American League East – Season Preview – Toronto Blue Jays

This is the final team preview of MMB’s American League East and it will feature the Toronto Blue Jays. For the other previews already completed check out these: Orioles, Red Sox, Yankees, and Rays. The final post in this series which is forthcoming in the next couple of days will rank the ALE and make some predictions over how we are likely to see the ALE play out in 2014.

Toronto Blue Jays – 2013 Stat Line: Record 75-87 / Pyth 75-87 / RS 688 / RA 744

Major Acquisitions:

A.J. Burnett – Signed a 3-year contract worth a total of $23,000,000

Edwin Jackson –Signed a 3-year contract worth a total of $10,500,00

Major Departures:

Josh Johnson

At the outset of the 2013 season the Jays were picked by many analysts to not only win the ALE, but contend for the World Series. Given the lofty expectations, the Jays 75-87 record which was good for a 4th place finish in the ALE was nothing short of a disaster for the Jays who traded a number of top prospects to put what they thought was a competitive team on the field in 2013.

The 2013 edition of the Jays were supposed to have a great starting rotation fronted by RA Dickey and Josh Johnson. Indeed, Dickey and Johnson were great for the Jays as they posted  3.08 and 3.83 ERA’s respectively. The problem for the Blue Jays was the giant black hole they had behind them. Of the remaining pitchers who started 10 or more games for the Jays only Brett Cecil posted an ERA under 5 with an ERA of 4.2. The combination of Esmil Rogers (7.07), Ricky Romero (5.21), and JA Happ (5.35) were nothing short of awful the Jays. The Jays bullpen in 2014 was not much better, behind Casey Janssen and Sergio Santos the pen left much to be desired. Over the offseason, the Jays lost Josh Johnson but signed AJ Burnett and Edwin Jackson. These moves gives the Jays more depth but neither Burnett or Jackson are likely to be as good as Johnson was so these moves are unlikely to dramatically improve the Jays pitching numbers in 2014.

On the offensive side, the Jays were good at one thing in 2013 hitting home runs. The Jays hit the third most home runs in the AL in 2013 (177), but only managed to finish 11th in runs scored (688). The Jays biggest problem was that there was no one on base for all their home runs. The teams OBP was 14th in the AL at .309, well below the league average and far below the league leaders. The Jays have some great hitters on their team in Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, and Jose Reyes, but behind these elite hitters, the Jays have a lot of average to below average hitters in their lineup who are not good at getting on base. Perhaps if their new leadoff hitter, prospect Anothony Gose can really get going and get on base at a high clip the Jays the Jays will be able to score more runs in 2014 but given the lack of any offensive upgrades for the Jays it is hard to see them turning around their fortunes enough to be a contender.

In 2013 the Jays were picked to contend for the world series but instead finished 4th in the division. The Jays were certainly a little unlucky in 2013 with some poor performances from key players who can be expected to rebound in 2014, but at a general level the Jays were a sub .500 team and played like a sub .500 team. They performed exactly as their Pythagorean expectation predicted. The Jays have a line-up that boosts a number of perennial all-stars, however, many of these players are surrounded by subpar players and the result in 2014, just like it was in 2013 is a team that on the whole simply does no have enough talent to compete in the difficult ALE. In any other division the Jays might be considered a contender, but in the ALE, it is hard to see them improving enough to be in it come September.

American League East – Season Preview – Tampa Bay Rays

In the last part of this six part series previewing the American League East we previewed the New York Yankees. Today we preview the Tampa Bay Rays. For previous posts in this see these links: Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles.

