New Faces; New Races

[redsrbetter]

I remember watching an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond a few years ago. Raymond’s brother Robert was sitting at the table eating with the family when he asks them about whether they were excited about what was coming up in the next few days. They all started nodding and were in agreement that when pitchers and catchers report in February, the baseball season officially begins.

Spring training is right around the corner and this year’s pitchers and catchers will report on February 18th. It’s a time for many of the fans to pack up their things and kiss their boss goodbye as they take to the road with admirations of being the first to see whether Manny Ramirez cut his hair or if CC Sabathia has lost any weight. And for those of us who do not have the time or pleasure to breath the same Florida or Arizona air that these players are breathing; we find ourselves joining together on the internet all searching for player profiles and updates on who has arrived and what condition they look to be in. But the utmost pleasure for a fan is the welcoming of a new face. Many teams have new additions to announce as they will be at the forefront of media attention and fan frenzy during their time of adjustment with their new teammates and coaches.

These players have been added to rosters at a multi-million dollar expense and look to compete at the level they are expected. Some are excited to go from one league to another while other players are looking forward to playing for a team that has a better chance at contending.

So let’s take a look at the new additions for these teams and see just how effective they will be on the field, where it all counts.

When you talk about offseason moves, the conversation likely starts and ends with the Mariners and Phillies trade. Although I would love to discuss my thoughts on the trade and who I think came out on top, this article is more based on how the new faces will help their new teams. Let’s start with the Phillies:

Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, J.A. Happ, Joe Blanton, Moyer/Bastardo/Kendrick.

This Phillies team spent half its season without Cliff Lee. Now, they trade him for something even better. You look at the Phillies 2008 success and add one of the greatest pitchers in baseball to the top of their rotation, and you can’t help but feel a since of domination for the 2010 Phillies.



It goes without saying; Roy Halladay is without a doubt the biggest acquisition made by any team this offseason. He has arguably been the most durable pitcher in baseball the last four years.Taking first place in IP (930.1), wins (69), and CG (29), Halladay has been the iron man on the mound of late. He posted a 3.11 ERA in that span good for fifth best in all of baseball. A 1.13 WHIP to go along with that and you are looking at one the very best pitchers this decade. The Phillies hope to see this trend continue into 2010 and for many years to come.

The big question is whether or not this will put them on top of the NL East once again. I honestly don’t see why it wouldn’t. The Braves have an amazing young rotation and could battle the Phillies this summer as their greatest competition. I just don’t see the Mets having enough pitching talent, but if they can stay healthy this year, they could be a big hurdle to surpass. The Marlins and Nationals just aren’t there yet. I put the Phillies on the top again and it has almost everything to do with Halladay’s ability to win virtually every game he pitches with a lineup filled with top talent to score in abundance for him. Halladay will be switching leagues, and for a pitcher of his caliber; this usually means dominance against teams who have not seen a lot of him. To me, Halladay is the single most valuable offseason acquisition this year.

Well, since we have talked about one part of this deal, we might as well talk about the next best thing. I think major league baseball saw the true value of which MLB pitchers are the top tier, and which ones are just a notch below. The Phillies traded one ace, for another. But just what did the Phillies have before sending him off to Seattle pastures? Well, for starters, they had the 2008 AL Cy Young award winner. Yet they traded for a guy who won his own Cy Young in 2003. Despite that, Cliff Lee is; and although he isn’t on the same level as a Roy Halladay, he is an absolute great take for a team that already had an ace. Pairing Cliff Lee with Felix Hernandez is Seattle’s answer to trial and error. They traded 5 players for Erik Bedard; but the injury bug bit him several times and he never eclipsed a 15 game season. So it was back to the drawing board for the Mariners, and they may have done even better this time around. Perhaps even more illuminating is the process puts Lee in the rotation and sees Carlos Silva depart for Chicago. Cliff Lee projects to have another great season, he knows the AL pretty well from his tenure with the Indians. Many experts project him to put up an ERA in the mid to lower 3’s and anywhere from 12-16 wins. Couple that with Felix’s awe inspired campaign at a new contract, and you might be looking at the most underrated 1-2 punch in baseball next year.

The Mariners didn’t stop with Lee either. They were the winners of the offseason shopping this year. Their new arrivals and comebacks are going to make matters much different in Seattle. Chone Figgins is going to be a viable replacement for Adrian Beltre. Wait, did I say replacement? Figgins is an upgrade, isn’t he? Figgins can play all over the diamond, where Beltre is a mainstay at the hot corner. Beltre does bring top notch defense, but Figgins is no slouch wherever he plays. Figgins may not hot for power, but he is much more of a contact hotter than his predecessor. I think they are two different players and Beltre may have more potential, but has had far too much time to figure it all out and has only shown a glimpse here and there (other than his last season in LA). Figgins and Ichiro will form a great duo at the top of the order. The stolen base will be an aura at Safeco Field. The Mariners garnered a different type of third bagger, but in my opinion, they got better with Chone Figgins.

