The best impact bat on this squad is easily Jose Reyes, who signed as a free agent with the new look Miami Marlins. He is set to score a lot of runs batting atop a lineup that also features Hanley Ramirez and Giancarlo Stanton. Behind him in my projected lineup are two of Reyes's former teammates with the Mets: Angel Pagan and Carlos Beltran, in CF and RF respectively. Pagan will hit leadoff for the Giants, but is ideally suited to bat second since he makes a lot of contact (he puts 78% of balls in play, nearly 10 points higher than the MLB average) and he won't be blocked on the basepaths by the speedy Reyes. Beltran is slated to hit second in the Cardinals lineup despite showing a resurgence of his power stroke last season - 11.2% of his hits went for extra bases - but I guess rookie manager Mike Matheny likes how Beltran's line drive swing fits in front of Holliday, Berkman, and Freese.
The next highest-ranking hitter is Brewers new cleanup hitter, Aramis Ramirez. The Sports Illustrated scout thinks he's too far past his prime to protect Ryan Braun in the lineup... but if you've got enough testosterone in your system, who needs protection? The versatile Michael Cuddyer will play 1B for this team, even though he'll start in RF for the Rockies. the next best 1B on the roster - Yonder Alonso, the NL West's "Rookie to Watch" after being traded to the Padres from the Reds - is ranked almost 100 places lower. Melky Cabrera will bat 6th, in the "second leadoff" spot, but Cuddyer's former teammate and new division-mate Jason Kubel will be ready to step in if the Melk Man's uncharacteristically strong 2011 season turns out to be a fluke. A pair of Cuddyer's new teammates (and former teammates on the Moneyball-era A's) Marco Scutaro and Ramon Hernandez round out the lineup.
The top pitcher on this roster was the main prize the Reds got for trading Alonso: Mat Latos. He has shown good stuff in San Diego, but who knows how the transition from the league's most extreme pitcher's park to one that strongly favors hitters will impact his production. The next two hurlers on the staff were supposed to be members of the A's Big Three - and indeed they suffered much the same fate as their predecessors. Trevor Cahill and Gio Gonzalez both made All-Star teams playing in Oakland, but at least they netted Billy Beane three rotation-ready starters and a top catching prospect in trades. It's interesting that 2 of the top 5 starters on the NL team came from the A's, and 3 of the top 10 starters on the AL team came to the A's.
A.J. Burnett would have made the starting rotation if he hadn't taken a foul bunt off his eye early in camp. Instead his new teammate on the Pirates, Erik Bedard, will take his place. Travis Wood is ranked fairly high for someone who was just reassigned to minor league camp - I think a professional veteran lefty like Mark Buehrle would contribute more to this staff. The bullpen is a big strength for this club with Jonathan Papelbon moving 300 miles down the I-84 from Boston to Philadelphia, and Heath Bell moving 2,600 miles east on the I-10 from San Diego to Miami. Their average rank of 77 is a big reason why the NL club has supremacy in the rankings: the AL's two relief pitchers average out to 119.
So there you have it: All-Acquired teams for each league in 2012. I didn't purchase the newest version of MLB: The Show, so I can't set up a simulation like I did last year. But it will be interesting to keep these depth charts in mind as the season progresses to see how the top players are adapting to their new surroundings.
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