A little paragraph about each team going into 2017. Did not dive into statistics, just glanced at the rosters. Main takeaway from this is to have my Projected W-L for each team on paper, to compare at season's end. The rankings for lineups, rotations, and bullpens are within each division specifically. Feel free to comment and rank the teams yourself. First up, the ALE.
American League East:
Boston Red Sox
Projected W-L: 95-67
Lineup Rank: 1
Roto Rank: 1
Pen Rank: 3
The Red Sox are coming off a great regular season, yet they have no postseason success to show for it. The loss of Big Papi looms large in Beantown, but this is still the division’s most formidable offense thanks to a great mix of young talent and veterans. Pablo is said to be in great shape, and Hanley Ramirez looked like he used to in Miami. Benintendi, Bogaerts, and Bradley burst onto the scene in 2016. Not to mention, Mookie Betts has developed into one of the most well rounded players in the entire MLB. They also have the lockdown closer and have made moves to strengthen the bullpen this offseason. However, the conversation with the Red Sox starts and ends with the rotation. Chris Sale is the obvious ace of the staff, but the former Cy Young winner David Price and current Cy Young winner Rick Porcello back him up in that ridiculous rotation. The rest is not too shabby either, as Pomeranz and the All-Star knuckleballer Wright are no easy tasks themselves. Boston wins the East by a comfortable margin, in my opinion.
Toronto Blue Jays
Projected W-L: 85-77
Lineup Rank: 2
Roto Rank: 3
Pen Rank: 4
Toronto has to be feeling pretty good despite the enormous loss of Edwin Encarnacion. We all hate Bautista, but everyone knows that he along with Morales, Tulo, Martin, and the beastly Josh Donaldson are going to put up impressive offensive numbers. Past those guys, I am still not sold on this team. This might sound weird considering the back to back ALCS runs, but there is no chance that Happ puts up the numbers he did last year again this season, and it will be interesting to see what type of years the back end guys such as Liriano and even Estrada put up. Aaron Sanchez is going to be great and Marcus Stroman is a gamer, but the bullpen outside of Osuna is lackluster. It is reasonable to believe that they will be in a lot of high scoring games. Toronto will be in the mix, but will fall short of the playoffs.
Baltimore Orioles
Projected W-L: 81-81
Lineup Rank: 3
Roto Rank: 5
Pen Rank: 1
Baltimore seems so predictable. Their top few pitchers can pitch really well on a game to game basis, but the back end of the rotation is very exploitable. Britton, Brach, and O’Day are dominant, and in my opinion they have the best bullpen in the division, and possibly the AL. As far as the lineup is concerned, I love the fact that they brought back Trumbo. The middle of that lineup looks formidable yet again. Adam Jones and Crush Davis still reign supreme out in bird land, and everyone knows the type of talent Manny Machado is. Due to the top heaviness of this 25 man roster, I do not believe that this team is well rounded enough to make a run to the postseason. The Orioles remain at or above 500 thanks to the long ball and the bullpen, but fail to make the playoffs.
New York Yankees
Projected W-L: 80-82
Lineup Rank: 5
Roto Rank: 4
Pen Rank: 2
The Yankees were a very interesting team in the 2016 season. The emergence of youngsters like Bird, Judge, and especially Sanchez will continue to be the headline as a new season approaches. The rotation and bullpen are very strong up front, thanks to the likes of Tanaka, Pineda, Chapman, and Betances. Past those names, I am not a fan of the staff. The bullpen got a high rating just because of how dominant those 8th and 9th inning guys are, but overall it looks primed to get abused in that AL East.It looks like the executives have attempted to piece the right mix of veteran players and young players together in the lineup, but I believe the vets are closer to washed up then they are to seasoned, and the young guns are still too unproven for me to believe they can win this division. For instance, the addition of Chris Carter seems like a good fit, but how will a big home run and strikeout guy fare with limited AB’s? The Yankees could flirt with 500, but I believe that thankfully we will have another year without them in the playoffs.
Tampa Bay Rays
Projected W-L: 73-89
Lineup Rank: 4
Roto Rank: 2
Pen Rank: 5
When healthy, this young rotation has a lot of potential. All five guys are ones that I would like to have on my team. If it was not for the monster in Boston, they would be the top rotation in the East. The back end of the bullpen led by Colome has some potential, but overall needs work. Kevin Kiermaier is incredibly gifted defensively, and while I like the rest of the top half of that lineup with the steady Longoria and Dickerson also in the mix, the lineup as a whole is such an island of misfit toys. There is a lot of hidden talent on this team, and if Joe Maddon were still around, I would be subscribing to the hype. Unfortunately I think the rest of the AL East will feast on the Rays, ultimately leading to a below 500 season.
