Day 30: Tampa Bay Devil Rays

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Team: Tampa Bay Devil Rays

2007 Regular Season Record: 66-96

Cost per Win: $24,123,500 / 66 = $365,507 per win

2007 Season Recap: Tampa Bay has had a team since 1998 and haven’t really had any success in that period. In all but one of those seasons they have finished in last place in the AL East and they finished second to last the other year. Their best record in their 10 year history was 70-91 in 2004. In 2007 they finished with 66 wins and showed some progress on offense, it was more the pitching that held them back. They ranked 8th in the AL in both team batting average and runs scored with a .268 average and 782 runs scored. Pitching however ranked last in the AL in every major statistical pitching category including a 5.53 ERA as a staff.

One of the biggest standouts for the Devil Rays in 2007 was Carlos Pena. Pena led the team with 46 home runs, 121 RBIs, and 99 runs. This was Pena’s first year with the Devil Rays and also his best of his 7 year career. Pena’s performance earned him the award for AL Comeback Player of the Year and he also gained attention for the MVP award. Another player that had a great season for the Devil Rays was Carl Crawford who achieved a .315 batting average to lead the team and also he added 93 runs and 80 RBIs to make the offense very productive. Other strong contributors on offense were B.J. Upton, Akinori Iwamura, and Ty Wigginton.

The Devil Rays had 2 really good starting ptichers in 2007 but after those 2 guys things fell off suddenly. One of the good pitchers was Scott Kazmir who recorded a 13-9 record and a 3.48 ERA. Their 2nd good starter was James Shields who had a record of 12-8 in 2007 with a 3.85 ERA. A third thing the Devil Rays had was a solid closer in Al Reyes. He finished the season with 26 saves and only 4 blown saves. The majority of the rest of the bullpen didn’t fair nearly as well, 8 of their relievers who threw in more than 23 innings had an ERA over 7 which will easily make a good offensive performance be in vain no matter how many runs are scored.

Just an additional note is that this off-season the team in Tampa Bay has undergone a name change. They are now called the Tampa Bay Rays instead of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The minor name change means a change to the logo, colors, and uniform. I don’t think the change was all that necessary but their front office staff apparently thought it would be beneficial to the team.

Key Free Agents: C Raul Casanova, C Josh Paul, 3 RPs; The Rays don’t really have free agent issues this off-season. They lose 2 catchers and 3 relief pitchers but none of them contributed all that much to the team in 2007 so they won’t be missed that much. Relief pitcher Troy Percival signed a 2 year contract and outfielder Cliff Floyd signed a 1 year contract. In addition the option on closer Al Reyes was exercised so he is with the team for another year.

Offseason Needs: The Rays main problem is in the bullpen where they need to pick up a couple more consistent arms to patch the hole they had in 2007. They also could use a catcher and a utility infielder to add some depth if any injuries occur during the season.

Prediction for the 2008 season: I actually like the Rays going into 2008. They do however play in a tough division and I don’t think they have the talent or salary to compete with the Yankees, Red Sox, or Blue Jays. They might be able to put some pressure on the Orioles for the 4th place spot. They do have to do something to improve their bullpen but the addition of Percival is a great step in that direction and I don’t think the guys that they have in the bullpen now can perform that bad 2 years in a row. I definitely think the Rays will at least improve their record in 2008 and will probably set the team record for wins, meaning they will win more than 70 games.

Day 29: Pittsburgh Pirates

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Team: Pittsburgh Pirates

2007 Regular Season Record: 68-94

Cost per Win: $38,537,833 / 68 = $566,732 per win

2007 Season Recap: The Pirates last reached the playoffs in 1992 and that was also the last season that they achieved a winning record. This streak was in no way reversed in 2007. The Pirates finished the season with 68 wins and ended up in last place in the NL Central and 17 games back of the Cubs. They weren’t particularly strong in terms of either offense or pitching. As a team they ranked 10th in batting average in the NL and 12th in runs. The pitching statistics weren’t any better since the staff earned a 4.93 ERA which ranked 14th in the NL and 13th or worst in every other statistical pitching category.

The Pirates got some good individual performances on offense. Their team leader in terms of batting average was Freddy Sanchez with a .304 average, Sanchez also had 77 runs scored and had 81 RBIs which both ranked in the top 3 for the team. The Pirates also got good numbers out of Jack Wilson who hit for a .296 average, scored 67 runs, and had 56 RBIs. Another player who had noteworthy stats was Josh Phelps who was acquired in June from the Yankees. While with the Pirates he hit for a .351 batting average and had 5 home runs and 19 RBIs in 77 at bats.

The Pirates starting pitchers actually ended up with fairly good numbers considering the overall record and the amount of runs that were scored for them. The team leader for wins was Tom Gorzelanny with a 14-10 record and a 3.88 ERA. The other 2 pitchers with more than 29 starts had 10-15 and 9-12 records. The Pirates leader in saves was Matt Capps who finished with 18 saves and a 2.28 ERA.

Key Free Agents: SS Cesar Izturis, 1B Josh Phelps, SP Tony Armas, RP Shawn Chacon, 3B Matt Kata, 3B Jose Castillo; The Pirates are losing a lot of guys. It’s interesting that they released Phelps after he played well for them in his short time with the team but that most likely has everything to do with the fact that the Pirates have a lot of depth at first base already and didn’t have a need for him.

Offseason Needs: The Pirates have some depth issues with their free agent losses. Currently on their depth chart 2nd year player Josh Wilson is listed as the back-up at 2nd, shortstop, and 3rd base which will not work out to well when they need to rest some guys. So increasing infield depth should be high on the list of priorities. After that the Pirates could also address some of their pitching problems primarily in the bullpen. Any major improvements will require some big spending just like many other teams near the bottom of the standing in 2007. I don’t see the Pirates doing that kind of spending this off-season and the talent really isn’t available in free agency to improve the team to much at this point.

Prediction for the 2008 season: I don’t see a lot changing for the Pirates in 2008. They just haven’t made a lot of improvements so far this off-season but they have developed some youth so they might be able to improve some. The Astros and Reds both look weak so the Pirates could very easily move themselves up to 4th in the division if things go their way. There is certainly some talent there but also several questions marks around the team as to how some key parts will perform.

Day 28: Kansas City Royals

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Team: Kansas City Royals

2007 Regular Season Record: 69-93

Cost per Win: $67,116,500 / 69 = $972,702 per win

2007 Season Recap: The Royals won their only World Series in 1985 and they have failed to reach the playoffs ever since that season. Their 69 wins in 2007 were their most since the 2003 season which was also the last season they had a winning record. They finished the season 27 games behind the Indians in the AL Central, a division they finished last place in for the 4th straight season. The Royals’ problems in 2007 were on both offense and in the pitching staff. On offense the team had a .261 batting average which ranked 11th in the AL. They ranked 13th in the AL with 706 runs scored. Their pitching staff earned a 4.48 ERA as a team which was 7th in the AL but they were 10th or worst in every other major statistical pitching category.

The Royals spend a lot of their money on offense. More specifically $11 million of their salary went to designated hitter Mike Sweeney and another $5.2 million went to catcher Jason LaRue. Sweeney only played in 74 games in 2007 and when he did play he only managed a .260 batting average, 26 runs, and 38 RBIs. Needless to say when a player uses up nearly 1/6 of the payroll the team expects more than that. LaRue had an even worse season where he played in only 66 games, hit for a .148 batting average, scored 14 runs, and had 13 RBIs. Needless to say the Royals aren’t upset that both these guys are now free agents.

The Royals pitching had mixed success in 2007. Their leader in ERA of those who saw regular action was reliever David Riske who had an ERA of 2.45 with 69.2 inning pitched. The best record they had for a starter was Brian Bannister with a 12-9 record and a 3.87 ERA. The Royals highest paid pitcher was Gil Meche who earned a 9-13 record and a 3.67 ERA. The pitchers numbers really aren’t that bad but wins were hard to come by due to the lack of offensive output. This is a common theme in the bottom teams in baseball; they have good pitching but don’t have the offense to support it. Another performance of note was by Luke Hochevar who the Royals drafted first overall in the 2006 draft after some controversy in the 2005 draft. Hochevar only appeared in 4 games and 12.2 innings total but he did perform well keeping his ERA at only 2.13 which makes things look good going into next year where he could be a key part of the pitching rotation

Key Free Agents: SP Odalis Perez, 1B/DH Mike Sweeney, OF Reggie Sanders, C Jason LaRue; I’m really only noting LaRue and Sweeney because their leaving frees up a lot of salary space. Sanders is a good consistent hitter and a veteran on the roster and the Royals will feel the loss of him especially after he hit for a .315 batting average in 2007. The loss of Perez leaves a hole in the starting rotation but Hochevar seems poised to fill that hole so that isn’t too big of a worry for the Royals.