Tampa Bay Rays – 2013 Stat Line: Record 89-73 / Pyth 86-76 / RS 708 / RA 662

Major Acquisitions:

(1B) Kendrys Morales – Signed a 4-year contract worth a total of $41,880,000

(C) Matt McBride – Acquired from Colorado Rockies

(MR) Grant Balfour – Signed a 3-year contract worth a total of $15,000,000

(MR) Wilton Lopez – Acquired from Colorado Rockies

(MR) Kyle McPherson – Rule 5 draft selection

(OF) Chris Heisey – Signed a 1-year deal worth a total of $1,300,000

Major Departures:

(SP/MR) Alex Cobb

(OF) Desmond Jennings

(1B) Carlos Lee

In 2013 the Rays finished 2nd in the ALE, three games behind the Yankees. Their 89-73 record was good enough to win the first wild card spot leading to a 1-game playoff against the Cleveland Indians which the Rays won. The Rays dropped their ALDS series to the Detroit Tigers 3-2 after going up 2-0 in the series. The loss of the ALDS was due in large part to blow ups from their bullpen who managed to blow two leads in the series. Undoubtedly that is one of the reasons the front office elected to spend their off season resources overhauling the bullpen. The Rays achieved their record by a combination of outstanding run prevention (4th) and average offense (7th). Given the moves the Rays made this off season there is reason to believe they should be able to repeat these numbers from last year if not improve upon them.

On the offensive front, the Rays are returning most of the same players to the fold with a couple of notable exceptions. The Rays 2013 trade deadline acquisition Carlos Lee is not returning as after being acquired from the Astros he failed to do much for the Rays. Lee’s role as a DH/1B is being replaced by the Rays biggest free agent singing Kendrys Morales who should add more power to the Rays lineup. Also new to the 2014 edition of the team is catcher Matt McBride who was acquired from the Colorado Rockies in a 4-player trade. McBride should offer improved offense from the catcher position. Last year the Rays catcher tandem of Jose Molina and Jose Lobaton who were far below league average offensively and given that McBride projects to be an above average hitter, this should be an area of improvement for the Rays. While not new to the Rays, getting a full season of production from rookie phenom Wil Myers will certainly see the Rays overall offensive numbers improve. Myers was not called up last year till June to avoid the super-2 deadline and he was injured towards the end of the season. It will be interesting to see how he produces with a full-season of at bats.

On the pitching side, the Rays are expected to start 2014 with the same starting rotation they ended 2013 with. Given that this rotation was one of the best in the American League, this is certainly positive news for the Rays. The front end of the Rays rotation features David Price, Matt Moore, and Jeremy Hellickson who can go head to head with nearly any other top three starters in the league. The back end of the Rays rotation leaves something to be desired in Roberto Hernandez and Jeff Niemann. Both starters posted solid sub-4 ERA’s last season, but given their stuff and peripherals it is hard to imagine that can put up similar numbers this year. That being said, the Rays appear to have three young starters waiting in the wings in AAA who are near major-league ready who could fill in case of injury or non-performance in Chris Archer, Alex Colome, and Jake Odorizzi. The Rays also spent the off season completing an overhaul of their bullpen signing Grant Balfour and acquiring Wilton Lopez and Kyle McPherson via trade and the rule-5 draft respectively. Given that the Rays pen ranked in the bottom half of the American League last year, this improved bullpen should help keep the Rays in close games and allow them improve upon their run prevention.

When looked at as a whole, nothing about the Rays is very flashy, but the Rays brand of baseball that features strong pitching and defense combined with slightly above average offense should make them a contender in the tough American League East. As a small market team, the Rays margin for error is fairly small. A couple of key injuries could quickly derail the Rays season, but if they remain healthy they are likely to be competitive down the stretch and might even be a better team than they were last year.

Editors note: As most of you know, the Rays are my team in MMB, so there is a good chance I my bias is showing in this post. If you notice an error or simply disagree with me, post in the comments below! I am curious to hear what you think about this series!

April Week 1 Power Rankings

DISCLAIMER: What follows are of my own opinions alone, and should not be interpreted as any league official declaration. The inclusion or omission of any team/players is not meant to offend any GM. Thank you!

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Still way too early to be doing this, but with 1 week in the books, why not? These rankings are just how I personally see the league and the teams that play in it. They are meant to be fluid – taking into account the past week’s play, as well as continued future outlook.

