2011 World Series

The 2011 World Series was one of the most entertaining I have ever watched. The Texas Rangers' powerful offense and the St. Louis Cardinals' devoted fans and star players battled it out in seven games, along the way there were walk off wins and key hits, but what will be the key for these teams in 2013?

The Texas Rangers lost most of their key players from the glory days of 2011, but the bad part is, they replaced them with sub par players. Josh Hamilton signed with the Angels, Mike Napoli signed with the Red Sox, and Michael Young was traded to the Phillies. The Rangers have Jurickson Profar, Lance Berkman, and AJ Pierzynski to replace those three sluggers. The Rangers were very reluctant to put Elvis Andrus in the deal for Justin Upton, so that is why they missed out on the big hitter they need. The main concern is where everyone will play, there has been talk about moving Kinsler to first.

1. R. Andrus SS    91 OPS+
2. S. Profar 2B     .820 OPS in AA
3. R. Beltre 3B      137 OPS+
4. R. Cruz RF        101 OPS+
5. S. Berkman DH 126 OPS+
6. R. Kinsler 1B     95 OPS+
7. L. Pierzynski C   118 OPS+
8. L. Murphy LF     124 OPS+
9. L. Borbon CF     73 OPS+

The Rangers are anchored by Yu Darvish who didn't do as well as expected, but still pretty well. The rotation in Texas is rough, but they will have to push through it.

1. R. Yu Darvish 3.90 ERA
2. R. Colby Lewis 3.43 ERA
3. L. Matt Harrison 3.29 ERA
4. L. Derek Holland  4.67 ERA
5. R. Alexi Ogando 3.27 ERA in bullpen

The bullpen for the Rangers lost super set up man Mike Adams to free agency and Koji Uehara also to free agency. They did sign Joakim Soria to either close or set up for Joe Nathan. Also I expect Neftali Feliz to go back to the bullpen where he has had success previously.

I project 76 wins for the Rangers in 2013.

Both Pujols and Hamilton departed for Anaheim 

The Cardinals made it to the NLCS in 2013 after winning the wild card game and defeating the Nationals in a five game NLDS. They did all of that without Albert Pujols, which shocked many, and they are looking to shock many again in 2013.

1. L. Jay CF         113 OPS+
2. L. Descalso 2B 72 OPS+
3. R. Holliday LF  138 OPS+
4. S. Beltran RF    128 OPS+
5. R. Molina C      137 OPS+
6. R. Craig 1B      137 OPS+
7. R. Freese 3B     129 OPS+
8. R. Kozma SS     no recent stats

Chris Carpenter is out for the entire year and very well could be at the end of his career. The rotation is led by Adam Wainwright, but is without Kyle Lohse. Nobody in the rotation really blows you away theoretically, but Trevor Rosenthal can blow you away with his fast ball.

1. R. Adam Wainwight 3.94 ERA
2. L. Jamie Garcia 3.92 ERA
3. R. Lance Lynn  3.78 ERA
4. R. Jake Westbrook 3.97 ERA
5. R. Trevor Rosenthal 2.78 ERA in bullpen

The Cardinals' have a pretty good bullpen. Jason Motte closes the door in the ninth inning. Lefies Marc Rzepczynski aka every announcers nightmare and Randy Choate are the lefties in the pen. Also in the pen is Shelby Miller and Mitchell Boggs, but expect Miller to compete for the fifth starter spot.

I project 83 wins for the cardinals in 2013.

Why Does Everything Happen On Friday?

The first thing to write about is Justin Verlander's dance with a no hitter. The Tigers supplied Verlander with a 6 run lead entering the top of the ninth. Verlander had just over 100 pitches and 12 strikeouts with 1 out into the 9th. Then a fate that happened to so many pitchers before a seeing eye single up the middle. Verlander finished the game with a complete game shutout 1 hit and 2 walks. It would have been his 3rd no hitter.

The second thing that happened on Friday was just dandy. Dandy Andy, Andy Pettitte looked like he was still in the early 2000s with his stellar performance on Friday. Pettitte pitched 8 shutout innings against the Cincinnati Reds. He struck out 9 and allowed only 4 hits and 1 walk. Pettitte's fastball was around 87-89 MPH, but it was his curveball and his cutter that looked just masterful. The Reds' hitters just couldn't hit it. The Yankees won 4-0

The Blue Jays beat up on the Mets on Friday night in a 14-5 victory in Toronto. JP Arencibia went 3-5 with 2 home runs, 6 RBI's and 3 runs scored. The Jays had their way with the Mets not only on offense but on pitching.  Ricky Romero pitched 6 innings allowing only 3 hits and 4 walks. He struck out 6.

Kerry Wood was a phenom in the late 90s and early 2000s, but in 2012 he retires from baseball. In his final game with the Cubs Kerry Wood did what he did best, struck out his batter. A 3 pitch strikeout to ride off into the sunset with must be nice. You have to wonder what would the Cubs be like if Mark Prior and Kerry Wood would have stayed healthy, but anyway Wood takes his 4 200+ strikeout seasons home.

Another thing that has been occurring in the past few weeks was a heat up from Albert Pujols. Pujols has a few home runs now, but still isn't his MVP self. He is scoring runs and collecting RBI's and the Angels are winning ballgames. It looks like Pujols may be arriving soon.