The official MLB season preview is here.  This off season has seen the broken free agent system at its finest with draft pick compensation tied to middling players impeding their ability to sign with another team due to that team losing its first round draft pick.  We saw the norm this offseason in terms of big name player movement, but some teams stuck to their internal budgets limiting activity.  Which strategy turns out best? Who will play and win in October? Find out here. 

 

American League Central:

Kansas City Royals

Manager:  Ned Yost

Last year: Won World Series

What’s new:

  • Ian Kennedy enters the rotation for the departed Johnny Cueto.
  • Greg Holland and Jason Vargas are out for the season due to Tommy John surgery.
  • Jarrod Dyson will miss significant time due to a hamstring injury, which for a guy who depends on his legs is a big blow and thins the bench significantly.

Biggest question/hurdle to the post season: Greg Holland’s loss takes an inning away from a dominant bullpen.  By the time October comes around will the ‘pen have enough left in the tank to finish a playoff run?

Fantasy stud: Wade Davis. 50+ saves and a healthy strikeout total.

Fantasy dud: Eric Hosmer.  A 1B with minimal power isn’t going to win you a fantasy crown. 

 

Minnesota Twins

Manager:  Paul Molitor

Last year:  83-79

What’s new:

  • Miguel Sano is back from injury to step into the lineup and add some serious thump.
  • Byun Ho Park comes over from South Korea to protect Sano in the lineup.
  • Former 1st overall pick Byron Buxton gets a full time job in center field after getting his feet wet at the end of last season.

Biggest question/hurdle to the post season: Did you know they finished above .500 last year-seriously!  Can the starters get deep enough into games to keep a thin bullpen fresh for a serious post season run?

Fantasy stud:  Brian Dozier.  2B with pop, at least 18 homers in his first 3 seasons in majors.  

Fantasy dud: Joe Mauer . 1b with “blurred vision” and limited power to begin with? He’s an afterthought on fantasy draft boards. 

 

Cleveland Indians

Manager: Terry Francona

Last year: 81-80

What’s new:

  • Mike Napoli comes in to play 1B after a down year with Boston.
  • Juan Uribe comes in to play 3B at age 37.
  • Michael Brantley’s shoulder is healing at a positive rate to think he should be ready for opening day.

Biggest question/hurdle to making playoffs: Depth.  If Brantley aggravates his injury the team will shut him down for a long stretch, which is smart.  Except that the depth is not there to pick up the slack offensively.  The bullpen needs to find a groove to get the ball to Cody Allen, that might take some time and giving away games early won’t kill you making them up later might. 

Fantasy stud: Corey Kluber. An ace even last year with 16 losses the peripheral stats still contribute well.

Fantasy dud: Napoli/Uribe.  Neither has anything left to offer that you can’t find somewhere else or even on the waiver wire. 

 

Detroit Tigers

Manager: Brad Ausmus

Last year: 74-87

What’s new:

  • Justin Upton was signed to play left field and put 25-30 balls in the seats.
  • Jordan Zimmerman was signed to continue to have success inducing groundball outs.
  • Justin Wilson and Francisco Rodriguez were brought in to stabilize an ever shaky bullpen.

Biggest question/hurdle to the post season: The pitching staff needs Justin Verlander from 5 years ago to reappear because the rest of the staff and pen is not good enough to support last year’s Justin Verlander. 

Fantasy stud: Miguel Cabrera. 1B with plus power/average who due to his age is sliding in his draft spot equals value. 

Fantasy dud: Anibal Sanchez.  He just can’t stay healthy to trust to help your staff as a number 3 starter. 

 

Chicago White Sox

Manager: Robin Ventura

Last year: 76-86

What’s new:

  • Todd Frazier comes over to play 3B and protect Jose Abreu in the lineup.
  • Brett Lawrie was acquired to play 2B due to Frazier being brought in. The team is banking on a smooth transition, they should hold their breath. 
  • The team brought in Mat Latos with hopes he regains his control and fastball.

Biggest question/hurdle to the post season:  This team underachieved all year in 2015, if there is a slow start this year the team could be the first to make a move at the manger position.  So if the pitching comes through, there should be enough offense to make a wild card push. 

