Season Preview, Part II

25) Kansas City Royals, 72–90, (5th place in AL Central)

Not too long ago, I thought up a silly rule change that would be extremely beneficial to teams like the Kansas City Royals. Every three years, two American League teams get swapped for two National League teams in their divisional counterpart. Sort of like the WWE Draft Lottery, where five superstars get swapped between Raw and Smackdown.

What would this accomplish? Right now, regardless of their decision making, the Royals will always be stuck in AL-Purgatory. The Cold War between the Red Sox and the Yankees cause every other AL team to spend more money to keep up. The average American League payroll was over $90 million in 2007. In the National League, it was slightly higher than $75 million. The NL lacks the megapowers driving up the payrolls of the rest of the league. Teams like the Mets and the Dodgers have the ability to create this effect, but neither team has been consistently good in their decision making of late, so teams aren't forced to spend at the same level to compete them. This makes it much tougher to get out of the AL’s basement.

Now let’s put my rule into effect for 2010. Switch Kansas City with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Wouldn’t it feel like Kansas City’s a little bit closer to relevance? Rather than being nowhere near a playoff spot, you’d start to believe that they are a few moves away from competing for the NL Central or the Wild Card. Alex Gordon and Billy Butler are going to be studs. Joakim Soria solidified himself as a very solid closer, proving to be one of the best Rule-5 draft picks in recent memory. By that time, RHP Luke Hochevar, SS Mike Moutsakas, and their 2008 selection will be joining them. A few more, wise free-agent signings by Dayton Moore, (Gil Meche had a great 2007 and I expect Jose Guillen to do the same, now that he has left Safeco Park) and you have the makings of a very intriguing team. Instead, they’ll hover around AL-mediocrity while Detroit, Cleveland, and Chicago battle it out for the division title. Here’s to swapping the Royals and the Pirates in 2010!! Make it happen, Selig!!

24) Washington Nationals, 73-89, (4th place in NL East)

Heading into last season, most baseball publications predicted the Nationals to be one of the worst teams in MLB history. Under first-year manager Manny Acta, the Nationals outperformed those expectations, finishing at 73-89, good for 4th place in the NL East. Ironically, the Nationals are heading towards the same record and standing in 2008, although they’ve improved their lineup significantly.

Starting with last season’s acquisition of Wily Mo Pena, the Nationals have made a handful of low-risk, high-reward trades for underutilized, “buy-low” outfielders. Lastings Milledge was stolen away from the New York Mets for Ryan Church and Brian Schneider and Elijah Dukes was acquired from Tampa Bay for a lower level pitching prospect. Pena was blocked from getting at-bats in Boston at every possible position (LF, RF, DH), but in Washington, when he returns from injury, he’ll have an opportunity to hit 30-40 home runs as the everyday left fielder. From his short stint as a Red Sox, I’ve never seen a player hit a ball harder or look funnier camping out under a routine fly ball. Enjoy watching this guy, Nationals fans.

Milledge was unfairly labeled as a bad character guy for being young and exciting on an old and boring team. Nothing will make me happier than seeing Milledge blossom into the superstar that scouts think he will become. After Mets fans ostracized him for wearing a big chain and hi-fiving fans after hitting a huge home run, they deserve nothing more than to have Milledge destroy them 19 times a season.

Dukes is the wild card of the bunch. He has had countless run-ins with the law and many believe that he struggled in separating himself from the negative influences from the inner-city, Tampa area he grew up in. But nobody can deny Dukes’s talent. And if relocation is what he needs to get his life on track, he is still young enough (23) to become the premier middle of the order bat that Tampa once envisioned.

Fantasy Hint - Look for Ryan Zimmerman to have a huge season in Nationals Park, solidifying himself as a fixture amongst the offensive superduperstar third basemen in the league. He’s already there defensively. Also, if the at-bats are there, Austin Kearns will have a huge season. No player had his numbers deflated in RFK as much as Kearns did. The offense will be revitalized by moving out of RFK Stadium and into Nationals Park, though the reverse can be said for the pitching staff.

