AL East Preview

This division has the two best teams in the American League again this season. Of course I am talking about the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Toronto Blue Jays. The questions entering this season; who is Toronto’s closer, can the Red Sox repeat after losing Pedro and Derek Lowe, can the Yankees stay healthy, who can name 3 players on the Devil Rays, and will the Orioles have their pitchers play to their potential? Onto the preview:

Baltimore Orioles
Boston Red Sox
New York Yankees
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Toronto Blue Jays

Final Standings

Previous Previews:

AL West
AL Central

Baltimore Orioles

The Orioles finished 78-84 last season which was good enough for third place in the division. They are hoping the addition of Sammy Sosa to the lineup will generate more runs and wins.

The pitching staff isn't much changed from last season when they finished seventh in the league with a 4.70 ERA. Sidney Ponson (11-15, 5.30) will again anchor the rotation, followed by Erik Bedard (6-10, 4.59), Daniel Cabrera (12-8, 5.00), Matt Riley (3-4, 5.62), and Rodrigo Lopez (14-9, 3.59). Kurt Ainsworth and Eric DuBose will also battle for positions in the starting rotation.

The bullpen added veterans Steve Kline and Steve Reed. B.J. Ryan is expected to be the closer even though Jorge Julio is still on the roster. Julio has a strained arm and Ryan struckout 122 batters in 76 appearances.

Baltimore was sixth in hitting in 2004 with 5.2 runs per game. They brought in Sammy Sosa to hopefully improve this stat. Sosa is joining a lineup which already has Rafael Palmeiro at first base, Miguel Tejada at short stop, and Javy Lopez behind the plate. These hitters are run producers, but only Lopez and Tejada hit for average. Brian Roberts will be playing second base and Melvin Mora rounds out the infield at third. The outfield will have Larry Bigsbie, Sammy Sosa, Luis Matos, and Jay Gibbons as backup. Gibbons can also backup at first base along with BJ Surhoff. The DH position will be the one with the most questions. Anyone from Palmeiro, Gibbons, or Surhoff can play the position when not in the everyday lineup.

Baltimore made some interesting moves in the offseason, but I don't think they did enough to improve pitching or gain any ground on the Red Sox or Yankees. Adding Sosa does add power, but it also adds strike-outs and not hitting for average or simply to move runners up on the bases. I don't see this team being very much different from last year's squad.

Boston Red Sox

Again not much to be said about the defending World Series Champions. They finished the regular season at 98-64 and had the greatest comeback in sports history in the playoffs. They were #1 in the league in hitting with a .282 average and 5.86 runs per game, and #3 in pitching with a 4.18 ERA. Sure they lost Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe, but added Matt Clement and David Wells to replace them.

The starting rotation will be anchored by Curt Schilling, Clement, Wells, the ageless Tim Wakefield, Bronson Arroyo, and when he is 100% recovered from shoulder surgery, Wade Miller. People may look at Clement's 9-13 record and wonder if he is the pitcher everyone thinks he is. Let me tell you this, yes he is. If you watched any Cubs games during his starts you know he got little to no run support in any of his games. Having this record with a 3.68 ERA shows he is a quality pitcher with good stuff, but needed run support. He will get all the runs he needs in Boston. When Miller is healthy, he can be good enough to be a #1 pitcher on a staff.

Keith Foulke will be the closer again this season and has veterans Mike Timlin and Alan Embree to set him up. The bullpen and starting rotation are fine.

As far as the rest of the team goes, they lost Dave Roberts and Gabe Kapler as back up outfielders but added Jay Payton who will do more than his share. Orlando Cabrera was replaced by Edgar Renteria at shortstop, so there was quite an improvement there. Jason Veritek will again be the clubhouse leader and starting catcher, backed up by Doug Mirabelli (perhaps the best backup catcher in the bigs), Kevin Millar will be at first followed by Mark Bellhorn, Renteria, and Bill Mueller around the infield. The grass will have Manny Ramirez, Johnny Damon, and Trot Nixon trampling it, and David Ortiz "Big Papi" will DH again this sesaon.

Is there any reason not to think it will be another Yankees/Red Sox ALCS, not at all. In fact, this team has the best chance to repeat of any team this millenium.

