Astrology Baseball 2013: April Recap

Now that we've played one month's worth of games in the 2013 baseball season, it's time to introduce the second annual installment of my groundbreaking ongoing experiment in building fantasy baseball lineups based on the players' astrological signs. I conceived this project prior to the 2012 season, which saw the Libra Scales triumph over the Aries Rams to take the inaugural championship crown. Building off the hard work I did last year, I was able to spend more time refining the rosters and making some changes to the league's format. The stars themselves change slightly every year, so why shouldn't this league have the same amount of flexibility?

In 2012, the league included two six-teams divisions, corresponding to the positively and negatively charged signs. This time around, I made those two polarities into their own leagues by splitting each of them into two smaller three-team divisions corresponding to the four classical elements: the Air and Fire divisions belong in the Positive league while the Earth and Water divisions play in the Negative league. I also took the time to set a schedule for 2013 that features a much greater quantity of matchups within a team's division and league rather than the random schedule from last year. This attention to detail should hopefully result in more meaningful matchups as the season progresses.

There are also some new faces in new places this year, not because there was another purported shift in the Zodiacal landscape, but because your humble narrator wasn't as thorough when setting the rosters as he should have been to begin with. I won't bore you all with my process, but in the brief team-by-team analysis that follows, I will point out some of these changes and how they affect the dynamics of the league as a whole, as well as some other tidbits of useful information, such as the top ranked players on each team, key injuries that have made an impact, and some notable sleepers/busts. Since it's too early for the standings to tell us anything, I have ranked the teams based on my extremely unscientific power ranking system, whereby I added up the (not quite up to date) preseason rankings of each team's starting lineup (9 position players, 5 starting pitchers, and 2 relievers). I've also included some information  provided by the ESPN fantasy client about the 2012 season: each team's regular season record and point differential (whatever that means). I am honored to start with a team that is very close to my heart, because it is my own astrological sign:

CANCER CRABS (2-2)

2013 Rank: 1 (1,440 - remember, lower is better)
2012 Rank: 3 (12-8 record, +85.2 differential)

Nationals ace Stephen Strasburg is Cancer's highest overall ranked player at #24 (according to MLB.com). He is one of four players to be listed in the "cream of the crop" category by ESPN's fantasy pundits, along with 2B Ian Kinsler (one of the highest-profile aforementioned New Faces, as he's NOT actually a Gemini), C Yadier Molina, and RP Jason Motte (who could be headed for Tommy John surgery in the near future). This team has great depth at it's two strongest positions as 2B Brandon Phillips and C Miguel Montero are both listed in the ESPN "next best thing" category. Somewhat ironically, the team's current point leader (and two-time weekly matchup leader) Shin-Soo Choo was tabbed with the dreaded "thanks but no thanks" label by ESPN. I know he's not handling center field as well as the Reds had hoped, but his offensive performance has officially splattered egg all over the preseason rankers' faces.

Speaking of players on whom ESPN was down prior to the season, both SP2 CC Sabathia and SS Derek Jeter are listed in the "older but not necessarily wiser" section (is it a coincidence that they're also both Yankees?). Sabathia has been doing very well (he trails only CL Jim Johnson in pitching points), but Jeter is going to be out until at least the All-Star break after experiencing a setback while rehabbing his surgically repaired ankle. The third and last key injury is to Jeter's partner on the left side of the infield Aramis Ramirez who, along with SP3 Tim Hudson, was listed in the "steady as he goes" category, but at least they have "ready for a breakout" candidate Manny Machado to fill in. We'll see if this team has enough depth to overcome some key injuries, but my gut feeling is that they'll be able to contend all summer.

VIRGO MAIDENS (2-2)

2013 Rank: 2 (1,566)
2012 Rank: 9 (6-13-1, -83.8)

I was surprised how poorly Virgo performed last year since they looked very good on paper, what with four of the top ten players. Even though they lost the top player (it was revealed that Matt Kemp is actually a Libra), they still look pretty good this year behind a "cream of the crop" trio of 1B Joey Votto and lefty starters David Price and Cliff Lee. But this team's two category leaders so far in 2013 are two "next best things" who are quickly proving that they deserve to be promoted: Justin Upton (with a historic 12 April HR) and Adam Wainwright (who has outperformed fellow category member Gio Gonzalez by leaps and bounds). In another egg on ESPN's face situation, Jacoby Ellsbury has outplayed his "older but not wiser" label as he's second only to Upton in offensive scoring. The best consensus sleeper on the team is Freddie Freeman, who had been doing well up until his DL stint, but he's stuck behind Votto and Paul Goldschmidt on the first base depth chart. This team also has a bright future, as Goldschmidt and Freeman lead a crop of seven (7!) players poised for a breakout, including SS's Elvis Andrus and Andrelton Simmons (one of whom might chase "next best thing" Ian Desmond out of the starting spot as early as this season).

CAPRICORN SEA GOATS (2-2)

2013 Rank: 3 (1,772)
2012 Rank: 4 (14-5-1, +91.9)

The second member of last year's final four has a very strong core of four "creams of the crop," but none of them have lived up to expectations. Albert Pujols started the season as the top ranked first baseman in the game, but he's been really struggling with planar fascitis. Cole Hamels led the 2012 team in pitching points, but he's winless in 5 starts this year. Victor Martinez is only ranked as elite because he still qualifies as a catcher, but J.P. Arencibia and A.J. Pierzynski have been outperforming him behind the plate. And the article that ranked Hanley Ramirez among the elite shortstops was obviously written before he injured himself playing in the WBC. "Next best thing" Edwin Encarnacion currently leads the team in offensive points, but he's just recently started to break out of his season-long slump.

Speaking of injuries, perhaps no team has been hit harder by them this season than Capricorn. They weathered the loss of Hanley with Erick Aybar until he too went on the DL. And no sooner did Brett Lawrie return to action than CF Michael Bourn went down leaving no viable backup. Ted Lilly just ended his DL stint, but they'll still be playing catch-upafter losing Jhoulys Chacin, who was rivaling pitching point leader Jon Lester at the time of his DL trip. They were the second best team last year in terms of point differential, but if their players can't stay healthy, I don't think they'll be able to hold off the competition.

ARIES RAMS (2-2)

2013 Rank: 4 (1,812)
2012 Rank: 2 (14-6, +225.3)

If I had to pick the most intimidating team in this league, I would probably have to go with Aries, at least offensively. This team has a whopping six elite players, including the 2012 MVPs of both leagues. (Interestingly enough, the Pisces team from last year had the 2011 Cy Youngs of both leagues in Justin Verlander and Clayton Kershaw.) This isn't a well-rounded team, but it's got depth in its strong spots, with two of the top three third baseman (AL MVP and offensive point leader Miguel Cabrera and Adrian Beltre) and three of the top six catchers (NL MVP Buster Posey, Carlos Santana, and Joe Mauer). The only issue is that this depth isn't totally usable, for while all of these catchers also qualify for 1B, so does DH Billy Butler, and he's the more valuable option. The middle infield is also solid with Starlin Castro at short, and a second base battle between Jason Kipnis and Aaron Hill (in which Kipnis just pulled ahead due to Hill's recent DL placement). Plus they've got Felix Hernandez celebrating his 100th career win. There were two apparent weaknesses prior to the season: pitching depth after King Felix and outfield depth after potential breakout candidate Jay Bruce. But rookie sensation Matt Harvey is leading the team in pitching points, Justin Masterson has twice led the team in weekly matchup points, and Chris Sale could also be ready for a breakout. And with surging Rockies Dexter Fowler and Michael Cuddyer leading the outfield charge, those weaknesses are quickly falling away.

