league lineup, and their presence on the farm makes the A's a legitimate sleeper.
Projected Standings:
Texas Rangers
Seattle Mariners
Los Angeles Angels
Oakland Athletics
NL East
Offseason Winners: No NL East team had a particularly good offseason, but the Atlanta Braves did the most to improve their club, upgrading their outfield with the addition of Melky Cabrera, and compensating for the loss of Rafael Soriano and Mike Gonzalez by inking Billy Wagner and Takashi Saito to fortify their bullpen.
Offseason Losers: After an extremely disappointing 2009 campaign, the New York Mets were among the neediest teams this offseason. Reeling in outfielder Jason Bay figures to help the offense, but the acquisition of outfielder Gary Matthews Jr. was curious, the signing of Rod Barajas and his .258 OBP was even more perplexing, and the failure to upgrade the starting rotation leaves more question marks than the 2010 U.S. Census form.
Key Players: The Florida Marlins have a fine collection of young starting pitchers — Anibal Sanchez, Chris Volstad and Sean West — and they'll need some of them to step up this year in order to contend for the NL Wild Card behind the leadership of Josh Johnson and Ricky Nolasco.
X Factor: A curious thing happened to Philadelphia Phillies lefty Cole Hamels last season — he improved his strikeout rate, pared down his walk rate, and kept his home run rate roughly constant, yet saw his ERA balloon from 3.09 to 4.32. Something's got to give, and a rebound from Hamels would give Philly arguably the best righty-lefty rotation tandem in the league, paired with offseason acquisition Roy Halladay.
Projected Standings:
Philadelphia Phillies
Atlanta Braves
Florida Marlins
New York Mets
Washington Nationals
NL Central
Offseason Winners: Furthering their commitment to building around young talent, the Cincinnati Reds signed flame-throwing Cuban southpaw Aroldis Chapman to a six-year, $30.25 million deal. Chapman proceeded to whiff 15 batters while allowing just one run in 10.2 innings in spring training, and though he's likely to begin the season in the minors, his upside alone would be enough to make this offseason a positive one for Cincy.
Offseason Losers: Houston Astros GM Ed Wade has an odd preference for veteran relievers, and it showed up again this winter when he overpaid for righty Brandon Lyon with a three-year, $15 million commitment, instead of working on a bevy of more pressing issues.
Key Players: A team's up-the-middle players are often seen as being vital to its success, and the Milwaukee Brewers will be relying on a not-so-familiar trio there this season, as Rickie Weeks played just 37 games at second base last year due to injury, Alcides Escobar is a talented rookie who has just 47 big league contests under his belt, and Carlos Gomez struggled to find his stroke with the Minnesota Twins before being swapped for J.J. Hardy this winter.
X Factor: Last season, the Reds ranked 24th in the league with 673 runs scored despite playing in one of the best hitters' ballparks in baseball. However, outfielder Jay Bruce's regression to a disappointing .223 average and .773 OPS is likely to have been a one-year fluke, and Bruce has 30-35 homer potential.
Projected Standings:
St. Louis Cardinals
Cincinnati Reds
Milwaukee Brewers
Chicago Cubs
Pittsburgh Pirates
Houston Astros
NL West
Offseason Winners: The Arizona Diamondbacks added two infielders with solid upside this offseason by reeling in first baseman Adam LaRoche and second baseman Kelly Johnson on bargain-basement one-year deals, and should also see a modest short-term improvement to its starting rotation, as a result of the trade that brought Edwin Jackson and Ian Kennedy to the desert.
Offseason Losers: GM Ned Colletti needed to fortify the Los Angeles Dodgers' rotation this winter, but failed to do so, and the loss of Randy Wolf in free agency may sting more than expected.
Key Players: The Colorado Rockies have the best group of young outfielders in baseball, led by Carlos Gonzalez and Dexter Fowler, both of whom are breakout candidates in 2010.
X Factor: San Francisco Giants' left-hander Jonathan Sanchez hurled a no-hitter last July, and then proceeded to pitch 84.2 innings of 3.83 ERA ball in 15 starts after the All-Star Break, while striking out 98. Sanchez has consistently ranked among the league's best at inducing swings-and-misses, and if he can further harness his control, the Giants could have the best rotation in the senior circuit.
Projected Standings:
Colorado Rockies
Arizona Diamondbacks (Wild Card)
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Francisco Giants
San Diego Padres