New York Yankees

I really feel like I don't need to write that much about the Yankees or the Red Sox because if you follow baseball at all, you know about both of these teams inside and out because people much more qualified than I analyze them every day. They are going for their 8th straight division crown after claiming it again last season by going 101-61.

We all know the Yankees just go out and get whoever they need to in order to contend for the World Series title every year. This season it was obviously Randy Johnson, and on a lesser note, Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright.

The Yankees were 6th in the league in pitching last season with a 4.69 ERA and proved in the ALCS they lacked the shut-down pitcher they need in the playoffs. There won't be too many stats thrown at you in this preview because you know all of these players and what they are capible of. The Starting rotation will be Johnson, Mike Mussina, Kevin Brown, Pavano, and Wright. Tanyon Sturtze will be a sixth starter when needed. One thing which is obvious is this team in old, Johnson and Brown are over 40 and Mussina will be 37 this season. The bullpen doesn't get any younger with Paul Quantrill and Tom Gordon setting up, as Kornheiser would say "the hammer of God" Mariano Rivera. They did add Felix Rodriguez and got Mike Stanton back to help bolster the bullpen as well.

Finishing 2nd in batting with a .268 average isn't a bad thing, but the Yankees want to finish first in everything. Derek Jeter will now lead off after the Yankees lost center fielder Kenny Lofton. Losing Lofton also means Bernie Williams will have to play almost everyday in center field. They do have Bubba Crosby and Doug Glanville as backups, but Williams will have to play almost everyday. Jorge Posada will anchor behind the plate as always. The infield defense got better as true Yankee Tino Martinez returns to play first base and Tony Womack has been brought in the play 2nd. Jeter is at short and Alex Rodriguez returns to play third in 2005. The outfield is the same as it was with Hideki Matsui, Bernie Williams, and Gary Sheffield patroling. Ruben Sierra will fill-in when needed in the outfield and be the designated hitter along with Jason Giambi.

The Yankees will win over 95 games again and if the pitching stays healthy, which is obviously a major concern, are a favorite to win the Wordl Series.

Tampa Bay Devil Rays

It is hard to make a splash in a division with the Red Sox and Yankees, but if you're looking for a team to cheer for in that division this season; other than the two powers, this is your team. If for no other reason than we would all love to see Lou Piniella dye his hair blond again. The team finished the 2004 season in a postition other than last for the first time in franchise history. Although it was 4th place with a 70-91 record, it still wasn't last. Part of the reason for the Rays finish last season was their anemic hitting (.258 average, 2nd worst in the league). The pitching also finished in the lower half of the league (10th, 4.81 ERA), but the bullpen was one of the best in the league last season, so if they would have had a lead, chances are they would have won.

The pitching staff for the 2005 Devil Rays will be interesting to watch. Two non-roster invites of the team have been great pitchers for other teams and are expected to do well for the Devil Rays this season; Hideo Nomo and Denny Neagle. Other than Nomo and Neagle, the rotation will look something like this, Rob Bell (8-8, 4.46), Devon Brazelton (6-8, 4.77), Doug Waechter (5-7, 6.01), Scott Kazmir (2-3, 5.67), and Mark Hendrickson (10-15, 4.81). Not exactly stellar numbers and losing Victor Zambrano in the trade with the Mets last season certainly doesn't help. However, if Nomo and Neagle can be the pitchers they once were, this will bring veteran leadership and success to this staff.

I mentioned how good the bullpen was last season. Danys Baez is the closer for the team and compiled 30 saves last season. 30 saves for a team which won only 70 games. The rest of the bullpen was ranked 3rd in the league last season with a 3.90 ERA, went 23-20 overall, and was 4th in the Majors by converting 77% of save opportunities. Put the ball in Baez's hand and the Rays will win a few more games this season.

Aubrey Huff will move from third base to third base to allow for Alex Gonzalez to move from short to third, to allow for Julio Lugo to play shortstop. Already the defense is pretty solid, then add Roberto Alomar at second and the Devil Rays have more than a formitable defense on the dirt. Gonzalez has always been an outstanding defensive player (even though his boot of a potential inning, and probably series-ending double play in the horrible 8th inning of the 2003 NLCS cost the Cubs more than the "Bartman ball") and should have no problems moving to the hot corner. Toby Hall will be behind the plate and the outfield is held down by Carl Crawford, Rocco Baldelli, and Jose Cruz Jr. from left to right. Delmon Young will backup the outfielders and is more than qualified to do so.

