NL East Preview

Boston Mets

Mets GM ajf00529 has taken a lot of grief over the past season or so, but he’s really assembled a decent team this year filled with talent. Question—who’s the best player in the Dream League right now? Simply put, nobody is better than Mets shortstop Nick Black. With two MVP seasons already in the books, and 118 home runs and 272 RBI the last two seasons Black astounds even his peers.

“He’s the best in the game right now,” newly signed Madison second baseman Buddy Rivers says.

At 29, Black is still in his prime, and should be expected to deliver a .300-40-125-125 season this year.

Third year man, and 22 year old pitcher Winston Taft seems ready to go this season.

“We’re gonna be there this year,” Taft says, “I’m tired of all this shit about the NL North being the division to beat this year. You’re going to hear from us before everything is said and done.

Boston will have question marks to address, chiefly about Brian Zhang’s expanding contract ($15m over the next three seasons, his expanding numbers (Season 1 = 3.63 ERA and 1.27 WHIP, Season 2 = 4.51 ERA 1.44 WHIP) and his expanding waistline—the Mets’ program lists him “judiciously” at 5-9 202lbs. Though nobody will mention it in the Mets’ clubhouse most believe Zhang’s ballooning numbers are due to his ballooning waistline. One AL scout estimated his weight closer to 225lbs,

“He looks like an overstuffed bag of McDonald’s burgers out there.”

“This is year of redemption and rebirth,” the Japanese (Hyogo) born Zhang said through an interpreter. “Much improvement is expected from me.”

If Zhang doesn’t restore himself back to form, or if he ends up spending more time in Old Country Buffets than on the mound, Boston’s staff could be in trouble. Danys Olivares may be counted on to pitch over and above his current fifth slot in the rotation. Olivares, a highly regarded international prospect out of the Dominican Republic, struggled a bit with his concentration last year both at AAA and later in the ML. Olivares himself doesn’t appear to be phased by the transition,

“Expect big things from me,” he says with a smile, “big things.”

Boston certainly hopes he delivers “big things” for this ballclub.

Baltimore Barksdales

Will the last player out of Baltimore please turn out the lights? With 12 free agents departing the Barksdales last season, this figures to be a challenging year in Baltimore.

“I don’t hardly know, no one,” holdover Toby McPherson quipped, “it’s like the first day of school.”

While the 26 year old McPherson may not know many of his teammates, you can bet his teammates, and the rest of the NL know who he is. McPherson’s line in his first two seasons:

28-16 Record, 385Ks, 2.56 ERA, 1.08 WHIP

McPherson will only get stronger as he learns to set up his change-up better. It’s likely that a couple of Cy Young trophies will sit on McPherson’s mantle before he calls it quits on a career.

The key for Baltimore this year will be on the offensive side of the diamond. With no regular that hit over .285 in the lineup last year, Baltimore struggled to keep innings going and tack on runs.

P.J. Rowan smacked 47 home runs, but whiffed at an astounding rate, racking up 184 strike outs. Ignacio Bennett could be a terror on the basepaths (62 steals last year) but with a career slugging percentage of .294 he needs to be more selective and lace balls into the gap. With his speed, balls to the alleys should go for doubles and triples. 29 career extra base hits should be an embarrassment for someone with his speed and talent.

Free agency has taken its toll on the lineup—it remains to be see if Baltimore has a long term plan or if the franchise is on the downslide.

New York Gridlock

Two brawls during a three game set with the Boston Mets in the last month of the season has New York fired up this year.

“Boston is a bunch of cheap shot artists,” third baseman Samuel Service noted.

Gookie Cosby, who hit 96/97 MPH on the gun a couple times last year, and who was responsible for plunking Boston’s Al Leyritz starting the whole affair serviced notice via the New York Times earlier this year,

“Let me make this real clear right now. This year we’re not going to tolerate them throwing at our guys. There will be consequences.”

Dream League Commissioner PizzaSteve has already phoned both New York and Boston with the purpose of warning them that their games will be under close scrutiny. Given the media circuses in New York and Boston both squads are used to scrutiny.

“It is as I said,” Cosby said when informed of the Commish’s phone call.

The new attitude in the clubhouse seems to be an “us against them” mentality and time will tell how it serves the ballclub.

New York didn’t make the top quarter of the league in any major pitching or hitting categories, but their defense was sound last year—a team .989 fielding percentage was good for fourth in the league. Shortstop James “Hoover” Steele, who sucks up groundballs like the vacuum cleaner, won his second gold glove yielding only 10 errors on the season. The lack of errors only tell part of the story, however, as Steele’s range allows him to get to balls that would be hits against most other shortstops. If there was a defensive liability on the squad last year it was at catcher. David Santiago struggled to throw out runners allowing 113 stolen bases versus only 21 thrown out (only 15% of runners thrown out). Santiago has been replaced this year, but fans shouldn’t get too excited—his replacement, Johnny Neill was even worse last year, allowing 30 stolen bases while throwing out only 4 (11%).

Expect fun on the basepaths in New York this year. Expect interesting matchups when Boston visits New York (and vice-versa). Failing that, you can likely still look forward to Boston’s Al Leyritz versus New York’s Gookie Cosby on the next UFC pay per view.

“ing Leyritz, better check his batting helmut before he steps in this year,” Cosby warned.

Indeed.

Rochester Red Wings

The Red Wings finished 21 games behind the division leading Mets last season.

“The way I see it, the only way we can go is up,” says Brad Beam, the Wings starting shortstop.

There is reason to be optimistic. Veteran Junior Mota (47 home runs last year), and young Carson Sherman (29 home runs in limited games last year) and are both powerful mashers who will get to play a full season with each other in Season 3. Expect them to combine for 90 home runs this year if they both stay healthy. Brad Beam and Woody Kydd figure to be good for 40 stolen bases between them. 23 year old Reid Epstein figures to be one of the top five pitchers in the NL again, after striking out 202 batters in 251 innings last season.

“I like our team,” Wings bench coach Armando Martin, an eleven year vet, says.

“It’s a young team that’s hungry and improving,” ESPN Analyst John Kruk says, “I look for them to get stronger as the season wears on.”

Not everyone is optimistic.

“They’ve still got a long was to go,” ESPN Analyst Steve Phillips disagreed. “A very long ways to go.”

How well the team develops their ability to do the little things, such as executing hit and runs, moving runners over, and bunting, may determine whether they can improve on their 70-92 record a year ago. Veteran hitting coach, Adam Ramirez, was brought in for just that purpose.

“If our speed guys like Beam and “Figgy” (Jose Figureoa) get more patient at the plate and go with the pitch I think we have an opportunity to score more runs than last year; a lot more runs,” says Ramirez.

The pieces are in place in Rochester for a potential push of the division leaders, but this may be a team that’s a couple of years away from really making good on its potential. With Kevin Grace and Chad Ricchio improving in AAA, next year may be the year Rochester’s name gets thrown in the mix with New York and Boston.

Aaron Clarke
Senior Writer