Earl Weaver Rules

AL MVP-

Dustin Pedroia-Had a huge year with several Boston stars injured or quitting(yes, u Manny!!!)… excellent defensive player and a complete pain in the butt to pitch 2… surprising power numbers for his small stature

AL CY YOUNG-

Francisco Rodriquez- Record setting season and in a contract year…. pitched a ton for a closer…..can be effective for another 5-6 years with his breaking pitches and change-up(see Trevor Hoffman)

AL MANAGER OF THE YEAR-

Joe Maddon- Changed a losing culture in a non-baseball city…Did a masterful job with a young rotation and a mix and match relief corps…Also emphasizes defense and speed, a rare tool in the AL

AL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR-

Evan Longoria-

Tremendous power and glove at 3b… Team leader and energy guy…. One of the few in pro sports who has lived up to the hype

2009 TEAM TO WATCH-

Kansas City Royals-

Don’t laugh, have good pitching(sick closer in Joakim Soria) and good young talent, remind anyone of a team in Florida?… Added a strong bat at 1b with the Mike Jacobs trade…. Did u know this team finished 4th, ahead of th Detroit Tigers?

Please check out my report at www.piratesjournal.com….

The Orioles might have had a tough season in the minors from a record prospective, but they still have some blue chips minor league players.  Matt Wieters lived up the hype and he was the top hitter in the system.  Just looking at .355/.454/.600 makes you salivate to see him behind the plate.  David Hernandez was the the top pitcher and he struck out 166 batters this season, which was good for the second most in the minors.

Brian Matusz was the clubs top draft pick and while they supposedly got a keeper, he signed too late to pitch in the minors.  Xavier Avery, the second round pick, put together a solid season for the Gulf Coast League.

The weather is starting to turn so I’ve been trying to get the boys out for some last few cuts out on the field.  I bought my oldest a new baseball bat for his birthday and my middle kid is the proud new owner of some catchers gear.  I picked it all up at Baseball Rampage, which had by far the best selection of any site I could find out on the web.

Boston Red Sox vs Tampa Bay Rays-

Series Keys-

1- Boston Health- I picked against Boston in the 1st rd mainly over health concerns. Mike Lowell is out, Josh Beckett looks about 50% and JD Drew looks about 75%. Is that enough to defeat the best team in the AL East? 

2- Set-up vs Closer- Tampa has a great 7-8th inning tandem in RH Grant Balfour(6-2,1.54,14 holds,4 saves,82 Ks in 58 1/3 innings) and LH J.P. Howell(6-1,2.22,14 holds,3 saves, 92 Ks in 89 1/3 innings) and a back up closer in RH Dan Wheeler(5-6,13 saves,26 holds,5 blown saves)  with veteran Troy Percival injured off and on all season. Red Sox set up unit of RH Manny Delcarmen(1-2,3.27,18 holds),Justin Masterson(6-5,3.16) and LH Hideki Okajima(3-2,2.61,23 holds) is good but not on that level. However, they feature an elite closer in RH Jonathan Papelbon(5-4,2.34,41 saves with 5 blown). What wins out? 

3- Team D- Both clubs have excellent fielding units, particularily Tampa with 1b Carlos Pena and SS Jason Bartlett among the elite in the game. Boston’s OF D is among the best since the late 7os units of Yaz, Lynn and Evans. C Jason Varitek could make you an effective ML pitcher. 

4- Hate- These teams do not like each other! Incidents going back 7-8 years culminated with the ugly June bench clearing brawl featuring Boston’s Coco Crisp and Rays LH James Shields. 

5-  Vets vs Kids- 7 of the 9 starters on Boston are returning from the World Championship 2007 club. Only SS Jed Lowrie and LF Jason Bay are new. Rays bench players Eric Hinske and Cliff Floyd have won but this Tampa club is new to this level of competition.

Wild card Players-

Boston has 2- Knuckleballing veteran Tim Wakefield owned the Rays till this season(0-2,5.87 in 3 starts and 15 1/3 innings) and either Mark Kotsay or Sean Casey must play at 1b with Lowell out. Those are big shoes to fill. Tampa’s hidden gem is the best player on their team- LF Carl Crawford(who missed 50+ games).

The Pick-

Los Angeles was the best team in the majors all season and Boston beat them. Tampa is a nice story but they will lose in 6.

Boston Red Sox vs Los Angeles Angels-

Boston Red Sox

Strengths-Balanced team, good all around with a good mix of youth and veterans…. Best right side of the infield in the AL in 2b Dustin Pedroia and 1b Kevin Youkilis…Great manager for this club in Tito Francona… Premier top 3 of the rotation as well as excellent 8th and 9th combo in Hideki Okajima and closer Jonathan Papelbon…. very good defense.. team works counts and draws walks… underrated bench and team speed

Weaknesses- Health issues with 4 starts in sp Josh Beckett, RF JD Drew and 3b Mike Lowell as well as the season long wrist issues with DH David Ortiz…. not very strong in the 6th and 7th innings of the pen…. tough year for C and Captain Jason Varitek

Los Angeles Angels-

Strengths- Balanced team, ala the Red Sox…. 4 good SPs and an excellent pen led by single season saves leader Francisco Rodriquez.. Good lineup with a mix of power and speed… Excellent manager in Mike Scioscia… Handled the Sox this season going 8-1 and outscoring Boston 42-17 in their last 6 games.. Great defensive CF in Torii Hunter

Weaknesses- Older OF that has had health issues with Vlad Guerrero and Gary Matthews missing time… Have not had success vs the Red Sox in postseason

Store this away… Papelbon has had 11 scoreless appearances vs the Angels and their current team is 1 for 35 vs him

Pick

Los Angeles– Best team in AL all season and an injured,beaten up Boston club will lose in 5

Chicago White Sox vs Tampa Bay Rays

CWS-

Strengths-Excellent team power…veteran team with a World series champion manager in Ozzie Guillen… Good SP and strong pen led by closer Bobby Jenks…. excellent catcher in A.J. Pierzynski

Weaknesses-Pitching is not set with late season run….slow, station to station slow pitch softball type team… not strong at 2b and SS

Tampa Bay Rays-

Strong-Very good starting pitching…. deep set up core in the pen… Good team speed and D… excellent corners in 1b Carlos Pena and 3b Evan Longoria… Manager of the year in Joe Maddon

Weaknesses-Closer spot in question with veteran Troy Percival breaking down.. average team power.. health of star LF Carl Crawford an issue… No success vs LH John Danks(4 runs in 19 1/3 innings over 3 starts)

Store this away-CWS hit 12 homers vs the Rays but TB pitchers also held them to 3 runs or fewer in 5 of 10 games.

Pick-TB- They are rested and set to go. Tough 5 game series win for the Rays.