23) Minnesota Twins, 73–89, (4th place in AL Central)

Minnesota’s mismanagement of the offseason has me so frustrated with them that I don’t even want to write anything about their 2008 season. (Not to mention, they are one of the corny teams that I have always disliked.) The Santana trade was a complete blunder and after trading Santana, resigning Joe Nathan made zero sense.
Finding a closer is much easier than finding a starter. That’s why middle-market teams never overpay for one. The Twins could have used Nathan’s money to sign Santana, trade Nathan for prospects, and promote Pat Neshak to closer. Wouldn't this have made more sense? I do think the Twins will be better than people expect, especially if Liriano returns to form and Delmon Young learns how to take a pitch, but they are nowhere near ready to contend. Serves them right, too, after the way their cheapskate owner screwed their fans over this offseason.

22) Oakland Athletics, 73-89, (4th place in AL West)

There are a handful of general managers whose judgment I trust enough to give the benefit of the doubt regardless of my initial impression of their moves. Billy Beane is one of them. While losing two excellent players in the Danny Haren and Nick Swisher trades is never a good thing, there’s no question that the deals have drastically improved the A’s long term well-being. In a recent column on ESPN.com, Rob Neyer had an excellent take regarding Oakland’s decision to rebuild:

“Analytically, Beane had no choice. Last season the A's won 76 games. If they brought back the same team next season, they'd have been lucky to win 86 games, which almost surely wouldn't qualify them for the postseason. Essentially, 85 isn't much better than 75, and if you're going to win 75, you might as well win 65. Assuming, of course, that winning 65 puts you on the road to 95.”

Beane realizes that when you lack the resources of big-market teams, you have to stay ahead of the curve. Given MLB’s economic structure, nothing is worse for a lower market franchise than mediocrity. In order to rejoin the elite, you have to break it down and start from scratch, but most importantly, you must identify the right time to do so. If Oakland keeps Swisher and Haren, are they going to win the AL West? Probably not. Instead, by attacking the rebuilding phase proactively, Beane brought in seven prospects that currently rank amongst Oakland’s top 12. These seven players have a much better chance of contributing to Oakland’s next winning team than Swisher and Haren would have. The same could be said about Rich Harden, Huston Street, and Bobby Crosby, which only tells me that Beane is not through yet. If Harden and Crosby can stay healthy through April, I’d be shocked if Beane didn’t move them. The return that these veterans bring in will do wonders in keeping Oakland competitive when they move into their new ballpark in 2011. 65 wins are not bad if they have you on the road to 95.

21) Houston Astros, 75-87, (4th place in NL Central)

The Astros are the total opposite of the A’s. Whereas Billy Beane correctly identified that his team was unable to compete in 2008, Ed Wade has fooled himself into believing that the Astros are better than they are. Rather than accept his 2008 fate and put his best foot forward for the future, Wade has chosen to add pricey veterans in hopes of defying the odds. This method of thinking never works in baseball and certainly won't work in Houston. All adding Miguel Tejada and Kaz Matsui will accomplish is ensuring Houston of spending more money per loss than they would have otherwise, while delaying any future return to contention. Like the A's, the Astros aren't making the playoffs in 2008 or 2009. But after this offseason's moves, whose roster would you rather have in 2010?

Part III coming soon!!!

Season Preview...Part I

Welcome back everyone! Apparently my failure in assessing the Johan Santana trade market sent me into hibernation for a few weeks, but alas, I am back with some predictions for the 2008 season. Hopefully I'll have better luck this time around so I won’t be too embarrassed to continue posting regularly. Let the countdown begin!!!

30) San Francisco Giants, 58–104, (5th place in NL West)

Nobody deserves their 2008 fate more than the San Francisco Giants. The way that the Giants have abandoned Barry Bonds, the man responsible for the construction of Pac Bell Park (or is it AT&T Park?), is embarrassing. After years of sucking every possible dollar out of him, Brian Sabean throws him to the wolves, even though HE WAS STILL THEIR MOST PRODUCTIVE PLAYER IN 2007!!!! He led the league in on base percentage AGAIN! His OPS was just 20 points lower than the great Alex Rodriguez!

For Sabean to act like he is doing this team a favor by eliminating Bonds from the equation is absolutely absurd. It’s not even like he’s replacing Bonds with a trio of 24 year olds who are pushing their way into the lineup. From left to right, the Giants are starting Dave Roberts, Aaron Rowand, and Randy Winn. It’s inexcusable. The rest of their lineup is atrocious and their farm system is even worse (Angel Villalona, their one elite prospect, is still YEARS away). I feel as if I am doing them a favor by listing them with 58 wins.