Fantasy stud: Chris Sale. Stud pitcher who can head your staff by providing wins, strikeouts and WHIP help. 

Fantasy dud: Whoever wins the shortstop position battle in spring training, especially if the winner is Jimmy Rollins.

 

American League East:

Toronto Blue Jays

Manager:  John Gibbons

Last year: Lost in ALCS

What’s new:

  • The team couldn’t resign deadline acquisition David Price leaving a huge hole in the front of the rotation.
  • GM Alex Anthopolus correctly chose to leave as new boss Mark Shapiro comes in from Cleveland to figure out how much to pay pending free agents Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion.
  • The team sent Ben Revere to Washington for late inning help in Drew Storen.

Biggest question/hurdle to the playoffs:  Can Marcus Stroman, coming off knee surgery, fill the void Price leaves?

Fantasy stud: Bautista.  He’s playing for his final big payday, so the motivation is there along with that upper cut swing.  35 bombs is his floor.

Fantasy dud: Michael Saunders.  A defense first outfielder with minimal pop, who couldn’t make it in Seattle on that turf coming east to Rogers Center turf?  Pass. 

 

New York Yankees

Manager: Joe Girardi

Last year: 87-75 Lost Wild Card game.

What’s new:

  • Starlin Castro was acquired from the Chicago to play 2B and give the team something offensively sending pitcher Adam Warren to the Cubbies.
  • 1B Greg Bird’s season ended before it started due to back surgery, this is huge because Mark Teixeira gets hurt every year and the thought of having Dustin Ackley or Chris Parmalee in the lineup regularly is a sure way to stay out of the playoffs.
  • New closer Aroldis Chapman’s 30 game suspension won’t hurt them as much as some think, they already have last year’s All Star and relief pitcher of the year ready to shut the door in the 8th and 9th innings in Betances and Miller.

Biggest question/hurdle to playoffs: Injuries.  Alex Rodriguez, Teixeira, Carlos Beltran and CC Sabathia are being counted on a little too much.  GM Brian Cashman is simply waiting for all of these contracts to expire to make any kind of noise in the free agent or trade market. 

Fantasy stud: Masahiro Tanaka.  Questions about his elbow will dog him early but they will ease him back into the front of the rotation as an ace by the beginning of summer. 

Fantasy dud: Jacoby Ellsbury.  He showed at the end of the year that he struggles against lefty pitchers, especially ones with good breaking balls.  The team can’t afford him to become a platoon player this year (and with that salary). 

 

Baltimore Orioles

Manager: Buck Showalter

Last year: 81-81

What’s new:

  • Chris Davis got paid, and then they signed Mark Trumbo and then Pedro Alvarez. So they are clearly protecting themselves in case of injury at the DH/1B positions. 
  • The team surrendered a 1st round draft pick and signed Yovani Gallardo to lengthen out the rotation.
  • The team brought in Korean OF Hyun Soo Kim to play left field but he has looked overmatched in spring training games.

Biggest question/hurdle to the playoffs: Same as last year, do they have enough pitching?  Brian Matusz is already ailing but the organization trusts Buck to manage the extra few wins they will need to make a run at the division.

Fantasy stud:  Chris Davis.  You will put up with big strike out numbers as long as he hits 40+homers. 

Fantasy dud: Matt Wieters has put more time between himself and elbow surgery and the team brought him back so they think he can contribute, I don’t think even in a shallow position pool he can do enough to warrant a draft pick. 

 

Tampa Rays

Manager: Kevin Cash

Last year: 80-82

What’s new:

  • The team traded for OF Corey Dickerson from Colorado to make the lineup more formidable.
  • Brad Miller comes over to play shortstop and maybe hit above .200.
  • Desmond Jennings is back and should be healthy, but is now in left field as Kevin Keirmaier earned the CF job.

Biggest question/hurdle to playoffs: Can they score enough runs to stay competitive? I don’t think so. 

Fantasy Stud: Chris Archer. Ace that broke out last year and now needs to repeat and improve.

Fantasy dud:  Jake Odorizzi.  You can’t chase wins in fantasy especially with a guy who doesn’t strike out many hitters, no thank you. 