Offseason Needs: The Royals are in a situation a lot like the Orioles are in with their division. It is simply a matter of how competitive do they want to be. If they are satisfied to simply just try and improve their record then they just need to make a few additions on the offensive side of the ball that shouldn’t cost them too much. They could probably find a lot of talent in their own farm system since they do have some quality talent there with some of the trades they have made in past years. If they want to try and make the playoffs in 2008 they need to do a major and expensive overhaul of their whole lineup. They still probably wouldn’t make it with the talent available and the quality of the Indians and the Tigers in their own division. So I think they just need to go looking for a couple good bats, preferably young ones that don’t cost much.

Prediction for the 2008 season: Well I don’t’ know how to put this lightly; the Royals are in trouble in 2008 if their goal is to make any major improvements. They just simply can’t make the improvements to gain much in their division. They might get closer to the White Sox since I’ve already predicted doom for them but besides that I don’t expect much. If things go well in 2008 the Royals could get back above the 70 win mark but the 80 win mark is a serious reach. Someone has to occupy that bottom spot in the division and the Royals seem like the best candidates for that spot in 2008.

Day 27: Baltimore Orioles

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Team: Baltimore Orioles

2007 Regular Season Record: 69-93

Cost per Win: $93,554,808 / 69 = $1,355,866 per win

2007 Season Recap: The Orioles had a pretty rough 2007 season and extended the streak of seasons with a sub-500 record to 10 in a row. The Orioles have also finished 4th in the AL West 9 of those 10 seasons including the 2007 season. They finished 2007 with 93 losses and were 27 games back of the Red Sox for the division crown. The Orioles offense was actually pretty consistent and as a team they it for a .272 batting average which ranked 6th in the AL. Pitching was however a weak spot and as a staff they achieved an ERA of 5.17 which ranked 13th in the AL. All in all it made for a bad first season for manager Dave Trembley.

The Orioles didn’t have a real offensive standout. The team’s leader in terms of batting average was Nick Markakis who hit for a .300 average and added 112 RBIs which also led the team. The Orioles most well known and highest paid player in 2007 was Miguel Tejada. Tejada was paid nearly $14 million in 2007 and in exchange for that he hit for a .296 average and 81 RBIs which was second on the team. In the field Tejada had 15 errors at shortstop for a .971 fielding average which isn’t that great but not really bad either so Tejada at least made an argument that he deserved that salary.

The Orioles spend a lot of money on pitching with 3 of their 6 highest paid players being pitchers. One of these pitchers is Kris Benson who earned a little over $7 million in 2007 but missed the entire season while recovering from shoulder surgery. Of the pitchers that did see action in 2007 none of them performed exceptionally well. One of the most obvious marks of this is the fact that they didn’t have a single pitcher with an ERA below 3. The team’s leader in ERA was starting pitcher Eric Bedard who finished with a 3.16 ERA and a 13-5 record to also lead the team in wins. One thing the Orioles lacked in 2007 was a strong closer. The team’s leader in saves was Chris Ray with 16. The team as a whole only had 30 saves in 2007.

The Orioles did make a big move this off-season when they traded Miguel Tejada to the Astros. I have already commented in my post on the Astros that I think the Astros overpaid for Tejada which means that the Orioles did a good job of getting a quality return in the trade. The player that I think will end up being the best part of that trade for the Orioles will be Luke Scott and also the Orioles got 3 promising young pitchers in the deal so they have improved their pitching staff and also added a quality bat to their lineup to replace Tejada.

Key Free Agents: SP Kris Benson, OF Corey Patterson; Benson would have been a bigger loss if he would have played in 2007 but the combination of the question mark about his health and his high salary really minimize the impact of losing him. Patterson will be a loss but his leaving does open the hole in the outfield for Luke Scott to get into the starting lineup without taking someone’s place in the lineup.

Offseason Needs: The Orioles have already filled most of their holes with the Tejada trade. They could use some help in terms of starting pitching but most teams have that problem and their just really isn’t the talent in free agency to make too big of a difference. Their offense is solid enough to stay competitive but if they want to be able to make the playoffs soon they will have to spend a lot of money just to keep pace with the Red Sox and Yankees in their own division. As an organization they don’t seem ready to do that so they have really made the moves necessary to return to compete for the 3rd spot in the division which I think should be there realistic goal.

Prediction for the 2008 season: The Orioles play in way to good a division to see too much of an improvement in their record. I think they can make it to 75-80 wins in 2007 but anything above that would be a very good achievement and exceed any expectations I have for them. They should have a close race with the Blue Jays for that 3rd spot in the AL East and I think by the end of the season they will have that spot secured but still will probably be 10-15 games behind the Yankees and Red Sox in the standings.

Day 26: San Francisco Giants

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Team: San Francisco Giants

2007 Regular Season Record: 71-91

Cost per Win: $90,219,056 / 71 = $1,270,690 per win

2007 Season Recap: It’s never good when your team is all about 1 player but that was definitely the story of the Giants in 2007. Everything about the team revolved around Barry Bonds and his pursuit of the career home run record. As a team they finished in last place in the NL West and were 19 games back of the Diamondbacks. The odd thing about the Giants was that offense was their big problem and they ranked 14th in the NL in team batting average and 15th in the NL in runs scored. Pitching was a strong point for the team with the team ERA ranking 5th in the NL but they were 12 in the league in saves as a team which tells you how many save opportunities they actually had.

The things the Giants have a lot of in their offensive lineup is experience. The thing they lacked in 2007 was consistent hitting. One of these veterans was Randy Winn who led the team in batting average with a .300 average. The highest profile of veterans on the team was Bonds and he did put up good power numbers leading the team in home runs with 28 and runs with 75. Not too many people really seemed to notice how the team actually did the entire focus was on Bonds’ chase of the home run record. Which did sell tickets but it didn’t really make for good baseball to watch.

The Giants pitching actually did rather well in 2007 but with the lack of offense their records didn’t exactly represent that performance. The team leader in wins was Noah Lowry who had a record of 14-8 and a 3.92 ERA. Another starting pitcher who performed well in 2007 was Matt Cain who had an ERA of 3.65 and led the team with 163 strikeouts. For all of this effort though Cain only earned himself a record of 7 wins and 16 losses. The lack of offensive support he received though kept him from getting the record he deserved which should have been at least a winning record. The Giants biggest addition in the offseason was Barry Zito and his $10 million salary in 2007. Zito finished the season with 11 wins and 13 losses and a 4.53 ERA, the highest ERA of his 7 year career. This was a big investment for the Giants and they certainly hope that his numbers improve in the next season.

Key Free Agents: OF Barry Bonds, 3B Pedro Feliz, SP Russ Ortiz, 1B Ryan Klesko; Bonds is the most notable of the losses in that he did sell a lot of tickets in San Francisco and there will probably be a drop in attendance next season. Those other free agent losses didn’t contribute with any sort of great numbers in 2007 but then a lot of their lineup that is returning in 2008 didn’t contribute that great of numbers.

Offseason Needs: The Giants have already addressed their one big positional need and that was in the outfield when they signed Aaron Rowand. Rowand will also be an added bat to the lineup that is definitely needed. The Giants should try and add another bat or two to the lineup if they can. They have the pitching in place to improve they just need to get the offense to help the pitching staff. It was reported that they were interested in signing Alex Rodriguez but his price tag was probably too high for the Giants to really be able to get him but he would have been the big bat that they needed.

Prediction for the 2008 season: The Giants do have some of the pieces in place to be a good team in 2008. They do need some more offense and it is getting pretty late in the offseason to find anyone that they won’t have to overpay for. With all this in mind I do think the Giants will improve in 2008 just because their offense really can’t be that bed 2 years in a row with the veterans they have. I think it would be a real reach to say that they will move to high in the standing but I think they will be closer to .500 but with the quality of the other teams in their division they probably won’t move above 4th place in the NL West. I think they can best the Dodgers for that position in the standings.

Day 25: Florida Marlins

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Team: Florida Marlins

2007 Regular Season Record: 71-91

Cost per Win: $30,507,000 / 71 = $429,676 per win

2007 Season Recap: 2007 was the continuation of the rebuilding process that the Marlins have been going through the past several years. This process began after they won the World Series in 2003 and they have made some progress in developing talent but their record has failed to improve and their win total has fallen from 83 wins in ’04 and ‘05 to 78 wins in ‘06 to now 71 wins in 2007. They finished the season 18 games back in the NL East. Pitching was definitely the Marlins problem and as a team they were last in the NL with a 4.94 ERA and second to last in batting average against.