Hopefully, the press continues to write all these stories about how great their team chemistry is without Bonds in the middle of June, when the Giants are setting all-time records for ‘earliest date eliminated from playoff picture”. The lone bright spot for the Giants are their pair of young right-handed flamethrowers Tim Lincecum and 2007 winner of the “Pitcher Win-Loss Record Means Absolutely Nothing” Award, and likely back to back recipient in 2008, Matt Cain. Sadly, I don’t even think this duo can save the Giants from 100+ losses.

*$ Hint- Register on bodoglife.com right now and put down everything you own on San Francisco going under. Their win-loss over under is 71 ½. Also, list nxouris38@aol.com as your referral. :)


29) Florida Marlins, 61–101, (5th place in NL East)

If history is any indication, the Marlins are one year away from winning the World Series again. After dismantling their 1997 World Champion team, the Marlins responded six years later with an upset of the New York Yankees for another championship in 2003.

Truthfully, their return to glory is going to take a little bit longer this time around. The Marlins’ big move this offseason sent LHP Dontrelle Willis and 3B Miguel Cabrera to Detroit for six prospects, the most noteworthy being OF Cameron Maybin and LHP Andrew Miller. Miller has frontline starter potential but he has been rushed through the minor leagues to compensate for being awarded a major league contract out of the draft. Maybin, a scout’s dream mixture of tools and performance, still needs more time to develop in the minor leagues before the Marlins can trot him out in center field every day. Plus, it makes no sense to keep his service time running when you have no chance to compete anyway.

One nice thing about the Marlins in comparison to the other lousy teams is that the Marlins might have the best player in baseball in Hanley Ramirez. That’s certainly more than the Giants say. From a storyline standpoint, the most interesting aspect of the Marlins will be watching Ramirez as he approaches arbitration. Will he become the franchise superstar that the Marlins decide to build around when their new park opens in 2011, or will he follow the path of Miguel Cabrera and Josh Beckett before him? On a side note, how sad is it that a question like this is one of the most important things a Marlins fan has to look forward to in 2008? Ouch.

28) Baltimore Orioles 62-100, (5th place in AL East)

The first non Quadruple-A team on the list is the Baltimore Orioles. Like the previous two teams, the Orioles are headed for a last place finish, their first since 1988. However, for the first time in quite a while, I’ve actually been impressed with the Orioles offseason.

Owner Peter Angelos has finally taken a step back from baseball decisions allowing Andy MacPhail to focus on bringing a winning team back to Baltimore. MacPhail’s first goal was to rebuild a decrepit farm system. After landing prize catcher prospect Matt Weiters in last June’s draft, the Orioles traded away Miguel Tejada and Eric Bedard for ten players, the jewel being 22-year-old outfielder Adam Jones. I just don’t understand why they stopped there.

The O’s are filled with experienced veterans who could help out teams in contention—guys like Kevin Millar, Aubrey Huff, Melvin Mora, and Ramon Hernandez. There’s really no point in holding on to these players since none of them will be around when the Orioles are ready to win again anyway. Brian Roberts has been rumored to be traded to the Chicago Cubs all offseason. The O’s need to pull the trigger already. Millar would be a great fit with the Mets to split time with Delgado at first base and play a little bit of outfield when Alou is out.

If MacPhail can make a couple more of these trades, and continue the emphasis on player development, the Orioles will take a much larger leap back to relevance in the American League. For now, they’re left with a goal for 2008 of not losing 100 games.

27) Pittsburgh Pirates, 68 – 94, (6th place in NL Central)

I watch a lot of baseball. I watch as many Red Sox games as I can, and the MLB Extra Innings package gives me plenty of alternatives during the rest of my free time. However, I can not remember the last time I watched an entire Pittsburgh Pirates game. Last season, I watched at least one full game of every team in the league except for Pittsburgh.

There isn’t a single interesting player on this team and there hasn’t been one since Barry Bonds left. This is a problem for a team that hasn’t had a winning season in 15 years. The Pirates aren’t a franchise like Oakland or Minnesota that has been stacked with talented players but loses them because of the nature of the market. They haven’t developed one decent homegrown everyday player worth building around (And for the record, I’m not sold on Andrew McCutchen either. I’ll pass any chance I can on your typical toolsy outfielder.) There’s no excuse to have a farm system that terrible when you are a perennial loser. You draft near the top every year! You should make the right decision at least once, on sheer luck alone. Sadly, they haven’t.

