The National League has predominantly been a really tough League.
Yes, the American League has caught up in recent years, but that doesn’t change the fact that the NL is an absolute grind.
And even with two new owners, it’s really not going to change much. Their rosters are loaded and ready to compete.
“Ric Flair taught me a long time ago that to be the man, you've got to beat the man,” new franchise Monkeys Never Cramp said. “So I would have it no other way.”
To accomplish that, it really does help to have “The Man.”
Mike Trout was the top pick in the expansion draft that Monkeys earned via a coin flip. Probably the best coin flip in his life.
Once the Natinals took Corey Kluber, that opened the door for Monkeys to grab Carlos Correa — a player he honestly thought about taking over Trout at No. 1.
Sounds crazy, and it is because you should never do it, hence why he didn’t, but I do understand why there can be an argument made to do so. He's that high on Correa, as he should be.
But at the end of the day, the argument is null and void because Monkeys has both of them.
He then added Giancarlo Stanton to create a potent 1-2-3 punch on offense.
“I've seen a lot of expansion drafts over time and I'm not sure talent like this has ever been available in one of them,” he said, “so I guess I probably owe it to someone to try to be competitive this season.”
Yes, you owe it to me. I invited you to play. … As a thank you gift, I will take Trout. Or Correa. Or Stanton. Or Wil Myers. Or Yoan Moncada. Or Buster Posey.
Can you see where I’m going with this? Monkeys Never Cramp may never need to worry about offense.
That will especially be true if Lewis Brinson develops into a star in the outfield.
He had a heck of a spring training, batting .328 with 2 HRs, 9 RBIs and 8 runs scored.
Signs of struggles were there, though, as he was caught stealing on all four attempts and he struck out 17 times and only walked three times.
“I really like what Lewis Brinson has been doing!” Monkeys said. “And the Marlins are looking at putting him at the top of the lineup! So yes, the idea of having a potential 20-20 guy with Trout, Stanton, Mancini and Reddick is one of those good problems.”
One of his bad problems is pitching at this point.
He put all his Easter eggs into the Kevin Gausman basket, as we have already discussed after the keeper deadline, and now he’ll need Gausman to be a star more than ever after Madison Bumgarner broke his hand.
He does still have Jake Arrieta, Zack Godley, Alex Reyes, Jordan Montgomery, Parker Bridwell and Rick Porcello, but there are some injury concerns with other pitchers like Andrew Heaney and Eduardo Rodriguez.
“As an Orioles fan I'm very familiar with ERod, with him coming up in the system,” Monkeys said. “If you would've asked me in 2014 what my 2018 Orioles dream rotation would be, it would have included Kevin Gausman, ERod, Dylan Bundy and Hunter Harvey and likely Parker Bridwell in the bullpen in some capacity, so I'm happy to put three of those guys together again. It stings a bit to have guys like Rick Porcello, Jordan Montgomery and Roberto Osuna in the clubhouse, but I'm trying to be as concerned with W's as I am with O's.”
Ric Flair would be proud.
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