How many days until pitchers and catchers report? That’s the question baseball fans will be asking until Spring Training starts in 2013. Until then, here’s an early look at five teams to watch next year.
Kansas City Royals — The Royals, who have posted one winning season since 1995, fired an offseason salvo by trading prospects Wil Myers and Jake Odorizzi to the Tampa Bay Rays for starting pitchers James Shields and Wade Davis. It’s a bold move for an organization which has spent years cultivating top prospects, such as Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer. With Shields in place to lead the starting rotation, the young and talented Royals could be the surprise team of 2013.
New York Yankees — All the drama that surrounding the Yankees in 2012 — the decline of Alex Rodriguez, the season-ending injury to Mariano Rivera and a playoff loss in the ALCS — is sure to follow them into next season. However, unlike in years past, the Yankees aren’t going to make their problems go away by throwing money at them. With the American League East shaping up as the best division in baseball, the perennially-contending Yankees are going to have trouble making the postseason.
Toronto Blue Jays — Sensing an opening in the A.L. East, the Blue Jays pulled the trigger on a 12-player, blockbuster trade with the Miami Marlins to bring Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle up north. Moreover, Toronto signed controversial free agent outfielder Melky Cabrera, who was leading the N.L. in batting for the San Francisco Giants when he was suspended for a positive drug test on August 15. All the moves have made the Blue Jays the talk of Canada (and a possible contender).
Los Angeles Dodgers — The Dodgers signed off on last year’s biggest deal at the trade deadline. After the Winter Meetings, they signed up the best free agent pitcher in Zack Greinke. The 2009 Cy Young winner will make $147 million over the next six years, pushing the Dodgers’ payroll next season over $230 million. Like the Yankees before them, the Dodgers will discover that there’s a steep price to pay for trying to buy a championship — it’s the added pressure to win now.
Washington Nationals — In 2012, the Nationals brought postseason baseball back to the nation’s capital for the first time in 79 years, registered an epic postseason walk-off win and exited the playoffs in equally dramatic fashion. What will they do for an encore next year? With blossoming stars Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper leading the way, the sky’s the limit. Furthermore, the Nats should take the shackles off the fire-balling Strasburg, who was shut down last September.
Adam Martini is a freelance sports writer who roots for the New York Mets (and any team that is playing theNew York Yankees). A dedicated fantasy baseball player since 1998, his games of choice growing up were Strat-O-Matic and MicroLeague Baseball.
Sources
Baseball-Reference.com.
The Official Site of Major League Baseball.
