ESPN off-season power rankings

[MVTrout 55]

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/55054/ranking-the-teams-12-through-7-2

The Angels came in at #8, they predict we will only win 87 games.

I didn't grab the link for the top 7, but it was a joke...Both SEA and CLE made it, LOL! (WAS is #1 and LAD is #2)

[Jammer36 24]

Good thing these ranking don't mean jack.

[WallyWorld 1,226]

meh, this is what rags like ESPN do. They need click-bait so they throw in some controversial choices. Will Seattle be better this year? Probably, but it seems like a bit of an overreaction to think they're the favorites in the division now.

 

I am a little surprised at all the love the Dodgers have been getting. They lost some pretty big bats and Puig had a lot of holes exposed in the second half. Add in the questions about Ryu . . . yeah, still a good team, but top 2 or 3 in the league?

[laagamer 1,434]

Edited February 13, 2015 by laagamer

[Dochalo 25,602]

I guess I don't have a huge issue with someone predicting that seattle will have one more win than us.  

 

Truly it wouldn't surprise me if any of the teams in the AL west ended up winning the division.  Even Texas, Houston and Oakland.  

 

I agree with what they said that we have the highest floor.  

 

I disagree that more than not went right.  To me, there is a difference between everything going right by not getting injured or certain players having career years.  We had some breakout performances, but they didn't seem horribly anomalous.

I don't see Richards taking a step back unless team do the gung-ho move and bunt like crazy against him.

Shoemaker may not be as good, but his peripherals support what he did, and that sinker is legit.  

 

Likely to do a little better:  Calhoun, Trout, Freese, Cron,  

Likely to be about the same:  Iannetta, Aybar, Pujols, Weaver, Joyce, Richards, Santiago, the pen collectively

Likely to be a little worse:  Shoemaker

Who knows:  Hamilton, Wilson, the rotation collectively   

[Bobster7587 168]

East Coast Bias! Validation! /obligatory 

[Stradling 27,592]

Pacific Northwest Bias

[ten ocho recon scout 17,646]

One thing about everything going right, it ignores skaggs and richards going down, the horrible first half of the pen, hamiltons folleys etc.

[SoWhat 871]

I get a kick out of how much people overrate Kendrick since the trade. You'd think we were losing an MVP type player the way the media has been portraying him lol. Don't get me wrong, he's a nice player but he's not a big loss

[stevestevens 1,646]

It seems like the Nationals have been the offseason favorite for the past three year.  

[bloodbrother 9,448]

Season over

[DW711 256]

The Mets will apparently be 86-76

 

The Padres...80-82.

 

No.

[WallyWorld 1,226]

One thing about everything going right, it ignores skaggs and richards going down, the horrible first half of the pen, hamiltons folleys etc.

 

yeah I got a kick out of that too. Not to mention Hamilton getting injured/sucking, Calhoun getting injured, CJ being essentially worthless after the ASB, Trout having his "worst" season . . . give me a break about everything going right.

[WallyWorld 1,226]

It seems like the Nationals have been the offseason favorite for the past three year.  

 

it's almost never good to be the preseason darling.

[Second Base 8,745]

I think the only issue I take with it is Srattle being ranked so high. They've got a good rotation but no one really knows what to expect from Walker or Paxton, Iwakuma's magic may be running out and there's no guarantee that Cruz's PED magic will sustain itself in Seattle. Even Cano's power number dropped off considerably.

I think the Angels have an equal rotation and bullpen but will hit much better and win at least 5 more games than the M's. It's hard to tell if Seattle's a team on the rise or if it was a fluke year where just about everything went right for them.

As far as the win total goes, I couldn't give an exact number because every team

In the division improved( except the A's). Houston has bats now, Texas is healthy, the A's pitching depth is endless, Seattle added a bat or two and the Angels got younger and deeper.

When every team gets better it doesn't mean every team will win more. There's a chance that elite competition is just going to torpedo ball clubs and the winner might only win 89 games.

I think the key will be which team can be the most consistent. As in which team can play .500 ball the whole year and then just have a couple of win streaks where they pop off 10 wins. That's what gets you to the 95 mark. The Angels have the least question marks and a ton of depth. They look like the favorites to me.

[WallyWorld 1,226]

When every team gets better it doesn't mean every team will win more. There's a chance that elite competition is just going to torpedo ball clubs and the winner might only win 89 games.

 

This, for sure. That's why a prediction of 87 wins for the Angels doesn't bother me - there's a good chance they could win the division and not have many more wins than that.

[bloodbrother 9,448]

AL seems incredibly wide open this year. Is there any one team that stands out above the others as the clear cut top team? NL has the Dodgers, Cardinals and Nationals who you figure are locks. AL has 7-8 teams where you wouldn't be surprised if they won their division

[NJHalo 3,125]

What Mets team are they talking about?

[ukyah 3,310]

AL seems incredibly wide open this year. Is there any one team that stands out above the others as the clear cut top team? NL has the Dodgers, Cardinals and Nationals who you figure are locks. AL has 7-8 teams where you wouldn't be surprised if they won their division

 

 

i don't see the dodgers as locks by any stretch. i think they're a good team being overestimated and they're in a division with the champs and a padre team that can win a lot if they're offensive moves were effective.

[MVTrout 55]

AL seems incredibly wide open this year. Is there any one team that stands out above the others as the clear cut top team? NL has the Dodgers, Cardinals and Nationals who you figure are locks. AL has 7-8 teams where you wouldn't be surprised if they won their division

Agreed.

[Second Base 8,745]

I think the AL teams that I could legitimately envision being in the post season has shifted dramatically.

The AL East looks weak, with the Red Sox heavily favored and the Blue Jays looking half way decent. The AL Central is wide open simply because it was/is the weakest division in baseball. The Royals might be ok without Shields, Aoki and Butler and they might not. The new look White Sox look good on paper but not sure it translates. The Indians look ok. The Tigers look like an expensive shell of what used to be a good team. There's just no sure thing other than to say one out of four ok teams will stumble into the playoffs.

The West is the division to keep an eye on. The Angels are clearly the easiest to pick because they're a well rounded team. The M's will be good only if their youngsters step up. The A's are in the same boat as the M's. Lots of young (newly acquired in their case) talent that might be good. The Rangers might be good if everyone stays healthy. The Astros might be good if their pitching staff doesn't blow up.

[Troll Daddy 5,143]

Who cares about the rankings ... It changes week to week. I'm ready to watch some baseball.

[TroutBaseball 384]

It should be noted that Schoenfield is an unapologetic Mariner's fan.

[NrM 1,196]

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/55054/ranking-the-teams-12-through-7-2

The Angels came in at #8, they predict we will only win 87 games.

I didn't grab the link for the top 7, but it was a joke...Both SEA and CLE made it, LOL! (WAS is #1 and LAD is #2)

 

Fangraphs also has SEA finishing ahead of us. I can understand the reasoning.

Edited February 14, 2015 by Poozy

[MVTrout 55]

No "$300 Trout jersey" jokes yet, huh? Consider me shocked!