Wattching Baseball: 2021 Season Preview
- Watt
- Mar 31, 2021
- 33 min read
After a wild Covid shortened 60 game 2020 season, Major League Baseball is back with a standard 162 game slate and scheduling of yore. The universal DH is gone and National League pitchers are back to bunting and running the bases in windbreakers.
This year only 5 teams from each league will make the playoffs with the dreaded 1 game Wild Card Round returning after last year’s 3 game first round series. Lasting remnants of the Covid season will be 7 inning long double headers and runners on 2nd base to start extra innings.
I’ve broken down where each team stands as we head into this return to normal. Knowing you likely don’t care about all 30 teams or may wish to space your perusal over several bathroom breaks here are some handy links to jump right to the teams you care about/where you left off. The American League teams will all be found below. For the National League teams click here
AMERICAN LEAGUE
AL West
AL Central
AL East
AL West
Houston Astros
Last Season: 29-31, 2nd Place in AL West, Lost ALCS 4-3 to Tampa Bay
Best Player: 3B Alex Bregman. Bregman had a down year in 2020 (.242/.350/.451) but so did most of the franchise after tacking a global health crisis on top of an already disastrous scandal plagued offseason. He just turned 27 so he’s right in the prime of his career and in 2019 he finished 2nd in the AL MVP voting after putting up 41 home runs and a .296/.423/.592 slashline buoyed by a league leading 119 walks.
Fun Player: OF Kyle Tucker. The Astros lost OF George Springer to free agency but can feel a little better about it given the emergence of Tucker in 2020. Tucker could slide right into Springers old leadoff spot where the combination of pop (9 HR .512 Slugging) and speed (MLB leading 6 triples paired with 8 steals) make him a spark plug for instant offense.
Is Their Owner A Scumbag?: Jim Crane bought the team in 2011 after making over $1 billion with an air-freight company, Eagle Global Logistics he founded with $10k borrowed from his sister. Eagle Logistics itself has been subject to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigations into hiring practices and also has made 3 settlements in cases regarding war profiteering, which seems bad. Now CEO of an investment management company, he also owns a fancy golf course in Florida where he hangs out with Obama and George W. Bush. While Covid dominated the news cycle for baseball last season, it’s important not to forget the masterclass in mismanaging a P.R. crisis Crane gave prior to the Spring Training shutdown:
This dude sucks.
Are They Trying To Win?: This team had an intern banging on trash cans to get an edge on curve balls. I think they’re fully committed to pulling all the stops. That said, their championship window may be drawing to a close. They will certainly miss 2019 Cy Young winner RHP Justin Verlander who underwent Tommy John after just 1 start last season. They still have a workhorse ace in RHP Zack Greinke (Career 3.37 ERA) who will look to rebound from a mediocre 2020 (3-3 4.03 ERA). RHP Lance McCullers Jr. has some of the best stuff in baseball but will need to carry a heavy load for someone that hasn’t ever thrown more than 130 innings in 5 big league seasons. They added reliable veteran starter RHP Jake Odorizzi (3.92 career ERA) but he’s also reliably dealing with injuries once again. The big question for the Astros will be which if any of their big bats bounce back after a brutal 2020 showing. None will be more scrutinized than 2017 AL MVP 2B Jose Altuve who is now on the wrong side of 30 and coming off a truly miserable performance (.219/.286/.344 and an AL leading 4 errors at second base). He should be highly motivate to prove he can perform without the alleged aid of buzzers.
Los Angeles Angels
Last Season: 26-34, 4th in AL West, Missed Playoffs
Best Player: CF Mike Trout. Trout is the best baseball player of the 21st century. He legitimately could make a case for best ever period if he avoids injuries or a steep late career decline. This is not hyperbole. At 74.2 career Wins Above Replacement, Trout has the 52nd highest total ever and 3.3 more WAR than the average Hall of Famer. Turning 30 later this year, he could play for 10+ more seasons. If he duplicates his production of his first 10 seasons to finish with 148.4 he would be 5 WAR ahead of Barry Bonds for 3rd all-time nipping at the heels of Babe Ruth (154.4) and Ty Cobb (151.2) who played 22 and 24 seasons respectively. Trout had his lowest MVP vote finish ever last season, 5th place. He has only one postseason trip to his name. The Angels front office should be in prison.
Fun Player: 1B Albert Pujols. At 41, Pujols is the oldest player in MLB, far, far removed from his prime and set to retire following the season but my god, what a prime. Pujols was arguably the greatest player of the 00’s putting up a frankly insane .331/.426/.624 line and 408 HR through 2010, his age 30 season. Despite a precipitous decline Pujols will still finish with some truly historic numbers. He currently has 3236 hits (15th all-time, 83 hits away from 10th), 662 Home Runs (5th all-time counting 2 steroid users), 2100 RBI (3rd all-time) and a career .299/.377/.546 slash line. Throw in 3 NL MVP’s, 10 All-Star Appearances, an NL Rookie of the Year, 2 Gold Gloves, a league batting title, and 2 World Series titles and you may have a unanimous Hall of Fame selection. Let’s reminisce on some taters:
Is Their Owner A Scumbag?: Arte Moreno became the first Mexican-American owner of a major sports team in the U.S. when he bought team from Disney in 2003. Moreno, a Vietnam War vet, made his billions in advertising, specifically billboards with his company Outdoor Systems which sold to Infinity Broadcasting for $8 billion in 1998. As owner, he’s spent lavishly on mega contracts for Vladimir Guerrero and the aforementioned Pujols and Trout while keeping concession prices among the league’s lowest. The Angels notably play in Anaheim not Los Angeles and used to be named as such before Moreno changed it to “appeal to more of Southern California.” The city of Anaheim sued him alleging the change violated the team’s lease terms which Moreno skirted with the not at all clunky “Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim” moniker that lasted from 2005-2016. As both a billionaire and veteran it’s not shocking Moreno would lean conservative but at a September 2020 Latinos for Trump event he stated “It’s very necessary to vote for President Trump.” That certainly is one take away from a health and economic crisis that “forced” you to furlough large swaths of the staff of your nearly $2 billion franchise.
