Two weeks into the baseball season and the rankings are looking awfully similar to what they were last year. The Braves still have the best record in baseball, so I'm finally ready to admit that they belong in the top ten, and with the Yankees pitching woes they've fallen from the top spot.
On the other hand the Phillies continue to look like an overpaid AAA team and their 200 year-old manager is challenging talk show hosts to a round in the octagon. And over in Chicago another rampaging manager and a no-hitter can't prevent the Cubs and Sox from free-falling.
On the injury front, it seems every other marquee pitcher in the game is missing games because of an elbow or shoulder problem. Chris Carpenter, Mike Mussina, Carl Pavano, Rich Harden, BJ Ryan and Felix Hernandez are all looking at an indefinite spell on the injured list. On the other hand, it seems Chien-Ming Wang and Randy Johnson should be returning soon.
Rank (Pv)
Team
Record
Comments
1 (5)
9-4
Although Joe Girardi beat out Willie Randolph by 30 points for Manager of the Year, Randolph had the last laugh: he still has a job.
2 (2)
8-5
Matsuzaka will be good. I think he'll win about 17 games this season and be in the Cy Young discussion come September, although he probably won't win. However, at 26 he's thrown more innings than some pitchers throw in an entire career, and part of his effectiveness is that opposing hitters are seeing him for the first time. It will be very interesting to see if his performance suffers after a few years in the league, when hitters have seen him more times and the innings start to catch up with him.
3 (3)
9-6
The Tigers are the only team with two of Baseball America's top ten minor league prospects (#6 Cameron Maybin, outfielder, and #10 Andrew Miller, pitcher).
4 (1)
7-6
The injuries of Mussina, Wang, Pavano, and Jeff Karstens might mean we could see the debut of young fireballer Phil Hughes earlier than expected. Hughes has struggled at AAA Scranton, but has all the stuff to be a big-time performer in the big leagues.
5 (9)
10-5
Who has worse hair: Donald Trump or Vin Scully? My vote goes to the voice of the Dodgers.
6 (11)
9-5
It's possible that I'm overestimating the significance to the Twins losing Francisco Liriano for the season. They still have the reigning Cy Young, MVP, and batting champion. They still have perennial Gold Glover Torii Hunter, quite possibly baseball's best closer in Joe Nathan, and they're still lead by three-time Manager of the Year Bridesmaid Ron Gardenhire.
7 (19)
10-4
The Braves have the best record in baseball, but the numbers don't quite add up. They have the third worst team batting average in the National League, their opponent on-base percentage of .344 is fifth worst, and they've only scored eight runs more than their opponents. Of course, the only statistic that really matters is in the win-loss column.
8 (10)
8-6
Greg Maddux has a chance to surpass Jim Kaat and Brooks Robinson for a record number of Gold Gloves. He won his 16th in 17 years last season. The only other NL pitcher who has won a Gold Glove since 1990 was his former teammate Mike Hampton.
9 (13)
8-7
Every year Oakland fans point at Rich Harden as one of the big reasons they'll be the best team in the division, but it seems every year he's missing games because of a variety of ailments. This year it's tightness in his shoulder. An MRI showed no structural damage, but there's no timetable set for his return.
10 (8)
6-9
Right now the best team on paper in the AL West is the worst team in the standings. The Angels have had three consecutive winning seasons for the first time in their existence, and are looking to turn things around for a fourth.
11 (12)
8-6
The Blue Jays have been hit hard by the injury bug, losing BJ Ryan for at least a month, Troy Glaus for at least two weeks, and Reed Johnson until the All-Star break.
12 (17)
8-6
Geoff Jenkins is finally living up to a contract that makes him the second-highest paid Brewer. He's hitting .325 with three HR and a .600 slugging percentage.
13 (7)
5-9
A $300 million off-season and they still have the worst record in the NL Central.
14 (14)
7-6
With Craig Biggio's 2,944th career hit he passed Hall of Famer Frank Robinson for 29th on the all-time list. Next up is another Hall of Famer, Sam Crawford, with 2,961.