LEO LIONS (3-1)

2013 Rank: 5 (1,918)
2012 Rank: 6 (10-10, -8.5)

Leos are supposed to be born competitors, and their team could be poised for a breakout year thanks to the emergence of 2012 rookies LF Mike Trout (one of two "creams of the crop" on this roster) and SP1 Yu Darvish (one of four stars marked as "on the verge of a breakout"). While Trout's fellow category member 2B Dustin Pedroia hasn't yet heated up, the best player in Darvish's category has been CF Adam Jones, who is currently leading the team in points by hitters. RF Jason Heyward, however, the top ranked player listed in this category, is currently on the DL with appendix issues. He leads a crop of injured players including 3B Alex Rodriguez (who wouldn't have been much of a factor even if he were healthy) and BOTH catchers, Wilson Ramos and Ryan Hanigan. Interestingly enough, the top performer on this team wasn't mentioned one way or the other by the ESPN fantasy gurus: SP Clay Buchholz leads the MLB in pitching points and is arguably the main reason for Boston's return to relevance this season. This team was the last team to lose a game and with some big emerging star power, I'd look for Leo to challenge for a spot in the playoffs.

LIBRA SCALES (3-1)

2013 Rank: 6 (1,925)
2012 Rank: 1 (12-8, +16.7)

This team is the only one that can compete with Aries in in terms of pure intimidation factor, so it was fitting that these two squads faced off in the final matchup last year. I suppose it makes sense that players born during the heat of the playoff push would show the best promise for the game, but this team's talent level is just plain unfair, as they boast seven "creams of the crop" and a full half of the players in the top ten. The outfield depth was scary last year, and it only got better with the addition of Matt Kemp to fellow elites Carlos Gonzalez and Andrew McCutchen. And when one of them suffers through a slump or goes down with an injury, they have "next best thing" Jose Bautista and potential breakout stars Bryce Harper (offensive point leader) and Yoenis Cespedes (when/if he comes off the DL) waiting in the wings. Due to Toronto's lineup woes, Bautista is working on regaining eligibility at 3B, but that's a moot point since they have Evan Longoria and (injured) Ryan Zimmerman at the position. Need middle of the order power? How about Robinson Cano (offensive runner up) and Troy Tulowitzki as a double play combo? Even with two glaring weaknesses at first base and catcher (Michael Young and Kurt Suzuki are the best options here) this team has arguably the strongest and deepest offense in the league.

On paper, their mound presence is equally scary with elite starter Matt Cain backed by "next best things" Jered Weaver and Zack Greinke, but the former is struggling mightily so far and the latter two are on the shelf until further notice (along with "next best thing" closer Joel Hanrahan). Potential breakout candidate Kris Medlen and rookie phenom Shelby Miller (who currently leads the team in pitching points) are good people to plug up those SP gaps (they both have RP eligibility, but I'm a bit of a purist when relief pitchers are concerned), Kyle Lohse is "steady as he goes" and youngster Alex Cobb has been impressive so far. But as the 2012 Astrology playoffs proved, a hot offense alone is not enough to win a championship, and until the star power returns to the mound, I'd consider this team somewhat vulnerable.

TAURUS BULLS (2-2)

2013 Rank: 7 (1,990)
2012 Rank: 8 (9-11, -10.9)

Despite a couple of superstars, this was a very mediocre team last year, and that outlook has only gotten gloomier since two of its biggest stars (Josh Hamilton and Matt Wieters) have jumped ship to Gemini. Their departures left offensive point leader Prince Fielder as the only "cream of the crop" talent, and with "next best thing" Adrian Gonzalez their next highest-ranked player, that sews up the DH spot as well. The only other second tier players on this list are 3B Chase Headley (who really left a hole when both he and backup David Freese started the season on the DL) and C Salvador Perez (who has had a disappointing start to the season after being a consensus sleeper pick). Meanwhile, the pitching staff has seen better days: names like Roy Halladay and Chris Carpenter used to inspire fear in opposing lineups, but Carpenter's career is in jeopardy and Halladay is a shadow of his former self. It speaks volumes that the top pitching scorer on this team is a reliever, although to be fair Rafael Betancourt's Rockies are on an epic hot streak right now. But even if breakout candidates Lance Lynn (pitching point leader) and Jose Altuve strike it big, I don't see this team as competition for either Capricorn or Virgo.

PISCES FISH (2-2)

2013 Rank: 8 (2,026)
2012 Rank: 11 (8-12, -41.3)

As mentioned above, no team has more pitching depth than Pisces. Steady as they go starters Yovani Gallardo and Anibal Sanchez complement both 2011 Cy Young winners (pitching point leader Kershaw and disappointing so far Verlander), and on the back end, there's three more "creams of the crop": Aroldis Chapman, Fernando Rodney, and J.J. Putz (also "next best thing" Sergio Romo). Chris Davis has impressed with his breakout start (he leads all hitters on this team by more than 150 points) and the offense got a little boost with the additions of Alex Rios and Josh Reddick (both late of Aquarius), but those gains were offset by injuries to Curtis Granderson, Brian McCann, and Dayan Viciedo. Paul Konerko and Wilin Rosario were both heavily talked about by the fantasy crowd, with each being ranked as both a sleeper and a bust by rival pundits. Despite a stellar pitching staff, I'm going to go out on a limb now and say there's no way this team contends in 2013.

SCORPIO SCORPIONS (2-2)

2013 Rank: 9 (2,039)
2012 Rank: 7 (10-10, +28.7)

If Pisces is all pitch and no hit, Scorpio is just the opposite... except that their hitting isn't that great either. Their lone "cream of the crop" is Ryan Braun, and while he is the elite of the elite (as long as he can avoid a seemingly inevitable suspension) no one player can carry a fantasy team. His supporting cast doesn't look bad on paper: Giancarlo Stanton is a borderline first round pick in most leagues, Mike Napoli can provide first base power from the catcher slot (he's leading the team in offensive production), and Asdrubal Cabrera has the potential to be one of the best shortstops in the game. But on the pitching side, sure breakout candidate Jason Grilli has really taken to the closer's role (he leads the MLB in saves and this team in pitching points), but R.A. Dickey's smoke and mirrors act has faltered in the AL East and he's the only starter ranked within the top 140. Let's just say it's looking like the Cancer Crabs might have a bit of an easy walk into the playoffs this year.

SAGITTARIUS ARCHERS (1-3)

2013 Rank: 10 (2,197)
2012 Rank: 5 (9-11, -37.1)

I'm surprised this team did as well as it did last year, because when I look at it, I see David Wright (who, not surprisingly, leads the team in points) and a bunch of closers and nothing else. But there are seriously a lot of closers, four elites at the position: Jonathan Papelbon, Rafael Soriano, Tom Wilhelmsen, and a surgically repaired Mariano Rivera (also Joe Nathan, mistakenly listed as Scorpio last year) and potential future closer Bruce Rondon). Doesn't seem fair when there are signs out there who struggle to field even one ninth inning stopper. One wonders if I were to extend this project into years past if many of the most famous bullpen specialists throughout history also share this sign. The best starter on this team is the surprisingly refreshed Ervin Santana, and I don't blame him: who wouldn't prefer pitching anywhere but Anaheim? I know Mat Latos, Ian Kennedy, and James Sheilds are solid starters, and Jesus Montero hasn't lived up to his full potential, but an offense anchored by Nick Swisher and the aging Phillies middle infield is not gonna cut it at this level.