1: St. Louis Cardinals (4-2, 1st): The Cards promised to impress the league with their starting pitching showcase this 1st week, and that they did. With the exception of Max Scherzer, all 5 other starts in the Card’s first 6 games have been quality starts turned in by their starters. They took 2 of 3 from the 1-5 Reds, and will be set up with each other for another 3 game series this week.

2: Los Angeles Dodgers (4-4, 3rd): After losing 2 of 3 in their home opener against the Giants (especially with last night’s crazy 10-13 fallout), the Dodgers will use their 2 offdays this week for a much needed rest and regroup. This is still one of the most star-studded team in the league, so a 4-4 start doesn’t mean much at all. This week, Dodgers will take on the Tigers at home, and then divisional darkhorse D-Backs on the road.

3: Atlanta Braves (5-1, 1st): Justin Upton’s 5 week injury diagnosis took some fun from what was a spectacular first week for the Braves – started with a Tyler Pastornicky 3 HR game on Opening Day. Combined, this potent Braves lineup is leading the NL with a .319 batting average, and tied for first with 14 Home Runs. Braves will open at home all week this week, welcoming divisional rivals Mets and Nats.

4: Los Angeles Angels (5-1, 1st): Thus far, Mike Trout is only hitting .125, but much of the slack has been picked up by Josh Hamilton – who’s hitting .435/ .500/ . 739. The Angels’ 1-2-3 punch of Weaver/Hanson/Wilson is one of the best in the league – and will be in for a tough test against the Mets’ staff next weekend.

5: Oakland Athletics (5-2, 2nd): With new GM Ryan Naylor at the helm, the A’s starting pitching staff is currently leading the AL with a 1.75 ERA in their first 7 games at home this week. On the road, the A’s will face the Mariners again next week (who they just took 3 of 4 from) and the Twins – who have lost 3 straight.

6: Detroit Tigers (4-2, t-1st): Their stellar pitching will undoubtedly pick up from the 7.85 starters ERA in the club’s first 6 games. So far, the Tigers lead the AL with a .315 batting average and .382 OBP. And this is with a no name middle infield of Danny Worth/Gustavo Nunez/ Tony Thomas. Playing both the Dodgers and Padres away this week, it will be interesting to see how this Tigers’ offense continue to thrive without DH Victor Martinez.

7: Baltimore Orioles (3-3, 3rd): Between Dylan Bundy’s 2 hit shutout of the Red Sox and Edison Volquez outpitching Justin Verlander this week, the O’s made believers out of many critics in this early going. On top of it all, Darin Ruf has been going bonkers in his last 3 games at the plate, and Ryan Dent is hitting as if he has always belong in the majors. They’ll play the Yankees and Blue Jays this week.

8: Cleveland Indians (4-2, t-1st): No one is exactly sure what Max is doing with an 80 pitch count 6 man rotation and 5 man bullpen, but so far for the last 4 games, everything has clicked.  This Indians lineup can hit with the best of them, although the club is still trying to find a fixed order that they can consistently send out. Playing 7 games with no rest this week, we will see how this Indians team continue to juggle their pitching priorities and let their bats do the talking.

9: New York Mets (4-2, 1st): Behind Tim Lincecum’s combined 16 IPs of 2 runs pitching performance this week, the Mets rotation currently lead all of NL with a 2.17 ERA. Concerns for the team’s offensive output aren’t unfounded, but when their starting pitching is this good, they’ll find ways to win, even against the very best opponents. They play 2 very hot teams this week, in the Braves and Angels.

10: Arizona Diamondbacks (7-2, 1st): No one counted on the D-Backs to be in the NL West conversation in the offseason, but for their first 9 games so far (more than any other team has played), the club has shown that it can definitely compete within their division. They’ll look to solidify their status some more this week, with yet again more games with intra-division rivals – 3 games at the Giants and then 3 vs the Dodgers.

 

Rays and Rangers Play 2 Games In 1

It’s anything goes in an 18 inning ballgame. Chewbacca couldn’t pull out the victory for the Rays on this night though.

