Jjav829
03-07-2005, 01:06 AM
Well, in the interest of trying to stir up some more baseball discussion on other teams, I had an idea that we could do our own WSI preview of all 29 other teams in baseball. I'll start a new thread for a new team every day, with some days having two teams. My first post will summarize the teams offseason moves and hopefully open up some discussion on predictions or just general discussion of each team. Here goes. We'll start off with the Mariners. I'll see what kind of response there is. If there is a good response to this idea, I'll continue the idea. If not, well, it's just another failed idea. :smile: Here goes...
Seattle Mariners
Key offseason additions:
3B Adrian Beltre
1B Richie Sexson
Key offseason losses:
None
General Outlook:
You have to like the additions of Beltre and Sexson to the middle of the order. The Mariners biggest weakness last year was their inability to put up runs. They were the lowest scoring team in the AL last year, scoring a measly 698 runs. To help solve that, they went out and added the MLB home run champion from last year at third base, and a first baseman who has 40 HR potential. One positive on Beltre is that he is going from a pitchers park to a pitchers park. This isn't like he hit 48 home runs playing at Coors last year and is suddenly going to a place where home runs are hard to come by. A dropoff is to be expected, but even if he only hits 38 home runs, he's still a huge boost to that lineup. Ichiro will be Ichiro at the top of the order and should create plenty of RBI opportunities for Seatte's two new boppers. If Bret Boone bounces back and focuses less on the long ball and more on actually hitting the ball, their lineup could be pretty good.
Possible starting lineup:
Feel free to play manager here and tell us how you would stack the teams lineup. I would go:
RF Ichiro Suzuki
LF Randy Winn
3B Adrian Beltre
1B Richie Sexson
2B Bret Boone
DH Raul Ibanez
CF Jeremy Reed
C Miguel Olivo
SS Pokey Reese
If Reed starts off hot, he could find himself in that #2 hole sooner rather than later. But for now, you have to give Randy Winn the nod. Ibanez seems to be in place as the DH. All-in-all, the additions of Beltre and Sexson figure to give them a lot more offense. They should also take some pressure off Boone, possibly allowing him to cut back on the home run stroke and look to make a little better contact once in a while.
Possibly starting pitching rotation:
Jamie Moyer
Joel Pineiro
Gil Meche
Bobby Madritsch
Ryan Franklin
Pineiro's the best of the bunch, though I'm guessing Moyer gets the Opening Day nod because he's the veteran. They could have used some help here. By help, I mean more than the return of Aaron Sele. They're going to need Moyer to show he can still pitch and at least one of the young pitchers has to take a major step forward for them to have a chance to be decent in what should be a tough AL West. They'll be better than last year's 63 win team just because they won't see as many 2-1 losses this year. Still, barring career years from three or more of their starters, they don't figure to be anything more than a team that will make the AL West a little tougher on the likes of Anaheim, Oakland and Texas.
Overall Prediction:
4th place 73 - 89
Player that will surprise:
1B - Richie Sexson - It's not that Richie is going to surprise anyone based on what he has done. I just think some people have this idea that Sexson is injury prone and expect him to be injured again. I think he'll stay healthy and put up some good numbers.
Player that will disappoint:
CF Jeremy Reed - He's been hyped up by a lot of people, perhaps overhyped. It seems that some Mariners fans are even starting to believe that he has been overhyped. The M's front office explored trading for Mike Cameron, perhaps indicating that they might be a little worried about just how ready Reed is. Then again, they might just be worried about Reed playing center, preferring to move him to left field. One way or the other, they seem to have some quiet worries about Reed.
So that's about what I have in mind. Nothing major, but something that could hopefully be a springboard to further conversation. Throw out anything else you want. Feel free to copy this post and replace what I said for each category with your own thoughts. Add in any other categories you want and I might use them for future previews if this thing sparks some conversation. If it doesn't, o well, but I thought it seemed like a good idea.
Seattle Mariners
Key offseason additions:
3B Adrian Beltre
1B Richie Sexson
Key offseason losses:
None
General Outlook:
You have to like the additions of Beltre and Sexson to the middle of the order. The Mariners biggest weakness last year was their inability to put up runs. They were the lowest scoring team in the AL last year, scoring a measly 698 runs. To help solve that, they went out and added the MLB home run champion from last year at third base, and a first baseman who has 40 HR potential. One positive on Beltre is that he is going from a pitchers park to a pitchers park. This isn't like he hit 48 home runs playing at Coors last year and is suddenly going to a place where home runs are hard to come by. A dropoff is to be expected, but even if he only hits 38 home runs, he's still a huge boost to that lineup. Ichiro will be Ichiro at the top of the order and should create plenty of RBI opportunities for Seatte's two new boppers. If Bret Boone bounces back and focuses less on the long ball and more on actually hitting the ball, their lineup could be pretty good.
Possible starting lineup:
Feel free to play manager here and tell us how you would stack the teams lineup. I would go:
RF Ichiro Suzuki
LF Randy Winn
3B Adrian Beltre
1B Richie Sexson
2B Bret Boone
DH Raul Ibanez
CF Jeremy Reed
C Miguel Olivo
SS Pokey Reese
If Reed starts off hot, he could find himself in that #2 hole sooner rather than later. But for now, you have to give Randy Winn the nod. Ibanez seems to be in place as the DH. All-in-all, the additions of Beltre and Sexson figure to give them a lot more offense. They should also take some pressure off Boone, possibly allowing him to cut back on the home run stroke and look to make a little better contact once in a while.
Possibly starting pitching rotation:
Jamie Moyer
Joel Pineiro
Gil Meche
Bobby Madritsch
Ryan Franklin
Pineiro's the best of the bunch, though I'm guessing Moyer gets the Opening Day nod because he's the veteran. They could have used some help here. By help, I mean more than the return of Aaron Sele. They're going to need Moyer to show he can still pitch and at least one of the young pitchers has to take a major step forward for them to have a chance to be decent in what should be a tough AL West. They'll be better than last year's 63 win team just because they won't see as many 2-1 losses this year. Still, barring career years from three or more of their starters, they don't figure to be anything more than a team that will make the AL West a little tougher on the likes of Anaheim, Oakland and Texas.
Overall Prediction:
4th place 73 - 89
Player that will surprise:
1B - Richie Sexson - It's not that Richie is going to surprise anyone based on what he has done. I just think some people have this idea that Sexson is injury prone and expect him to be injured again. I think he'll stay healthy and put up some good numbers.
Player that will disappoint:
CF Jeremy Reed - He's been hyped up by a lot of people, perhaps overhyped. It seems that some Mariners fans are even starting to believe that he has been overhyped. The M's front office explored trading for Mike Cameron, perhaps indicating that they might be a little worried about just how ready Reed is. Then again, they might just be worried about Reed playing center, preferring to move him to left field. One way or the other, they seem to have some quiet worries about Reed.
So that's about what I have in mind. Nothing major, but something that could hopefully be a springboard to further conversation. Throw out anything else you want. Feel free to copy this post and replace what I said for each category with your own thoughts. Add in any other categories you want and I might use them for future previews if this thing sparks some conversation. If it doesn't, o well, but I thought it seemed like a good idea.