The offense played great most of the year and some of their young talent really stepped up this year. As a team they hit for a .267 batting average which ranked 8th in the NL and they scored the 6th most runs in the NL in 2007. The team was led by Hanley Ramirez and Miguel Cabrera. Ramirez hit for a .332 batting average and scored 125 runs, leading the team in both categories. Cabrera hit for a .320 batting average and led the team with 119 RBIs and 34 home runs. The Marlins also had several other good offensive performances from a bunch of unknowns. Some of these standouts were; Dan Uggla, Cody Ross, and Josh Willingham.

The Marlins’ major problem was with their pitching, more specifically their starting pitching. The best ERA for any starter in 2007 was a 4.65 by Sergio Mitre. The Marlins best known pitcher, Dontrelle Willis, had a 5.17 ERA and a 10-15 record, much below the expectations for the player that took up a fifth of their payroll. The Marlins did have a good closer with Kevin Gregg converting 32 of his 36 save opportunities. The Marlins had a lot of different guys get pitching opportunities in 2007 so they should have a good idea going into 2008 of what their staff will look like.

One big piece of news this off-season was the trade of Miguel Cabrera and Dontrell Willis to the Tigers. In exchange they received 6 young prospects including promising pitcher Andrew Miller. This gets rid of a lot of payroll for the Marlins since Cabrera and Willis were $13.8 million of the Marlins payroll in 2007. The true outcome of this trade won’t be seen for a few years but it most likely did hurt the Marlins for 2008.

Key Free Agents: RP Armando Benitez, 3B Aaron Boone, C Miguel Olivo; Boone was hurt most of the season so from a statistical stand point he isn’t too much of a loss but with Cabrera being traded off they have a hole at third base. Olivo was a good defensive catcher but his offense was a bit lacking. Nonetheless he will be missed and they need to fill the hole.

Offseason Needs: The Marlins will have a very young lineup in 2008 but that is nothing new. They have depth issues at third base and catcher but at 3rd they do have some good talent starting in Alfredo Amezega. They need some starting pitching however and exchanging Willis for Miller will not solve that problem. That is the one thing that they have been unable to get out of their farm system but they might just be able to find some since they have shown a talent for getting young prospects to play well in the past.

Prediction for the 2008 season: I don’t think the Marlins will see any major improvements in 2008 but I think their record will improve some. Most of their guys have gained experience and they did look a lot better later in the season. They should better the Nationals in their division but I don’t see them getting any higher than 4th since I think the Braves, Mets, and Phillies will all be above .500 by at least 10 games. The Marlins would be happy to reach .500 and I think they can do that if they catch a few breaks. Either way they will be a good team to watch because it is a good way to see the future of baseball now.

Day 24: Cincinnati Reds

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Team: Cincinnati Reds

2007 Regular Season Record: 72-90

Cost per Win: $68,904,980 / 72 = $957,013 per win

2007 Season Recap: The Reds haven’t reached the playoffs since 1995 and they didn’t change that trend in 2007. They finished the season with 72 wins which was their lowest win total since 2003 when they had only 69 wins. In 2007 they finished the season 13 games behind the Cubs in the NL Central but they did learn some things about the young talent on their team. As a team they did fairly good on offense averaging a .267 batting average as a team which ranked 9th in the NL and their 783 runs scored ranked 7th in the NL. The pitching didn’t do quite as well and helps to explain their record. As a pitching staff they earned a 4.94 ERA which ranked 15th in the National League and their starters earned only 47 of their wins which put a lot of pressure on the bullpen the entire season.

The Reds had several good offensive performances in 2007. Adam Dunn led the team in several statistical categories including home runs with 40. One feel good story was that of Josh Hamilton who came back from drug and alcohol problems to rediscover his talent. He played in 90 games, hit .292, and hit 19 home runs. One guy for the Reds that you never heard anything about was Norris Hopper who served as a fill-in in all three outfield positions and also had several pinch hit opportunities. In total he played in 121 games and earned himself a .329 batting average. Somehow though he only managed 14 RBIs which seems a bit low for someone that had 101 hits on the season. That usually signals that their weren’t runners on base when he came up to bat but he also only had 16 extra base hits so the runners would have had to been on at least 2nd if not 3rd to score, maybe that explains it but I’m not all that sure.

The Reds only had one pitcher with more than 9 wins in 2007. This was starter Aaron Harang who finished with a record of 16-6. In addition Harang had a 3.73 ERA and averaged 8.47 strikeouts per 9 innings which is a pretty good number. The pitching started to fall off after Harang though. Bronson Arroyo had an ok season and had 9 wins in 34 starts. Another good pitching performance was by closer David Weathers who finished the season with 33 saves and only 6 blown saves. The majority of the rest of the bullpen didn’t perform all too well and most had ERAs over 4.90 with one closer, Phil Dumatrait, having an ERA of 15 in 18 innings pitched.

Key Free Agents: RP Eddie Guardado, SP Eric Milton; Neither pitcher had an excellent season but in Milton’s defense he was injured for most of the season and only had 6 starts before being put on the 60 day disabled list for the rest of the season. Both are losses in terms of depth though.

Offseason Needs: The Reds are pretty solid in terms of offense. They did trade Josh Hamilton in the off-season though but that does open the door for Norris Hopper to step into the starting lineup and hopefully he can repeat his performance from 2007. The Reds however could use some quality pitching. A lot of this is already in the organization it is just a matter of fixing some problems and developing some youth. The Reds shouldn’t really need to spend a lot of money on pitching since they do have a good farm system it’s just a matter of finding the right mix of guys.

Prediction for the 2008 season: I think the Reds can improve in 2008. By this I mean I think they will get closer to .500 but I don’t think they will be breaking their streak of missing the playoffs. They are a team that could surprise some people though especially in the NL Central which has been weak the past few years and hasn’t improved all that much this off-season so from that view they do have the right conditions to make some real improvements to their record in 2008. At the very least they should be an exciting team to watch next season.

Day 23: Chicago White Sox

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Team: Chicago White Sox

2007 Regular Season Record: 72-90

Cost per Win: $108,671,833 / 72 = $1,509,331 per win

2007 Season Recap: Two years ago the White Sox won the World Series. Things have definitely changed on the south side of Chicago. In 2006 they won 90 games but missed out on the playoffs and then in 2007 they slipped severely and won only 72 games. This meant that by the end of the year they were 24 games back of the Indians in the NL Central and way out of the playoffs. A lot of the blame for this poor performance falls on the offense who managed only a .246 batting average as a team which ranked last in the American League. The White Sox also were last in the American League with 693 runs. The pitching wasn’t all that great either with the team ERA of the pitching staff ranking 12th in the AL.

One big problem for the White Sox in 2007 was consistency in the lineup. The best batting average on the team was .278 by Rob Mackowiak and he only played in 85 games. The next best on the team was Jim Thome with a .275 batting average. Thome also led the team in home runs, RBIs, and run scored so they were really a one man show. I won’t talk too much about the bad offensive performances by the White Sox because there were a whole lot of bad performances which is very sad for such a high salary team. One example is Paul Konerko who made $12 million in 2007 and hit only .259. This is not an isolated case with only 4 members of the roster hitting over .260 for the season.

The starting pitching rotation did a little bit better but didn’t have that great of numbers either. Obviously wins are going to be hard to come by when your offense scores the fewest runs of any team in the American League but they didn’t help their own cause a whole lot. The White Sox did have 4 pitchers with 10 or more wins but 3 of those pitchers had 10 and the other one had 15 wins. Those 4 pitchers; Jose Contreras, Mark Buehrle, John Garland, and Javier Vasquez, had 4 of the 6 highest salaries overall on the team and their salaries were all between $9 and $12.5 million. So in that respect the money was given to the right people but I think that is overpaying when you pay around $1 million per win. One bright spot for the White Sox in 2007 was closer Bobby Jenks who converted 40 of his 46 save opportunities. This included a streak of 41 consecutive batters retired. It’s too bad the White Sox couldn’t have given him more leads otherwise he probably could have put himself into the record books with the stuff he had in 2007.

Key Free Agents: The one thing the White Sox don’t have a problem with this offseason is free agents. They aren’t losing anyone that contributed really anything to the team. Of course that means that they also don’t have space to bring anyone new into the team which could really hurt them.

Offseason Needs: Maybe it would be easier to say what the White Sox don’t need. They don’t need starting pitching and they don’t need to increase their payroll, they already have plenty of overpaid veterans and they don’t need to add anymore. So that means what the White Sox do need is to trade some of those veterans and bring in lower paid youngsters who maybe can hit the ball more consistently. Their offensive performance was just terrible this season for such a high salary and that needs to be fixed if they have any hopes of improving in 2008.