Fans at the Tropicana on Sunday got plenty of baseball tonight, as the Tampa Bay Rays played for what seems to be 2 days and 2 nights before finally falling to the Texas Rangers in the 18th inning.

It’s been a trying series against the Rays, as like the game before, they just could not muster enough runs to support a great start from their SP. Matt Moore went 6.2 IPs with 11Ks, toe to toe with Yu Darvish on the other side, with 8 IPs and 7Ks. The Rangers tied the score at 1-1 in the 7th with a Nelson Cruz HR (that broke up Matt Moore’s no-hit bid). The game stayed tied at 1-1 all the way up to the 15th inning, when Kellin Deglan gave the Rangers the go-ahead run with a solo HR. As true to Rays baseball, Matt Joyce would answer the call with a solo shot of his own that would tie the game yet again at 2-2. A leadoff triple from Leonys Martin followed by a sac-fly would eventually seal the Rays’ fate in 18th.

The men who valiantly pitched in the 18-inning affair.

In a game where Ian Kinsler went 0-7 and Evan Longoria went 0-8, it was more impressive that both teams still had arm(s) left in their bullpen at game’s end. The Rays used 6 of 7 BP arms, whilst the Rangers bullpen played long relief and amazingly used only 4 of 8.

With both teams scheduled to start another series of games of their own tomorrow, these clubs will have to be creative with how they handle their pitching after tonight’s late inning, after-hours affair.

American League East – Season Preview – New York Yankees

This is part three of a six part series previewing the American League East. In the first two parts of this series we previewed the Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox. In this Part Three, we continue our alphabetical order preview by looking at the New York Yankees.

New York Yankees – 2013 Stat Line: Record 92-70 / Pyth 89-73 / RS 793 / RA 710

Major Acquisitions:

(SP) Horiuchi Hashimoto – Signed 5-year deal worth $87,950,000

(SP) Ricky Nolasco – Signed 2-year deal worth $36,580,000

(SP) CC Sabathia – Returning from injury after missing most of 2013

(MR) J.P. Howell – Signed 2-year deal worth $8,060,000

(OF) Carlos Beltran – acquired from Cardinals

(2B) Omar Infante – Signed 1-year deal worth $4,250,000

(2B) Jerry Hairston Jr. – signed 1-year deal worth $1,372,000

(3B) Ryan Wheeler – acquired from Rockies

Major Departures:

(2B) Robinson Cano

(3B) Alex Rodriguez

(3B) Kevin Youkilis

(OF) Travis Hafner

(OF) Brett Gardner

(MR) Joba Chamberlain

(SP) Phil Hughes

While the 2013 Yankees fell short of winning yet another world series by dropping their ALDS series to the LA Angels 3-1 the season has to be considered a success for the Yankees who won the ALE with a record of 92-70. Given their aging lineup and a key injury to CC Sabathia the Yankees surprised many analysts by finishing atop the division. They achieved this victory through a combination of outstanding offense and above average run prevention. Living up to their names, the 2013 Bronx Bombers scored 793 runs, which was only 2^nd to the high powered offense of the Detroit Tigers. They hit an American League leading 213 home runs which was 24 more than the second place Red Sox.

It will likely be difficult for the Yankees to produce similar offensive numbers in 2014 given that they have lost a combined total of 72 home runs this offseason in Cano (24), Hafner (20), Rodriguez (18), and Youkilis (10). While their home run leader Mark Teixeira (40) is returning this season it remains to be seen if he can continue to produce at that level given that he will be 34 this year. Despite a probable decline in home runs, the Yankees offense this year will still likely be above average with off season additions of Ryan Wheeler, Carlos Beltran, and Omar Infante slated to fill some of the void left behind by these departing players.