Are Trying To Win?: Desperately. As mentioned, the greatest baseball player of his generation has disgracefully only played in 3 playoff games his entire career. The halos have 5 straight losing seasons. Last year was the big push bringing in 3B Anthony Rendon on a 7 year $245 million deal. He was good in 2020 (.286/.418/.497) but the Angels would very much like to see something a bit closer to his 2019 scorched earth numbers (.319/.412/.598) in his first full 162 game season in Anaheim. This offseason the Angels added aged OF Dexter Fowler, but perhaps his former Cubs manager Joe Maddon can work his magic to get something better than the pathetic 2020 numbers (.233/.317/.389) out of the 2016 All-Star. The big issue for the Angels, as it has been much of Trout’s career, is going to be pitching. Last year they tried former All-Star RHP Julio Teheran and he was ghastly going 0-4 with a 10.05 ERA in 10 games. This year they’re taking flyers on 2016 All-Star LHP Jose Quintana who has a career 3.73 ERA but only threw 10 innings last season and RHP Alex Cobb who was great to start his career (3.21 ERA in 498.2 innings pitched) but has not been himself since Tommy John surgery in 2015 (4.67 ERA in 418.1) innings. Maybe one or both will work out and solidify the rotation behind current ace RHP Dylan Bundy. They also traded for RHP Raisel Iglesias (2.74 ERA 12.1 K/9 in 23 2020 innings) to slide into the closing role of their dismal bullpen. The RHP/DH Shohei Ohtani two way player experiment has mostly been a bust with him only throwing 53.1 innings in 3 seasons, but if the Angels can get any effective innings out of his dangerous arsenal, their pitching woes significantly reduce.
Oakland Athletics
Last Season: 36-24, 1st Place in AL West, Lost ALDS 3-1 to Houston
Best Player: 3B Matt Chapman: Chapman’s vast range and cannon arm leave him widely regarded as the league’s best defender on the hot corner. He may be the best defensive player in the league at any position as recognized by his back to back Platinum Glove awards in 2018 and 2019. He had a bit of a tough year at the plate in 2020 striking out 54 times in just 142 at bats while hitting .232 overall. Some of these struggles could be attributed to the hip tendinitis that ended his season early or he may just have been swinging out of his shoes to slug a career high .535 and hit 10 HR in just 37 games.
Fun Player: Andy Samberg in a mullet wig.
That’s right dear reader, I am once again imploring you to watch Lonely Island’s The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience streaming now on Netflix (album on Spotify). Bodacious babes are bench pressed. Puka shell necklaces are acquired. You learn how Jose Canseco’s date went with Madonna. No offense to RHP J.B. Wendelken but it’s almost certainly more fun than anything I could tell you about some random very good reliever.
Is Their Owner A Scumbag?: John Fisher, whose parents founded Gap, the retail clothing company, in 1969, is worth $2.2 billion and purchased the A’s for $180 million in 2005. He also co-founded Sansome Partners, an investment firm. After college he worked in the mailroom of the RNC and as a fund-raiser for Ronald Reagan and the elder George Bush which is pretty standard rich kid stuff. John later teamed up with his mother to donate $9 million to a dark money anti-Obama PAC called "Americans for Job Security" that spent $15 million in the 2012 election cycle. Job security is in no way a disingenuous area of concern for someone that furloughed most of his player development and scouting departments along with initially planning on not paying any of his minor leaguers beyond May during the Covid shutdown. The Fisher family are also big supporters/bankrollers of KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) Charter Schools, the largest network of public charter schools in the U.S. John chairs the board of KIPP and is the co-chair of the Charter School Growth Fund. The merits of charter schools can certainly be debated but one of their biggest proponents is Betsy Devos of “we need guns in schools to shoot bears” infamy so take of that what you will.
Are They Trying To Win?: Oakland has a time tested system developed by Jonah Hill of spending just enough to make the playoffs out of a weak division before promptly getting bounced by superior competition. The A’s lost long time SS Marcus Semien to free agency but replaced him with familiar division foe SS Alvis Andrus. Oakland will hope the back issues that limited Andrus to just 29 games and appalling .192 batting average in 2020 do not linger. 2018 All-Star 2B Jed Lowrie is back for his third stint with Oakland after getting just 7 at bats in 2 years with the Mets due to knee trouble. Fellow elderly 2018 All-Star Mitch Moreland will take over the DH spot and provide pop (.551 SLG in 2020) to a low contact lineup that will likely live and die by the long ball. LHP A.J Puk will more likely than not make his first MLB start at some point this season. The former #6 pick missed the 2020 season with shoulder trouble but showed elite level stuff in his brief 2019 MLB debut going 2-0 with a 3.18 ERA and 13 K in 11 inning. He could add some flare to a deep rotation full of solid but not spectacular starters led by RHP Chris Bassitt (5-2 2.29 ERA in 63 2020 innings). The bullpen has been one of the strongest aspects of the A’s 3 straight playoff appearances but it lost stalwart RHP Liam Hendriks this offseason. The A’s will hope to have replaced him with 2020 Trevor Rosenthal (1.90 ERA in 23.2 innings) and not 2019 Trevor Rosenthal (13.50 ERA in 15.1 innings)
Seattle Mariners
Last Season: 27-33, 3rd in AL West, Missed Playoffs
Best Player: OF Kyle Lewis. A unanimous selection for AL Rookie of the year Lewis put up a pretty solid .262/.364/.437 slash line. These numbers are even more impressive in the context of the Mariners where no one else playing more than 30 games hit over .255. He bashed a team high 11 HR in his 58 games as well to keep a projected bottom feeder surprisingly competitive.