This will be an exciting team to watch because they will be improved from last season and should win some big games.

Toronto Blue Jays

The Blue Jays finished last season in last place in the division compiling a 67-94 record. Nothing they have done in the off-season has me believing they will finish any better than last place again this season. Sure, they signed Corey Koskie to replace Carlos Delgado's power, but I'm not sold on the pitching, especially the bullpen.

Toronto was 3rd worst in the league in pitching last season with a combined ERA of 4.91. The staff was anchored by Ted Lilly (12-10, 4.06) and former Cy Young winner, Roy Halladay (8-8, 4.20), but only had one starter with an ERA under 4. This season Miguel Batista (10-13, 4.80), Dave Bush (5-4, 3.69), and Josh Towers (9-9, 5.11) will round out the starting five. After pursuing Matt Clement and Carl Pavano, the Blue Jays' starting rotation is going to be the same as it was last season; so it is not very promising. Another issue with their pitching is the bullpen. Fans of this team should get used to seeing a lot of Scott Schoeneweis and Billy Koch. Koch will probably start out the season as the closer but may not have the stuff needed to get the outs in the ninth inning.

With Vernon Wells and Carlos Delgado in the lineup last season, you'd think the team would have done better than a .260 batting average and 4th worst finish in the league, but you'd be wrong. Losing Delgado will hurt, but adding Corey Koskie's bat (.251, 25, 71) will help to soften the blow a little. The team will start Gregg Zaun at catcher but will hopefully be using non-roster invite Greg Myers to lighten the load for Zaun. Eric Hinske will replace Delgado at first base, followed around the diamond by Orlando Hudson, Russ Adams, and Koskie at third. Hudson and Adams are both products of Blue Jay drafts and will be staples of the top of the Blue Jays lineup for years. Both are exciting players who should jump start the lineup. The outfield will be patroled by Alex Rios, Vernon Wells, and Frank Catalanotto from left to right. The Jays will also use Reed Johnson as a backup outfielder and designated hitter, but the DH spot will be filled by Shea Hillenbrand most often.

The Blue Jays didn't add much to a struggling team from 2004, but with Wells and the promise shown by the young stars up the middle, look for this team to be competitive during games this season, and fighting for a playoff spot in a few seasons.

AL East Final Standings

1. New York Yankees- 104-58
2. Boston Red Sox- 97-65
3. Tampa Bay Devil Rays- 78-84
4. Baltimore Orioles- 76-86
5. Toronto Blue Jays- 70-92

-Until next time...

30 Teams in 30 Days: Los Angeles Angels of Anahiem

We begin our look at the 2005 Major League Baseball season by looking at the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. A lot has changed since we last saw this team in Action, including their name.

The Angels finished 92-70 last year, beating out the A's by one game and the Rangers by three for the division crown, but were eliminated in the opening round of the playoffs by the eventual World Champion Boston Red Sox.

The Angels added a true centerfielder and veteran to their clubhouse by signing Steve Finley. This move allows Garrett Anderson to move back to his natural position of left field. If Finley can stay healthy, then it's a good singing for the Angels, but Finley is a 40 year-old center fielder who plays with reckless abandon, much like Jim Edmonds. Sooner or later he's bound to break down.

The left side of the infield underwent a makeover this off-season. Out are team sparkplug and starting shortstop David Eckstein, and the power hitting but seldom healthy Troy Glaus. Replacing Eckstein and Glaus are Orlando Cabrera and Dallas McPherson.

Cabrera spent last season with the Expos and Red Sox, and is undoubtedly a better player than Eckstein, but he can't replace the intangibles Eckstein brought to the table. Eckstein was a speedy, scrappy energy guy, and that's not Cabrera's game. Cabrera flashed good leather and can occasionally hit for some power.

The loss of Troy Glaus shouldn't really hurt the Angels that much. Glaus only played in 58 games last year, so the Angels had to make due without him for most of the year. McPherson is a rookie the Angels are very high on. He was rated the teams third best prospect by Baseball America, and got to see some action last year. His stats indicate that he will be the same type of player Glaus was, he'll hit for some pop but only but in the .260 range.

