PAYROLL: $97.2M
KEY ADDS: Leon Ray, Johnnie Smart, Paul O'Donnell
KEY LOSSES: Jordan Weems, Alex Johnson
Boston returns in S9 with a strong nucleus to lead the way. With a few notable exceptions, there's not a better player in the NL than Billy Lamb. For Lamb standards, he had a down year. Failed to hit .300 for the first time in his career. For normal player standards, he's still a stud. He's primed to have a huge S9. Look for Tomas Nieves's role to expand this season. As far as pitching goes, we turn straight to Cy Young candidate Jose Fernandez. This team will go as Fernandez goes. The SJW Blog likes Boston.. a lot.
ONE KEY QUESTION: Can Billy Lamb come back from his "down" year and regain his normal form, or will the downward trend continue into S9?
PREDICTION: NL EAST CHAMPS
PAYROLL: $76.6M
KEY ADDS: Lou Nicholson, Ted Terry
KEY LOSSES: Danny Pose, John Murray
They're not flashy, they're not "sexy", but they're just damn good. You don't realize just how good this KC team is until you run down their roster. Enrique Pineda is a beast at 3B, and he'll be primed for a good season. Junior Navarro looks to improve from his rookie campaign, and he'll do just that. Christian Taylor can flat out fly in CF, and runs down anything that's hit out there. One to keep an eye on: Livan Ordonez, he'll smash the cover off the ball this year. It's only a matter of time until super SP prospect Hooks Webster becomes the ace of the staff. He's got too much talent not to. He'll make a nice 1-2 SP combo, along with Pete Cross. See? You didn't realize they were that good either, huh?
ONE KEY QUESTION: Did KC make enough offseason moves to keep up with the rest of the damn good NL East competition?
PREDICTION: 2nd NL EAST / NL WILD CARD
PAYROLL: $93.5M
KEY ADDS: Brian Adams, Vince Harper, Olmedo Guerrero, Sean Hurst
KEY LOSSES: Yeico Tavarez, Marlon Malloy, Dennis Parkinson, James Katou, Yuniesky Sosa,Shane Fleming
A lot of major changes made for a club who made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. With that being said, we aren't exactly writing off their season yet. They did lose guys like Parkinson, Malloy, and big money FA man James Katou. Picking up guys like Guerrero and Adams will help. Bobby Reese is a year older, and wiser. It's time for him to take over. Rigo Mercado and Dave Haynes will lead the offense into S9.
ONE KEY QUESTION: We like the NL EAST as the toughest division in baseball. How will San Juan respond coming off their first playoff appearance?
PREDICTION: 3rd NL EAST / NL WILD CARD
PAYROLL: $89.9M
KEY ADDS: Rudy Dingman, Rob Sexton, Arthur LeCroy, Douglas Fryman
KEY LOSSES: Al Small, Josh Miller, Ollie Washington, Rick Browne, Milt Webb
Now, I know what you're thinking. Philadelphia, in LAST PLACE?! Now slow down a second, we like this division THAT much. The NL EAST can see 4 90-win teams. There could be a 3-4 game difference between all of these teams. Now, a team with the likes of Paul LeCroy, Terrell McCartin, and S8 NL Cy Young winner Aaron Porter would never be in last place in any other division. However, we like the NL EAST that much. Dingman joins that excellent starting rotation, a big-time plus. Their only "question" is offensively, where the likes of Michael Butcher and Omar Owen lead the club. Production will be needed elsewhere for a playoff trip to happen.
ONE KEY QUESTION: Will Philly's run of 2 straight division titles come to an end this season?
PREDICTION: 4th NL EAST
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