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Related: 2003
season
overview.
By
Charlie in the Trees
For Outsports
| 1.
1. NEW YORK
YANKEES |
 Hot
Yank: Erick Almonte. Young shortstop stuck in Columbus
playing the role of Derek Jeter’s understudy. Does this cutie
have any chance of making the roster as a utility infielder?
Newbies: Hideki Matsui (OF), Jose Contreras (RHP), Jon
Lieber (RHP), Todd Zeile (1B-3B), Bubba Trammell (OF)
Goners: Orlando Hernandez (RHP), Shane Spencer (OF),
Rondell White (OF), Mike Stanton (LHP), Ramiro Mendoza (RHP),
John Vander Wal (OF)
Upside: Depth. Superstars at every position. If one
superstar gets hurt, or is ineffective, the Yankees will just go
out and get an even brighter, shinier superstar. Mere stars sit
on the bench, waiting for a chance to play. How deep is the
starting rotation? Jeff Weaver was a legitimate No.1
starter in Detroit. He’s the No. 6 starter on the Yankees.
Downside: As Elton John once sang, “The bitch is back.”
Steinbrenner’s dark side resurfaced. After two years of enormous
payroll and no world titles, the Billy Martin-Era Boss has
resurrected himself to reign over the Bronx. Derek Jeter has
been cast in the role created by Reggie Jackson, and played best
by Dave Winfield: the scapegoat superstar.
Bottom Line: Old pitching ultimately will ultimately be
their Achilles heel, or arm. The Yanks are built for the regular
season. After 162 games, they should have the best record
baseball. The ancient arms of Roger Clemens, David Wells (if he
lasts the season) and new signee Jose Contreras (no one thinks
he’s really just 31) will struggle to make it through three
rounds of playoffs. The Yanks could not survive Mariano Rivera
wearing down late in the two last seasons. Rivera was the true
MVP of the Yankees 1996-2000 World Series run. Only
Steinbrenner’s wallet was more valuable. All of the Boss’s
money, though, won’t be able to buy a backwards-running clock.
2002 record: 103-58, 1st place (again)
2003 prediction: 98-64, 1st place (again) |
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2.
BOSTON RED SOX |
 Red
Hot Sock: Johnny Damon. Who’s the hotter Damon? Matt or
Johnny? Johnny has the classic bubble butt and better teeth.
Newbies: Bill Mueller (3B), Ramiro Mendoza (RHP), Todd
Walker (2B), Jeremy Giambi (OF), Ryan Rupe (RHP), David Ortiz
(DH), Kevin Millar (1B)
Goners: Cliff Floyd (OF), Ugueth Urbina (RHP), Brian
Daubach (1B), Rickey Henderson (OF), Rey Sanchez (2B-SS),
Rolando Arrojo (RHP), Dustin Hermanson (RHP), Tony Clark (1B)
Upside: Pedro Martinez, Derek Lowe and Tim Wakefield were
the AL’s top three starting pitchers who did not win the Cy
Young. Unfortunately for the Sox, at least one (Lowe the
overachiever) can be expected to do worse, maybe two
(Wakefield), possibly even all three (yes, even Pedro, who is
not durable).
Downside: Weak defense will continue to make the
pitcher’s job tougher. Assuming that Shea Hillenbrand is traded
or benched, their best defensive infielder will be Bill Mueller
at third base. Usually, it’s helpful for your best defensive
players to be in the middle, but No-mahh Garciaparra is far and
away the weakest defensively of the great Holy Trinity plus One
of shortstops.
Bottom Line: The Red Sox play in a large and wealthy
media market, They have a fiercely devoted fan base. They now
have the final two ingredients they have missed since Harry
Frazee allegedly financed “No No Nanette” with a player sale:
(1) intelligent and able ownership, courtesy of John Henry, and
(2) an environment attractive to players of all races. All the
pieces are in place. The Red Sox will win at least one World
Series before the decade is over. The decade is not ending in
2003, however.
2002 record: 93-69, 2nd place (again)
2003 prediction: 87-75, 2nd place (again) |
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3.
TORONTO BLUE JAYS |
 Hot
B-Jay: Kelvim Escobar. Needs to stop blowing so many save
opportunities if we are to keep seeing his bubble butt, and long
muscled legs, closing games at SkyDome.
Newbies: Frank Catalanotto (OF), Cory Lidle (RHP), Mike
Bordick (SS), Jeff Tam (RHP), Tanyon Sturtze (RHP)
Goners: Chris Carpenter (RHP), Jose Cruz, Jr. (OF),
Felipe Lopez (SS), Mike Sirotka (LHP), Esteban Loaiza (RHP)
Upside: The B-Jays will field more high quality players
age 25 or younger than the rest of the AL East put together,
building a core with CF Vernon Wells (age 24), 3B Eric Hinske
(25), DH Josh Phelps (24), and 2B Orlando Hudson (25). Manager
Carlos Tosca describes his primary role as “teacher,” and that
is the right approach for this young team. GM J.P. Ricciardi is
the best of the Billy Beane proteges now being scattered
throughout major league front offices. If he and Toronto can
afford to keep this team together in the face of declining
attendance and the worthlessness of the Canadian dollar, the
future is bright.