Fun Player: OF Mitch Haniger. A 2018 All-Star and the best player on the Mariners prior to the arrival of Lewis. Haniger hopes to haves balls exploding off his bat rather than in his pants after rupturing a testicle in 2019. The foul ball induced injury was obviously very serious as he missed half the 2019 season and all of the 2020 season as he recovered from various surgeries. However, I would be remiss to not take the opportunity to utilize a classic Simpson’s clip before wishing him well on the comeback season:
Is Their Owner a Scumbag?: The Team president Kevin Mather had to recently resign after a disastrous speaking engagement where he disparaged both Japanese and Latin players for their English speaking skills, bragged about profits during the Covid crisis and confessed to service time manipulation of young players. This is after a series of workplace conduct complaints against Mather and other Mariners executives surfaced from 2009, when Mather was overseeing human resources no less. Based on who he had running the team at the highest level, it would probably be fair to assume that billionaire John Stanton, who made his money in early wireless telecommunications is pretty shitty.
Are They Trying To Win?: You would think they might consider it given the fact they haven’t made the playoffs since 2001, the longest drought in the league, but they seem content to suck awhile longer because it’s cheaper. Their top prospect and #4 prospect in all of MLB, OF Jarred Kelenic, is none too pleased with the service time manipulation. Along with Haniger, the Mariners also get C Tom Murphy back after missing 2020 with injury. He hit an impressive 18 HR in just 75 games in 2019. Also returning is free agent acquisition LHP James Paxton who has very good in his last year with the Mariners in 2018 going 11-6 with a 3.76 ERA and career best 11.7 K/9 but stunk up the joint his last year in New York (6.64 ERA in 20.1 2020 innings). These returners are nice to have on hand but they didn’t lead to any playoff runs before so it’s hard to envision them overcoming 3 solid divisional foes for the sole spot likely to come out of the West.
Texas Rangers
Last Season: 22-38, 5th Place in AL West, Missed Playoffs
Best Player: SS/3B Isiah Kinfer-Falefa. Kinfer-Falefa won the Gold Glove at 3rd base last season but will shift over to short to fill the spot of longtime Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus who was traded to Oakland this offseason. The 26 year old Hawaiian Hustle made 15 starts at short last season and 141 in his minor league career so he should be fairly comfortable with the move. If he repeats last year’s .280/.329/.370 performance he essentially replicates Andrus career .274/.330/.372 which I had presumed was much higher since he was a two-time All-Star. Really goes to show how baffling it is when teams cheap out on hanging onto a shortstop like Francisco Lindor that routinely and significantly eclipses those numbers.
Fun Player: OF Leody Taveras. A 21 year old rookie of the year contender, Tavares did some nice things in his first stint in the majors last season playing strong defense and stealing 8 bases without being caught once in 33 games. The switch hitting speedster’s slash line left a little to be desired (.227/.308/.395) but it was his first time seeing pitching above AA so a learning curve is to be expected. With more experience Taveras could feature at the top of the lineup for years to come.
Is Their Owner A Scumbag?: The Rangers actually have co-chairmen in the form of Ray C. Davis and Bob R. Simpson. What kind of Texas operation would it be to not be run by oil men? Davis founded natural gas distributor and pipeline building Energy Transfer in 1995. They built the highly controversial Dakota Access Pipeline. Simpson co-founded the oil company XTO Energy that was sold to ExxonMobil for $41 billion in 2010. The year of that sale XTO dumped 50,000 gallons of waste water into a Pennsylvanian well site. Neither owner appears to be very involved with team affairs but certainly signed off on the push to have the team build a brand new $1 billion ballpark with $500 million in public funds directly across the street from their only 25 year old ballpark that had 8,000 more seats.
Are Trying To Win?: I can see why Texas officials have been so lackadaisical in their Covid response; a test result may be the only positive a Rangers fan sees all year. This was the worst team in the AL last season and much like Greg Abbott they made little to no efforts to rectify this dire situation. Part of this lack of response likely comes from the fact this is the franchise the pandemic may have been the worst timed for, as Covid prevented them from realizing any of the revenue influx opening a new stadium generally brings. Opening Day starter RHP Kyle Gibson has a decidedly anti-ace like career 4.57 ERA including a 5.35 ERA in 67innings last season. My fellow Minnesotans may recall Gibson for his years as the 3rd or 4th starter on Twins teams that routinely lost 90 games. The Rangers did have two players hit double digit home runs last year in 1B Joey Gallo and 2B Rougned Odor. Unfortunately they also hit .181 and .167 respectively while striking out a combined 126 times; exactly double their 58 hits. I recklessly used two semi colons in this paragraph and I’m about as confident that I used them correctly as this team should be that it won’t lose 100 games.
AL CENTRAL
Chicago White Sox
Last Season: 35-25, 2nd in AL Central, Lost AL Wild Card Series 2-1 to Oakland
Best Player: 1B Jose Abreu. The reigning AL MVP had a monster year at the plate putting up a .317/.370/.617 line to lead the AL in slugging, hits and total bases along with 19 HR and an MLB high 60 RBI. Since arriving from Cuba in 2014, Abreu has been everything the Sox could hope for in a slugger putting up a .294/.350/.520 line and averaging 33 HR and 113 RBI per 162 game seasons.
Fun Player: LF Eloy Jimenez. A 6’4 235 lbs 24 year old power hitting genetic freak that has clobbered 45 home runs in just 177 career games. He also happens to crash into nets and walls with comical frequency.
He was working on adding teammates to his lists of objects to avoid this spring training:
Predictably he is set to miss at least the first 5 months of the season with a ruptured pectoral tendon from his latest wall collision.
