By VINNIE RULLO
Staff Writer
Each year at the start of the season, baseball experts and analysts predict which teams are actual contenders and which are pretenders. This is based on team’s current rosters and what teams did during the off-season to improve. Some teams made impactful moves in the off-season, while other teams didn’t do enough to contend for a championship.
Evaluating talent and the depth of teams is how you determine if teams are contenders or pretenders. The Washington Nationals are arguably the most talented baseball team this year. Their big acquisition was pitcher Max Scherzer, who won the A.L. Cy Young award in 2013. Scherzer provides the Nationals with another great arm, in addition to talents such as Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann, Gio Gonzalez, and Doug Fister. If one of them happens to get injured, look for Tanner Roark to fill the void; he gave the Nationals a lot of quality starts last year. Overall, their rotation is one of the best in baseball.
The biggest question with the Nationals is if they have enough offense. This team is going to need a big year from outfielder Bryce Harper, who has under-performed in his first three seasons. Harper is one of the few left-handed hitters the Nationals have, so his bat is crucial in the Nationals lineup. Two key players who will need to stay healthy to contend will be outfielder Jayson Werth and first basemen Ryan Zimmerman. Overall, I view the Nationals as a strong contender to win the World Series.
The Chicago Cubs haven’t won a World Series since 1908, but maybe this is their year. During the off-season they signed Jon Lester, who is one of the best left-handed pitchers in baseball. Lester gives the Cubs what they needed: an ace at the top of the rotation. Jake Arrieta, who is their number two starter, also quietly had an excellent season last year, pitching to 2.53 ERA. He will look to build on that this year.
The Cubs have some emerging stars from their farm system on the rise, the most exciting player being third basement Kris Bryant. Bryant hit over 40 homers last year in the minors, and is already shining in spring training. I would expect Bryant to be one of the best prospects in baseball this year; he should appear on the Cubs’ major league roster very soon. Anthony Rizzo is the Cubs’ best hitter and will try to lead his team to the playoffs. I view the Cubs as a contender in the N.L. Central because this division is wide-open this year.
The other Chicago baseball team, the White Sox, also made some moves this off-season. They added starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija in a trade, and signed closer David Robertson, outfielder Melky Cabrera, and first basemen Adam Laroche. This team made the most moves during the off-season, but was it enough to contend for a championship? The White Sox play in a very tough A.L. Central division, which features the defending AL Champs, the Royals.
The Royals are going to have a tough time competing this year, though, because they lost James Shields to the Padres, and didn’t add many other pieces to their team to build upon from last season. The Tigers added outfielder Yoenis Cespedes in a trade to what was already a very powerful lineup. Overall, the Tigers are still the team to beat in this division, with more talent than the Whitesox, even though the Sox is the team that made the most moves. I view both the Royals and White Sox as pretenders, and the Tigers as contenders.
The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, two of the most popular teams in baseball, have both made changes to their rosters since last season. Last season, the Red Sox started to rebuild the team mid-season, while the Yankees didn’t want to breakdown their roster mid-season and chose to wait until the off-season.
The Red Sox failed to acquire an ace pitcher via free agency or in a trade, which is crucial to have these days in baseball. The Red Sox will have a very good offense, but their pitching remains a huge question mark.
The Yankees, however, took the approach of trying to patch a few things up, and add pieces where they needed to improve. The Yankees also have questions marks on their roster, with many players who had injuries last year. The Yankees do, however, have a better starting rotation than the Red Sox. I view the Yankees as a contender, and the Red Sox as pretenders, unless they add an ace pitcher in a trade.
Look for these teams to be possible contenders this season as well: the Angels, the Cardinals, the Giants, the Bluejays, and the Dodgers. The Oakland A’s, the Orioles, and the Braves, who have all been to the playoffs recently, will be pretenders this year.
The teams with the most talent and the most depth seem to be the favorites to contend for a championship each year.