On the pitching side, a similar story presents itself for the Yankees. The Yankees have lost key 2013 contributor Phil Hughes while gaining Japanese baseball veteran Horiuchi Hashimoto and major league veteran Ricky Nolasco. Also key for the Yankees is the expected return of CC Sabathia who missed most of 2013 after undergoing Tommy John surgery for elbow ligament reconstruction. The Yankees bullpen should also be strong this year with the return of 44-year old hall of fame closer Mariano Rivera, David Robertson, Mark Montgomery and the addition of J.P. Howell who is expected to start the season the DL. With these additions there is a good chance the Yankees can expect to improve on their above average pitching numbers from 2013. That is assuming their pitching is not let down by their defense which is expected to feature a number of aging veterans with declining range. In particular, Derek Jeter who has never been a great defensive shortstop will be 40 years old this season and his range has greatly declined in recent years.

Will this be the year that Yankees age finally catches up with them? With all the offseason moves made by the team this year it remains to be see how they will perform in 2014. In all likelihood, the 2014 Yankees will still be a competitive team in the ALE. Their offense might be a little worse, but their pitching will likely be a bit better which should see them be competitive down the stretch. With limited major league ready depth a few key injuries could derail the aging 2014 Yankees, but if they can remain healthy, there is reason to believe they can be a contender.

Yankees Official Blog: Here

Editors note: this post, and all posts in this series who written by a single author. While I tried to fact check everything, it is certainly possible I have made a mistake. If so, or if you simply disagree with my analysis please let me know in the comments below!

American League East – Season Preview – Boston Red Sox

This is part two of a six part series previewing the American League East. In Part One of this series we previewed the Baltimore Orioles. In this Part Two, we continue our alphabetical order preview by looking at the Boston Red Sox.

Boston Red Sox – 2013 Stat Line: Record 73-89 / Pyth 82-80 / RS 732 / RA723

Major Acquisitions:

(CF) Jacoby Ellsbury – resigned with the Red Sox on a 6-year deal worth $88,380,000

Major Departures:

(1B) Mike Napoli – signed with the Milwalki Brewers

(SS) Stephen Drew – signed with the LA Dodgers

The Red Sox had an extremely disappointing 2013 season finishing last in the American League East with a record of 73-89, 19 games back of the eventual division winners the New York Yankees. The Red Sox Pythagorean expectation suggests that they were quite unlucky to perform so poorly given that they scored more runs than they gave up. Their Pythagorean expectation predicts that they should have had a winning record finishing 82-80. Perhaps that is why management ultimately decided to return largely the same team to the field in 2014. The Red Sox biggest off season move was the resigning of franchise center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury. However, the Red Sox also lost the 2013 home run champ Mike Napoli and their starting shortstop Stephen Drew. To fill these voids the Red Sox have elected to turn to internal options. Key to the Sox letting Drew depart was the presence of defensive wizard Jose Iglesias at short stop who is one of the best defenders at short in the game, however, there are serious questions surrounding his hit tool. At first base the Sox are turning to Mike Carp who cannot be able to make up for the offensive production the lost in Napoli. The Red Sox also have two intriguing young players who have made the big league team out of spring training in Will Middlebrooks (3B) who is returning after a strong rookie campaign in 2013 and Xander Bogaerts (SS) who was a September call-up in 2013. Despite these youngsters in the lineup, considering their off season departures, losses, the Red Sox will be hard pressed to perform as well offensively in 2014 as they did in 2013.

On the pitching side, the Red Sox are also unchanged much from 2013. Their rotations consists of Jon Lester (4.31ERA), Ryan Dempster (4.22ERA), Felix Doubront (3.35ERA), Clay Buchholz (5.74ERA), and John Lackey (5.63ERA). The Red Sox can hope to see marginal improvement in their pitching numbers in 2014 given that both Buchholz and Lackey missed a number of starts due to injury in 2013. However, neither pitcher presents significant upside, so it is hard to expect much improvement. The Red Sox also have a fairly strong and deep bullpen spearheaded by closer Joel Hanrahan with Koji Uehara and Junichi Tazawa bringing up the flanks in setup roles. The Red Sox also appear to have improved their defense in 2014 with a strong outfield of Jackie Bradley Jr., Jacoby Ellsbury, and Shane Victorino. With Iglesias and Pedroia up the middle the Sox arguably have one of the best defensive lineups in the league. This will help them produce similar, if not better run prevention numbers in 2014 despite putting forward the same pitching staff.