As said before, the Mariners had the biggest offseason this year. So where does this put them in the AL West standings? I think they will finish a solid 2nd to the A’s. The Angels replaced Vlad with Hideki and will be missing Figgins and Lackey quite a bit and that may put them a step or two back. The Rangers had a long offseason with changing their ownership around and did not get a lot done (as of yet). The A’s got involved with the Mariners/Phillies/Blue Jays deal and landed some pretty good young talent, but will they help now? I think the A’s will be real solid like usual and bringing back Duchscherer and Cust were key to the contention next season, I see their young arms putting them at the top of this division. The Mariners may contend for the wild card, but their 1-2 punches both in the rotation and the top of the lineup simply will not be enough. They still need a big bat to solidify their attack.

Then you have Adrian Beltre going to the Red Sox. Is he an upgrade to Mike Lowell? Many have tried to argue that Beltre brings defense to the Sox. He does, but can he man the hot corner better than Lowell? Granted, Beltre still has a ceiling to consistently maintain, and Lowell went through the roof long ago. So Beltre is the upgrade on both sides of the field. And I think that is what the Red Sox intended to do here. I don’t think this was a move to make this team better defensively, but a move to make them younger and to have somebody who, if he does figure things all out, could become a staple at Fenway’s third bag.

The Red Sox also picked up the super competitive John Lackey. This is one of so many big moves the Red Sox have made over the years. Their rotation goes from scary good, to absolutely unparalleled. The Sox attention to defense with adding Lackey, Mike Cameron, and the aforementioned younger gold glove caliber third baseman Adrian Beltre has put them at the forefront of contention. John Lackey is going to be an impressive part of this Sox rotation. He was the ace of the Angels, he was the AL ERA champion in 2007, and he led the Angels to the World Series crown in 2002. “Big John” will bring his competitiveness to a team that knows how to win and in return Lackey will share with them his knowledge of the same.

The Red Sox will battle the Yankees for dominance in the AL east once again. The Blue Jays lost Halladay and Rios. The Orioles added Milwood and have a good young core in the works but just aren’t ready to contend with these bigger market teams yet. The Rays remain solid options for contention and could surprise us again, but they simply aren’t as rich in talent as the top two. I can’t pick a winner in this division because it is always hard to argue against the current champions, especially when they got even better this offseason after picking up Vazquez. So, I am going to say that the Sox and Yankees will have a very memorable season this year. It will be one for the ages.

One of the biggest free agent names this offseason was Jason Bay. He had been linked to the Mets for quite a while and they finally got their guy. Jason Bay brings a ton of talent with him to Citi Field. He was incredibly underrated with the Pirates and was compared to Manny by the Boston faithful and the media far too often. Despite these would be setbacks, Bay pressed on and delivered more than anyone could have expected. Now that he is out of the Manny shadow and is playing for a larger market than that of the Pirates, will he finally get his due? I say he will. The Mets are an absolute mess right now. The Beltran surgery of late has put this team into turmoil. And last season was the season to forget. With all the injuries tampering the hopes of a championship, the Mets were an absolute failure last season. Perhaps Bay’s .280/.376/.519 career numbers are just the right ingredient for the Mets to get back on top. For the Mets, I truly hope so.



Will this put them on top? If the Mets can stay healthy, I think they have a great chance at contending. But the health bug has already swarmed them as well. We all know the Beltran story all too well now. Hopefully they can work past it and figure out a way to keep Beltran around when he does come back. But, I see him either asking for a trade or the Mets taking it upon themselves to do so. This fiasco is going to cripple this team. At best it will just hurt them early and they can move on and try and work things out. Either way, it will play a role this year. For this, I see the Phillies being far too much to handle and the Mets taking another look back at what could have been. Maybe next year?

There are several more signings I could discuss like the Cuban defect Aroldis Chapman and Matt Holliday going back to the Cardinals. But I think these were the most significant moves this offseason and these players will all be wearing different caps next month and will be a big reason in the turn out for fans in Florida and Arizona this spring. No doubt, some will play a huge role in their new team’s success and others will perhaps have a tough time adjusting, but altogether, we as fans are happy to see these new players battling their way to supremacy and making our beloved teams better.

[realmofotalk]

The Phillies blew a golden opportunity to keep Cliff Lee in addition to acquiring Halladay. I understand why they did it, but to value a replacement for Kyle Drabek more than a full season from Cliff Lee?

[redsrbetter]

I'm not sure what you are asking, but I definitely don't think the Phillies move to get Halladay was the best offseason move. I'm just saying that he is the biggest addition to any club this offseason.

[cjkalt]

The Phillies traded a WS title near certainty with Halladay and Lee, and the right to 2 draft picks in 2011 for the prospects they got from Seattle... sorry but that doesn't make sense to me... Look at what the Red Sox did when they got Wagner