Is Their Owner A Scumbag?: Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf made his initial vast wealth specializing in real estate tax shelters, which sounds like a reasonable shady billionaire origin story. He has since expanded his wealth to over $1.5 billion through his ownership of the Sox since 1981 and the Chicago Bulls since 1985. In both leagues, Reinsdorf is a known anti-labor entity. He colluded with other MLB owners in the 80’s to deflate free agent contracts and was one of the key driving forces behind the institution of the salary cap in the NBA. Ultimately it was also salary concerns that broke up the Michael Jordan led Bulls dynasty after their 6th Championship. In 1988, he also swindled $150 million in subsidies and construction bonds out of Chicago and the state of Illinois to pay for a stadium, which he retains 100% of the concession and parking proceeds on, by threating to move to St. Petersburg.
Are They Trying To Win?: The White Sox announced they are in full on win immediately mode with their hiring of geriatric manager Tony LaRussa. It is World Series or bust for the South Siders because who knows how long the Hall of Fame skipper has left before retiring again and/or receiving an additional DUI. Even without Eloy the lineup is stacked with Abreu being joined by SS Tim Anderson who followed up his breakout 2019 with an even stronger 2020 (.322/.357/.529), sophomore sensation OF Luis Robert (11 HR and a Gold Glove in 2020) and 2-time All-Star C Yasmni Grandal. The RHP Lucas Giolito (4-3 3.48 ERA 97 K in 72.1 2020 innings) and LHP Dallas Keuchel (6-2 1.99 ERA in 63.1 innings) led rotation is solid and now deeper with the addition of RHP Lance Lynn (6-3 3.32 ERA 89 K in 84 innings). They also added the best reliever on the market in new closer Liam Hendriks (3-1 1.78 ERA 14 SV 37 K in 25 innings). The X-factor for the team is 2B Yoan Moncada who struggled mightily following an early summer bout with Covid (.225/.320/.385 with 72 strikeouts and only 45 hits in 200 at bats). If he bounces back to his 2019 self (.315/.367/.548 25 HR), LaRussa may have another ring to show the next cop that pulls him over.
Cleveland *temporarily still* Indians
Last Season: 35-25, 2nd in AL Central, Lost AL Wild Card Series 2-0 to New York
Best Player: RHP Shane Bieber. In the two previous seasons I used this section to call Francisco Lindor “the Platonic ideal of a shortstop” and “one of the top young players in the game” so he of course has been traded by the Indians for 2 half eaten bags of dill pickle sunflower seeds. Luckily for Indians fans, they still have a bright young star under team control for 4 more seasons in reigning AL Cy Young winner Shane Bieber. Bieber was practically untouchable last season going 8-1 with a 1.63 ERA and a head turning 122 strikeouts in 77.1 innings, good for an MLB best 14.2 K per 9 innings. At 25 years old Bieber should just be entering his prime and dominant into his early 30’s at least. Look for him to be on the trading block around 2023.
Fun Player: 3B Jose Ramirez. One of the most delightful players in all of baseball. First off he absolutely mashes at the plate. His .292/.386/.607 and 17 HR in 58 games was good for a 2nd place finish in 2020 AL MVP voting. More importantly, he is a doughy speedster. Ramirez led the Indians with 10 stolen bases last season. That fleetness of foot wasn’t an anomaly either. Ramirez stole 34 bases in 2018. He is a very legitimate 30-30 threat and he has the chubbiest of cheeks.
Is Their Owner A Scumbag?: Charles Dolan made an obscene amount of money in cable television. He gave his now widely despised son James, Madison Square Garden, the New York Knicks and the New York Rangers. Charles’s brother Lawrence was a lawyer and used his portion of the family trust to purchase the Indians in 2000. Larry’s son Paul, also a lawyer, has been controlling owner since 2013. Larry and Paul are both Notre Dame Law Grads so I have to assume they have quite upstanding moral fiber, they just also happen to be tremendous tightwads.
Are They Trying To Win?: Not particularly. Cleveland has the lowest payroll in MLB at $39.5 million, about $2.5 million more than Mike Trout alone will make this season and $190 million below the Dodgers’ league leading $239 million roster. In addition to shipping Lindor out, the Indians also let 3 time All-Star closer LHP Brad Hand and 2019 All-Star 1B Carlos Santana (who to be fair, did suck last year) walk this offseason. Despite the Dolans’ penny pinching the Indians do still have some nice pieces. RHP Zach Plesac is a good arm behind Bieber in the rotation (4-2 2.28 ERA in 8 2020 starts) but infamously struggled with following Covid procedures. DH Franmil Reyes is a 6’5 265 lbs pure slugger who hit 37 round trippers in 2019. In addition to the sunflower seeds, the Indians did receive 22 year old SS Andres Gimenez from the Mets in exchange for Lindor. He likely will not approach anywhere near the ceiling of Lindor, especially in terms of power, but a .263/.333/.398 rookie line in 49 games last season shows some promise as a potential lineup fixture for years to come. They should be a competitive squad but not likely challenge the loaded White Sox or Twins atop their division.
Detroit Tigers
Last Season: 23-35, 5th Place in AL Central, Missed Playoffs
Best Player: 3B/1B Jeimer Candelario. Selecting the best Tigers player, the “Tiger King” so to speak, is a lot like picking content off the Netflix home page. Something may jump out at you like 23 year old SS Willi Castro hitting .349/.381/.550 in 32 games but inevitably winds up being seriously flawed like Castro’s blunder filled fielding (6 errors in 2020). The most likely scenario is often ending up with something like Candelario that is better than you expected (.297/.369/.503 in 52 games) but ultimately likely a worse option than something you could have easily found elsewhere. Like a Netflix production it’s also unlikely that elevated quality persists across a second season (See: Candelario’s .235/.326/.395 career line or Stranger Things).