GEMINI TWINS (2-2)

2013 Rank: 11 (2,321)
2012 Rank: 12 (5-15, -192.5)

These Twins were an even bigger disaster than the actual 2012 Twins, winning only a quarter of their matchups. However, no team has benefitted more from the rectification of my mistakes from last year to this than Gemini. Yes, they lost elite 2B Ian Kinsler to Cancer (that phrase sounds much worse than it its...), but they gained big time power threat Josh Hamilton and elite C Matt Wieters from Taurus. Add those to an offensive core that already included fantasy darling Ben Zobrist (the team's current leading hitter) and this team all of a sudden doesn't look quite as embarrassing. (It would look even less so were elite SS Jose Reyes not languishing on the 60-day DL with a severely sprained ankle.) But it's been a surprisingly effective pitching staff, led by point leader Matt Moore, Jordan Zimmermann, and closer Craig Kimbrel, that has gotten this team off to a .500 start.

AQUARIUS WATER CARRIERS (1-3)

2013 Rank: 12 (3,134)
2012 Rank: 10 (10-10, -73.5)

This team is so hopeless that they don't have a single elite player on their team and their lone "next best thing" (SP1 Johnny Cueto, coming off a career year) is on the DL. Of their two top "steady as he goes" guys, SP3 Hiroki Kuroda is a good bet to put up solid numbers, but C Carlos Ruiz is just now allowed to play again, on account of he was caught taking the speed. It's a good thing the ESPN staff agrees that fellow C Alex Avila could be ready for a breakout, along with corner infielder Todd Frazier. Two Tigers lead the team in points: CF Austin Jackson and SP2 Doug Fister. Notable sleepers include SP4 Jeff Samardzija (because everyone underrates the Cubs) and DH Lance Berkman (because he missed most of last year due to injury). Don't expect this team to finish with a winning record this year.

Liveblogging: Indians @ Royals, 4/27/13

MLB.tv's free game of the day is an AL Central matchup between the Cleveland Indians and the Kansas City Royals. Fresh off a Salvador Perez home run in the second inning (which at least helps one of my fantasy teams), here are some stray thoughts about this matchup. According to the Sports Illustrated baseball preview, my personal gold standard of projections, the Royals were supposed to finish second in the division with the Indians in fourth, but those two positions were swapped according to ESPN's preview. SI is proving to be closer to the truth, as Kansas City currently leads the AL Central so far (11-8) with Cleveland occupying the basement (8-11).

A big part of KC's success has been the health of its players. The Royals have a pair of starting pitchers on the DL - Felipe Paulino on the 60-day and Danny Duffy on the 15-day - but neither figured to play into their revamped rotation; they were ranked #367 and #590 respectively by MLB. By contrast, the Indians have two of its four free agent acquisitions cooling their heels on the 15-day DL - speedy leadoff hitter Michael Bourn (#47 and the featured player on Cleveland's SI preview article) and starting pitcher Brett Myers (#266) - with three more marginal pitchers on the 60-day. Plus, today's starter Scott Kazmir, who won the fifth starter spot out of spring training after not having pitched in the majors since 2011, had his comeback delayed when he started the season on the DL. Having to scramble to replace those key players so early can really take a toll on a team's lineup.

As one pre-Moneyball Oakland Athletic Miguel Tejada throws out his former teammate Jason Giambi to start the top of the fourth, let's go back to the other differences between the SI and ESPN previews. If you'll recall my 2013 preview of the central divisions, they were at odds about who would be Kansas City's utility infield, but we're seeing both choices in this game: Tejada is at third and Elliot Johnson (acquired from the Rays) is at second (he was just involved in the final two outs of the inning). They also disagreed in the fifth starter department, but this time it was ESPN who came out on top: Luis Mendoza has made two starts (and one relief appearance) while Bruce Chen has pitched exclusively out of the bullpen. On the Cleveland side, the two publications also had fifth starter questions (which I've outlined above) but they also disagreed about who would be the Tribe's primary setup man behind Chris Perez. So far ESPN has this one right as well, as Vinnie Pestano has a 1.29 ERA in 7 appearances with Matt Albers sitting on a 5.40 ERA in 4 games (however he also spent some time on the restricted list to deal with a family emergency).

Going back to the differences between these teams' performances, not only are the Royals pitchers noticeably more healthy than their opponents' today, they've also done a lot more work to improve the rotation in the offseason. It cost them Baseball America's #4 ranked prospect (Wil Myers), but they acquired two rotation mainstays from the Rays in James Shields (their featured player in SI) and Wade Davis (who spent all of last year in the bullpen, which gives you an idea of the Tampa Bay's pitching depth). They also traded with the Angels for today's starter, Ervin Santana, who is working on a very nice April in his contract year. I just learned an interesting story about this pitcher, nicknamed "Magic" by his teammates, thanks to Rex Hudler's always insightful broadcasting: Apparently when the young Santana was working his way up to the big leagues, he was known not as Ervin, but as Johan. Seeing as there was already a Johan Santana playing in the majors, he decided to take the name of one of his idols growing up: Earvin "Magic" Johnson. He's certainly pitching like magic this year, with a 5.20 K/BB ratio (26/5) heading into today's game.

I would like to close these stray observations with another call back to the Sports Illustrated preview issue. In addition to a featured player, each article includes a short blurb known as "A Modest Proposal" where the writer - Albert Chen in both of these cases - gives a humble opinion on an aspect of how he thinks the team should be managed. For the Indians, the suggestion was to play Nick Swisher at right field instead of first base in order to make sure his production comes from a position with less depth. I understand the decision to keep him at first (he played 8 of his first 10 games there) since the acquisition of Bourn gave the Indians three center field caliber defenders in the outfield (he joined Michael Brantley and Drew Stubbs, acquired from the Reds in the Shin-Soo Choo deal). But since Bourn's injury, Swisher has for the most part migrated to the outfield to fill in. The Royals were cautioned to play projected bench jockey Jarrod Dyson in right field instead of Jeff Francoeur, the rationale being that Dyson's superior speed and defense can contribute more than Francoeur's waning power output. I did hear Jeff Montgomery (Hud's broadcast partner in the booth) mention how much Ned Yost likes to have Dyson available as a pinch runner late in the game, so that's not likely to change any time soon.

As Scott Kazmir gives way to hard throwing rookie Cody Allen in the bottom of the sixth, Kansas City's Sonic Slam Inning, I'll draw these observations to a close. Stay tuned tomorrow for ongoing thoughts from MLB.tv's Free Preview Sunday, mostly from the A's/O's game as Oakland tries to avoid the sweep. Then keep your eyes open on Monday for big news regarding 2013's edition of Astrology Fantasy Baseball.

All-Star 2013 Voting

We're still five days away from the one-month anniversary of Opening Day 2013 and voting for the All-Star Game has already begun! I once was a firm believer that less than a month is far too small a sample size to judge the performance of even midseason All-Stars, but when you think about the fact that the All-Star Game takes place only slightly more than three months into the season, it's not so bad as all that. And seeing as I've been following baseball more closely this season than in years past, why shouldn't I be among the very first crop of fans to make their opinions known about who should be playing in the midsummer classic?