15 (15)
6-5
Of the players who wore #42, I have to give the Jackie Robinson Day MVP to CC Sabathia, who threw eight innings while giving up one earned run and striking out 10. He won the game despite the fact that the Indians only got one hit.
16 (4)
3-10
With the exception of Jimmy Rollins, the Phillies are off to a slow start. Rollins, known more for his speed, already has six HR. He's only averaged about 14 HR per year over the last six full seasons.
17 (23)
9-6
Arizona has officially lost its first-round draft pick from last season. Max Scherzer, who the D-Backs drafted with the 11th overall selection has signed to play with Fort Worth of an independent league. Just another example of a Scott Boras technique to squeeze a bigger bonus for a client.
18 (6)
6-7
After slumping most of last year, Scott Podsednik has re-emerged as a dangerous leadoff hitter. He leads the ChiSox in hitting (.312), stolen bases (3), and runs (6). However, the rest of the team is not having the same success. They've only scored 39 runs all season and have a team average of just .215, both worst in the league.
19 (16)
6-7
A friend of mine asked me who I thought was the better defensive player between Derek Jeter and David Eckstein. I assumed that Eckstein would have a higher fielding percentage, but that Jeter would have the lead in the less standard statistics, like range factor and zone rating. However, as it turns out, Eckstein is superior to Jeter in every statistical category, short of Jeter's three consecutive Gold Gloves.
20 (20)
5-5
Felix Hernandez has looked absolutely dominant this year. I was at the opening day game when he struck out 12, and a large population of the world saw him face off against Matsuzaka. The fact that he threw nine innings of one-hit shutout ball doesn't even show how dominant he was. For the entire game only two balls were hit out of the infield: one was JD Drew's bouncing single and the other was a fly out in the eighth. However, the city of Seattle is holding its collective breath, as Hernandez left Wednesday's game with tightness in his elbow.
21 (18)
6-8
We all know the history of Buck Showalter-managed teams. Will the 2007 Texas Rangers join the ranks of the '96 Yankees and the '01 Diamondbacks?
22 (22)
8-7
It seems Adam Dunn has come out with a chip on his shoulder after Mike Schmidt's comments about his strikeout rate. He leads the Reds in all major offensive categories, including a couple you wouldn't expect out of him, stolen bases (4), and batting average (.333).
23 (25)
7-8
Last year was Byung-Hyun Kim's first full season as a starting pitcher, and the results were less than stellar. He went 8-12 with an ERA of 5.57. So far this season he is 1-2 with an ERA over 10. Unfortunately the Rockies don't have any other real options for the rotation.
24 (21)
6-8
Only two members of Florida's 2003 World Series remain and so far, they are the two guys carrying the team. Dontrelle Willis has three wins in three starts and Miguel Cabrera leads the team in hits (16), HR (4), RBI (13).
25 (26)
6-9
Aki Iwamura has adjusted to MLB pitching almost immediately. The diminutive third baseman is hitting .349 with an OPS of 1.003, both tops on the team, and a big factor to the most surprising stat of the young season: the Devil Rays lead the league with 79 runs.
26 (27)
8-7
So far, Kevin Millar looks like a bargain for the O's. He signed a new one-year contract for $2.8 million and leads the team in runs (9), 2B (5), walks (10), and OPS (.907).
27 (24)
4-8
Omar Vizquel has 2,479 hits as a shortstop, just one hit shy of Cal Ripken, and just 53 away from Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio. He also won his 11th Gold Glove last year, just two behind the Wizard of Oz.
28 (28)
6-7
Talk about bad money management... Jack Wilson ($5.4 million) is the only player receiving a bigger paycheck from the Bucs than former catcher Jason Kendall, who will still be paid $5 million from his former employers.
29 (29)
5-10
We all know the Nationals are bad, but it seems their farm system is just as thin. They only have one player on Baseball America's list of the top 100 prospects, 20-year-old pitcher Colin Balester, #95.
30 (30)
4-11
Do a Google search for "Gil Meche" and "overpaid," and you'll get 14,700 matches. Do a search for "Garrett Rudolph" and "underpaid," and you'll get zero matches. Meche has an ERA of 3.10, while I am yet to give up an earned run.
