The recently expired baseball season was one where we were actually able to complete a preseason poll. Let's take a look back and laugh at how silly we were for where we put the Gun and Stem in relation to one another, shall we? Quotes from the also expired "Nothing Doing In North Dakota"
Final Standings:
Champion: The Gun (preseason, #5) 71 points
Things that look smart now: "Team's biggest strength is in the outfield, with studs Manny Ramirez and Carl Crawford providing pop and speed, respectively, plus under-the-radar Hideki Matsui...Derrek Lee and sleeper Travis Hafner give good pop at first base...Three relievers combined for just 40 saves last year, but K-Rod should match that number by himself this year"
Things that look foolish now: "weak at 2B with Brian Roberts providing little outside of steals...pitching needs to step up to contend"
What what right: Don't even dare call it a fluke- but so many things went Eli's way in baseball (which he pays for in football, apparently). Derrek Lee. Brian Roberts. Chris Carpenter. Pedro Martinez and his one rotator cuff. None of these guys were supposed to do what they did, but their early season breakouts coincided with an insurmountable lead by May, and the season became a race for second shortly after.
What went wrong: Fleeced a couple teams and now has too many keeper options. Poor thing.
Preseason Rank Justified: Clearly not.
#2: Ed Schillinger (preseason #1) 63.5 points
Things that look smart now: "Chances center around pitching staff...Closers Joe Nathan, Billy Wagner and Braden Looper will put team in the top half of saves...Power will come from Mark Teixeira, Gary Sheffield and Carlos Lee, primarily"
Things that look foolish right now: "offense centers around centerfielder Carlos Beltran, who with a raise in BA could be best player in baseball...strong at weak position of catcher with Jason Kendall..."
What went right: It took a while, but the dominance of this pitching staff really showed at the end of the year. Mark Teixeira turned into one of the top5 offensive producers in baseball. Able to pick up Morgan Ensberg, Dustin Hermanson, Chone Figgins, Jorge Posada and Henry Blanco off of the wire. Kenny Rogers, for a while.
What went wrong: Carlos Beltran stunk. Juan Pierre started off not stealing bases, and had a horrific batting average. Infielders not Michael Young or Tex: Bret Boone and Mike Lowell and Jason Kendall.
Preseason Rank Justified: Yes. 63.5 is a damn good score for second place.
#3: Lincoln Souzek (preseason #3) 55 points
Things that look smart now: "FA has the best infield in the league, going around the horn with Albert Pujols, Jeff Kent, Edgar Renteria and Melvin Mora, plus David Ortiz for good measure...Mariano Rivera is as consistent as can be...Roger Clemens anchor[s] the staff"
Things that look foolish right now: "FA has the best infield in the league, going around the horn with Albert Pujols, Jeff Kent, Edgar Renteria and Melvin Mora, plus David Ortiz for good measure...Dave Roberts will be responsible for about 75% of this team's stolen bases...Guillermo Mota can be a dominant closer...Outfield's effectivness will be determined by two great talents; Larry Walker and Sammy Sosa"
What went right: Early season Jeff Kent. Midseason Jeff Francour. Late Season David Ortiz. Roger freakin Clemens. Mariano Rivera. The entire offense, until 2 categories crumbled from 7s to 4s. Scott Podsednik trade.
What went wrong: Late season tumble. Starting rotation after Clemens (Kerry Wood. Randy Johnson. Carl Pavano) Edgar Renteria. Kenny Rogers, post trade.
Preseason Rank Justified: Right on.
#4: JR Radcliffe (preseason #6) 51 points
Things that look smart now: "Vladimir Guererro and Miguel Cabrera can be counted on to perform at a level above everyone else...Braves middle infield of Marcus Giles and Rafael Furcal should both score 100 runs (close enough)...Brad Lidge and Armando Benitez are two dominant closers"
Things that look foolish right now: "Scott Rolen can counter that by put up numbers most 3B can not...Has one of the best young arms in the world in Oliver Perez...Brad Lidge and Armando Benitez are two dominant closers"
What went right: The waiver claim on Andruw Jones. 21st rounder Chad Cordero. Travis Hafner (even if it cost David Wright). Randy Johnson (6 wins, 2.58/0.89 for JR). Josh Beckett.
