I can honestly say that this is going to be fun. I don’t care if I miss the playoffs, because the ride is going to be enjoyable, especially now that the Jargon is back in full force.
I 100 percent agree with the J-Scale that suggests that the top five teams will be in a battle all year long. I also think that Steroid.ERA has a good enough team to cause some problems, too.
He may not contend for a playoff spot, but I feel like he’ll certainly play a key role in deciding who does make it.
The trio of Walters are all strong and the Cheese Steaks made some incredible moves and had a decent enough draft to be a contender in 2014. I, too, have a roster that is primed and ready to compete.
So, who’s going to win?
J-Scale says Otto. I say, who the hell knows. I can make arguments for why all five contenders will win this division.
With that said, I'll just leave it to the J-Scale to predict the finish. I won’t even try to make a personal prediction.
Time for some team previews:
Chief Otto Parts
2013 Record: 228-172-80 (Lost in NLCS)
All-Time Record: 710-521-64 (.566)
OK, so if I were forced to pick a front-runner, I can’t deny that David has that team. When you have Allen Craig, Robinson Cano, Miguel Cabrera and Mike Trout, how can you not be the team to beat?
And that’s just scratching the surface offensively. You can look at the roster yourself to see what I'm talking about.
On the mound, I wouldn’t give him the strongest rotation in the National League and that’s why the rest of us NLers have a chance.
Still, Justin Verlander, Cole Hamels, Matt Cain and Julio Teheran make up a great top four.
He’ll look for a younger pitcher or two to step up, and if not, he’s so loaded on offense, it’s not out of the question to think that he could send one of those strong bats away for an ace starter. He's done it before.
By July, he’ll have a chance at that extra horse for sure.
Philly Cheese Steaks
2013 Record: 0-0-0
All-Time Record: 0-0-0
Philly Cheese started with a lump of dough and some frozen steaks.
Less than two months later, he’s staring at one of the best Cheese Steaks anyone has ever had the mouth water over.
OK, so, I’m exaggerating a tad, but you cannot deny how far he has come.
He’s got power and speed, and to go with that, he has depth and future stardom.
He built up a keeper lineup that included a mix of trade acquisitions and inherited players. Those players were Prince Fielder, Aaron Hill, Chase Headley, Hanley Ramirez and Jose Bautista. Then, in the draft, he adds Austin Jackson and Alex Rios — two players the Jerk should have kept.
Outside of Carlos Ruiz at catcher — who isn’t all that bad offensively — I love this lineup. He has decent depth, too, with a mix of vets and youth. Included in the vets are Mark Teixeira and Grady Sizemore, who are looking to make comebacks. It’s up in the air, but man, if they do, the Cheese Steaks will sizzle.
It will get even better when George Springer is called up in June.
And that’s just on offense. Max Scherzer, Homer Bailey, Hyun-jin Ryu, Chris Tillman and Tim Hudson are great pitchers to have. Kyle Zimmer will come up in the summer and I expect big things from him, and then there’s a nice mix of younger pitchers who could make an impact. Overall, I like what Philly has going on. I dislike that I’ll have to face him three times this year.
JimmyJam Slammers
2013 Record: 208-209-63
All-Time Record: 1,508-1,199-485 (.548)
Hey, it’s me.
I love me.
I know. How can I ever objectively talk about my team? I can’t.
Especially when I write down eight names I wanted to draft and I got all eight in the first eight rounds of the draft. Yes, that includes Nate Eovaldi at No. 1. Parker can make fun of the pick, and I won’t defend it here. He can go do the research himself. If he reads all the information I read, he’ll see why I’m on board for 2014.
I also like my next two picks, Matt Adams and Mike Moustakas. Adams should get 500 at-bats this year with Craig in the outfield, and Moustakas is finally ready to break out. Finally.
I won’t bore you with my love for my keepers, but there’s one other drafted player I’m excited about, and that’s Yovani Gallardo. After a down year, I think he’s poised to have a good year.
OK, one keeper. Archie Bradley. He’ll be Rookie of the Year. He went to minor league camp, but he’ll be called up soon. The Diamondbacks can’t afford to leave him off the major league roster for long. He's just that good. And that's not just me talking. That's what several MLB experts have said.
You’re Freaking Out
2013 Record: 241-171-68 (Won World Series)
All-Time Record: 715-532-193 (.564)
The World Series Champion Outs look no different than the prior three teams. Strong pitching and strong hitting.
Jordan Zimmermann, Madison Bumgarner and Yu Darvish all are Cy Young contenders, and Alex Cobb, Michael Wacha and Andrew Cashner will put up great numbers, too. I love the Jeremy Hellickson selection — I was looking at doing that, too, but not as early as the Outs did — and Kyle Lohse is always a solid choice.
