Preseason Prediction:
123-39, 1st in AL East, 38G in front of
Baltimore Orioles
Predicted Top Players:
LHSP
Jeremy Komosinski 22-2 2.08 174K 191.2IP
RHSP
Marcus Stroman 16-5 3.63 166K 183.2IP
RHSP
Henderson Alvarez III 19-5 3.76 125K 193.2IP
1B
Joe Sokolow .300/.394/.531 32HR 96RBI
SS
Jim Hatfield .324/.399/.662 44HR 128RBI 17SB
LF
Nick Castellanos .309/.353/.523 32HR 99RBI 13SB
CF
Ian Dellaripa .306/.366/.599 44HR 120RBI 12SB
DH
Eugenio Suárez .299/386/.603 53HR 135RBI
Somebody drank too much
Blue Jays cool aid when they made this prediction. #127 prospect
Ian Dellaripa won’t hit 44 home runs and become a top 10 hitter.
Henderson Alvarez III is not a top 10 pitcher. I have issues with this prediction…
The Division:
The
Baltimore Orioles(77-85) are predicted to be the best of a bad rest with a 85-77 record after two 77-85 season. Spoiler, they always are predicted with a better record than they finish. Big storylines? LHSP
Zach McConkey(20, 2.5/5*, 4-1 1SV 2.95 -0.1WAR 39.2IP) joining the rotation after making his debut in the bullpen… kid got stuff (80 curve, 65 change, 85 cutter, 70 knuckle curve). Offensively, they hope for 3B
Manny Machado(24, 3*, .250-6-35 .697OPS 0.6WAR 70G) to bounce back from a injury riddled 2016 and back into his 2015 form…
After four years of sub .500 baseball, the
Boston Red Sox(74-88) fans hope for more, but Vegas says… over-under of 80 wins. Yes, RF
Mookie Betts(24, 4.5*, .304-25-97 .895OPS 33/40SB 5.5WAR) is amazing and third year pro SP
Dan Royce(22, 3.5/4*, 8-15 3.92 152K 3.5WAR) is still rising up the ranks, but can the veteran heavy roster overcome the fatigued old bones and rally for a strong season? 42-year old
R.A. Dickey(42, 3*, 13-9 3.83 177K 4.4WAR) certainly hopes so.
The
New York Yankees(75-87) are not used to losing, but the truth is their last haul of veteran stars has not produced the results they expected, and the bookmakers have them at 77 wins. Yes, righty
Johnny Cueto(31, 2.5*, 9-14 3.30 162K 4.5WAR) has shown why he is a 2x NL All-Star and RF
Carlos Gonzalez(31, 3.5*, .317-31-94 .930OPS 6.3WAR) has become an impressive
Yankee outfielder, but
Robinson Cano($29.2M till 2019),
Jayson Werth($17.2M), RHRP
Tyler Clippard($16.8M till 2019) and
Adam LaRoche($11.7M) are just eating money for nothing.
