The draft is over, and that means it's time to look ahead to the season. This time next week, games will be being played again, and baseball (And fantasy) will be back. And the trash talk can begin in full force. To help that along, I present the pre-season power rankings. This should be fun.
So basically what I did with this one was break the teams down and ranked them in six different position categories: Catcher, Middle Infield, Corner Infield, Outfield, Starting Pitching and Relief Pitching. What this means, of course, is that this will be completely inaccurate. Not only do the points matter, but some points matter more than others (A big advantage in your outfielders is better than a slim advantage in relief pitching, but they might both look the same here). And, with many of these rankings, you could switch everybody from 3rd to 8th and not get much of an argument from me. Oh yeah, and it's all just based on my personal gut feeling on each team. Nevertheless, it should provide some decent fodder for the trash talk.
So here's how it works: Each team is assigned a number, which is the average of their positions in those six categories. Lower number is better. As you'll see, most of the teams are fairly close to each other. So, with all that being said, here we go into the pre-season power rankings:
1. Content With Second-Andrew Blum (Average: 3.66)
Key Categories: Catcher (1st), Corner Infield (2nd), Outfield (2nd)
I have a feeling Andrew's name will be changing soon. I highly doubt second will be "good enough" this season, and Andrew is gunning for his third baseball title. The team he starts with gives him a strong shot at it. He's got catcher on lockdown with both Posey and V-Mart. His first baseman are terrific. And Bryce Harper and Ryan Braun make an otherwise average outfield something with major potential. Andrew is strong in most of the categories and will be tough to beat all season.
2. Albequerque Isotopes-Joshua Blum (Average: 4.00)
Key Categories: Outfield (1st), Catcher (2nd), Starting Pitching (2nd)
The only team left who has never missed the playoffs in the six years of this league, Josh looks to go back-to-back after finally winning a championship last season. And there is definitely potential for that to happen. This outfield is outstanding. You could take Mike Trout and Andrew McCutchen out and it will still arguably be the best in the league, and certainly one of the top three. Matt Wieters is basically the best you can get at catcher outside of Posey. And, though his starting pitching might initially look short on volume, the quality of that pitching more than makes up for it. With Strasburg and Kershaw anchoring the pitching, there are going to be a lot of points from pitching each week. This should be another playoff year for Josh.
T-3. Accountants Do It In Numbers-Randy Blum (Average: 4.33)
Key Categories: Relief Pitching (1st), Middle Infield (1st), Starting Pitching (3rd)
Randy has consistently been a force to be reckoned with in his time in this league. That won't change this year. He brings back a solid team that he made some solid upgrades to in the draft. With Aroldis Chapman leading the way, his relief corps should be dominant. Zobrist and Tulo make this middle infield look great, and the potential from Profar could prove to be a huge factor. And, as long as the starting pitching stays healthy, this should be a good lineup. Between Greinke, Sale and Wainwright alone, Randy should get a fair amount of wins. Randy is another team who should be playoff bound, and don't fool yourself into thinking he won't do everything he can to make sure he gets there.
T-3. Uptown Sluggers-Shane Sandri (Average: 4.33)
Key Categories: Middle Infield (2nd), Corner Infield (3rd)
This was the first big surprise for me. Even as I was doing this, I knew I liked Shane's team. I was still surprised by exactly how much. And the biggest thing here is definitely right around the diamond. 1st, 2nd, SS, 3rd...they all look great. He may have overpaid for Pujols, but if Pujols is Pujols, it will be well worth it. And that outfield definitely has some major potential. Carl Crawford could prove to be a draft day steal if her performs. Shane looks like he could be a surprise upstart this year (Much like Scott last year).
5. A New Era-Austin Drake (Average: 5.00)
Key Categories: Catcher (3rd), Middle Infield (3rd)
Austin also looks poised to prove that, just because it's your first year in a league doesn't necessarily mean you won't perform. While I think Shane may have done a bit better on draft day, Austin picked up some very valuable pieces during the expansion draft. Yadier Molina has the potential to be the #1 catcher in the game. And, while I'm not a Dee Gordon fan, Jason Kipnis was a steal, and Elvis Andrus should prove to be pretty valuable as well. Beyond that, his pitching (Both starting and relief) look pretty solid. The two new teams could end 1-2 in Division 2, and it'll be fun to watch them battle it out if that happens.
6. The Greenhorn-Scott Stepaniak (Average: 5.83)
Key Categories: Starting Pitching (1st), Corner Infield (4th)
See, now this is one where I have a feeling I'm going to be very wrong, one way or the other. Scott's either going to flame out or destroy the rest of the league this season, and I don't think there's much in between. This one is more a culprit of how close a lot of these categories are, because he could easily end up with the #1 corner infielders, and I would not be even a little shocked. And this is another one where there might not currently be quantity in the starting pitching, but the quality is hard to argue with. A 1-4 of Verlander, Weaver, Lester and Burnett is something that no one is going to want to face on any given week. Yeah, Scott probably ends up higher than this for much of the season.
7. LC Legend-Kyle Trondle (Average: 6.33)
Key Category: Corner Infield (1st)
Kyle's team looks MUCH better than last season's version. He definitely has potential in a lot of spots, but right now, that's all it is. The one exception, and the category that makes him scary right now, is corner infield. Votto and Cabrera is a potentially devastating combination, and it's one that could easily put him in the playoffs. I don't think Kyle finishes 7th or 8th this year, but if he does, he'd be the favorite to win the consolation bracket (And potentially move up to Division 1).
8. Arlington Argyle Socks-Brian Rossen (Average: 6.66)
Key Categories: Relief Pitching (2nd), Outfield (3rd)
Brian has some really good players in some key positions. Kemp and Hamilton make his outfield look good. Craig Kimbrel is probably the best closer in the game again this season. But Brian also has a problem. Well, it's really more of an addiction. And that addiction is the Texas Rangers. He...just...can't...quit...them. And, ultimately, I think his team suffers because of it. If he goes reverse of what he did last year and parses out some of that Rangers talent to pick up some solid pieces, he could make a run. Right now, though, I don't see it.
9. ThE RoUnD MoUnD Of ReBoUnD-Ervin Demirasi (Average: 7.00)
Key Categories: Corner Infield (10th), Starting Pitching (10th)
I think the key categories say it all. Trading away Cabrera may have been a good depth move, but it left him with Longoria, and only Longoria, for the corners. And, though he made some trades to add quantity to the starting pitching, I don't think the quality is there. Gallardo could be good. Wilson and Hudson could be good. But I don't think any of them can be great, and there's not much else to like. It looks like it's going to be another rough season for Ervin.
10. Haren Addiction-Andy Ashbaugh (Average: 7.66)
Key Categories: Outfield (10th), Relief Pitching (10th)
I actually feel like Andy is better than this, and he is one who generally does better than I expect him to. Still, his team looks like this: Robinson Cano. David Price. Maybe Cole Hamels and maybe Mark Trumbo. That's about it. This team just looks like it needs too much to go right to do well. And, in a division with stiff competition, I think this could be a poor year for Andy when all is said and done. He may be joining Division 2.
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