National League East
Vandelay Industries, 48 points (7 first-place)
JimmyJam Slammers, 47 points (11 first-place)
You’re Freaking Out, 43 points (5 first-place)
Yes, you guessed it.
It’s going to be a battle again in the National League East.
What else would you expect in the division that Vandelay wants to escape so badly?
After two straight years of finishing last with a record that would get him into the playoffs in the American League, the Industries starting making the call for realignment.
But he may be happy that he’s staying in the NL East.
His team is coming together and the Jammermetric Scale gave him the preseason nod by a sliver, edging out the World Champion Slammers by one point, despite the fact that the Slammers had four more first-place votes.
The Industries had enough second-place points to pick up the preseason title, which means he’s put together a well-rounded team.
Still, that doesn’t mean he’ll take this division easily.
The “last-place” Outs came in third with 43 points, just five behind Vandelay, the smallest gap in the JLB. The other three divisions were separated by 10, 18 and 30 points from first to third.
There is no doubt that the four division matchups will play a key role in deciding this division. Any collection of lopsided divisional losses will surely be a back-breaker this year.
1. Vandelay Industries
2012 Record/Finish: 221-194-65/third place in NL East
Owner’s All-Time Record: 685-581-193 (.535)
The prospect hoarder of 2010 is primed and ready to go.
He snagged players like Starlin Castro, Buster Posey, Carlos Santana, Ginacarlo Stanton and Jason Heyward with the hopes of them developing into super stars.
And they are all almost there. Posey has an MVP award, while the rest have put up some great offensive numbers over the years.
This year, Vandelay is hoping they all join hands and lead his team to a division title.
Of the group, I really like Posey — still jealous that I waited one round too many to draft him in 2010 — to have another MVP-like season, and if it weren’t for my boy, Andrew McCutchen, I’d pick him to win it.
Posey, of course, is a favorite of many MLB experts to win the MVP, as are Matt Kemp and Ryan Zimmerman, who both lace up the cleats for Vandelay.
I also expect Dustin Ackley to have a much-improved season for the Mariners, and I think he could overtake Jason Kipnis for the everyday second base gig for the Industries.
Pitching is a little shaky for Vandelay because of injuries and youth, but they still have the chance to be really good.
Leading the team will be the trio of Yovani Gallardo, Chris Sale and Adam Wainwright, and several players could step up to round out the rotation for Vandelay.
One, of course, has been the focus of Phillies spring training, Roy Halladay. He and the coaching staff continue to say that his struggles are attributed to a stomach virus that caused him to lose 10 pounds, but after last season, there are some worries.
If Halladay can’t step up, surely Wade Miley — who was robbed of the Rookie of the Year award last season — will be back, along with Rick Porcello.
Reinforcements are not far away as Matt Harvey and Gerrit Cole both should get call-ups with their clubs later this season.
2. JimmyJam Slammers
2012 Record/Finish: 221-187-72/second place in NL East
Owner’s All-Time Record: 1,181-930-369 (.551)
This is the part of the preview where I get to gloat about my team, because we all know that Bud Selig Jr. loves his team.
I expect Eric Hosmer to bounce back, while at the same time having Brandon Belt break out. Belt had a better second half last season as the Giants finally gave him a chance to play everyday, while Hosmer struggled from start to finish.
This year, both should put up solid numbers at first base.
I also like Domonic Brown to continue his offensive tear into the season. His projections of .256, 12 homers and 54 RBIs are well short of what we’re going to see from him this season.
Outside of my normal everyday lineup, I like Brandon Crawford to see an increase in average and production, but he’ll still be listed behind Ian Desmond on the depth chart.
Pitching is what it is. This team was set up for 2013, and it’s looking pretty good with Cliff Lee, Jeremy Hellickson, David Price, Jarrod Parker, Kris Medlen, James Shields and Clay Buchholz, who all should win more than 14 games this season (and, yes, I used the Spillanotrometer for a few of those).
3. You’re Freaking Out
2012 Record/Finish: 244-177-59/first place in NL East
Owner’s All-Time Record: 478-357-125 (.562)
The Jammermetric Scale may have placed the Outs in last, but I can’t say for sure that I agree with that. When you have Bryce Harper, the NL Rookie of the Year, and Freddie Freeman, who I think is going to explode this year, you’re likely going to be battling for first, not last.
He also has several sleeper picks/prospects in Josh Rutledge, Xander Bogaerts and Jurickson Profar who could have an impact on his 2013 season.
I project Freeman to have more than 100 RBIs, and if you add that to the ESPN projections of 100-plus RBIs for Adrian Beltre, Matt Holliday and Josh Willingham, you get well over 400 RBIs from four guys alone.
Typically, if you get 900 RBIs in a season from your fantasy team, you’re making the playoffs — unless you’re Vandelay (904 last season).
Even with all that offense, the strength may still be the pitching.
The Outs traded in the offseason to get Madison Bumgarner to join his rotation that already included Mat Latos, Matt Moore and Jordan Zimmermann. The Outs’ draft was strong, bringing in Ryan Vogelsong, Alex Cobb, Tommy Milone, Mike Fiers and Dillon Gee — all pitchers I like this season.
By like, I don’t mean they’re going to have superstar seasons; I just mean that they’re going to be strong back-end fantasy starters — something the Gameday Gamblers lacks this year.
The superstar status will go to Moore, who I think will step up in a big way for the Rays. He may wind up being the best pitcher on the Outs come September.
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