Baseball

Related: 2004 season overview

By Charlie in the Trees
For Outsports

AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST
 

1. 1. NEW YORK YANKEES

Hot Yank: Javier Vazquez. Isn’t it ironic that a player best known for repeatedly grabbing at his package now is a “yank”? Newbies: Alex Rodriguez (SS-3B), Gary Sheffield (OF), Javier Vazquez (RHP), Kevin Brown (RHP), Kenny Lofton (OF), Tyler Houston (UTIL), Miguel Cairo (2B), Flash Gordon (RHP), Paul Quantrill (RHP), Tony Clark (1B) Goners: Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, David Wells, Alfonso Soriano, Nick Johnson, Jeff Weaver, David Dellucci, Jeff Nelson, Drew Henson, Aaron Boone, lots of Jason Giambi’s muscle Upside: The Yankees filled their biggest holes. The shallow bullpen was dredged deeper by adding Paul Quantrill and Flash Gordon (if he can stay healthy). Right field, once patrolled by platoon, now belongs to Gary Sheffield (if he can get healthy). And third base was beefed up by adding the best player in the game, Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod’s acquisition was especially delicious for Yankee fans. Not only did they get the game’s best player, they denied the Red Sox. A two-fer. Downside: Health. Instability. Age. Muscle loss. The question marks are starting to pile up as the dynasty’s decline accelerates. Biggest problem spot? Second base. Unless they go out and get Jose Vidro, which is always a possibility in Steinbrenner country. Bottom Line: The Yankees looked like they aged 15 years in the six-game series against the Marlins. Their old core did not have the stamina to go three rounds in the playoffs. They showed no patience at the plate, inexplicably letting a lightly-rested Josh Beckett end innings on single-digit pitch counts. In short, they did not look like the Yankees. Yankee success is measured only in the post-season. Will the A-Rod acquisition get them another title? A-Rod’s great, but he won’t put spring back into Bernie Williams’s legs or rubber into Mariano Rivera’s arm. A divisional pennant and a perhaps a playoff round. That might be all. 2003 record: 101-61, 1st place, AL champions 2004 prediction: 91-71, 1st place

2. TORONTO BLUE JAYS

Hot BJ: Carlos Delgado. The Man was back big time in ’03. Just in time for a contract drive in ’04. Newbies: Ted Lilly (LHP), Miguel Batista (RHP) Goners: Mike Bordick, Kelvim Escobar, Bobby Kielty, Cory Lidle, Tom Wilson Upside: The offense established itself as one of the game’s best. No one performed over and above his capabilities. Centerfielder Vernon Wells’s career best numbers were merely the expected improvement of a young player. Others, such as third baseman Eric Hinske, still can get better. Or, as they say, he has “upside.” Even Cy Young winning Roy Halladay did not dramatically deviate from his established career norms. With their offense set, the B-Jays improved their pitching by acquiring Ted Lilly and Miguel Batista as solid, mid-rotation arms. Downside: That new bird-head logo sucks. Bottom Line: Each year, slowly but surely, the Blue Jays have shown incremental improvement. Have they improved enough, or have the Yanks and Sox deteriorated sufficiently, for the AL East pennant to return north of the border? For six straight seasons, ever since baseball moved to the current six-division set up, the five teams of the AL East have finished precisely in the same order: Yankees first, Red Sox second, Blue Jays third, Orioles fourth, and last and least, the Devil Rays. This year, the Blue Jays are a good bet to break the tradition and work their way past at least one mega-market team into second. Or points north. 2003 record: 86-76, 3rd place 2004 prediction: 91-71, 2nd place, wild card

3. BOSTON RED SOX

Red-Hot Sock: Jason Varitek. By no means conventionally handsome, but he played with extraordinary cool and uncommon intelligence last post-season. Newbies: Curt Schilling (RHP), Keith Foulke (RHP), Pokey Reese (2B), Brian Daubach (1B), Mark Bellhorn (UTIL), Tony Womack (3B, Ellis Burks (DH), Terry Francona (manager) Goners: Todd Walker, Jeff Suppan, Casey Fossum, Lou Merloni Upside: Last year, the Red Sox had the greatest offense in baseball history. Of course, the Boston media lauded Boy Wunduh Theo Epstein for his off-season acquisitions, kinda-sorta forgetting that perhaps the manager had something to do with constructing such a powerhouse batting order. Downside: Who am I to judge, but what’s up with that “unfrozen caveman” look Johnny Damon is sporting? Makes him look a little Taliban, don’t you think? Bottom Line:This will be ironic for one of the most sabermetrically-driven organizations in baseball, but the Red Sox will be done in this year by Bad Karma. Mishandling Nomar in their failed attempted at landing A-Rod is one part of it (let’s hope his locker is on the other side of the room from buffoonish and boorish Kevin Millar). Firing Grady Little is the other. Little stuck with his horse in a critical playoff game, a Hall of Famer once derided by Boston “fans” as soft in big games. The same fans who jeered keeping Pedro in, and who demanded that Grady Little trust the game to Alan Effing Embree, are the same ones who still call Roger Clemens a quitter for leaving Game Six in 1986. Grady’s firing proved that for all the lip service given charts and statistics, this team is still driven by an inordinate fear of the Boston media. Sox fans think a trained monkey can pencil in a powerhouse offensive machine playing the likes of Bill Mueller, Kevin Millar and David Ortiz. Well, they got their wish. Philadelphia failure Terry Francona was hired to run the show because he was weak, meek and would let the sabermetric charts dictate managerial thinking (to the extent the Sox brain trust thinks field managers should think at all). Expect the Sox to be hellishly frustrating this year. Never bad. But never making a move to win it either. 2003 record: 95-67, 2nd place, ALCS loss 2004 prediction: 82-80, 3rd place