Fun Player: 1B Miguel Cabrera. Cabrera is long past his days of challenging for the Triple Crown (league lead in HR, RBI, and Batting Average) but he is still creeping up on history. Miggy is 13 home runs away from 500 and 134 hits away from 3,000. He would become only the 7th player in MLB history to obtain both those illustrious counting stats. If, and this is a big if for a guy turning 38 on April 18th playing in an ongoing global pandemic, Cabrera can stay healthy, he has a chance to reach both this season. In 2019, his last full 162 game season, he got 139 hits and 12 home runs in 136 games. A repeat performance would give him 3,000 hits and leave him just one bomb short of 500. He’ll have every opportunity to get at bats in this dumpster fire lineup and could give Tigers fans something to care about after July for the first time since 2014.
Is Their Owner A Scumbag?: The Ilitch family made all their money on the back of Little Ceasar’s. Mike Ilitch founded the delicious value pizza chain in 1959, amassing enough wealth to purchase the Red Wings in 1982 and Tigers in 1992. He passed away in 2017 so now his son Christopher runs the team. The Ilitch’s seems to be fairly benign billionaires give or take the standard “Our tax payer funded stadium will benefit the whole community” grift. Anyone that has introduced Crazy Bread to the world earns a pass from too much scrutiny from me.
Are They Trying To Win?: Boy I hope not because this current roster is a war crime. They lost 114 games in 2019 and had the second worst record in the AL last year. The Tigers do have one of the best farm systems in baseball including 2020 #1 overall pick Spencer Torkelson who hit 54 home runs in 129 college games, so the pivot to competitiveness could be coming soon. Dampening that hope somewhat are the early returns of fellow #1 pick RHP Casey Mize who went 0-3 with a 6.99 ERA in 28.1 2020 innings. However, it’s a very small sample size and he will have every opportunity to gain experience and improve with this barren bullpen. LHP Matthew Boyd, last year’s Opening Day starter was one of the worst pitchers in baseball. He led the AL in losses (7) and MLB in earned runs (45) and home runs given up (15).
Kansas City Royals
Last Season: 26-34, 4th in AL Central, Missed Playoffs
Best Player: C Salvador Perez. Hard to believe the 2015 World Series MVP is still just 30 years old. Perez is one of the last remaining pieces from back to back 2014 and 2015 Series trips that feel like lifetimes ago. Perez played 37 games after missing all of 2019 rehabbing from Tommy John surgery and the 6 time All-Star looked better than ever going .333/.353/.633 with 11 dingers. He closed the season on an absolute tear putting up .371/.391/.806 7 HR 20 RBI over the last 15 games. He surely can’t maintain such a mercurial pace over a full 162 game slate but with his 5 time Gold Glove winning defense in play as well he should push J.T Realmuto for the title of best catcher in the league.
Fun Player: RHP Josh Staumont. An elite bullpen arm that throws absolute gas. He went 2-1 with a 2.45 ERA and 37 K in 25 which are very nice numbers but he really does need to be seen to fully appreciate his filth. Look at what his 101 MPH heater did to Byron Buxton:
Now watch him drop in a 20 mph slower curveball:
I need to take a shower.
Is Their Owner A Scumbag?: John Sherman bought the team for a cool billion dollars in 2019. Sherman is the founder and CEO of Inergy, L.P and Inergy Midstream, two energy companies that have since merged with Crestwood Holdings to form a massive entity that treats and transport natural gas worth nearly $9 billion. He’s has a long time interest in baseball and prior to buying the Royals he was a minority owner in the Indians. I didn’t find any serious dirt on a cursory scan and he sells propane so Hank Hill would approve.
Are They Trying To Win?: Somewhat surprisingly/foolishly, they actually are. The Royals have a strong core with Perez, 2019 All-Star OF Whit Merrifield, DH Jorge Soler (AL high 48 HR in ‘19), SS Adalberto Mondesi (MLB high 24 steals in ‘20) and RHP Brad Keller (5-3 2.47 ERA in ‘20). They made some nice additions acquiring OF Andrew Benintendi in a salary dump from the Red Sox and signing 2019 All-Stars 1B Carlos Santana and LHP Mike Minor on the cheap after disappointing 2020’s. It’s almost certainly not enough to compete for the division crown with the loaded Twins, White Sox and still dangerous Indians ahead of them but should any of these teams slip or suffer injuries they could quickly snake up the leaderboard.
Minnesota Twins
Last Season: 36-24, 1st in AL Central, Not At All Embarrassing 2-0 AL Wild Card Loss to Houston Astros
Best Player: OF Byron Buxton. One has to think he is due to be healthy at some point after playing in just over half of the Twins games since his debut in 2015. When Buxton does play, he is a sensational speedster and might be the best defensive player in the game at any position. He was honored as such with the Platinum Glove award in 2017, the last full slate of game he played. Besides frequent injuries the other knock has been his streaky impatient hitting (career .238/.289/.430). In 2020 however, he displayed tremendous power slugging .577 and hitting 13 dingers in 39 games. If this carries over to the new year, and he stays off the Injured List, he is an MVP contender. He has of course missed a portion of Spring Training after chipping his tooth on a steak. No doubt karmic punishment for his longstanding defiance of physics and gravity:
Fun Player: UTIL Luis Arraez. The man just hits. He hit .331 in 6 seasons in the minors. He’s hit an identical .331 in his first 124 MLB games. He also has great command at the plate and rarely strikes out (40 K in 487 plate appearance.) Obviously you don’t want to get carried away with projections this early in his career but he’s definitely the second coming Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn. You can even see it in his pudgy stature. Through his first 2 season, the 23 year old Gwynn had played 140 games and slashed .302/.348/.379 so I was a bit off in my comparison; at 23 Arraez (.331/.390/.429) is vastly superior to the first ballot Hall of Famer. Tony Gwynn hit .351 to win his first batting title at 24 so by my conservative unbiased estimate, look for Arraez to hit just under .400.
