Dear Readers (all five of you):

I've been active on my other blog at www.fannation.com, under the username JFro, but I continually forget to publish those posts here. That said, the next five posts should be considered my belated MLB preseason predictions -- a preview, of sorts. There's the top five infields, outfields, bullpens, and starting rotations, and of course The Big Kahuna:

Full league predictions, for both the regular season and playoffs. 

Please note: I began publishing this series of posts on February 25, so some things may have changed since then. I apologize for any comments that appear dated; I must admit I've been busy with the release of my baseball book entitled "Theo-logy: How a Boy Wonder Led the Red Sox to the Promised Land." It's the first full-length work centered on Boston's popular general manager Theo Epstein, and it's available online at Amazon, Barnes and Noble or Borders.com. 

Continue reading "Note about forthcoming posts"

Before I get to the actual list, I must say when I posted this on FanNation, readers were complaining about the omission of the New York Mets' star-studded infield.

The funny thing is, I'm a Mets fan. And yet I ranked both the Braves and Phillies' infields ahead of the Metropolitans. Talk about reserving one's biases...

This was all based upon a specific mathematical projection system of mine, as you'll learn when reading the full preseason predictions post. That said, here come the infields:

5-Atlanta Braves: 1B-Casey Kotchman, 2B-Kelly Johnson, 3B-Chipper Jones, SS-Yunel Escobar, and C-Brian McCann.

In my mathematical ranking system, it helps to have one of the premier players at a particular position. That said, the Braves have standouts at both catcher (McCann ranked No. 1) and third base (Chipper ranked No. 4).

Continue reading "MLB's Top Five Infields"

If you read through my top five infields post, then you know that a correction was made: Mike Fontenot beat out Aaron Miles for the Cubs' second base job.

This time around, with the outfields, there's the possibility that Felix Pie will start over Luke Scott for the Orioles, and Skip Schumaker may start at second base for the Cardinals. Keep that in mind as you read on.

Also, when I originally wrote this piece, Manny Ramirez had not yet been signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers' new outfield of Manny, Matt Kemp, and Andre Ethier could be good enough for the top spot on this list. Manny's quite an upgrade over Juan Pierre...

5-Baltimore Orioles: RF-Nick Markakis, CF-Adam Jones, LF-Luke Scott

This one may be a little surprising to some fans, but Markakis and Jones represent one of the best, young outfield duos in the game. Markakis is unorthodox mechanically at the plate, but he produces and plays fine defensive outfield in right. He ranks second at his position, just barely behind Vladimir Guerrero for the top spot.

Continue reading "MLB's Top Five Outfields"

In this chapter, one focused on the bullpens, things are a little on the hazy side. What I mean by that is, evaluating a bullpen isn't an exact science like evaluating an infield, where the positions are first base, second base, third base, shortstop, and catcher. With a bullpen there are long men, middle relievers, setup men, and closers, but those roles are utilized and defined differently by each major league club, with the sole exception being closer.

When I ranked the bullpens using my personal mathematical system, I factored in each team's top five relievers, leaving out the final two spots because some teams carry six bullpen arms, while others may carry seven. In addition, the back-of-the-bully type guys have a tendency to change due to a lack of effectiveness and subsequent AAA or AA call ups. 

Continue reading "MLB's Top Five Bullpens"

What's different here? Well, Tampa opted to start David Price in AAA. But he'll be back, don't worry...

5-(Tie) Anaheim Angels: John Lackey, Ervin Santana, Joe Saunders, Jered Weaver, and Dustin Moseley. Wild card: Kelvim Escobar

and Tampa Bay Rays: James Shields, Scott Kazmir, Matt Garza, Andy Sonnanstine, and David Price. 

Again, as I explained in the bullpens post, there were no ties in the original mathematical system. But some things have changed since that initial post, and one of those changes is that Ervin Santana is going to begin the season on the disabled list for the Angels. Undoubtedly, that's a concern for them going forward.

Originally the Angels were ranked fourth in rotation, but the Santana injury could linger throughout the year, and that would certainly weaken Anaheim's unit as a whole. The Rays were ranked sixth, and I think with the Santana injury, Tampa's rotation is just as good -- if not better -- than Anaheim's right now.

Continue reading "MLB's Top Five Starting Rotations"

(Note: originally posted on February 25.)

Each year, prior to the start of the MLB season, I use a unique mathematical system (one that I will not get into, because it's boring) to project the performance of every player and team. This season, in lieu of their significant offseason additions, I expected the Yankees to come out on top. Surprisingly, my expectations were wrong...

The Boston Red Sox have the best team in baseball. 

Seems unusual, I know. Not the Yankees, or the Phillies, or the Rays, or even the Cubs...but the scrappy, resourceful Red Sox.

Here are the specific results:

The Yankees ranked 1st in infield, 19th in outfield, 1st in starting pitching, 5th in relief pitching, and 2nd overall.

The Red Sox, on the other hand, finished 6th in infield, 3rd in outfield, 2nd in starting pitching, and 2nd in relief pitching; thus, 1st overall.

Continue reading "MLB Preseason Predictions: Regular Season and Playoffs"