So I signed on with my MLB.com account (which gave me an extra 10 votes, pushing my grand allotted total to 35) and checked out which players grace this year's ballot. To make my decision, I strictly adhered to the fantasy point system I use for all my lists, the player evaluation method that I trust above all others. Looking at just fantasy points is slightly closed minded, but keep in mind, I still have at least three more email addresses to utilize, so my All-Star voting is far from over in 2013. In later passes I will start looking at traditional stats and sabermetrics such as WAR (from Baseball Reference of course, even though most of the baseball blogosphere seems to prefer the Fan Graphs version). But for now, here are the players who got my first 35 votes (points are current as of yesterday, the first day of All-Star voting):

Starting with the player with the highest point total, Justin Upton should be the top vote getter in 2013 just based on his April alone. He leads his league in HR (with a Braves April record 11), SLG, OPS, and total bases, he's a virtual lock for player of the month, and if he maintains even half this pace for the rest of the year (and if the Braves continue to steamroll their opponents) he could have a good case for MVP. Sticking with Upton's position brings us to the next highest-scoring player in all of baseball: Oakland's own Coco Crisp. One of the reasons I like the point system so much is because of its complete objectivity, allowing me to extoll the virtues of a player on my favorite team without the fear of displaying a discernible bias. It's safe to say that Covelli won't hit home runs at his current clip for the whole season (he's on pace to pass 30, just less than double his career high from 2005 with the Indians) but he will continue to get on base and steal bases with great regularity.

Moving onto the rest of the outfield crop (since the All-Star Game does not differentiate between the three positions), the NL looks a lot more impressive than the AL here. Carlos Gonzalez (one of only four players with 20+ points per game as of this writing) is a big part of Colorado's unexpected early success and Bryce Harper was recently nominated as a poster boy for how to play major league baseball. At the time I cast my ballot, Harper and Shin-Soo Choo were tied for total points, but I picked Harper because of his hustle and his higher PPG. But if the NL had a DH slot (like the AL), I would have picked Choo for it, which would be an ideal place for him given his well-documented defensive struggles in center field. A pair of center fielders join Crisp on my AL ballot: Jacoby Ellsbury racked up most of his points with pure speed (10 for 10 in stolen base attempts) and Adam Jones earned his spot with batting average (he co-leads the league with 30 hits), and while it might make more logical sense for the team to have more of a power hitter in one of these spots, the points don't lie. Since All-Star votes are sometimes awarded based on the previous season rather than the current one, I wouldn't be surprised if we saw Mike Trout fill one of these spots.

Speaking of power, Jones's Orioles teammate Chris Davis has had a start for the ages, leading the AL in SLG, OPS, and total bases (sound familiar?), but I'm worried his lack of star power will cause him to be overlooked in favor of a big recognizable name like Prince Fielder. The same is true of Paul Goldschmidt in the NL, except for the part where he leads his league in all those offensive categories. If Goldy were to give way to more of a household name like Joey Votto, I'd be okay with that. Robinson Cano (AL 2B) and David Wright (NL 3B) are tied for points, and they're both tops in their respective leagues at their positions, so there were no issues here. Their interleague counterparts (Brandon Phillips and Miguel Cabrera) also clearly deserve spots on their teams, so this was a no-brainer.

In another instance of the numbers clearly supporting a player on my favorite team, Jed Lowrie's amazing start for the A's (he's the AL's co-leader in hits along with Adam Jones) has clearly earned him a spot on this team. There's no other shortstop in his league that has even approached Lowrie's production, and I really hope he's recognized for his efforts. His NL counterpart Troy Tulowitzki, along with his Rockies teammate CarGo, shows how a couple of megastars firing on all cylinders can propel even a consensus projected last place team to a first place April. John Buck's power surge behind the plate has been nothing short of amazing, especially given that he was considered little more than a placeholder in the R.A. Dickey for Travis d'Arnaud trade between the Mets and the Blue Jays. But if I were a betting man, I'd put my money on Buster Posey for reasons outlined above. Carlos Santana is the second Indian I have on my ballot (I tabbed Mark Reynolds as the DH) if he can stay healthy enough to play - already in this young season, the Dominican star has missed time with a bruised hand and flu-like symptoms.

I encourage everyone to take a look at the players and the stats and throw some votes towards the most deserving players in the MLB. Because not only is home field advantage in the World Series on the line, these votes directly determine who will play in a very fun and exciting exhibition matchup this summer!

Liveblogging: A's @ Rays, 4/21/13

Earlier this morning, in the first inning of today's game, I posted this Tweet to all my followers:

So far, the newly-re-christened Roberto Hernandez is doing a much better job than he did the last time he pitched against the A's as Roberto Hernandez. In his one start against them in 2012 he took the loss when he gave up more runs than he pitched innings, leaving him with an unsightly 11.57 ERA. In his career against Oakland, he is 4-7 with a 5.14 ERA and a 1.47 K/BB ratio in 68.1 innings (about the sample size of an average relief pitcher's season). There was talk of the Rays using him as a reliever, but with Jeff Niemann's injury, Tampa Bay was forced into using its first free agent (i.e. non-developed) starting pitcher in recent memory.

Tommy Milone, the starting pitcher for the Athletics, was projected as their SP3, but he's been the most consistent starter on the staff so far, as he's won all three of his starts coming into today. Here through the bottom of the 4th, he has allowed 4 runs against only one that his team has scored. One of those runs was unearned, as it came on a Josh Reddick dropped fly ball error, a la Josh Hamilton dropping that flyball against the A's in the last game of the Rangers' 2012 season (except Hamilton lost the ball in the sun, whereas Reddick lost it in the baseball-colored roof of Tropicana Field). Like another Angels star from last year, Reddick has also significantly altered his very noticeable facial hair strategy. But whereas Albert Pujols shaved off the very tasteful goatee which he has worn for years (and hit a home run immediately thereafter), Reddick divested himself of a massive shock of hair and beard that would put even caveman Johnny Damon to shame.

While the trimming might not have improved his indoor defense (he's got a gold glove in his one season as a regular, so he's usually pretty solid in the field), Triple-H's biggest fan did get himself a base hit to drive in a run for the A's, something he used to do very regularly. He also stole a base, but then was spotted shaking out his injured wrist as he walked to the dugout, something he's been doing far too often lately.

But the main story point here is the extremely high-leverage at-bat for Brandon Moss in the top of the 5th. Bases loaded, two outs, full count, he's the go-ahead run at the plate.... and he lines out into the glove of right-fielder Ben Zobrist, playing in one of the 6 new positions he learned for the World Baseball Classic. He has been playing there more than at second base, continuing the trend from last year, and he is first to come up to bat immediately after making the inning-ending play. I always thought that batters historically showed a boost in these situations, but in this at-bat, the Team USA star struck out. Meanwhile, the New Era caps commercial star from approximately 2009 was also retired painlessly, with Jed Lowrie, captain of the infield, taking charge to pull in the pop-up. Longoria and Ryan Zimmerman were neck and neck for that coveted #4 ranked third baseman spot prior to the season, but Zimm's recent trip to the DL might have just solidified that race three weeks into the season.