 

Boston Red Sox:

Manager: John Farrell

Last year: 78-84

What’s new:

  • David Price comes over to headline a rebound for the pitching staff that was flat all last year.
  • Craig Kimbrel was acquired via trade to shore up an injury riddled bullpen.
  • Pablo Sandoval will switch hit this year and Hanley Ramirez will play 1B.

Biggest question/hurdle to making playoffs:  Can the rotation step up and not back? Last year was a step back for Rick Porcello and Clay Buchholz they are now in more comfortable 2/3 slots in the rotation.  The lineup is counting on young guys and “veterans” looking for a last push.  The stars need to line up for this team to make a playoff push. 

American League West:

Texas Rangers

Manager: Jeff Banister- manager of the year in 2015. 

Last year: 88-74

What’s new:

  • Yu Darvish will return from Tommy John sometime in the early summer, essentially adding an ace to the rotation mid-season.
  • Ian Desmond was added early in the spring to play left field, not shortstop.
  • Josh Hamilton had knee surgery and will start the year on the DL, and might stay there for a big chunk of the season.

Biggest question/hurdle to making the playoffs: Last year Keone Kela was a godsend in the bullpen.  Asking him to repeat a 2.39 ERA & 1.16 WHIP with 68 K’s in 60 innings at soon to be age 23? I’m not buying it, they need someone else to step up like that this year and I’m not sure they have him on the roster-yet. 

Fantasy stud: Prince Fielder.  He’s only eligible at DH this year but Mitch Moreland will probably go on the DL at some point so he can get 1B back, but his solid stick is exactly what the Rangers paid for when they traded for him two years ago. 

Fantasy dud: Hamilton.  He’s going to start the year on the DL and might just be done physically being able to play baseball every day, or any day.  Drugs are bad mmmkay. 

 

Houston Astros

Manager: A.J. Hinch

Last year: 86-76 Lost in Division Round of Playoffs.

What’s new:

  • Phenom SS Carlos Correa starts the year with the big club and will be asked to repeat his offensive pace from last season.
  • Ken Giles was brought in from Philadelphia to close games pushing Luke Gregerson to a setup role and lengthening the bullpen.
  • Doug Fister attempts to make the rotation with ground ball prowess and a not so warm heater.

Biggest question/hurdle to making the playoffs: Aside from Jose Altuve, this is a swing and miss or homer offense, which is great to hopefully sneak into the playoffs but isn’t conducive to a strong November run. 

Fantasy stud: Dallas Keuchel.  A left handed ground ball pitcher that strikes guys out? Ace material for your staff just ask the Yankees about that Wild Card game.

Fantasy dud: Evan Gattis. Take your pick of the swing and miss guys on this team but Gattis is coming off hernia surgery and is a slow starter to boot. 

 

Los Angeles Angels

Manager- Mike Scioscia

Last year: 85-77

What’s new:

  • Andrelton Simmons was brought in to add some youth and spark to a lineup and defense in need of a spark.
  • Yunel Escobar will play 3B and bat leadoff after a solid year in Washington with a .314 average and .375 OBP.
  • Albert Pujols’ off season foot surgery seems to be healing enough that he’ll start the year as the DH, where he will likely find himself for the duration of his time in LA. 

Biggest question/hurdle to making the playoffs: easily the starting rotation.  Jered Weaver is done when you have degeneration of the spine that’s not good for senior citizens let alone big league pitchers, C.J. Wilson’s shoulder is barking and will begin the year on the DL, as will Tyler Skaggs coming off Tommy John surgery.  I’m not sure they have enough depth to withstand three prospective starters being out at least until April. 

Fantasy stud: Mike Trout.  He says he’s going to steal more bases this season to go along with hitting 40 homers.  No complaints from fantasy owners.

Fantasy dud: Whoever plays LF.  Daniel Nava doesn’t offer any special upside, and Todd Cunningham? Pass.

 

Seattle Mariners

Manager: Scott Servais

Last year: 76-86

What’s new:

  • Adam Lind was brought in to play 1B, Chris Iannetta comes in to catch and Nori Aoki will play LF.
  • Hisashi Iwakuma only stays healthy every other year. He was hurt last year, so that means this year should be productive. 
  • There are already injuries in the bullpen to Ryan Cook, Charlie Furbush and youngster Danny Hultzen, which is bad news because starter James Paxton can’t stay healthy for a full season either.

