Monday, February 21, 2005
RANK 'EM (SPRING TRAINING VERSION)
Throughout the offseason, I’ve thought about ways I could improve the baseball content at Sports and Bremertonians, at least on my end of things. It’s not that we haven’t done a good job, because we have. We just don’t want to grow complacent. Complacency leads to mediocrity and we certainly don’t want to go down that road anytime soon.
If you’ve read Sports and Bremertonians, you know what we are all about here. I believe we are one of the few baseball blogs that doesn’t bring up sabermetrics on a daily basis. Shocking, I know. The only time I mention PECOTA is when I’m talking about Bill Pecota.
One of the new features of Sports and Bremertonians' baseball coverage is our own version of power rankings. But since the phrase "power rankings" is overused, we have our own name for our rankings.
RANK ‘EM!
30 teams. 1 to 30.
Enjoy yourself.
RANK 'EM - SPRING TRAINING VERSION
1. Boston - The defending world champions may be better
2. St. Louis - Mark Mulder is the ace the Cards needed last October
3. New York Yankees - The Yankees haven’t won a World Series since 2000
4. Anaheim - The best of the A.L. West, which could be the best division in ‘05
5. Atlanta - Once again, the defending N.L. East champions
6. Florida - Al Leiter will help the young Marlins rotation
7. Chicago Cubs - Mark Prior must stay healthy
8. Minnesota - Johan Santana, best pitcher in A.L.
9. Oakland - 2/3 of Big 3 are gone
10. San Francisco - Barry Bonds, Marquis Grissom, Moises Alou = 95 years old
11. Cleveland - With a few breaks, they could be playing in October
12. Philadelphia - Charlie Manuel takes over a ballclub that has underachieved
13. Seattle - Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson can't pitch, but they can hit
14. San Diego - Those road unis have to go
15. Los Angeles - The Jim Tracy Watch is on
16. Houston - Can Phil Garner’s luck continue?
17. Texas - Still no pitching?
18. Chicago White Sox - A full season of Freddy Garcia in Comiskey
19. New York Mets - Does Pedro Martinez still have it?
20. Baltimore - Sammy Sosa rejuvenated in the Charm City?
21. Milwaukee - Carlos Lee, N.L. All-Star. You heard it here.
22. Detroit - How will Magglio Ordonez hold up?
23. Cincinnati - Let’s hope Ken Griffey, Jr. can stay healthy
24. Pittsburgh - Great ballpark, no team
25. Toronto - Field turf was their best acquisition during the offseason
26. Washington - RFK Stadium is relevant again (the D.C. United don’t count)
27. Colorado - Yikes
28. Tampa Bay - Lou Piniella is going to snap soon
29. Arizona - Send in the clowns
30. Kansas City - Tony Pena to the Dodgers in 2006
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
I will post my 2005 preview in a few weeks. You'll know when it's up. As for "Rank 'Em", there may be another one during spring training. We'll just see what happens. My plan is to post a new "Rank 'Em" every Monday during the 2005 season.
Keep on truckin'.
If you’ve read Sports and Bremertonians, you know what we are all about here. I believe we are one of the few baseball blogs that doesn’t bring up sabermetrics on a daily basis. Shocking, I know. The only time I mention PECOTA is when I’m talking about Bill Pecota.
One of the new features of Sports and Bremertonians' baseball coverage is our own version of power rankings. But since the phrase "power rankings" is overused, we have our own name for our rankings.
RANK ‘EM!
30 teams. 1 to 30.
Enjoy yourself.
RANK 'EM - SPRING TRAINING VERSION
1. Boston - The defending world champions may be better
2. St. Louis - Mark Mulder is the ace the Cards needed last October
3. New York Yankees - The Yankees haven’t won a World Series since 2000
4. Anaheim - The best of the A.L. West, which could be the best division in ‘05
5. Atlanta - Once again, the defending N.L. East champions
6. Florida - Al Leiter will help the young Marlins rotation
7. Chicago Cubs - Mark Prior must stay healthy
8. Minnesota - Johan Santana, best pitcher in A.L.
9. Oakland - 2/3 of Big 3 are gone
10. San Francisco - Barry Bonds, Marquis Grissom, Moises Alou = 95 years old
11. Cleveland - With a few breaks, they could be playing in October
12. Philadelphia - Charlie Manuel takes over a ballclub that has underachieved
13. Seattle - Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson can't pitch, but they can hit
14. San Diego - Those road unis have to go
15. Los Angeles - The Jim Tracy Watch is on
16. Houston - Can Phil Garner’s luck continue?
17. Texas - Still no pitching?
18. Chicago White Sox - A full season of Freddy Garcia in Comiskey
19. New York Mets - Does Pedro Martinez still have it?
20. Baltimore - Sammy Sosa rejuvenated in the Charm City?
21. Milwaukee - Carlos Lee, N.L. All-Star. You heard it here.
22. Detroit - How will Magglio Ordonez hold up?
23. Cincinnati - Let’s hope Ken Griffey, Jr. can stay healthy
24. Pittsburgh - Great ballpark, no team
25. Toronto - Field turf was their best acquisition during the offseason
26. Washington - RFK Stadium is relevant again (the D.C. United don’t count)
27. Colorado - Yikes
28. Tampa Bay - Lou Piniella is going to snap soon
29. Arizona - Send in the clowns
30. Kansas City - Tony Pena to the Dodgers in 2006
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
I will post my 2005 preview in a few weeks. You'll know when it's up. As for "Rank 'Em", there may be another one during spring training. We'll just see what happens. My plan is to post a new "Rank 'Em" every Monday during the 2005 season.
Keep on truckin'.
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