Last year, before getting fired, ex-GM Dave Littlefield passed on Matt Weiters in the June draft to select a relief pitcher (Dan Moskos) because he didn’t want to pay Weiters the $6 million signing bonus that Scott Boras demanded. Littlefield followed that decision up at the trade deadline by trading two midlevel prospects to San Francisco for Matt Morris, and the $13.7 million left on Morris’s deal. I can’t understand the rationale behind allocating your resources like that. This is the most poorly run organization in the game right now and hopefully for Pirates fans, this will change under the new administration, now that Littlefield has been fired. Ian Snell and Tom Gorzelanny provide the lone bright spots, but even still, can you ever imagine saying to yourself, “Hey Ian Snell’s pitching tonight. I better dip out of work early to catch that one!”? Yea, me neither.

26) St. Louis Cardinals, 71-91, (5th place in NL Central)

For as long as I’ve followed sports, I’ve always had a few random teams that I hated for no reason. Corny teams like the Minnesota Twins during the Brad Radke/Luis Castillo years or the Sacramento Kings during the Peja/CWebb years—they weren’t rivals of my favorite teams, but they annoyed me enough to dislike them.

The 2002-05 St. Louis Cardinals were another one of these teams. Nothing made me happier than seeing them await the Red Sox in the 2004 World Series because I knew it was inevitable that the World Series drought was about to come to an end. There wasn’t a bigger fraud team in MLB during that time period than St. Louis. After the Red Sox swept them and they lost to the Astros the following season, I figured St. Louis’s window of opportunity to win a championship had passed them by.

Sure enough, the unthinkable happened. The 2006 Cardinals, who barely had any business making the playoffs, shocked the world, by defeating the Detroit Tigers in the World Series in dominating fashion. If you Google Billy Beane’s “Postseason is a Crapshoot” theory, the 2006 Cardinals would be Exhibit A. Sadly, that one run of good luck wiped vindicated their failures in the previous postseasons.

Now what does any of this have to do with 2008? Had the Cardinals simply missed the playoffs in 2006, as they should have, they would have responded to the season differently. Their reaction to winning the World Series is the reason why they are going to be lousy this season. Rather than objectively evaluate their 83-win team, and put into place a plan to get back to the 90-win plateau, the Cardinals were fooled by an extremely small sample size into thinking they were a championship caliber team. They believed the performance of a mediocre pitching staff and aging veteran hitters in a 15 game stretch in October was more indicative of their ability than the previous 162 games. This reactive method of managing, one very similar to that of the Chicago White Sox, has set them back a few years, leaving them one of only 5 or 6 NL teams with absolutely no chance of making the playoffs in 2008.

Part II coming tomorrow....

ESPN's Hot Stove Heaters

Pujols or A-Rod? Buchholz or Chamberlain? Santana or Sabathia? On January 10th, ESPN.com introduced its Hot Stove Heaters chat wraps. The premise of the series is simple. Take two similar players and argue over who you'd rather have. There's not much that I enjoy more than a "who would you rather have?" argument, so I've thoroughly enjoyed this series. The 5th installment was posted yesterday, with Jayson Stark asking the following question:

You have to take one shortstop to start your team. And it has to be a guy who will play this entire season at an age younger than 25. (New Yorkers please take note: That ground rule happens to eliminate Jose Reyes from this argument.) So which phenom would you take, Hanley Ramirez or Troy Tulowitzki?

I'll preface by saying the following: I love Hanley Ramirez. He's one of the most uniquely talented offensive players of all time. There's a chance that when people look back on the 2010's, Ramirez is remembered as the best all-around offensive player of the decade. But for all of Ramirez's offensive prowess, there's just no telling if he can continue playing shortstop. For the second straight year, Ramirez has turned in a horrific defensive season. In 2007, Ramirez posted the lowest fielding percentage (.963) and zone rating (.786) of any NL shortstop, numbers that coincidentally match his 2006 numbers exactly. As the quarterback of the infield, this does not go unnoticed. Rumors of moving Ramirez to center field have quieted since Florida acquired Cameron Maybin, but if Ramirez doesn't show any improvement in 2008, the discussions will have to be revisited.

