A “30 Teams In 30 Days” Substitute

I was watching some Baseball Tonight recently and to fill time yet be informative, they had Buster Olney and company talk about the best and up and coming from each division. Since our 30 teams in 30 Days didn’t really pan out, I thought this might be a nice substitute. Now frankly, I absolutely know there is going to be some argument, especially considering most of the “30 Teams In 30 Days” argument came from information about specific players and not about the teams as a whole (*cough cough* MVP Eckstein). I am way too lazy to put exact reasoning behind each of these players but I trust you there is. I used information from PECOTA and Fangraphs.com to come up with the information so there is clearly expert rationale behind my picks. But by no means is this list to be the end all be all. There is clearly reasons for other players to be on this list and clearly fine stats to prove why other players to be swapped. With this, I in fact expect and encourage debate and this is meant to be a fun little baseball tidbit and not so much a forum for attacking and pissing each other off. So with out further ado, my list…

AL Central:
-Cy Young: Fransisco Liriano (SP, MIN)
-MVP: Grady Sizemore (CF, CLE)
-Rolaids Reliever: Joe Nathan (CL, MIN)
-Breakout Star (Offense): Denard Span (OF, MIN)
-Breakout Star (Pitcher): Kevin Slowey (SP, MIN)
-Gold Glover: Carlos Gomez (OF, MIN)/ Brian Anderson (CF, CWS)
-X Factor: Cleveland rotation. I think the Twins will take this division because they’re rotation in awesome, they have the defense to back it up, and while their offense isn’t prolific, no start will really end up like 2007 Matt Cain (awesome ERA, losing record. However, if the Indians rotation end up vastly exceeding expectations, then the can easily win this division because they have an awesome bullpen and offense.

AL East:
-Cy Young: Josh Beckett (SP, BOS)
-MVP: David Ortiz (DH, BOS)
-Rolaids Reliever: Jonathan Papelbon (CL, BOS)
-Breakout Star (Offense): Matt Wieters (C, BAL)
-Breakout Star (Pitching): David Price (P, TAM)
-Gold Glover: Carl Crawford (OF, TAM)
-X Factor: Health of Yankees rotation. That rotation truly is awesome but the Yankees have absolutely no depth. If one pitcher gets injured, especially for a significant amount of time, this team is screwed. But if they stay relatively healthy all season long, they can make the playoffs

AL West:
-Cy Young: Felix Hernandez (SP, SEA)
-MVP: Ian Kinsler (2B, TEX)
-Rolaids Reliever: Brad Ziegler (CL, OAK)
-Breakout Star (Offense): Nelson Cruz (OF, TEX)
-Breakout Star (Pitching): Brandon Morrow (P/CL, SEA)
-Gold Glover: Orlando Cabrera (SS, OAK)
-X Factor: Effectiveness of A’s rotation. The division really looks like its all for the Angels taking just because everyone else looks so weak this year. However, if the A’s have another great year and the Angels falter (like they’re starting too with all the rotation injuries), then the A’s can win this division. (Even though Eckstein thinks the A’s already will win it).

NL Central:
-Cy Young: Rich Harden (SP, CHC). He needs to stay healthy though like he did last year.
-MVP: Albert Pujols (1B, STL)
-Rolaids Reliever: Carlos Marmol (RP, CHC)
-Breakout Star (Offense): Joey Votto (1B, CIN)
-Breakout Star (Pitching): Yovani Gallardo (SP, MIL)
-Gold Glover: Mike Cameron (OF, MIN)
-X Factor: Dusty Baker and the Reds rotation. If the Cubs DON’T win this division then I will laugh hysterically for like about a week. The only team that even would have a miniscule chance would be the Reds, and on paper, the Reds have a decent rotation. And if by some miracle Dusty Baker doesn’t destroy these pitchers, then the Reds will have a chance to compete.

NL West:
-Cy Young: Dan Haren (SP, ARI)
-MVP: Manny Rameriz (OF, LAD)
-Rolaids Reliever: Jonathan Broxton (CL, LAD)
-Breakout Star (Offense): Chris Iannetta (C, COL)
-Breakout Star (Pitching): Jonathan Sanchez (SP, SFG)
-Gold Glover: Randy Winn (OF, SFG)
-X Factor: Giants Bullpen. I view this team like the Twins, except slightly shittier. They have a good, deep starting rotation, defense, and just enough offense. If the Giants end up having a bullpen this year, then this team can win the division.

NL East:
-Cy Young: Javier Vazquez (SP, ATL)
-MVP: Hanley Rameriz (SS, FLA)
-Rolaids Reliever: Brad Lidge (CL, PHI)
-Breakout Star (Offense): Elijah Dukes (OF, WAS)
-Breakout Star (Pitching): Josh Johnson (SP, FLA)
-Gold Glover: Jimmy Rollins (SS, PHI)
-X Factor: Mets rotation. The Braves have a damn good rotation and great defense which will carry them far. The Phillies have an above average, deep rotation, a good bullpen (one of the few teams in recent history to have a consistent bullpen year to year) and a great offense. The Mets have a prolific offense and a much improved bullpen (were the relievers overpaid, absolutely, did the Mets NEED to do it, of course). So if the Mets want to stay in contention this year, that rotation needs to be just as strong.

Something I noticed, the NL East is the only division to have all five teams represented. The AL Central is the most lopsided. But then again, this is just my opinion.

Just a quick note: being avid and extremely thorough fantasy baseball fans and fantasy baseball fans, you might view my break out stars as like “what the fuck?” But essentially all of those players are people the average baseball fan has never heard of. They are people 1) in/were in the minor leagues expected to be great (i.e. Wieters, Cruz), 2) young guys who poised to have a breakout awesome year (i.e. Slowey, Sanchez), or 3) guys who have been in the leagues a few years and are essentially “developed” and will show the world why the should have been drafted higher in fantasy baseball drafts (i.e. Iannetta, Votto). Essentially, “breakout” means you haven’t really “produced” in the big leagues for any reason and will do so in 2009.