Our goal is simple: Make the playoffs. We won 91 games last year and that still wasn't enough so this time we're aiming for 95. Pretty high expectations but that's what it's going to take to ensure we see some October Baseball.
demotions:
MR Pedro Beato to AAA
(bolded players means promotions...)
Lineup: (for both)
1. CF Nick Markakis, 9-8-8-7-8
2. 2B Brian Roberts, 9-10-6-8-6
3. C Mark Wieter, 9-8-9-7-8
4. RF Nolan Reimold, 8-7-10-4-5
5. SS Brandon Snyder, 8-8-6-5-8
6. DH Jack Cust, 7-8-10-9-3
7. 3B Garrett Atkins, 9-8-8-8-8
8. 1B Joesph Mahoney, 8-6-9-5-7
9. LF Val Majewski, 8-7-7-6-6
Bench:
C Jeff Fiorentino, 8-6-9-8-5
3B Tripper Johnson, 8-7-6-4-6
RF Ryan Langerhans, 6-7-9-10-4
1B Brandon Sing, 7-6-8-6-5
CF Ruddy Yan, 6-8-2-8-4
A lot of contact hitters. We plan to get the ball on the ground or up in the air but never in the catcher's glove. The bench will help us out. What we're lacking is a power hitter. Someone who can drive runs in by hitting it out of the park. Got any of those people?
The Starting 5:
(ace) Eric Bedard, 10-8-9
Brandon Erbe, 10-7-10
Adam Loewen, 8-7-8
Daniel Cabrera, 10-6-8
Jake Arrieta, 10-8-9
Hopefully this will be the strength of my team. A pretty good 1-5 rotation. Youthful too. Erbe coming in 2nd after Bedard after his Cy Young season, expecting good things. Arrieta gets the nod over Leadbetter, simply because I want to see if Arrieta can improve from last season.
Mopup:
John Leadbetter, 9-6-10
Middle Relievers:
Don Levinski, 10-5-4
Jim Johnson, 6-9-9
John Leadbetter, 9-6-10
Setup:
Radhames Liz, 10-5-6
Neal Cotts, 8-6-7, LHB specialist.
Closer:
Jason Burch, 8-9-10
The BP might be my Achilles heel, with no solid relievers. Hoey was traded because we had Burch who in my opinion is better and more suited to be a closer. Hopefully with our SP's having high endurance, the BP might see limited action to say the least.
So in conclusion: Go Team.