The Cincinnati Reds

The Reds finished the 2011 season with a record of 79 wins and 83 losses. They had a busy off season and are going to work hard for a division title.

The Reds have the 26 year old right handed pitcher Jonny Cueto. Cueto pitched 156 innings with an ERA of 2.31. Cueto has a lot of talent, but needs to work a little harder. The Reds also have 35 year old Bronson Arroyo.Arroyo is an innings eater. He has pitched 200 innings the past 7 seasons and has a 4.19 ERA over that time. An ERA that high is acceptable over so many innings. Mike Leake is 24 years old and pitched 167 innings with a 3.86 ERA in 2011. Finally The Reds traded for 24 year old right handed pitcher Matt Latos. Latos pitched 184 innings in  2010 and 194 innings in 2011. in 2010 he had a 2.92 and a 3.47 ERA in 2011. Since he is only 24 he will only get better with time. The Reds have a very stable and strong pitching rotation; the 5th spot may be taken by Homer Bailey or Andrew Brackman.

The 2010 MVP award was taken by Joey Votto. In 2011 Votto continued to be a huge offensive threat. In 161 games he hit 29 home runs, 40 doubles, 103 RBI's and had an on base percentage of .416. Votto also won the gold glove award in 2011, showing that he is improving in all aspects of his game. Jay Bruce is the other slugger in the lineup for The Reds. Bruce hit 32 home runs and had a .474 slugging percentage in 2011. Lets not forget about all star second baseman Brandon Phillips. He hit 18 home runs while having a .353 on base percentage and wining the gold glove award.

The Bullpen for The Reds has taken a revolutionary turn for the better. They signed free agent closer Ryan Madson. Madson has pitched wonderfully over the past 2 seasons, collecting a 2.45 ERA, a 1.10 WHIP, and a 10.0 K/9. They also acquired Sean Marshal from The Cubs. Coincidentally the lefty has a 2.45 ERA over the past 2 seasons as well. Aroldis Chapman is the flamethrower in the bullpen for The Reds. Chapman throws 98-100 MPH fast balls consistently and a deadly slider that is 87 MPH. I do not want to get hit with that. Jose Arredondo threw 53 innings in 2011 with an ERA of 3.23 and Nick Masset threw 70 inngs with a 3.71 ERA in 2011. The Reds have a very strong bullpen.

I have the Reds set to win the NL Central in 2011. They will compete with their rivals The Cardinals for the division title. It will be interesting to see the conflict between the 2 rise throughout the 2011 season.

The Kansas City Royals

The Royals finished with a 71-91 record in the 2011 season. They are a factory for young talent and may be in the contention for a wild card in a few years.

Billy Butler is often looked over when people think of a great DH. Butler has played 4 full seasons and has a .361 on base percentage and a .459 slugging percentage over that time. He has 66 home runs and 162 doubles over that period as well. Eric Hosmer is 22 years old and in his rookie season he hit 19 home runs, and had a .799 OPS. That will only improve with time. Mike Moustakas played 89 games as the third baseman for The Royals and slugged .367 over that time. He is only 23, but scouts say he has a lot of talent.

The Royals traded Melky Cabrera for Jonathon Sanchez. Sanchez had an elevated ERA in 2011. His ERA is 4.26 over his career and coincidental 4.26 in 2011. In 2010 his ERA was 3.07, proving what he can really do. All of the other spots in The Royals' rotation are only question marks. They don't have any great aces or all stars, but they do have a treat in the bullpen.

From 2007-2010 Joakim Soria's ERA was 2.01, but in 2011 it fluctuation to 4.03. Over 5 years Soria has managed to get 160 saves for The Royals and has  9.7 K/9. Jonathon Broxton also joined The Royals' roster this off season. He has a 3.19 ERA over 7 seasons for The Dodgers. He has been having trouble in his past few years with a 4.04 ERA in 2010 and just 12 innings pitched in 2011, but I think the royals can get some production out of him.

The Royals will not win The AL Central this year and probably not for a while. They need to develop their pitching more and have their prospects shine. The Tigers are a definite force to be reckoned with, but in the future The Royals may bring them down. Lets not forget that the all star game will be at Kaufman Stadium this year.