All told, on paper at least the Red Sox appear to be a slightly worse team in 2014 than they were last year. However, given that the Red Sox were quite unlucky in 2013, there is reason to believe they can still be competitive this year. The Red Sox have marginally improved their run prevention and if they catch some lucky breaks they could put forward similar offensive numbers. If this happens, the Red Sox might find themselves in a pennant race despite not having spent money or prospects to improve their team in 2014. On the flip side, should the Sox find themselves out of the race by the trade deadline, they have some intriguing pieces that could fetch a nice return.

American League East – Season Preview – Baltimore Orioles

The American League East is arguably the most difficult division to win in professional sports. The division contains two financial powerhouses, an exceptionally well run but small market franchise, a team that represents an entire country, and a team loaded with young talent that would be a certain contender if it was in any other division. This article is the first in a 6-part series that will preview every team in the division and in the final article will make predictions about the division.

Let’s begin our preview in alphabetical order by looking at the Baltimore Orioles.

Baltimore Orioles – 2013 Stat Line: Record 78-84 / Pyth 80-82 / RS 745 / RA 754

Major Acquisitions:

(SP) Josh Johnson – 4 year deal worth $63,200,000.

(SP) Edinson Volquez – acquired from Padres

(LF) Mike Morse – 1 year deal worth $7,150,000, Muje

(RP) Mike Adams – acquired from Phillies

(SP) Jonathan Pettibone

(LF) Darin Ruff

The Orioles had a disappointing season in 2013. They had a high-powered offense, scoring the 4^th most runs in the American League, but they were largely let down by their pitching as they ranked 11^th in run prevention, well below the league average. The Orioles have attempted to address these issues by acquiring two starters in the offseason in Josh Johnson and Edinson Volquez. As such the 2014 Orioles will feature a rotation of Josh Johnson, Dylan Bundy, Kevin Gausman, Miguel Gonzalez, and Edinson Volquez. Jonhson and Volquez should be upgrades over Wei-Yin Chen (4.83ERA) and the combination of Hammel (5.11ERA) and Tillman (5.43ERA). The Orioles two returning young starters in 23 year old Kevin Gausman (4.00ERA) and 21 year old Dylan Bundy (3.60ERA) also have a chance in improving now that they have a major league season under their belts. Finally, in Miguel Gonzalez (4.20ERA) the Orioles have a reliable innings eater who should pitch well enough to keep them in games and let their potent offense a chance to win. The Orioles also feature a strong back end of their bullpen led by the elite closer Jim Johnson and setup man Mike Adams. Behind these two reliever the pen is a little suspect, but, it should be good enough to keep them in games.

In the off season the Orioles made one primary offensive upgrade by singing LF Mike Morse to a 1-year deal worth $7,150,000. In addition, much of the same cast of characters that raked up the runs scored in the AL is returning which bodes well for their offensive numbers this year. Their offense remains very-much powered by the home run as last year they hit 174, which again was the 4th most in the AL. In Morse, they likely have even more home run production and with the return of Chris Davis (28HR), Matt Wieters (21HR), Manny Machado (17HR), and a healthy Adam Jones who missed a significant amount of time last year, the Orioles can hope to repeat if not increase their HR totals.

All said, the Orioles have an intriguing featuring a cast of returning veterans and exciting young players. If they were in any other division the Orioles would surely be viewed as a contender. Unfortunately they are not in any other division, so it remains an open question as to how they stack up with the rest of the ALE. Nevertheless, due to their combination of youth and talent, they will be in an interesting team to watch in 2014.

Official Orioles Team Blog: Here

Tyler Pastornicky – Young Phenom?