Jumping back up a paragraph, in Reddick's next time at the plate since his productive at-bat was a weak strike out in the 6th. The A's have been about as productive in the rest of the game. Lefty Jake McGee (of the 8.53 ERA so far this April) pitched himself out of a jam he created when he walked the first two batters in the 7th. Then Brandon Gomes came in for the 8th and is still on as he takes his team's commanding 8-1 lead to the bottom of the 9th. Meanwhile, a bit of trivia: The uniform numbers of the first two A's pitchers tonight - starter Tommy Milone (57) and reliever Pat Neshek (47) - follow the same sequence as pitchers numbers 2 and 3 for the Rays - McGee's 57 also gave way to Brandon Gomes's 47. It's the little things that keep us A's fans interested as our team is swept by the Rays to end the weekend. At least Mad Men and Game of Thrones are on later tonight...

Baseball Preview 2013: Central Divisions

Today (right now, even) the Oakland Athletics are going for win number 11 in what could turn out to be a historic April winning streak. I just read on the mlb.com game preview that the longest winning streak the A's have ever enjoyed in the month of April was 11 back in 1981. But if the A's want to tie their obscure record, they'll have to go through the Detroit Tigers, behind "best pitcher in the game right now" Justin Verlander. Seeing as the Tigers play in the central division, this seems like a great time to launch into the third and final part of my preview of the 2013 season, this one featuring both Central divisions.

AL CENTRAL

Detroit Tigers
The only difference between the respective projected lineups of Sports Illustrated and ESPN.com reflects the team's well-publicized closer controversy. For many months, fans and pundits thought that general manager Dave Dombrowski would employ rookie Bruce Rondon (Baseball America's #95 ranked prospect) to pitch the 9th after the club failed to re-sign veteran Jose Valverde due to playoff struggles. But days before the season, Rondon was optioned to AAA and manager Jim Leyland was forced to make due with some combination of Phil Coke, Joaquin Benoit and Octavio Dotel (the latter was not mentioned in either publication).

Kansas City Royals
If you look at the number 2 spot in the AL Central in ESPN's projections, you'll instead see the Cleveland Indians. That's right, they swapped the Tribe and the Royals from fourth to second, while both agreed that the White Sox would finish third. The two also disagreed on who would be Kansas City's utility infielder (will it be Elliot Johnson, acquired in that ridiculous trade with Tampa Bay, or Miguel Tejada, a non-roster invitee who won his roster spot just days before the season opened) and fifth starter (veteran lefty Bruce Chen, who has spent the year so far alongside Luke Hochevar in long relief, or Luis Mendoza (whose 6.17 ERA over two starts shows that his spot is by no means safe).

Chicago White Sox
The nitpickiest of discrepancies here, as only one bench spot is under review. SI lists catcher Hector Gimenez, not a bad bet given that the Sox are currently trusting unproven youngster Tyler Flowers to take A.J. Pierzynski's place behind the plate, while ESPN has infielder Conor Gillaspie, who became the team's #15 prospect (according to MLB.com) when he was acquired from the Giants in the off-season.

Cleveland Indians

Carlos Carrasco, at the moment of his ejection.

These articles follow quite an interesting story that developed out of Cleveland's race to appoint a fifth starter. Before the season, the Indians announced that two-time All-Star Scott Kazmir had won the job out of Spring Training as a non-roster invitee. But no sooner was he called up than a strained ribcage forced him to the DL, forcing the Indians to send Carlos Carrasco to the mound, even though he was only on the roster for the purposes of serving out the last days of a suspension from 2011 (which was incidentally also the last year that Kazmir pitched in the majors). But during Carrasco's first appearance, he was served ANOTHER suspension for intentionally throwing at Kevin Youkilis. Guy just can't catch a break... Oh, they also couldn't decide between newcomer Matt Albers or third-year stalwart and Team USA member Vinnie Pestano for the primary setup role.

Minnesota Twins
Call me biased towards WBC participants, but I don't think that either Scott Diamond or Liam Hendriks (the two choices presented by SI and ESPN, respectively) will be Minnesota's primary fifth starter this year. Sure Diamond was the team's most consistent pitcher last year, but he's languishing on the DL, and I sincerely believe that Sam Deduno's performance for the Dominican Republic will earn him more starts than Liam "can't hold onto a lead" Hendriks. But this is a time-will-tell situation.


NL CENTRAL

Cincinnati Reds
Turmoil at the top and middle of this division, as rampant disagreements on the final projected standings ties the NL Central with the AL East as the most fluid and unpredictable division. SI has the Reds here and the Cardinals in second, whereas ESPN thinks the year will end the other way around. But in an enigmatic turn of events, the Sports Illustrated magazine (which has to finalize its information ahead of time due to print deadlines and whatnot) accurately list Mike Leake as the fifth starter and have Aroldis Chapman reprising his 2012 role as unstoppable closer, while ESPN.com (which, as a website, can update their information as easily as clicking "resubmit") still has Chapman as a starter with Sean Marshall listed as the setup man. There was also a perfunctory disagreement about the bench (SI mistakenly thought Jason Donald would play off the bench, but he was designated for assignment and sent outright to AAA before the season), but the above story is more interesting because it calls into question my whole understanding of the print-vs.-web dynamic...

St. Louis Cardinals
I'll mention the bench story here, though, because there's nothing else up for discussion in Cardinal-land: SI lists Tony Cruz (as if Yadier Molina's going to need frequent backing up behind the plate) and Ty Wigginton (as if the 35-year-old veteran is going to get more playing time at 1B than the team's #8 prospect Matt Adams), while ESPN hands the spot to the versatile Daniel Descalso (who should have no shortage of playing time due to Rafael Furcal's most recent season-ending injury).

Milwaukee Brewers
SI and ESPN have the Brewers and the Pirates flip-flopped for third and fourth place, setting up a difference between who they think will be able to compete for a Wild Card spot. Fifth starter and bullpen are the only differences within the Brewers team, although they both end up being moot. SI thought that the team's #1 prospect (#69 overall, according to Baseball America) Wily Peralta would start every fifth day, while ESPN predicted the job would go to Mike Fiers; but with Chris Narveson's injury, there are now enough starts to go around. And with Jim(my) Henderson supplanting his fellow Team Canada bullpen mate John Axford as the team's closer, there are now plenty of bullpen innings for both him and lefty Tom Gorzelanny.

Pittsburgh Pirates
Lots going on here, as we have issues with the bench, rotation, and bullpen. Jose Tabata (ranked in the ESPN Baseball Tonight Top 500, but who's hitting just .071 with the big club) won the battle to be the Bucs' fourth outfielder over Alex Presley (who is starting his fourth season in AAA Indianapolis with a .381/.409/.571 line). Neither SI nor ESPN got the fifth starter pick right: Kyle McPherson (the team's #7 prospect) is struggling in AAA, and Francisco Liriano started the season on the DL to recover from a broken bone in his non-pitching arm. Jeff Locke is filling in with one start so far and another scheduled for today. And since a major league bullpen has plenty of room for a whopping TWO contributors aside from the closer, it's pointless to even mention the argument between Mark Melancon and Jared Hughes being listed as the top setup man.

Chicago Cubs
Just a fifth (or rather fourth/first) starter battle here, as SI went with former long reliever Carlos Villanueva as the SP4 while ESPN chose to list injured Matt Garza as the team's ace. My guess is that SI justifies this choice not because they don't think Garza will recover from his strained left lat, but because they're convinced they'll trade the $10mm pitcher in his last year before hitting free agency.