Biggest question/hurdle to making the playoffs: does King Felix have enough left in his right arm to carry this staff?  The offense should score enough so they don’t have to try and win 1-0 every night.  The team needs Taijuan Walker to take the next step in his development to fight for the post season. 

Fantasy stud: Nelson Cruz.  Back to back 40+ homer seasons will get you drafted nice and early in fantasy. 

Fantasy dud: Steve Cishek.  Closing on a good team should make you a valuable commodity; however he has a tender arm in March, which makes me nervous. 

 

Oakland Athletics

Manager: Bob Melvin

Last year: 68-94

What’s new:

  • Khris Davis was brought in to add some pop to the lineup from Milwaukee.
  • Yonder Alonso will play 1B everyday with Rich Hill hoping to join the rotation; both are discount players hoping to prove they belong on a big league roster.
  • Ryan Madson comes in to take over 8th inning duties and offer protection should regular closer Sean Doolittle get hurt.

Biggest question/hurdle to making the playoffs: They are the A’s so there isn’t a lot of power in the lineup and with not much more than fingers crossed after Sonny Gray in the rotation you can take your pick as to the biggest problem here. 

Fantasy stud: Sonny Gray.  Could get traded to a contender for a big haul, or just stay here and rack up strikeout totals. 

Fantasy dud: Yonder Alonso. 1B with no power and an injury history?  Doesn’t play well in fantasy. 

 

Projected American League standings:

AL WEST                                               AL CENTRAL                                        AL EAST

Texas Rangers                                   Kansas City Royals                           New York Yankees

Houston Astros                                 Detroit Tigers                                     Boston Red Sox

Seattle Mariners                              Cleveland Indians                            Toronto Blue Jays

LA Angels                                            Minnesota Twins                             Baltimore Orioles

Oakland Athletics                             Chicago White Sox                           Tampa Rays

Wild Cards: Boston, Detroit

AL Champ: Texas Rangers

 

AWARDS

MVP- Manny Machado Baltimore.  He’s already a steady performer and is past injury concerns of two years ago.  A slash line of .300/35/115 is very real to go along with leadership and gold glove defense at the hot corner it’s his time. 

CY Young- Chris Sale Chicago.  He’s nasty. He’s already an ace. And if the Sox can win a few games and be in the race until September that will be the icing for voters.  As long as he gets past the Adam LaRoche saga mentally this year could be special for him. 

Rookie of the year: Byron Buxton Minnesota.  He’ll have the opportunity to play every day which will help him get through slumps and he has the speed to make running the bases exciting again. 

 

 

National League Central:

St. Louis Cardinals

Manager: Mike Matheny

Last year: 100-62

 

What’s new:

  • Jhonny Peralta had thumb surgery and could miss as much as the first half of the season. The back up? None other than Greg Garcia, unless they try Padre castoff Jedd Gyorko there.
  • Brandon Moss was added to platoon with Matt Adams because he can’t hit left handed pitching.
  • Mike Leake was signed from division rival Cincinnati to take Lance Lynn’s spot (Tommy John surgery) in the rotation.

Biggest question/hurdle to making the playoffs: Can the defense be smooth enough on the infield until Peralta gets back to not lose games for them?  Adam Wainwright returns but will have a reduced workload this year and the team will need to make up those innings. 

Fantasy stud: Michael Wacha.  I feel great things coming for the 24 year old entering his 3rd  year in the league.  He’s on a good team, with adequate strikeout numbers who can hold your rotation together should a bigger name get hurt. 

Fantasy dud: Matt Holliday.  Coming off an injury plagued year and already on the downside of his career I don’t want to draft him hoping for 20+homers and get 10 with a weak average. 

 

Chicago Cubs

Manager: Joe Maddon

Last year: 98-64

 

What’s new:

  • The backed up the brinks truck for Jason Heyward in the offseason, and then found some extra cash laying around for pitcher John Lackey.
  • Dexter Fowler is back to play center field which makes Jorge Soler available via trade.
  • Ben Zobrist rejoins Joe Maddon to play 2B and keep Addison Russell at SS.