What went wrong: Odalis Perez. Over and over Odalis Perez. Scott Rolen. Armando Benitez. Roy Halladay, I guess.
Preseason Rank Justified: No. This team should have been in the top half.
#5 Andy Viano (preseason #2) 41.5 points
Things that look smart now: "Corner infield spots are best in the league with Thome, Dunn and Sexson at 1B and A-Rod and Blalock at 3B...Starting Pitching is talented, but young"
Things that look foolish right now: "Closers are good...Speed is there, 5 guys capable of stealing 20 bases...Shingo Takatsu serves as 3rd closer"
What went right: Great seasons from Adam Dunn and Chase Utley, plus Alex Rodriguez was decent as well. Zack Duke and Rich Harden proved to be outstanding pitchers
What went wrong: Injuries: Jim Thome, Ben Sheets, Milton Bradley really hurt. Could not solidify pitching staff.
Preseason Rank Justified: No. Injuries hurt, yes, but 2 was probably a little high.
#6a: Drew Wolf (preseason #7) 31.5 points
Things that look smart now: "has best the players at the thinnest two positions; Victor Martinez at Catcher and Alfonso Soriano at Second Base...Curt Schilling is team's ace, so Wolfmen has secured the league lead in "total assbag-ocity"...Bartolo Colon and Greg Maddux were two of the aforementioned autopicks, and though their ERAs are high, their win totals are impressive"
Things that look foolish right now: "Team hurt by a few autopicks made by yahoo...Danys Baez and Bob Wickman [are] wild cards in the save column"
What went right: Late season Victor Martinez. Bartolo Colon in a big (fat) way. Pre HomeRun Derby Bobby Abreu.
What went wrong: Pretty much everything else.
Preseason Rank Justified: Apparently, yes.
#6b: Brent Whitlock (preaseason #8) 31.5 points
Things that look smart now: "Zack Greinke and Dontrelle Willis have potential for good years...Eric Gagne was viewed as a reach in the second round...Needs Adrian Beltre to have an MVP season again, which may be hard outside of a contract year"
Things that look foolish right now: "Zack Greinke and Dontrelle Willis have potential for good years...Mark Buehrle is a workhorse and a real solid #3 or 4 starter in this league...good chance to lead the league in steals"
What went right: Ken Griffey Jr. Willis. Todd Jones and Ryan Dempster.
What went wrong: Dropped Jon Garland, Andruw Jones and Chone Figgins this season. Didn't have a ton to work with in the first place.
Preseason Rank Justified: Yes.
#8 Andrew Stem (Preseason #4) 15 points
Things that look smart now: "Outfield has too many questions: Barry Bonds already missing a ton of time, plus injury risks Magglio Ordonez and JD Drew are out there too...Not many steals on board...Starting Pitching strong up top with Tim Hudson and Jake Peavy"
Things that look foolish right now: "should lead the league in saves with Keith Foulke, Octavio Dotel and Danny Graves getting 9th innings...Dallas McPherson and Justin Morneau could give this team the best corner infielders through 2015"
What went right: Aramis Ramirez played like a first round pick for a couple months. They finished above 10.
What went wrong: Draft, beginning of season, middle of season, end of season.
Preseason Rank Justified: I'm guessing no.
4 comments:
Ahem ... Matt Murton? Let the record show that he contributed 6 runs, 2 homers, 3 RBIs and 1 stolen base to my team.
Screw Matt Murton what about JJ Putz? How can you recap my team without talking about my team MVP? This recap sucks.
-Drew
For the first time, I wish to acknowledge that Ed ridiculed me when I said picking up Andruw Jones off waivers implied the league was not deep enough.
By "first time", I mean "19th time in a 306-time series"
For the last time, I would like to point out that I mocked the fact that you thought the picking up of the at-the-time awful Jones meant we should rework our league into AL and NL only leagues.
I'm past it. Now I will set my attention on THE STEAL OF THE DRAFT TRENT GREEN.
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