So that's officially it for my 2013 Baseball Preview. I know a lot of these conversations were about projected bench players and bullpen guys, but over the course of a 162 game season, a team needs all 25 players on its roster to contribute in order to win. So in a lot of ways, it's more fun to talk about the guys on the bubble than the boring old sure thing superstars. Case in point: it was ESPN's choice, Joaquin Benoit, who just closed the door against the A's on Justin Verlander's victory. Of course, the other thing is that over such a long season most all of the players mentioned here by one publication or the other will get a chance to make some meaningful contributions to their clubs. And I'll be here all season watching to see who/what they are.

2013 All-Salary Teams

We're now a week and a half into the 2013 baseball season, and although I still have a full third of the teams to preview, seeing as we're less than a week from Tax Day, this seems like the right time to highlight the players who will be surrendering the most cash to Uncle Sam at this time next year. The players in the following lineups represent the highest-paid players in their respective leagues, and I hope that grouping them all together like this will allow us to analyze how well (or how poorly) economic value corresponds to on-field value. Or, failing that, we can just gawk at the most well-to-do players in the league and wish we had what they have.

A note on the process: All the salary information contained in these lists comes from the wonderfully comprehensive site Cot's Baseball Contracts. The fine folks at Baseball Reference does a pretty good job of tracking this stuff on the Payroll, Roster, and Uniforms section of each team's page, but when I read the fine print and realized that they use Cot's as well, I figured I'd go straight to the source, and I found much more information. Due to the high number of high salary players ($10mm or more) I've split these teams up by league. Here's the NL team right now:

The Red Sox are paying a portion of Gonzalez and Crawford's salaries.

Right away you'll notice that two teams dominate this list. The Phillies got there through a combination of locking up their homegrown talent to ridiculously lucrative deals (Chase Utley and Cole Hamels are the only ones that show up on the list, but they have a couple of close seconds, who will be discussed later) and aggressively going after pricey free agent pitchers (again, only Cliff Lee and Jonathan Papelbon show up here, but runners-up will figure in prominently). The Dodgers on the other hand mostly inherited the biggest contracts from other teams via trade (Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford from the Red Sox and Hanley Ramirez from the Marlins), although there are exceptions to both rules. Those exceptions are Philadelphia's third baseman Michael Young (whose contract was inherited from the Rangers) and Los Angeles' center fielder Matt Kemp (a homegrown talent signed to a lucrative extension).

Before we leave the two free-spending juggernauts, let's take a closer look at the shortstop position, where Hanley Ramirez is currently on the DL from an injury sustained during the World Baseball Classic. If we were actually building a real or fantasy lineup out of these players, we'd have to go one spot further down into the depth chart, where we find Jimmy Rollins of the Phillies. Also, if we were playing by American League rules, the DH spot would go to the highest paid runner-up, who in this case is Ryan Howard of the Phillies. His $20mm per year (which goes up to $25mm for the next three seasons) narrowly beats out Reds 1B Joey Votto and Cubs LF Alfonso Soriano.

Lee, Hamels and Halladay are part of the most expensive rotation in baseball.

On the pitching side, another big player emerges in the San Francisco Giants. Perfect gamer Matt Cain was the recipient of a big extension and two-time Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum is heading for free agency at the end of this year after milking the arbitration process for all it was worth. If we look for a replacement for the year's most expensive pitcher - injured Johan Santana, who hasn't been the same since pitching his no-hitter last year - we are left with a choice between two $20mm starters from (surprise, surprise) either the Phillies (Roy Halladay) or the Giants (Barry Zito). Given Doc's struggles so far in his potential walk year, and the fact that Zito currently leads the NL in Baseball Referece WAR (Wins Above Replacement), I might have to go with the former A's lefty here. This means that two more Dodgers salary busters Zack Greinke ($19mm) and Josh Beckett ($17mm) are left on the cutting room floor.

Moving on to the AL, we see an even more drastic skew towards one team, and it's no surprise who that is:

Who says things have changed from the old Evil Empire days? Every player on the Yankees' infield is the highest-paid player in the league at that position, including the highest-paid player in all of baseball (third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who might not even get a chance to play in 2013). In addition, they've got two of the AL's three most expensive outfielders, the most expensive starting pitcher and the most expensive relief pitcher (Mariano Rivera is the lone $10mm reliever in the AL). The only non-Yankees to take the field for this team are catcher Joe Mauer (who will get the same $23mm per year like clockwork for the next whopping five seasons, until he's 35 years old) and slumping outfielder Josh Hamilton (he played exclusively left and center field for the Rangers last year, but the presence of Mike Trout and Peter Bourjos in the Angels' outfield has forced him to right.

In several strokes of bad luck, four of those above-mentioned Yankees hitters started the season on the DL and are not close to returning, so we have to take a look at the salary depth chart. Robinson Cano is off to a hot start and Vernon Wells, who has been traded twice since signing his supposedly untradeable contract extension with the Blue Jays, was brought in as a last minute fill-in due to these other injuries. Starting with the highest injured salary, this team actually gets better by replacing A-Rod, because the second-most expensive third baseman is MVP and Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera ($21mm), who has only become more valuable since signing his extension with the Tigers because back then he was still a first baseman. Mark Teixeira (who was also injured during the WBC) actually has a base salary about half a million dollars lower than Cabrera's teammate Prince Fielder's 2013 haul, but with various bonuses included, the Yankees switch hitter technically comes out on top. While Derek Jeter recovers from the broken ankle he suffered during the 2012 postseason, Toronto's Jose Reyes will fill in on a contract the Blue Jays inherited from the Marlins. Curtis Granderson is the only 2013 center fielder with a $10mm-plus paycheck, but if we consider players who had played center as recently as 2012, the mantle falls to Shane Victorino ($13mm) who was pushed to right field in the Red Sox's new-look outfield.

In an unusual instance of market efficiency, two of the league's top three highest paid pitchers are also the two of the three highest ranked pitchers in the league: Justin Verlander and Felix Hernandez. While none of these starters began the season on the DL, Jered Weaver and John Lackey both suffered early arm injuries and are currently on the shelf. The next option on the depth chart, Chicago's second $15mm player John Danks, has no timetable to return from arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder. The next to options are very viable candidates indeed, and they come from very familiar teams: Hiroki Kuroda is making $15mm from the Yankees in his second consecutive one-year deal, and the two-year extension Jake Peavy signed with the White Sox before this season pays him $14.5mm in 2013.


The minimum salary for a major league player is $490,000 so the bottom line is that nobody who plays this game for a living should have much trouble paying their bills. Granted athletes have a more expensive lifestyle than the average American, and also remember that these figures are before taxes. But the moral of the story is that if any of the above players invites you to spend a weekend at their beach house or take a ride in their private jet, take them up on it, because they can absolutely afford the best.

Baseball Preview 2013: East Divisions

Although we're a week into the 2013 season, I'm still plugging away at my geographically organized baseball preview, in the form of a comparison between Sports Illustrated and ESPN's projected starting lineups. Last time I looked at both leagues' West divisions, since two teams from those divisions started off the season in the first ever interleague Opening Day experience. This time I'm tackling the East divisions since SI boldly predicts that both World Series participants will come from east of the Mississippi River. Also, it's somewhat topical since mlb.tv's free game today features one of the aforementioned projected league champions, the Washington Nationals, as Stephen Strasburg leads them to Cincinnati to take on Johnny Cueto and the Reds.

