1. Alcides Escobar, SS – The Brewers handed the starting shortstop job to Escobar this spring by trading off J.J. Hardy. Escobar is a defensive whiz who can hit a little. He has no power, but has speed to swipe a few bases. He’ll probably hit in the .290 range eventually; this [...]

Our guest bloggers is Matt Seybold from The Sporting Hippeaux.
Question 1 – Can their rotation be competitve in the NL Central?
Jeff: No — Beyond Gallardo, there is no one who will scare the opposition. Randy Wolf can be OK, but Doug Davis (injuries – control)? Manny Parra (all hat, no cattle)? and then who, [...]

Milwaukee Brewers
80-82, 3rd NL Central
2009 Review:
All things started out well for the Brewers; they were in first place for a while in the beginning of the season. As time wore on, their pitching fell off and they had to settle for third.
The offense was as good as advertised. Prince Fielder and [...]

1. Dee Gordon, SS – Gordon’s calling card is his speed. He’s projected to be a top of the order hitter. He’s very fast, but needs to work on his base running (he was caught stealing 25 times out of 98 attempts). He’s going to have little power and needs to work [...]

Our guest bloggers is Matt Seybold from The Sporting Hippeaux and Chris from Dodgerfan.net.
Question 1 – Will the McCord break up affect the all season?
Matt: The impending McCourt divorce definitely affected the Dodgers offseason, particularly their ability to re-sign Randy Wolf or acquire another dependable middle-of-the-rotation starting pitcher. So, to that extent, they will [...]

1. Trevor Reckling, P – Reckling has 3 solid pitches and is working on a fourth. His fastball doesn’t have much velocity, but has movement. He’s got a power curve and a plus change-up. He’s got a useable slider that’s still a work in progress. If he continues to build on [...]

Los Angeles Dodgers – National League West
2009 Record: 95-67, 1st Place in National League West, Lost in National League Championship Series to Philadelphia Phillies (4-1)
2009 Review: The Los Angeles Dodgers finished the 2009 season with 95 wins and taking the National League West Championship. The Dodgers finished the 2009 season leading the National [...]

Our guest bloggers is Matt Seybold from The Sporting Hippeaux and James Rygg from True Grich.
Question 1 – Who will fill in as staff ace for John Lackey?
James: I believe that Jered Weaver will emerge as the emotional leader of the staff; however, I think the pitcher who will have the most dominant stuff on [...]

General Manager: Tony Reagins (since 2007)
Manager: Mike Scioscia (since 2000)
Gains: Hideki Matsui, Joel Pineiro, Fernando Rodney, Brian Stokes
Losses: Jose Arredondo, Kelvim Escobar, Chone Figgins, Vladimir Guerrero, John Lackey, Shane Loux, Gary Matthews Jr., Dustin Mosley, Darren Oliver
Minor League Deals: Cory Aldridge, Travis Chick, Bobby Korecky, Michael Ryan
Projected Starting Lineup
Erick Aybar – [...]

1. Eric Hosmer, 1B – His bat is good, but there are questions. He had Lasik, so we’ll see if that was the problem. He should be able to hit for average and power, if he’s healthy. At this point, it’s a big if.
2. Mike Moustakas, 3B – Moustakas and Hosmer are [...]

Our guest bloggers is Matt Seybold from The Sporting Hippeaux and Jeff Parker from Royally Speaking.
Question 1 – Is Drayton Moore the right GM to turn the Royals around?
Jeff: I originally thought so but I’m not so sure now. He has done some nice things with their minor league system but his free agent signings [...]

Kansas City Royals
Management: GM Dayton Moore; Manager Trey Hillman
Key Additions: Brian Anderson, Rick Ankiel, Noel Arguelles, Josh Fields, Chris Getz, Jason Kendall, Scott Podsednik
Key Losses: Josh Anderson, John Buck, Coco Crisp, Lenny DiNardo, Luis A. Hernandez, Tug Hulett, Miguel Olivo, Mark Teahen, Doug Waechter, Jamey Wright, Yasuhiko Yabuta
Projected Starters
C Jason Kendall
1B Billy Butler
2B Chris Getz
3B [...]

1. Jason Castro, C – I thought Castro was a reach when they drafted him; they probably could have gotten him in the second round. He’s proved to be worth the pick though. He’s advanced quickly and could be the starting catcher at some point this year.
2. Jordan Lyles, P – [...]

Our guest bloggers is Matt Seybold from The Sporting Hippeaux and James from Astros County.
Question 1 – Will the Astros move towards a youth movement?
Matt: No, never. Ed Wade hates young people. They make him feel old.
Obviously, the Astros should be fully-immersed in rebuilding mode right now. They should be seeing [...]

Houston Astros
74-88, 5th Place NL Central
2009 Review
Not much went right for Houston last year. They saw ace Roy Oswalt miss time with an injury. Lance Berkman had a down year. We witness the beginning of Carlos Lee’s decline, which saw his power numbers drop to his lowest number since 2004. Mike [...]

1. Michael Stanton, OF – Stanton is probably the second best hitting prospect behind Jason Heyward. The only issue is his strike outs, but he’s got the power to be an All Star corner outfielder. Don’t expect him this year, but he could start next year in Miami.
2. Logan Morrison, 1B – Morrison [...]