Is Their Owner A Scumbag?: To quote the very first line of the career section of Carl Pohlad’s Wikipedia: “Pohlad got his start in the banking business by foreclosing farms during the Great Depression,” so, an all-around standup guy. Pohlad expanded from banking to amass a nearly $4 Billion portfolio with a little bit of everything around Minneapolis including real estate, automotive sales, an entertainment conglomerate, and since 1984, the Twins. Carl tried to first sell the team in 1997 for relocation to North Carolina and then later to MLB for $150 million as part of a contraction plan to remove the small market team from the league. Needless to say, I despised this man with the fire of a thousand suns. Jim Pohlad, who took over the team in 2009 after his father’s timely passing, seems to have a significantly looser checkbook and no confirmed reports of kidnapping dogs to make luxurious fur coats so I guess he’s an improvement.
Are They Trying To Win?: The Twins signed 4-time Gold Glove winning SS Andrelton Simmons to shore up a middle infield that blundered their way out of the playoffs. They also added more depth for the rotation behind RHP Kenta Maeda and RHP Jose Berrios in the form of LHP J.A. Happ (Career 3.98 ERA) and RHP Matt Shoemaker (Career 3.86 ERA). Alex Colome (0.81 ERA in 22 2020 innings) is a lively bullpen arm to help offset the losses of Sergio Romo, Tyler Clippard and Trevor May. Last season’s addition of Maeda proved to be one of the league’s best signings as he finished 2nd in the AL Cy Young voting. Here’s hoping fellow 2020 signee 3B Josh Donaldson has fully recovered from lingering calf issues that limited him to just 28 games his first year in Minnesota. If he can put up anything close to the .259/.379/.521 and 37 dinger line he put up for Atlanta in 2019, he’d challenge the legendary Nick Punto as the best Twins third baseman of my lifetime. Already the best DH of my lifetime, 40 year old Nelson Cruz (.308/.394/.626! 57 HR 141 RBI in 173 games with the Twins) will hopefully continue to avoid aging/testing positive for both disease and anabolics after re-signing for a 3rd year with the club. The team seems very committed to winning but unfortunately are equally committed to crushing all my hopes and dreams each postseason. They should have every opportunity to stretch their playoff loss streak beyond their current MLB record 18 game skid.
AL EAST
Baltimore Orioles
Last Season: 25-35, 4th in AL East, Missed Playoffs
Best Player: 1B/OF Trey Mancini. Not only is Mancini the best player on the Orioles, he may be the best story in all of baseball this season. After hitting a team high 35 home runs in 2019, Mancini missed the 2020 season after a startling spring training diagnosis of stage III colon cancer. It’s hard to tell how his body will hold up to the rigors of a full season after 6 months of chemotherapy and a year away from the game, but he ripped a single in first return at bat:
Fun Player: 1B/OF Chris Davis. Another year, another paragraph I wrote about Felix Hernandez trying to make a team before he opted out forcing me to pick a last minute replacement. Davis is fun because his stat line gives the common man the most hope that they could have played at the MLB level (.115/.164/.173 in 16 2020 games). There is not much professional athletes do that most folks could ever dream of accomplishing, but any one of us could gone hitless in a record 62 straight plate appearances like Davis did across the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
Is Their Owner A Scumbag?: It’s probably not particularly ethical for anyone to be worth $2.1 billion but as an attorney, Peter G. Angelos made his boatload of money on asbestos poisoning lawsuits and suing the nefarious tobacco industry. He seems very progressive for a 91 year old billionaire and actually ran for Mayor of Baltimore on the city’s first interracial ticket in 1967. In a major departure from most owners in professional sports, Angelos is also staunchly pro-labor. Angelos refused to sign a document signed by every other owner that blamed the players for the 1994 MLB strike and also refused to field replacement players prior to the ’95 season. Sticking to his pro-player guns, he also frequently hands out fat contracts to washed up and underperforming players.
Are They Trying To Win?: In 2023 perhaps. The last big contract the Orioles dished out was Chris Davis’s horrific $161 million 7 year contract they are still under for the next 2 seasons. He’s hit .196/.291/.379 overall since signing so it’s a bit understandable that Angelos, or more likely his heir, is wary of lighting any more money ablaze at Peter’s advanced age. For now the Orioles are just trying to determine if any of their younger pieces are worth retaining when they do want to spend again. The outfield could have some a couple future mainstays in 24 year old rookie Ryan Mountcastle (.333/.386/.492 in 35 MLB games) and 26 year old Anthony Santander (.261/.302/.505 31 HR in 130 games since 2019). On the mound the O’s hope presumed ace LHP John Means develops better long ball avoidance after 12 of the 36 hits against him in 2020 left the ballpark. There’s also hope for growth from 26 year old LHP Keegan Aikan who flashed some good stuff in his first MLB stint striking out 35 in 25.2 innings but he also gave up more than a hit per inning and had an ERA of 4.56.
Boston Red Sox
Last Season: 24-36, Last Place in AL East, Missed Playoffs
Best Player: SS Xander Boagerts. Boagerts is one of the best hitting shortstops in the game and at 28, is smack dab in the prime of his career. The 2-time All-Star was in MVP contention in 2019 posting .309/.384/.555 with 33 HR 52 doubles and 117 RBI. He wasn’t quite as good in the shortened 2020 but still hit a very respectable .300/.364/.502 and 11 HR in 56 games.