Prediction for the 2008 season: I really don’t want to say this but I don’t see how the White Sox can improve in 2008. Nothing has changed their other than their manager, Ozzie Guillen, has a contract through 2012 and the veterans on their team are one year older, which is not a good thing. So I predict more of the same in 2008 unless they get aggressive in terms of trades but the trade values of their lineup is so reduced now that they won’t be able to improve their youth much without getting ripped off. So the White Sox will have to settle for living with the bad decisions they have made in terms of contracts and put up with losing for a while. If I was Ozzie Guillen I would be concerned for my job. Managers are usually the first to go when a team underperforms and it doesn’t really seem to matter what kind of contract they have.

Day 22: Washington Nationals

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Team: Washington Nationals

2007 Regular Season Record: 73-89

Cost per Win: $37,347,500 / 73 = $511,609 per win

2007 Season Recap: The Nationals had the 3rd lowest opening day salary in all of baseball and when that is considered they had a fairly good season. They had the best record of the 4 low-budget teams in baseball, the others being the Marlins, Pirates, and Devil Rays. They played in the NL West which had 3 of the 5 teams with more than 83 wins at the end of the season so they played some pretty tough competition to get their 73 wins. Statistically as a team the Nationals weren’t strong offensively ranking 13th in the NL in batting average and last in the NL in runs scored. Their pitching was better but it still ranked 10th in the league in terms of ERA which is actually fairly good considering that the team didn’t produce many runs for them and they were in pressure situations a lot.

The Nationals had 2 very strong bats in the lineup in 2007. First was Dmitri Young, the 2007 comeback player of the year. Young hit for a .320 batting average to lead the team and tied for second on the team with 74 RBIs. The team leader in RBIs, homeruns, and runs scored was Ryan Zimmerman. Zimmerman also led the team in strikeouts so maybe he swung for the fences a few too many times. Other members of the Nationals that had good offensive seasons were: Wily Mo Pena, Austin Kearns, and Cristian Guzman.

The Nationals lad a consistent pitching rotation and only had one player start more than 21 games and in total had 13 different pitchers get starts. The team leader in wins was Joe Rauch with 8. Rauch is a reliever and he didn’t start a single game in 2007 so that should tell you how many wins the starters got. One high not in terms of pitching came from Chad Cordero who finished the season with 37 saves but he also had 9 blown saves but with the lack of offensive numbers by the lineup that is not surprising.

Key Free Agents: OF Nook Logan, 3B Tony Batista; Logan had good numbers last season but the Nationals have passed on offering him a new contract so far this off-season. He was named in the Mitchell Report and there are some big questions around him and it seems the Nationals are going to avoid that controversy for right now. Batista is a loss in term of experience but Aaron Boone has already been signed to fill his place so that loss won’t be felt too badly.

Offseason Needs: The Nationals really don’t have any needs that need to be filled anymore. They have been busy in the off-season signing several players like Boone, Willie, Harris, and Rob Macowiak. Their biggest off-season acquisition is Paul Lo Duca who they signed to a 1 year deal worth $5 million. They are a young team so some improvements should be made next season just through improvement and experience of the players on the roster last year.

Prediction for the 2008 season: The Nationals play in a tough division there is no question about that. That fact will hurt their record with the Phillies, Braves, and Mets all trying to maximize their wins against the Nationals in order to stay in the race for the division which will be pretty heated. The Nationals will probably be a better team next year but I don’t think it will really translate into more wins just better stats and more enjoyable baseball to watch. So that means they may get closer to the 500 mark but won’t get above it and I’m pretty positive they can plan their vacations for October with no problems.

Day 21: Houston Astros

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Team: Houston Astros

2007 Regular Season Record: 73-89

Cost per Win: $87,759,000 / 73 = $1,202,178 per win

2007 Season Recap: The Astros had a season that was mostly a transition year where they were just trying to find their place and identity in the NL Central. Overall they finished the season 12 games back in the NL Central which was one of the worst divisions in baseball. Both offensively and defensively the Astros had a down year. They had the NLs 12 best team batting average with a .260 average and were 13th in the league in runs scored. The pitching didn’t pick up the slack for the poor offense either. As a staff they managed a 4.68 ERA and had a batting average against of .273 which ranked 12th in the NL for 2007. The one thing I did find interesting though for a team that had such a bad season is that the Astros made very few moves during the season. So either they really aren’t trying or they thought that their personnel was good enough to be successful in the future. They quite obviously changed their mind in the offseason and pulled off one of the bigger trades in December of 2007.

The Astros regular starting lineup actually didn’t perform that badly offensively they just didn’t have any amazing offensive performances. Their team leader in batting averages was Carlos Lee with a .303 average; he was second on the team with 32 home runs and led the team in RBIs with 119. The team leader in terms of home runs was Lance Berkman who had 34 home runs. The offensive numbers fall off for the rest of the lineup in terms of RBIs and runs but the Astros did get a good addition from Hunter Pence the rookie center fielder that was added to the roster on April 28th. Pence played in 108 games and earned himself a .322 batting average, 17 home runs, and 69 RBIs. Pence is one of the young Astros that looks to have a strong future if he continues to develop.

The Astros actually had a healthy pitching staff most of the year. The Astros had 3 starters with 31 or more starts but of those starters Roy Oswalt was the only one with more than 9 wins. Oswalt led the team with 14 wins and the next highest win total came from Wandy Rodriguez with 9. The closer situation for the Astros was confusing most of 2007. Brad Lidge started the season as the closer and was then demoted from that role for a period of time then put back into the closers role. Overall he finished with 19 saves which led the team but it was his lowest total since 2003. None of the relievers really had an outstanding year with only one pitcher with an ERA under 3 and that was Dennis Sarfate who only had 8.1 innings pitched in 2007 after being acquired from the Brewers in September, he only allowed 1 run in his time with the Astros which gave him an ERA of 1.08.

One big piece of news that happened just recently was that Miguel Tejada was traded to the Astros from the Orioles in exchange for 5 players including Luke Scott and Dennis Sarfate. I don’t think this was a good move for the Astros but it is nice to see them trying to improve the team over last year. Sarfate was a quality arm to lose and Luke Scott has always been a reliable performer. The true quality of this trade will be revealed in the next 2 or 3 years, especially with the steroid rumors around Tejada after the Mitchell Report was published.


Key Free Agents: 3B Mike Lamb, 2B Craig Biggio; Biggio is a big loss because he was always a solid lead-off hitter and gave the team a lot of experience. He is officially retired now but he has earned it after playing his entire 20 year career in Houston. Lamb is also a notable loss especially when the Astros don’t really have anyone to replace him. The losses in the Tejada trade are probably greater especially with the loss of a young arm and a quality veteran outfielder.

Offseason Needs: The Astros have started to fill a lot of their off-season needs and have already signed 9 free agents; 3 relief pitchers, 1 starting pitcher, 3 second basemen, and an outfielder. In addition they resigned Brad Ausmus who was always been a consistent performer for the Astros. Most of the Astros holes have been filled now it is just a question of whether they got the right guys to fill those holes and whether they are worth the money.

Prediction for the 2008 season: I think Houston is in big trouble in 2008. I don’t see them achieving a better record. Tejada is a big name but his power numbers have been declining and it is yet to be seen what effect the Mitchell Report will have on him. I realize there are a lot of new pieces in Houston and it’s very possible that if the right mix is achieved they could have success. I don’t think this success is going to happen though because half the season will be spent trying to achieve the right mix and by that time the Astros will be in a hole in the division race that they won’t be able to climb out of. The Brewers are looking far too strong going into 2008 to have too much of a late-season slide which leaves the Astros out of the playoff race by a long ways and could possibly leave them with more questions than answers going into 2009

Day 20: Texas Rangers

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Team: Texas Rangers

2007 Regular Season Record: 75-87

Cost per Win: $68,318,675 / 75 = $910,915 per win

2007 Season Recap: The Rangers played in a tough division in 2007 and just lacked the talent to really compete with the Angels and Mariners. The finished last in the AL West and were 19 games behind the Angels overall and used 2007 as more of a rebuilding year than anything. One big move they did make was to trade Mark Teixeira to the Braves for a collection of younger players that they will be able to build their team on in the future. As a team the Rangers had a season where they were in the middle of the road offensively and on the pitching mound. As a team they hit for a .263 batting average with ranked 10 in the AL and the pitching staff had a 4.75 ERA which was the 11th best in the AL.

Individually one of the offensive standouts was Michael Young. Young led the team with 94 RBIs and a .315 batting average. Another good offensive showing came from journeyman center fielder Marlon Byrd who hit for a .307 batting average and had 70 RBIs in only 109 games. The Rangers were also getting strong offensive contributions from both Mark Teixeira and Kenny Lofton before they were traded in the mid-season for young talent. By the time both players were traded the Rangers were 15.5 games back in the AL West so they were ready to look to the future and grow the amount of young talent on the team.