Tulowitzki is a remarkable talent in his own right. What Ramirez is accomplishing at the plate, Tulowitzki is matching on the field. In 2007, Tulowitzki put together one of the finest defensive seasons of all time. (561 assists, 5.31 range factor, 8.66 zone rating) The 2007 NL Rookie of the Year runner-up was robbed of a Gold Glove award, as the baseball writers once again proved their incompetence by selecting a well-inferior Jimmy Rollins. Tulo is no slouch as the plate either. From May 1st on, Tulowitzki hit .298 with 22 HR and 89 RBI. Not to mention, he helped lead the improbable Rockies run to the World Series. Not bad for a 22 year old!

The only concern I have about Tulo is the huge disparity in his home/road splits. (HOME: .326/.392.568, ROAD: .256/.327/.393.) It is always noteworthy when a player slugs 170 points higher at home, especially when home is Coors Field. While it's not the offensive asylum it was in past seasons, Coors still ranks third in run scoring according to ESPN.com's park factors. In Tulo's defense, it's a very small sample but something to keep an eye on in 2008 and beyond.

If I had to choose, although fantasy baseball fanatics would argue otherwise, I'd take Tulowitzki. Judging by each player's WARP (wins above replacement player) in 2007, you really can't go wrong with either player. (Ramirez posted an 8.9, Tulo posted an 8.5) What Ramirez lacks in defense, he makes up for on offense. What Tulo lacks in offense, he makes up for in defense. However, one of the keys to the argument is which SHORTSTOP would you rather have. And if there's still uncertainty that Ramirez can play shortstop 2-5 years from now, that plays a large factor in the discussion. Tulo, on the other hand, has developed a defensive reputation that mirrors the Visquel's and Ozzie's of the world, with statistics that actually back it up (561 assists, over 100 more than the next SS). It's definitely too early to tell who the better player is, but this is the type of debate that makes it so great to be a baseball fan.

Set your alarm clocks....

Major League Baseball has announced that Opening Day in Japan against Oakland will start at 6:07am EST. Something tells me I'll be late to work that day.

For those keeping score at home...

According to ESPN.com, the Yankees have officially pulled Phil Hughes from their offer for Johan Santana. I'm not sure of the exact number, but if I ventured to guess, I'd say this is somewhere between the 203rd and 207th update in regards to the trade's status. Guess what? Nobody cares anymore. I understand what the Steinbrothers are trying do, but it's getting old. If Hank's winter meeting deadline proved anything, it's that Bill Smith is not going to fall victim to New York's bullying. His entire tenure as Minnesota GM will be judged on this one trade. Rushing a move, just to make a deal will serve him no good.

That being said, this 'news' serves some good as it gives me an excuse to comment on the Johan Santana sweepstakes. The three most important elements to a Santana deal are: Urgent need for a bonafide ace, Willingness to deal major-league ready prospects, and the ability to sign Santana to a long-term extension.

Right now, there are three teams being discussed as possible destinations. Boston, New York A, and New York B. And assuming that the Twins are not silly enough to hold on to him, there's really only 1 destination that makes total sense for both teams.

The Pretender

The Mets - No matter what Omar Minaya and the New York Post would like you to believe, the Mets are not a player in the Johan Santana derby. They might make a few headlines, and they might even force the Yankees or the Red Sox to throw in an Austin Jackson or a Ryan Kalish. However, when it comes down to it, the Mets just won't have what it takes to get a deal done. There is absolutely no way the Twins accept a package without a five-star prospect coming their way, or at the very least a handful of very good ones. The Mets seem to be of the belief that their package of mediocre quantity is better than quality. Forget the Red Sox and Yankees. The Mets can't even put together a better deal than the Dodgers or Angels, two teams who have been rather quiet on the Santana front.

I'm sure Carlos Gomez will be a decent baseball player one day, maybe even a notch or two better than Alex Escobar. And if Carlos Silva can get 40 million dollars to throw league average innings, then Philip Humber might not be such a terrible alternative. But these are not the players that you can sell a fanbase on after trading the best pitcher in baseball. The truth is, the Mets' farm system is just not good enough to bring in a player of Santana's stature. Their best talent is nowhere near major league ready. As high as people are on Fernando Martinez and Deolis Guerra, you're still talking about 19 year old kids. Most of their other prospects, mainly Mike Pelfrey and Humber, lost a lot of their luster following underwhelming performances at the major league level. The same thing happened to Lastings Milledge, and we all saw the return that Milledge brought in. I commend the Mets for putting in the effort, but if you only have $12,000 in your pocket, no Mercedes dealership is going to let you buy a 2008 C-Class just because you really need a Benz.