Fun Player: 3B Rafael Devers. Raffy Big Stick is just 24 years old and has completed 4 MLB seasons where his performance has bounced every other year from potential MVP candidate to outright bum. After tearing it up at the plate in 2019 with 32 home runs to go along with an AL leading 54 doubles and 359 total bases, Devers looked significantly worse in 2020 seeing his slash line drastically decline from .311/.361/.555 to .263/.310/.483. The one constant to Devers game is his horrific defense that turns every ball hit to the hot corner into an adventure. Devers has led AL 3rd basemen in errors each of the last 3 seasons and finished 2nd in errors in 2017 when he only played 58 games.
Is Their Owner A Scumbag: John W. Henry, who made his fortune trading corn and soy beans and developing a mechanical system for managing trade of commodity futures, appears at first glance to be on the lower end of the shitbird scale despite a $2.6 billion net worth. He saved historic Fenway Park, star of beloved motion picture The Town, by nixing previous ownership plans to build a replacement and opting to renovate the iconic ballpark instead. He spent big to reverse the Curse of the Bambino. Henry even had Yawkey Way renamed after 40 years of honoring former owner Tom Yawkey who had held out a full 12 years after Jackie Robinson’s debut before fielding a black player. Lest folks get too wrapped up in some of his more altruistic moves, just a reminder that he signed off on trading beloved Mookie Betts for a used laundry bin to avoid paying some luxury taxes.
Are They Trying To Win?: Maybe? Going all in seems a bit more expensive than they would like it to be at this time so instead the Sox are banking on bounce backs from players already on the books. The Sox had the highest payroll in baseball when they won the World Series in 2018 but they have cut back spending significantly and got their payroll down to 7th going into this year. They very quietly welcomed back their World Series winning manager Alex Cora after his full year suspension for his involvement in the Houston Astros cheating scandal. The Red Sox have their fingers crossed on returns to form from aging stars DH J.D. Martinez, who looked awful in 54 games last season (.213/.291/.389), and team ace LHP Chris Sale, who missed all of 2020 recovering from Tommy John surgery. The Sox hope the Sale who returns sometime this summer will be closer to his 2018 self (12-4 2.11 ERA) than 2019 (6-11 4.40 ERA). Current ace LHP Eduardo Rodriquez (19-6 3.81 ERA in 2019), missed 2020 with a scary bout of Covid and myocarditis that followed. The Sox had the worst pitching staff in the AL last year so these arms coming back could be instrumental towards reversing their fortune.
New York Yankees
Last Season: 33-27, 2nd in AL East, Lost ALDS 3-2 to Tampa Bay Rays
Best Player: 2B D.J LeMahieu. LaMahieu has been one of the best hitters in baseball since joining the Yankees prior to the 2019 season. In 2020, he won the MLB Batting title with a .364 batting average and finished 3rd in AL MVP voting. All told he has slashed .336/.386/.536 since donning the pinstripes. LeMahieu had previously won the league batting title with the Rockies in 2016 but he’s displayed a lot more pop since joining the Bronx Bombers, knocking 36 home runs in 195 games with the Yanks after only accumulating 49 in 955 prior games with the Rockies and Cubs. He’s no slouch in the field either racking up 3 Gold Gloves across his 10 years in the majors.
Fun Player: OF Brett Gardner. Looks like a penis. Is now a bench warmer.
Is Their Owner A Scumbag?: As far as rulers of an evil empire go, Hal Steinbrenner doesn’t seem so bad. He and his late brother Hank were groomed from a young age by their father George to take over the Yankees. George bought the team in 1973 for $8.8 million using funds gained by the family shipbuilding company when Hal was just 3 years old. The team is now valued at $5 billion, the second highest mark behind the Dallas Cowboys for any American sports team. Hal is a lot less hands on than his bombastic father, letting his GM Brian Cashman do his thing and just signing the fat checks of his hired guns. The most heat he has ever delivered is saying the Yankees could have won the 2017 World Series had the Astros not been cheating. He could stand to really shore up his hateability so as not to deprive future generations of a high rolling pompous team to despise.
Are They Trying To Win?: The Yankees have not had a losing season since 1992. A Yankees cap has become a lasting national symbol of bandwagon fandom because there hasn’t been a bad time to climb aboard in nearly two decades. This team is almost always obscenely loaded and I hate it. Rather than ever tank and rebuild, the Yankees can always just flip one of their many chips for someone else’s best prospects like they did to pry SS Gleyber Torres from the Cubs and OF Clint Frazier from the Indians. The biggest difference between the Yankees and most of their more penny pinching compatriots is that they are willing to swing big and miss. One such example has been the trade for 2017 NL MVP OF Giancarlo Stanton and his $325 million contract prior to the 2018 season. Stanton has only had one healthy season in the 3 years since, playing in just 41 games the last 2 years combined. This would cripple most franchises or at least scare them off the market for years to come but the Yankees haven’t sweated it one bit. They went right ahead and signed RHP Gerrit Cole (7-3 2.84 ERA), fresh off leading the AL in ERA and strikeouts in 2019, to a massive 9 year $324 million deal prior to last season and resigned LaMahieu for 6 more seasons this offseason. For comparison, in 2006 the Twins signed free agent DH and 2003 All-Star Rondell White to a 2 year $8.5 million deal, he stunk (.229/.266/.354), and no one will ever convince me otherwise that this failed financial transaction isn’t why miserly Carl Pohlad made the front office trade 2 time Cy Young winner LHP Johan Santana in 2008. If you want to hear more about the Yankees just ask any youth outside the state of Florida wearing brand new Tampa Bay Bucs gear.
Tampa Bay Rays
Last Season: 40-20, 1st in AL East, Lost World Series 4-2 to L.A. Dodgers
Best Player: RHP Tyler Glasnow. An imposing 6’8 on the mound, Glasnow has some of the filthiest stuff in the league striking out 91 batters in 57.1 innings. He’ll have to carry a heavy load as the Rays traded away previous team ace Blake Snell this offseason. There are some question as to how Glasnow will shoulder the burden of true ace over a full 162 game slate as he’s never made 25 starts or thrown more than 125 innings at any level. He sure looked the part in moments of 2019 though going 6-1 with a 1.78 ERA and 76 K in just 12 starts due to a lingering arm strain.
