On Monday we attempted to delay baseball's post-trade-meetings hibernation with a Q&A survey of the junior circuit. Why do the AL first? Because, in layman's terms, the AL is the Chuck Liddell to the NL's Betty Boop.
That's not to take anything away from the Phillies, a worthy champion and unquestionably the best team during the last week of October. But we gotta traffic in larger sample sizes than a seven-game series -- you know, like interleague play, which the AL dominated to the tune of 149-103 in 2008 and a 576-432 advantage between 2005 and 2008.
Will the trend continue? We have questions and we have answers. Yup.
NL East
Philadelphia Phillies: Who is responsible for the Raul Ibanez signing, and can he/she immediately be removed from the decision-making loop? Maybe there was a reason the Phillies felt it necessary to part ways with Pat Burrell -- his contract demands, his charming personality, his bulbous cranium, whatever. But those aren't sufficient justifications to replace him with an old guy who plays beer-league defense and whose bat further tilts the Phillies batting order to the left. As it was, opposing managers did happy matchup jigs whenever Chase Utley and Ryan Howard weren't separated by a righty hitter. Now it'll be even easier to mute the Phillies hitters by administering a steady diet of lefty pitchers. Bad, bad, bad.
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| All eyes will be on K-Rod ... and the Mets after their big splash. (Getty Images) |
Florida Marlins: How can a team that employs Dan Uggla and Jorge Cantu say with a straight face that it hopes to emphasize run-prevention? In the wake of the Rays' and Phillies' success in 2008, defense is the new black. That's still no reason to consider handing a significant number of at-bats to Emilio Bonifacio, whose contact with pitched balls can only be described as "accidental." It's just the Marlins' luck that none of their clangy infield bashers has the athletic ability to play an outfield corner.
Atlanta Braves: How's the tough-love approach to re-populating the starting rotation working out? Quite well, thanks for asking. The Braves entered this offseason needing two starters, ideally of the solid-to-elite variety. The deal for Chicago's Javier Vazquez, whose liberal gopher-ball allotments proved a problem at Nü Comiskey, filled one spot. For the second, the Braves held their ground on a Jake Peavy deal after the Padres insisted on receiving half the Atlanta minor-league system in return.
It doesn't stop there. John Smoltz and Tom Glavine want to come back? Sure, if they accept deals commensurate with their age and recent injury histories. If not, no skin off the Braves' backs. They have a Japanese import (Kenshin Kawakami) idling in the parking lot. The days of factoring sentimentality into roster construction are long gone.
Washington Nationals: Instead of splurging on a "signature player" like Mark Teixeira, wouldn't it make more sense to "hire somebody intelligent to run the team" or "build a farm system that produces capable players with some degree of regularity"? Landing Teixeira would undoubtedly make the type of splash the moribund franchise -- which couldn't even pack its sparkly new stadium last season -- could use. You know what else would make a splash? Playing games that matter in August, much less in September or October. Fans don't show up at the park to gape and gawk and get all OMG TEX TOTALLY AWESOME; they show up to see a winning product. As great a player as Teixeira might be, his presence won't jet the Nationals past 75 wins.
NL Central
Chicago Cubs: Are they aware that their window is closing? Because it is. The Cubs head into 2009 as the NL favorite: strong lineup, passable defense, depth in the rotation and bullpen, a manager who strategizes as well as he kicks inanimate objects, etc. A lot of these guys are approaching their expiration dates, though, with Carlos Zambrano (lotsa miles on that odometer), Derrek Lee (his speed abandoned him last year) and Alfonso Soriano (now just a murderer of bad pitching, as opposed to the versatile offensive threat he once was) looking like prime candidates for some drop-off. Their time is now. Yes, that last sentence would make a splendid title for the first single by next year's American Idol.
Milwaukee Brewers: Is it better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all? Milwaukee fans were treated to a joyous, fandom-affirming run last fall. They fell back in love with their team, with the flair-for-the-dramatic left fielder and the running-on-fumes closer and the portly fella who threw 39 consecutive complete games, all the while snorting and belching like the second coming of Luis Tiant. And now, just as quickly as success arrived, it's gone like water down the drain. Here's hoping the process of burrowing back into the mediocrity couch isn't too soul-crushing.
St. Louis Cardinals: What are they going to do about the outfielder glut? Lost amid the team's month-long pursuit of Brian Fuentes, which has proven as tentative and gentle as an Our Town courtship, is that the Cards are sitting on a cache of able, relatively inexpensive outfielders. Ryan Ludwick would be the guy to deal, because there's bound to be a sucker who will view his sublime 2008 as something other than the fluke it was. He'd bring back the arms and/or infielders the team could use, as would Rick Ankiel (Atlanta-bound?). They oughta pull the trigger before the free-agency dust settles and a bunch of the "vacancy" signs disappear.
