Begging for Baseball

It's that time of year again. Football is over and now we're stuck in February waiting for March Madness and Spring Training to start. The NBA is more about the individual's efforts than ever and I am forced to care about Danica Patrick headlines on ESPN.com for entertainment. Baseball can't come quick enough.

Compared to last year's baseball off-season this winter was full of arbitration hearings, blockbuster trades, and big free agent signings. Some teams got better, some teams got worse, and some teams still don't get it. I'm going to break down some of the teams that followed these guidelines

Teams That Got Better


Boston Red Sox

Boston picked up a few great pieces in the off-season and at the trade deadline last summer. Not overpaying for a mediocre outfielder in Jason Bay in order to grab John Lackey, Mike Cameron, Jeremy Hermida, Boof Bonser, and Marco Scutaro. The trades that were made to acquire some of these players did not hurt their current roster either. Having the Mike Lowell Trade not go through was probably a plus as well. With injury's last year and the year before, he is a risk. I will take a risk however when you want to trade one for one with a catcher in Max Ramirez who is of no more value in the field than Lowell. On top of that, they were then to hand the Rangers over Three-Million Dollars if I remember correctly. I was at the place where I could safely say that the Red Sox needed a few years of complete farm system rebuilding, but they look a much better team with probably the best pitching rotation in baseball.

Do I think that trading and collecting these players was the right decision for Boston? No. They still lack the outstanding power of David Ortiz' "younger days," and a catcher who can throw out anyone above the speed of a young Jose Molina. It's also a lot of people to bring into a roster and create chemistry that is severely aging and no longer shows as strong of a vigor in the AL East, but they certainly improved this off-season from a roster standpoint.


Milwaukee Brewers

This is a team that I give a lot of credit to. There are tons of teams out there just waiting for a Ryan Braun or a Prince Fielder to come up through their farm systems at blazing speed. Fortunately for the Brewers, this already happened eight times over and guys like Yovani Gallardo and Corey Hart should be big providers in this upcoming season. The Milwaukee Brewers could never expect to come around as much in one off-season as a team like the Yankees or Mets, but they are certainly doing very well with the extremely limited budget that they have in place as well as the fact that their market is quite small compared to many. Not to mention they even found time to create a nice statue of Bud Selig for display at Miller Park. In the off-season they acquired Randy Wolff for a pitcher who can eat innings and hopefully provide them some wins. Letting Mike Cameron and Jason Kendall go were positives in my mind. They are aging players who contribute well on defense, but are not consistant enough at the plate. The big picture is going to show whether the pitching prospects like Manny Parra and Claudio Vargas can step up onto the big stage.

Teams That Stayed The Same


St. Louis Cardinals

I was a firm believer in this team last season, but they simply did not perform in the playoffs. With Matt Holiday dropping routine fly balls in the outfield, and no one putting pressure on the opposing pitching so that Albert Pujols could be pitched to, it was hardly a contest. That being said, resigning Matt Holiday was a great move and he truly is a phenomenal player that could protect Pujols as good as Texiera protects A-Rod. There's also the story of Chris Carpenter returning very well from injury, and appearing to be in true form once again. After a few months of rest, he should be amped and ready to go this coming season. There is still a ton of talent on that team, but they could still use another great starter in the rotation to prove to me that they have changed enough to make a bigger playoff push this year. Having the best all around player in baseball on your team is most definitely a plus however.


Los Angeles Dodgers

For a team that has been in the playoffs both years under Joe Torre's rule and have shown power and statistical accuracy despite a roster that seems very scattered. Resigning Padilla was a good move, and they will have some power bats in Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier, but Manny Ramirez is still a humongous question mark. After missing fifty games for violating the leagues performance enhancing drug policies, will he still be a consistent threat without whatever it was he was taking and his increasing age and obviouslack of work ethic? Hopefully for them Chad Billingsley can throw untouchable stuff and the younger guys can step it up this season making hem a playoff team once again.


Teams That Got Worse


Washington Nationals

Not that the Nats were very active in the off-season, but they have nothing to look forward to. They have some talent at the plate with Adam Dunn, Christian Guzman, Nyjer Morgan, and Elijah Dukes, but the pitching is simply not going to cut it. Brian Bruney and Tyler Clippard are not going to save the day relief wise even though they are ex Yankees (there's a reason for that). Ryan Zimmerman and Pudge Rodriguez bring some more potential for leadership and runs, but I will predict that the Nationals will get the most runs scored on them than any other team in the league. It's hard to get a young organization up and running efficiently, but there just doesn't seem to be enough effort here. It might pay to recruit some Florida Marlins coaches and scouts to show them how it's done.


Los Angeles Angels

Losing John Lackey, Derrick Anderson, and Vladimir Guererro all in the same offseason and only picking up Hideki Matsui for real threat at the plate? A world series MVP yes, but also a man who will probably not be playing much outfield due to his horrible knees that were drained numerous times in the season. Don't forget they lost the speedy Chone Figgins as well. I do not see the Angels doing much without a few signings or captured leprechauns.

These are only a few examples of each, but all I know is that this season is anyone's game this year. Next Time I'll predict some rankings for baseball teams this coming season. Only three odd days until pitchers and catchers report to spring training.