Fun Player: OF Randy Arozarena. Went absolutely scorched earth in the 2020 playoffs (.377/.442/.821 with 10 HR in 20 games). Sure it’s a small sample size but when you can cut a 5 min highlight tape of 20 games, something special has occurred:
By dint of only having 42 regular season games under his belt, Arozarena is still eligible for Rookie of the Year this season. If he hits even close to those fully juiced Barry Bonds level playoff numbers he would run away with that award and likely the MVP as well. If he performs even at his regular season pace of .281/.382/.641 and 7 HR he put up in 23 games, he’s a top rookie contender.
Is Their Owner A Scumbag?: Would you believe it, Sternberg, who bought the team in 2004 for $200 million, is another guy who made an obscene amount of money (roughly $800 mil) doing the finance. I really should have looked into this field more before settling on my not at all made up “consulting” degree. But I think trading your 28 year old Cy Young winner signed for 3 more years for a rusty can of lima beans is idiotic so maybe I wouldn’t fit in with the day trade crowd. Stu has been openly opining that the team needs to move for over a decade. He’s been engaged in an unending stalemate with the City of St. Petersburg refusing to cut the team out of its ironclad stadium lease and no neighboring city is foolish enough to pony up for the decades long financial boondoggle of funding a new stadium. Prior to Covid, Sternberg repeatedly tried to propose a desperate and widely clowned upon 50/50 split for hosting the team between Montreal, Quebec and St. Petersburg to get out of paying the needed money for a roofed stadium.
Are They Trying To Win?: While ownership may handcuff them with the budget of a bottoming out team in the midst of a full on rebuild, their baseball operations side has ripped off 3 straight winning seasons culminating in last season’s World Series appearance. The key to their success has been maximizing undervalued assets like Glasnow and 2019 All-Star OF Austin Meadows who were both acquired in exchange for RHP Chris Archer whom actually returns to team as a free agent after a dud of a 2.5 year stint with the Pirates. Swiss army knife UTIL Joey Wendle (.279/.335/.410 in 264 games with the Rays) was given away by the Athletics in a classic “ehhh we’ll just name some minor leaguer later” trade. Their player development has been unmatched turning 31st round draft pick OF Kevin Kiemaier into a 3-time Gold Glove winning center fielder. Their minor league system is currently adding some seasoning to #1 overall prospect SS Wander Franco whom they signed out of the Domican at 16 years old. Franco seems all but assured of being called up to the team some time later this season but will start out in the minors since he hasn’t played above high A baseball yet. All this combines to make them a tough club to count out of contention no matter who has been jettisoned in the latest budget crunch.
Toronto Blue Jays
Last Season: 32-28, 3rd in AL East, Lost Wild Card 2-0 to Tampa Bay
Best Player: SS Bo Bichette. The Jays have an overflow of young talent but the most tantalizing of the young stars is 23 year old Bo. Bichette has raked to the tune of .307/.347/.549 with 16 HR in 75 MLB games. That home run rate averaged out across 162 games is 35 dingers. Only 11 shortstops in MLB history have gone yard that many times in a single season. The one problem for Bichette has been staying on the field. He missed over a month of last season with a knee sprain after missing portions of 2019 with a broken hand and concussion. Third time could be the charm at getting a full year out of the young stud.
Fun Player: 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr. I will hype up this chonky king at any given opportunity. He turned 22 just a few short weeks ago and already has 2 big league seasons under his belt. He’s been productive (.269/.336/.442 24 HR in 183 big league games) but is yet to reach the high ceiling projections of a former #1 prospect nor unleash the full power he showed off in the 2019 HR Derby. He’s just a lad though with plenty of time left to develop. He came to training camp looking svelte and ready to bash.
Is Their Owner A Scumbag?: A team owned by a corporation! Very neat and cool. Rogers Communication owns the Blue Jays. Edward S. Rogers Jr. founded Rogers Communication and was the 5th richest person in Canada when he passed away in 2009. His son Ed III is now chairman. Rogers is like the AT&T or Comcast of Canada as our neighbor to the north’s foremost cable, internet and phone service provider. Their dogged by similar criticisms as these other communication giants what with their dubious sale tactics and price manipulation caused by their oligopoly on the Canadian market shared with Bell and Telus. They’re all over Canadian sports as well partnering with Bell to own 75% of the Toronto Maple Leafs and having the naming rights to the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks arenas in addition to Rogers Centre, the once much cooler named Sky Dome, home of the Blue Jays.
Are They Trying To Win?: The baby Jays are getting ready to fly. This offseason the Jays added OF George Springer and 2B Marcus Semien to one of the better lineups in the American League. The biggest obstacle to their ascent may in fact be entirely out of their control. As MLB’s only non-American team, the Jays have been the club most impacted by Covid as international travel has been a big no no. After playing all of last season in Buffalo, NY, Toronto will open the season in Dunedin, Florida but where they go from there is still a mystery. It’s unclear if or when they would be cleared to compete in the great white north as international travel remains quite the health and safety buggaboo. With 3 Opening Day starters 25 or younger they may prove to feel right at home in the minor league ballpark and it’s shorter outfield fences could prove a tremendous windfall for power hitters like Bichette, Guerrero, Springer (14 HR in 51 2020 games), and OF Teoscar Hernandez (16 HR in 50 games). On the other hand it could allow for opponents to feast on a very shallow rotation behind ace LHP Hyun Jin Ryu (5-2 2.69 ERA in 67 2020 innings).
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