ARIES RAMS
Aries as a team has the second-highest total swp; what else would you expect from a group of headstrong, impulsive, forward-thinking pioneers of advanced thought? Most of these points come from the offense, which is led by 1B powerhouses Miguel Cabrera and Mark Teixeira. Cabrera, the less defensively talented of the two, will serve as the DH, despite his potential move back to 3B in 2012 - there's absolutely no way anyone is pushing Adrian Beltre off the hot corner for any reason. Their corner outfield consists of Hunter Pence and Jay Bruce, which creates a logjam for such talented hitters as Michael Morse, Billy Butler, Corey Hart, and Michael Cuddyer. Carlos Santana, 2011's highest-scoring catcher, is behind the plate, but his supremacy will likely be challenged in years to come by superstars-when-healthy Joe Mauer and Buster Posey. They've also got Starlin Castro, Aaron Hill, and Cameron Maybin up the middle.
Felix Hernandez is a legitimate ace, Justin Masterson enjoyed very good success in Cleveland last year, and Jeremy Hellickson won the AL Rookie of the Year award. A pair of innings-eaters who changed teams in the off-season round out the rotation: Mark Buehrle and Jeremy Guthrie. While the rotation does not quite match the brilliance of the starting lineup, the bullpen is quite possibly the best of any team throughout the constellations. They've got a pair of 2,000 point closers in John Axford and Jose Valverde, plus veteran stalwart Kyle Farsworth, All-Star setup man David Robertson, and a lefty with closer potential Chris Sale. Excellence in two out of three positional tiers ain't bad...
LEO LIONS
The Leo team has potential to be good, but very few players reached that potential in 2011 (I'm looking at you Dustin Pedroia, one of the game's premiere second baseman, and Drew Storen, who thankfully for my fantasy team blossomed into an elite closer last year). I'm firmly convinced that Melky Cabrera's breakout season was a fluke, but he's got two great centerfielders backing him up in B.J. Upton and Adam Jones (with Colby Rasmus hoping to come into his own). Jones is joined by two of his fellow Orioles teammates J.J. Hardy and Mark Reynolds, who will move over to 1B a) where his iron glove will do less damage and b) to open up a spot for 3B Pablo Sandoval, who had a nice season despite missing some time due to injuries. In a perfectly healthy world, Sandoval would be at 1B and superstar Alex Rodriguez would man the hot corner, but unlike Big Panda, A-Rod's injury-plagued season was not so nice.
Joining Rodriguez on the list of players who didn't live up to their past greatness are Todd Helton (getting old), Carl Crawford (first year of a huge contract meltdown), Juan Pierre (although he'd be good to provide some speed on the bench, and Grady Sizemore (chronically injured). Players who have yet to live up to promised future greatness include Jason Heyward (terrible sophomore slump), Mike Trout (last year's #1 prospect), and Madison Bumgarner - who was pretty darn good last year, but I've heard the term "Cy Young contender" bandied about in reference to him, and he's gonna need to live up to those predictions if he's going to headline this Leo pitching staff. In this world with only 12 teams of around 80 players each, Colby Lewis and Matt Harrison profile as more 4-5 starters rather than 2-3, and the rest of the starting crop consists of promising pitchers yet to make their mark (Max Scherzer, Chad Billingsley) and fading veterans (Randy Wolf, Brett Myers).
SAGITTARIUS ARCHERS
Sagittarius has the least total swp of any team in this project... and that's even with a couple of the best starters in the game right now: a resurgent James Shields and breakout ace Ian Kennedy. On the back end they're anchored by future Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera. (Despite his legendary status, he is actually the 4th highest-scoring closer in the bracket... even with 2,001 swp!) Just like the Leo team, Sagittarius features a triplet of teammates anchoring their offense: Shane Victorino, Jimmy Rollins, and Chase Utley of the Phillies. Both Utley and 3B David Wright are superstars when healthy, but both had ridiculously subpar seasons in 2011. Other notable players include another future Hall of Famer Ivan Rodriguez behind the plate, and member of the Oscar-nominated "Moneyball Draft" Nick Swisher in RF (even though the film skipped over that entire aspect of the A's 2002 season...).
Seven of the nine players in the starting lineup were the worst in the bracket in terms of swp - Rollins and Victorino finished second at SS and CF respectively. By contrast, four out of the five pitchers in the starting rotation were best in the bracket: the aforementioned Shields and Kennedy are joined at the top by the Shaun Marcum (acquired by the Brewers last off-season) and Mat Latos (acquired by the Reds this offseason). The surprisingly competent Philip Humber, who finished second, rounds out the rotation. Backing up Rivera in the bullpen is new Phillies star closer Jonathan Papelbon, Red Sox reliever attempting to make the jump to the rotation Alfredo Aceves, and a couple of veterans with a combined 30 seasons under their belts (Octavio Dotel and LaTroy Hawkins).
Only one more bracket to go: the Earth Signs. Then it'll be time to focus on Spring Training and the upcoming season!
No comments:
Post a Comment