Surprise Teams for 2011

Twins are going to be down. Lots of bullpen losses.

Royals are going to be better than expected. Wait for guys like Hosmer and Moustakas to start pounding the bats in June/July, and justlikethat the Royals will be the talk of baseball a la Heyward or Hamilton of years past.

The Braves are going to be fantastic.

That’s all I got for now.

I was originally going to say the Padres down, after trading Adrian Gonzalez, but that seemed too easy. I think the Giants pitchers are going to experience the hangover from the extended post-season last year. A lot of extra innings that many of them have never thrown before. Similar to the down season that Cole Hamels had in 2009 after all of his post season innings in 2008. I don’t see Andres Torres being in the top 10 in the N.L. in extra base hits all season again either. Miguel Tejada should not be a shortstop at this point of his career either.

The Brewers line-up is solid with the exception of shortstop and catcher and they have dramatically improved their biggest weakness from 2010 which was their starting rotation. Greinke and Marcum replacing Bush and Suppan/Parra will be a big plus. Prince Fielder is playing for his next big contract too.

The Red Sox made some moves this offseason to improve offensively. I don’t see the Rays addition of Manny and Damon as complete positives. I’m not entirely sure why they were signed other than to maybe sell a few tickets or fill a roster spot while a young prospect needs another year before he’s ready.

To paraphrase Charlie Brown- “Tell your projections to shut up.”

Their season is over.
Manny is old and who knows exactly what is left in him. Somewhat the same for Damon.
James Shields isn’t the same guy he’s been in the past. I do like the rest of the rotation, though.
Which Ben Zobrist is real? Is Sean Rodriguez going to live up to the hype?

They lost a ton from their bullpen.
So for me, the Rays being up would definitely be a surprise. I’d rank them 3rd at the highest and possibly behind Baltimore if the O’s can get any decent pitching at all out of the young guys.

FWIW. An article in the Sporting News 2011 Baseball Preview magazine had the Cubs listed as the positive surprise team and the Rays as the negative surprise team. The author had the Cubs gaining 10 wins and the Rays losing 10 wins from last years totals.

You don’t have to get better, if team’s around you get worse (Cardinals).

But seriously….it’s not that big of a surprise…but the Braves. More surprising, is I predict the Braves will win the East.

With me I am focused on the NL Central

In the NL the Cardinals are in big trouble losing 35 starts from a pitcher who averaged 19.5 wins in the last two seasons. Cardinals are old, full of uncertainty with their #1 player who will possibly play more selfishly. Theriot we know about his defensive weaknesses and then Berkman in the OF? Look to age and injuries.

Surprise up, yes look to youth per example SD last year. But also a fundamental change in pre-season prep both individually and clubhouse. ESPN reports that the Cubs clubhouse is very energized and throughout the roster came in early.

With me I want to see what Quade does with Soriano and Fukudome.

Reds? Could they be a typical Dusty one year wonder?

They just always seem to make it work and have some great young pitching.
Mets are going to be REALLY bad.

is that no one, and I mean no one will be picking them to win anything. If the Cubs suck, well, that’s to be expected. There’s been great expectations on this team for at least the last four seasons. This one, no one really expects anything (I know that’s not true, but the casual fan/ media observers won’t). They can just go out and play baseball. I think it bodes well.

The Cubs have nothing to lose this year! No one expects them to win the division! We have great relief pitching and should have a strong rotation. So if our hitters produce like they should we will have a big season!