The place that the Rangers spend the bulk of their salary is pitching. This was also the area that needed the most improvement for the Rangers in 2007. Their team leader in wins was Kevin Millwood but he had only 10 wins and 14 losses which is a really bad sign when 10 wins is the most on the team, Millwood also had a 5.16 ERA so it wasn’t just a matter of his team not scoring for him. One of the things that I found interesting was that the team leader in saves was Eric Gagne who was traded off to the Boston Red Sox near the trade deadline. The Rangers did get 3 players in the trade so it will most likely help the team out in the future and Gagne was in the final season of his contract. The Rangers overall did a good job of building their youth talent base in a season that was something of a lost cause.

Key Free Agents: OF Jerry Hairston, OF Sammy Sosa, 1B Brad Wilkerson, RP Jamey Wright; None of these guys are really all that notable and most won’t be major losses in the lineup. Hairston had a terrible season where he hit for only a .189 batting average. Sosa is probably the biggest loss only because he led the team in home runs with 21. He most likely would have been dethroned of that title by Teixeira if he hadn’t been traded since Teixeira ended up with 30 in total at both Texas and Atlanta.

Offseason Needs: The Rangers need pitching there is no question about that. It is a possibility that some of the young guys they brought in through trades could pick up for those holes in their pitching staff but that is always a big risk. Offensively they are in fairly good shape but could use some more consistent hitting but I don’t think they need to spend a lot of money in that department. It would however probably be a good idea if they use some of their money to bring in a starting pitcher or 2.

Prediction for the 2008 season: I don’t foresee a lot of really good things happening for the Rangers next season. 2008 will be a year of experimenting to find out what mix of the young talent they have will work best so the lineup will be consistently changing and they will learn a lot but probably won’t win a whole lot. They are most likely destined for last place in the AL West once again and will probably have a worse record in 2008 than they did in 2007. This will especially be true if the A’s can improve, which I think they will do.

Day 19: Oakland Athletics

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Team: Oakland Athletics

2007 Regular Season Record: 76-86

Cost per Win: $79,366,940 / 76 = $1,044,301 per win

2007 Season Recap: In 2006 the A’s made it to the ALCS before getting swept by the Tigers. It’s amazing how much things change in a year. The A’s were nowhere near the playoffs this year and by the end of 2007 they were 18 games back of the Angels in their division. The A’s had the same problems that a lot of teams under .500 had; not enough reliable hitting, the lack of an outstanding ace, and a plague of injuries. As a team they only hit for a .256 batting average which was second worst in the AL and their team leader for RBIs only had 82.

Offensively the A’s didn’t have any major standouts and they had a couple guys not live up to expectations. One of these players was Eric Chavez who hit only .240 in 90 games and he also had 46 RBIs. Chavez is the second highest paid player on the team and for a team that doesn’t like to spend money the A’s were definitely looking for more from him. The team leader in RBIs and home runs was Jack Cust who had 82 RBIs and 26 home runs, he also struck out 164 times which all together gave him a batting average of only .256, not exactly the numbers you want from your DH.

In terms of pitching the A’s had mixed success. Their starters didn’t have as many wins as they probably should since the team really wasn’t able to score runs for them. As a staff they had a 4.28 ERA which ranks 6th in the AL so not that bad. In addition they achieved something that most teams can’t and that is they had a starting rotation that was pretty unchanging over the season, 3 different pitchers got 34 starts. A lot of credit should go to the training staff for that one. The team leader in wins was Dan Haren with 15. Haren has since been traded to the Diamondbacks for prospects. Another pitcher I would like to comment on is Huston Street. Street is in his 3rd year as a reliever and found his role reduced this season which was due in large part to missing a month with a minor elbow problem. When he was pitching he posted 16 saves in 21 opportunities and he had an ERA of 2.88. Hopefully next year he can return full-time to the closer role where he posted 36 saves in 2006.

Key Free Agents: DH Mike Piazza, SP Dan Haren, OF Shannon Stewart; Haren is by far the biggest loss because he had become the ace of the staff. This is normal operating procedure for the A’s though and as long as they keep with their history there will soon be another unknown in the starting rotation putting up win after win, previous examples of them doing this are Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson. Stewart is also notable since he provided some veteran experience in the outfield on a team that regularly has one of the youngest lineups in baseball. His number weren’t that great though so he will most likely be replaced by a young prospect who will match his numbers without much trouble.

Offseason Needs: The A’s have salary space after trading Haren and losing the $8.5 million salary that Piazza had. In addition in June of 2007 they traded Jason Kendall to the Cubs so his $12.8 million contract is gone also. Kendall was the highest paid member of the team and was very easily replaced by Kurt Suzuki. With the salary space there is hope that the A’s would make some off-season moves and bring some veterans in but up to this point they haven’t indicated that they are going to do that. This certainly isn’t surprising and in my opinion a lot more teams in baseball should do things the way the A’s do and actually use their farm system to make their players on their own major league team and not just use their prospects as trade pieces. Anyways, the A’s don’t have a lot of needs as long as they can develop the talent that they have. Some more consistent bats would be good but that is rare when you are dealing with inexperienced players like the A’s lineup is filled with. Overall the A’s will be ok with the personnel they have and really don’t need to go out hunting for a big name or anything.

Prediction for the 2008 season: I think the A’s will improve next year but I don’t think they will improve to the point of making it back to the playoffs. The Angels have improved way to much this off-season to be dethroned and the Mariners will be solid again. I think the A’s will compete for the second spot in the AL West but in the end I think the Mariners will beat them out for that spot. I do expect the A’s to have a winning record or very close to it they just won’t be able to get the wins necessary to get to the playoffs.

Day 18: St. Louis Cardinals

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Team: St. Louis Cardinals

2007 Regular Season Record: 78-84

Cost per Win: $90,286,823 / 78 = $1,157,292 per win

2007 Season Recap: The Cardinals won the World Series in 2006 but they didn’t follow up that championship well at all. They finished 3rd in the NL Central and posted a record of 78-84. They ended up 7 games behind the Cubs in their division even though they were only one game back of the division lead on September 7th. They finished the season 9-16 which could have been worse but they won their last 5 games to make their record look a lot more respectable.

A lot of the problems for the Cardinals started with a beat up pitching staff. Their ace Chris Carpenter pitched on opening day but that would be the only game he appeared in all season as he was soon but on IR. Their other ace, Mark Mulder, didn’t make a start until September 5th and only played in 3 games because he wasn’t completely healed from the surgery he had the previous off-season. He was very ineffective in his starts allowing 17 runs in 11 innings, all 3 losses.

There were a couple bright spots on the pitching mound in 2007 though. First was Adam Wainwright who starred as the closer in the 2006 championship run. In his first season as a starter he recorded a record of 14-12 with a 3.70 ERA which led the team in wins and he was the most consistent starter. Another quality pitching performance came from closer Jason Isringhausen who recorded 32 saves and a 2.48 ERA; in addition he only had 2 blown saves. It’s a shame Isringhausen didn’t have more save opportunities because he could have competed for some awards if he would have had more leads to work with.

On the offensive side of things the Cardinals had mixed results. The biggest story of the 2007 season was Rick Ankiel who made his return to the majors as an outfielder after completely self destructing as a pitcher a few years earlier. He played in only 47 games but he had 11 home runs and a .285 batting average which is pretty good for his first time as a regular batter in the majors. Albert Pujols had another impressive season but it went mostly unnoticed because it is expected anymore. He finished the season with a .327 ERA and 32 home runs which for a lot of players would be an MVP season but for him is just normal so he didn’t even register in the MVP vote. Other notable performances came from Skip Shumaker and David Eckstein.

Key Free Agents: OF Jim Edmonds, SS David Eckstein, UT Aaron Miles, 3 additional outfielders; The Cardinals are losing some serious experience going into 2008. Veteran Gold Glover Jim Edmonds was just traded to San Diego for a prospect and Eckstein has already signed with the Blue Jays but the Cardinals have signed Cesar Izturis to replace him. Another likely loss is Juan Encarnacion who took a foul ball to the eye near the end of the season and will most likely not play baseball again if he is even able to regain full sight.

Offseason Needs: Even with a lot of offseason losses I don’t think the Cardinals are in that bad of shape. They could use depth in the outfield and some experience but there is a lot of talent there that could put up some great numbers so I would like to see them get a chance to show how they can perform. There are rumors that Scott Rolen is on the trading block and if he goes then there is a hole at third base along with the hole that already exists at second base. The bottom part of the pitching rotation scares me a bit but there is some talent there it is just a matter of whether they can get the full potential out of it. The one thing the Cardinals do have is a strong farm system and that will be to their advantage in 2008 when they see how a lot of guys can play in the majors. I expect a lot of call ups and send downs all the way through the season.