However, despite this National League matchup, I'm starting this post with the American League East. Not only is this a very powerful division, it's also a very consistent division: there's only one discrepancies between the two publications concerning which hitter will be in the starting lineup and which will be on the bench, and only two on the starting pitching side. The major differences have to do with the bench and the bullpen, however, since it's always more fun to talk about the starters, I'll use the featured bench roles to analyze which starters are deemed most vulnerable, in that they need the most backing up. Let's dive right in.

AL EAST

Tampa Bay Rays

Sports Illustrated has this team projected to finish first in the division, which I find refreshing and encouraging, since it means that not everyone has bought into the hype surrounding Blue Jays and their the-more-acquisitions-the-better strategy. However, both publications agree that utility infielder Sean Rodriguez will play the biggest non-starting role, due to his ability to play all over the diamond. But where SI thinks that the no. 2 bench guy will be outfielder Sam Fuld (not a bad pick, considering fellow OFs Matt Joyce and Desmond Jennings both spent time on the DL last year), ESPN thinks that famously tattooed infielder Ryan Roberts will be TBR's BN2 (he can play 3B, where Evan Longoria has certainly had his injury woes in the past, or 2B, to spell newcomer Kelly Johnson). In the bullpen, both mention Joel Peralta as Fernando Rodney's primary setup man, but in an unorthodox move, ESPN lists a third reliever, lefty Jake McGee, who did have the better fantasy season of the two.

Toronto Blue Jays
As I mentioned above, ESPN has this team picked to win the division, which I find reactionary and misguided. As many players on this team should know, since about half of them came over from the Marlins in an offseason blockbuster trade, bringing in the most new faces doesn't lead to a championship, or even a winning record. I figured that out back with the 2001 Rangers (with such big name free agent busts as Andres Galarraga and Ken Caminiti to supplement Alex Rodriguez), and yet ESPN's pundits are still behind the curve. The only difference between the two projected lineups has to do with the fifth starter. SI has Ricky Romero slotted in, which clearly shows that the magazine went to print before he was optioned to the minors, opening the door for J.A. Happ as he heads to his final year of arbitration eligibility.

New York Yankees
There's another discrepancy between where the next two teams will finish in the standings, with SI having the Yankees finishing above the Orioles, while ESPN has the third and fourth place teams flip-flopped. In addition to that, there are different names in both bench spots for the Yankees. SI has Eduardo Nuñez, who was playing the instrumental role of filling in for Derek Jeter at shortstop until he left Friday's game with a bruised biceps after getting hit by a pitch (pictured), and Juan Rivera, who's presence is another result of press-time issues, as he was released before the season, the Yankees choosing to go with Lyle Overbay as Mark Teixeira's replacement at first. ESPN has backup catcher Chris Stewart, which shows they do not place much confidence in starter Francisco Cervelli, MLB's #498 ranked player (he is unranked by ESPN), and Vernon Wells, who's "untradeable" contact was moved for the second time, this time by the Angels, just before the season started.

Baltimore Orioles
This is the only team that features a lineup discrepancy, and it's not a drastic one: SI thinks that Nolan Reimold, who had his 2012 cut short with a neck issue, will be the primary DH, while ESPN has Wilson Betemit plugged into that position. Betemit started the season on the DL, so SI gets the better of this prediction, although both are currently dealing with new injuries. As for the other bench spot, SI lists backup catcher Taylor Teagarden, which is strange since I don't see Matt Wieters ceding much time there. ESPN had it right when they picked IF Ryan Flaherty, since the O's already need him to replace the oft-and-newly injured Brian Roberts at 2B.

Hold on to your hats, cuz there are more discrepancies here. In the starting rotation, SI tabbed lefty Brian Matusz, the former #5 ranked prospect (2010 by Baseball America), while ESPN put their money on Jake Arrieta, who topped out at #67 in 2009. ESPN wins the divinatory battle here as Matusz is spending (or at least starting) 2013 as a lefty specialist out of the bullpen, a role at which he excelled last year. There are also disagreements about who will be the primary setup man for closer Jim Johnson. SI has Pedro Strop, a member of the WBC champion Dominican Republic team, mostly because he has a high strikeout rate and this year's baseball preview is obsessed with all things strikeout. ESPN has Darren O'Day, who again had the better fantasy season, but is curiously unranked by MLB.

Boston Red Sox
Just one very small discrepancy on this team, the consensus to finish in last place. SI has utility infielder Pedro Ciriaco, even though it's mostly been Jose Iglesias who has been spelling the concussed Stephen Drew at shortstop, while ESPN lists catcher David Ross, who was brought in via free agency to back up Jarrod Saltalamacchia.


NL EAST

Washington Nationals
No discrepancies as far as the standings in this division, as both SI and ESPN agree from one to five how things will shape up. Curiously though both publications list Kurt Suzuki as the starting catcher, a position I assumed would go to Wilson Ramos, at least based on their rankings (535 and 343 respectively by MLB.com). And then only ESPN deigned to give Ramos a bench spot, with SI instead featuring Dutch outfielder Roger Bernadina and utility man Steve Lombardozzi. In the bullpen, there is a discrepancy on who will be the primary setup man for new closer Rafael Soriano: will it be Drew Storen, the incumbent coming into last year, or the guy who replaced him when he got injured, Tyler Clippard? They both have seasons with 30+ saves, so they'll likely both contribute a fair share to this team.

Atlanta Braves
This is one of the strongest and most consistent teams in baseball with the only discrepancy being which lefty will set up for Team USA closer Craig Kimbrel: Eric O'Flaherty or Jonny Venters. Venters ended up starting the season on the DL, so SI gets the win here.

Philadelphia Phillies
Another pretty consistent team here, except one that won't be nearly as good as the Braves. The only issue here was on the bench, with SI giving the nod to IF Freddy Galvis (who was supposed to take over for an injured Chase Utley last year before being suspended for PED use) and C Erik Kratz (who will take over for Carlos Ruiz until he finishes serving his own suspension), while ESPN tabs veteran journeyman Kevin Frandsen. Curiously both publications list lefty Antonio Bastardo as the primary setup reliever, neither giving any love to newly acquired righty Mike Adams.

New York Mets
A couple of prominent goofs on the part of Sports Illustrated stand out here. First of all, they list sophomore Jordany Valdespin as the leadoff hitter and second baseman while leaving the much more talented Daniel Murphy on the bench. Murphy is clearly the better hitter and while Valdespin did play 2B in the minors, the Mets have been using him as a backup outfielder this year, which is probably where he belongs. The bullpen here also has a lot of questions. SI and ESPN seem to be at odds with whether New York will go with Frank Francisco for one more year or finally hand the reins to Bobby Parnell. ESPN thinks the latter, and furthermore that the now DL-ridden Francisco won't even be Parnell's primary setup man, with that honor going to new addition Brandon Lyon. Not a big deal cuz this team probably won't have the opportunity to save many games, but it's a situation worth looking at.

Miami Marlins
First base is the main issue here: ESPN seems to think Logan Morrison will recover from his stint on the 60-day DL quick enough to make a difference for the team, whereas SI gives the job to former non-roster invitee Casey Kotchman. Kotchman did start the season with the job, but is now on the DL himself with a hamstring injury, so the Marlins are left scrambling again. There's a small bullpen issue (whether newcomer Jon Rauch or unranked Ryan Webb will pitch behind another Team USA representative Steve Cishek), but this team is in such shambles that it's not really an issue.