Our guest bloggers is Matt Seybold from The Sporting Hippeau and Ted Hill from Marlins Diehards.
Question 1 – Can the Marlins continue to field a competitive team with such a small payroll?
Matt: I think the Marlins “competitiveness” has been slightly exaggerated. Sure, they have maintained a record in the vicinity of .500 for most [...]

Last Year: 87-75 (-6)
Over/Under: 81 (-115)
Notable Gains

Robert Bono
Luis Bryan
Hunter Jones

Notable Losses

Alfredo Amezaga
Luis Ayala
Jeremy Hermida
Nick Johnson
Matt Lindstrom

Three Things To Love
Light At The End Of The Tunnel: Jeffrey Loria has convinced everyone that once the Marlins christen the new Miami Ballpark in 2012 that the Marlins income issues will cease to exist. So, hang in [...]

1. Jacob Turner, P – This ace in the making dropped to the Tigers because of signability (sound familiar). He’s got an excellent fastball. He’s working on improving the command of his breaking ball. He’s also developing a change-up as his third pitch, which he didn’t need in high school.
2. Austin Jackson, [...]

Our guest bloggers is Matt Seybold of the Sporting Hippeau and Joe D from Fan Sided Podcast.
Question 1 – Who will lead off since Granderson was traded?
Chad: Brandon Inge since he does everything else for the team.
Tom: I assumed Johnny Damon. Damon should still be a good lead-off hitter even without playing in a [...]

Detroit Tigers
Management: GM Dave Dombrowski; Manager Jim Leyland
Key Additions: Phil Coke, Austin Jackson, Max Scherzer, Daniel Schlereth, Jose Valverde, Johnny Damon
Key Losses: Freddy Dolsi, Curtis Granderson, Aubrey Huff, Edwin Jackson, Brandon Lyon, Placido Polanco, Clay Rapada, Fernando Rodney, Dusty Ryan, Dane Sardinha, Marcus Thames, Matt Treanor, Jarrod Washburn
Projected Starters
C Gerald Laird
1B Miguel Cabrera
2B Scott Sizemore
3B [...]

1. Jhoulys Chacin, P – Chacin is a groundball machine, which makes him a perfect fit in Colorado. He’s didn’t look very well in his brief call up last year. I think he’ll see some rotation time this year, but will benefit by starting the season in Triple A.
2. Tyler Matzek, P – [...]

Our guest bloggers is Matt Seybold from the Sporting Hippeau.
Question 1 – Each year it seems that the Rockies make a late season charge to compete; why can’t the Rockies start the season hot?
Jeff: for one thing, it certainly wouldn’t be realistic for them to keep up their recent late season pace all [...]

Has anyone else wondered why there are 30 Major League teams, 6 Divisions, yet not all divisions are made up of conveniently divisible 5 teams??  The AL West has 4 while the NL Central houses 6…..really??  How does this make sense to anyone?  I have an idea for realignment that will balance the divisions and [...]

Colorado Rockies – National League West
2009 Record: 90-72, 2nd Place in National League West, 3 Games Back
2009 Review: The 2009 Colorado Rockies started lower than expectations. First, they did not have Matt Holliday returning as was with Oakland. Starting pitcher Jeff Francis was out for the season after surgery. Then, after [...]

1. Carlos Santana, C – One of the best catching prospect in baseball, and the Dodgers might be kicking themselves for dealing him for Casey Blake. The bat won’t be the question; can he handle the position? Many do think so, but time will tell this year.
2. Lonnie Chisenhall, 3B – There were [...]

Sorry about the delay with this one – I was slightly under the weather along with my 2 little ones…
1. Aroldis Chapman, P – Chapman was the prize of the international market this winter and the Reds were the surprise winner. Scouts see everything from top of the rotation starter to middle reliever. [...]

Our guest bloggers is Tony Lastoria from Indian Prospect Insider.
Question 1 – Will the team be trading Grady Sizemore and, if so, when?
Chad: I don’t see it happening. He’s the most marketable player on the team and even though Sabathia and Lee were great players, they didn’t touch Sizemore in terms of popularity in the [...]

Cleveland Indians
Management: GM Mark Shapiro, Manager Manny Acta
Key Additions: Brian Bixler, Russell Branyan, Brian Horwitz, Mike Redmond, Mitch Talbot
Key Losses: Greg Aquino, Jesus Brito, Jamey Carroll, Vinnie Chulk, Zach Jackson, Masa Kobayashi, Tomo Ohka, Kelly Shoppach, Jose Veras
Projected Starters
C Lou Marson
1B Russell Branyan
2B Luis Valbuena
3B Jhonny Peralta
SS Asdrubal Cabrera
RF Shin-Soo Choo
CF Grady Sizemore
LF Matt LaPorta
DH [...]

Our guest bloggers is Matt Seybold from The Sporting Hippeaux.
Question 1 – Will Jay Bruce hit for average?
Jeff: I would very surprised to see Bruce hit much higher than .250 — he is TERRIBLE on the road, and I don’t think that lineup offers any protection whatsoever — fact is, he should probably be [...]