Biggest question/hurdle to making playoffs: A thin starting rotation.  Jake Arrieta was great last year, asking him to improve on a career high in innings pitched will be a challenge.  Jason Hammel and Kyle Hendricks don’t inspire faith at the end of the rotation. 

Fantasy stud: Anthony Rizzo. A stud who should put up counting stats all over the place in this lineup.

Fantasy dud: Kyle Schwarber. He’s being over drafted for a kid who doesn’t have a defined day to day spot in the field and lineup. 

 

Pittsburgh Pirates

Manager: Clint Hurdle

Last year: 98-64

What’s new:

  • Jon Niese was picked up in the Neil Walker trade over the winter.
  • That trade puts utility man Josh Harrison in the lineup at 2B.
  • That move puts Jung Ho Kang, when healthy, at 3B until then David Freese plays.

Biggest question/hurdle to making the playoffs: why is it 1B in the steel city seems like it’s been an offensive void for years?  Michael Morse is the latest to share at bats with John Jaso at the spot this year.  Can they get enough production from them to make the lineup truly potent?

Fantasy stud: Starling Marte. Did you know that his counting stats-runs, homers, average and hits were comparable to Andrew McCutchen’s?  Add 30 stolen bases and about 6 rounds later in drafts and you have your stud for a fraction of the price. 

Fantasy dud: Jordy Mercer.  Glove first shortstop with no stolen base or home run prowess? Pass. 

 

Milwaukee Brewers

Manager: Craig Counsell

Last year: 68-94

 

What’s new:

  • Chris Carter and Johnathan Villar come over from Houston to play 1B and SS respectively.
  • Domingo Santana takes over for traded Khris Davis in LF.
  • Jeremy Jeffress and his big fastball take over at closer duties.

Biggest question/hurdle to making playoffs: the entire roster is bereft of enough talent to make any kind of play for the postseason.  Realistically, the front office should be in complete rebuild mode and trade Jonathan Lucroy, Wily Peralta and Jeffress at or before the deadline for prospects. 

Fantasy stud: Lucroy.  Catchers with as much offensive prowess as him are a commodity, just make sure he’s healthy before pulling the trigger. 

Fantasy dud: Lot of options here, but I’ll go with Kirk Nieuwenhuis.  Even in a position where you need multiple options he doesn’t bring enough to the table to warrant a draft pick. 

 

Cincinnati Reds

Manager: Bryan Price

Last Year: 64-98

 

What’s new:

  • Brandon Finnegan enters the rotation as a franchise building block along with Raisel Iglesias and Anthony DeSclafani.
  • Brandon Phillips vetoed an off season trade to stay with the team.
  • The bullpen will be in flux with the loss of Aroldis Chapman at the end.

Biggest question/hurdle to making the playoffs: Joey Votto is still here, healthy and good.  After that, ugh man it gets ugly.  The team is probably hoping Homer Bailey comes back from Tommy John and looks good enough to trade next off season. 

Fantasy stud: Joey Votto.  He’s in that grouping of 1B that is going to go in the 2nd round of your draft.   A solid but not spectacular contributor in any category consistency is his calling card.   

Fantasy dud: Billy Hamilton.  You would think 57 steals would get you somewhere, but a .274 OBP will get you a role as late inning pinch runner. 

 

National League West:

Los Angeles Dodgers

Manager: Dave Roberts

Last year: 92-70 Won division.

 

What’s new:

  • Dave Roberts takes over for Don Mattingly and gets his chance to get Yasiel Puig to play “the right way.”
  • Scott Kazmir and Kenta Maeda enter the rotation with Clayton Kershaw and Alex Wood.
  • Corey Seager begins the year as the starting SS and leading rookie of the year candidate.

Biggest question/hurdle to making the playoffs: Can new manager Roberts get and keep his team into the right mindset early on?  If they struggle early some of the mercurial personalities both on the field and in the front office will shine through. 

Fantasy stud:  Kershaw.  He “only” won 16 games last year.  He also struck out 300 batters.  Playoff concerns aside, he’s an ace. 