Prediction for the 2008 season: I personally would like to see the Cardinals get back to the playoffs but I don’t think it is going to happen. I have hopes that they can get their record above 500 but they just don’t have the talent and experience to compete with the Brewers but I think if things go right they will end up second in the division and only a few games back of the wild card but won’t be able to get a good enough record to take the wild card. I predict some improvement for 2008 but not enough to get to the playoffs.

Day 17: Minnesota Twins

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Team: Minnesota Twins

2007 Regular Season Record: 79-83

Cost per Win: $71,439,500 / 79 = $904,297 per win

2007 Season Recap: Not a whole lot went right for the Twins in 2007. After winning the AL Central in 2006 the Twins found themselves with a losing record for the first time since 2000 and many question marks in the personnel area. When the season was all over the Twins were 17 games back of the Cleveland Indians, the winners of the AL Central. As a team the Twins had a .264 batting average and were 12th in the AL with 718 runs. Their pitching staff put up a 4.15 ERA which isn’t that bad but when your offense isn’t producing any runs it is too high to win the majority of your games.

The offense was seriously lacking in 2007 and a lot of that falls on the high profile members of the team. As a team none of the regular starters hit over .293 and that was by Joe Mauer who played in only 109 games. One of most notable of the starts performances was Torii Hunter. Hunter made $12 million last season and hit .287 with 28 home runs. This isn’t terrible but for the highest played offensive player on your team you would want better numbers. Another player that sticks out is Nick Punto who played in 150 games mainly at third base. Punto hit only .210 in 2007 and only 25 RBIs. Punto his .295 last season so for the Twins sake I hope this season was just a fluke.

The pitching for the Twins wasn’t much better but that has a lot to do with the fact that they didn’t produce many runs and the pitchers had to work real hard to keep things close. Johan Santana is their biggest arm and he ended up with a record of 15 and 13 even though he had an ERA of only 3.33. This was Santana’s highest ERA since 2001 and his lowest win total since 2003. This all led to frustration for Santana and is probably part of the reason he is actively being marketed on the trade market. Carlos Silva has 13 wins in 2007 but he also had 14 losses. Santana and Silva were the only Twins pitchers with more than 9 wins. Closer Joe Nathan also had 37 saves and only 4 blown saves. Nathan has become a very good closer and would have a lot more saves if the Twins would have been ahead more often.

Key Free Agents: CF Torii Hunter, SP Carlos Silva, 5 other Outfielders; Hunter is by far the biggest loss but the Twins couldn’t really afford him next season, he has already signed with the Angels. The Twins are also shopping Johan Santana pretty aggressively had he will be a major loss when he is gone. The Twins have made it pretty clear that 2007 is going to be a rebuilding year.

Offseason Needs: The Twins have a lot of needs all over the place. They are really short on depth in the outfield so some young talent is needed if they are truly in rebuilding mode. There is also a hole at second base. The Twins have added Mike Lamb and Adam Everett to solidify the rest of their infield and hopefully give that bad offense a boost.

Prediction for the 2008 season: Things don’t look good for the Twins. The Tigers are going to be great next season and the Indians will also have a good record. That means that the Twins will most likely be getting beat up a lot this season. The Royals will be bad again so the Twins will get some wins from them but it would be a small miracle for the Twins to have a winning record. With the right young talent thought the Twins could be a fun team to watch but I don’t think they will get a lot of wins.

Day 16: Los Angeles Dodgers

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Team: Los Angeles Dodgers

2007 Regular Season Record: 82-80

Cost per Win: $108,454,524 / 82 = $1,322,616 per win

2007 Season Recap: In 2007 the Dodgers had the same problem that the Blue Jays had. This being that they were in the wrong division. They play in the NL West a division that includes the Diamondbacks, Padres, and Rockies who all had very good seasons. This made things difficult for the Dodgers but they really didn’t help themselves either. They ended the season 8 games back in their division and 7.5 games back of the wild card.

The Dodgers had a solid season offensively. None of the regular starters had amazing offensive outputs but there also really wasn’t anyone with a bad season. The team leader in batting average of the regular starters was Jeff Kent with a .302 average and he also led the team with 20 home runs. The contributions of right fielder Matt Kemp and first baseman James Loney should be noted. Kemp played in 98 games and hit .342 and had 10 home runs. Loney played in 96 games and hit .331 with 15 home runs. This was the first year in the majors for both of these guys and their performances definitely make the future look bright for the Dodgers.

As is often the case in the majors the lack of good pitching from top to bottom in the rotation hurt the Dodgers. It seems that for a team to be successful they need to have that ace that puts up about 18 wins and a second guy that has about 15 wins on the season. This didn’t happen for the Dodgers. Their team leader in wins was Brad Penny with 16 then next was a tie with 12 wins for Derek Lowe and Chad Billingsley. After those 3 the Dodgers didn’t have a set rotation and had 10 players get 5 or more starters for the season, Billingsley even was in the bullpen for part of the season so a lack of continuity there hurts the team’s performance a lot at a position that relies a lot on chemistry with the catcher.

Key Free Agents: C Mike Lieberthal, SP David Wells, SP Randy Wolf, SP Mark Hendrickson, 1B Mark Sweeney; The loss of 3 starting pitchers is alarming especially this off-season where the talent available is so minimal. The loss of Mike Sweeney is a positive since it opens the door for James Loney to be the regular starter and the way he played last season he has earned it.

Offseason Needs: There is no question what the biggest need for the Dodgers is and that is starting pitching. For their sake I hope they have some people in their farm system because the free-agent market is not good. The Dodgers have already signed Andruw Jones and starting pitcher Chan Ho Park. So they have started to build the roster back up. Also I can’t end this section without mentioning the biggest addition to the Dodgers this off-season and that was the hiring of manager Joe Torre. What impact Torre will have has yet to be seen but it certainly can’t hurt their results in 2008.

Prediction for the 2008 season: If the Dodgers can improve their pitching rotation they can have a successful season next year. This will be tough but they seem to be willing to spend the money to get the talent to help the team get better so there is a chance they can get that done. Their lineup will be solid next season as long as Andruw Jones makes a rebound and performs up to the big contract he signed this offseason. I however don’t think that the Dodgers can improve enough to win the division so they will have to fight for the wild card. I don’t think they will be able to win that fight and they will be on the outside looking in for another year.

Day 15: Toronto Blue Jays

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Team: Toronto Blue Jays

2007 Regular Season Record: 83-79

Cost per Win: $81,942,800 / 83 = $987,262 per win

2007 Season Recap: I’ll start this off by honestly saying that I don’t know much about the Blue Jays and I don’t think I saw them play a single time last season. They really aren’t on TV at all and they just kind of get lost in the mix when they are in a division with the Yankees and the Red Sox. I do however have plenty of stats at my disposal and I will try my best to paint a good picture of the Blue Jays 2007 season.

The Blue Jays are in a bad place to try and build a team and succeed. When you play against the teams with the 2 highest salaries in baseball every year as many times as they do you are in trouble. The Jays have stepped up their own spending to try and stay competitive but it hasn’t translated into a playoff appearance since 1993 when they won the World Series. In 2007 they ended up 13 games back in the AL East and 11 games back of the wild card berth.

The majority of the Blue Jays salary goes to starting pitching and they had mixed success with their starters in 2007. Their highest paid player, A.J. Burnett, went only 10-8 but missed a portion of the season due to injury; he also had a 3.75 ERA. Their second highest salary earner was another starting pitcher, Roy Halladay. Halladay led the team in wins with 16 and also had an ERA of 3.71.

Offense was something of a problem for the Jays. They didn’t have anyone hit over .300 and Frank Thomas led the team in home runs with 26. The Jays third baseman Troy Glaus made $10.5 million in 2007 and in exchange for that he hit .262 and had 20 home runs. For that amount of money the Jays would certainly like better offensive numbers. Overall the Blue Jays averaged 4.65 runs per game which is a pretty decent number but for comparison the Red Sox averaged 5.35 runs per game. The numbers wouldn’t be that bad since they did post a pretty good record it’s just a matter that they need even better numbers to keep up in that division.

Key Free Agents: SP Josh Towers; To call Towers a key free agent is a serious reach. Last season he had a record of 5 wins and 10 losses and had a 5.38 ERA so he won’t be missed too much they will just need another arm to take his place in the starting rotation. Other than Towers the Blue Jays didn’t actually lose anyone besides a utility infielder.