The
Tampa Bay Rays(67-95) are out of it. A strong contender for years, new GM Adolfo Delfin, hired in late 2014, was not able to turn things around so far. 7x All-Star 3B
Evan Longoria(31, 3.5*, .246-29-79 .776OPS 2.9WAR) stayed with the team but had the worst season in years in 2016 and many think that calling up 2B
Mike Cole(21, 2/4*, .328-4-24 .869OPS AAA) onto the major league roster was way too early for the kid…
Top Pitcher
Top Position Player
Baseball America announced their Top 100 prospect list:
#1 CF
Ryan McDonald(5*), 20,
Detroit Tigers(R)(+3) (1st overall 2015)
#2 2B
Victor Adan(5*), 20,
New York Mets(S A)(+2) (IFA signing)
#3 RHSP
Elijah Jones(5*), 19,
Pittsburgh Pirates(AA)(+4) (3rd overall 2015)
#4 LHSP
John Brown(5*), 20,
Minnesota Twins(A)(+10)(2nd overall 2015)
#5 2B
Jose Lopez(5*), 21,
Houston Astros(A)(-3) (13th overall 2015)
#6 LHSP
Alex Vega(5*), 23,
Houston Astros(MLB)(NEW)(Free Agent)
#7 RF
Brian Jones(5*), 22,
Milwaukee Brewers(A)(+5)(9th rounder 2013)
#8 LHSP
Chris Stark(5*), 20,
New York Yankees(A)(+41)(32nd overall 2015)
#9 C
Bobby Cary(5*), 21,
Toronto Blue Jays(MLB)(+48)(Scouting Discovery DET 2012)
#10 CF
Jim McConnell(4.5*), 21,
New York Mets(R)(NEW)(9th overall 2016)
Notable
Toronto Blue Jays on the list:
#19 C
Peter Kilgore(5*), 20, AA, 3rd round 2015 (NEW)(+34)
#39 2B
Alex Rivera(5*), 18, R, Scouting Discovery MIL 2015 (-7)
#20 RHSP
Victor Torres(4.5*), 21, A ,IFA signing 2013 (-34)
#46 CF
Steve Snyder(4*), 24, AAA, 1st round 2014 (-16)
#64 LF
Miguel Licea(4*), 20, AA, Scouting Discovery TEX 2012 (+75)
#73 SS
Aleixo Neves(4.5*), 16, R, IFA signing 2017 (NEW)
#75 RHRP
Mike Smith(5*), 20, AA, 4th rounder 2014 (+71)
#77 RHSP
Tommy Erikson(4.5*), 24, AAA, 5th round 2014 (+44)
#78 IF
Guillermo Cervantes(4.5*), 21, AA, Scouting Discovery HOU 2012 (-13)
#81 1B
Josh Smith(5*), 19, R, 4th rounder 2016 (NEW)
#84 RHSP
Alejandro Melendez(4.5*), 20, S A, 7th rounder 2015 (NEW)
#85 2B
Matt Linville(4.5*), 19, R, 1st rounder 2016 (NEW)
#96 LHSP
John Hall(4*), 22, AAA, 5th rounder 2015 (+89)
#118 RHSP
Melvin Baiza(3.5*), 20, A, Scouting Discovery BOS 2013 (+83)
#124 LHSP
Danny Vasquez(4*), 20, R, Scouting Discovery BAL 2013 (NEW)
#127 CF
Ian Dellaripa(3.5*), 23, MLB, 6th rounder 2012 (+27)
#129 RHSP
Fernando Cadena(3.5*), 21, A, Scouting Discovery TOR 2012 (NEW)
#130 1B
George Benton(3.5*), 21, AA, 3rd round 2014 (+20)
#145 RHSP
Greg Toomey(4*), 23, AAA, 6th rounder 2015 (+22)
#147 RHSP
Julio Acosta(3.5*), 23, AA, 2nd round 2014 (-28)
#152 RHRP
Jorge Diaz(5*), 21, AAA, Scouting Discovery CWS 2012 (+21)
#170 CF
Mark Gensel(4*), 19, R, 3rd rounder 2016 (NEW)
#171 2B
Daniel Alvarez(4*), 19, A, Scouting Discovery SFG 2014 (NEW)
#183 CF
Jake Harris(3*), 23, AAA, 4th round 2012 (-68)
#196 LF
Jorge Calvillo(3.5*), 18, S A, IFA signing 2016 (-98)
#206 RHRP
Emilio Farentino(5*), 18, A, IFA signing 2015 (+23)
Ok we once again will have a shot at a rookie of the year in
Bobby Cary and we have ANOTHER catcher in the pipeline with
Peter Kilgore… the nightmare of the MLBPA boss Luke Walton with
Devin Mesoraco on the bench… Future GM’s problem.
Also, some guys on this list are fake. #77 prospect
Tommy Erikson is 24, is 2* overall and clearly won’t make it. #62
Steve Snyder has to break out NOW. But that being said… we have a good system again.