 

The Colorado Rockies

The Rockies finished the 2011 season with a 73-89 record and They dealt Ubaldo Jimenez to the Indians mid season. The Rockies have a decent lineup, but basically no pitching.

The Rockies have one of the best combinations in baseball. The Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez combo is one of the best in baseball. Tulowitzki hit 30 home runs and 105 RBI's with a .372 on base percentage. Gonzalez hit 26 home runs and 92 RBI's with a .363 on base percentage. Tulowitzki played all of his games at short stop and Gonzalez played all three outfield position. They are 2 five tool players and play important positions. Gonzalez and Tulowitzki are very valuable to The Rockies. Todd Helton had a .385 on base percentage with a .446 slugging percentage in 2011. Helton is proving that he can still compete at the age of 37.

The Rockies don't have any good pitching. Huston Street is now on The Padres and no longer on the Rockies. The Rockies lost a great pitcher when Ubaldo Jimenez went to The Indians mid season. They Rockies did trade for Jeremy Guthrie. Guthrie is 32 and pitches about 200 innings every season. Although his ERA hovers around 4.00 he has the potential to be a good pitcher.

I don't think The Rockies can compete with The Giants, Dodgers and Diamond Backs in The NL West. They don't have the pitching and they're offense is useless unless they have decent pitching.

The Chicago Cubs

The Cubs don't have much to look forward to in the upcoming season. Seeing how they no longer have Carlos Pena, Aramis Ramirez, Carlos Zambrano or Sean Marshal; The Cubs aren't looking good.

The Cubs do have Starlin Castro. Castro is the 21 year old short stop for The Cubs. He hit 10 home runs, had a .347 on base percentage and 22 stolen bases in 158 games. Alfonso Soriano still managed to hit 26 home runs while having an on base percentage of .289. These are the only notable offensive players still on The Cubs for the 2012 season.

Aramis Ramirez is now on The Brewers. Ramirez had a .361 on base percentage and 26 home runs in 2011 for The Cubs. They lost a big offensive force. Carlos Pena is now on The Rays again. He hit 28 home runs with a .357 on base percentage. Losing this combo will effect The Cubs' offense a lot. They no longer have a great offensive threat.

The best pitcher on The Cubs now is Ryan Dempster who posted a 4.80 ERA in 2011 over 202 innings. Its pretty upsetting to say that is your best chance of winning. Their closer Carlos Marmol pitched to a 4.01 ERA in 2011. That was a 1.46 point jump in ERA from 2010. The Cubs lost Zambrano who didn't have a good 2011 either, but is an all star. Sean Marshal was a great lefty out of the bullpen for The Cubs in 2011. He pitched to a 2.26 ERA in 2011, but now he is on The Reds.

The Cubs have no hopes for 2012. They will be competing with the Astros for the worst record in The National League.

The Toronto Blue Jays

The Blue Jays finished with a record of 81-81 in 2011. This off season they have been adding relief pitchers, when they should be adding offense.

The Blue Jays traded for Sergio Santos, Signed Francisco Cordero, and Darren Oliver.  The Blue Jays continue to steadily build their bullpen. Their bullpen is currently a conglomeration of old and young players. It is a definite strength to The Blue Jays.

The Blue Jays also have one of the most dangerous sluggers who had risen out of no where. Bautista hit 54 home runs in 2010 with an on base percentage of .378. In 2011 Bautisita hit 43 home runs with an on base percentage of .447. He is a definite force to be reckoned with. JP Arencibia is the 26 year old catcher who emerged by hitting 23 home runs for The Blue Jays in 2011. Brett Lawrie is the 22 year old Canadian born third baseman who burst on the scene in 2011. In 43 games Lawrie hit 9 home runs, 4 triples, and 8 doubles. He earned 25 RBI's and a .373 on base percentage.

The pitching rotation is anchored by Ricky Romero. In 2011 he pitched 225 innings with a 2.92 ERA. If Brandon Morrow were to work on his command and control he can be an all star pitcher. His ERA is consistently over 4. I think Morrow can do much better than he is showing. Will The Blue Jays give Kyle Drabek another chance to make the rotation? He is considered a top prospect as he was part of the Roy Halladay trade. Drabek had an ERA above 6 in 78 innings pitched in 2011.

