And so the Report Card series comes to a close. Amazing that up till today guys were getting signed. In this case Felipe Lopez with the Cards. Anyways, Spring Training is well underway, so enjoy!
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Major Signings: Matt Holliday, Felipe Lopez, Brad Penny, Rich Hill
Major Trade Acquisitions: none
Major Losses: Mark DeRosa, Troy Glaus, Rick Ankiel, Joel Piniero, Todd Wellemeyer
Report: While the Cards shed some players this offseason their aquististions were well spent. Matt Holliday was their giant purchase, but after seeing what he did behind Albert Pujols he was a must have. Assuming they extend Pujols, this will be among the best 3-4's in baseball. Brad Penny was the only major addition to the rotation, although Rich Hill will get a chance to compete for the fifth spot. Can Penny continue what he started in San Francisco late last year? If so, their top four are fairly decent. And bringing back Felipe Lopez is a fantastic late signing.
Overall: Overall, pretty good.
Grade: B+
CHICAGO CUBS
Major Signings: Marlon Byrd, Xavier Nady, Kevin Millar, Chad Tracy, John Grabow
Major Trade Acquisitions: Carlos Silva
Major Losses: Milton Bradley, Aaron Heilman, Rich Harden, Kevin Gregg, Reed Johnson, Neal Cotts
Report: Their biggest move was getting rid of headache Milton Bradley, of course they got Carlos Silva for him, but if he makes a "comeback" he could be a run of the mill 5th starter. Marlon Byrd and Xavier Nady are the outfield replacements. Byrd could surpass Bradley's output with another decent season. Those are all OK moves, but the small signing of John Grabow to a big contract was quite silly.
Overall: OK at best. I think their outfield is stronger than it was last year, but otherwise that's about it. Replacing Rich Harden with Carlos Silva is not good.
Grade: C
MILWAUKEE BREWERS
Major Signings: Randy Wolf, Doug Davis, LaTroy Hawkins, Scott Schoeneweis, Jim Edmonds, Kameron Loe, Claudio Vargas, Gregg Zaun
Major Trade Acquisitions: Carlos Gomez
Major Losses: J.J Hardy, Mike Rivera, Seth McClung, Jason Kendall, Frank Catalanotto
Report: The Brew Crew were pretty crafty this offseason. They strengthened both their rotation and bullpen with the big catch being Randy Wolf. Did they overpay for him? Possibly, but I like his chances for a repeat performance from last year, and Doug Davis provides another solid, if unexciting, starter. They also traded away J.J. Hardy for the speedy Carlos Gomez. Can the youngster realize his potential? If so, this was a fantastic deal.
Overall: Others might not, but I liked Milwaukee's offseason. They had needs and filled them to their means.
Grade: B+
CINCINNATI REDS
Major Signings: Aroldis Chapman, Orlando Cabrera, Jonny Gomes, Kip Wells, Laynce Nix
Major Trade Acquisitions: Aaron Miles
Major Losses: Wily Taveras
Report: They spent their cash on Cuban defect Aroldis Chapman. Oh, and Orlando Cabrera who is declining, but has a ton of postseason experience. Not that this team will benefit from that.
Overall: Meh, the Chapman signing was a lot of risk.
Grade: C
HOUSTON ASTROS
Major Signings: Brandon Lyon, Pedro Feliz, Brett Myers
Major Trade Acquisitions: Matt Lindstrom
Major Losses: Jose Valverde, Miguel Tejada, LaTroy Hawkins
Report: Jose Valverde and LaTroy Hawkins gone, Brandon Lyon and Matt Lindstrom in. The latter replacement made for a good trade, but Brandon Lyon was grossly overpaid. Disgustingly even. The two will be battling for the closer's job, but with the money Lyon is getting (3 years for 15 mil) you have to assume he's the odds on favorite. Either way, it's going to get scary down in Texas. Pedro Feliz replaces Miguel Tejada, mostly with his glove, and Brett Myers looks to return to form on his new team.
Overall: I dunno, these signings have all kinds of red flags. Just on the Lyon signing alone you have to give it a bad grade.
Grade: D
PITTSBURGH PIRATES
Major Signings: Octavio Dotel, Ryan Church, Brendan Donnelly
Major Trade Acquisitions: Akinori Iwamura
Major Losses: Matt Capps
Report: So, I somehow deleted this Pirates entry twice, which is always good to make me nuts. Of course, it's the last entry! Why are there so many teams in the NL Central?! That makes me crazy as well. Can't we realign so that Houston goes to the NL West and one of those teams goes to the AL West? This isn't rocket science!
Overall: Dotel is better than Capps, Aki is equal to Freddie Sanchez. That's a wrap.
Grade: B-
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5 comments:
Keep posting stuff like this i really like it
Sal,
Solve your imbalance in 1 easy step: Move the Astros to the AL West.
Technically Houston doesn't belong in the West. But neither do the Rangers. But at least it would be the TexWest League.
Totally, but a second move of a team from the NL West to the AL West would be ideal so then every division has 5 teams. I never understood why the NL Central has 6 and the AL West has 4. Doesn't make a lick of sense. I'm all for the TexWest leagues. Mr. Selig?
sal:
let me clear this up:
if you move houston to the al west, you would have 5 teams in each league. as bob costas points out though, it would mean there would probably be an interleague series each day, which wouldn't be so bad, would it?
Ha, I see I read what you wrote wrong. Thought you said NL West for some reason.
I still think I rather have the 'stros in the NL and move say the D'Backs to the AL. Just to keep Texas and Houston apart.
Eh, I guess it doesn't matter that much who exactly moves, just that it happens. :)
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