The pitching rotation returns four starters in Bartolo Colon, Kelvim Escobar, Jarrod Washburn and John Lackey. Joining that group is journeyman Paul Byrd. Byrd pitched for Atlanta last year compiling an 8-7 mark with a 3.94 era.

The biggest pitching shakeup occurred in the bullpen. Gone is longtime closer Troy Percival and middle reliever Ben Weber. With the departure of Percival, set up man Frankie Rodriguez will assume the closer's role. The teams success hinges on whether or not Rodriguez can be a successful closer. I believe he can, but time will tell.

5 Burning Questions

5. Can Finley Stay Healthy?
Will the 40-year-old Steve Finley begin to break down this year. History would tell you no. In his 16-year career he has never played in fewer than 80 games, and only played in fewer than 100 twice. If he does have injury problems the Angles only have Jeff DaVanon and Juan Rivera as outfield depth.

4. Dallas?
Is Dallas McPherson ready to become their everyday starting third baseman. He can hit, but the knock on him is his fielding.

3. Easy on the Colon
Can Bartolo Colon control his weight issues and put together a full productive season after last years miserable start? Colon has great stuff, but stamina becomes an issue, which you could attribute to his weight and conditioning. If he can curb that, he is easily a top 15 pitcher in this league.

2. Set it Up
Who is going to assume the set up role for this team now? K-Rod is the closer and Ben Weber is in Cincinnati. We may not have to worry if Rodriguez can closer or not if he never gets a chance to.

1. Closing Time
Francisco Rodriguez has dynamite stuff, and he appeared to have the mentality of a closer in the 2002 playoffs, but then it disappeared for the better part of the 2003 season and some of 2004. Needless to say, if Rodriguez can't close this team all of a sudden becomes a 70-80-win team.

Fearless Predictions

Rodriguez will hold his own as the team's closer, but the bullpen as a whole will struggle. Casey Kotchman will eventually replace Darin Erstad as the teams starting first baseman. Tim Salmon will be seldom used and may even get released.
Dallas McPherson will put up stats comprable to what Troy Glaus did and does in Arizona.
Chone Figgins will see time in centerfield when Steve Finley gets injured.
Jarrod Washburn will continue to struggle and Kelvim Escobar will pitch somewhere in between the Kelvim Escobar we saw last year and the Escobar we saw in Toronto.
The Angels will win 89 games this year and finish second in that division.

No Hall Call for Santo

Cubs great and current WGN radio color man, Ron Santo was once again denied entry into the Baseball Hall of Fame by his peers, falling 8 votes shy of the required 75%. Unfortunately for Santo, he will have to wait another two years until the veterans committee votes again.

State Basketball Tournament

A little information regarding the state High School basketball tournaments for those of you who are interested.

First of all, both of the tournaments will be televised live on I believe FoxSportsNet again this year. The semi- finals and finals of divisions 2,3, and 4, and quarter-finals, semi-finals, and finals for division 1 will be televised. The girls tournament starts Thursday, March 10th at 9:00am and continues through the Division I Championship game on Saturday night, the 12th. The boys tournament has just gotten under way and will be at the Kohl Center for the final rounds the week after the girls; as coverage begins on Thursday, March 17th at 9:00am.

I will absolutely have a preview of the teams which make it to Madison before the tournament begins for the boys, I don't know yet about the girls, because I don't know enough about them. I will comment on every game played for both the boys and girls, though. Quick picks and players to watch for the boys side are:

Division 4: Randolph Rockets- Ryan Tillema- Sr. Forward
Division 3: Whitefish Bay Dominican Green Knight- Walter Blount Jr.- Sr. Guard, Ben Hailey- Sr. Forward
Division 2: Racine St. Catherine's Angels- Cordero Barkley- Sr. Forward
Division 1: Milwaukee Vincent Vikings- Marcus Landry- Sr. Forward

Detailed predictions and players to watch and why will come at least the day before the teams begin play in Madison, I need to do some more research and catch a few more games. One final note though, Whitefish Bay Dominican may be the best team in the state regardless of division. They will play their sectional final game at my old High School in West Bend on Saturday, March 12. I'm just letting you know in case you would like to see this team in person. I will be unable to attend because I will be in Chicago on a fact finding trip with Gaddis and some other correspondents, but will have two representatives at the game who will fill me in on the details. I pretty much know the details of this team, they're really, really good. If you would like to go to this game, let me know in a comment and I can try and get tickets for you, or see if I can arrange for you to get in the door for free. Anyway, expect to hear more about high school basketball the next few weeks.