Fantasy dud: Chase Utley. He’s hanging on for one more World Series run but barring injury he won’t see more than 40 games of action. 

 

San Francisco Giants

Manager: Bruce Bochy

Last year: 84-78

 

What’s new:

  • Jake Peavy, Jeff Samardjiza and Johnny Cueto earned big money deals to join Madison Bumgarner in the rotation.
  • Denard Span takes over in center field and likely the leadoff spot in a potent lineup.
  • The baseball world found out about Hunter Strickland and his fastball last year, he has to give them confidence in making it a 6 inning game with Romo and Casilla following.

Biggest question/hurdle to making the playoffs: The starting rotation is thin after the big names so they are one injury away from perhaps a long summer. 

Fantasy stud: Buster Posey.  Cream of the crop for catchers will get “rested” by playing 1B to keep his bat in lineup every day.

Fantasy dud: Peavy.  He’s at most a 5 inning guy now so you’re chasing wins here.  

 

Arizona Diamondbacks

Manager: Chip Hale

Last year: 79-83

 

What’s new:

  • Zack Greinke and Shelby Miller enter the starting rotation along with Patrick Corbin.
  • Jean Segura enters the scene from Milwaukee, which moves Chris Owings to 2B.
  • OF Peter O’Brien hit the cover off the ball this spring in an attempt to push Yasmany Tomas to the bench.

Biggest question/hurdle to making the playoffs:  There are pieces in place but can the middle infield be more than just a glove duo? There needs to be real offensive strides taken by both Segura and Owings. 

Fantasy Stud: Paul Goldschmidt. Stud offensive player who will go in the top 3 of fantasy drafts.

Fantasy dud: Wellington Castillo. The sad thing is he’s actually an upgrade on what they had there last year, I’m still not interested. 

 

San Diego Padres

Manager: Andy Green

Last year: 74-88

 

What’s new:

  • After “winning” the winter last year the club was more discreet with their moves in rebuilding the roster.
  • Jon Jay takes over for Justin Upton in the outfield.
  • Wil Myers takes over for Yonder Alonso at 1B and hopes to stay healthy.

Biggest question/hurdle to making playoffs: They need bounce back seasons from just about everyone on the roster, because there isn’t enough high end talent to challenge for a division crown or playoff berth. 

Fantasy stud: Matt Kemp. Had 100 RBI last year, and won’t cost you earlier than a 4th round pick. 

Fantasy dud: Fernando Rodney. He enters the year as the closer, I have a suspicion he will not end the year in that role. 

 

Colorado Rockies

Manager: Walt Weiss

Last year: 68-94

 

What’s new:

  • Jose Reyes wasn’t happy to be traded to the team last year, and he won’t start the year with the team due to an ongoing domestic violence investigation.
  • The positive side of Reyes not being around is Trevor Story made his case in a big way to be the starter on opening day.
  • Jake McGee was added to close games at the expense of Corey Dickerson.

 

Biggest question/hurdle to making playoffs: Seems like every year we ask how the team will get the other team out.  There just isn’t enough pitching to make any kind of playoff run. 

Fantasy stud: Nolan Arenado.  One of the games’ young stars.  Counting stats no doubt helped by thin air at home but he’s good on road too. 

Fantasy dud: McGee.  How many leads to they really think they are going to have in the 9th inning?

 

National League East:

New York Mets

Manager: Terry Collins

Last year: 90-72  Lost World Series

 

What’s new:

  • Neil Walker comes in to replace October hero Daniel Murphy at 2B.
  • They brought Yoenis Cespedes back- to play center field and let Michael Conforto get AB’s in Left.
  • Steven Matz enters the year as the 4th starter and will likely have an innings limit.

Biggest question/hurdle to making playoffs: The starting rotation gets a lot of love and rightfully so, but do they have enough in the bullpen to get them back to the World Series. 

Fantasy stud: Jacob deGrom.  He busted out in the All Star game and took his game to the next level, where he sits with a paycheck slightly above league minimum.  

Fantasy dud: Asdrubal Cabrera.  A shortstop with knee problems does not inspire confidence. 