Offseason Needs: The Jays don’t have any major off-season needs unless they want to spend some big bucks to try and become contenders in their division. They have already added David Eckstein to their roster so he will provide a solid leadoff hitter and a good defensive player at short stop. If they want to contend they will have to spend a good chunk of money on big time bats. If they don’t want to go that route then they need to add a 3rd and 4th pitcher in the rotation that can shut down opposing line-ups. Both routes will be very expensive and the addition of some bats would be a much easier way to do that.

Prediction for the 2008 season: It will be more of the same next season for the Blue Jays. They will beat up on the Tampa Bay Rays and the other teams in the AL they play because they do have a good lineup but it isn’t good enough to win a playoff spot in the AL next season. I expect a similar record as this year and they will finish 3rd in the AL East and be watching the playoffs in Toronto.

Day 14: Milwaukee Brewers

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Team: Milwaukee Brewers

2007 Regular Season Record: 83-79

Cost per Win: $70,986,500 / 83 = $855,259 per win

2007 Season Recap: The Brewers had a season that exceeded expectations. They led the NL Central for a large part of the season and just came up short in the end but the expectations going into the season were nowhere near that. In the end they found themselves 2 games back of the Cubs in their division and 6.5 games back in the Wild Card race. They played a very exciting offensive game and led the majors in home runs in 2007 by hitting 18 more than the Phillies. The on-field power of the Brewers made for a good team to watch and that led to increased popularity of the team even though they played in a small-market.

The Brewers had several players that had incredible seasons. First of all was Prince Fielder who was in the running for NL MVP but in the end he lost out to Jimmy Rollins who put up better all around numbers. Fielder finished the season with a .288 batting average, 50 home runs, and 119 RBIs. Another very notable performance was from Ryan Braun who won the Rookie of the Year award after being added to the roster on May 25th for the first time in his career. Braun came right out of the gate performing well and hit .382 in June which was his first full month in the majors. Braun’s totals at the end of the season were a .324 batting average, 34 home runs, and 97 RBIs all while playing in only 113 games. Other strong performances for the Brewers came from Corey Hart, J.J. Hardy, and Francisco Cordero.

The Brewers didn’t have any major underperformers. Pitching wasn’t necessarily a weak spot but they didn’t have any one strong performance. The most wins they had from any one person were 12 by Jeff Suppan, Dave Bush, and Ben Sheets. Claudio Vargas also added 11 wins so they had a fairly consistent staff. It should also be noted that Sheets only started in 24 games after getting injured early in the season. Sheets is the highest paid of any of the Brewers so they look for solid outings from him and they certainly hope that he won’t have injury problems next year.

Key Free Agents: RP Francisco Cordero and 3 additional relief pitchers; Cordero is a major loss since he was the teams closer last season and had 44 saves and only 7 blown saves. The loss of 3 other relief pitchers creates a problem for the Brewers but they have already started working on increasing the bullpen depth by already adding 2 relief pitchers including Eric Gagne who they are gambling will regain his form. I question that move some but in the right situation players can turn their careers around and Gagne definitely needs to do that if the Brewers are going to make the playoffs in 2008.

Offseason Needs: Well personally I think the Brewers need to bring in another closer but they have already dedicated $10 million dollars to Gagne for next season so that is very unlikely. Besides the needs in the bullpen there aren’t any major holes in the starting roster. They could use a couple outfielders that can hit better besides Corey Hart the other 2 starts hit .254 and .235 on the season. So that is a need that could be addressed but isn’t something that they need to use a lot of money to fill that need.

Prediction for the 2008 season: I like the Brewers’ chances in 2008. They surprised a lot of people last year with their performance and I think they will only build on that. I think they go to the top of the NL Central early in the season and stay there all the way to the end. The division is something weak so I don’t see them getting a lot of pressure from the other teams. The Brewers then have a team that is built to perform in the playoffs. The power in their lineup will help them greatly in the postseason and I think they will contend for the NL spot in the World Series. I’m a fan of the Brewers so I would personally like to see them make it all the way but the Rockies also look good so that could create a very good matchup of young players and 2 exciting teams to watch if they end up going head to head.

Day 13: Atlanta Braves

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Team: Atlanta Braves

2007 Regular Season Record: 84-78

Cost per Win: $87,290,833 / 84 = $1,039,176 per win

2007 Season Recap: Well the Braves had a bit of an up and down season. They ended the season 5 games back in the NL East and 5.5 games back in the NL Wild Card chase. They did however have a winning record which is always a good accomplishment in baseball but not what a team that has historically been in the playoffs with regularity is looking for. A lot of the Braves shortcomings came from the lack of performances by some of their high paid veterans. At the same time they had some great showings from young talent that makes it seem that the Braves have a good future.

Not all of the veterans underperformed though. One great performance in 2007 came from Chipper Jones. He led the team in batting average, home runs, and runs; .337, 29, and 108 respectively. Another strong performance came from Jeff Francoeur who led the team in RBIs with 105. Edgar Renteria also had a strong season hitting for a .332 average and scoring 87 runs. A third positive was the mid season addition of Mark Teixeira from the Rangers. As a member of the Braves he hit .317 and had 17 home runs in only 54 games.

Now on to the bad, the top salary earner for the Braves last year was Mike Hampton who made $14.5 million. The only catch with Hampton is that he hasn’t pitched for the Braves since 2005 due to a long series of injuries. He’s been attempting to rehab but it was reported that he strained his hamstring this winter while playing in the Mexican winter leagues so it doesn’t look like that trend will change any. The second player that got paid a lot to underperform was Andruw Jones and his $14 million salary. Most notably was the fact that Jones only hit .222 and that went up quite a bit when he got hot at the end of the season. He did have 26 home runs on the season which was second best on the team but maybe he needs to focus more on just getting hits and not trying to hit it out of the ballpark. Jones is now gone anyway so the Braves won’t have to worry about him underperforming anymore, he can do that for the Dodgers now.

Key Free Agents: OF Andruw Jones, SS Edgar Renteria, RP Octavio Dotel; Renteria isn’t actually a free agent this off-season but he was traded away to the Tigers very early in the off-season and I think he will be a major loss. Andruw Jones has also moved on as I mentioned before. The Braves really don’t lose many key guys and they have already brought Tom Glavine back so this team has a promising future ahead of them.

Offseason Needs: One of the major off-season needs is at short stop to fill the hole left by Renteria. Currently rookie Yunel Escobar is in the starting role on the depth chart but he is very inexperienced, he did however hit .326 in limited action last season so there is hope that he could pan out to be a solid talent. Center field is another question mark but the Braves have historically been good at finding young guys who perform well out there so I’m not too concerned about that position. They have definitely solidified the pitching rotation with the return of Glavine and assuming Hampton can actually pitch this year they will be solid from top to bottom so that isn’t a need.

Prediction for the 2008 season: I think next season will be a lot better for the Braves. They will contend for the NL East in a close race with the Phillies and Mets and I’d like to think that the Braves will come out on top. This is an organization that does things right and doesn’t just go out and buy players, they actually develop talent. For this reason I’m rooting for them and would definitely like to see them revisit the playoffs after a couple of years off. They probably wouldn’t get through the first round of the playoffs but you never know what could happen once a team makes it to the playoffs.

Day 12: Chicago Cubs

The entire schedule for when team recaps will be

Team: Chicago Cubs

2007 Regular Season Record: 85-77

2007 Postseason Record: 0-3; lost in NLDS

Cost per Win: $99,670,332 / 85 = $1,172,592 per win

2007 Season Recap: The Cubs spent a whole lot of money in 2007 and weren’t really rewarded for it. A larger portion of this money went to signing Alfonso Soriano and resigning Carlos Zambrano. The biggest salary on the payroll though belongs to Derek Lee who is also their best player so I’m not going to complain about that. Anyways, the Cubs won the NL central which was by far the worst division in baseball this year. The Cubs got a scare from the Brewers and for a while even the Cardinals were in the race. In the end the Cubs performed well enough to make the playoffs. They had a short stay though as they got swept by the Diamondbacks quite convincingly.

I have to give the Cubs credit; they do pay the most money to their best performers. Derek Lee had a very good season and hit .317 with 22 home runs. Soriano has 33 home runs on the season and hit .299 so his money was deserved also, that is if anyone deserves that much money to play sports. Zambrano also had a good season with 18 wins.

The Cubs were a team that didn’t have really any bad spots in their line-up but also beyond the top 3 offensive players didn’t have any outstanding play either. On the pitching mound they Cubs were also solid with the 4 regular starters all finishing with 11 or more wins. The Cubs will be looking to improve on the positives this season and to better in other areas. There is some definite possibilities with this team if they can get things clicking.