If you want more in-depth information right now, a great site for High School Basketball is www.wishoops.net. You can get to it here or on the side with our other links (you will notice if you go there how similarily we feel about our State Champion Predictions).

-Until next time...

Tuesday Thoughts

Well, it's March, thank God. Soon the snow will be melting, the courses will be green, the tourney will start, opening day will be here, and before you know it, the Master's will be on (the official beginning of Spring in my world).

Tonight I am looking forward to watching the Wisconsin/Indiana game at the Kohl Center. We will see if the Badgers can get back at the Hoosiers after losing at Indiana 74-61 back on January 8th. I like the Badgers in this game, and I like them big. After a disappointing loss at Michigan State, Wisconsin beat a tough Ohio State team, but really need to beat Indiana. The Hoosiers are a team on the bubble for the tournament, and a victory by the Badgers should burst Indiana's bubble and also get Bucky in position for a six seed. The win by Indiana over Michigan State definitely helps their tournament chances and whoever wins this game is probably a lock for the tournament. If you don't know the game is on ESPN tonight at 8:00.

With Spring Training games getting under way tomorrow, we are rapidly approaching the beginning of the season; so keep looking for my division previews. This week it will be the AL East, will it be the defending champs, annual favorites, the Yankees, or the Sosa- added Orioles?

On a final note, I had an interesting discussion with one of my good friends yesterday. He asked me where Brett Favre ranked on my list of all-time greatest quarterbacks; but then changed to wanting to know my top five. I then asked for his list. Below are my picks just off the top of my head from last night when I was asked. His picks are in no particular order and will be below mine.

1. Joe Montana
2. Johnny Unitas
3. Brett Favre
4. John Elway
5. Dan Marino

Montana, Favre, Unitas, Brady, Elway.

I would love to see what other peoples' top five would be, in order or not, just leave a comment. Then after enough people have put in their top five, I'll tally it up and figure out what Our Turn Next readers think the top five quarterbacks of all time are.

-Until next time...

Slow Weekend

Well, I didn't see much on television this weekend because I was in West Salem (near La Crosse) visiting my brother and his cable isn't hooked up in his new house yet. However, his house is right on hole number 2 of Fox Hollow Golf Course and is less than 2 city blocks away from the clubhouse and bar. The only sporting event I was all weekend was a Division Three Girls basketball Regional Final game in Westby between West Salem and Sparta. I am happy to say West Salem won.

You will notice a shift in direction of my writing over the next few weeks, as the High School Basketball tournaments are both in full swing starting Tuesday. I ref basketball and my brother coaches high school basketball, so you can see why I get excited about it. You will be getting in depth reports of any games I may go to, and for sure get in depth reports on all of the televised games starting one week from Thursday. I love high school basketball, so I hope you enjoy reading about it.

I did get home in time to watch the outstanding Oklahoma State/ Kansas game. This was one of the best games I have seen all season and may have been one of the most intense I have seen since the NCAA Semi-Finals last season. The one thing which is kind of maddening, however, is the fact Kansas always seems to get one or two or three calls which are tremendously in their favor during a game. Yesterday there was a goaltend which wasn't called and would've given OK State 2 more points; they lost by two. I also thought when Joey Graham went in for a slam late in the game and missed, he was fouled by Christian Moody when Moody came in swatting at the ball and hit Graham across the shoulder. I know referees miss calls, I mean, I really know that referees miss calls, but it just always seems to happen against visitors to Allen Fieldhouse. At any rate, it was an outstanding game, and both of these teams are going to go far in the tournament.

That's all for now.

-Until next time...

World Golf Championships

Even though David Toms and Chris DiMarco are still out on the course as I write this, no one had a player in the Final Four and only one person had more than one player in the Elite Eight, and that person was the winner.

1. Chris- 86
2. Nate- 74
3. Dan F.- 72
3. Dan H.- 72
5. Gail- 70
6. Gaddis- 66
7. John- 58

So there it is; low scores, but congrats to Chris on the victory. If you like brackets, and we all do, check back on March 13, for our NCAA tournament pool. We will have more details in the upcoming weeks, but it will be run similar to this pool.

-Until next time...