 

Washington Nationals

Manager: Dusty Baker

Last year: 83-79

 

What’s new:

  • Dusty Baker, an experienced manager comes in to guide a talented team to the post season.
  • Daniel Murphy was brought in to play 2B and push Anthony Rendon to 3B.
  • Joe Ross and Tanner Roark enter the rotation to eat innings left by Jordan Zimmerman’s free agency departure to Detroit.

Biggest question/hurdle to post season: Can Baker lead this talented team to play to its potential day in and day out the way Matt Williams couldn’t? 

Fantasy stud: Bryce Harper. As long as he stays healthy he’s worthy of being taken #1 in your fantasy draft. 

Fantasy dud: Gio Gonzalez.  Had a successful first year with the team but has been mediocre ever since. 

 

Miami Marlins

Manager: Don Mattingly

Last year: 71-91

 

What’s new:

  • New Manager & hitting coach (Barry Bonds) bring their talents to south beach.
  • Wei-Yin Chen got a nice contract to take over the number 2 spot in the rotation.
  • Carter Capps and his funky delivery underwent Tommy John in the spring.

Biggest question/hurdle to making the playoffs: There wasn’t much pitching depth to begin with and with Capps going down along with Jose Fernandez’s innings limit there could be more than a few high scoring games in Miami this season. 

Fantasy stud: Giancarlo Stanton. MVP candidate when healthy, just need to stay healthy is all.

Fantasy dud:  Marcell Ozuna. Not a lot of counting stats with him, power & speed numbers minimal and contact is a problem for him. 

 

Atlanta Braves

Manager: Fredi Gonzalez

Last year: 67-95

 

What’s new:

  • Ender Inciarte comes over from the desert to play center field.
  • Hector Olivera was acquired from the Dodgers to play 3B or the outfield if his glove doesn’t translate like his bat seems to have.
  • Bud Norris and Jhoulys Chacin are being asked to pitch every 5 days.

Biggest question/hurdle to making the playoffs:  The team is in slight rebuild mode with an anticipated contending time line to line up with the opening of their new ball park-Sun Trust Park, in 2017.  With that date in mind we look at the calendar and see that this is not that year and they are not going to be very good.

Fantasy stud: Freddie Freeman.  Solid bat for some power and run production with an career slash line of .285/.366/.466 is the best thing this roster has to offer your roster. 

Fantasy dud: Julio Teheran.  He’s their defacto ace so he’s going to pitch against every other team’s number 1 starter.  Likely to be a tough luck loser more often than not. 

 

Philadelphia Phillies

Manager: Pete Mackanin

Last year: 63-99

 

What’s new:

  • Pete Mackanin returns for his first full season as manager after taking over early in the year last year.
  • David Hernandez takes over for departed Ken Giles as the closer.
  • Vincent Velasquez, acquired for Giles, enters the rotation with some promise for growth.

Biggest question/hurdle to making the playoffs: Playoffs! Playoffs? Are you kidding me playoffs?! The lineup has Maikel Franco in it, that’s good, but it also has Ryan Howard, Carlos Ruiz and a bunch of unproven or worse in the other spots.  It’s going to be a long summer in Philadelphia.

Fantasy stud: Franco.  He was hot in the spring and is candidate to break out as a start in the league this year with his bat. 

Fantasy dud:  Charlie Morton. He enjoyed some success last year pitching in Pittsburgh but that’s not going to translate to this stadium. 

 

Projected final standings:

EAST                                                      CENTRAL                                              WEST

Washington                                        St. Louis                                               Los Angeles Dodgers

New York                                            Pittsburgh                                           San Francisco

Miami                                                   Chicago Cubs                                     Arizona

Atlanta                                                 Cincinnati                                            San Diego

Philadelphia                                       Milwaukee                                         Colorado

Wild cards: San Francisco, New York

NL Champ: St. Louis

World Series: Texas Rangers over St. Louis Cardinals

 

NL MVP: Buster Posey SFG.  A leader and somehow seems underrated entering the year despite his clearly being the best player at his position.  This is the year he gets his due. 

Cy Young: Jacob deGrom NYM.  You could say that his rotation mates will steal votes from him but his second half last year showed everyone how good he is. 

Rookie of the Year: Corey Seager LAD.  Got his feet wet last September/October, now he gets the hardware.