24-year old 2B Tyler Pastornicky has impressive 3 home run game at Miller Park

This rookie sensation has definitely made his presence known in the Atlanta Braves organization, even better, the Bigs! He put up an Atlanta Braves record with a 3 home run performance on his opening night in the Majors. With the 3 home run performance he was able to knock in 7 RBIs and had 1 strikeout. The Braves may have a gem in there hands in this young talent. When I interviewed him after his first Major League debut he had this to say, “I’m just so blessed to be apart of this team on opening day and to be given the opportunity here in Atlanta is truly amazing. I wasn’t apart of the world series contending team last year, but I hope to help this team in any way I can.”

Hall of fame?? – Not just yet, but I think it speaks volume what kind of talent this young kid has; for him to step up on the big stage like he did. His next performance wasn’t as nice as he went 0-3, but last night he followed that up with a nice 3-5 night and with 1 RBI.

Rookie of the year?? – Maybe, there are some young rookie talents in the league one being starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka. In 3 games it’s hard to evaluate something like that, but it definitely begs the question.

Tanaka vs Hashimoto: Rookie Japanese Phenoms Face-Off

After an exciting Opening Day yesterday to kick off the MMB 2014 season, a handful of clubs are still expected to begin their 1st game of the season tonight. Two of those clubs, the Yankees and the Astros, will be sending out RHP Masahiro Tanaka and LHP Horiuchi Hashimoto out to the mound tonight, respectively. Aside from hailing from the same country, Hashimoto and Tanaka  share a few other  similarities. Both were signed to mega contracts this past winter: with Hashimoto signing to $87.950M over 5 years and Tanaka to an even bigger $114.54M over 6 years. Both are also depended on to be the number one Ace of their respective rotations.

Hashimoto, at 31 years old, isn’t too much a deviation from a Yankees rotation that also include 33 year old Sabathia and 31 year old Ricky Nolasco at the top. However, while critics question whether Nolasco can repeat a 17 Win season last year and wonder just how much longer Sabathia can stay healthy, perhaps tasking Hashimoto with #1 SP duty can’t be too much of a gamble. This is a Yankees that certainly had plenty to spend this offseason after making the playoffs last year, so the MMB will see what kind of a payoff will Hashimoto be for the Yankees tonight.

On the other side, there’s absolutely no question that the 25 year old Tanaka is the de facto Ace of the Astros rotation. Easily the team’s highest paid player (the next highest paid player on the team is about $16M away from Tanaka’s $19M salary), the gap in Tanaka’s perceived talent and that of the rest of the rotation is striking as well. There’s no doubt that Tanaka should take the ball at home tonight for the Astros, in front of a home crowd that saw its team win just 61 games last season and placing dead last in the AL West.

Whatever the case, for two clubs that is as far away from each other on the spectrum as you can get, there will be plenty of buzz tonight. A new season is here, and whether the two Japanese countrymen on the mound make it personal or not, there will be a lot riding on their performances tonight, this year, and for the seasons to come.

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POST GAME UPDATE:

Well Tanaka clearly had the upper hand here…:

Napoli Heads to Milwaukee, how Much of an Impact can he Make?

One last top free Agent remained heading into this week, first baseman Mike Napoli. The Milwaukee Brewers announced a three-year deal for him, totally $30,000,000 in value. Napoli hot over .270 last year, but the consensus among scouts is that he won’t be able to repeat that. Napoli, however, can be expected to hit 40 balls over the fence in a healthy season and along with Ryan Braun and Aramis Ramirez gives the Brew Crew one of the most powerful lineups in the game. With that, the team should have an average lineup this season, but pitching is a huge issue. Johnny Helwig has no major league experience. Yovani Gallardo seems to be declining even at the age of 28. Kyle Loshe managed a horrid 4.23 WHIP last season. Willy Peralta and Marcus Estrada look like bottom-of-the-rotation arms. Mike Fiers looks like he may have a good future, but he looks no better than a #2 or 3 pitcher. So if the Brewers want to compete with St. Louis, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and even the rising Cubs, they must aggressively attack the trade market in search of a top starter. while Napoli may bring some fans while protecting Ryan Braun, the Brewers problems are nowhere near solved and they seem headed for the NL Central cellar.