Downside: The B-Jays will field more high quality players
age 25 or younger than the rest of the AL East put together.
Young players take time to learn the game and progress is not
always linear. And the veterans they brought in to smoothen the
transition bring some baggage. New RF Frank Catalanotto, to name
one, has yet to show he has the durability to play a full
season.
Bottom Line: Following a young baseball teams can be a
frustrating. Look for this team to gyrate wildly between
breath-taking brilliance and mind-numbing incompetence.
2002 record: 78-84, 3rd place (again)
2003 prediction: 78-84, 3rd place (again). |
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4.
BALTIMORE ORIOLES |
 Hot
O: Jay Gibbons. Is he hot enough? Randolph Duke would give
the O’s outfielder a 9.9 for the body, but only a 7.0 for the
face. Overall sex appeal? 8.9.
Newbies: Kerry Ligtenberg (RHP), Deivi Cruz (SS), Omar
Daal (LHP), Rick Helling (RHP), B.J. Surhoff (OF)
Goners: Mike Bordick (SS), Chris Singleton (OF)
Upside: The O’s actually have some quality young players.
How’d that happen? Jorge Julio emerged as one of the AL’s top
closers in his first full season in the bigs. His save total was
kept artificially low because the Birds basically stopped
winning on Aug. 23. Rodrigo Lopez finished number two in the
race for AL Rookie of the Year and will be the number one
starter. Jay Gibbons, of the hot muscle bod, is emerging as an
offensive powerhouse.
Downside: Death in training camp. Like the Vikings in
2001, and the Padres last year with Mike Darr, a training camp
death sucks the air out of team’s collective lungs. Not to be
insensitive, but the ephedra-related death of pitcher Steve
Bechler has had a predictable, depressing effect on the O’s
spring training. It will take awhile for the team to recover
emotionally.
Bottom Line: The luster is off Camden Yards. Everyone now
has a nouveau-retro ballyard. Pac Bell, not the House That Cal
Built, is now the consensus choice for baseball’s best. Peter
Angelos continues to alienate and destroy the O’s Washington fan
base with his campaign to stop the Expos
relocation to Washington or Northern Virginia. Worst of all,
over the last five years, the team has stunk. The O’s will be
marginally less stinky this year. It will take more than that
for Camden Yards to be, once again, the place to be.
2002 record: 67-95, 4th place (again)
2003 prediction: 76-86, 4th place (again) |
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5.
TAMPA BAY DEVIL RAYS |
 Hot
D-Ray: Joe Kennedy. The only D-Rays pitcher you can watch
without both hands over your eyes.
Newbies: Lou Piniella, Rey Ordonez (SS), Marlon Anderson
(2B), Travis Lee (1B), Blake Stein (RHP), Jim Parque (LHP)
Goners: Randy Winn (OF), Russ Johnson (3B), Esteban Yan (RHP),
Ryan Rupe (RHP), Tanyon Sturtze (RHP), Wilson Alvarez (LHP)
Upside: New manager Lou Piniella is good enough at his
job that he will push this overmatched, under-talented team over
the magic number of 63 victories. Yup. Things are so bad in
Tampa/St. Pete, that Piniella will be hailed as a godsend if he
can keep the losses to less than triple digits.
Downside: The Devil Rays took a giant leap backward last
year. And they were fairly stinky before that, too. They traded
their best position player (Randy Winn) in their franchise’s
existence. They got a manager. They gave up on promising young
pitching staff. They spent the offseason collecting rejected
leftover parts from the NL East, inexplicably taking on Rey
Ordonez (Mets), Marlon Anderson (Phils) and Travis Lee (Phils,
but they deny Lee ever was on their roster). No expansion team
in baseball history, except for the 1969-73 Padres, made so
little progress in their first five seasons.
Bottom Line: Since 1998, the year that the T-Bay D-Rays
came into existence, the five teams of the AL East have finished
in precisely the same order. Yankees first, Red Sox second, Blue
Jays third, O’s fourth and the D-Rays dead last. Year after year
after year. In Year 6 of the St. Petersburg baseball experiment,
the only possible deviation from this intractable pattern is a
possible flip-flop between Toronto and Baltimore in the
three/four slots. And even that is unlikely. The Yankees and the
Red Sox are locks to finish one-two. The Devil Rays are an
absolute lock for a sixth straight last place finish.
2002 record: 55-106, last place (again)
2003 prediction: 64-98, last place (again) |
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