4. BALTIMORE ORIOLES

Hot O: Javy Lopez.. It’s not quite a “worst-to-first” move, but signing J-Lo and Miggie clearly moved the O’s out of the basement in total team hotness. Newbies: Miguel Tejada (SS), Javy Lopez (C), Sidney Ponson (RHP), Mike DeJean (RHP), Rafael Palmeiro (viagra), Mark McLemore (UTIL), Lee Mazzilli (manager) Goners: Scott Erickson, Brook Fordyce, Tony Batista, Deivi Cruz Upside: The O’s are following the same (successful) model for franchise building as are the Phillies. After the young talent is in place (Larry Bigbie, Brian Roberts, Luis Matos, Jorge Julio), they have brought in quality free agents to fill the gaps. While the young talent in Charm City is not quite as good as they have in the land of Brotherly Love. The O’s bettered Philly in one department. After serving as first base coach for the Yankees, new manager Lee Mazzilli fits the profile for managerial success: a long career extended by more than simple athletic talent, combined with managerial training at the foot (or first base) of a master. Downside: Too many players coming off career years? Free agent Javy Lopez’s all-world 2003 stopped a cataractous three-year decline. Melvin Mora (whose slugging percentage was nearly 100 points higher than his previous best season) cannot be expected to repeat his All-Star numbers, especially given that he will be challenged with learning a new position. Bottom Line: Welcome back to the Big Spenders Club, Mr. Angelos. At least your big bucks on Miguel Tejada will not be wasted. Tejada is a regular-season superstar who turns into a pumpkin-headed idiot come post-season. Need proof? How about Miggie coming to a sudden stop between third and home in Game Three of Oakland’s divisional series against Boston? It was so more important to argue an iffy interference call than it was to score what would have been the series-winning run. No chance for post-season failure playing for a team safely cemented into fourth place for a seventh straight season. 2003 record: 71-91, 4th place 2004 prediction: 81-81, 4th place

5. TAMPA BAY DEVIL RAYS

Hot Devil: Carl Crawford. Young cutie outfielder poised to step up and become the team’s “someone from Tampa’s gotta be an All-Star” guy. Newbies: Tino Martinez (1B), Jose Cruz Jr. (OF), Deivi Cruz (SS), Robert Fick (1B), Danys Baez (RHP), Damian Moss (LHP), Fernando Tatis (3B), Geoff Blum (3B), Mitch Meluskey (C), John Halama (LHP), Brook Fordyce (C), Fred McGriff (1B) Goners: Travis Lee, Ben Grieve, Joe Kennedy, Rey Ordonez Upside: T-Bay’s D-Rays are trying to be competitive – well, trying to avoid being embarrassingly bad – by promoting young talent and signing veteran placeholders to fill the gaps. The plan experienced a major setback when unlimited-ceiling outfield prospect Josh Hamilton was suspended for one year for substance abuse violations. After missing last season for unspecified depression-related personal problems, Hamilton’s on track to be the new Darryl Strawberry, except he would be missing the productive years prior to personal demons destroying his career. Downside: What’s the worst thing about the 2004 D-Rays? Pitching? Nope. It may atrocious, but the infield is even more frightening. The remnants of Tino Martinez will fight for playing time at first with unsporting Robert Fick, who was run out of Atlanta because of his dirty play. And it’s even worse at the other infield positions. Bottom Line: Lou Piniella did a Hall of Fame-worthy job with last year’s D-Rays as he kept the loss total in double digit. More magic from Sweet Lou as the Rays achieve that goal once again. Unfortunately, Tampa is on track for another 90-plus losses and a seventh last place finish in seven years. 2003 record: 63-99, last place 2004 prediction: 65-97, last place