What must happen for the Mets to land Johan Santana:
The Red Sox and Yankees admit that they were bluffing all along, and that neither team ever really wanted Santana, and Minaya works out a deal with Smith while both Los Angeles GMs are unknowingly vacationing together somewhere.

II. The Contender

The Boston Red Sox - If the Red Sox wanted Santana, the press conference would have taken place already. It's that simple. No other team in baseball has the combination of excessive high-end major league ready, minor league talent that Minnesota needs along with the resources to ink Santana to a lucrative extension. What the Red Sox are missing is urgency. If this was January 11th, 2004, Santana would be in a Boston uniform. But after winning two World Series in four seasons, the Red Sox no longer need to rush into this type of move. They already have a bonafide ace. Josh Beckett came into his own in 2007 and is arguably the best right handed pitcher in baseball today. For once the Red Sox have built a team around strong pitching. Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Clay Buchholz, and Jon Lester are each under 30 years old, and if anyone out of the Michael Bowden, Justin Masterson, Nick Hagadone, Daniel Bard group pan out, the Red Sox will continue to have one of the best rotations in the league. The pieces are in place for the Red Sox to be a very good team for a very long time. Tinkering with the organizational philosophy that Epstein has put into place will only hurt the Red Sox in the long run.

Honestly, I'd feel much more comfortable with Epstein figuring out a way to get Jed Lowrie's bat into the lineup (Who wants Julio? Any takers?) than exploring a deal that would send 5 prospects Minnesota's way, for a pitcher who you'll be paying a premium for the decline phase of his career. Now if Minnesota has any interest in a Bowden, Bard, Coco Crisp and Jason Place package....

What must happen for the Red Sox to land Santana:
A) Theo Epstein wakes up one day and decides that he's not just driving up New York's price and that he really does want Johan Santana
or
B) The Twins get fed up with the Steinbrothers' antics and accept an offer like the one I just made up just to spite New York. (0.00001%)

I'm just not sold on the Red Sox trading away 6 or 7 years of Jon Lester, Jacoby Ellsbury, or Jed Lowrie for one season of Santana + the right to buy 5-7 more seasons of a 30+ year old pitcher at a record setting contract with peripheral stats trending in the wrong direction.

III. The Destination

The New York Yankees - The Yankees are the one team whose desire for an ace matches their ability to deliver the talent that Minnesota needs in return. While the Yankees have a little less to offer than Boston, they do have a substantial urgency to get a trade done. Watching Josh Beckett dominate this postseason for their arch nemesis, while the Yankees extended their championship drought, proved just how important a shut down ace of that caliber is. As long as Chien Ming Wang is headlining the Yankees' rotation, the Yankees will be entering a 5 or 7 game series at a disadvantage. Joba Chamberlain will eventually become that guy, but for a team that dealt out $400 million dollars worth of contract extensions this offseason, the Yankees can not afford to wait it out.

Adding Santana to a rotation slides both Wang and Chamberlain down a slot and turns their rotation from an uncertainty to a strength, one that could compete with Boston's. Giving up Hughes is not easy, but realistically speaking, he's the only tough piece to let go of. Melky Cabrera is a glorified 4th outfielder whose flashy, strong arm in center field has caused his weak bat to be vastly overrated by the New York fans. Ian Kennedy and his command, control, makeup, and whatever other words that scouts toss around for pitchers without front-end stuff seems better suited for the NL Central than the brutally grinding lineups of the AL East.

The Red Sox are the defending World Champions. The ball is in New York's court. If neither team makes the trade, the Red Sox still enter 2007 as the favorites. If New York makes the Santana deal, they step back into the championship contender conversation. It would certainly hurt the Yankees much more if Boston gets Santana than it would hurt Boston if the Yankees were make the deal. I think that by April, that fear will cause the Steinbrothers to pull the trigger.

As for the Mets? Something tells me Joe Blanton is available.

Welcome!

Welcome to the MLB Warning Track Power blog. This place will serve as my little collection of each and every thought I have regarding all things baseball. I hope you enjoy!