Baseball

By Sean Holihan
For Outsports.com

NATIONAL LEAGUE CENTRAL
 

1. ST. LOUIS CARDINALS

One hot card:  Albert Pujos.  Have you seen those weird Nike mask commercials?  They have Pujos, Torii Hunter, Mariano Rivera and football stars Brian Urlacher, Ben Roethlisberger and LaDainian Tomlinson all putting on their shirts and doing various things like swinging a bat or throwing a ball in what looks like an interrogation room in Syria.  After a second or two, these scary masks start to appear on their faces.  I’m not really sure what the masks from that movie "13 Ghosts" has to do with sports, but that first part, the shirt-putting-on part, that’s nice.  New Arrivals:  LHP Mark Mulder, SS David Eckstein, 2B Mark Grudzielanek, LHP Mike Myers  Departures:  SS Edgar Renteria, RHP Woody Williams, C Mike Matheny, 2B Tony Womack, LHP Steve Kline, RHP Danny Haren, RHP Kiko Calero Upside:  Did you not see the papers this offseason?  The addition of Mark Mulder could very well put this team over the top.  Not that they really needed any help.  These guys didn’t have a stud ace to hand the ball to in Game 1 of the World Series last year.  Now they do.  Instead on relying upon aging Woody Williams or struggling Matt Morris, they can hand the ball to a guy who is always up for the Cy Young award.    Downside:  With the loss of Renteria and Matheny, the club’s defense takes a hit.  David Eckstein, a free agent pickup from the Angels, comes in to fill Renteria’s spot at short.  However, while Eckstein has all the heart and grit in the world, he doesn’t have the skills to fill Renteria’s void in the field or at the plate.  Yadier Molina has been brought up to take over where Matheny left off.  Good luck.  Matheny has been widely regarded as the best defensive catcher and game caller in the bigs.  Molina has all of 135 at-bats on his resume.  Bottom Line: It seems to be a popular thing to pick against the Cardinals.  I am not one of those people.  With Mulder leading this rotation and having Larry Walker for a full year, these guys are going to the playoffs.  Expect to see at least one of the two teams back from last year's Cards-Red Sox World Series.  2004 record:  105-57, 1st 2005 prediction:  106-56

2. HOUSTON ASTROS

Favorite star o’mine:  Craig Biggio.  How can you not like this future Hall of Famer?  He’s 39 and he still looks like a rookie.  Not to mention he was born where I was, in the town of Smithtown, NY. New Arrivals:  LHP John Franco and C Humberto Quintero     Departures:  CF Carlos Beltran, 2B Jeff Kent, RHP Tim Redding, RHP Dan Miceli, RHP Wade Miller, LHP Darren Oliver   Upside:  If Andy Pettitte is as healthy as he’s looked in spring training, this rotation will have three aces leading the way to contention.  Their closer, Brad Lidge, seemingly came out of nowhere to pitch like the league’s best closer last year. Downside:  With Beltran gone from centerfield and Lance Berkman out for a month or so coming back from knee surgery, this outfield has a whole new look.  Biggio will likely come in and play his old position at second.  That leaves a bunch of young untested players and a journeyman to fill in.  Take your pick between Luke Scott, Orlando Palmeiro, Willy Taveras, Jason Lane and Chris Burke.  All of have been rumored to take over slots in the outfield.  None have the capabilities of Beltran or Berkman.  Bottom Line:  Their offense has taken a hit, but their pitching is just amazing.  Any team in this league would kill to have Roger Clemens, Roy Oswalt, and Pettitte on their payroll.  As long as Pettitte is healthy, Houston won’t have to worry about losing those big bats.    2004 record:  92-70, 2nd 2005 prediction:  90-72, 2nd

3. CHICAGO CUBS

Because it fits:  Kerry Wood.  I wanted to pick Nomar Garciaparra, but Wood just looks like a cub, doesn’t he?  New Arrivals:  RF Jeromy Burnitz, C Henry Blanco, OF/INF Jerry Hairston Jr., LF Todd Hollandsworth, SS Neifi Perez, RHP Scott Williamson  Departures:  RF Sammy Sosa, LF Moises Alou, C Paul Bako, RHP Kyle Farnsworth, OF Tom Goodwin, OF Ben Grieve, 2B Mark Grudzielanek, INF Ramon Martinez, LHP Kent Merker   Upside:  If Wood and Mark Prior are both healthy, this division looks a lot different.  Those two, coupled up with Carlos Zambrano and Greg Maddux, would make up the league’s best rotation.  A yearlong stint from Nomar Garciaparra wouldn’t hurt either.  He signed a one year contract in hopes of big money this coming offseason, so expect him to play his butt off.   Downside:  Outfielders Alou and Sosa are gone.  That’s a combined 74 home runs that the Cubs will be without this year.  Jeromy Burnitz comes into the outfield as the only real slugger with 37 home runs himself.  Yet those numbers came while playing at Coors Field.  Only 13 of those homers came from on the road, where he batted .244.  Their bullpen is a mess.  Last year their closer, Joe Borowski, had a partially torn rotator cuff that shut him down in June.  This pushed setup man LaTroy Hawkins into the closers role.  Hawkins only proved that he’s better as a setup man.  Borowski has just gotten hurt again when a line drive off of his arm caused a fracture that’ll put him out for six weeks.  So now the Cubs are scrambling for a closer.  Hawkins seems like the most likely to get it.       Bottom Line:  This team pushed itself to contend last year without Prior and Wood.  They can’t do that again this year, not without Alou and Sosa.  Nomar, third baseman Aramis Ramirez and first baseman Derrek Lee have to play like superstars this year even if Wood and Prior can both start 30 games.  If everything goes right, this team can win the World Series.  Unfortunately, that’s what we say about every team isn’t it?    2004 record:  89-73, 3rd 2005 prediction:  86-76, 3rd