Offensively, the Outs didn’t have to do much in the draft, carrying a strong group of keepers into 2014, but nevertheless, I like his selections of Desmond Jennings, Nelson Cruz and Denard Span.
The biggest of the three is Jennings. Two days before the draft, I was looking at taking Jennings with my first pick. The former Slammer has a great chance to break out this year on a team that is going to win more than 90 games. I think the offense will be strong around him and Jennings will play a key role.
And he’ll only play a small role on the Outs, who boasts Wilin Rosario, Freddie Freeman, Matt Carpenter, Adrian Beltre, Matt Holliday, Bryce Harper and Xander Bogaerts. He’ll have to wait 10 games for Bogaerts to get shortstop eligibility, but it’s coming, and when it does, it will allow Nelson Cruz to step in at UTIL.
How can you not like that?
All in all, this lineup will easily be good enough to make a run at a title defense. The Outs are hoping to become the JLB’s third two-time World Series winner. History is in his favor as the prior two two-time winners both did it in back-to-back years.
Vandelay Industries
2013 Record: 226-196-58 (Lost in NLDS)
All-Time Record: 893-777-255 (.530)
Fifth place? Really, J-Scale?
Well, I guess someone had to be there. I’m just a little surprised it’s the team with the JLB’s best pitching staff (of course, second-best to mine if you ask me). Objective me knows that top to bottom, this is the best on paper.
Yes, leaps and bounds better than Parker's.
Adam Wainwright, Chris Sale, Gerrit Cole, Jose Fernandez, C.J. Wilson, Kevin Gausman, Lance Lynn and Jake Odorizzi will all post double-digit wins.
(Quick timeout. I just realized I've been misspelling Wainwright's name in the "Wainwright Rule." I was missing the second 'W.' Oops.)
Wainwright and Fernandez will contend for Cy Youngs, while Odorizzi is my Rookie of the Year pick. Lynn is a great pick, and he was a first-round target of mine, but I decided to go with my gut instinct on Eovaldi. If I didn’t go with Eovaldi, I was going with Lynn. I also like Gausman to play a key role in getting the Orioles to the playoffs this year.
Vandelay also has some very nice sleepers in Brandon Morrow, Wily Peralta, Brett Anderson and Josh Johnson. Injuries come into play with most of those guys, but when healthy, they’re very good options. Fantasy gods help us all if they're all at the top of their games.
Offensively, Vandelay is dealing with some injuries, but when healthy, this lineup is scary. Can you imagine Matt Kemp slating in at UTIL because Carlos Gomez is just that good? It could happen. Buster Posey and Carlos Santana are switching in and out at catcher and 1B, and a healthy Ryan Zimmerman at third will be a huge lift. I think Giancarlo Stanton will take even another step toward stardom.
The big keys will be Michael Cuddyer and Michael Brantley. Will Cuddyer replicate his NL batting title? ESPN doesn’t think so, projecting him at only .270, but he’s still in Coors Field and I think he’ll be closer to .300. Those two players should hang out in the UTIL slots for most the season.
Steroid.ERA
2013 Record: 181-228-71
All-Time Record: 181-228-71 (.451)
Last, but not least, Steroid.ERA, or Choo.0.
The next big trade machine has worked hard to build a team, and the offense appears to be coming together, but the pitching is a bit lacking.
It helps to have Felix Hernandez and Doug Fister at the top, and I’m sure he has high hopes for Tyler Skaggs. R.A. Dickey is projected to bounce back, but I need to see him prove that he can compete in the AL first. And Danny Salazar intrigues Cleveland fans, but not me.
So I think he’ll have to work at it, make some good free agent moves and keep an eye out for the next big star.
That, or he could trade.
Getting pitching in season via trade is much harder to do than it is in the offseason, but with 11 bats on the bench, he’ll possibly be able to piece together an offensive package in July that will get him another key starter moving forward.
I know, I know. It’s way too early to be thinking about that. With guys like Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Donaldson, Yadier Molina, Hunter Pence and Billy Hamilton, to name a few, ERA has a good enough offense to keep pace with other teams in the NL. He also has a few prospects in Jon Singleton and Gregory Polanco who could make a huge splash, so he’ll be able to pick up wins in the offensive categories.
He’ll just have to make smart pitching decisions, going after the stats he can win. With intelligent starts, he can take the ERA and WHIP categories. He’ll give up the compiling stats like strikeouts, quality starts and wins, but with fewer starts — and smart starts — he can win walks and losses more often than not because he simply isn’t throwing as many pitchers as his opponents. If he does that and gets a few great ERA performances, he could walk away winning more than half the pitching stats, especially with four 30-plus-save closers. Then, if he’s competing offensively, all of a sudden, he’s winning a week.
This should be his strategy to surprise the NL.
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