2011 Post Opening Day Season Preview - AL

Here are the officially unofficial BTW MLB 2011 American League predictions:

 

American League - East

1) Boston

  Possibly the most complete team in the AL.  Trying to find a hole in this team is almost impossible.  If they do not win 100, the regular season could be considered a disappointment.

2) Tampa

  The biggest question for the Rays is how the bullpen holds up.  The pitching staff is the strength of the team.  The loss of Crawford will hurt badly, especially to another team in the division.

3) New York

  The offense is full of All- Stars, catcher has to be a concern defensively.  With Rivera as the closer the only questions at the back end of games is will father time finally catch up and how will the pen fair bridging the gap to Rivera.  The starting rotation is another big questionmark, if Burnett can pitch to the level expected of him the rotation becomes a little more solid.  Getting 15 wins from Burnett could push the Yakees above Tampa in the standings.

4) Toronto

Another season depending on the long ball.  I don't see Bautista coming anywhere near his 2011 levels.  In any other division this team would be challenging for the division crown.

5) Baltimore

A young rotation with all the building blocks of a nice rotation in a couple years.  The offense may be ugly at times, they could challenge for the league lead in strikeouts.  

 

American League - Central

1) Minnesota

Somehow, someway Minnesota always ends up near the top of the division.  This season will be no different.  Team health will have a lot to do with their success.

2) Chicago

A solid rotation and a good offense that plays well to their home field.  As always, more attention will be paid to Ozzie Guillen than the play on the field.  I usually shy away from picking them to finish second because Williams is never shy to pull the trigger on trades if he feels they are out of contention.

3) Detroit

This, unfortunately, may be Jim Leylands last stand in Detroit by no fault of his nor the play on the field.  I expect the Tigers to be very active at the trade deadline whether to add or subtract is the big question.  They have a legitimate chance to win the division.  Next offseason should be interesting to see how big of players the Tigers will be in free agency.

4) Kansas City

Up and coming.  It would be a surprise to see them challenge in the division with the strength of the top three teams.  There are still a few holes on the team and plenty of youth.  How quickly will the prospects get a chance to show their wears in MLB?  It will be a fun season for Royal fans to get a glimpse of what the future holds.

5) Cleveland

I don't know where this team is headed.  I have been a closet Indians fan since the 70's.  While other people loved the lovable loser Cubs, I always pulled for the Tribe.  Unfortunately they right now have the look of the Dave Littlefield Pirates.

 

American League - West

1) Texas

This team looks better than the team that started the year in 2010 that won the division.  The loss of Lee won't change things in Arlington, he was only a rental player in the end.  The offense will carry the team.  Hopefully they do not mess with Feliz the way the Yankees did with Chamberlain a few seasons back bouncing him between the rotation and the pen.  The play of Borbon in CF will also play a key role in the fate of the team and overall makeup.  If Borbon fails, Hamilton's health will become a concern with the way he plays the game if he returns to CF.

2) Los Angeles

The rotation is solid, but I don't think Scioscia has the offensive team he likes to play with.  I don't think last seasons results were a fluke.  If the team is still hanging around come the trade deadline they will need to pick up a few pieces (3B) to catch Texas.

3) Oakland

The rotation is one of the better in the AL.  Unfortunately for A's fans, I still wonder where the run support will come from.  Much like the hype of Seattle in 2010, I don't see the team living up to the hype of being every experts sleeper pick in the AL.  

4) Seattle

The easiest way to look at Seattle is waiting for their prospects to arrive this season.  Outside of King Feliz, Chone and Ichiro, the rest of the season will be watching younger talent take their first steps as they arrive in the Majors.

 

Wild Card - I am going to go with the White Sox here.  I think the wild card comes from the Central this season.

MVP - I am picking Robinson Cano here, as much as it pains me to pick a Yankee, he might be the best player in the AL for the forseeable future. 

Cy Young - I am going to go with Lester here.  Partially because he will get plenty of press if the Red Sox live up to expectation but mostly because he will have the numbers to support it.  I really wanted to pick Price here, but I think Lester will end up with enough wins to make up the difference in the other numbers.

 

Watch for the NL post in the next few days.

 

Feel free to rip me for my predictions in the comment section.  

Happy Opening Day

With a 6-3 victory over the Cubs,  the 2011 season is finally underway.   In true BTW fashion,  I will post my "Post Opening Day Season Preview" later tonight.  At some point I will also update everyone with what has been happening in my life as well as post the promised 1960 post that I have not forgotten about.

Until the next post...

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone. I am hoping to get a post up tonight. I am just trying to get back into the swing of things again.

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Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from BTW. Next week marks the four year anniversary of BTW. Expect posts to start coming again soon. My first post will be in reference to the 1960 World Series game 7 that was aired a couple weeks back.

Until then, have a happy and safe holidays.

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Happy Thanksgiving

I wanted to take a chance to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. 

Last Thought For A While

Why don’t the Pirates move LaRoche to 2nd now?  Akimura was a 3rd baseman, for the better part of his career.  If LaRoche’s ultimate goal is landing at 2nd, why not just start now while Akimura is still in the fold rather than waiting for Pedro Alvarez to be called up.  I think it would be easier to displace what looks to be a 1 year player in Akimura than it would be to mess with LaRoche’s head more.

I understand Andy is playing well, “why mess with that?” would be a common question.  If the idea is to build for the future, let LaRoche takes his bumps now in preparation for the future.

 

AS For The Last Thought":

I haven’t been able to maintain the site the way I would like to.  There is a lot going on in life right now outside of BTW.  Think of this as me closing the doors on BTW, but they are not locked.  Don’t take this as the end.  Someday I may get back to regular posting, but right now I will only say it will be sporadic posts at best.