Houston Astros: Who's in charge here? And does it really matter? Spotting question marks in the rotation and bullpen as well as at third base. Roy Oswalt went public with an offer to renegotiate his contract so that the Astros don't have to start selling off players piecemeal. Owner Drayton McLane responded, in his inimitable way, with some kind of half-sensical analogy about "paying the price down the road" and cattle. Any substantial decline from Carlos Lee or shoulda-been MVP Lance Berkman could be cataclysmic for the team's chances.
Cincinnati Reds: Do they plan to field a three-man outfield in 2009? I've already had a whole bunch to say about the Reds, the team upon whom I'd place a longshot NL pennant bet if gambling weren't so gosh darn immoral. So let's just note that this isn't the best time to be sneaking around in pursuit of a center fielder. And once more, with feeling: sign Juan Rivera. Juan Rivera Juan Rivera Juan Rivera. Juan Rivera.
Pittsburgh Pirates: How is it possible the Pirates have been unable to find a taker for Mighty Jack Wilson? In baseball's days of yore, when players sported snot-dappled mustaches and swung with great gusto early in the count, Jack Wilson would've been a legend. His ability to catch and throw the ball with uncommon grace would've earned him a nickname like "Hands" or "Jack the Flipper." His beyond-reproach moral character would've set the wags speculating about his chivalrous courtship of socialite daughters.
Tragically, employment within baseball is now predicated on things like "ability" and "salary," and poor, sweet Jack Wilson craters in both categories. The Pirates will eventually ditch him, likely to one of the runners-up in the Rafael Furcal derby, but they'll have to swallow a chunk of his contract if they expect to receive anything worth having in return.
Godspeed, young Jack. You were just too beautiful for this world.
NL West
Los Angeles Dodgers: What if Manny Ramirez calls their bluff? What if he's really content to spend the remainder of his waking days watching cartoons and playing with remote-control helicopters? What if he falls under the spell of an AL team that promises to build an enclosed garage for his Vespa?
This would be a good thing. The Dodgers have avoided dealing any of the players from the Loney/Kemp/Ethier/Martin quartet (this leads me to believe that co-GMs Ned Colletti and Bill Plaschke have been replaced by hyperintelligent robot doppelgangers), so they have an offensive core in place. That frees the team to use the Manny cash on a starter, a shortstop and a device that administers a small volt of electricity behind Joe Torre's left ear whenever he asks Russell Martin to catch 13 games in a row before the All-Star break. That'll make them stronger in 2009.
Arizona Diamondbacks: Is it a wise idea to go back into battle with last year's troops? I luv luv luv luv Arizona's young talent, but I wonder if the budget-related decision not to keep Adam Dunn or sign a lesser thumper will be one they regret a few months from now. Maybe Chris Young and Justin Upton will realize their middle-of-the-order destinies, or maybe they'll continue to run hot and cold. For now, this lineup looks slightly lefty-deficient and prone to gale-inducing strikeouts. Good thing Eric Byrnes will be back to lead the league in gnarly dude-isms.
Colorado Rockies: How does one plan for life as an afterthought? They can start by purchasing a tarp to cover the upper-deck seats that otherwise won't be depressed by paying human tushies. In lesser baseball markets like Colorado -- and despite the early-year attendance figures and 2007 enthusiasm, Colorado ain't exactly St. Louis -- fans have short attention spans to begin with. Factor in a trade of the team's best and most popular player (sure to be regarded by baseball casualists as a surrender) and the economy (a blanket excuse for everything from low season-ticket renewals to closed-bar holiday parties), and all the elements are in place for a dour next 18 months in Denver.
San Francisco Giants: Was there a typo in the reports about the Edgar Renteria signing? I saw two years, $18 million; I figured that somebody added a zero or forgot to carry a two or something. That's an absurd sum of cash to throw at a guy who moves as if coated with rubber cement, especially in a shortstop-glutted market.
The real problem here is the team's patchwork approach to rebuilding. Shouty GM Brian Sabean, who went all Courtney Love on reporters for mischaracterizing the Giants' non-pursuit of CC Sabathia, might not be intellectually or emotionally capable of focusing his attention on replenishing the team's prospect base. Still, that's what the Giants need to do. Yes, they toil in a division so frail and piteous that Lincecum, Cain et al could nudge the team toward immediate contention, but the past few seasons of a post-expiration-date Omar Vizquel should have illustrated the limitations of the Band-Aid approach.
San Diego Padres: Did they overshoot during the Peavy trade negotiations? Of course they did. As great a pitcher as he might be, no sane team could offer the 13-for-1 deal the Padres reportedly demanded, especially since Peavy is owed $63 million and might want more to waive his no-trade protection. So now the Padres are on the block -- timing-challenged owner John Moores hired Goldman Sachs to help move things along, because few octo-billionaires are investing in ego trinkets like ball clubs nowadays -- and the fans will be treated to an inferior product.
Though current chatter suggests Peavy might not be shipped out of town after all, the math doesn't make sense. Barring some creative accounting, there's no way the team will be able to limbo beneath its $40 million payroll bar without offloading Peavy's $11 million in 2009 salary. This could get ugly.
