American League East

* – indicates new to team

+ – indicates injury

1. New York Yankees

A stacked lineup with a legitimate ace in Gerrit Cole and a deep bullpen has them atop the contender list in the American League.

2. Tampa Bay Rays

Their pitching depth is almost unmatched in baseball. They’ll need to score plenty of runs though in a stacked league.

3. Toronto Blue Jays

The youth movement could surprise a lot of folks in a 60-game sprint to the finish.

4. Boston Red Sox

Fortunately for them they have the Baltimore Orioles to keep them out of the cellar this year.

5. Baltimore Orioles

A 60-game season could work to their advantage, but that won’t make them contenders with more playoff spots available.

Player to Watch: SS Gleyber Torres – New York Yankees

Best Acquisition: P Gerrit Cole – New York Yankees

New Kids on the Block: Toronto Trio; SS Bo Bichette, 2B Cavan Biggio, 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Continue reading →

2019 MLB All-Star Teams

For the 90th year of the Midsummer Classic, baseball turns its sights to Progressive Field (formerly Jacobs Field or “The Jake”) in Cleveland, Ohio. The last time the mid-summer classic was played in Cleveland was in 1997. Now every year there is always a lot of discussion and some of it a little dated about how the teams are put together. No system will ever be perfect. Fans don’t always get it right and managers won’t either, nor the commissioner’s office. The fact that the players are able to vote for participants was a great choice and they know who is deserving. Regardless of who should or shouldn’t be in the game lets just accept that the best players will always be involved one way or another. Here are my all-stars keeping with the rules that every team be represented and a total of 32 players for each league.

AVG – Batting Average

ERA – Earned Run Average

HR – Home Runs

RBI – Runs Batted In

SV – Saves

BAA – Batting Average Against

WHIP – Walks/Hits Per Innings Pitched

K – Strikeouts

Stats are accurate as of July 5

* – asterisk indicates starter Continue reading →

American League East

* – indicates new to team

+ – indicates injury

1. New York Yankees

Armed with the deepest bullpen in baseball, they’ll look to unseat the defending champion Red Sox.

2. Boston Red Sox

Not having an established closer could put a damper on any talk of repeating as World Series champions.

3. Tampa Bay Rays

Their pitching depth knows no bounds, but they essentially hit the reset button on their lineup.

4. Toronto Blue Jays

The rebuild north of the border is in full swing. Lots of intriguing prospects will be making their debuts shortly.

5. Baltimore Orioles

A repeat of last years 115-loss season is all they have to look forward to.

Player to Watch: OF Mookie Betts – Boston Red Sox

Best Acquisition: P Charlie Morton – Tampa Bay Rays

New Kid on the Block: 3B Vladimir Guerrero Jr. – Toronto Blue Jays Continue reading →

2018 MLB Trade Deadline Review

As with past deadline deals these will be highly scrutinized for many years. Instantly we see and decide who got the better end of the deal, but we really won’t know until at least two or three seasons down the road. The only way to know in real time is if the team getting the established major leaguer goes on to win a World Series. Time will tell if that happens this year with the flurry of names (a few marquee ones) being dealt this July. Continue reading →

2018 MLB All-Star Teams

For the 88th year of the Midsummer Classic, baseball turns its sights to Nationals Park in Washington D.C. This will be the first MLB All-Star game played at Nationals Park and the first in the nation’s capital since 1969 at RFK Stadium, the home of the then Washington Senators. Now every year there is always a lot of discussion and some of it a little dated about how the teams are put together. No system will ever be perfect. Fans don’t always get it right and managers won’t either. The fact that the players are able to vote for participants was a great choice and they know who is deserving. Regardless of who should or shouldn’t be in the game lets just accept that the best players will always be involved one way or another. Here are my all-stars keeping with the rules that every team be represented and a total of 32 players for each league.