Team Preview: Andy Viano

Viano’s squad may not be dead yet, but they were pretty close to dead in 2007. A disappointing campaign from a year ago saw Andy fall to ninth place with incredibly feeble numbers on offense (1’s in both HRs and RBIs). Can this year be the bounce back? Are the groceries in the right cupboard?

The Outfield
The big question mark in the outfield is Jason Bay. Just a couple seasons ago, he was the quiet, yet dominant player racking up fantasy points in every category. Now, he was dropped from keeper-dom after hitting a meek .247, going for 14 fewer home runs, 25 fewer RBIs, 43 (!) fewer walks. Which Jason Bay will show up this season?

Alex Rios has strong numbers in several categories (100+ runs, 20+ homers, 80+ RBIs, and 15+ steals). Chris Young provides the power (32 HRs) but could stand to improve the .OBP which is under .300. Jacob Ellsbury has yet to play a full season and his abilities over an extended 162 game period are unknown.

Outifeld Grade: 2 wolf howls out of 4.

The Infield

I’m not sure what to make of the infield. Joe Mauer may be the top catcher in baseball when healthy, but he has been injury prone. Travis Hafner was a phenomenal offensive force who spiraled way down last year with 18 fewer homers and nearly .40 points off his 2006 batting average. Miguel Tejada probably took steroids and was traded to Houston after tailing off those MVP numbers in Baltimore. Kevin Youkilis gets on base a lot, but is generally unspectacular. And Chase Utley is stupidly better than everyone else in this line-up.

Infield Grade: A generously optimistic 3 wolf howls out of 4, a pessimistic 1.5 wolf howls.

Starting Rotation

All five starters for Viano had 2007 ERAs under 4.00. He could use Felix Hernandez becoming that dominant force that has been teased in certain outings. He could also use Ben Sheets throwing 200 innings. He could use Rich Hill to take the next step and go for a sub 3.50 ERA and 15 wins. He could use Tom Gorzelanny to strike out a few batters. But despite this nitpicking, it’s a fairly decent rotation.

Starting pitching: 3 wolf howls out of 4.

Relief Pitching

Mariano Rivera has been around forever with the general stat line. This model of consistency is a needed stabilizing force with Carlos Marmol not technically the closer for the Cubs and B.J. Ryan still having that pesky phrase “elbow soreness” in his flaming papers.

Relief pitching: 1.5 wolf howls out of 4.

I’m not crazy about this team, but if a few players take the turn back up that they took down in 2007, Viano could climb out of the bottom half of the league. Hafner is a biggie, as is Tejeda and Sheets. Those three in particular have to turn back the clock a couple of years for Not Dead Yet to reach contender status.