Th Blue Jays have no chance of making the playoffs. Playing in a division with The Yankees, The Red Sox and The Rays; The Blue Jays just cant compete. The Blue Jays should continue to grow their own talent and maybe in the future another Joe Carter in the future.

The St Louis Cardinals

The Cardinals won the National League wildcard by making the playoffs on the last day of the season. They went on to prove everyone wrong and win The World Series.

A major reason why everyone underrated The Cardinals was the loss of Adam Wainwright. Wainwright was injured in spring training and missed the entire year. In 2010 Wainwright had a 2.42 ERA and 230 innings. In 2009 Wainwright had a 2.63 ERA over 233 innings. As you can see Wainwright has established a name for himself. Another pitcher on The Cardinals is Chris Carpenter. Carpenter showed us that he can pitch at the age of 36 by getting a 3.45 ERA over 237 innings. On the Opposite side of the age spectrum is Jamie Garcia. Garcia had a 3.54 ERA over 194 innings for The Cardinals in 2011. He is only 25.

Now everyone is saying the Cardinals suck without Pujols. They don't suck, but they aren't as good. Pujols played 11 seasons with The Cardinals picking up 455 home runs, a .420 on base percentage, and 1329 RBI's. He is considered one of the greatest hitters of all time and he just signed a 10  year contract with The Angels.

The Cardinals still have some pop in their lineup with Carlos Beltran, Matt Holliday, and Lance Berkman. Their stats are the following:

Lance Berkman: 145 games, 31 HR, 94 RBI, .412 OBP
Matt Holliday: 124 games, 22 HR, 75 RBI, .388 OBP
Carlos Beltran: 142 games, 22 HR, 84 RBI, .385 OBP

The Cardinals have other guys who can hit too. Yadiar Molina, David Freeze, and Rafael Furcal can get on base as well.

The Cardinals will have a chance for the division title, but they will have to patch up their only weakness: The bullpen. I don't know how they managed to win a world series without a decent bullpen. If the bullpen can preform like last year The Cardinals have a good shot at at least a wildcard.

The Atlanta Braves

The Braves failed to make the playoffs on the final day of the 2011 season. They had a record of 89-73 in 2011. They are hoping to make the playoffs this year, but they will have to fight for it.

The Braves were always notorious for having good pitching. Tim Hudson is still proving that he can pitch at the age of 35. In 2011 Hudson finished with 16 wins and a 3.22 ERA over 215 innings. Jair Jurrjens had a 13-6 record with a 2.96 ERA over  152 innings. Tommy Hanson is 25 years old and had 11 wins with a 3.60 ERA and 130 innings. Brandon Beachy pitched 141 innings with a 3.68 ERA. Derek Lowe went to the Indians, so he will probably be replaced by Mike Minor or top prospect Julio Teheran.

The bullpen for The Braves is very strong. Craig Kimbrel is the closer and he had 46 saves and a 2.10 ERA with 127 strikeouts. Jonny Venters is the left handed set up man for The Braves. He had a 1.84 ERA with 96 strikeouts. Eric O'Flaherty had a 0.98 ERA over 73.2 innings pitched. Peter Moylan was injured or most of the season, but the side arm pitcher has a career 2.60 ERA.

Freddie Freeman had a break out rookie year. He had a .346 OBP with 21 home runs and 76 RBI's. Chipper Jones played 126 games, but still managed to get a 123 OPS+, which is good for a guy his age. Micheal Bourn is a textbook example of great lead off hitter. He had a respectable OBP of .349 and a SLG of .386. For a lead off hitter you want those 2 numbers to be close to each other. Bourn also has speed, that's always good to have as a lead off hitter. This season will be Brian McCann's break out season. McCann has consistently been an all star and hit well as a catcher, but he will break through this season and emerge as a superstar.

Jason Heyward will have to return to the hitter he was in 2010. In 2011 He wasn't making contact and wasn't getting on base. If he can hit 20+ home runs along with Freeman, McCann, and Jones The Braves can have a fighting chance for the wildcard. It is likely that there will be a second wildcard this year I think The Braves will win the second wildcard.