Top 10 Short Stops for 2014

Throwback Jose Reyes

Most of the players at short stop in 2013 will remain at short stop in 2014. One player who may fair better at third base would be Hanley Ramirez, but the Dodgers are focused on him playing short stop. Derek Jeter was injured for almost all of the 2013 season, and some new competition has come to the show at short. Followed by each player is their current team and their OPS+. Defense and previous seasons are always considered.

1. Troy Tulowitzki - Colorado Rockies          140 OPS+
2. Hanley Ramirez - Los Angeles Dodgers     190 OPS+
3. Jose Reyes - Toronto Blue Jays                113 OPS+
4. JJ Hardy - Baltimore Orioles                     97 OPS+
5. Elvis Andrus - Texas Rangers                   81 OPS+
6. Erick Aybar - Los Angeles Angels             93 OPS+
7. Everth Cabrerea - San Diego Padres          113 OPS+
8. Jean Segura - Milaukee Brewers               103 OPS+
9. Starlin Castro - Chicago Cubs                   72 OPS+
10. Derek Jeter - New York Yankees            114 OPS+ in 2012

The New York Mets

It is easy to say that The Mets are going to have a rough 2012 season. There is now four empires in the making in one division. The Braves, The Philles, The Nationals, and The Marlins are all strong contenders for the National League East.

In the 2011 season The Mets traded Carlos Beltran and Francisco Rodriguez who is also known as K-Rod. The Mets also lost Jose Reyes to the Marlins due to free agency. These three players were big parts to their team and now they have all gone their own way. Probably the most damaging aspect of losing these key players is the fact that they are all still in the National League. Beltran is now on the Cardinals, Reyes is now on the Marlins, and Rodriguez is now on the Brewers.

Johan Santana is supposed to coming back to pitch for the Mets in this upcoming season after surgery. I do not believe that Santana will be able to put up the numbers that he did with the Minnesota Twins, which feels like ages ago. Even if Santana posts a sub 3.5 earned run average The Mets' offense cannot provide enough support for Santana.

The Mets still have their franchise face of David Wright. David Wright has not been putting up the numbers he is paid to do. I consider Wright to be one of the most over rated player in baseball, which sounds harsh, but it really isn't. If The Mets were to trade David Wright for prospects and begin to reconstruct their team and replenish their farm system, they may have a promising season in the future.

Although The Mets are in a reconstruction phase, they have made some transactions. They signed a few relief pitchers including Ramon Ramirez, Jon Rauch, and Frank Francisco. Out of these 3 relievers the only one that will seem to have a decent impact on the team is Ramon Ramirez who posted a 2.62 ERA and 8.7 strikeouts per nine innings. The Mets also signed Andres Torres, Ronny Cedeno, and Scott Hairston, who will probably receive a decent amount of at bats off the bench and platooning.

The Winter Meetings Off With a Bang

With the winter meetings starting last night at 10 pm EST, we all knew that free agents would sign and trades would happen. Last night Jose Reyes signed with the Marlins for $106 Million over 6 years. I could only imagine having that much money. We all knew Jose Reyes wouldn't resign with the Mets, and the Marlins were the logical decision.

Now with Jose Reyes on the team, the Miami Marlins will have to make some changes. Hanley Ramirez agreed to moving to third base, but there has been rumors of him going to center field. For some reason i don't think he will be playing center field. The Marlins have now added a legitimate speed threat at the top of their line up and a high average hitter.

Their new line up will look a little bit like this: Reyes, Morrison, Ramirez, Stanton, Sanchez, Infante, Buck, Bonifacio, Pitcher.
I think this is a line up with one minor deficiency, a lefty power bat. instead of perusing a 31 year Albert Pujols, i think the Marlins should peruse a young and powerful Prince Fielder.

Fielder, who will be 28 next year will just be entering his prime, and is much cheaper than Albert Pujols. You would have to sacrifice some defense, but the power Fielder and Stanton would supply from the 3 and 4 spots in the line up would be immense. That line up would look something like this: Reyes, Ramirez, Fielder, Stanton, and that is all that matters.

The Marlins are making a definite bid for player this year, and i think they may be able to put up with the seemingly unstoppable Phillies. The Phillies are an aging team with a lot of pitching, but the Marlins may be able to out due them with their young power and speed.