Key Free Agents: OF Cliff Floyd, SP Steve Trachsel; From a contribution stand point Floyd is a loss. He has always been a solid bat and has performed well in his career and is a good veteran presence that the Cubs might miss. The loss of Trachsel is notable from a depth standpoint. If the Cubs fail to sign anyone else they will be forced to put Mark Prior back into the starting rotation and that is a serious risk at this point.

Offseason Needs: The Cubs biggest need is at pitcher to secure the second half of the starting rotation. Another need is at Catcher and they also could use some help in the outfield. This is scary with such a high payroll already but the needs are there and must be addressed if they want to push deep into the playoffs.

Prediction for the 2008 season: The Cubs will definitely be competitive in the NL central. Not because they are that great of a team but more because the NL central hasn’t gotten any better. This could all change before the season starts but one of the teams in that division needs to take steps to show that they want to take charge. My instinct tells me that next season will be the Brewers year and the Cubs will be on the outside of the playoffs and their fans will be looking forward to 2009 in no time.

Day 11: Seattle Mariners

The entire schedule of when team recaps will be.

Team: Seattle Mariners

2007 Regular Season Record: 88-74

Cost per Win: $106,460,833 / 88 = $1,209,782 per win

2007 Season Recap: The Mariners had a good season that just wasn’t good enough. They contended for the wild card until late in the season when the Yankees started to actually play like they should with their payroll. The Mariners ended the season 6 games back in the AL West and also 6 games back in the Wild Card race. Also of note is the fact that the Mariners had a manager change mid way through the season which caused a bit of a distraction to a team that looked solid in the first half.

Performances by the Mariners start with Ichiro and then you can talk about everyone else. The perennial all-star performed just as expected this year and led his team in batting average, RBIs, runs, and stolen bases. Most notably was that he batted .351, his highest average since 2004 when he hit .372. Besides Ichiro the Mariners didn’t have any extremely impressive performances but most of the starters played solid through the entire year.

Not everything was perfect for the Mariners though. In my opinion their biggest disappointment was Richie Sexson who was paid $15.5 million in 2007. In exchange for the team highest salary Richie didn’t contribute much. Most glaring of his bad numbers was his .205 batting average. He did have 21 home runs but that was down from the 34 he had last season and the 39 the season before. For the salary he has though he should be contributing a lot more to the team.

Key Free Agents: OF Jose Guillen, SP Tomo Ohka, SP Jeff Weaver, RP Chris Reitsma; Tomo Ohka is probably the biggest loss but the additional loss of Weaver opens a big hole in the pitching rotation. Weaver was bad this season but he was still a body that could eat up inning so in that sense he will be missed. Guillen is an offensive loss and had a very solid season in 2007 with a .290 batting average and adding 23 home runs.

Offseason Needs: The biggest need is at pitcher just because they lose 2 guys and now have a big gap to fill. There is a thin free agent stock of pitchers so the Mariners are in trouble and will probably have to pull off a trade to get a solid guy. Guillen has already signed with the Royals so the Mariners now need to go on a hunt for a right fielder since they lack experience in their organization at that position.

Prediction for the 2008 season: It will be more of the same for the Mariners next season. I don’t think they will be able to improve their pitching hardly at all and they probably won’t even be as close to the wild card or division as they were this year. The wild card most certainly won’t be coming out of the west this season so it is either the division or nothing for the Mariners and they don’t have the talent to keep up with the Angels.

Day 10: Detroit Tigers

The entire schedule of when team recaps will be.

Team: Detroit Tigers

2007 Regular Season Record: 88-74

Cost per Win: $95,180,369 / 88 = $1,081,595 per win

2007 Season Recap: The Tigers had a solid season that just wasn’t good enough. On July 26th they were leading the AL Central by a game and a half and had the second best record in baseball. The Indians then caught fire and the Tigers started to slump and ended up 8 games back of them for the division and 6 back of the Yankees for the wild card.

The Tigers were led by MVP candidate Magglio Ordonez who led the team in batting average, home runs, and RBIs. His numbers were .363, 28, and 139 in those categories respectively. Ordonez has shown year after year to be a solid cornerstone to the Tigers franchise and is very much worth the $13 million that he made last year if any player is worth that much that is.

Another bright spot for the Tigers was pitcher Justin Verlander who led the team with an 18 and 6 record and a 3.66 ERA. Other bright spots on offense were Placido Polanco, and Curtis Granderson who both hit over .300 on the season and Granderson also added 23 home runs. The only regular Tiger’s starter who had a bad offensive season was Brandon Inge who hit only .236. On the other hand Inge was a solid performer defensively at third base with a .959 fielding percentage so his contribution to the team was not a waste.

Key Free Agents: 1B Sean Casey and SS Neifi Perez; Perez is a serious reach as a key free agent because he only played in 33 games but I wanted to have at least 2 people. The Tigers have already resigned starting pitcher Kenny Rodgers so that leaves only the loss of Casey who was a regular starter. The Tigers can now however move Carlos Guillen to 1st. Guillen played short stop last year but the Tigers have since brought in Edgar Renteria to play short stop next season. So in the end Casey isn’t a loss at all.

Offseason Needs: I thought of just taking this part out for the Tigers but that might seem strange when every other team has it filled in. So instead I will say that the Tigers really don’t have any offseason needs. Their starting pitching is solid especially with the development of Andrew Miller who I think will end up being a quality starter next year and the lineup looks solid from top to bottom. So in my opinion they don’t really have any needs after adding Renteria in the offseason.

Prediction for the 2008 season: So the Tigers have no offseason needs which makes a person think that they should have good success next season. It’s a sound theory and that is exactly what I think will happen next season. I predict the Tigers will win the division next year but will get a good amount of pressure from the Indian. This time they won’t stutter at the end though and they will keep a hold on the division lead all the way to the end. Once they reach the postseason they should get through the first round without a whole lot of problems but the second round will be a much greater problem because it will most likely be the Red Sox and I’ve stated before that I don’t see a lot standing in their way next year.

Day 9: New York Mets

The entire schedule of when team recaps will be.

Team: New York Mets

2007 Regular Season Record: 88-74

Cost per Win: $115,231,663 / 89 = $1,294,737 per win

2007 Season Recap: Well it is definitely not a reach to say that the Mets had a disappointing end to the season. They looked like sure locks to make the postseason on the morning of the September 14th they had a 7 game advantage they then went on to lose 12 of their last 17 games. This gave the Phillies the division and left a very bad taste in the Mets fans mouth that is still there today. A lot of this losing skid was due to a lack of defense, in those 10 losses the Mets gave up 7 or more runs all but one time. Probably one of the most embarrassing things about those losses was that 8 of them were to either the Marlins or the Nationals and 3 were to the Phillies who eventually jumped them in the standings. The other loss was to the Cardinals another team that failed to make the playoffs by a good margin.

The Mets did have some solid performers though. They should when they have the 3rd highest salary in the majors. First of all was David Wright. Wright ended the season with a .325 batting average and added 30 home runs. Secondly, 41 year old Moses Alou had a very solid season with a .341 average and played very good defense for a man who has been said to have decreasing skill. Alou did spend some time on the DL so he was only in 87 games but he played solid when he was playing. The Mets have since exercised an option to keep Alou for the next season.

The Mets also had an interesting year on the pitcher’s mound. Most notable of this was Pedro Martinez. He missed a large portion of the season and got 5 starts. He won 3 of those starts and had a 2.57 ERA but in the end it wasn’t enough to get them to the playoffs. The Mets had 2 pitchers finish with a 15 and 10 records and Tom Glavine got his 300th win of his career.

Key Free Agents: SP Tom Glavine, C Paul Lo Duca, RF Shawn Green; It is a tossup in my mind as to who is the bigger loss Glavine or Lo Duca. Lo Duca is a solid bat and he hit .272 on the season but his power numbers were down. Glavine didn’t have the greatest record this season but he is a seasoned vet in the clubhouse and always puts in a good performance and keeps the game in check. Atlanta has already brought him back to the Braves so there is no hope of the Mets bringing him back. Even though thep pitchers had solid number this season it was the pitching that let them down in the end of the season so the failure to perform when it was necessary is disturbing.

Offseason Needs: The Mets are pretty solid from top to bottom going into next season. They lack depth at first base right now but it’s not likely Carlos Delgado will be benched ay times soon. They just need an insurance plan at that position. Other than that there are no glaring holes on the roster. The biggest problem will be confidence after falling apart at the end of the season like they did.

Prediction for the 2008 season: The Mets are going to be solid next season. I have very little doubts about that. They have a good manager and a good front office plus an ownership group that is willing to spend. I’m predicting an NL east title in 2008 and a much more solid end to the regular season. They should be able to get through their first round opponent in the playoffs also the next series is a much bigger question mark in my mind but they will make it close.