In the meantime please enjoy the other fine Pirates blogs I have listed to the right and visit the Pirates Tavern, the banner is in the top right of the page as well as the forum link at the top menu bar.  Look for dharr18 in the Tavern, that will be me.  I will likely be spending more time there than I have been recently.

Raise the Jolly Roger will continue to host the live game threads, so I send you his way since he maintains the mailing list.  I will likely be in the game chats regularly.

Also, follow BTW on twitter at http://twitter.com/bucstradewinds.  I will frequently post there and pass on any info I may hear.

It has been a fun 3+ year run.  Hopefully it will continue and start strong again in the future.

For now, fair well and Go Bucs!

Game 23: Pirates at Dodgers

Again?

BTW is back, and I am p!ssed!

72-12

0-7

Every Pirates fan knows these numbers from the last week.  Seven loses averaged out at a 6:1 run differential.  What an embarrassment.

What is more embarrassing than 18 straight losing seasons?  How about the last week of baseball?  Or maybe a starter who carries an ERA over 16 getting a vote of confidence that he will not lose his spot in the rotation?

Huntington needs to do something.  And he needs to do it soon.

Russell should be on a short leash, his days as Pirates manager are likely numbered.  Russell is a prime candidate for scapegoat.

Dave Kerwin/Joe Kerrigan is another prime candidate as a scapegoat.  The pitching staff is a complete joke.

Neither of those moves will fix what is happening.  But those are the types of moves that are all too common in baseball today.

Russell sounds like his hands are tied when it comes to Charlie Morton.  Morton is nasty for a trip through the lineup.  Then he is canon fodder.  Hmmm?  A pitcher who is nasty for one trip through the lineup?  That sounds to me like a prime target for the bullpen, that is severely taxed after the last week.

But it won’t happen, at least not in April.  The battle cry of every team struggling in the early season, “It is only April, not the right time to panic.”

Still, a starter with a 16.20 ERA is ridiculous.  No matter what month it is.  If Russell doesn’t have the power to move Morton to the bullpen, where he may be able to gain some confidence back, then Russell is nothing more than a figurehead.  This is not the sign of a manager who should expect an extension at the end of the season.

What can Huntington do?

The pitching has stunk.  The hitting has stunk, especially with runners in scoring position.  They get on base, but no one can drive them in.  Look at how many times in the last week the Pirates have had the bases loaded and left the inning empty handed.

Having a 6 hole hitter struggling to sniff the Mendoza line doesn’t help.  It kind of has the feel of Adam LaRoche in his time in Pittsburgh, at least until June came around. I know the team has high hopes for Clement, but his rope should be shorter than that leashed to Russell.  Clement has looked horrid at the plate occasionally showing outfield grass power. 

If I was the opposing team, I would not give Jones and Doumit anything to hit, knowing they will chase with the team struggling so badly.  The worst case scenario?  You walk both to get to Clement.

If Huntington and crew don’t want a mass rebellion against the team and ownership, larger that what is already brewing, he needs to fix what he can with what is available.

Bring up one of the young promising talents from Indianapolis to appease the fans?  It doesn’t matter who, just show us some signs of the future? 

Lincoln?  Fine, even though he really needs a little more seasoning.

Tabata? Better, move Jones to first.  He still isn’t ready, but he is the closest to it.

Alvarez?  Still good, but he still needs improvements against lefties.

Appeasing fans is the quickest way to move any GM to the top of the scapegoat list.

Save those players the embarrassment.  For now.  They will have plenty of time to spend in Pittsburgh to earn themselves either shame or a huge free agency paycheck 6 years later.

A roster move doesn’t even need to occur to fix some of the offense.  Church goes to right and Jones moves to first.  End the Clement experiment.

Move Morton to the pen and let him work on things there.  If he can lower his ERA to something that starts with a single digit, slide him back into the rotation.  Who starts?  I don’t care, start a reliever.  Any of the relievers on the team could go 3 innings.  Just make it a bullpen day at the park.  Carrasco has started in the past.  Give him a shot.

All I want is the best team on the field.  Neither Clement nor Morton should be on the starting lineup card anytime in the near future.  Huntington needs to allow Russell to try to manage the team and win games, not just be a scapegoat.  There are plenty of scapegoats available.  Let’s spread the wealth.

 

Update 12:36 a.m.:  Jeff Karstens has been recalled from Indy.  Raynor has been DFAed.

 

While I was out

Jakubauskas getting hit in the head Saturday was the most disturbing injury I have seen since Jason Kendall broke his ankle running to first.  I didn’t see the video until today, and I still can’t believe he walked to the cart.  My prayers are still going out to him.

 

BTW News

My family member is recovering nicely from a heart attack.  I will likely still be distracted for some time with this, but we are trying to get back to life as normal as possible in the meantime.

Game Day Threads should start up again soon.  Hopefully they will be part of an expanded setup that includes pregame notes, similar to past seasons.

BTW Unavailable

Due to a family emergency, BTW will be unattended for the next few days. IF I can find some time to force a post out I will.  In the meantime please visit Raise The Jolly Roger for game day threads.  Also, visit some of the other fine Pirates Blogs listed on the right.

Thanks for your understanding.  Go Bucs.

Game 13: Brewers at Pirates

Game 12: Reds at Pirates

I won't be able to make the game today, but the rest of the bloggers will still be there. As always, this is managed by RTJR.

 

 

Game 11: Reds at Pirates

Game 10: Reads at Pirates

Sorry for late post, busy day with Tee Ball practice and a birthday party.

Game 9: Pirates at Giants

Game 8: Pirates at Giants

Game 7: Pirates at Giants

Game 6: Pirates at Diamondbacks

Game 4: Pirates at Diamondbacks

Game 3: Live Thread

Game 2: Live Thread