4. CINCINNATI REDS

What the hell is a “red” anyway?  Ken Griffey Jr.  I’ve always liked this guy.  Plus, I’ve always rooted for the underdog.  So this works out for me in both ways.  I would love to see Griffey playing healthy again.  New Arrivals:  LHP Eric Milton, RHP Ramon Ortiz, 3B Joe Randa, RHP David Weathers, RHP Ben Weber  Departures:  SS Barry Larkin, INF Juan Castro, LHP Gabe White, RHP Todd Van Poppel, RHP John Riedling, LHP Phil Norton  Upside:  The Reds decided that their rotation needed a little bit of help and picked up previous 15 game winners Milton and Ortiz.  This now gives them a workable rotation with righties Milton and Aaron Harang filling the other two sports.  Their outfield is filled with total mashers.  Each one of these guys could hit 50 home runs.  Adam Dunn, Griffey and Austin Kearns make up the most dangerous outfield in baseball.  Closer Danny Graves can be counted on for 30-40 saves.  Downside:  If only they could stay healthy.  Last year, their fourth outfielder, Wily Mo Pena, hit 26 home runs in 110 games.  He’s the odd man out.  Why didn’t they trade Pena for a good starting pitcher or bullpen help?  Because Kearns or Griffey could get bitten by the injury bug at any time.  Who knows what they’re going to settle on for a fifth pitcher.  Brandon Claussen seems to have the spot locked up even though he went 2-8, with a 6,14 ERA.  Last year they had problems with their bullpen because of their pitchers not making it deep into games.  The Reds tried to address this problem by picking up Weathers and Weber this offseason.  Although both had sub-par years.    Bottom Line:  Cincinnati started to address some of its problems this offseason:  health, starting pitching, bullpen, depth, etc.  They have a rotation that they can rest easy with on opening day.  However, even at full health, this club can’t contend with the Cardinals, Astros and Cubs.    2004 record:  76-86, 4th 2005 prediction:  80-82, 4th

5. PITTSBURGH PIRATES

Favorite 18th Century sex symbol:  Oliver Perez.  This kid is a straight up stud.  Uhm, pitching wise I mean.    New Arrivals:  RF Matt Lawton, LHP Mark Redman, C Benito Santiago, RHP Rick White  Departures:  C Jason Kendall, OF J.J. Davis, RHP Brian Boehringer  Upside:  Last year was pretty good for the Pirates with leftfielder Jason Bay winning Rookie of the Year and Oliver Perez really coming into his own.  The rotation has a lot of potential in Kip Wells, Josh Fogg and Redman.  Many scouts have had glowing reports on all three.  Jose Mesa, who collected 43 saves last year, was brought back to again be the closer.   Downside:  Yes, the rotation has a lot of potential, but they haven’t lived up to it yet.  What’s worse, they haven’t shown any signs of reaching it either.  Jose Mesa is regarded around the league as a time bomb.  How many other pitchers with more than 40 saves could only land a contract with Pittsburgh for 2.5 million?  Bottom Line:  Pittsburgh just needs their young pitching to develop and sign a couple of swingers.  They’ve traded away some great players over the years like Kendall, Brian Giles, Aramis Ramirez and Kris Benson.  What needs to happen now is for those trades to pay off.  The Pirates are still one or two years away from contending in this division.   2004 record:  72-89, 5th 2005 prediction:  77-85, 5th

6. MILWAUKEE BREWERS

The only reason to go to Milwaukee:  Geoff Jenkins.  The guy looks like Brett Favre!  How could you not want this guy?  New Arrivals:  LF Carlos Lee, C Damian Miller, RHP Ricky Bottalico, RHP Jose Capellan, OF Nelson Cruz   Departures:  RHP Dan Kolb, RHP Luis Vizcaino, CF Scott Podsednik, SS Craig Counsell, C Gary Bennet  Upside:  With Jenkins, first baseman Lyle Overbay and Carlos Lee the Brewers have three hitters capable of putting up big numbers for the first time since Jenkins, Jeromy Burnitz and Richie Sexson were playing together.  Ben Sheets is a legitimate Cy Young candidate.  Last year his record was a pedestrian 12-14 but he was second in the league in strikeouts with 264 and his ERA was good for third in the NL with a 2.70.  Downside:  After Sheets, there are some serious questions to be asked.  The third starter,  Victor Santos, won 11 games last year but sported a 4.97 ERA.  Chris Capuano is slated to be the fourth starter but he has less than 200 innings under his belt in the majors.  The last spot is going to either Gary Glover or Wes Obermueller.  Those two are not going to win any awards this year.  By letting their closer, Danny Kolb, walk this year they’ve created another question mark on the team.  Bottom line:  Another case of ifs.  Everything really has to pull together for this team to reach .500 this year.  This division is just too tough for a struggling team to make it.  Perhaps they should think about moving back to the AL?  2004 record:  67-94, 6th 2005 prediction:  70-92, 6th