40 Man Rosters, Opening Day: All-Selected Team 2013

UPDATE: I read somewhere that the great Persian weavers would always incorporate an intentional imperfection into their finest rugs, because they felt that no one should be perfect except God. While I never went in for such blatant narcissism (it is of course implied that they could reach a level of divine perfection if they chose to do so), I always keep this practice in mind whenever I discover a mistake in a piece of work I've produced. Because whether it's a segment of a power hour that's cut a little too abruptly or a key player left off a hypothetical lineup, it's true that anything we mortals attempt will fall short of perfection.

Which is why I never shy away from admitting my mistakes, at least when nobody is negatively affected by them. And the fact that I completely overlooked Lyle Overbay's call-up to play first base for the Yankees in Mark Teixeira's absence doesn't impact anybody's real or fantasy lives -- not even Lyle Overbay's, since he wouldn't have surpassed Kotchman or Duncan in the depth chart at 1B or DH. I also blatantly misrepresented Miguel Tejada's player ranking: 325 actually belongs to Mets SS Ruben Tejada, who will be playing every day. Miguel Tejada on the other hand should be a much more reasonable 718, which is still good enough for him to keep his position on the list, but I felt like admitting my mistake was the right thing to do. While I'm on the subject of my shortcomings, I also still haven't seen A League of Their Own yet. But if it's any consolation, I use Randy Newman's theme song from The Natural as my alarm to wake up each morning...

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The 40 Man Roster. Each Major League Baseball club has one. It's the list of players on each team that are either currently in or closest to playing in the big leagues. If the name sounds a bit chauvinistic, that's only because women aren't allowed to play Major League Baseball. At least not since Rosie O'Donnell and Madonna tried it out in A League of Their Own (one of the few iconic baseball movies I still haven't seen).

Rick Ankiel is on HOU's 40 Man Roster.

Of the players on the 40 Man, 25 of them are also on the Active Roster, which means they suit up for the big club every day and are eligible to play in major league games. The rest (up to but not to exceed 15) are deemed Inactive, which can mean one of two things. Either they play for their respective minor league teams, but can be called up to the majors at any time, or they are injured and on the 15-day (or newish concussion-related 7-day) disabled list. Players on the more severe 60-day DL and players on the Restricted List (i.e. serving a suspension) do not count against a team's 40 Man Roster.

As you could expect, there's not a lot of movement within each team's 40 Man Rosters during the season. Generally a player gets injured or struggles and is sent down (optioned), and another player is brought up (recalled) to replace him. In these cases, the faces and the numbers generally stay the same - only the labels change. The main period of roster upheaval takes place in the days immediately leading up to the start of the season, when teams are scrambling to call up those last minute minor leaguers to fill in the final roster spots. In the weeks past, I've been keeping track of roster moves across all MLB, cuz that's how I roll, and now that every team has gotten down to the requisite 25 and 40, I can start making some observations about the final rosters. Today's observation comes in the form of a hypothetical lineup I put together from players who meet a certain criteria: the All-MLB All-Selected Team.

When a team wants to add a minor leaguer to its major league roster, the team "selects the contract" of that player. All of the above players had their contracts selected prior to the 2013 season. Most of these players made their way into the organization on minor league deals signed during the off-season that included invitations to Spring Training, and many of those so-called non-roster invitees were profiled in my All-NRI Team earlier in the off-season. Notable exceptions to this rule include a trio of ranked prospects. Baseball America's #5 prospect Jose Fernandez earned an unexpected spot in Miami's dismal rotation when Nathan Eovaldi and Henderson Alvarez both went down with shoulder inflammation in the last week before the season. Jedd Gyorko (MLB's #50 prospect, although he's just #71 according to B.A.) won the starting second base job with the Padres (and a corresponding bench spot on one of my two fantasy teams this year). And don't forget Jackie Bradley Jr. (even though it does not appear that Jackie Bradley Sr. was a baseball player with whom we might get him confused), B.A.'s #31 prospect who was put in a position for an early run at the Rookie of the Year award by the Red Sox.

But now back to my All-NRI Lineup. Some of the players on that list have since been released: a couple of those players then turned around and sign major league deals (Yunieski Betancourt, Miguel Olivo), two more of them were content to sign other minor league deals (Freddy Garcia, Matt Capps), and some are still unemployed (Juan Rivera, Rod Barajas, Ryan Sweeney, Aaron Cook). But others earn roster spots with the team that invited them, and those are the ones that follow. Casey Kotchman earned the Marlins starting first base job in place of the outspoken Logan Morrison, who I'm starting to doubt will ever make that transition from OF to 1B because he just can't stay on the field long enough. Cody Ransom holds on to the SS spot, even though he will spend most of his time in reality (TIR) at third base for the Padres until either a) Chase Headley or b) Logan Forsythe return. Shelley Duncan will likely get some Rays at bats with Luke Scott's recent trip to the DL.

Now for the new appearances: players who made their teams, but weren't deemed important enough by me to be included on my previous list from more than a month ago. That's alright, I don't mind admitting my oversights, rare though they admittedly may be. The first one I'll mention, the highest-ranked non-prospect in the lineup, is Miguel Tejada, whose role on the WBC champion Dominican Republic team likely played no small part in his winning the utility infield spot for the Royals. I admittedly didn't give Rick Ankiel enough credit back in February, but he has already made an impact with the transitioning Astros in the big #OpeningDay game (above). Tejada's former pre-Moneyball A's teammate Jason Giambi makes the team as an honorable All-DL mention for the Indians, as does post-Moneyball former Athletic Brandon Inge with the Pirates. It was not such a good time for yet another former Oaklander Ramon Hernandez, who was designated for assignment (read: removed from the 40-man roster, upon threat of waivers, trade, or releasitude) despite the $3.2 million Colorado is paying him in the last year of his 2year deal, in favor of former Rockie Yorvit Torrealba as the backup catcher. And veteran Marlon Byrd won a spot in the highly-contested (read: absolutely terrible) Mets outfield, but it was his teammate via trade Collin Cowgill (a trade with the Oakland Athletics, no less) who claimed the opening day heroics in New York.

On the mound, two of the four top-ranked pitchers, according to MLB, featured in Sunday's opening day extravaganza, but both out of the bullpen. The only pitcher ranked within the top 500, and considered a lock to make the Astros' starting rotation, Erik Bedard curiously entered the game in relief and earned a 1980's style save - the one you get for pitching 3+ innings rather than just the ninth with a three-run lead. Let's hope they're not trying to convert him like they did Brett Myers last year: in addition to lowering his potential trade value, it bugs me to see pitchers who could start coming out of the bullpen, unless the team is stacked with good (or at least better) starters. Derek Lowe finds himself in that very situation in another part of Texas, and his night out of the bullpen ended in the polar opposite as Bedard's. The other two ranked pitchers (Scott Atchison and LaTroy Hawkins) are both relievers and are both with the Mets, which tells you how much confidence MLB.com has in New York's pitching staff. Jonathan Sanchez is there despite his horrible 2012 because he has had the better MLB career than anyone else on the list, and I chose to round out the rotation with Gonzalez and Volstad just because they were the only other two starters to reach the majors last year. Bonus historical honorable mention goes out to reliever Rich Hill, the first NRI to be called up to the big club in the 2012-13 off-season.

So those are the best players who burst into the majors this year at the last minute from barely atop the minor league bubble. I choose to dedicate the 2013 baseball season's first post to them because everyone's heard of the top ranked players in the game and they're not generally involved in too many roster moves. Here's to the movers and the shakers, and here's hoping they stick with their big clubs and are allowed to play this children's game a little while longer.